GangLioN was in Europe in March and April and played two times in the Netherlands: April 2nd in Haarlem and April 3rd in Uden. Before the first show in the Netherlands, at Patronaat in Haarlem, we got the chance to sit down with the girls from GangLioN to talk about their music, their stay in Europe and more.
AVO: How would you describe, in your own words, the music of GangLioN to someone new to the band in terms of sound, style, genre?
Oni: Our sound is new music, because drummer ViVi likes hardrock sounds, bassist ebi likes post rock, guitarist sagara likes punk and metal music and I like UK rock like Lost Prophets and emo/scream. So the genre is mixed, we call it mixed new music.
AVO So there is always inspiration for new music?
Oni: Yes.
AVO: Your first show abroad was Oni-Con last October 2014. How was it?
Oni: It was so exciting!
AVO: You are in Europe now. How do you feel about the fact that you are having a European tour?
sagara: We have so much fun here. *laughs*
Oni: The many things I saw are inspiring.
sagara: The differences between the Europe and Japan are big, so we are are like “Aaaah!! Much difference!”.
AVO: Did you have any time to sightsee in Europe?
Oni: We did sightsee.
sagara: In Cologne we saw a big church, the Dom.
Oni: We worked around the city and eat at the restaurant, so we didn’t see much.
AVO: And what do you want to see?
sagara: When I was at elementary school or junior high school student I learned about the Netherlands and the ‘polders’. I became interested in it, so I thought “when I am older I want to come to the Netherlands to see the polder”. When people asked me “To what foreign country do you want to go?”, I always said that I wanted to go the Netherlands. So my dream came true!
AVO: And you will play two times in the Netherlands, today and tomorrow, so you are lucky.
sagara: Yes! *laughs*
Everyone: *cheer*
AVO: What was your impression of the Netherlands?
Oni: Beautiful views.
sagara: Much Nature and the houses, they are so cute.
Oni: And there are many farms. So we were surprised.
AVO: So you saw much grass, cows, sheeps..
Oni: Yes, yes, yes.
AVO: You are here at the right time, because everything is starting to bloom. And the cows came out of their stalls last month, because the Winter has ended. And they were very happy. And we have trees with blossoms.
Everyone: Aaah!
AVO: What do you like more: making music or performing on stage? And why is that?
Oni: It is equal for me.
sagara: That is the same for me. Oni is good at making songs.
Oni: At live shows we can meet our audience, that makes us happy. I love live shows. When we make our music, it is great fun. When we make new songs and perform them live, we can see the audience enjoy the songs and we feel good about it.
AVO: The Visual Kei scene mostly exists of bands with only men. How do you feel in this scene as one of the not so many female Visual Kei bands? Is there any difference?
sagara: In Japan there are many differences because Visual Kei fans come to live shows and they want to see beautiful men. We performed with a male Visual Kei band, the audience left when we were on stage because they don’t like female Visual Kei bands. It is difficult for us. Overseas fans don’t mind the gender.
Oni: Our fans in Japan are not only Visual kei fans, but also pop music fans and metal music fans. Male and female.
sagara: Europe fans are so nice.
Oni: Maybe in Japan people think that GangLioN isn’t Visual kei. But overseas fans think that GangLioN is a Visual Kei band. It is okay!
sagara: I like Visual Kei too.
Oni: So maybe it is different for the Japanese fans and the overseas fans, but it is okay.
AVO: In September you released a new mini-album called INFINITY. Also you have just released a new music video of this same mini-album. Do you have any future plans for a new release?
Oni: To be continued.
Everybody: *laughs*
Oni: Now we are making it.
sagara: We are preparing it now, when there is time during the tour in Europe. So maybe after the tour.
AVO: So you are now working on new music?
sagara: We are always making new songs. And we talk about it: “How about this?” “Yes, it is good.”
AVO: So if you had a great live show you will have inspiration for new music?
sagara: Yes!
Oni: Yes!
AVO Blog: That is interesting!
AVO Blog: Do you prefer to express emotion through lyrics or melody or other aspects of playing music?
Oni: Lyrics. Some songs are different. One song uses emotion through sound, another song uses emotion through lyrics.
AVO: Are there songs of GangLioN that have a special meaning for you? If yes, what song and why this song?
ViVi: Dearness from mini-album INFINITY, because the lyrics is about her father.
ebi: Distance from INFINITY, last year May I came to the band. So I am a new member. This song is the first song for me that we made with each other. So it is special for me.
sagara: One Feel. I wrote this song. I was thinking about ourselves and wrote the lyrics. So that is why I like this song.
Oni: I love every song, so it is difficult to choose. I like Distance. The sound producer of the mini album INFINITY is Yuyoyuppe, he makes the music for Hatsune Miku. I am a big fan of him. So when we started with INFINITY, we were talking with each other and asked ourselves: “Who is good as a sound producer?” So I was thinking about Yuyoyuppe. He is now producing for BABYMETAL. So his sound is so good. So he makes his sounds and I like the sound of INFINITY.
AVO: We know that Oni is a dansou model. Why did you chosen to do this?
Oni: I am modelling for the magazine KERA. When I was a highschool student I was wearing the cloths shown in KERA. I like KERA fashion. When I started GangLioN, there were only male fans. So I want to female music fans to know about GangLioN. When I was working at Harajuku I was scouted for the magazine. It was good for the band and for me and decided to become a model.
AVO: Does the rest of the band have interest in fashion?
Everyone: Yes!
AVO: What is your favorite fashion brand?
sagara: I like the brand RNA Media.
emi: I like usual clothing.
ViVi: I like clothing in the colors black and purple.
AVO: We are at the end of the interview. Do you have a message for the Dutch and Belgian readers of our website?
Oni: So I saw the website of AVO recently. I read about the fans message that you have shared. We are very happy that there are fans in the Netherlands and in Belgium. So today we can play in the Netherlands. We are looking forward to see you. Thank you!
sagara: I am so happy to be here in the Netherlands. It was one of my dreams to be here. The happiest thing is to come here with my band and play our songs. I am so happy to have fans. I want you to listen to our songs on YouTube or iTunes. I want to know how you feel about the songs. And someday I want to meet you in our show.
emi: I didn’t think that I would play here in Europe. I want to say to the fans: I love you.
ViVi: I express my feelings and emotion by drums. I play with lots of love and hope that everybody feel it.
Everyone: Me too!
I want to thank GangLioN for the time for this fun interview. I want to thank the manager Tsunemasa Ohmori and Crosslight Global Entertainment for the possibility to interview the band. And I want to thank Léonie (Shizu) for her help during the interview. If you want to know more about the band, please check out their English official homepage!
