BABYMETAL was interviewed on Marquee Magazine Volume 94. Was released on December 11 of 2012. The girls were interviewed to talk about their next major release at that moment "Ijime, Dame, Zettai"but also they talk about other great moments of the band, Su-metal's voice and much more. Read the full interview, thanks to YMJapan.
BABYMETAL interviewed on Marquee Volume 94
Q: You’ve been performing the new song in your live shows.
Sumetal: "That’s right. It followed “DokiDoki”. We rerecorded it this time, we did it after having sung in lives so I think it became a little different from earlier ones."
Yuimetal: "Your voice has changed, a little matured and grown up."
Sumetal: "It’s true my voice has become kind of mature, also I’ve become able to put my feelings on it firmly and found the easier way to take rhythms gradually, to have less problems. I’m singing in a preferable way unconsciously."
Q: Good to know. Do you talk to each other about coordinating the dances?
Moametal: "We talked about the fighting part."
Yuimetal: "Right. We talked about it and settled naturally. We discussed the image of the song and when we should smile, including the impression."
Q: So you put your ideas in this song to complete. Have you gotten used to recordings?
Yuimetal: "Better than the beginning."
Moametal: "We do just call parts. We two recorded in the separated booths for the first time. Usually we did calls together holding hands."
Yuimetal: "We did it face to face, in the different rooms."
Q: Could you see each other?
Moametal: "We could, eye to eye contacts."
Sumetal: "Su- usually records a full length song several times for Babymetal songs, But as I was aware of where to liven up, I recorded it bit by bit this time. I tried that approach for the first time."
Q: So you recorded it separately. What was the hardest part?
Sumetal: "My voice trembled at a long note somehow."
Q: Would you tell us your favorite part of the song?
Sumetal: "I feel good when I stretch notes at “Kimi wo Mamoru Kara~ (I’ll save you)”, and I like to look at each other and nod after that. (laugh) I look forward to it every time."
Moametal: "We do. It happens naturally."
Q: How about the lyrics? IDZ, you know, have a very clear theme. Do you have a specific line you like in the lyrics?
Moametal: "If we sing it in English overseas, “Tobe Tobe Tobe” would be “Furai (fly or fry in Japanese sound) Furai Furai”, so it would sound like a fried fish or something, I think that’s funny. (Laughs)"
Q: True. LOL They might think like that.
Yuimetal: "How about “Jump Jump Jump”?"
Q: Settled. (Laughs)
Yuimetal: "Yui was paying attention to my call parts at first and thinking it was an interesting song, but as I kept dancing in lives over and over I became to pay attention to the lyrics and realized this song has great messages."
Q: How do you interpret the strong messages in the lyrics as Babymetal to send it to the audience?
Moametal: "Bullying is a kind of very heavy theme. Moa thinks Babymetal can send it in an easy to understand way through dancing, and hopes it reaches the hearts of both people who bully and are bullied."
Yuimetal: "It has calls and the dance has the WTF taste of Babymetal, so I hope to send the messages to many people in Babymetal’s fashion."
Moametal: "But it’s interesting this song has something totally unrelated to it, like “Poisuke Kinshi (Stop littering)”."
Q: (Laughs) It’s just catchy, it’s interesting you call them just for having a nice ring. What do you think of the dance?
Moametal: "Yui and Moa love the part we run through from the each end of the stage at the beginning of the song after all, and we fight against many things such as bullying and ourselves in the battle part. Also, I like the part we make the sign with our arms, ”Dame Dame Dame Dame!” I’m grad if everyone does it with us."
Q: Babymetal has had various types of songs. How do you place this song among them?
Sumetal: "The first song was “DokiDoki” with an idol-like taste so I thought we would do those types of songs, but “IDZ” is a thoroughly metal song that I sing strong messages while the two dances violently. I came to think Babymetal was going to perform this kind of songs as well since then."
Moametal: "Anyway, it hypes things up very much in live shows. This song is known only among the fans who came to see us at lives, but I think the audience gets hyped up with this song the most."
Sumetal: "At the Sakura Gakuin Festival, the SG fans who saw our performance for the first time also jumped together at the end. It’s easy to understand? I assume."
Q: It has that great impact.
Y:umietal:"It has lots of calls and I think the choreography has a taste of Babymetal very much. Babymetal has many songs mixed with bright atmosphere and cool atmosphere, so I think this song has a Babymetal taste and also a new side at the same time."
Q: It may become a representing song of Babymetal. For live shows, the “Legend I” had a short film and the direction that you came out of the coffins. It was the stage showing the world of Babymetal which was suitable for the first chapter of the legends. I assume you practiced the whole flow of the stage, how was that?
Sumetal: "It had the film and narration. We didn’t know about it until the last minute, but I thought it was a story like that when we actually performed including the films on stage. I found it interesting to see something different (from lessons)."
Yuimetal: "Also, we had the side stage at the middle, I could hear well the audience was saying “Awesome, really excited!” at the moment it opened. Usually I can’t hear them at all because of the crowd’s cheering and myself being too exited, but I thought it was interesting to hear it in a silent place calmly."
Sumetal: "I think there were many fans who came to see us for the first time as the venue was big."
