INTERVIEW FOUND ON JAME WORLD

During their tour, called ~Blood sucker TOUR~ [A ruler of the blood], Dark Schneider released their second single. JaME took this opportunity to get to know this new band a bit more by interviewing them.


Please introduce yourselves to our readers.

LAER: I'm the vocalist, LAER.
Kano: Guitar, Kano.
KOЯO: Guitar, KOЯO.
Regia: I'm Regia, the drummer.
KOЯO: The bassist is Yamato.

Dark Schneider is a pretty young band. What's the meaning of the band name?

KOЯO: The meaning of the band is "the tailor of darkness".

And what's the concept?

LAER: We want to convey the expanse from serious to violent things.

How was the band created? How did you meet each other?

LAER: Well, the cue to start the band was that I suddenly thought, "Let's start a band", and as I talked about that to the people around me, I felt that I had gathered skilled members. That's why it was good timing. And then KOЯO... (looks at KOЯO)
KOЯO: I joined in August.

How did you meet KOЯO?

LAER: Through Yamato who is not here right now, right?
KOЯO: Yeah, I'm a friend of Yamato. He introduced me.

Why did you choose the name "Dark Schneider"?

LAER: We explained the meaning earlier in the interview but we want to create something from nothing.
KOЯO: (surprised) Ehhh!

What's the concept of the band?

LAER: The name written in kanji holds the concept completely, "The mystery of darkness".

But you also have a color theme right? Red and black?

LAER: Yes, that's true.
Kano: Red and black is our basic image, overall.
KOЯO: Ah, that's right. But that was accidental.

A few days ago your second maxi single Blood sucker was released. Could you tell us something about the single? How did the recording go?

LAER: As for the musical composition, it's a type that I haven't done myself until now. But the songs still contain beautiful things in them as usual. So I suppose for myself it was a new experience.
KOЯO: New type of songs. (laughs)
Kano: They're the songs we created before KOЯO joined.
LAER: Aren't those songs that were made just about 2 months ago?
Kano: That's right, they are surprisingly new songs, aren't they? We've been playing them live quite a lot, but it seems like their form changed quite a bit.

Two of the songs have English lyrics, wasn't it difficult to write these?

LAER: It was difficult.
(everyone laughs)

Was it the first time you did this?

LAER: Yes. I was creating the atmosphere of the lyrics while reading an English story.

You have released two singles now, although you're still quite a young band. Was it hard for you to find a label/producer, or did you produce them by yourself?

(Kano explaining the question to LAER)
LAER: We had enough time for trial and error. And since we were doing it ourselves, I could understand what opinions each of the members had. It was a good learning experience, and a good way to get to know the members.

What are your songs about, what do they mean?

LAER: The topics of our songs are bloodsuckers, Dracula, vampires. You could say that the meaning of vampires is, that they use their prey as tools and that they have a blood connection. I want our listeners to hear this. We write lyrics about these kinds of stories.

Where do you get the inspiration from?

LAER: From watching vampires.
KOЯO: (laughs)

What can you offer that others don't have? What makes Dark Schneider special?

LAER: Maybe because our songs have a different atmosphere, as well as our stage performance? Or that we have female bandmembers?

You've been invited to participate at the "LAST SUMMIT" of Climax Enterprise and Eternal Records in end of December. How did you get that opportunity?

KOЯO: Ah, Eternal Records right?
LAER: My senior band colleagues told us about the event and asked if we would like to join them. That's how we got involved in that project.

A question for KOЯO. You have released 2 solo albums. How was it for you to start in a band again, after a solo career?

KOЯO: From the beginning I've wanted to play guitar in a band. It's not in my own band, but I play guitar in a band with a male vocalist and I've realized that I'm finally doing what I wanted to do the most.

Is there more stress in a band than being solo?

KOЯO: (in English) Ah, yes, yes! (laughs)

KOЯO and Regia are female bandmembers, how is it for you to be in a male-dominated scene? What kind of reactions do you get (from both fans and colleagues)?

KOЯO: (in English) Difficult.
Kano: It's difficult.
KOЯO (In English) Very difficult.
Regia: I haven't really thought about it.

What kind of reaction do you get from the fans about it?

KOЯO: About that we are a mixed band, with male and female members?
Kano: Maybe... a lot of them don't even know it.
KOЯO: There are probably people who think we are guys. (everyone laughs)

KOЯO has been to Europe and America before when she was a support member of Hagakure. Have any of the other bandmembers been overseas before?

Kano: I haven't.
KOЯO: Also not as just a trip?
LAER: Ah, I've been to China. I love the history, for example "Sangokushi". (Note: A historical text about the three Chinese kingdoms, Wu, Shu and Wei.)

What do you think about the fact that visual kei is getting popular all over the world now?

Kano: We are thankful for that.
KOЯO: We are surprised!

Do you have any plans for taking Dark Schneider overseas?

LAER: If we get the chance, we definetily want to go.

What plans do you have for the future?

LAER: We want release CD's regularly, do tours, and as we said before, we also want to expand overseas. Our schedule is already full until the end of the year, so it would be from next year.

Anything else you want to tell the overseas audience about Dark Schneider?

KOЯO: Eh... eh...
(the other members remain quiet as well)
KOЯO: Our live shows are intense.
LAER: If you have only listened to our CDs, I think your image of us will change once you see us live. We want you to feel our songs. They do have quite an androgynous feeling, but in lives they are violent and intense. So, if you have the chance, please come to our concert.

Finally, do you have a message for the JaME readers?

LAER: Let's have fun together.
Kano: There have been many bands that have been overseas before us, but I think that our band is in many aspects different from them. I want you to see such differences. If we do a concert overseas, we definitely won't lose to other bands. (everyone laughs)
KOЯO: (in English) I love music and I love you. (Regia laughs)
Kano: You mean "I love me"?
KOЯO: No, I'm not a narcissist.
Kano: (in English) I'm hungry. (everyone laughs)