The next band that i took an interview together with my translator Roxana Nara is called ''I promised Once'' from Japan.Together with their globally diverse members from Japan & Germany ''I Promised Once'' wants to create an fascinating fusion of heavy metal, visual kei and electronic dance music.
With a strong belief that they will soon spread their wings abroad Japan , this brand new band, founded in the beginning of 2014 were so enthusiastic to speak about their musical journey until now . This cool Japanese-German band released their 1st EP "New Blood" on February 4th 2015 , including their first single called ''Broken Dream''. You should definitely check their MV on youtube. Lets get the interview started !!!
L : Please introduce yourself and the rest of the band as well . Hi Laura, my name is Nils, I play guitar for I Promised Once and am also involved in the songwriting process. I was born in Germany but have lived in Japan for the last 5 years. Before I came to Japan I used to play music in the USA in hardcore & death metal bands. Let me do a quick introduction of our members: George: Vocals & Leader Born and raised in Germany, he is half Japanese and is our vocalist. His specialty are shouts but he also does back-ups for some of the clean parts. Flo: Vocals & Electronics He is also German and has lived in Japan for over 4 years. He used to be a model & DJ, and is now responsible for most of our clean vocals and creating the synthesizer parts in our band. Kunio: Guitar Kunio has a long history in the Japanese Visual Kei scene and is also heavily involved in songwriting for I Promised Once. Joe: Bass & Production Joe has the longest music history out of everyone in the band and has played music for over 15 years. He was very successful at a young age and played concerts all around the world. He currently manages our activities and produces some of the songs. Hiro: Drums Hiro also has experience playing in metal bands, he is originally from Kansai and is right now supporting us.
L : The band’s name is really fascinating ! Is there any story behind this particular name ? Who chose the name ? We all decided on this name together during several meetings. We felt like we wanted to convey raw emotion while being positive about the future.
L : In which category would your band suit the most ? Besides metal, rock, dubstep and trance, are you guys also inspired by visual kei music ? Two of our members actually have a history of playing in Japanese Visual Kei bands, so you can definitely say there is a visual kei element. Concerning our music & songwriting though we try to stay away from clichés and orient ourselves towards a more western sound.
L : Do you guys want to bring a different concept for the future of rock music? Yes, for sure! Our concept is that we wanted to bring a fresh approach to the scene in Japan while always looking for opportunities to make it big abroad and reach fans all over the world. In this age, genres are starting more and more to overlap, and we wanted to bring the best parts of those genres together and create something unique.
L : How was the feedback until now ? So far we have received very positive reactions domestic as well as abroad. Our bookings this year are also looking fantastic, please look forward to see us share the stage with major Japanese bands and for our first nationwide tour!
L : Can you tell us more about your 1 st EP called "New Blood" , which will be released on Feb. 4th 2015? The release on February 4th was a great success! We had kickstarted the release with a pre-release concert event that we organized ourselves. It was nearly sold out and we sold many copies at the event as well as in the following release. We actually made it up to Rank 23 in the Amazon Japan rock charts at one time which made us really happy. This EP includes 7 songs, including our debut single “Broken Dreams”. We managed to show different angles of our song writing, for example Track 3 “The Walker Part 1: Realization” and Track 7 “Spring Breakers” are hard-hitting metal tracks while Track 5 “Memories of our days” and Track 6 “End Piece” show a more melodic side of our band. We are hoping to capture the attention of fans not just domestically, but also all over the world.
L : Your debut single released on 1st August 2014, “Broken Dreams” brings together different genres in perfect harmony. Are you guys happy with the reception of the single so far? The single has gained us a lot of local recognition and is being played permanently in the most popular rock & metal bars in Tokyo. We have gotten a lot of free promotion that way and when people hear the song they become very interested in our band because it is a unique approach to the genre. Also many people told us it is on the same level of quality than many major foreign artists which are established in the scene.
L : Which are your plans regarding the band’s activities? Do you want to release a full album in the near future? Our plans are to release another EP this year for which we are currently starting the production. After that our next goal will be a full-length album! Since” I Promised Once” is a globally diverse band, whose members come from Japan and Germany how do you guys communicate with each other ? Do you speak both in English and in Japanese ? Flo, me & George often communicate in German, but during meetings the official language is Japanese. We do not use English that much unless when it comes to communicating with fans or promoting our music abroad!
L : Would you like to perform outside of Japan? In which countries would you like to go ? To be honest, we are dying to perform outside of Japan! Definitely Europe is on the top of our list as well as the USA and some shows in South East Asia. We are open to anything!
L : Finally, what’s your message for the Romanian rock fans who want to know more about “I Promised Once”? Hey guys, Imi pare bine! Thanks so much for checking out our music. We are happy to know that people in Romania like our songs and I hope we can come play a show for you guys in the near future. If you could check out our music on Youtube and spread the word to your friends we would be forever grateful for your support.
You can buy our music physically at CDBaby (Link: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ipromisedonce2) digitally also on ITunes (Link: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/new-blood/id960563256) La revedere!
Translator - Roxana Naramzi Autor - Laura Cioroianu - Romania
LIKE them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/promisedonce Follow them on Twitter: @ipromisedonce Official website http://www.ipromisedonce.com
Please check out their debut single down bellow