BABYMETAL was interviewed on March 30 in London by Upset Magazine before the worldwide release of "Metal Resistance" and their show at Wembley Arena. The interview released on May 5 features the girls talking about their expectations before the release of the album, their insecurities, and what "Metal Resistance" means for BABYMETAL as a whole. Read a summary of the interview with the most important, and the scans below.
BABYMETAL interviewed on Upset Magazine May 2016
There are two stores about where BABYMETAL came from...
One is that producer Key Kobayashi formed the band around Suzuka Nakamoto in 2010 alongside Yui Mizuno and Moa Kikuchi to blend sugar-coated pop with the weight of metal after realising that metal, as a genre, was only getting older. The trio was a subgroup of Japanese Idol band Sakura Gakuin for a while until Suzuka "graduated" at the age of fifteen and BABYMETAL branched out alone.
The other story is that many years ago The FOX GOD blessed three girls with the potential to become heavy metal guardians. Each of the girls, Su-Metal, Yuimetal and Moametal, has their own power to help them achieve this while Kobayashi acts as The FOX GOD's messenger. A Power Ranges 'teenagers with attitude' sorta deal.
Two years on from "BABYMETAL", the band released "Metal Resistance" and it justified all that talk. Charting on both sides of the Atlantic as well as at home, the band also pulled off a confident headline slot at London's Wembley Arena to kickstart a world tour that would eventually wind up at the 55.000 capacity Tokyo Dome. More than that though, "Metal Resistance" is a great album. Debates about authenticity don't mean much when a band is fully commited to entertainment and inspiring a good time.
"We've grown so much and in so many different aspecs," begins Moametal. "We're taller than before", she adds with a grin shared by Yuimetal and Su-Metal. It's two days before "Metal Resistance" is released on what the band, and their fans, have dubbed International FOX DAY. It's a day that will also see "the new BABYEMETAL revealed to the world."
"The reaction to the first album was more than we expected," starts Yuimetal. "People really liked it so obviously we weren't sure if we could beat that with our second album. We weren't sure if we could surpass the first album but after listening to 'Metal Resistance', I realised that this album is a good one. I'm confident people will like it."
But it's not just BABYMETAL who have changed. Their scene-straddling stance, thought looked at wit ha raised eyebrow, has kicked open door to a world normally ruled by the old guard. They've become a gateway to the alternative.
"I'm very happy to hear that BABYMETAL is a stepping stone for people who have never listened to metal before", starts Yuimetal. It's a path all three of them know well. "If I wasn't in BABYMETAL, I might not even been exposed to the music that I've been exposed to today," reasons Moametal. "There wouldn't have been any other way for me to." It's an education the band want to share. "The fact we're able to do this is something we're very prod of. I hope we can continue to do it in the future."
"Metal resistance is a phrase that symbolises what BABYMETAL have done since we've been around. This album will amplify it even more," explains Moametal.
"I'm aware Metal music has a lot of dar elements and people write about things they're unhappy with or not satisfied about," starts Su-Metal. "BABYMETAL has a different approach..." the band wants t people to, "feel happier and feel like the ycan overcomme anything. That's something that's important to us. That's why BABYMETAL sounds and appears the way that we do," Su-Metal offers.
"On this album, we traied a lot of new things so it was difficult at times There's a song "The One", that's recorded all in English, which was a big challenge for us. I realised speaking in English and singing in English are two very different things," explains Su-Metal.
"When we were younger," starts Moametal, "much young than today," she quickly adds wit ha laugh. "We're still young but when we were much younger, for us the world outside of Japan only existed on TV and in films. It was something that was very far out of reach. We didn't think it would be someplace we would ever be out obviously, we're here today. Knowing that we have fans so far outside of Japan is an amazing feeling for us but we hope we can reach out to more people acorss the world."
Offers Su-Metal: "We're very proud to be the only artist in the music scene doing what we're doing and that's probably the biggest reason people are reacting in the way that they are towards BABYMETAL."
"Why we're doing what we're doing today is because we hope to be as influential as Metallica or Bring Me The Horizon but we're not sure if that's possible. There are lot of things we're unsure of. We don't know whether we can do it but it is something we do hope we can be," dreams Moametal, "One day".
"Something we've always said from the very beginning is that we want to create a new genre of usic that is called BABYMETAL," adds Yuimetal.
Say what you like, BABYMETAL arent's backing down. Their origin isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things when their future, while unwritten and unpredictable, is racked with so much potential. One thing that's certain though is you can't manufacture a reaction, and thats exactly what BABYMETAL inspire.
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Interview and article by: Upset Magazine.
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