Saiki had the reputation of being cold, but she was just extremely shy. Akane said that when she first met her, she stuck Akane as being the most shy person she'd ever met. Even more than MISA. Kaiten sushi is conveyor belt sushi.
One thing you get to notice in Band-Maid that once Kanami took over writing the music, she writes vocal melodies that dont really follow any rhythm of the instuments. They will jump around and a lot of the time be an independent melody that fits together with the instrumentation to complete a sound. Saiki also records her vocals first before any music tracks, usually to just a piano track to provide chord structure. One of the best stories ,I think it was for the Unseen World album (possibly World Domination), when Kanami showed her the songs and the melodies she just replied "You realize I have to breathe, right?".
Kanami composes and creates the demo with all the parts including vocal melody, leaving flexibility for bass and drums. After back and forth trading of audio files they finalize the demo. Then Kobato absorbs the music, decides what it's about and creates the lyrics. They've discussed this process in several interviews. In 2020 during lockdown they leaned heavily on the file trading method while writing the album Unseen World. Thanks for the reaction!
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Before the C=19 lockdowns, MISA and Akane would record their tracks on their cell phones to send to Kanami. During the lockdowns all of the Ladies including Miku and Saiki upgraded their equipment to DAW's (Digital Audio Workstations) to make trading the files easier for Kanami to edit.
The main characteristic that they all have is the determination to succeed ad what they are doing. Yes- early days were pop/punk-ish, developing through rock to hard rock/metal, but then producing the most amazing acoustic shows.
"Alone" was the first song Band-Maid released that was completely written, arranged and directed by the girls. After that they never looked back. And yes, they started with a pop-punk sound and have gradually gotten more hard-edged, with a lot of metal and prog influences. MISA and Akane also throw in a lot of jazz and funk licks, which is one reason they sound so interesting.
My opinion as a Japanese person. Many Japanese people, myself included, are so used to this anti-intellectual climate that the way musicians are treated on TV shows is so populist. And the host is a comedian. The members of BAND-MAID are also aware of this, and here they have some fun stories that go along with the program. Interviews for magazines and websites talk a little more about music.
This is still my favorite way to get to know the girls personalities. Even though they’re playing them up it is still good to have this context before going to a live show. During live shows they take multiple small breaks where they interact with the audience and having seen this it’s a lot less out of left field when they do it. It’s a lot of fun
Ogata-san was just interviewed by Ohrenje, and he us actually providing his voice talents to an animated series Ohrenje is producing called "The Pigeon who Dreams of Singing." Deep cut Band-Maid stuff, but worth the watch.
This is a very good interview video for a Band-Maid beginner, but unfortunately, there are several mis-translations in English subtitles. There used to be a video of the same interview with better English translation, but it was deleted.😥 Ohrenje has very good documentary videos for each member of Band-Maid.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks He has just uploaded an interview with Ogato-san. He is from the same home town as Kobato and has been a fan of the band for a long time.
The writing process as far as I know goes something like this for the current state of the band. Kanami (lead guitar) writes the initial melody of the song on piano and gives it to Akane (drums) and MISA (Bass) who expand and personalize their parts and they go back and forth with each other with suggestions and tweak things in an iterative process. Miku (or sometimes Saiki now) then write lyrics for the song. This process continues until Saiki says they’re done. Saiki is the “that’s good, the song is done” person or the rest of the band would tweak a song forever. She’s also the one that decides if a song isn’t good enough and kills it.
Just a personal opinion about studio musicians - it is a different kind of job and success in the studio does not necessarily translate into live performance. Studio musicians need to be very good at sight reading and quick to get a good take (technically adept). Stage musicians need to be able to express themselves and give a good performance. There's a very good documentary film called "20 Feet from Stardom" about some highly sought-after studio backup singers who could not "make it" on their own. It's two different skill sets. Source: I worked in studios as recording engineer (not a musician). I didn't make a career of it, but I'm friends with some who did.
