Sophia from Blood Stain Child was recently interviewed by the Welsh-based radio station GTFM. The interview was broadcast this evening and the following is a transcript. I have also recorded the show as an extra in case any of you missed it!
[Introduction of BSC]
Q:How did you get involved in this scene as a Greek person?
A:That's a pretty special story. Greek people are full of surprises. I haven't always been a singer. I used to be a lawyer and translator. Music was the first thing I learnt as I come from a musical family. On the side I used to be a visual kei event organiser and promoter so I got to know many bands back then such as Blood Stain Child. I mentioned I was a musician so we demo'd for fun. I submitted some lousy covers and to my surprise he loved them. They were two covers by the cure...
Q:Oh, Which ones?
A:Love song and the last day of summer.
Q:It's an interesting story. Your life must have been busy at that time.
A:Yes, it was very busy.
Q:You describe yourself as sort of cyber metal. Could you describe this?
A:Cyber metal is an interesting characterisation. Our influence ranges from trance, techno, European melodic metal, visual kei etc. Japanese musicians can throw everything into a blender and make it come together.
Q:Is that you in the cover on Epsilon?
A:Yes it's made by a video game designer and it was based on an image of me.
Q:I can see how the cyber and metal come together from this cover.
A:The main composer of Blood Stain Child loves games and anime and such so that's the main influence.
Q:What about the metal side of it, how would you describe yourself musically?
A:I don't think we fell under a certain genre. We can't call ourselves metal or rock we are unique so BSC sounds like BSC
Q:Epsilon is the fifth album and the first with you on vocals and Gami on drums. What are you trying to do with this album instead of the previous four?
A:It's after epsilon from the fifth Greek alphabet letter. We just did what felt right and they always used guest female vocals. In this album it played the main role and we have created a mix of beautiful and aggressive elements. Ryu wanted it to sound like a movie track from outer space.
Q:It sounds like that with rocky riffs and a techno underscore. I guess that's where the cyber idea comes across. Your main success as a band has been in Japan and Korea. How is the music scene there and the audiences?
A:We never played in Korea, just distribution, but the guys played in Taiwan before. We recently played in Texas, Dallas (A-Kon) and in Japan the scene has a lot of pink and sparkly J-Pop. Metal pop and rock is very popular but there isn't a big scene in metal. But there are many metal inspired visual kei bands but not metal in the western sense
Q:What audiences have you played for?
A:Well most have been metal fans. It was nice to spot a lot of my favourite visual kei band members watching in the audience and enjoying it which was refreshing.
Q:Once you finish your song they go mad for it so is that the same as what you do?
A:Japanese audiences are not as wild at concerts but we get a few crazy fans, still, in Japan (like Tokyo and Nagoya)!
Q:What other bands do you play with in Japan?
A:There is a cool band we usually play with called Punisher who are more metal than us. Also, 404NOT FOUND etc.
Q:So there is a scene for your band?
A:It's like a family scene.
Q:Japan is a big place so do you think BSC are based in Osaka or getting a big fan base over Japan?
A:We are bigger in Tokyo than Osaka even though we are based in Osaka.
Q:In regards to yourself as a band across Japan, as it's such a big place, do you find it's hard to get yourself into different parts of Japan? Do you stick to a certain area?
A:No we go everywhere. Our national tour starts soon so we're going all over so we don't need to stick to one area.
Q:So the audiences come out?
A:Yeah there is at least one person everywhere.
Q:What’s your favourite gig?
A:A-Kon. It's the longest running con in America and everyone was going wild for us, unlike the moderately frantic crowd in Japan. They were all great, the co-coordinator and everyone, that we wanted to stay there.
Q:Did it feel good to get out of Japan?
A:At least I could speak in English. In Japanese gigs I have to MC in Japanese and I'm not perfect in that so I get to speak in English for a change.
Q:It's helpful for the interview! You have a lot of stage outfits made, tell me about them.
A:I am a big fan of clothes. A friend of mine is a famous Lolita brand and I got them to make me some clothes. It's a neo-Victorian style. We got them to design them and we're very happy with them. Me and Ryu acted as a shop manager for a day, too. We also took part in a fashion show at A-Kon.
Q:Describe the costume.
A:They are very retro and romantic with a neo-victorian outfit.
Q:There are pictures on your site anyway, right? BSC's third album Idolator was the first big world release. This helped get more fans, right?
A:Yes but with epsilon we're going for an even bigger impact. We're hoping to tour around the world and you might see us somewhere near you soon!
Q:That would be very nice to see you in the UK. The album is called epsilon released in July. How was it received and what can we expect soon?
A:The album is going very well in Japan and in European and US fans have given lots of great comments. Fans have adapted to the new sounds and image. This might be difficult for some fans but they worked with it well. We have some plans in Europe soon and some secret projects!
Q:Thank you for the interview, Sophia!
A:Thank you, it was an honour.
Find the whole interview here.
-Akumu
I missed it, actually, I didn't know about it, so thank you for sharing :D
ReplyDeleteYou're more than welcome, Toshi :) Hope you enjoyed it.
ReplyDelete