【Interview】BAND-MAID on the Feelings From Their US Tour They Want to Share

──Tell me about the music video. There's a lot of footage from the Garden Theater OKYUJI, but what you'd call the image-setting scenes are all of Kobato-san alone in the wilderness of the American West... Has she been left behind alone?

MIKU Kobato: Yes, po. I look like I wandered out there and got lost, po [laughs].

──First off, I have one simple question - why have Kobato-san by herself?
MIKU Kobato: There's no real deep meaning behind it, po.

SAIKI: Right. Sorry, everyone, but there's no greater meaning to it. Instead of a person, the music video starred a pigeon (Kobato) [laughs]. [note: MIKU Kobato's surname means "little pigeon."]

MIKU Kobato: Ha ha ha! While we didn't intend it to have any particular significance, it does make me remember how when the band began 10 years ago, it was just me by myself at the start, and now we're celebrating our 10th anniversary... In the video for our early song "Don't let me down," I'm running by myself, so it makes me think of having grown since then...

SAIKI: You were really running all out in that video!

MIKU Kobato: I still remember how hard it was, po. I was running in heels, after all [laughs]. I thought back on it while shooting the video for "Memorable"... "Right, I was running all by myself; it sure was tough," and "I've experienced all kinds of things filming videos these past 10 years" were some of the things that crossed my mind. On some level, going back to appearing alone in the video for this song is quite moving.

──Did you feel as if you'd come full circle?

MIKU Kobato: Yes, I did, po. A lot of my thoughts and emotions from the past 10 years are right there... To the masters and princesses who have been with us since the start, seeing me walking alone will probably bring back memories.

──Just the image of Kobato-san walking by herself across that vast plane should make people remember "that's right, they started from nothing, just like this."

MIKU Kobato: That's it, po. We started at zero and look how far we've come now. I was sure that message would come through, po.



──That footage was shot from quite far away, so there really was hardly anybody near you during filming, right?

MIKU Kobato: That's right, po. It made me incredibly anxious, po. The only direction I got at the start of filming was "please walk straight along this road," po. I said "okay, po" before anyone had indicated how long or how far I was supposed to go, so I started out walking, but it really was an empty place with nobody else around, and barely any living things, po. From time to time I'd maybe see a lizard, and that was it. But later I found out that there are tarantulas and what they call man-eating ants out there. Oh, the ants don't really eat people, by the way, po [laughs]. They're just extremely large ants, po.

SAIKI: Man-eating ants... [laughs]

KANAMI: [this sets her off and she is now holding back laughter]

──Ants that could really eat people would have to be at least 2 meters long [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: You're quite right, po [laughs]. Anyhow, I was walking through that landscape almost entirely devoid of life. The film crew were so far away, I could barely hear their voices. Only a few drones flew overhead from time to time. It had me really worried, po. So as I was walking along, not sure how far I was supposed to go, I came to the end of the road I was on, so I stopped and stood there looking all around and wondering what I should do now, po. Just then, a truck drove by.

──Wait, so the truck wasn't planned of the storyboard for the video? It showed up by coincidence?

MIKU Kobato: It was a total coincidence, po [laughs].

──I thought it was supposed to be bringing a piano.

MIKU Kobato: No no, po, it wasn't, po. There was a little village just up ahead, so I think it was taking some furniture there, po. The old lady and gentleman who were driving it waved at me, so I bowed back in a "thanks for being friendly, po" kind of way... so that scene was born from an utter coincidence, po [laughs]. It turned out really nice thanks to that.

KANAMI: I didn't know the truck was a coincidence [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: I was at the filming location by myself, so the other band members don't know any of these details, po.

──I think it might be interesting to see each of the five of you walking by herself in a different part of the world. Then at last you'd meet and head off together to begin world domination - how's that for a concept?

SAIKI: Yeah. I think we might like to do that. But a scene like that would be getting into movie territory.

MIKU Kobato: Yes, we'd like to do that as part of a movie, po.

SAIKI: I'll leave that to you, Kobato [laughs].

──I hope you do get the chance to do that sometime. Now, you announced the release of the Tokyo Garden Theater OKYUJI in video form this coming April. Looking back on it now, what was the most memorable thing about that OKYUJI?

