Hi, ONers! SPACE SHOWER RETSUDEN ASIA TOUR 2017 powered by MCIP in Singapore is getting nearer! This week, we will have interviews of the bands that will perform in the event. For a start, we have Kyuso Nekokami (キュウソネコカミ)!

The band formed back in 2009 by students of Kwansei Gakuin University who already had experience of performing with bands before. They started their career on stage in 2010 in live houses across the Kansai area. Their first full album, Juudai de Dashitakatta, consisting of 11 songs, was released in March five years ago. In 2015, they turned major with the full album Change the World.

The current line up consists of Yamasaki Seiya (vocals, guitars), Okazawa Kazuma (guitars), Kawakubo Takuro (bass), Yokota Shinosuke (keyboard), and Sogo Taisuke (drums). They answered our questions about various things – from how their names are written, their favourite games, to their music and videos. (And you’ve just got to check their MVs on Youtube – they are quirky and entertaining!) Now, on to the interview!

First thing first… We wonder why you write the names of all members in katakana, like the band’s name. Any special reason for that?

[Seiya] If we were to reveal our real names, people can write them in the Death Note…

You took your name from an accessory from the game Final Fantasy. Do you play video games a lot?

[Seiya] I do play games.

[Okazawa] Recently, I’ve been playing the Ace Attorney series as well as Pokemon GO.

[Sogo] I bought a PS4 recently so whenever I’m at home, I’m usually playing games. When I’m outside, I’ll walk around with my Nintendo 3DS and play Pokemon, or I’ll play games on my iPhone.

[Yokota] Seiya (Vo) and Sogo (Dr), in particular, are really into Final Fantasy. I don’t really play games so I can’t say I know much, but Seiya did mention once that he respects Sogo because he managed to defeat a boss that was especially difficult to beat.

[Takuro] I think I’m someone who plays a lot of games. I probably played the most during the time of the Super Famicom console, Playstation, Playstation 2 and Playstation Portable. After that, I got hooked on playing simulation games like Taiko Risshiden, Civilization and the Sim series on the computer. Since I’m not home a lot nowadays, I only play games once in a while on my smartphone. If I could, I’d love to play a bit more.

You have a mascot, Nezumi-kun. Can you tell us the story behind your mascot, and why Nezumi-kun often appears in collaboration with the mascots of group_inou and Arukara?

[Seiya] Originally, we created at t-shirt which had a small rat bite a big cat. That small rat became Kyuso Nekokami’s mascot, Nezumi-kun. Nezumi-kun is a lot more sociable than our members and he always want to get out more and also collaborate with other characters.

Band members have different tastes in music – we read that members like Rage Against the Machines, The Vines, Spitz… How do you work together to create ‘Kyuso Nekokami’s music’?

[Seiya] Even when we strive to create music like the bands we look up to, it always ends up becoming Kyuso Nekokami’s music.

[Yokota] As most of our music is the result of adding our own arrangements once we have a rough outline, our sound is always fort of weird. The music each member adds isn’t an exact replica of their favourite artistes either and I think it’s from there that we are able to find Kyuso Nekokami’s originality.

How do you come up with concepts for your videos? They are so interesting and can be very funny!

[Yokota] The concept of our music videos usually comes from the ideas of our director Katomani. He always keeps in mind nuances of our songs and thinks of ways to express that in an interesting manner, which is something we respect him for. Thanks to him, we’ve been able to produce really good videos because our ideas are in sync.

Which video making did you enjoy the best, and why?

[Yokota] It would be the “MEGA SHAKE IT!!” music video. We actually took lessons to learn the moves, for the last scene where we danced in K-pop style and we struggled quite a bit with the steps. However, the video turned out amazing with a simple up-to-date choreography within a band’s music video. The fact that we did it in one take, made it all the better!

Do you have any special preparations for the live in Singapore? What can we expect from you?

[Seiya] We are rehearsing as per usual for our show in Singapore. The highlight of the show would be everything else but our faces.

[Yokota] As it is our first performance overseas, we are planning to do a show that has been well received by our Japanese fans so we hope you guys would like it too. We will do our best for the show and hope that our fans to sing and dance along while enjoying our performance.

Last but not least, please say a thing or two for people who are waiting to see you in Singapore, and for fans in general!

[Yokota] We are doing what only Japanese people can do through our lyrics and live performances, but we will do our very best to reach out to everyone who is coming so do come and enjoy our performance and Japanese culture.