The day before flumpool’s concert “WHAT ABOUT EGGS?” ~Singapore Special~, the band’s fans were very fortunate to be able to attend a special open press conference, held at the Atrium of Marina Square Mall on Friday, July 22, 2016. The members of flumpool, Ryuta, Genki, Kazuki, and Seiji, came on stage to the deafening cheers from their fans. The members all introduced themselves cheerfully in English, and took their seats on stage. The press conference officially began, with a short chat with the host.

What was your best impression of Singapore two years ago?

Ryuta: We were very eager to come back to Singapore this time. Since we arrived in Singapore we’ve been doing interviews, and have not walked around the city yet, but I really want to eat chilli crab! I’m looking forward to it!

Kazuki: Memories? Hmm… I want to go to the casino!

Ryuta: No no no!

Kazuki: I’ve already brought the money just for it you know.

Ryuta: You can’t, you can’t!

Genki: We went to USS (Universal Studios Singapore) previously, two years ago. We went together and it was really fun so I would like to go there again! Especially the Transformers ride!

Ryuta nodded in agreement, and asked the host whether there were any new rides at USS, but unfortunately there weren’t.

The “FOR ROOTS” concert will be showing on WAKUWAKU JAPAN on 27 August, from 2.00-4.15pm, could you share with us something about the “FOR ROOTS” concert that we should be looking forward to?

Ryuta immediately noticed a fan below holding up the banner of the “FOR ROOTS” concert, and asked him where he got it. Apparently the fan had gone to the “FOR ROOTS” concert in Osaka last year, and it rained heavily on that day. Ryuta, as well as the rest of the members were pleasantly surprised and grateful for the fan’s support. He asked the rest of the fans if any one of them had also attended the “FOR ROOTS” outdoor concert, and to their delight, there were a few others! “They look Japanese though,” said Genki. “Yeah the people back there are all Japanese,” agreed Kazuki. “Are there any Singaporeans who came for the concert?” Ryuta rephrased his question. When only one person put up their hand, Ryuta said, “Oh Singapore….” cheekily.

What song from the album, “EGG” would you recommend to everyone?

Kazuki: One of the songs that was playing just now, World beats was a song where we did some experimenting with EDM, and it’s quite an energetic song that is good to sing at concerts. For those who are able to come tomorrow, please enjoy twirling your towels in the air! When asked to recommend another song, Kazuki said, “Another song would be DILEMMA. I personally like that song most, from this album.”

Singapore is the last stop for flumpool’s “WHAT ABOUT EGGS?” tour, which started in Japan, and moved on to Taiwan, then Singapore. Were there any interesting episodes during the tour?

Ryuta: While we’re touring, we’ll eat a lot and put on weight, so we got into the habit of jogging. One day when I was running along the road, two girls saw me and came running up to me. I was jogging so I couldn’t give any signatures, so i just continued jogging while saying thank you to them. However, they didn’t stop there and kept running after me, so the scene probably looked like two girls running after a thief, so that was kind of funny. I’ll probably be jogging in Singapore, so if you see me, please don’t run after me!

Could you tell us what we can expect from the concert tomorrow?

Ryuta: Tomorrow’s concert will be our performance in Singapore after two years, so it’s very special for us and we’re all really hyped up about it! Also, our newest album, “EGG” shows another side of us, and it’s an album that has a more rock feel than our previous albums. We’ve already done more than 20 shows for this tour, and as tomorrow is the tour’s final show, it’ll definitely be a very special night.

Do you have any plans for the second half of the year?

Ryuta: We can’t announce it yet but we have really awesome stuff planned for the rest of the year! If you guys can join us in Japan, please come!

After the initial few questions, the press conference opened for the media on the floor.

At the end of “WHAT ABOUT EGGS?” tour tomorrow, do you have anything planned?

Kazuki: Casino?

Ryuta: No casino.

Kazuki: But I’ve brought the money already. Hmm, is there any place that you would recommend us to go visit?

The fans erupted with suggestions of places in Singapore, including Singapore Flyer, the Singapore Zoo, Gardens by the Bay, and even Geylang Serai (where one of the fans actually lives).

Are there any artists that flumpool would like to collaborate with?

Ryuta: There’s a band called “The Sam Willows” in Singapore, and their music is really good, we would love to collaborate with them. It’ll be a new experience collaborating with them, as our band has only guys in it.

If someone is new to J-pop, which flumpool song would you recommend them?

Kazuki said that through introducing flumpool songs, he would probably be changing the whole style of J-pop, and that it is very difficult to choose one song. After some discussion among themselves, flumpool chose Yoru wa Nemurerukai? to recommend to a first-time J pop listener, the opening song for the anime, AJIN.

You have done songs for a lot of anime and drama, so out of those anime or drama, which would be your favourite?

After some thought, all the members said that they would probably still choose the anime, AJIN as they all love it. Ryuta said that he would recommend Captain Earth, from which they sang the opening song, Believer’s High.

After the Question and Answer session, flumpool began preparing for a special segment! They had specially brought their gear down to perform a song for the audience, with Seiji on the cajon box. They even chatted casually with the fans in the audience while setting up their instruments. It was a special performance of the acoustic version of Yoru wa Nemurerukai. It was really refreshing to hear the acoustic version, which brings whole new feel to the song while retaining its essence at the same time. It was a really nice preview to the concert on Saturday.

After the short performance, the members of flumpool gathered back on stage to present prizes to the some very lucky contest winners! All of them had huge grins on their faces as they received either an autographed copy of EGG or an autographed poster from flumpool themselves.

With that, the special open press conference had officially ended. Stay tuned for our report of the “WHAT ABOUT EGGS?” concert, which was held on the next day!

Reporting by Elenaril

Pictures by Elenaril & SP