MIKU Kobato: To me it was playing an OKYUJI where everyone could finally raise their voices again, after 3 years of restrictions, "Hearing our masters' and princesses' voices is a vital part of our OKYUJI" was my first thought, po. That part of it left the strongest impression for me. Also, seeing all the new faces in the audience. That was a big surprise, po. I'd been worried that we'd have less masters and princesses now than we did 3 years ago, but it turns out that a lot of people heard about us for the first time during the pandemic and took enough of an interest in us to come see us perform, so that's a very important thing that makes me really happy, po.

SAIKI: Everyone being able to use their voices without restrictions is a big part of it, but this was also our biggest-scale performance yet, so the sheer number of amount of people who came was overwhelming at first. I remember thinking "look at this huge audience!" [laughs] The Garden Theater has a pretty unique seating layout, as you know. It's a new facility, and quite big, so when I saw how far up the seats went I thought "wow, they're really far away" [laughs]. Even while I was concentrating on singing I was thinking that. But conversely, having audience members further away made me think "I've got to make sure this gets to them!" and that feeling got stronger and stronger during our performance.


──You said something on stage to the effect of "I haven't thought of anything to talk about." Had you really not prepared anything beforehand?

MIKU Kobato: No, not a thing, po.

SAIKI: Afterward I wished I had at least thought of something beforehand [laughs]. Prior to the show we did discuss it a little, like "what should talk about?" But nothing came of it [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: Maybe we were returning to our roots in that sense, po [laughs].

SAIKI: None of us could think of anything; it was at the point where we were asking each other "does anyone have anything they want to say?"

MIKU Kobato: I'd heard that things got rough while I was away from the stage, po.

SAIKI: MISA and AKANE, who were supposed to be there to save me, were just saying all kinds of nonsense [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: It was a mess, po. We can't count on those two for anything, po!

SAIKI: It was foolish of me to expect anything more [laughs]. It's been 10 years and I still haven't learned my lesson.


──As I see it, their roles aren't to tell stories on stage, but to say silly things that you can play off.

MIKU Kobato: You're right, po, you're right about that, po.

SAIKI: Well, that would be all well and good, but then they started talking about stuff that went on backstage, and that made me go "I don't like where this is going. Kobato, what's keeping you?!" [laughs]

MIKU Kobato: I'm filled with remorse, po. I ought to have come back onstage a little faster [laughs].

SAIKI: We did mention during the dress rehearsal that everyone should try to have something to say.

MIKU Kobato: Yeah. We said everyone had to keep the conversation going while I was offstage.

SAIKI: But KANAMI did say "I'm not gonna do that" [laughs].

KANAMI: Hahahaha! Did I really?

SAIKI: Yes, you did. So I said, then until Kobato came back, the 3 of them needed to make it work, but they sure didn't [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: I think you were actually having a great time [laughs].

──Between the whiskey drinking and the banana-eating, everyone was doing her own thing, but it seemed like that went double for KANAMI.

KANAMI: Did it seem that way? I was just trying to talk to SAIKI.

MIKU Kobato: I thought SAIKI was going to throw them a life raft during her monologue, but that didn't happen in the slightest [laughs].

KANAMI: You say that now, but the one thing I'll never forget about the stage talk that day was you saying "pyon!" I'm going to remember that for as long as I live. Now that was truly "Memorable" [laughs].

SAIKI: Should we be worried about you, suddenly going "pyon!" out of nowhere?

MIKU Kobato: It just came out of its own accord, po. I figured, since this is the year of the rabbit after all... [note: "pyon" is a sound that evokes a rabbit hopping, like "hippity-hop" or "boing"] But it came back to embarrass me later, po [laughs].

SAIKI: Let me confirm that the footage will absolutely be included in the video release [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: Unfortunately, it will be, po... We always talk about whether or not to cut out the Omajinai Time sections from the video releases, but we didn't even both discussing the "pyon!" this time, po [laughs]. They announced it, like "Oh, it's staying in!", and that was that.

──If the release will be that thorough about including all the extra content then I'm really looking forward to it.

MIKU Kobato: We can't let it run too long, of course, or it will feel like there's too much jammed in there, po. We like those moments to be something special only for the people who came to see us, po. But my "pyon!" moment has been made into so many GIFS already, po [laughs].

SAIKI: The rest of the band has had a field day teasing her over this. We can't very well cut the footage out when we've leaked so many details of it already.

