Having been together for just over a year,
DaizyStripper has proved to be a promising band. Just a few months after their very first oneman,
DaizyStripper set out for their first overseas performance at Otakon 2008. Following their energetic performance, we sat down with them for an interview.
Could you please introduce yourselves for our readers?
Yu-giri: DaizyStripper vocalist,
Yu-giri.
Mayu: On guitar,
Mayu.
Nao: Guitarist
Nao.
Rei: Bassist
Rei.
Kazami: Kazami on drums.
How was your trip here? Were you able to occupy yourselves on the long flight?
Yu-giri: We slept most of the flight so that we wouldn't get jetlagged.
Kazami: We also saw some movies and played some games.
Rei: And chatted with the people sitting around us.
Could you tell us about how you all met to form this band?
Mayu: I was playing guitar at a live concert and
Yu-giri happened to be at that concert and afterwards he came up to me and we talked and decided to get together and form a band because we had the same ideas and views. Then we met other people and wanted to form a great band. That's how we became
DaizyStripper.
You've only been around for a little over a year. How does it feel to be performing overseas already?
Kazami: This is our first time in the US, but the people's reactions... we feel that people are really lively here. Everyone's reactions during the concert were really awesome. I'm really glad we came. We'd like to come here more!
Before coming to the US, how did you imagine your overseas fan base to be?
Rei: We were under the impression that they were warm friendly passionate people. They're exactly like we imagined, maybe even more so!
Mayu: We have gotten overseas fan mail from various countries before, so we knew that there were people out there listening, but there were so many more excited people than we had imagined!
What did you think about that fan reaction?
Nao: They're much friendlier than we expected!
Yu-giri: Fans came up to hug us, nobody ever hugs in Japan (laughs).
Kazami: There were more male fans than we've seen before, so that kind of impressed us too!
Otakon is the second largest anime convention in the US. Do you follow any anime or manga?
Yu-giri: Oh, we definitely love anime!
Mayu: We read Shonen Jump and shonen magazines.
Rei: I read shojo manga. (laughs)
Any favorites?
Mayu: "Dragon Ball Z"! (laughs)
Yu-giri: "Hunter Hunter"
Nao: "One Piece"
Rei: "Through The Fog"
Kazami: "Kyo Kara Ore Wa", "Black Jack"
What anime charater could you imagine yourselves as?
(Everyone laughs)
Rei: I'd be... (thinks) a guy from a Shojo series.
DaizyStripper: How cute! (all laugh)
Kazami: I'd be Sephiroth from "Final Fantasy VII"
Nao: Pikachu!
(Everyone laughs)
Mayu: Krillin from "Dragon Ball"!
(everyone laughs)
Yu-giri: What about me?
DaizyStripper: He's like a main character from a shonen series, so he'd be Gon from "Hunter Hunter".
Yu-giri: Ahh... Ok, I'll accept that!
To someone new to your music, how would you describe your sound?
Kazami: Well, it would be really hard to explain in words, so please, listen to our music. I guess... to describe it, it would be really loud rock with a melody that will really stay with you. Maybe even take you back to the old days, sounding familiar but with something new.
What's the one message you'd like to express with your music?
Yu-giri: We like to make songs that make people feel happier if they're depressed for example. We do have a few dark songs, too, but a lot of those songs have sunlight in them. We like to do songs that provide support for people. We've been told that a lot of people have found their meaning in life by listening to our songs.
You performed at the HIDE MEMORIAL SUMMIT in May. What was it like for you to play in front of such a large number of people a month before you had your first oneman live?
Yu-giri: Of course we were nervous about the prospect. We respect
hide a lot, so we were very happy and felt so honored. We ended up getting a lot more fans, so we're very happy about that. While we were singing the song
Dandelion, suddenly the cloudy skies cleared up. It felt like
hide was smiling down upon us.
Rei & Kazami: It really did.
What's the most memorable moment for each of you from your oneman tour?
Rei: The oneman was our one year anniversary, so we got the feeling that we were having so much fun with each other and our fans.
Kazami: We got to spend a lot more time with the fans, so I loved that interaction.
Mayu: Unlike today where there were three bands in one concert, we were responsible for entertaining the fans from the very beginning to the very end. We were really glad to have that opportunity to entertain the fans.
Nao: There were so many people cheering for us. When I saw them all raising their hands reaching towards me, it was really moving!
Yu-giri: Just seeing the smiles on everybody's faces brightened my day!
You have a single coming out in a few days and two more singles coming out within the next two months. Can you tell us a little bit about them?
Yu-giri: The single coming out in October called
Truth is basically about how many bad things may happen in life and there are so many different choices, and you may waver between them but never forget to trust yourself. It's really like a personal message.
The next one coming out is called
Cross. It was a limited release before, but now it's getting national release. It's a story told from a male point of view and a female point of view about two lovers that were torn apart, so it's a very emotional song but it's very beautiful. It takes place at night, so I think it would be enhanced if you listened to it under the moonlit sky.
Lastly, please give a message to your fans.
DaizyStripper: American fans?
Worldwide fans.
DaizyStripper: Oh! Worldwide?!
Rei: Worldwide... I really hope the fans get our message everywhere.
Kazami: This is our first time in the US, but we'll work really hard to have many more concerts in Europe and Asia and the US again, so please wait for us!
Mayu: I feel that there are really no boundaries or borders in music, so I really want a lot more people to listen to our music.
Nao: There's a lot more people who don't know about us but we'll keep going with our crazy live concerts!
Yu-giri: There are a lot more countries that we haven't gotten to and we feel bad about that, but we will definitely return, grow and develop. We'll get there, so please support us!
JaME would like to thank Yaz Noya, Otakon and DaizyStripper for making this interview possible. Photographs by Kathy Chee from Fundy Photographics
