ROCK AND READ eyes 002

Before you read. I just want to point out that the answers to the second large question may not be a great read for people with body image issues. Japan in general is very cruel when it comes to beauty standards so this is a very normalized way to look at one's own body. I do not personally condone this kind of view. You are perfect and beautiful exactly as you are.

interview with Matenrou Opera

Sono/Anzi/Ayame/yo/Yu

photographs:yosuke komatsu (ODD JOB LTD.)

hair-make:mihoko hatanaka (APT)

text:ayano nishimura

Matenrou Opera seek a sound that blends a heavy rock sound with a delicate beautiful style. We're asking them on their thoughts about the visual kei style the 5 members have stuck with as well as the theme of their activities regarding the newly released "Kassai to Gekijou no Gloria".

- Why did Matenrou Opera choose the visual kei scene?

Sono　In the beginning it was me, Yu and Yo. I originally really loved visual kei and we talked about adopting makeup and such as a weapon to express our world view.

Yo　Yes. When we were thinking about what kinds of songs we'd sing and what kinds of melodies to use we talked about how make-up for one would be a good method for expressing our songs. Make-up is one of our means of expressing our style.

Anzi　I don't think wearing make-up is what makes me visual kei. I believe that the soul you put into it is what matters. What made me start picking up the guitar was my yearning for the brilliance in Yngwie Malmsteen's guitar play. In his performances the brilliance was overflowing. That kind of brilliance is necessary to attract an audience, and the scene in Japan is lacking that. The people who are drawn to visual kei are drawn to it because there is brilliance in the performance. I think the vibe that emerges between audience and artist creates this dazzling tension. After all the performance has this brilliance like you see with overseas rockstars.

Ayame　I'm originally from Yokohama but yokohama doesn't have venues where the visual kei folk gather like they did in Tokyo,  so the visual kei bands, the punk bands and the acoustic artists were all performing after one another on the same stage on the same day. I didn't realize it was a unique genre? I myself took some inspiration from Kiyo from Janne Da Arc but I wasn't specialized in visual kei, instead I sought out my way of expressing myself through combining various types of music. I didn't become aware of visual kei until I went to Tokyo and performed for a venue that was full of just visual kei fans. I realized that the spirit and mood really fit me.

Yu　I was already into visual kei music but at the time I had left the band I created with Sono before Matenrou Opera. But when I looked at the band from an outside perspective this feeling welled up in me that I wanted to play the drums behind Sono. The prejudice I held towards visual kei lost to the strength of the feeling that I wanted to do music together with Sono and I returned.

- That's how the friendship between men is, isn't it. How do you feel about doing video and photoshoots?

Sono　We used to do it all by ourselves when we'd just started out, I was very fussy about it. Nowadays when it comes to videoclips and album artwork, we ask a professional to convey our image. Because that way we get to see the Matenrou Opera's form from yet another point of view, I think we create fun things.

- When it comes to your costumes, what are you fixated on?

Sono　I really change my mind about what I like with every release.

Anzi　My fixation is that I don't like exposing my skin.

Sono　You like animal prints, right. Zebra and tiger, snake and so on.

Anzi　Yes. Because I've liked it since we were indies I've often worn animal print. Snake print pants and so on... I don't think there's anything I haven't worn yet. Our costumes too are things we've designed ourselves, so it makes me happy to see people recreate our outfits.

Yo　I don't really have any fixations. I look at how I can create a balance between everyone's outfits and decide upon my own look at the end.

Yu　I create something unual that people don't expect by wearing ethnic fashion, painting tribal symbols on my face and wearing my hair in dreads.

Yo　Don't you have a fixation on facial hair?

Yu　I've tried growing some. I've thought about doing it again this time.

Ayame　I have a fetish for my own knee-high socks. I also have one for my collar bones. I want to show them off to the limit until I grow too old for it.

Anzi　We should congratulate him, don't we (laughs).

Ayame　But isn't it necessary to have a high awareness that I don't have the right body to just always be showing it off?

Yo　It's important to create a physique that fits your costumes.

Yu　He said it!

Sono　In the beginning I aimed for an androgynous appearance but now the masculine ratio is higher I think. Recently I like a more masculine sillhouette and a rock style. For " Otoshiana no Soko ha Konna Sekai" I was into a more fashionable look and I made my costume have a high collar hiding my neck. At the time my style was geared towards things that draw the eye.

Ayame　There are bands who, when they go major, start wearing less make-up, but we won't be changing the thickness of our make-up. Another fixation is that we won't be changing our costumes too much.

Yu　Chic and stylish! is what we go for, right.

- Can I ask you about your stage expression. Have you changed anything?

Yu　I never change. Because I think you play the drums with your face, I'm always playing it with my face looking all crumpled. So the staff tell me that my concert photos are difficult to use.

Ayame　I don't smile while I'm performing. I do laugh stealthily when I move over to Anzi's spot during concerts, while averting my gaze from the fans.

Sono　I think ignoring the stage effects like the outfits and lighting, during concerts I've become able to show off an ambience. The ambience when we enter the stage, the time between songs and the ambience created while performing and so on. There's a vibe that only exists when it's the 5 of us. When I looked at the floor from my spot on the stage, the venue is painted in the color of Matenrou Opera. That's the kind of response we got from the fans. Having things be this way with visual kei is... what do you call it. It's hard to put a word to it.

Ayame　Concretely you could define it as "this is Matenrou Opera" I think, because it's possible to imitate our style. We change our appearance constantly so it's hard to pinpoint our style. Now, when we opened our official homepage the text "Kassai to Gekijou no  Gloria" is visible for the first time, but this is our theme for our new songs and concerts in October. Because this is our first time since going major that we are working with a theme, we're also looking forward to how we are going to express it. Since we didn't pin down a date for finale like "2013 XX XX" I'd like you to experience it like we're watching a long feature film together.

Translated on: 01-07-2023