fade - Red Bull Live on the Road 2013 Interview
This was put up a few days ago on RBLotR's website.
Original text (Japanese)
fade: Jon Underdown (Vo) rui (Dr)
-Can you share some advice based on any experiences you’ve had (as a band) to the young and newly-formed bands here?
Jon: If you really want to play music, give it your all and have fun. Learn how to use and make the best of the internet. AND!!! Learn how to have a blast at lives.
-Can you tell us about any hardships you’ve experienced since the band started?
Jon: Well, since today’s fade started 11 years ago, we’ve experienced a lot! Each member has had personal hardships, as well as issues with the band and their playing abilities. Learning how to communicate is super important!
-You’ve probably had some times where you felt truly accomplished as a band. Can you tell us about one of those experiences?
rui: What really makes us feel like we’ve accomplished something is when we can see our fans enjoying the music we’ve worked so hard to make. Seeing how your fans react up close becomes an important reference.
-Tell us about some difficulties you’ve experienced while composing. If you have any advice, please share!
rui: I’m the type that doesn’t usually come up with anything until the last minute, so I’m always watching movies until then (laughs). I get a lot of inspiration from film. Since I’m always thinking about making songs, it gets kind of frustrating because there isn’t an on/off switch. If you’re looking for one piece of advice from me, though, it would probably be that if you can’t think of music or lyrics right now, do something else for a while. I usually go outside for a bit.
-What about any advice on recording?
rui: Pre-production takes the most time. Recording is for polishing up arrangements-however long it takes-to produce a good recording. It’s also when you take your work to the next level.
-Is there any sort of “trigger” or “concept” that has helped you make a lot of progress as a band?
Jon: rui, Kansei, and Noriyuki are from NYC; Godo was born and raised in Japan; and I’m from Seattle. Somehow, we all met 11 years ago in Tokyo and started the band. The mixture of our backgrounds gives us a lot of variety and makes us really dynamic and international.
-Going on long tours obviously has its rough points and also brings the band closer together, but how do these long tours make you feel? Also, do you have any advice on performing a live tour?
Jon: If you do it right, it’s beyond awesome! If the band or one of the members is in a slump, though, it really sucks!! (laughs) In any case, the most important thing is to make the audience have fun while enjoying yourself as much as you can. Get friendly with your booking manager and other bands, get contact info from those around you and make the best use of SNS (social networking sites). PLAY YOUR HEARTS OUT AND PLAY EACH SHOW LIKE IT COULD BE YOUR LAST.
-Give a shout out to the winning bands that stood on the RBLOTR stage with you.
Jon: RBLOTR was really fun! It was a great event, wasn’t it? Keep working as a band with all you’ve got! Try your best to win the championship and play at SUMMER SONIC!
-Do you have any upcoming tours or releases?
Jon: In June, we’ll be playing at Shinsaibashi DROP on 6/6 and at SAKAE SP-RING 2013 on 6/8. Until then, we’ll be trying to finish up our new album. We’ll be making our major debut with Universal Music at the end of this summer, so look forward to it~!
Translation: Shannon
(This goes for every translation I make, but just a reminder: if you have any corrections on this, please feel free to post them. I'm still learning, so there are probably a lot of things that could be phrased better.)
Original text (Japanese)
fade: Jon Underdown (Vo) rui (Dr)
-Can you share some advice based on any experiences you’ve had (as a band) to the young and newly-formed bands here?
Jon: If you really want to play music, give it your all and have fun. Learn how to use and make the best of the internet. AND!!! Learn how to have a blast at lives.
-Can you tell us about any hardships you’ve experienced since the band started?
Jon: Well, since today’s fade started 11 years ago, we’ve experienced a lot! Each member has had personal hardships, as well as issues with the band and their playing abilities. Learning how to communicate is super important!
-You’ve probably had some times where you felt truly accomplished as a band. Can you tell us about one of those experiences?
rui: What really makes us feel like we’ve accomplished something is when we can see our fans enjoying the music we’ve worked so hard to make. Seeing how your fans react up close becomes an important reference.
-Tell us about some difficulties you’ve experienced while composing. If you have any advice, please share!
rui: I’m the type that doesn’t usually come up with anything until the last minute, so I’m always watching movies until then (laughs). I get a lot of inspiration from film. Since I’m always thinking about making songs, it gets kind of frustrating because there isn’t an on/off switch. If you’re looking for one piece of advice from me, though, it would probably be that if you can’t think of music or lyrics right now, do something else for a while. I usually go outside for a bit.
-What about any advice on recording?
rui: Pre-production takes the most time. Recording is for polishing up arrangements-however long it takes-to produce a good recording. It’s also when you take your work to the next level.
-Is there any sort of “trigger” or “concept” that has helped you make a lot of progress as a band?
Jon: rui, Kansei, and Noriyuki are from NYC; Godo was born and raised in Japan; and I’m from Seattle. Somehow, we all met 11 years ago in Tokyo and started the band. The mixture of our backgrounds gives us a lot of variety and makes us really dynamic and international.
-Going on long tours obviously has its rough points and also brings the band closer together, but how do these long tours make you feel? Also, do you have any advice on performing a live tour?
Jon: If you do it right, it’s beyond awesome! If the band or one of the members is in a slump, though, it really sucks!! (laughs) In any case, the most important thing is to make the audience have fun while enjoying yourself as much as you can. Get friendly with your booking manager and other bands, get contact info from those around you and make the best use of SNS (social networking sites). PLAY YOUR HEARTS OUT AND PLAY EACH SHOW LIKE IT COULD BE YOUR LAST.
-Give a shout out to the winning bands that stood on the RBLOTR stage with you.
Jon: RBLOTR was really fun! It was a great event, wasn’t it? Keep working as a band with all you’ve got! Try your best to win the championship and play at SUMMER SONIC!
-Do you have any upcoming tours or releases?
Jon: In June, we’ll be playing at Shinsaibashi DROP on 6/6 and at SAKAE SP-RING 2013 on 6/8. Until then, we’ll be trying to finish up our new album. We’ll be making our major debut with Universal Music at the end of this summer, so look forward to it~!
Translation: Shannon
(This goes for every translation I make, but just a reminder: if you have any corrections on this, please feel free to post them. I'm still learning, so there are probably a lot of things that could be phrased better.)