Good info; I'll need to check that documentary out. A good buddy of mine is studio-musician adjacent; he's certainly good enough and has spent some time recording, but has ended up taking more of a musical theater path (right now he's the musical director of one of the traveling Cirque du Soleil shows. So most of what I know about the music biz has come from him.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Studio musicians play different stuff every day, and then go home to the wife and kids every night. A touring band plays the same stuff every night (or every other or every third night) and lives out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. Some studio musicians do go on tour and become famous at it: Glen Campbell and Leon Russell had been part of "the wrecking crew" in Los Angeles in the '60s, and Steve Lukather in the '70s toured with David Paich and Jeff Pocaro as Toto. So it's not an either/or thing, just two different types of jobs in the industry. As far as I know, some session players don't _want_ to go on tour. It's boring and it keeps them away from their family. Some touring players don't _want_ to do session work, they don't get much say in the outcome, they might not get much credit, and it might be unreliable. It depends on the the genre too; I played in orchestra in college - we would rehearse once a week for eight to twelve weeks and play four concerts a year. A professional might have a subscription series where they play the same concert Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday matinee, get Sunday and Monday off, and rehearse the next concert on Tuesday and Wednesday. They might have eight or ten subscription concerts in the fall and again in the spring. A lot of cities can't support that schedule anymore so some of this has changed over the last twenty years or so, but some cities have a summer outdoor series or an opera company that might use them (or some of them) for a pit orchestra. Everything will be union scale, though, so they get paid well (and it's hard to break in). And with only two rehearsals, the conductor becomes _really_ important. A weak or disorganized conductor means the orchestra will not sound good and a good conductor is worth almost any price.
Keep in mind that this is a pretty early interview and their personas are a little exaggerated for effect. Clearly Miku doesn't really believe she's a pigeon but it's one of their running gags that everyone is in on. Giving you that sense of cognitive dissonance between how they appear/seem and how they sound is very much intentional. It's the main aim of the maid theme. Much of their stage act is done with a wink and it's very fun and unique.They all have a big sense of humor but they're very serious about the music and are a very pro band. And, yes, very early on they were more of a pop-rock band. Their management and record label didn't allow them to record their own material, even if Kanami had been writing songs all along. The girls themselves wanted to move in a harder/heavier direction, in part because it truly delivered on the original band concept. By this time they mostly had. And not long after this interview, they gained complete control over the songwriting and sound. That's when they really blossomed. (Although the song you referred to, Alone, was actually the first song released that was entirely written by Kanami, Miku, and the band. It's got some cool musical features and a ripping guitar solo.)
Thanks - I'm always one for cognitive dissonance from high-end professionals, well said. I also can't say how happy I am that the labels no longer control the sound. It's just never a good thing.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Important to note that, while their songs were "written by" outside writers they chose which songs they wanted to do and they have always had a say in arranging the songs since the beginning. We'll never know how much they did vs the outside writers: they have too much respect for the people they worked with to do something like that. But I've listened to a lot of other songs by a lot of their "writers" and the songs that are on Band-Maid albums (particularly after their debut) are almost always significantly better than the ones by the same writer but performed by other artists. Maybe they got lucky and picked all the good songs; or maybe they are the ones who made those songs good, despite there being another name on the credits.
I'm not a fan of demonizing the label or managment for choosing their early songs. Recording and performing provided material is _what they were hired to do_ That the Maids were able to leverage that into a more creative role is to their lasting credit. Give management credit for being able to adapt, not all labels would have. Also, they were playing harder songs before they started writing. "Thrill", "Real Existence", and "the non-fiction days" were all provided songs. And they're "bangers" as the kids(you know, under 50) would say.
I believe it's fairly common in Japan for mgt/labels to control the material, particularly for new bands or pop acts. Some established bands work with outside songwriters or have unofficial members to provide material. It's obviously not uncommon in the West, either. As @tinyhato noted, B-M did have significant input in arrangement, instrumentation, some lyrics, etc. They chose which songs to record but the earliest pool of songs, according to them, consisted of ones "no one else wanted to do." They seem to have helped to improve them. The first outside-written song all five of them really liked was "Thrill." That was a single B-side that came after their first mini-album release, which the band seemed to feel was too safe. The A-side was even tamer than the first mini-album. It was an odd choice and felt perhaps imposed by a management grasping at straws. The band pushed to have their first music video made for "Thrill" instead and that's when they started to take off. They've always spoken positively about that period as they viewed it an apprenticeship. And there are more than a few really good songs from it. A couple of those writers remain close to the band. However, Kanami has made it crystal clear that one of her main personal and band goals was to write and record their own material. And without that opportunity, she probably would not have continued.