MIKU Kobato: I've given up, po. There's no pretending it away for me now, po. I have some regrets about saying that; I can't imagine what I was thinking, po [laughs].

──I've also heard that the concert film will include a bonus disc containing documentary footage from your U.S. tour. Before now, it's been rare for the band to show what goes on behind the scenes, correct?

MIKU Kobato: That's true, po. We simply never had much that we thought we could show, po [laughs]. But this tour was such an incredibly important experience to us, and we're very proud of what we achieved thanks to it, po. And it was a lengthy tour.

SAIKI: Yeah. Not only had we not been able to do it in a while, but it was a chance of the sort that rarely comes along, so we felt we should record it.
MIKU Kobato: But we're still in the middle of editing it right now, so we're not sure yet what it will look like when it's finished, po.

SAIKI: So that has us a little unnerved [laughs]. The memories have already faded a bit, so we don't remember 100% of what we filmed with perfect clarity.

KANAMI: For everyone else who's seen our OKYUJI from an audience perspective, this will be their first look backstage, so they'll see this and think "wow, a cross-country U.S. tour can be tough"... maybe?

MIKU Kobato: I wonder, po. I'm just praying "please don't let there be any weird scenes in there," po [laughs].


──United States tours mean long hours on the tour bus. Was that the hardest part of the tour?

SAIKI: No, the hard part was what we had to do after each OKYUJI was over, not the travel.

MIKU Kobato: She's right, po. The rough parts were the post-OKYUJI, po. We had to leave each concert venue by a specified time after the show ended, so we had to make sure we took showers before then, for example. We traveled mainly by bus on this tour, so a lot of the time we would shower at the venues, and that was tough, po.

SAIKI: We got about 5 minutes each.

MIKU Kobato: We used our cell phone timers as stopwatches, and it turned into a Fastest Showerer Competition somewhere along the way... Needless to say, that won't be part of the video release, po [laughs].

KANAMI: AKANE was the fastest!

SAIKI: She only needed 3 minutes [laughs]. Amazing, right?

──Even for a man, 3 minutes is pretty harsh.

KANAMI: We have to start by taking our makeup off, too.

──It's a race against the clock from the end of a concert until it's time to board the tour bus.

MIKU Kobato: That's when there's the biggest commotion, po.

SAIKI: It happens sometimes that we'd take it too easy before an OKYUJI and run out of time to get ready, but after an OKYUJI ended, there was always a lot of crazy running around no matter what.

MIKU Kobato: Right. But the travel arrangements we had for this tour were great. They'd been way harder on past tours, so we were prepared to deal with that again, po, but this time was a piece of cake compared to, for example, our first European tour, po. So our masters and princesses who watch the documentary won't only see the hardships of being on the road, but also get the sense that "this is how elegantly we're able to conduct our tours now" - that would be nice, po.

SAIKI: In a sense, we've come far enough that we don't have to think twice about showing people some of what we do backstage [laughs].

KANAMI: Because with how we were in our early days, we wouldn't been able to show any of it [laughs]. We did all the load-in, setup and teardown by ourselves in those days, so we were too busy to film anything in the first place.

MIKU Kobato: We couldn't show the behind-the-scenes from our old tours because it would be too real, po.

SAIKI: If we let people see that, they'd have felt sorry for us [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: People would think we were putting out this terrible sob story on video for sympathy, po [laughs]. That wasn't we what wanted at all.

──Right. In that sense, it's not necessarily better to show everything. But I think it's important to have some comfort while touring, and if you can improve that aspect as you go on performing, then it's one sign of your success for sure.

MIKU Kobato: Yes, po. We'd rather not have to downgrade from where we are, po.

──Apparently, some of the real big-shot groups in the States use one bus per band member.

KANAMI: What?! That would be so lonely. No thanks!

SAIKI: We'd want 2 buses at most. One could be exclusively for the band and the female roadies.

MIKU Kobato: Yes. We wouldn't want anything more elaborate than that, po. It wouldn't work for us to each have her own private bus, po.

KANAMI: Even if we did, we'd definitely all gather on one of the buses to hang out anyway [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: When that happened, we'd wind up with 2 or 3 empty buses, so I think we'll draw the line at 2, po [laughs].

