From Vamps + American Street Team + : Heres my translation of the News from Japan article featuring HYDEs interview. Below is the link to the article, written in German. Enjoy. Article link: de.emb-japan.go.jp/NaJ/NaJ1311/vamps.html News from Japan has continued the occasional series of interviews with artists from Japan, their leap abroad, [and] their inspiring many fans worldwide. In Japan, young music such as pop, rock, or hip-hop, made by Japanese musicians is very successful. Characterization of this trend through a wide variety of genres and the high musical quality has significantly increased in recent years. For [the past] several years, more and more of these Japanese musicians go abroad to successfully complete [performances] in Asia, Europe, [or] America, [for example]. In this edition of News from Japan, we intereviewed the singer of the rock band VAMPS, HYDE, on October 3rd, before their concert in Berlin. VAMPS consists of vocalist hyde, singer of the band LArc~en~Ciel formed in 1991, and K.A.Z from the band Oblivion Dust, formed in 1996. Both formed [VAMPS] in 2008. The day before the concert in Germany, they released their album - which is also their first release in Europe. Hyde is a very versatile and active artist. He is best known as the vocalist of LArc~en~Ciel, in addition to being the guitarist for the band PUNK~EN~CIEL. ------------------------------------- INTERVIEW WITH HYDE News from Japan: Is this your first time in Germany? HYDE: Weve come before for photo [shoots], but this is our first visit to Germany in a long time. This is our first time in Berlin and its our first concert here in Germany. News from Japan: Have you looked around the city? HYDE: Yesterday, we went to a restaurant and today, we had just enough time [to visit] the Berlin Wall. News from Japan: When you think of Germany, whats the first thing that comes to mind? HYDE: Beer of course! And then, that the country in Europe is rather stiff. * *NOTE: HYDE means that Germany is really cold. News from Japan: Have you tried German beer? HYDE: Oh yes, its really delicious! I have also eaten sausages (*laughs*). News from Japan: How did you come up with the idea for the concert in Berlin? HYDE: Our agency sees where concerts are possible and where our fans are. We have put our current tour together in four countries (Spain, France, Germany, and the UK). News from Japan: For what reason have you now chosen Germany to perform? HYDE: Other bands with whom we are close friends with have already performed in Germany. Because of that, we thought we would like to play there as soon as it became possible to do so. And now, we are here! News from Japan: When you think of German music, what comes to mind? HYDE: We belong to the generation of hard rock and have been influenced by very different music from all sorts of countries. But German metal bands were incredibly popular in Japan, so weve listened to a lot of German hard rock, even if we hadnt really thought about Germany as a country [before]. News from Japan: Do you think this has influenced your own music? HYDE: I think so. The hard rock I listened to at a young age was mainly German metal. My generation in Japan has also heard quite a bite of [this] hard rock. News from Japan: Can you give us some names? HYDE: There is, for example, the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). For our generation of hard rock fans, they were something like gods. I would imagine Michael Schenker is ever more popular in Japan than in Germany. Anyway, he has more fans in Japan than in America. Its really incredible how popular in Japan he is, and a great role model. Then there are bands like the Scorpions, in which his brother Rudolf Schenker plays, have fans around the world, and then theres the heavy metal band Accept that we have often heard, again without much thought that they come from Germany. News from Japan: What kind of music would you like to play here at your concert in Berlin? HYDE: Well....VAMPS evolved to become a very interesting band in Japan, and I think that for someone who did not know us, our music will sound quite interesting. Sure, we play pretty hard rock, but we bring our rock in different ways to express how you can have fun in music. I think thats quite entertaining. I personally believe that this kind of music is the first time Germany has ever really heard. So...we go with a considerable self-conscious approach in order to make it easy for people to listen who have not heard our music before. News from Japan: Is your concert here in Germany different from your concerts back home? HYDE: Bascially, we want to present the standard program of VAMPS on this European tour and to our fans. Then, later it will vary with time. Its important for fans to get to know our standard, otherwise they will believe our variants are the standard program and we want to avoid that. We want to present ourselves to the public here in Germany in our best form, as we show in Japan. News from Japan: Do you think you will come to Germany again? HYDE: Sure, we will be back when the fans want - anytime. But [next time] with the whole range of variants (*laughs*). News from Japan: Thank you for the interview and good luck! ---------------- At the concert in Berlin, not only had numerous fans from all over Germany come, but visitors from Eastern Europe and the UK as well. According to organizers, there were some fans who had camped out near the entrance in order to get the best space possible. Most visitors had met VAMPS through HYDE or through friends or through the Internet. One fan said before the concert: I am happy that they have come to Germany, and I look forward to hearing HYDE speak in German! The concert was a great success and longer after the concert, many fans lingered in the hall. It was obvious that they just did not want to leave the place.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 05:17:13 +0000