Interview with Vanilla Beans

With 2012 being their fifth anniversary, retro-styled Vanilla Beans recently released their third album, Vanilla Beans III, in November and performed at the Toulouse Game Show. At this French convention they chatted with JaME about their concept, interests and collaboration with the “Japan in Motion” TV program.


Can you introduce yourselves to our readers who do not know you yet?

Lisa: We are a Japanese idol duo. We started our activities five years ago. I’m Lisa.
Rena: And I’m Rena.

Can you explain to us your group’s concept?

Rena: It’s complicated!
Lisa: Yes, indeed. To summarize, our concept is that we come from Northern Europe and we sing some Swedish pop.

Why did you choose the name Vanilla Beans?

Rena: It’s the producer who came up with this name. He found it funny.

Can you talk to us about your last album, Vanilla Beans III, which was released on November 7?

Lisa: It’s our third album, in which we collaborated with a group of musicians to give an acoustic touch to our songs, as if we were in a real band.

What is your favorite song of this album?

Rena: We wrote the lyrics of certain songs by ourselves and sang solos. Those are our favorite songs from the album.

Rena, you are known to be a big fan of idols. Which groups would you recommend to our readers?

Rena: I love Morning Musume. I attended five auditions! I recommend that you see them live if you have the opportunity.

With this, what would you recommend to future candidates?

Rena: You must really show your originality and your passion for the group. That’s the most important.

What sights in France have you visited so far?

Lisa: We have not yet had the time to visit anything, but we would like to make a boat trip on the Garonne.

How did your collaboration with the “Japan in Motion” program come about?

Rena: The show began to broadcast our music videos, and then we participated in a segment of the programme where we were restyled as “Harajuku girls”. It was on that occasion that our popularity grew on “Japan in Motion”.

Are there any other groups that you would like to collaborate with on “Japan in Motion”?

Vanilla Beans: Fudanjuku!
Rena: I would love to do a show with Ren-sama (Ruhara Renji).

Do you have a final message for our readers?

Lisa: It’s the first time that we’ve done a live in France and we are very excited. We hope that everyone has fun and enjoys the concert