Music Complex 100 Questions & Answers with BABYMETAL

PMC Music Complex published a new issue on April 4 to promote BABYMETAL's new album "Metal Resistance". The girls appear in the cover including an exclusive photoshoot and a 100 Questions interview with them. Read the full interview translated and check the scans below! 

 

PMC Music Complex Vol.4 exclusive 100 Questions interview with BABYMETAL

Q1: How do you feel at the moment?

Moametal: "I am very excited about the release of the album DEATH!!

I think the fans have been waiting excitedly for this as well. Moametal was also looking forward to this with great excitement so I am now equally excited about having many people listen to it DEATH!!"

 

Q2: Su-metal-san, could you tell us your strong point?

Su-metal: "I am positive!!"

 

Q3: OK, so Su-metal, what is your weak point?

Su-metal: "I tend to do things based on how I feel at the moment!"

 

Q4: Moametal-san, could you tell us your strong point?

Moametal: "I am able to think about things in a fun and enjoyable way DEATH!!"

 

Q5: Moametal-san, what is your weak point?

Moametal"I get scared easily and I give in to food temptations."

 

Q6: Yuimetal-san, could you tell us your strong point?

Yuimetal: "When I am on stage as Yuimetal I feel that I can do anything. For someone like me who gets timid easily this mysterious power is an incredible strength."

 

Q7: Yuimetal-san, what is your weak point?

Yuimetal: "When I come down off the stage I am not able to assert myself. I think things over in my head too much. I want to be able to act more from my feelings."

 

Q8: What live show action are particularly good at?

Moametal: "The jumping kick that is part of the choreography of ‘Ijime, Dame, Zettai’ DEATH!!"

 

Q9: Conversely, what are you not so good at?

Moametal: "To be honest, it is the Kitsune pose. My little finger gets the cramps DEATH!!"

 

Q10: What was the most difficult dance to master up to this point in time?

Su-metal: "‘Karate’ DEATH!! Because each single movement is hard to perform the whole song was difficult to learn to perform."

 

Q11: What are you most careful about regarding expressing a message in your dances?

Yuimetal: "We try to expand the image we get from the lyrics and think about what kind of meaning has been embedded in the choreography. I love this part of the dance process DEATH!!"

 

Q12: At what live performance did you think to yourself that you had grown as a singer?

Su-metal: "The Budokan DEATH!! I was able to sing comfortably from my heart."

 

Q13: At what live performance did you first feel a sense of oneness with the fans? What was the response to that?

Su-metal: "The first time we performed ‘Ijime, Dame, Zettai’ the fans responded immediately and everyone was doing the Dame jump with us."

 

Q14: In your World tours what show had the biggest response? How was that?

Yuimetal: "The Brixton show in England. In particular the response and excitement when we played, ‘Road of Resistance’ for the first time ever it was hard to believe that they were seeing for the first time. I felt a strong sense of union with the fans was really moved."

 

Q15: At what show in your World tours up to this point did you feel you really put on a great one?

Moametal: "At all of our shows we put our lives on the line so all of them are our best."

 

Q16: What show stands out in your memory from last year’s World tour? And why is that?

Yuimetal: "Yokohama Arena DEATH!! The first place I ever saw a concert was at Yokohama Arena and I never by any stretch of the imagination thought that one day I would play on that stage. I was filled with gratitude to all the people who worked to make it possible."

 

Q17: Have you felt the language barrier pop up when you go on your World tours?

Yuimetal: "I feel that in Babymetal’s music there is no problem of a language barrier. And so I can continue to think that way in the future too I would like to devote energy and power to our performances."

 

Q18: What English words that you have learned recently did you find interesting?

Su-metal: "What’s up?"

 

Q19: What English phrase have you learned recently?

Yuimetal: "To infinity and beyond!  I think these words suit Babymetal."

 

Q20: What was your toughest overseas Tour show? And what was hard about it?

Yuimetal: "Mexico Death!! I still have the impression that the air at such high altitudes made it had to breathe. But I conversely have a deep impression of the feeling of accomplishment that I felt when we completed the show in those adverse conditions."

 

Q21: How did you approach the challenge of performing as an assistant act for Lady Gaga?

Su-metal: "Our type of music differs totally from that of Lady Gaga-san so we felt this is a new type of music for us! We were hoping that she would feel that were interesting."

 

Q22: Did you talk with Gaga-san? And if so, what were the conversations like?

Yuimetal: "She said that, ‘she likes our music and hopes that we will continue to do our best’. When I heard that I was very happy and her comments became a source of power for us."

 

Q23: When you appeared at the famous English ‘Reading and Leeds’ Festival you did so as the youngest act to appear on the main stage. How did you approach this historical moment?

