(1) ~ America ・Billboard World Music Chart, Three Member Band Who Won 8th Place with their Debut ~
The interview with Royal Pirates was conducted at LaForet Museum, Harajuku the night before March 31st, when the band held [Royal Pirates Japan First Live]. We’re now publishing photos taken on that day!
■ You made your first appearance on the American Billboard World Music Chart at 8th place! Congratulations!
All: (In Japanese) Thank you very much!
■ Tell us how you felt when you heard you’d made it to 8th place.J:I couldn’t believe it.
S: I really couldn’t believe it. My parents had thought we had ranked in on Billboard’s main chart, and when I explained it properly, I somehow felt they were disappointed. I was sorry. (laugh)
All: Ahahah.
M: At first I told everyone “Congratulations!! (with high tension)”, I was so happy. But when they explained that it was the world music department, it become “Oh~ Congratulations! (more subdued)” (laugh)
■ You performed at the Pacifico Yokohama as guests for Lee Minho’s fan event! How was it, performing in front of thousands of Lee Minho’s fans?
S: It was really fun. As part of promotions, we appeared on many of the main music broadcasts in Korea, but there weren’t many opportunities to stand on such a large stage, so I really enjoyed myself.
M: We had quite a few live performances back in the US, and after such a long time it was a lot of fun! Lee Minho is a great star, and our sunbae, no less, so it was a great honor to stand on the same stage as him, with him. I was really happy.
J: Plus, we are really great fans of the drama starring Lee Minho “The Heirs”! (laugh)
■ When Lee Minho unexpectedly in the middle of the event said “Wait…” and retreated backstage, it seemed that you guys were really in trouble!
All: Hahahah! Yea, it seemed that way!!
M: How do I say this… I was really…puzzled/embarrassed. Aha.
■ Since you’re a three member band, I wanted to ask about how you play live! You can play with only three people, so are you constructed that way or do you have to synchronize.S:Yes. We’re a based on three member ensemble, but sometimes have to synchronize with piano or synthesizer. Most often there’s a better sound when it’s just the three of us.
M: When performing live on such a big stage, to better fill out the sound, we synchronize with the piano or synthesizer. At Lee Minho’s concert this time, there was an extra band, but at other events we don’t know whether or not such instruments are available, so for such times we synchronize.
■ I saw a show in Korea [After School Club] where U-Kiss’ Kevin acted as MC and Royal Pirates showed as guests. At that time James and Sooyoon both played the acoustic guitar, you all can play so many!
All: Yes! (All with big smiles)
M: I can play guitar, drum, and bass. On the piano I can play chords.
S: For me I can play guitar and drums.
J: I can play bass and guitar. In college I tried playing the trumpet. Now I think I want to learn to play the piano.
(2) ~ Japanese Band, Impact of L’Arc-en-Ciel and Janne da Arc! ~
■ How did the band come to be?M: Sooyoon and I met at church in our middle school years in America. At first we didn’t get along much, but we talked a little and found our our common point was music. From then on we started spending time at each others’ houses listening to music. We said to each other, “We want to be musicians!” and in that case we tried it together! From then on the band was formed. In college we didn’t have a bassist.
■ I saw some covers on youtube with just the two of you. Those were made when you were in college?M:(In Japanese) That’s right. Then one day James came! (laugh) My friend introduced us, saying “I have a guy who can play bass.”
J: The first words when I called Moon were “Hey! You want to be in a band with me?”
M: Then I said “Okay.” It was like that. (laugh)
(*T/N: This isn’t to mean that James started the three of them off or anything just that James was the first one to initiate contact. His question “Do you want to be in a band with me?” can be interpreted as “Are you willing to have me in your band?” James is a very positive and forward person, always referring to RP as “my band”, and if you read it as him hooking SooChul and not the other way around, it’s understandable. Just think of it as them finding each other with equal weight. ^^)
■ What do you think is the appeal of a three man band?
M: There are no bells and whistles, with a three man band, you rely on the groove. Regarding disadvantages, the scale of the sound can’t be big, but again, the advantage is what someone can invest in the groove.
J:Plus you can hear each person’s voice well.
■ You also cover a lot of songs. I was interested in Royal Pirates, and saw on youtube you had covered Sakanaction’s “Night Dancers”.M: (In Japanese) Wa~ Is that so!! We expect to sing that at tomorrow’s live!
S: We started thinking about Japanese songs to cover but at first we didn’t know what songs there were, so we asked around with some friends. We started making a list, and Kyarypamyupamyu was included. (laugh)
J: There was! She was!
M: I couldn’t not sing in Japanese, so I chose a song that had easy lyrics to sing. Sakanaction’s “Night Dancers” has a fun sounding refrain, but it’s a song that stirs sorrowful emotions.
■ What kind of music have you been influenced by?
M: We have our roots in rock, but there’s also influence from R&B and Funk. Listening to various kinds of music, you can make your own color of music and your own view of the world.
■ The first artist that got you into rock?
M: It was Muse. (laugh) As for a Japanese band, Janne da Arc.
■ Janne da Arc! (Surprise)
M: When I first heard Janne da Arc, I thought “there’s also music like this”… I felt the wonder.
S: For me, it was L’Arc-en-Ciel and Rage Against the Machine.
J: The bass-line of L’Arc-en-Ciel was so good, I was shocked.
(3) ~ Message to Fans in English! ~
■ You’ve finally released your first album [Shout Out] in Japan. What sort of album is it?
M: It contains songs of various genres, as they were ones we’d written two years ago. I think the music made around that time was at it’s purest.
S: They are songs that resulted from our search for our own color.
J: Even now you can tell the merits of the songs.
S: Since a lot of people loved the songs, I feel even more affection towards them.
M: The songs on [Shout Out] were sung without much soul or feelings (b/c he didn’t have experience), but recently the fans have been happily screaming along with us so I’ve come to really enjoy the song, and have been able to sing with emotion.
■ Since everyone knows English, please leave a message for the fans of the English-speaking world.
James: Hello, This is James, Royal Pirates, and I wanna thank you for guys to being just Royal fans for this whole time, and I know that you are waiting, but more working really harder than studio to bring this music that you gonna love, and to all the new fans, we really excite to meet you, and we are so happy so you guys are with us right now. part of the Royal Pirates family,we love you guys, so, and we will show you more surprise news soon, so keep checking up with our stuff.
Sooyoon: Thank you everybody. We love you and please wait a little more, we want to tour around, and see you guys, thank you guys.
Moon: This is Moon from Royal Pirates, you guys are awesome thank you, and we love you, Bye.
■ There’s a summer festival in Japan. Would you like to participate in it?
Of course! We want to come out! Please call us!
■ Please come to Japan and hold live performances frequently.
All: Yes! Of Course!
