Interview with Atsuko and Katsu from Japanese pop band “angela” who collaborated with singer Konomi Suzuki on a special live performance for the Anisong World Matsuri at this year’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California.
I heard that you were in different bands before you formed angela. What kind of music did you play? Was it similar to angela’s music style?
KATSU: Not really… I was actually a drummer in a hard rock band. We used to cover X Japan.
atsuko: Mine was a pop band! I have been composing music since high school.
When you first formed angela, did you expect to sing lots of anime songs like you do today? Did you want to sing anime songs?
atsuko: I didn’t expect that at all! I didn’t have a vision to sing for anime or sing overseas. So I still feel strange that I get invited to sing in different countries.
You’re known for a unique self-introduction referring to anime parody during the MC. Do you often watch anime? What is your current favorite?
atsuko: We don’t actually watch lots of anime. Even in Japan, we perform at lots of anisong festivals, and we see many talented artists giving a serious and great MC. I felt like other amazing artists can take care of the serious talk, so we decided to play around with jokes. For example, we introduce ourselves as a different anisong unit, or we say we are from IDOLM@STER. It was for an experiment at first, but the audience loved our jokes! People have started looking forward to which anime parody we will do during MCs every time now!
KATSU: We do watch more anime than usual people though! My current favorites are “Attack on Titan,” “Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju,” and “Dragon Ball Super”.
Your first anisong was Asu e no Brilliant Road for “Stellvia.” What was your first reaction when you heard that you would sing for anime?
KATSU: I know we say that Asu e no Brilliant Road is our debut song, but it’s actually not. Four years before that song, we released a song for an anime, “Shin Hakkenden”. That was our first debut and first anime song, but it didn’t sell much. Then after we went back to indie music, the producer found us and this is how we released Asu e no Brilliant Road. We were very thrilled to have another challenge.
I heard that you used to do lots of street performance before. What was the happiest and hardest thing during that time period?
KATSU: We would usually play four songs and then sell CDs on the street. To be honest, we sold lots of CDs, which made us even wonder why our debut CD didn’t do well.
atsuko: One of the hardest things was that since we didn’t have a permission to perform on the street, we would have to go look for another location if the police told us to stop, or if it rained. Sometimes we couldn’t perform at all.
KATSU: When we first debuted, there were only a few people who came to see our show, but after the street performing, it jumped to 200 people. I was really grateful.
I’m sure you have been traveling all over the world to perform, but where has been your favorite city or country so far?
KATSU: America! Anywhere in America. Especially Seattle and Chicago are my ideal cities that I want to even live there.
atsuko: As for food, Asian foods suit me the best, like food from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. But when we go to America or Europe, I see that the audience enjoys our concerts in a different way than our Japanese fans, and it feels very fresh. I love cities in Germany, too.
You joined Anime Expo 2014 as a part of the “K” event. What was the most memorable thing to you?
KATSU: I was surprised by how American people enjoy seeing the movie. People laugh or scream during the screening, and it was a sight that we don’t get to see in Japan.
When you came to Los Angeles last time, where did you go sightseeing?
atsuko: Santa Monica! Hollywood! I was so impressed by how vast the Santa Monica beach was.
KATSU: I went to music shops like Guitar Center! If I had stayed there for 10 more minutes, I swear I would have purchased something.
Do you have time for sightseeing this time?
atsuko: Not at all! I love “Beverly Hills, 90210,” so one day I want to go to Beverly Hills and visit the place where Donna opens a shop.
KATSU: When I was at Route 66, a gang of bikers asked me to take a photo of them, saying finally they came to Route 66 and this was the dream coming true moment. I thought it was such an American dream, and I still remember that day.
As angela, what kind of songs do you want to sing in the future?
KATSU: Our B side song of our latest single, Zenryoku☆Summer! is inspired by Japanese traditional ethnic music. It’s called angela Ondo which is a Japanese traditional dance song style. We have lots of opportunities to perform overseas as Japanese musicians, and I feel like I should be able to perform our own traditional ethnic music. We never sang for a super Japanese traditional anime, either, so I would like to try that in the future.
Lastly, what is your kawaii, kakkoii, and sugoi thing?!
KATSU: I would say it’s my partner, atsuko. She’s cute, cool and amazing! It’s been over 10 years since we debuted, and our fans have been aging with us, but they still follow us! Our fans are of course cute, too!
atsuko: I totally agree with him!
About angela
angela, the group formed by vocalist atsuko and guitarist KATSU, made their major debut with the opening theme “Asu e no brilliant road” for the anime Stellvia in 2003. Since then the group has produced several opening theme songs for popular anime series including FAFNER in the azure, and K, KNIGHTS OF SIDONIA. In 2015, angela toured Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. On March 4, 2017, the duo held their first Budokan concert in Japan. 2017 also saw angela perform theme songs for anime series Aho Girl and the Netflix anime film BLAME!
Anisong World Matsuri website
Anisong World Matsuri will be making its east-coast U.S. debut at Otakon 2017 in Washington, DC on August 11-13. For more details visit the Otakon website.