Yuimetal: "We had already done many performances and this stage proved to be a factor in further deepening our sense of unity as a band, more than before. We all approached it with the feeling of this being a part of our furthering the establishment of Legends."

 

Q24: Could you fill us in more on your impressions of taking the stage that we mentioned in Q23?

Yuimetal: "We felt that we were able to put on a show that proved that Babymetal’s music overcomes language and national walls. I felt once again that music is a universal language."

 

Q25: What do you always do before a live performance?

Su-metal: "Only THE FOX GOD Knows!"

  

Q26: What is something that you can’t do without in your live performances?

Yuimetal: "Our feelings for the show! At all times we treat the feelings of, ‘A beginner’s mind’, ‘teamwork’, ‘We want to make people have a fun time, along with ourselves having a fun time’ with a sense of great importance."

 

Q27: At your shows all three of you always have such rich and multi-faceted expressions-why is that?

Moametal: "While I think that our experiences up to now and our own growth plays a part in things, I think in the end it is the smiling faces of our fans that is the real reason behind it."

 

Q28: What have you gained through your 2 years of warrior training overseas?

Su-metal: "The wonderful nature of music that brings all of us together which overcomes language barriers and barriers of genres DEATH!!"

 

Q29: Have you ever thought in tours, ‘Wow, I am really cool!’?

Yuimetal: "When we are performing and we make eye contact with each other when we might not usually do so I get the feeling, ‘Hey, today it looks like things might go well!’."

 

Q30: What do you do as you move from show to show?

Moametal: "Only THE FOX GOD KNOWS!"

 

Q31: Do you watch movies or DVDs? If you have a favorite could you tell us about it?

Yuimetal: "I do watch them. It is fun to fall into the world view that that work offers, and so I have interest recently in various genres of movies, TV shows and novels."

 

Q32: What was the first live show you saw? And who did you see and when did you see it?

Moametal: "The first show for me to see in person was Perfume at the Budokan DEATH!!"

 

Q33: Please tell us about what you like about the costumes this time around.

Su-metal: "The amount of Black has increased over our previous costumes. The fabric for the skirts is different from those used before and I think they are cute and quite adult-like.."

 

Q34: What did you think at first of the choreography supplied by Mikikometal-sensei for ‘Karate’?

Su-metal: "I thought it was really cool. And, I learned a lot about the Kata of Karate and because of the numerous detailed jewels embedded in it I found it to be really interesting."

 

Q35: Are there times in your lives where the phrase of ‘Seiya, Soiya’ loops around in your heads?

Moametal: "Yes, that happens! That happens all the time. I say it in my dreams and apparently I even actually say it in my sleep."

 

Q36: What did you think when you learned that the download ranking for ‘Karate’ put it at #1 on the Metal charts and at #5 on the Rock charts in iTunes and at #1 on the British Metal charts and #3 on their rock charts?

Moametal:  "Eh………!!"

 

Q37: What do you think about your album being released simultaneously worldwide and the moving along in the charts overseas?

Yuimetal: "I am happy and at the same time am surprised and am of mixed feelings about how to deal with the expectations in dealing with everything and a whole lot of other concerns. It feels like I am in the middle of a dream."

 

Q38: In the overseas edition of the new album you sing ‘The One’ all in english. Was this because you really wanted to convey the contents of this song?

Yuimetal: "We are happy that the concept of, ‘even if you can not see what will come in the future, lets all advance boldy ahead and become as one’ has reached the mind of even one more person as we go over national boundries."

 

Q39: How was it to actually sing lyrics that are all in English?

Su-metal: "It was difficult DEATH!! Singing in English and speaking in English are totally different animals, and we had to carry out the recording checking to see that each and every part was pronounced properly."

 

Q40: Su-metal-san, what song in ‘Metal Resistance’ do you like the most and why?

Su-metal: "‘Meta! Taro’ DEATH!! This is the cutest song we have done and it can be enjoyed by everyone from children to senior citizens, I feel."

 

Q41: Moametal-san, what song in ‘Metal Resistance’ do you like the most and why?

Moametal: "‘Karate’ DEATH!! I will shorten my long answer to say that I love how it expresses that spirit of the three of us not giving up and going on to keep fighting DEATH!!"

 

Q42: Yuimetal-san, what song in ‘Metal Resistance’ do you like the most and why?

Yuimetal: "‘Road of Resistance’. I like the straightforward lyrics, the passionate dance and sound of it and how it contains the so many of the memories of what we have come to perform at our live shows. I hope to fill the songs that we will perform from here on out with this type of feelings as well DEATH!!"

 

Q43: Once again for clarity, what is Black Babymetal?

Moametal: "I myself would like to know the answer. Are we Angels? Are we Devils? I don’t know which is correct."

