Interview with Megamasso at V-ROCK FESTIVAL 2009

Megamasso is clearly a band on the rise. With their recent signing to a major label and their participation at V-ROCK, the band seems set for success in 2010! While backstage at the festival, the band took some time to give an interview and answered the questions in their uniquely hilarious way.


First of all, could you introduce yourselves?

Inzargi: Sure, I’m Megamasso’s vocalist, Inzargi.
Ryouhei: I’m the guitarist, Ryouhei.
Gou: Gou on bass.

So, recently it seems you’ve moved onto a new label, a major label. You’ve also released a new single and are going on a new tour, so congratulations for all of that. How are you finding the move onto the new label? Is it a difficult transition?

Ryouhei: Well, we recently achieved our major debut and our surroundings and circumstances have changed, but that’s really all that’s changed. We’re really just going along at the same pace as usual. There are no problems at all with live performances and the creation of our music.

We saw that your website and album covers are really quite cute. We were wondering who the artist is, and if you enjoy doing the kind of graffiti work on that yourselves?

Ryouhei: Yep, that’s me.

So you like drawing?

Ryouhei: I do! Drawing Inzargi’s portrait is my hobby.

Your latest PV, for Chimes, has a pretty modern looking set. What was the concept behind the set?

Ryouhei: Well we’re right at that point where our audience is increasing. So rather than the link between music and lyrics, we wanted to say through the PV, "This is who Megamasso is." In the end, the image will take on the lyrics, so they’ll meet in the middle anyway, but we wanted a PV that people could watch and understand what we’re about. So that includes the physical look, the performance scenes, and even both the fantastic and realistic elements. That’s the sort of thing we haven’t been able to do until recently.

So, again about Chimes. It seems like it’s a song about saying goodbye. There’s lots of lyrics about "the rain that brings the end" and that sort of thing, but we just saw Chimes on stage and it looked really, really fun and everybody was jumping around. We’re just wondering, why did you balance those two emotions in that song? It’s so fun, live, and happy, but the lyrics seem quite melancholy and sad.

Ryouhei: This time, we decided to focus our songs on melody first, lyrics second. So basically the lyrics that most suit that music are what we wanted. Sometimes we do prioritize lyrics, but generally it’s the melody. When we made the song, we thought the lyrics were interesting. Even though the bitter-sweet lyrics might not be best for our major debut, we decided that they seemed right for us.

If you had the chance to switch instruments, what would you want to do?

Ryouhei: I think I’d like to do vocals, like Inzargi.
Inzargi: Hmm… Maybe guitar? I could get up on Ryouhei’s shoulders and play.
(All laugh)

And how about Gou?

Gou: I’d probably want to do vocals, too, so maybe I could get up on Inzargi’s shoulder’s, too.
Ryouhei: Like a totem pole?

It’s almost like a circus band.

(All laugh)

You were recently involved in a Japanese language learning program using music to aid in language absorption. Do you think listening to music really helps to learn a language?

Ryouhei: Well, we think that listening to the lyrics can help a lot. Inzargi’s always listening to English music like that.
Inzargi: Yeah, I listen to and read a lot of English lyrics. It helps to hear the pronunciation a lot.

Does that help you pick up more vocabulary?

Inzargi: Well, I start hearing words I recognize, which helps.

Do the rest of you listen to foreign music at all?

Ryouhei: I listen to just about anything. I really like the Linkin Park vocalist’s side project Dead By Sunrise, and Korn, that sort of thing, but Inzargi tends to listen to the most foreign music.

What about Marilyn Manson, who is playing tonight?

Ryouhei: I love him! I have all of his CDs and everything, so I’m really looking forward to the chance to see him perform live. I’ve only seen DVDs, so I wonder how it will be live. If our schedule allows it, I really want to go and watch. (Inzargi and Gou agree)

We’re now approaching the year 2010, so another ten years down the track, where do you see yourselves?

Ryouhei: Well, things weren’t working out well early on for Megamasso.
Inzargi: That’s right, it was a little rough.
Ryouhei: But we decided to go on with only the three members and now we’re still finding different things we like to do. If we can continue that in ten years and still be Megamasso, I think we’d be really happy.

We certainly hope you will still be around in ten years. So to finish up, could you give the foreign fans a message, if possible, in English?

Ryouhei: (in English) I love you.
Inzargi: (in English) I need you.
Gou: (in English) I miss you
Inzargi: You mean, “I want to see you”?
Gou: Yeah.
Inzargi: (in English) I want to see you.
Gou: (in English) I want to see you.
Ryouhei: Say it into the mic.
Gou: (in English into the mic) I want to see you.
Ryouhei: Once more, nice and clearly.
Gou: (laughing, in English into the mic) I want to see you.
Ryouhei whispers to Inzargi: Say (in English) "My name is Inzargi".
Inzargi: What? No. (in English) I want to go any place and have lives everywhere so please come and see me – us.

Great job! Thank you very much for today’s interview.


JaME would like to thank Megamasso and V-ROCK FESTIVAL for making this interview possible.