FLOW, the rock band behind several iconic anime theme songs such as GO!!! from "Naruto" and COLORS from "CODE GEASS: Lelouch of the Rebellion", will perform in Washington, DC for the first time on August 12th at Otakon's Anisong World Matsuri. JaME interviews the band about their 15th anniversary and latest mini-album.
You will perform at Anisong World Matsuri at Otakon in Washington, DC on August 12th. What have you planned for this concert so that it will be a great experience for you and your fans?
KEIGO: We're very excited since this will be our first live performance in Washington. We'll do our best to create a live that not only gets us excited, but every member of the audience as well, so we can all have a good time together.
2017 marks the 15th anniversary since your major debut. Please tell us about the most memorable moment you had with the band so far.
KEIGO: There are a lot of good memories, and great things keep happening every year. I would say the moment that comes to mind right now is when we got to share the day of our 15th anniversary with our fans this year.
We see what you call your "15th anniversary symbol flag" featured in your latest publicity shot. Who designed the flag? Please tell us what the star shape and different colors represent.
KEIGO: Our designer came up with this brilliant idea. The five colors represent our members, the five individuals who come together to represent FLOW. Five individuals with unique talents coming together and spreading out = FLOW.
You collaborated with 11 anime voice actors for GO!!! ~15th Anniversary ver.~, the lead track of your latest mini-album Fighting Dreamers. Please tell us about your experience working with such a large team. What were the challenges? What was fun about it?
KEIGO: We're really grateful that all these actors agreed to participated in our celebration. They were all extraordinarily brilliant, and the recording was very inspiring. I also enjoyed the experience as a fan, to be able to see the actors acting and singing with their character voices.
Why did you choose to record a new version of GO!!! instead of another song from your repertoire?
KEIGO: Because it's the song performed most during our history, and the song that marks the beginning of our history with anime, this song also helped us to grow a lot. We also wanted to send the message that even though this is our 15th year, "We are still Fighting Dreamers."
KEIGO, KOHSHI, IWASAKI — you tried your hand at writing music for the first time for Fighting Dreamers. Can you each tell us about how you decided on the theme and musical direction of the song you wrote?
KOHSHI: I wrote this song to show my respect to all drinkers in this world. KEIGO: I wrote this song based on our Japan tour title We are still Fighting Dreamers, to show that our 15th anniversary is not our goal, but simply a passing point. TAKE: Since we wanted to have songs filled with the character of each member, while all based on the theme “Fighting Dreamers”, I’ve written one with my recent hobby — hiking — as a motif. GOT’S: I’ve written a song with “Bass Play” as a theme. The song is arranged to be made up of drums, guitar and bass only. IWASAKI: I’ve written the lyrics reflecting my feelings when I first joined FLOW, and merged it with a melody of LA metal taste — a genre I really liked when I decided to become a professional musician — to create a song of my own color.
The overall theme for your 15th anniversary year is "Fighting Dreamers", which carries the meaning of believing in the future. What do you think the future holds for FLOW?
KEIGO: To me, every day is extremely fun and fulfilling now as a band member. I hope to renew these good memories with my four fellow band members, together with our staff and our audience. We will continue to be Fighting Dreamers.
To conclude our interview, please leave a message for JaME readers.
KEIGO: We want to do more performances not only in Japan, but overseas as well. There are still many places we have not been able to visit yet in the United States, and we would definitely love to see all our fans there. When the opportunity comes, let’s create the best live performance together!
JaME would like to thank RESONANCE Media and the Anisong World Matsuri press team for this interview opportunity.
Date: August 11th and 12th
Venue: Washington DC Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Lineup: FLOW, JAM Project, T.M.Revolution, Yousei Teikoku
Tickets and Info: https://www.otakon.com/concerts/anisong