 

Q44: Continuing on from Q43, what can you tell us about the evolution of Sis. Anger on the new album?

Yuimetal: "The main point is the full bore Black of it. This one will make you sit up straight and listen! This is a great song for when you need to get really motivated DEATH!!"

 

Q45: Have you ever actually yelled out, ‘Stop screwing around!’ 'Zakken ja ne zo’ in your daily life?

Yuimetal and Moametal: "Only THE FOX GOD KNOWS!"

 

Q46: How do you approach your solo songs (‘Amore-Aoboshi’ on this new album)?

Su-metal: "These songs have a strong sense of conveying a message so I sing them with a passionate feeling in mind."

 

Q47: How would you express the Babymetal of today as a color?

Yuimetal: "Usually Red and Black are our main colors but I would say that Babymetal can change to any color at all. It is difficult to put into words."

 

Q48: Who do you want to meet the most right now?

Yuimetal: "I want to meet the fans of Babymetal that we have not met yet! And so I would I like to travel around Japan and around the world and go to places we have never been to meet people waiting for us DEATH!!"

 

Q49: Who would you like to share the stage with?

Moametal: "Metallica-san DEATH!!"

 

Q50: What albums or DVDs have changed your lives?

Moametal: "Only THE FOX GOD Knows!"

 

Q51: Where was your first overseas travel?

Su-metal: "Singapore DEATH!!"

 

Q52: What country or place would you like to go to?

Yuimetal: "The three of us often say to ourselves that we would like to go to Australia!"

 

Q53: Is there a secret method to never let your sense of curiosity dry up?

Su-metal: "Just take an interest in what you honestly like."

 

Q54: Did you watch this year’s Grammy show?

Su-metal: "No! I get the image that it is a place where many great artists all gather together."

 

Q55: How do you create opportunities in life?

Su-metal: "Believe in your own intuition!"

 

Q56: What was the scariest thing to happen to you in your life?

Su-metal: "One night when I was an elementary school student I suddenly opened my eyes and in the dark of the room my clothes and the furniture all looked like animals!"

 

Q57: What was the biggest misfortune in your life?

Moametal: "Many things have happened to me. But, they have all been rather small in nature so I am grateful that I have made it to today unscathed DEATH!!"

 

Q58: Do you feel your bonds with the Kami band have deepened?

Su-metal: "As we play more and more live performances together I feel our bonds of connection have grown deeper."

 

Q59: When you travel around for your shows what do you do for entertainment on your days off?

Moametal: "Of course I like to eat! It is my greatest pleasure DEATH!!"

 

Q60: How did you feel when you were being suspended in the gondola at the Yokohama Arena show?

Yuimetal: "I felt the friendly and warm emotions of the fans and was filled with gratitude. I was so happy that they had brought us this far."

 

Q61: What was the happiest thing connected with your birthday (Seitansai)?

Su-metal: "The three of us dancing ‘Onedari Daisakusen’ together. I had wanted to do that from before so I was so happy when we were able to do it DEATH!!"

 

Q62: Su-metal-san,what part of your character jumps out in live performances?

Su-metal: "In live shows I feel that ‘I want everyone to come along together with us!’ and that feeling gets stronger during the shows."

 

Q63: Moametal-san, what part of your character jumps out in live performances?

Moametal: "As we continue to perform things get so fun that I smile a lot."

 

Q64: Yuimetal-san, what part of your character jumps out in live performances?

Yuimetal: "I am often told that I am too serious."

 

Q65: Is there something that you would never give up?

Su-metal: "That I love to sing."

 

Q66: What do you think you will be like in 10 years?

Yuimetal: "I have absolutely no idea! I can’t even imagine 1 year in the future. I hope that my dreams for the future will have come true."

 

Q67: What would you like to say to yourself 10 years ago?

Yuimetal: "In 10 years from now your life will be filled with nothing but good things so look forward to it."

 

Q68: If you had a time machine when in time would you go back to? Or, when in the future would you like to go to?

Yuimetal: "Maybe when I was born. I would like to go to the future but I have a feeling that you should not know about it."

 

Q69: What scenery do you like most out of the scenery you have seen overseas?

Moametal: "When it is evening but the sun doesn’t set so early. It feels like I have gained some extra day time."

 

Q70: What has moved your heart and mind recently?

Yuimetal: "I love, ‘The Wolf child’ and I watch the DVD and have read the novel over and over and each time I am moved to tears."

 

Q71: What is the way that you most often are made aware of new types of music?

Yuimetal: "I have learned about a wide variety of genres through Babymetal! Babymetal has served as a trigger for meeting so many new types of music!"

 

Q72: Where do you feel most comfortable?

Yuimetal: "My house, I think. And of course, Babymetal DEATH!! Of course the food we eat overseas is all delicious, but as you can imagine, the best are the meals my mother makes for me at home."

