Interview with m:a.ture

author: Viktor Hemminger

© m:a.ture

Not many people are familiar with the northern parts of Japan. That’s why JaME teamed up with m:a.ture to get some insight on the Hokkaido-based band. In an interview conducted mostly in English, the band discusses their past, future, and of course their music. Their rough language and sometimes silly answers showed the playful side of m:a.ture.


First of all, please introduce yourself to our readers. Who is m:a.ture? And why did you chose that name, and especially this specific way of writing it?

Shin: Hi everyone, this is Shin from m:a.ture and I'm the guitarist/singer in the band.
Minato: Hello, my name is Minato. I play the drums.
Dai: Greetings, this is Dai. I do the keys, synths, loops, programming and stuff.
Ryo: Hello, I'm Ryo, the support bassist for them.
Dai: In regards to the band's name, Shin, the band leader, named it. He doesn't speak English and doesn't understand the icons and stuff. So, I'm afraid that people may think that we like mature porn or something. (laughs) We don't. Hard core secretary office porn is preferable. Anyways, I don't really know the meaning of our band name. But I guess it's better than having a band name such as Warmaster of Hell, Slaying the dragons, or some stupid fuck like that. It just makes you look like choir boys. If I ever see myself playing in the band like that, I'm in deep shit. I mean, deep deep shit. I would have to beat myself until I can't stand up or sit down, like Al Pacino in "Scarface".
Shin: There are a few reasons for our band's name. It's a long, long story and a very personal thing, so please just consider m:a.ture as just a band name. The reason for writing mature as m:a.ture is that it makes people easy to find us on the web. If you type m:a.ture on Yahoo!, MSN, Google or whatever and click search, you will find us quickly. You don't have to scroll down forever to to find us.

You come from Hokkaido. Is it hard for a band from the northernmost part of Japan to become popular?

Minato: I guess it's hard to become popular in Hokkaido.
Shin: To be honest with you, it's hard to become famous here in Hokkaido, considering the economic power of media enterprises in Hokkaido. But today, the music industry is beginning to change. It might be possible according to the way we do it. The thing we need to do is to find and use a new method.
Dai: There were some bands that got decent success, such as MELLO. But the music scene here is pretty shitty. Therefore we might be moving out from here.

Tell us a little bit more about your musical background. Did you have a musical education, or did you learn to play instruments on your own?

Shin: I used to like classical music and started out playing the piano. A few years later, I was baptized to rock'n'roll. I studied musical composition for three years and took guitar lessons for six years.
Dai: I used to learn music theory back in the day. Too bad I forgot most of it.
Minato: I went to music school, to learn drums.
Ryo: I wanted to be cool, so I went to music school, but I dropped out. (laughs) Actually, Minato and I went to the same music school. Minato graduated, I didn't. (laughs) I studied music by myself.

What bands inspired you to start music, and what bands influenced you once you started? Also, which, if any, of your former bands do you think had the biggest impact on you?

Shin: The band X inspired me to the bone. I learn from every session band/project I do. It's a great experience to play music together with someone I had never played with.
Minato: Same here. I started playing drums after I saw YOSHIKI play. His drumming was very impressive. He opened up a new world for me.
Dai: I do not have a specific band that inspired me to start music, but there's a movie called “Immortal Beloved” based on the mysteries of Beethoven that inspired me a lot. So, Ludwig van Beethoven would be my answer. When I was in the evil force of the United States of America, I was in a metal band called The Kunst Conspiracy. It was a few years of Californication. That was hella tight. (laughs) We'd have band practice, do shows/parties, write material, go to Denny's to get service from angry waitresses, push old ladies down hills in shopping carts (this is just a joke we used to say), and go to Wal-Mart to watch people spend money on worthless pieces of shit made in China. I was young and stupid. Those were good old days.
Ryo: LUNA SEA is my hero. They got me started playing music. Currently, I'm in a band called EsoLLa. I'm having a good experience there.
Minato: My ex-band MELLO really influenced me. I learned a lot from them about musicianship. I have gained a lot of experience in MELLO.