@@TherealSeriousMoonlight No one is demonizing management. By all accounts, the management are really good people and the band seems to love and appreciate them. The true pop-rock period we're mostly referring to is the time around formation and the first release "Maid in Japan." They were all trying to make something stick, find a direction, and make the band viable. But that material didn't do it. It all started to change after that, with significant impetus from the band. Possibly from some people in management, too. We don't know. The only thing that management could possibly be critcized for is the forgivable and totally understandable sin of playing it too safe initially. And possibly not quite realizing the potential they were sitting on.
On the charm point, it's weird, but it's like you said, it's a sort of interesting fact about the person. What I find is weird is how Japanese artists/performers will put their blood type in their Bio's. And one of Kanami's "Charm Points" is her nickname of "Gums" because of how big her smile is. And MISA almost ALWAYS has a pint bottle of Jim Beam on her amp. In Germany she had 1/5ths of Jack Daniels and Jägermeister as well. And their earlier work was a lot of punk and pop-punk influences. They were using songs by outside writers that their label and management insisted on, but they (Kanami) kept writing and submitting their songs. There is a mistranslation, when they say "Croatian" they actual translation was "Assassin Maid". Since she always plays barefoot+Assasssin Maid=Barefoot Assassin. Or your Anti-Virus may have decided to update and is taking resources. And Miku is very accident prone. I personally think it is because unlike the other Ladies who are mostly near sighted, Miku is far sighted and she doesn't like wearing her contacts or glasses in "Uniform" Add in her platform heels and that she is pigeon toed, accidents happen. Saiki and MISA are both very, very shy and introverted. Although they have been slowly but steadily coming out of their shells. And this interview was about a year before Saiki had surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords. Haro Matsu covered the Lyrics, though Saiki has done a few songs and has helped co-write some of the lyrics with Miku. MISA will tuck the pick in between her index finger and palm, while slapping and popping or snapping and clawing. When she lays pure finger style, she will toss the pic or tuck it into her pick guard or put it in her mouth. Kanami will also put the pick in her mouth when playing fingerstyle. Miku has a piece of tape on the back of her guitar to hold her pick when she plays fingerstyle. Miku bets on horse races, she also like to eat horse meat and is part of a Consortium that owns a race horse. Making her a part owner. And she is VERY good at poker. At one tournament she came in second and was rather upset at that. Unfortunately I was laid out when you did this live stream. Having spinal issues sucks eggs.
Cafe Maids are expected to be rather kawaii (cute in a childlike manner) and perky. And to be able to speak about their "charm points." So when the charm point question came to Akane, she went counter-kawaii with her bottomless appetite, because it was funny. It had some basis in her competitive eating. Misa pushed it further with "I drink." And then, whiskey, straight - about as un-kawaii as possible. At that time, she was taking a drink to settle her nerves before concerts. This made it public knowledge. A lot of "fans" have an exaggerated idea of her drinking and will speak as if she is a drunk, which she is not. She shows up for rehearsals and concerts, plays creatively, and her timing is flawless. That is not a drunk. Miku (second vocalist-guitarist, red rose, founder) is actually a much heavier drinker than Misa, which probably contributes to being accident prone. She is an excellent poker player, and a formidable contract negotiator. She became a pop singer in "Li'l Cumin" trio earlier under her real name (?) Miko Noguchi. To avoid that affecting perceptions of her harder rock band, she created the stage name Miku Kobato. Kobato is "small pigeon" which generally is a dove. Kobato's value in Japanese numerology is 810. Therefore she is a perpetually 810 year old pigeon in human form, and plays jokes off that all the time.
A lot of Japanese "talento" have fake personalities for public consumption. I had a student many years ago who became an actress. She came across as ditzy in interviews, but in reality, she was very intelligent and spoke excellent English. I asked her about it once and she said that she preferred the public not knowing the real her and also not expecting too much from her. I'm not saying that all the Band Maid members are "acting," but they know they will be better remembered if they have some quirks, so that's what they emphasize in this interview. This is very common on Japanese TV.
