INTERVIEW ~ DIO ~Distraught Overlord~: December 21, 2008
Oni-con ~ Houston, TX
The weekend of their US debut at Oni-Con, the members of Dio ~Distraught Overlord~ took some time out of their busy schedule to sit down with us for an interview. We started out with only four members present, but Erina (guitar) joined in part way through.
Can you introduce yourselves for our readers?
Ivy: Ivy, bass.
Denka: Denka, drums.
Mikaru: Mikaru, vocals.
Kei: Kei, guitar.
Attending Oni-con was a last minute decision for you. What was your reaction when you were asked to come?
Mikaru: It's like, finally!
Ivy-san, I know that in your blogs you’ve mentioned that you like Gundam models, how many have you made?
(everyone laughs)
Ivy: I've been building so many, so at least a hundred.
Do you have any particular favorite?
Ivy: Qubeley.
(Erina, guitar, enters, sitting down to join in on the interview)
Since we're at an anime convention, there are a lot of cosplayers. What are your opinions on cosplay?
Mikaru: I really want to just walk around and be a part of the convention so I can see everyone. There are all different manga and anime cosplayers, so I really just want to go walk around.
Along with cosplay there are a lot of people in Japanese fashion, such as visual kei. As a visual kei band, do you think of the visual kei fashion as something that's tied directly to the music, or does the fashion stand alone, as well?
Kei: In my opinion, we’re making music. I think that it's something that the music and the fashion have to be put together, or else it isn't going to work out right.
Erina: There are all different kinds of bands. For example, we do metal, but there are many other kinds of bands, too. Then there are visual kei bands, but I don't know that it would really work out that there's a visual kei band and then a separate thing called visual kei, like with fashion.
How do you see visual kei changing in the future?
Denka: Well, as long as visual kei lasts, there will be all different kinds of costumes that you have never seen, or hair and makeup that you have never seen that will be coming out.
Kei: Well, from the past, and getting influences from other people there are all these different costumes that people have come up with, or that I've come up with that have come out, and the same is true for hairstyles. So maybe the hair will get shorter, or the makeup will get more glamorous, but visual kei artists are going to keep on evolving, so it will keep on going.
Mikaru: With the makeup and PV editing techniques and things like that, visual kei is going to keep on evolving and getting better and better from now on. And eventually, as time goes on, even if skin-heads become the new big thing because of what is popular at the time, I would never do it.
Erina: To really answer this question seriously, about ten years ago visual kei was looked at as something that was not that great, something shameful. But now, from that time, it has evolved into something that we can really be proud of, and stand up with, and say that this is a really cool thing that we're doing. And, eventually, with various genres, like JPop, and so on, there will be a genre that physically fits in to each one that is called visual kei, and that is going to be a great thing that happens.
Ivy: Right now, everyone is looking at visual kei, from all over the world, everyone is focused on it. And, with that, people will be influenced by it, and those people will start bands, maybe ten years from now, like we did. And then, maybe, from there, in another thirty years, the world will be filled with visual kei bands. And from there, maybe some day it will be possible to have something like Summer Sonic, which is a festival we have in Japan, that would be visual kei only. I am looking forward to it.
Playing in the US and Europe, obviously a lot of the fans don't understand the lyrics just hearing them. Do you feel the instrumentals and the vocal lines carry themselves without that understanding, or would you encourage fans to go and try to find translations of the lyrics to help them understand it better?
Mikaru: With the lyrics, I've poured everything of myself into them when I wrote them, and there are certain ways of saying things in Japanese that are really hard to translate. So, while we were unable to do it for this CD, for the next single we want to work with a translator, and work on it together, and just keep working on it so that, ultimately, we can put out translations for everyone.
You played a live in Lyon, France on a boat. What was that like?
Erina: It was crazy (laughs)! We got really fired up so everyone started jumping, and then form that, the boat tipped. And then, on top of that, we went over capacity, so the humidity was really high. It was crazy, but a lot of fun.
What's been the most memorable experience for you and why?
Denka: There are just too many things, so I don't really know. But I guess the fact that I'm here, playing the drums.
Kei: For life in general, when I was in junior school, I got in a car accident, with my parents. I survived that, and I still remember bits and pieces of it to this day. That's the most surprising thing to happen.
Mikaru: The first time I bit into someone's neck and sucked their blood out.
Erina: I had this dream when I was about five. There was a highway, and then there was an eggplant, and the eggplant had wheels on it. And it just...went by. Until this day it's just stuck in my mind.
Ivy: I wore my new costume, and it got ripped apart by the audience. And until this day, I hold a grudge. (everyone laughs)
If you guys weren't in a band, what would be doing?
Kei: I suppose I would have been just...I should have been working just like a normal person. That's the only thing I can think of.
Ivy: I used to go to a silver accessory school, so most likely I would have had that as my profession.
Denka: I would have been a translator.
(everyone laughs)
Erina: I would have been a gambler. (everyone laughs) If I wasn't in a band, I would have just been playing pachinko all day long.
Mikaru: Your image wouldn’t change that much... (laughs) I would have eaten all the human beings' souls and be just lounging and living along.
You mentioned a number of western bands in your Q&A panel, like Slipknot, and you mentioned John Lennon. How have these artists actually influenced your music?
Denka: Well, for the obvious reasons, really. They influence our music and our live performances.
Mikaru-san, you keep mentioning knowing how to fly. When and how did you learn how to fly?
Mikaru: (chuckles) There's a great devil (everyone laughs) who taught me how to fly, and that's how I learned (everyone laughs).
And how did you meet this demon?
Mikaru: (English) My father!
Well, now that you've toured Europe a few times and been to the US, what do you want to do next as a band?
Mikaru: American tour. Major cities, I don't know how many spots but, we definitely want to have a structured tour and just...go around.
(At this point, their Manager who was observing the interview speaks)
Manager: Right now, they've been in the process of working on a release in America, and then this offer came. So it's been delayed a little bit right now. But they were going to release the album in America, so it was kind of tied in with that.
That would make the fans really happy, I'm sure.
Manager: At the moment, we're kind of scheduling it in the backseat, but it isn't getting fully finished yet.
Do you have any final message for your fans in America?
Kei: Yesterday we had out first live in America, and we had a lot of fun. We definitely want to come back, so if you could come and enjoy our live, it would be wonderful.
Denka: To everyone in America, please look forward to our next US live.
Erina: We haven't released our CDs over here yet, but there were a couple of people who knew our songs and were singing along last night. And we're going to be releasing CDs here, and we want to do more lives, so please, look forward to it.
Ivy: Don't worry your parents, and enjoy every day.
Mikaru: Listen to our music a lot, and feel Dio inside you, and put that inside you. And then, look forward to our live...please look forward to our live here.
interview by Jerusha; photos copyright DIO ~Distraught Overlord~
Thank you to DIO ~Distraught Overlord~ for taking the time to answer our questions. Thanks to Red List Entertainment, Carmilla (CURE USA, AnimeFood), and Oni-Con for arranging this interview. Thanks to Midori for translating.
links
Dio -distraught overlord- Official Website
BACK
