D=OUT in Beijing

In their sixth year as a band, D=OUT held the largest Asia tour in the history of visual kei. D=OUT JISAKUJIEN MUSHASHUGYOU JYUNEN CHUKAN – I LOVE YOU Tour 2013–「ASIA DISCO」 started on June 12th in Taiwan. During their super busy schedule, JaME had the honour of meeting D=OUT at Beijing’s YUGONGYISHAN Livehouse. The band took some time to share their excitement about the tour, introduce their new single and leave a message for their fans around the world.

Can you please introduce yourselves?

(In Chinese)
All: Hello, everyone! We are D=OUT.
Kouki: I am Kouki.
Ibuki: I am Ibuki.
Hikaru: I am Hikaru.
Reika: I am Reika.
Minase: I am Minase.

What is your impression of Beijing?

Kouki: Is the Great Wall in Beijing?
Staff: Yes.
Kouki: It has the Great Wall, and today is the first time I have had Peking Duck.
Reika: The same as Kouki. Beijing has the Great Wall and the Beijing Olympics. But has it already ended?
Staff: Yes.
Reika: The Beijing Olympics leave a deep impression on me.

Where are you willing to visit in Beijing?

Reika: I really want to visit the Great Wall, but we do not have free time.
Kouki: Maybe after the tour.
Reika: Yeah, after the tour and in private time.

How long did you prepare for the Asia tour?

Kouki: About half a year.

What are your expectations for the Asia tour?

Reika: Umm…our expectation is that we can directly meet fans from all over the world, but this time it is just Asian fans. And it is just our third stop; we are still on the tour.

What does the Asia tour mean to you?

Kouki: This time there are some places where we have never been before, and also we will encounter new friends at a new place, so we are really very expecting it. At the same time, we can learn a lot by touching each country’s different culture.

You have already been to Taiwan and Korea. Due to different cultures and languages, did you meet any interesting things during the tour?

Hikaru: Umm…I usually prefer to eat because I am a big eater. During the tour I saw many special foods.
Kouki: Stinky tofu.
All: (Laugh)
Hikaru: And braised pork rice is very delicious!

Because today is your first show in the mainland of China, what are your expectations for Chinese fans?

Kouki: We simply hope everyone can feel happy by listening to our music. Also, people who do not know visual kei can personally get to know it through our live show. In addition, if today can become each one’s wonderful day, it is worth coming here for us too.

You made Aisuru hito’s Chinese version for the tour. Was it tough work?

Kouki: It was really difficult. So far I spent the longest time on singing it. But feedback is pretty good, so I am glad to do it.

Why did you choose this song?

Kouki: Because this song is the most appropriate one to express the emotion and relation between fans and us. Thus, we re-edited it from the Japanese version to the Chinese version. We hope everyone can sing with us together as well tell our feelings through the song.

After the Asian tour, you will release a new single called Koiabaki Amezarashi. Can you please tell us about it?

Kouki: This song is really D=OUT’s style. Only D=OUT can make this kind of song, and nobody can imitate it. It is unparalleled in the world.

What is the meaning of Koiabaki Amezarashi?

Kouki: In love, people always want to know what is going through their partner’s mind. So I used the theme of “is it alright to secretly read your partner’s mobile-phone?” for writing the lyrics. Also, I thought of what people from other countries should do, whether they will read or not. Thus, I used a controversial topic’s interesting point to make the song.

Half a year passed. Do you have any new plans? Do you want to challenge something else?

Kouki: I think we still want to keep doing the tour. Until now our activities have been mainly in Japan, but we want to go to different countries to perform. Even if there is only one person who likes D=OUT, we still would like to go to meet everyone.

Next will you plan a world tour? If you will, where would you like to go?

Reika: Last time we held a Europe tour, and the main stage was in France. So we do really want to go to France again and some places where we have ever been before, such as Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. Personally, I want to go to England.

Finally, could you please leave a message to fans around the world?

Kouki: We are D=OUT. Despite our activities are mainly in Japan, we still hope people from not only Japan but also all over the world can enjoy our music. We do not know when we can meet next time, but please be patient and look forward to that day!
Reika: No matter where you are, the love of music is the same. So I am willing to connect with you by music. To people in the world, please continue your support.
Hikaru: By performing overseas, I feel deeply that Japanese fans and overseas fans have the same emotion, so please keep following us.
Minase: We basically work in Japan, but people from all over the world still got to know us through some ways. Then we use the way of holding the tour to answer everyone’s support and to meet them. For D=OUT, it is really a precious thing. Hence, we will work hard to be able to create more chances to meet fans, so please support us.
Ibuki: This Asia tour is really great! We are able to go to and visit various places, but I think we also want to go and create things like fan club events and a good Asia and Europe tour in the world eventually.


JaME thanks D=OUT, PSC and Free Planet Music League for making this interview possible.