Yup, there's certainly some of that in their stagecraft. It doesn't seem to be as much about hiding who they are as much as massively exaggerating parts of their personalities, initially to create interest and attract attention, and now simply to have a laugh and entertain. They seem to have dropped the veil even more now. Everyone, epecially fans, are in on the joke. In 2024, it's easy to see where the jokes and winks are. I doubt you'll hear a lot of intimate personal details from them (as it should be), but they do seem to want fans to know them better. They've shared a lot about the band's history that they didn't really have to. The 2022 US Tour documentary? Someone in management was nervous about doing it. But the band insisted on it. The result was probably a compromise but the ladies wanted it done.
Yeah, there's a fair amount of cultural baggage and Japonica going on in that interview. The MCs doing "noses" are unlikely to be "Pinocchio" (and lying), it's alterntively interpreted as imitating "tengu", traditional forest spirits (half-crow-half-human) often with long noses, and like that it's more like they are bragging. (Also the presenters are kind of famous, she from the Japanse idol-band music scene, and he is a popular comedian - he's got good timing as can be told.) The "charm point" is part of the baggage Kobato hauled over from the Maid-Café-world. Individual café maids come with precisely a pre-defined "charm point", but that is precisely something peculiar and personal to them. There's tons more in this interview...
Miku wanted to portray a "Gap" of their looks to the hard rocking music they play. Something you would never expect to hear from them.
Saiki had the reputation of being cold, but she was just extremely shy. Akane said that when she first met her, she stuck Akane as being the most shy person she'd ever met. Even more than MISA.
Kaiten sushi is conveyor belt sushi.
It seems to me like her voice is already raspy - maybe she didn't talk much because she didn't want to ruin her voice further. Could that be so?
"Ogata-saaaaan?!!" 🤣
One thing you get to notice in Band-Maid that once Kanami took over writing the music, she writes vocal melodies that dont really follow any rhythm of the instuments. They will jump around and a lot of the time be an independent melody that fits together with the instrumentation to complete a sound. Saiki also records her vocals first before any music tracks, usually to just a piano track to provide chord structure. One of the best stories ,I think it was for the Unseen World album (possibly World Domination), when Kanami showed her the songs and the melodies she just replied "You realize I have to breathe, right?".
I do not think Kanami cares about minor details 😁
Akane also had to tell her she did not have 3 arms 🙃
Kanami composes and creates the demo with all the parts including vocal melody, leaving flexibility for bass and drums. After back and forth trading of audio files they finalize the demo. Then Kobato absorbs the music, decides what it's about and creates the lyrics. They've discussed this process in several interviews. In 2020 during lockdown they leaned heavily on the file trading method while writing the album Unseen World. Thanks for the reaction!
Thanks, that's an interesting process, and probably did give them a leg up during the pandemic.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Before the C=19 lockdowns, MISA and Akane would record their tracks on their cell phones to send to Kanami. During the lockdowns all of the Ladies including Miku and Saiki upgraded their equipment to DAW's (Digital Audio Workstations) to make trading the files easier for Kanami to edit.
The main characteristic that they all have is the determination to succeed ad what they are doing. Yes- early days were pop/punk-ish, developing through rock to hard rock/metal, but then producing the most amazing acoustic shows.
"Alone" was the first song Band-Maid released that was completely written, arranged and directed by the girls. After that they never looked back. And yes, they started with a pop-punk sound and have gradually gotten more hard-edged, with a lot of metal and prog influences. MISA and Akane also throw in a lot of jazz and funk licks, which is one reason they sound so interesting.
My opinion as a Japanese person. Many Japanese people, myself included, are so used to this anti-intellectual climate that the way musicians are treated on TV shows is so populist. And the host is a comedian. The members of BAND-MAID are also aware of this, and here they have some fun stories that go along with the program. Interviews for magazines and websites talk a little more about music.
Soba is sold in tiny bowls however 120 bowls is enormous.
This is still my favorite way to get to know the girls personalities. Even though they’re playing them up it is still good to have this context before going to a live show. During live shows they take multiple small breaks where they interact with the audience and having seen this it’s a lot less out of left field when they do it. It’s a lot of fun
I think the drummer you mentioned as being in demand as a session drummer is Tamu from Nemophila.
