Interview with SUNS OWL

Before their debut performance in Paris on the last day of Japan Expo, SUNS OWL met with us to talk about their work, performing abroad, the metal scene in Japan and what music means to them.


Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

GO: I am GO, on drums.
MZM: MZM, on vocals.
SAB: I am the guitarist, SAB.
No-Re: (in English) No-Re, I play the bass and do the electronic programming.

How would you define your music? Do you think it woud be placed in a particular category of metal?

GO: Of course, metal is one of the foundations of our music. But we don't want to limit ourself to just that and we try to include many other sounds.

Over Drive has just been released. Tell us a little about this album.

GO: I think it's a good album. It would be nice if we could reach a wide audience with it.

Parisian audiences did not move around too much at your showcase at the FNAC the other day. What did you think? And more generally, what do you think of the Western audience?

GO: You thought so too? (laughs) I don't really know why the audience didn't seem too receptive. But I think that we ourselves have not been too successful in communicating with them. For example, I wanted to raise my arms, but ... the conditions might have been good. Yet seeing these people, they certainly seem to want to have fun.

Were you at all nervous about performing for your first time in Paris, in front of a new audience?

SAB: We have already played in several foreign countries, and ultimately, I think the audience is the same everywhere. But the fact that we don't share the same language may have been one of the factors in regards to communication problems. Given that, it probably wasn't very conducive to letting go.

What exactly are you looking forward to at an event like the Japan Expo, where different musical genres, mainstream and underground, cross?

GO: First of all, I am happy that people who like Japanese culture have found a place to gather and share their passion. Finally, it's a very good thing that Japanese groups can come here and perform, and be listened to, in hopes of being enjoyed and appreciated in Europe as well.

Concerning your debuts, what pushed you to make music and, in particular, metal? Was there a determining element in your choice?

SAB: When punk began to decline, there was a sort of heavy metal boom in Japan. For me, the violence and energy of this music was quite impressive, and I was very interested in it.

Do you have sources of musical inspiration or particular themes?

MZM: For writing lyrics, I draw my inspiration from the events of daily life and also from the more unique experiences I've accumulated.

What is the meaning of, for example, the "4735 days" that you mention several times in some of your words?

GO: I'd like to know too. (laughs)

MZM It's the number of days since I started writing until I finished the lyrics to 4735 Days Like Hell.

Individual liberation is also a recurrent theme in your lyrics. Do you think contemporary societies are somewhat trapped in a straitjacket?

MZM: Even though we say we are free to act, there are a whole bunch of rules that govern our lives. As such, we might think it's paradoxical. But if we think about it, those are the same rules that make us appreciate the freedom we enjoy. Ultimately, what is freedom? Is ours significant, weak, scoffed at? How much freedom do you have and how far can we strike on our own outside of those rules? This is what I'd like to make people think about.

Does music represent your freedom?

GO: More than a way of life or a passion, for me, music is one of my reasons for being. This is something that I will continue to the very end.

MZM: Music is like water - a necessity for life.

SAB: This is one of the tools that allows me to express what I feel everyday - my experiences, my journeys, my environments - are all reflected through music.

No-Re: It's a manner of living, something that I don't think about doing that much, just living it from sunrise to sunset.

Turning to the situation of the Japanese metal scene, in your opinion, how is it now?

GO: It doesn't really interest me that much. The scene doesn't have much more to offer and I'm tired of it.

How did your mind evolve in such a negative way?

GO: It's not that I don't care at all about Japanese metal, but I think there aren't any more interesting groups. The current generations are the same as the previous ones; There's nothing really original, nothing to make you want to listen to it.

Only a few groups have finally managed to successfully export their music. Is it because most have nothing new to offer in a saturated global market?

GO: In fact, many groups have exported and performed in different countries. But nobody knows about it and no one relays the information. No one tries to help and without already having had relative success in Japan, nobody really cares. There are so many groups that have formed on the basis of a simple desire, honestly, to make music, and returning to what MZM just talked about, the will, but not the freedom, to produce abroad. Conversely, foreign groups coming to Japan are very well received. But the opposite is not so easy. If we do not have the opportunity to receive the endorsement of a convention or festival, there is little chance of us succeeding outside Japan.

To finish, could you each give us a group or album, of any nationality or era, that holds a particular place in your heart?

SAB: Jimi Hendrix.
MZM: I would say Down.
GO: I love the discs of Led Zeppelin.
No-Re: I don't know. (thinks) BT.

A final message for our readers?

GO: Thank you all for reading this interview. Come see us in concert on Sunday, the last day of Japan Expo.

You know, this won't go online that quickly...

GO: Ah! No! (laughs) I see. We are SUNS OWL, from the East. Listen to our music! (In French) Thank you!


JaME thanks Soundlicious, Japan Expo and SUNS OWL for making this interview possible.