You are regarded as a visual kei band, probably due to Minato’s past with bands such as Diod’honneur and MELLO, and your concerts with lynch. and Sadie. But you don’t look like a typical visual band. How would you define your band?

Shin: Good question! Genre is not that important, and it's hard to define our band.
Minato: I would just say J-rock/pop.
Dai: I personally don't listen to visual kei or punk at all. Most of my friends are in visual bands, like yumeji and sato from Lc5 or Shinno from NoGoD. I guess that's why we are regarded as a visual kei band.

Your label is called Morgue Music Gallery. Why did you chose such a scary name when your music isn’t scary at all?

Dai: Because of my dark prophecy of doom. It's doomer than the doomest doom. I have a special unholy power of doom, to wake up the dead... and stuff. It's very dark, deep and scary...yeah, I look like a total lonesome loser now. Well, I dunno, Shin will have to answer this.
Shin: To me, it means to start from the lowest rung of life and climb up to the highest. And it reminds me not to forget what I dreamed and hoped for when I started playing music. It has nothing to do with our musical style.

You have no official bassist. Have you ever thought about making Ryo your official bassist?

Shin: I asked him to be our official bassist a few times, but he seems to like being a support bassist.
Dai: Well, Ryo, Shin and I actually went to high school together. He has been our support bassist for four years now. I've always wanted him to join the band. What do you say bro?
Ryo: When I started playing with m:a.ture, I was a support bassist for two other bands. I had too much to do and I didn't know what to focus on. Now I have an official band - EsoLLa - and I put my focus on it. But, since I've known Shin, Dai and Minato for a long time and we are good friends, I will keep playing the bass for them as long as I can. I will not quit until they want me to quit. (laughs)

Shin had a side-project called GRID in the past. Do any of you have any other projects you’re involved in at the moment?

Dai: Not right now, but some time in the future, I would start a nu-metal rap band. A Japanese dude trying to rap like a black man and rhyme like crap yo - holy dog shit. What a worthless horsefuck idea that is. It’s like a piece of stinking garbage, as full of shit as anyone could ever be. Anyhow, I may start a new project that will make people want to party in hell.
Ryo: I also play in EsoLLa, as I mentioned before. m:a.ture and EsoLLaare all I’m doing recently.
Minato: If there's a chance, I would like to do a side-project. But I don't have any projects I'm involved in at the moment.

Your first maxi-single Soleil was great. Do you have any other releases planned for the near future?

Shin: Thanks a lot! We will be releasing something this year. We are writing new material, but we’re not so sure when we will be releasing it. It might be next year. But I'll tell you this, the new stuff will be different from what we have done before!

If you get the chance to play somewhere overseas, are there any specific countries or cities you'd like to play in?

Minato: I'm interested in the United States and Europe.
Ryo: Anywhere in the world! I wanna go where the food is good and yummy. I like eating.
Dai: I've never been to Europe and I would love to go there. And of course, I've always wanted to go back to the U.S. of A.
Shin: I've never been overseas. I would go anywhere in the world!

What are your plans for the future? What would you like to achieve?

Shin: It's a secret...
Minato: I have many plans in my mind. But at the moment, what I would like to achieve is to have 1000 people in the venue every time we do shows!

Do you have any messages for your overseas fans?

Ryo: Hey guys, I have a statement: We kick ass. Let’s spread m:a.ture all over the world!
Dai: Our new single Soleil is available on iTunes, and of course on ourMySpace too. Hope you enjoy it.
Minato: Hope you like our music! I've always wanted to play shows overseas, and make sure you catch us if you ever get the chance.
Dai: Oh, I recently opened a twitter account. Please follow me if you find me there.



JaME would like to thank the band for making this interview possible.