Day 1 of JPOP Summit was off to a very unique start. Taking place at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco on September 9 & 10, JPOP Summit is a two day Japanese culture festival filled with exciting performances, guest appearances, and more! Check out our EXCLUSIVE interview with BAND-MAID below where you can read about what the group looked forward to most about JPOP Summit and other awesome stuff about the edgy rock group:
KKS: BAND-MAID has a cool concept, from the cute maid costumes to the edgy hard rock music! Who designs the costumes? Do you write the songs, if so how?
BAND-MAID: Our designers make the costumes to suit our hard rock music style and we discuss with them how we would like them to make it. Usually Kanami, who plays the guitar, helps with writing the songs.
KKS: BAND-MAID calls live concerts “services”, male fans as “masters”, and female fans as “princesses”. How were fans reactions about this at Sakura Con in Seattle and MCM Con in the UK last year?
BAND-MAID: The audience was excited to have the opportunity to be called “masters” and “princesses” so we are really happy about that. When we went to Seattle for Sakura Con we could see the audience was really excited and it was a great reaction in the UK as well. It was unexpected that we would get such an exciting reaction as it was never seen before so we were really happy to be doing this concept.
KKS: You performed at Summer Sonic Music Festival! How was that?
BAND-MAID: We have always wanted to perform at Summer Sonic so we were really glad to be able to perform there. It was a super hot summer for us though!
KKS: How many times have you performed in the US? How do you like it?
BAND-MAID: This is our second time performing in the US and we are really excited about performing here at JPOP Summit.
KKS: The music video for ‘Non-Fiction Day’ reminds me of California, where did you shoot the music video?
BAND-MAID: We really like that it looked like California because it shows our view is universal, but actually, the music video was filmed in Japan! It was filmed in the Ibaraki Prefecture beside the ocean. We really wanted to make it look like California!
KKS: Please tell us which band you would like to play with in the future.
BAND-MAID: (Kanami) Carlos Santana! I really like him.
KKS: What is BAND-MAID’s dream and goals?
BAND-MAID: To conquer the world!
KKS: What band or artist do you look up to?
BAND-MAID: BAND-MAID’s concept is very unique so we would like to create a new genre.
KKS: Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi introduces cute, cool, and amazing Japanese things to the world! Could you tell us what is cute, cool, and amazing to you?
BAND-MAID: BAND-MAID!
Having the opportunity to interview BAND-MAID was great! The band is lively, friendly, and cute despite their gothic image and KKS had an amazing time interviewing them. Shortly after the interview, there was time to explore the rest of JPOP Summit!
At JPOP Summit there was something for everyone to do. For those who loved food, there was Ramen Summit where some of the best ramen spots came to showcase their tasty ramen! To compliment Ramen Summit, there was a Sake Summit for attendees over 21 which was a fan favorite feature along with the Ramen Summit.
There were a lot of amazing performances occurring on the main stage through the day as well! May’n was amongst the lineup on day one and the crowd was hyped. After wrapping up the day with some enjoyable performances, it was safe to call it a well spent day. Stay tuned for our article on the recap for Day 2 for more exciting news and interviews from May’n and Mitz Mangrove!
Small correction, Kanami plays guitar. Misa’s the bassist.