On August 17, 2022, the Japanese rock band Wagakki Band released their new album Vocalo Zanmai 2. This new album is released to celebrate the 8th years anniversary of their first album, Vocalo Zanmai. Like their first album, Vocalo Zanmai 2 consists of the cover of popular Vocaloid songs, ranging from the newer songs like Phony and EgoRock to the older songs like Ii Aru Fanclub.
After the release of Vocalo Zanmai 2, KAORI Nusantara is invited to an interview with the Wagakki Band members. As a musician, Wagakki Band is renowned for their song arrangement that mixes heavy metal sounds with traditional Japanese instruments. In terms of accolades, Wagakki Band has been awarded as Best Five New Artists in the 2015 Japan Gold Disc Award. Their fourth album, Otonoe, has also received Excellence Album Award in the 2018 Japan Record Awards.
Current Wagakki Band’s line-up consists of Yuko Suzuhana in vocal, Machiya as guitarist/backing vocal, Beni Ninagawa as shamisen player, Kiyoshi Ibukuro plays the koto, Asa as bassist, Daisuke Kaminaga plays the shakuhachi (Japanese long flute), Wasabi as the drummer, and Kurona as taiko drummer. Why did they choose to release another album that covers Vocaloid songs? What do they think about today’s Vocaloid scene? Listen to their story in this interview!
The Vocalo Zanmai album was released 8 years ago. Do you guys remember the moment when you released the album?
Asa: Back then, it was hard to fit everyone’s schedules together. To think about it, we had an amazing way of making music. It was impressive that we would memorize a song and arrange it after entering the recording studio (laughs). Also, there was a time when we were in the studio for 24 hours straight, wasn’t there?
Kurona: Yes, just the three of us were recording for hours on end (laughs).
Asa: I fell asleep on the sofa and when I woke up, Wasabi was still playing (laughs).
Kurona: We didn’t even know what we were doing anymore (laughs).
Asa: It was like that. At the time, Vocalo Zanmai was just one of the many projects we were doing, and we were enjoying it.
Kurona: Yes, that’s why we changed the arrangements on the spot. When we work on several songs at the same time, the music becomes similar. When we had to record a ballad, three of us made it sound like thrash metal. It surprised the other members.
Wasabi: At the time, Asa, Machiya, and Yuko were uploading their personal projects on video-sharing sites. Vocalo Zanmai was also produced with this mindset. But the reception is better than we had expected, and the scale of the project grew larger. After that, we realized that this is no longer a side project.
Vocalo Zanmai included Senbonzakura‘s cover. Many listeners became fans after listening to that song. Do you expect the cover to be popular during that time?
Yuko Suzuhana (Yuko): To be honest, I was anxious because Senbonzakura was super popular at the time. It had already been sung over and over. So, when we decided on the final song for Vocalo Zanmai, we had a hard time deciding whether to go with Yoshiwara Lament or Senbonzakura. But considering the arrangement, which started with shamisen and taiko before the singing part, Senbonzakura seemed the best choice. I was hesitating about it until I uploaded the video.
And then 8 years later, Wagakki Band will release a second Vocaloid cover album Vocalo Zanmai 2. This album must be a retrospective 8 years journey of Wagakki Band. Can you share the story within the years together?
Yuko: It has been a very dramatic eight years. I’m a person who likes to live peacefully (laughs), but as long as I’m in this band, dramatic things happen. Each member’s life stage changes, the music label changes, the people who support us also change, and I am living more dramatic days than I had hoped.
But yeah, times have changed. Music streaming services have become the center of the world. Although we should have been swept away by the times, we overcame so many things by reading the situation. Sometimes I feel like, “Eight years already?”. It seemed like Vocalo Zanmai is only yesterday. Time has passed before I realized it, and it happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to think about it in the first place.
After Vocalo Zanmai, you guys mostly focused on original songs. But now, you’re making an album that covers Vocaloid songs again. Why is that? Is there something special with this album?
Kiyoshi Ibukuro (Kiyoshi): Even backstage, we always talk about how Vocalo Zanmai 2 will be released sometime in the future.
Daisuke Kaminaga (Daisuke): Yes, we always talked about the possibility of releasing another cover album at some point. It’s just we never decided when that would be. But with our band celebrating its 8th anniversary, and with Vocaloid music gaining momentum over the past two or three years, we decided that it would be a good time to do another Vocaloid project.
The tracklist in Vocalo Zanmai 2 consists of both the newer Vocaloid songs and some older ones. How do you guys decide which Vocaloid songs will be included in this new album?
Kurona: Vocalo Zanmai has been listened to by many people, so we wanted to attract those people. Also, we wanted older Vocaloid fans to listen to the latest Vocaloid songs through us. We know a lot of older songs but aren’t that knowledgeable when it comes to the newer ones. We wanted both old fans and teenagers to listen to the songs, so we decided to mix the old and new.
Machiya: Vocalo Zanmai albums are like the medley of hit songs that everyone knows, so we try to keep a good balance between the two. Also, if we only play songs that are easy for us to play, listeners will get tired of them, so we chose songs that would bring in new blood and tried new things in the arrangements.
You know, the Vocaloid scene itself has been changing throughout the years. It has been a rollercoaster as time goes on. What do you think of the Vocaloid scene at the time you guys started Wagakki Band compared to today?
Yuko: I think things are changing a little. The trends are different. The most noticeable change is the song’s duration. Back then, it was fine for them to be a little over 3 or 4 minutes long. Today, they tend to be shorter. Maybe it’s because they try to adapt to the current listener. The intro must be either catchy or straight to the vocal, eliminating the guitar solo as much as possible.
By the way, do you guys have any favorite Voca-P (Vocaloid Producer)?
Wasabi: I like DECO*27 because he is good at rock sounds.
Asa: I know a lot of Vocalo-P, so it’s hard to list them all (laughs). In this album, I like Kairiki Bear, who wrote Venom, because it is interesting to see how he has completely changed his direction from the past.
Okay. The last question for you guys, after releasing Vocalo Zanmai 2, what are your hopes for Wagakki Band and the Vocaloid scene itself?
Beni Ninagawa (Beni): I feel that if we can properly finish the tour of this album, we can all become one bigger person.
Kiyoshi: I feel that by finishing the tour of this work, we will finally be able to make many new choices. I feel that a high degree of freedom of movement awaits us after this work.
The Indonesian Anime Times | Special thanks to Wagakki Band for the interview.