──Well, if you end up with any free seats on those buses, I'd be glad to tag along. Your next U.S. tour begins in May, and before that you're touring Japan starting in late March. The first dates will be at music clubs, then the U.S. leg of the tour comes in the middle of that, and then, on November 26th, the tour finale at Yokohama Arena. That's quite the journey!

KANAMI: SAIKI sent me a tentative set list, and there were lots of songs on there that made me go "Wow! That one's from way back in our catalogue!", so our masters and princesses who wish they could hear our classic songs live are in for a treat with this tour, and there will be a lot for both the old guard and the newcomers to enjoy. Although rehearsing them is going to be pretty hard [laughs]. We're going to do our best!

SAIKI: The set list hasn't been decided just yet; we're at the stage of suggesting songs we might want to do. However, the ten-year anniversary theme is definitely key to this tour. Looking back on our career, we've done quite a staggering number of songs, and it's just impossible to perform them all, but that means there's all the more reason to focus on the best of them... We added a lot of new songs during the pandemic, and though a lot of people got into the band through those, they went back and listened to our older music too, which we're very grateful for. We've gotten a lot of comments saying "please play this song," and those requests include songs that we'd also like to bring back into our tour sets, and of course the band members have their personal choices too, so I think we'll be able to grant those requests. But we are playing brand-new places this time. There'll be a lot of firsts for us.

MIKU Kobato: We'd talked about wanting to play some of these places for a long time, po. On this tour, we'll finally be able to visit a lot of them, po.

SAIKI: We would have liked to do this even earlier, before our 10th anniversary; some of these places we wanted to play last year. But the pandemic kept us from being able to make it.

MIKU Kobato: It's going to be quite a jam-packed 10th anniversary tour, po.


──Moreover, the tour is starting in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kobato-san's birthplace.

MIKU Kobato: Yes it is, po! I'm so happy, po!

SAIKI: All of us wanted to go to the fans on this tour. There's a limit to the number of OKYUJI we can perform, and typically the audience has to come from all across the country to Tokyo or other urban centers to see us. That's why we wanted to take this tour to Kyushu and Hokkaido. I'm curious to see what Kumamoto will be like.

MIKU Kobato: It's going to be a perilous place for this pigeon, po [laughs].

SAIKI: That's a good thing to experience in your hometown, isn't it?

MIKU Kobato: It is, and I'm very happy, po. I saw a comment someone left that said "I've never been to Kumamoto before, so I'm going to take this opportunity to go visit," which made me glad to see, po. I also saw speculation saying "this is Kobato's home turf; she's definitely got something up her sleeve," so it looks like expectations are rising... I didn't intend to fuel them, but it looks like I'd better steel myself and be ready to go, po [laughs].

──I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but what are you hoping to see at the Yokohama Arena closing show?

MIKU Kobato: This is the culmination of our 10th year as a band, so we really hope it will be sold-out, po. It's going to be the first time we see this venue. We want it to be the kind of OKYUJI that will make our masters and princesses say "now this is what a BAND-MAID OKYUJI is like!", po.
SAIKI: They're all going to cry, for sure. We're gonna bring everyone to tears; that's the plan [laughs]. There was a lot of crying at the Garden Theater, and frankly, seeing that made me go "just you wait until next time, because you haven't seen anything yet!"

MIKU Kobato: There had been expectations that our 10th anniversary tour finale would be at the Budokan, po. So I thought, "They're in for a surprise when we announce the venue for the finale at the end!", po [laughs].
KANAMI: Playing Yokohama Arena has been a cherished personal goal of mine for a long time, and we had a meeting several years ago where setting our sights on the Yokohama Arena was proposed, and now that it's coming true, I have songs I've always wanted to play in that venue... It's moving to think about. Just the thought of SAIKI singing on that stage gets me so emotional.

SAIKI: It does? [laughs] But we're going to have some tear-jerker moments for sure, so the audience had better be prepared.

MIKU Kobato: I'm sure some of our masters and princesses will come determined not to cry no matter what, so... Let's battle it out there, po [laughs].

──Playing clubs as you tour from place to place sounds like it will be an emotional experience, and the next U.S. tour is bound to bring many new experiences with it, so I'm betting we can expect a lot more announcements to come in your 10th anniversary year. I'm really looking forward to all of it, and I'll be sure to stop by when I come to see you on this tour.

KANAMI: We'll be waiting for you!

interview: Youichi Masuda
translation: Natalie S. Hadjiloukas