Interview - CROSSFAITH @ TRIX, Antwerp 2/03/16
Right before the show, we got the chance to ask a few questions to vocalist Kenta Koie from CROSSFAITH, Here is the result!
Hi! Nice to meet you ! We are AfterGlow, a Belgian promo team for Japanese rock bands. We’d like to ask you a few questions.
1. Can you introduce yourself and your band members?
K: I’m the singer of the band. And the guitarist is Kazuki, the bassist is Hiro, the DJ is Teru and on drums we have Tatsu.
That’s Crossfaith and we’re from Osaka. We started this band in 2006 and this year is our tenth anniversary.
2. How would you describe the genre of your band?
K: It’s kind of hard to explain. So many people have asked me about the genre of Crossfaith, but it’s difficult to describe because our music has a lot of essence.
We basically play metal music with hardcore ,electronic stuff and EDM, and so much more genres, so it’s kind of complicated. But when we were in Warped Tour in 2013, in the States, we called ourselves “future metal” (laughs)
3. Where did you get your inspiration for your last album, Xeno?
K: From everything. We’ve travelled a lot since we started touring outside of Japan, since 2012, and we were growing up with music. We listened to so much to music and we liked so many genres.
Also, we worked with a lot people, like our two producers. The first one was called Machine. He used to be based in New Jersey, but now he’s in Texas.
For our last album, we worked with David Bendeth.He’s a great producer, but it was kind of tough for us to work with him, because our theory of making music and his style didn’t fit.
I: It was different?
K: Yeah, we were struggling with him like bigtime (laughs). But of course I loved the single, Madness, as well.
This time we worked with Josh Wilbur. He’s in Los Angeles, and he was amazing. Like, he never forced us to do something, you know. He was always saying: the choice is in your hands.
4. What’s your favourite song on the album to perform life?
K: Wildfire, that one’s good. The song consists of a lot of different things. It’s far away from the other songs.
5. What’s one thing that stuck to your memory on this European tour so far?
K: In Nevers in France. It was our DJ’s , Teru’s, birthday and we planned to surprise him, but the day before, so many fans already celebrated him. And it was like, come on, we wanted to celebrate him first (laughs). But still, it was a nice birthday for him, I think.
6. If someone would come on tour for a couple of days with you, what could they expect?
K: They’d be sharing the bus, partying with us, drinking.
7. What are your non-musical influences?
K: I’m a big fan of anime. My favourite’s Ghost in the Shell ,Animatrix and Neon Genisis.
8. How does music affect you personally?
K: I think music really doesn’t affect me, but meeting a lot of people, conversations with so many people and travelling a lot with our music does, not the music itself.
Now, my character is formed by meeting people, like him (points at tour manager) and you guys and seeing the world, that’s the most important thing.
9. How would you describe the atmosphere at your shows?
K: Chaos. Our show has so many fases. At first it’s very aesthetic. In the middle it’s very danceable and in the end, there’s fireworks.
10. Tonight, you will be performing with SET THINGS RIGHT and The One Hundred, what do you think about them?
K: We toured with The One Hundred for like a week. They were nice guys. And we actually already played with them 2 years ago in the UK and hung out a lot with the vocalist Jacob on a summer festival in the UK.We were …fucked up (laughs)
I don’t really know the other band for tonight, Set Things Right. So I’m going to watch them.
11. If you could sell your soul to the devil, what would you sell it for?
K: What would I sell it for? If I must sell something to the devil I must get something back?
I: Yes, anything.
That’s kind of hard! I want to get the devil’s voice and I’m going to give it… whole heart. I’m chill, you know. I’m not like (makes screeching sound)I’m an eccentric person so I’m going to give my whole heart to him. And I’m getting the devil’s voice!
Thank you very much for your time ! We wish you a lot of fun on stage tonigh and the rest of the tour ofcourse!
-Thanks to RUDE PR and CROSSFAITH for making this interview possible -