Ogata-san was just interviewed by Ohrenje, and he us actually providing his voice talents to an animated series Ohrenje is producing called "The Pigeon who Dreams of Singing." Deep cut Band-Maid stuff, but worth the watch.
This is a very good interview video for a Band-Maid beginner, but unfortunately, there are several mis-translations in English subtitles.
There used to be a video of the same interview with better English translation, but it was deleted.😥
Ohrenje has very good documentary videos for each member of Band-Maid.
Thanks, I'll probably look those up :-)
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks He just released an updated one for Saiki.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks He has just uploaded an interview with Ogato-san. He is from the same home town as Kobato and has been a fan of the band for a long time.
Great that you jumped on this!
When it skipped you missed the part where Miku explains that MISA is wearing a Assassin dress, hence, Barefoot Assassin.
Ah, thanks!
MISA MISA MISA!!!!!
The writing process as far as I know goes something like this for the current state of the band.
Kanami (lead guitar) writes the initial melody of the song on piano and gives it to Akane (drums) and MISA (Bass) who expand and personalize their parts and they go back and forth with each other with suggestions and tweak things in an iterative process. Miku (or sometimes Saiki now) then write lyrics for the song. This process continues until Saiki says they’re done. Saiki is the “that’s good, the song is done” person or the rest of the band would tweak a song forever. She’s also the one that decides if a song isn’t good enough and kills it.
Just a personal opinion about studio musicians - it is a different kind of job and success in the studio does not necessarily translate into live performance. Studio musicians need to be very good at sight reading and quick to get a good take (technically adept). Stage musicians need to be able to express themselves and give a good performance. There's a very good documentary film called "20 Feet from Stardom" about some highly sought-after studio backup singers who could not "make it" on their own. It's two different skill sets.
Source: I worked in studios as recording engineer (not a musician). I didn't make a career of it, but I'm friends with some who did.
Good info; I'll need to check that documentary out. A good buddy of mine is studio-musician adjacent; he's certainly good enough and has spent some time recording, but has ended up taking more of a musical theater path (right now he's the musical director of one of the traveling Cirque du Soleil shows. So most of what I know about the music biz has come from him.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Studio musicians play different stuff every day, and then go home to the wife and kids every night. A touring band plays the same stuff every night (or every other or every third night) and lives out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. Some studio musicians do go on tour and become famous at it: Glen Campbell and Leon Russell had been part of "the wrecking crew" in Los Angeles in the '60s, and Steve Lukather in the '70s toured with David Paich and Jeff Pocaro as Toto. So it's not an either/or thing, just two different types of jobs in the industry. As far as I know, some session players don't _want_ to go on tour. It's boring and it keeps them away from their family. Some touring players don't _want_ to do session work, they don't get much say in the outcome, they might not get much credit, and it might be unreliable.
It depends on the the genre too; I played in orchestra in college - we would rehearse once a week for eight to twelve weeks and play four concerts a year. A professional might have a subscription series where they play the same concert Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday matinee, get Sunday and Monday off, and rehearse the next concert on Tuesday and Wednesday. They might have eight or ten subscription concerts in the fall and again in the spring. A lot of cities can't support that schedule anymore so some of this has changed over the last twenty years or so, but some cities have a summer outdoor series or an opera company that might use them (or some of them) for a pit orchestra. Everything will be union scale, though, so they get paid well (and it's hard to break in). And with only two rehearsals, the conductor becomes _really_ important. A weak or disorganized conductor means the orchestra will not sound good and a good conductor is worth almost any price.
All of the interviews are so much fun as well as enlightening . Ty for doing this
These are fun, informative and insightful!
Keep in mind that this is a pretty early interview and their personas are a little exaggerated for effect. Clearly Miku doesn't really believe she's a pigeon but it's one of their running gags that everyone is in on. Giving you that sense of cognitive dissonance between how they appear/seem and how they sound is very much intentional. It's the main aim of the maid theme.
Much of their stage act is done with a wink and it's very fun and unique.They all have a big sense of humor but they're very serious about the music and are a very pro band.
