BABYMETAL was interviewed by Entertainmente Weekly before the start of the second part of the World Tour 2016 in United States' West Coast. The girls talk about the experience at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and how the exposure helped to sold out tickets in USA, Metal scene support, the feminine perspective of their music and more! Read more below.
BABYMETAL interviewed on Entertainment Weekly from United States
Earlier this year, EW sat down with BABYMETAL (through a translator) to catch up about taking America by storm, and what it was like to meet their metal heroes Metallica.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You made a splash with your late night appearance on Colbert. What was that experience like for you?
Moametal: "We had to travel the very next day, so when we were on board the plane, the stewardess immediately recognized us and said they gave us a bunch of sweets and snacks. That was a great experience."
That was one of the biggest moments you’ve had in the U.S. and made you much more visible to so many new fans.
Su-Metal: "We were pleasantly surprised by how many responses we got after the appearance. When we went to L.A. when we were walking in the town, some people recognized us. After that we were about to embark on the U.S. tour so that the tickets immediately sold out."
This has been a massive year for you. Metal Resistance cracked the Top 40 in the U.S. and the Top 20 in the U.K. What changed for you since you released your first album in 2014?
Yuimetal: "The last two years we’ve been touring around everywhere in international countries and in Japan so we’ve been growing to the next level. At the same time, the popularity grows everywhere, so we feel the difference as we tour. Also, it was very remarkable that we’re the first Japanese artist in 50 years to enter into the Top 40 on Billboard. That was shocking."
How have the other bands in the metal scene reacted to you?
Su-Metal: "Mostly the response has been positive from metal bands and the metal industry. We’re grateful for that. The surprising thing is when we met Judas Priest, they all recognized us. They knew our songs. They knew “Gimme Chocolate!” and started dancing along with the music."
There hasn’t really been a major female metal group that’s had this success, and your songs have a feminine perspective. Do you think about that intentionally when making your music?
Su-Metal: "We’re girls and we’re feminine so it naturally comes into the music but at the same time we intentionally put beauty and females and also Japanese culture J-pop into the music so it creates unique music. Sometimes metal music tends to be very masculine, but because our version of metal is a fusion of dance and heavy metal, all the mixing will create a very different type of music and the female aspect of it will help to create more uniqueness to it."
People have been so taken with your choreography and your dancing. Do you have dance backgrounds? Who comes up with your choreography?
Moametal: "We danced before we formed BABYMETAL but we weren’t familiar with the metal headbanging movement at the beginning. When we first tried “Doki Doki Morning” with headbanging, I had whiplash for the next few days."
Had you been big metal fans before forming the band?
Yuimetal: "Before BABYMETAL I wasn’t familiar with metal. I used to listen to more pop music and anime music, but through BABYMETAL, I discovered not only heavy metal music but it opened the door to other genres."
Are there any artists you hope to work with?
Su-Metal: "Metallica. We first met Metallica members three years ago and at that time we weren’t so into metal music. Actually, the Metallica live concert was the very first heavy metal concert we saw. We met the member of Metallica before they went out on the stage and at that time was “oh such nice, sweet, middle-aged people.” Once they were up on stage, the energy and aura was so enormous so not only just the impression we got but that also really got into our hearts. We learned to appreciate their metal music. That was a great encounter."
What are you most excited about for these U.S. shows?
Su-Metal: "Even though this is the third U.S. Tour, this is an intense one. We’re going to visit so many more cities than we used to in the last two tours. After Colbert, we have more fans who will come to the tour at the venues so we’re looking forward to meeting them. At the same time, because they may know a little bit about BABYMETAL, we have a very exciting live show. Our goal is to mesmerize those people who just started loving BABYMETAL. Because the second album was released recently, through those performances we want to create a new versions with our performances with the audiences."
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Interview by: Entertainment Weekly.
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BAT-METAL (Wednesday, 13 July 2016 06:26)
The surprising thing is when we met Judas Priest, they all recognized us. They knew our songs. They knew “Gimme Chocolate!” and started dancing along with the music." - AWESOME. This is just so awesome!.
I love BABYMETAL interviews - the girls are just so cool, calm, adult, and sweet. . I can't even listen to a Western pop-star interview anymore. - they just seem rude and not that bright.
Stephen Colbert is actually very talented, music-wise, so I wonder if he booked BABYMETAL himself? I like this story so much, I'm sticking with it. I think he introduced them with "I'm not sure what this is, but I'm so exited!"
If I saw BABYMETAL walking down the street in LA, I'd have a heart attack. If I saw them munching on sweets on my flight, I'd have a double heart-attack.! "Hey, I have chocolate, do you need chocolate?" Wonder how sick they are of people offering chocolate. And tomatoes.