The girls were interviewed in New York past November by Weekly Biz from New York to talk about the visit of BABYMETAL to the city and their incredible show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Also the girls talked about their experience on the artRave mini Tour supporting Lady Gaga, and more. Interview translated by Reddit member Dokoiko.
Weekly Biz from New York with BABYMETAL
Q: So first of all, your faces are small! (Note: A small face is really highly praised in Japan. One of the girls' obsessions.)
Su: "No, no no no no (laugh)".
Moa: "I don't think so (laugh)."
Q: You did great yesterday. NYC audiences were so hyped.
Su: "Thank you. It's our first live at NYC, so I was full of anxiety about what audience was like here and how our live went, but I was so surprised and happy when I heard audiences loud from the dressing room."
Yui: "And once the live began a lot of clapping and singing along happened, so I had a very happy time."
Q: Most of them were New Yorker... Americans.
Moa: "Yes, I was so surprised!"
Su: "It's so great, wasn't it? Because we could see their faces so well".
Yui: "We even could see them at balcony."
Q: And they sang along in Japanese.
Su: "There is a solo song of mine titled as Akatsuki, its lyrics are difficult even for Japanese but fans overseas learned it and sang along as they could, I was so impressed!"
Q: How did you feel first when live at NYC was booked?
Su: "An announcement was done in the middle of our live in Summer Sonic! We were never noticed about it and it was shown on a screen at the very end of the introduction video, a simple statement only (laugh). We took a rest at the moment and saying "What?" is all we could do (laugh)."
Moa: "Yes, yes (laugh)."
Q: Didn't you know at all till the moment?
Su: "No, we didn't. We just said, "Really? Really? Really?" (laugh) We panicked little just after that. Moametal and I saw it but Yuimetal didn't, and she said, "What? It must be kidding," and "What? What?" So we couldn't talk about the same thing. Soon a next song began and we scrambled to the stage saying, "Time to go! Time to go!" (laugh) We were full of surprise at the announcement but full of joy because I felt like retuning here after seeing the town and warmth of people at NYC in last May."
Yui: "I was so surprised when I knew it at the live with audience, but also I was so, so much happy. I felt the people were so kind at the last visit in May. I was looking forward to seeing how these people look like at a live."
Q: Is it normal to know live schedules like that?
Su: "Yes, it always is."
Moa: "Always, isn't it?"
Yui: "We knew about The World Tour on stage, too."
Q: See. It's a Babymetal way, isn't it? (laugh) But you would do it well at the end of the day.
All: (Laugh)
Q: Support acts for Lady Gaga's in the last Spring were noticed much.
Moa: "What I learned by my own eyes from watching Lady Gaga-san's show in the last May was that a live is beyond languages. Lady Gaga-san's songs were English which I don't understand, but I could feel something. I remembered that music is universal. So when the NYC live was booked I felt like delivering my feelings (even I could sing only in Japanese) as a presenter this time."
Su: "Lady Gaga-san's song and Babymetal's are different in genres, aren't they? So I was so anxious whether audiences accepted us or not. And I remembered at the very first they looked like, "What were these girls?" with a lot of "?" in their minds. But the more acts we played, the more I could feel they got some fun with us. I did remember one of her staff said to us, "You're so good on stage!"
Moa: "We played five stages. At the final one we did warm-ups with her back dancers (laugh). (Not only Gaga-san but) also staff were all very friendly."
Q: You looks so happy.
Moa: "Yes! (laugh)"
Q: What was Gaga-san like in person?
Su: "We three had a talk with Gaga-san before her live, she gave us an advice kindly. We got almost paralyzed in front of her but she gave us words and never was bothered to understand us speaking in Japanese. She is full of kindness."
Yui: "And in a middle of singing Gimme Choco I looked at a side of the stage she's there in a long time to support us!"
Moa: "I happened to look at a side and Lady Gaga-san's there and I said, "Gosh!" in my head (laugh)"
Q: "It's surprising, no doubt (laugh)."
Yui: "She's so kind."
Q: Are lives overseas different from those in Japan?
Su: "Audiences in Japan tend to fill out in sync, and those overseas tend to sing along. My impression is that they enjoy songs as a whole."
Q: Did you have fun in NYC live?
All: "Absolutely yes! (in sync)"
Q: Will you come back here again?
All: "We will! (In sync)"
Q: For last words, your messages to readers in America, please?
Su: "Yes. What I try to do is to do best by doing what we always did. It might be needed to do anything different, but I want to deliver good Babymetal as usual. I want to deliver it to fans in America, too. I came to the city and felt warmth of its people, so I want to be here again. I hope you looking forward to seeing us in the city again!"
Moa: "I want to build a new genre Babymetal by blending Kawaii and Metal. So I want to do what we only can do now and in future. I was so happy to have a chance to perform in NYC, so I want to be here to see you again."
Yui: "Babymetal is distinct not only by our songs but also by our dances, so I want more people to know that. So I want to improve ourselves a lot enough to deliver that to many people as possible. I'll be back."