Yuimetal: "Foreign fans too."
Moametal: "Right. I feel delighted they like our music even though they may not know the lyrics. Also, the live band."
Q: Does the live band make difference after all?
Sumetal: "It’s totally different. Usually I was singing on the recorded sounds, but it comes like stepping out of a 3D screen, sounds very close. I was really nervous in that."
Q: Is it comfortable to sing in it?
Sumetal: "Yes, that’s true."
Moametal: "And we wore ear monitors for the first time."
Sumetal: "Right. Fufu."
Q: So you tried a lot of new stuff.
M:oametal: "Right. The song for Yui and Moa as well. It’s like a long version of the rap part of “Iine”. I was delighted that they made it for Yui&Moa."
Q: Yeah, Black Babymetal. It has a hip-hop taste. That’s another new song, right?
Moametal: "Right, the “check-it-out chocolate” was also in the story of the film. I want it on sale soon. Check-it-out chocolate won’t be released unless Babymetal becomes famous, so we have to keep working hard from now on."
Sumetal: "You are talking practically. (Laughs)"
Q: Actually, is it easy to dance? Isn’t it hard to take rhythms?
Yuimetal: "We sync somehow."
Moametal: "Right, are we talented? (Laughs)"
Sumetal: "You two exactly sync sometimes unconsciously."
Moametal: "Ah, at a live show. There was a trouble that a song stopped halfway and started again from the beginning, still we 3 synced, so I thought we are able to sync well."
Q: You can see it when such an accident happens. You are talking about the live at STAGE ONE in the first basement of Tower Records Shibuya, right?
Sumetal: "At that time, Moametal gazed at me smiling meaningfully. (Laughs)"
Moametal: "It’s enjoyable to have such happenings in live shows."
Q: Let me ask about the MV. The shooting site was a cave, right?
Yuimetal: "It was chilly… but I thought our expressions bearing the cold might link to the expression bearing bullies."
Q: That place would have been dim, looks like humid as well.
Sumetal: "Ah, that’s right. But it was fun. I jumped off from a huge rock. LOL It was really fun to explore the cave. And the shooting spot had a hole on the ceiling.."
Moametal: "Leafs were fluttering down once in a while."
Sumetal: "Right,right."
Yuimetal: "It was beautiful! I caught some!"
Sumetal: "The sky got dark gradually, so we make a fuss over it,”Well? It’s night already”"
Q: You also played the guitars a lot, you did tapping. (Laughs)
Moametal: "I thought I could do it as I was learning guitars. But I heard it’s difficult, so just pretended it for this time."
Q: You look great holding and playing it, seriously.
Moametal: "I did it! Yay."
Q: How is this costume?
Sumetal: "It’s armor, like a warrior."
Moametal: "And spikes. It looks like a fish, isn’t it?"
Sumetal: "Su-‘s costume is quite heavy. So I have another costume for live shows. I hope you look forward to it."
Moametal: "Also, actually Su-metal wears the tights. But Yui&Moa wear the sox because we can’t wear tights.
Y:uimeal: "Nobody can see it. (Laughs)""
Q: It always makes me wonder, Babymetl’s costumes look like hard to dance with. These have many ornaments.
Yuimetal: "But we’ve rarely felt so."
Sumetal: "We gradually break the costumes. (Laughs)"
Moametal: "We are not able to care about it in lives. I wouldn’t realize it if I headbanged so hard as to hit the spikes. I don’t realize them at all when I’m hyped up."
Q: You gonna make the major debut with it. Does it change your minds, or nothing special as it’s an extension of what you’ve done?
All: "Nothing at all. (Laughs)"
Sumetal: "But I really think this song is suitable for the major debut song and many people would give it a listen. Foreign fans could only see our movies until now, but we are going to visit Singapore for the first time, so I’m glad to think it will spread more like that."
Q: That’s true. You will have solo concert in December. “I.D.Z.~Legend D Su-metal birthday ceremony”.
Sumetal: "This is the first time for me to be celebrated on my birthday on a large scale. It’s close to Christmas. So usually I have just one party for my birthday and Christmas, I’m glad to have my birthday and Christmas separated. Moreover I can meet fans directly and be said something like “a happy birthday” for the very first time. I’m really excited about it."
Q: So let’s wrap up with your ambitions for the future Babymetal.
Sumetal: "Our targets such as “to go overseas~” has been realized up to now and I feel myself our world is actually spreading gradually, so I hope many people will listen to it."
Moametal: "I guess the readers of this MARQUEE include foreign fans, I wish they read it as well."
Yuimetal: "Well, Yui agrees to go overseas but Yui wants to play instruments by ourselves in live shows, I want to try guitars and drums."
Q: Wow, you wanna go that far?
Yuimetal: "Yes, I tried guitars a little bit, so I want to try out guitars and drums."
Sumetal: "Moametal, teach us guitars."
Q: Foreign people would be surprised if they see a Babymetal live, I hope you go to Europe and other areas. I believe they gonna love you.
Moametal: "I’d like to go to many places not only Asia. I heard foods are good."
Sumetal: "We are in sightseeing mode. (Laughs)"