And, yes, very early on they were more of a pop-rock band. Their management and record label didn't allow them to record their own material, even if Kanami had been writing songs all along.
The girls themselves wanted to move in a harder/heavier direction, in part because it truly delivered on the original band concept. By this time they mostly had. And not long after this interview, they gained complete control over the songwriting and sound. That's when they really blossomed.
(Although the song you referred to, Alone, was actually the first song released that was entirely written by Kanami, Miku, and the band. It's got some cool musical features and a ripping guitar solo.)
Thanks - I'm always one for cognitive dissonance from high-end professionals, well said. I also can't say how happy I am that the labels no longer control the sound. It's just never a good thing.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Important to note that, while their songs were "written by" outside writers they chose which songs they wanted to do and they have always had a say in arranging the songs since the beginning. We'll never know how much they did vs the outside writers: they have too much respect for the people they worked with to do something like that. But I've listened to a lot of other songs by a lot of their "writers" and the songs that are on Band-Maid albums (particularly after their debut) are almost always significantly better than the ones by the same writer but performed by other artists. Maybe they got lucky and picked all the good songs; or maybe they are the ones who made those songs good, despite there being another name on the credits.
I'm not a fan of demonizing the label or managment for choosing their early songs. Recording and performing provided material is _what they were hired to do_ That the Maids were able to leverage that into a more creative role is to their lasting credit. Give management credit for being able to adapt, not all labels would have.
Also, they were playing harder songs before they started writing. "Thrill", "Real Existence", and "the non-fiction days" were all provided songs. And they're "bangers" as the kids(you know, under 50) would say.
I believe it's fairly common in Japan for mgt/labels to control the material, particularly for new bands or pop acts. Some established bands work with outside songwriters or have unofficial members to provide material. It's obviously not uncommon in the West, either.
As @tinyhato noted, B-M did have significant input in arrangement, instrumentation, some lyrics, etc. They chose which songs to record but the earliest pool of songs, according to them, consisted of ones "no one else wanted to do." They seem to have helped to improve them.
The first outside-written song all five of them really liked was "Thrill." That was a single B-side that came after their first mini-album release, which the band seemed to feel was too safe. The A-side was even tamer than the first mini-album. It was an odd choice and felt perhaps imposed by a management grasping at straws.
The band pushed to have their first music video made for "Thrill" instead and that's when they started to take off.
They've always spoken positively about that period as they viewed it an apprenticeship. And there are more than a few really good songs from it. A couple of those writers remain close to the band.
However, Kanami has made it crystal clear that one of her main personal and band goals was to write and record their own material. And without that opportunity, she probably would not have continued.
@@TherealSeriousMoonlight No one is demonizing management. By all accounts, the management are really good people and the band seems to love and appreciate them.
The true pop-rock period we're mostly referring to is the time around formation and the first release "Maid in Japan." They were all trying to make something stick, find a direction, and make the band viable. But that material didn't do it.
It all started to change after that, with significant impetus from the band. Possibly from some people in management, too. We don't know.
The only thing that management could possibly be critcized for is the forgivable and totally understandable sin of playing it too safe initially. And possibly not quite realizing the potential they were sitting on.
On the charm point, it's weird, but it's like you said, it's a sort of interesting fact about the person. What I find is weird is how Japanese artists/performers will put their blood type in their Bio's.
And one of Kanami's "Charm Points" is her nickname of "Gums" because of how big her smile is.
And MISA almost ALWAYS has a pint bottle of Jim Beam on her amp. In Germany she had 1/5ths of Jack Daniels and Jägermeister as well.
And their earlier work was a lot of punk and pop-punk influences. They were using songs by outside writers that their label and management insisted on, but they (Kanami) kept writing and submitting their songs.
There is a mistranslation, when they say "Croatian" they actual translation was "Assassin Maid". Since she always plays barefoot+Assasssin Maid=Barefoot Assassin.
Or your Anti-Virus may have decided to update and is taking resources.
And Miku is very accident prone. I personally think it is because unlike the other Ladies who are mostly near sighted, Miku is far sighted and she doesn't like wearing her contacts or glasses in "Uniform" Add in her platform heels and that she is pigeon toed, accidents happen.