 

Q73: What event caused you to think that you are being supported by the fans?

Moametal: "I am grateful at all times. Every day!"

 

Q74: Is there a live performance where you felt that you had been saved by the cheers or support of the fans?

Moametal: "At some of the overseas shows the environment is different from what we are used to or the air conditioning equipment is not up to good standards and at those times the cheers of the fans really make me feel better."

 

Q75: Are the overseas fans different from the ones in Japan?

Yuimetal: "The approach to having fun at the shows differs from country to country. But the feeling of love toward Babymetal is the same both overseas and in Japan."

 

Q76: What song is most popular with the overseas fans?

Su-metal: "‘Gimme Choco!’ DEATH. This is the song that they sing along with us the most."

 

Q77: Is there something that you are always asked by the overseas media?

Moametal: "‘What is the difference between the overseas fans and the Japanese fans?’ is a the one we are asked most often."

 

Q78: What song do you want to perform the most at the Tokyo Dome?

Su-metal: "‘The One’ DEATH!! I am so excited about what kind of cheers there will be for that song DEATH!!"

 

Q79: I am sure that you were surprised when you were informed you would be playing at the Tokyo Dome, but what is the most surprising thing you have encountered thus far?

Yuimetal: "We are truly surprised with each divine message each and every time! And so the Tokyo Dome is the most surprising what at the present time DEATH!!"

 

Q80: You start off your 3rd World tour with a bang at the Wembely Arena. How do you feel about this?

Su-metal: "For us, London is a turning point location so we are very excited about what kind of a start it will turn out to be."

 

Q81: You will be touring in America as well…what are your aims for the overseas tour?

Moametal: "To tear down the walls of language and connect everyone through music DEATH!!"

 

Q82: What are your aims for the Japan side of the tour?

Moametal: "A nation-wide tour DEATH!!"

 

Q83: What kind of entity is the god of Metal?

Su-metal: "It is an entity that has the power to release the hearts and minds of people through the power of music."

 

Q84: Are we loved by the god of Metal?

Su-metal: "Yes!!"

 

Q85: Any episodes you felt a bond with the three all together?

Moametal: "We can understand each other for some reason even when we are silent."

 

Q86: Could you tell us an episode that illustrates your close bonds with the Kami band?

Moametal: "We can tell by looking around that they are looking out for us by carefully observing everything that goes on."

 

Q87: How was the still photographic session for this issue of PMC? Please tell us your impressions of it. (Scans here)

Su-metal: "It brought out more of a cool feel to us than other photo sessions and had a feeling of freshness to it. It was fun DEATH!!"

 

Q88: What food did you get most excited about in either your overseas or domestic tours?

Su-metal: "The Schnitzel we ate in Germany! It was really delicious DEATH!!"

 

Q89: If you have a Babymetal merchandise item that you are particularly fond of could you tell us what it is?

Moametal: "Right now it would be the long hoped for Coach Jacket DEATH!!"

 

Q90: What is your treasured item?

Moametal: "All of the people that Moametal has been able to meet."

 

Q91: What is something that made you so thrilled with anticipation that you couldn’t sleep?

Su-metal: "The day before the Budokan live DEATH!! I was performing the show even in my dreams."

 

Q92: What is your life motto?

Yuimetal: "To burn up all of my available energy."

 

Q93: Who do you respect and admire?

Su-metal: "Metallica-san DEATH!!"

 

Q94: What message that you have received from the legends of Metal made the biggest impression on you?

Su-metal: "When Judas Priest-san told us they ‘Love Gimme Choco!’ so much that they sang it themselves DEATH!!"

 

Q95: When were you most nervous in your life?

Su-metal: "The first time I sang in front of an audience."

 

Q96: What was the happiest moment of your life?

Moametal: "Being born."

 

Q97: Can you give some words to Kitsune-sama?

Yuimetal: "Thank you for letting us enjoy so many precious experiences. Please continue to look after and support us. I want to meet you directly someday DEATH!!"

 

Q98: Can you give some words to the Kami band?

Moametal: "Please continue to look favorably upon us. And, thank you for everything up to now."

 

Q99: Can you give some words to Mikikometal-sensei?

Yuimetal: "I truly love Mikikometal-sensei’s dances DEATH!! I really like to imagine what intent she had for the messages she puts in the choreography and to then try to express that in the dances. Please continue to look favorably upon us."

 

Q100: Can you give some words to the readers of this article?

Su-metal: "Babymetal will continue to grow and develop. Please be looking forward to how things go from here."

 

 

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Translation by: Thomas Malone

Correction of Question #85 by: Hitoshi Sugioka.

Check the scans of PMC Music Complex Vol.4, CLICK HERE.

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