Saiki and MISA are both very, very shy and introverted. Although they have been slowly but steadily coming out of their shells.
And this interview was about a year before Saiki had surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords.
Haro Matsu covered the Lyrics, though Saiki has done a few songs and has helped co-write some of the lyrics with Miku.
MISA will tuck the pick in between her index finger and palm, while slapping and popping or snapping and clawing. When she lays pure finger style, she will toss the pic or tuck it into her pick guard or put it in her mouth. Kanami will also put the pick in her mouth when playing fingerstyle. Miku has a piece of tape on the back of her guitar to hold her pick when she plays fingerstyle.
Miku bets on horse races, she also like to eat horse meat and is part of a Consortium that owns a race horse. Making her a part owner. And she is VERY good at poker. At one tournament she came in second and was rather upset at that.
Unfortunately I was laid out when you did this live stream. Having spinal issues sucks eggs.
Thanks for all that, and sorry about the spinal issues!
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks Spinal issues happen when you have DGD, and you get older. I just have to accept that and try to live the best life I can.
Cafe Maids are expected to be rather kawaii (cute in a childlike manner) and perky. And to be able to speak about their "charm points." So when the charm point question came to Akane, she went counter-kawaii with her bottomless appetite, because it was funny. It had some basis in her competitive eating.
Misa pushed it further with "I drink." And then, whiskey, straight - about as un-kawaii as possible. At that time, she was taking a drink to settle her nerves before concerts. This made it public knowledge.
A lot of "fans" have an exaggerated idea of her drinking and will speak as if she is a drunk, which she is not. She shows up for rehearsals and concerts, plays creatively, and her timing is flawless. That is not a drunk.
Miku (second vocalist-guitarist, red rose, founder) is actually a much heavier drinker than Misa, which probably contributes to being accident prone. She is an excellent poker player, and a formidable contract negotiator.
She became a pop singer in "Li'l Cumin" trio earlier under her real name (?) Miko Noguchi. To avoid that affecting perceptions of her harder rock band, she created the stage name Miku Kobato. Kobato is "small pigeon" which generally is a dove. Kobato's value in Japanese numerology is 810. Therefore she is a perpetually 810 year old pigeon in human form, and plays jokes off that all the time.
Nice. Thanks so much for the reaction.
A lot of Japanese "talento" have fake personalities for public consumption. I had a student many years ago who became an actress. She came across as ditzy in interviews, but in reality, she was very intelligent and spoke excellent English. I asked her about it once and she said that she preferred the public not knowing the real her and also not expecting too much from her. I'm not saying that all the Band Maid members are "acting," but they know they will be better remembered if they have some quirks, so that's what they emphasize in this interview. This is very common on Japanese TV.
I agree. Especially with Kanami and Miku. They work hard to project a chosen stage persona, but are so obviously highly intelligent and self aware.
Yup, there's certainly some of that in their stagecraft. It doesn't seem to be as much about hiding who they are as much as massively exaggerating parts of their personalities, initially to create interest and attract attention, and now simply to have a laugh and entertain. They seem to have dropped the veil even more now. Everyone, epecially fans, are in on the joke.
In 2024, it's easy to see where the jokes and winks are. I doubt you'll hear a lot of intimate personal details from them (as it should be), but they do seem to want fans to know them better. They've shared a lot about the band's history that they didn't really have to.
The 2022 US Tour documentary? Someone in management was nervous about doing it. But the band insisted on it. The result was probably a compromise but the ladies wanted it done.
Yeah, there's a fair amount of cultural baggage and Japonica going on in that interview.
The MCs doing "noses" are unlikely to be "Pinocchio" (and lying), it's alterntively interpreted as imitating "tengu", traditional forest spirits (half-crow-half-human) often with long noses, and like that it's more like they are bragging. (Also the presenters are kind of famous, she from the Japanse idol-band music scene, and he is a popular comedian - he's got good timing as can be told.)
The "charm point" is part of the baggage Kobato hauled over from the Maid-Café-world. Individual café maids come with precisely a pre-defined "charm point", but that is precisely something peculiar and personal to them.
There's tons more in this interview...
Ah, thanks for clearing some of that up (esp. the charm point thing!)