With the disbandment of visual rock band D'espairsRay in 2011, vocalist HIZUMI shifted his attention to his then newly created design brand, UMBRELLA. In summer
2019, he announced the foundation of a new music project called NUL.. HIZUMI was joined by Kishi Toshiyuki from abingdon boys school and MASATO from
defspiral. JaME had the chance to ask the vocalist and designer a few questions about his new project.
Though you're well-known to most of our readers, could you please introduce yourself?
HIZUMI: I'm HIZUMI. My blood type is B. (laughs)
How was NUL. created?
HIZUMI: After talking to Kishi-san who I had known as a producer from before, we then invited MASATO who was a guitarist that I was good friends with outside of music, and formed NUL..
What does your band name mean? Is it some kind of abbreviation? If so, what does NUL. stand for?
HIZUMI: NUL. (null) means ‘not applicable’, or ‘zero’. It means no other music or starting from zero.
What kind of music does NUL. play? Is it similar to the sound of the members' previous/other bands, or completely different?
HIZUMI: Since we don’t really have a rhythm section, we won’t be able to make music that is similar, so I think we will be making music that is totally different. Rather than calling us a band, we are more like people gathering
together. It’s not three people but more of one person, plus one person, plus one person. Each one of us has different strengths, so I think that we will be able to perform music with a wide range of sounds using these different strengths.
Your debut concert is titled NUL. 1st EXPERIMENT -showcase-. Does it mean you still have not decided what kind of band you want to be?
HIZUMI: Because I want NUL. to find itself through doing concerts, we strongly feel that we want to try many different things for now.
HIZUMI, during your time with D'espairsRay you mainly wrote the lyrics for the songs. How is it with NUL.? Do you also provide the lyrics and in what ways are you involved in the composing process?
HIZUMI: In D’espairsRay I only wrote the lyrics, but in NUL. right now, I am doing the lyrics and melodies for all the songs.
Will your songs carry a special message or have a specific theme?
HIZUMI: Personally, I wonder whether our overall theme is to do with the mental part of ‘starvation/hunger’.
HIZUMI, you had a long break from being in a band or playing concerts. Are you more nervous or more excited about doing it again? Do you ever worry that your throat issues might return?
HIZUMI: Since we’ve only just started there are a lot of things I’m excited about, but in order to increase the quality of performance onstage, I think I need to do a lot of self-reflection.
HIZUMI, your return has made many of your foreign fans really happy. Do you plan to expand the band's activities abroad in the future?
HIZUMI: Of course! But because we first want to establish ourselves firmly in our homeland, it probably won’t be for a little while.
Aside from your live debut in August, what can your fans expect from you in the future?
HIZUMI: For us to wriggle into all of the spaces in your heart! (laughs)
Please leave a message for JaME readers.
HIZUMI: Right now we are like a newborn baby. We are going to create a world called NUL. from here on out, so I would like everyone to lend us a hand for the creation of it.
JaME would like to thank HIZUMI and Lin for making this interview possible. A trailer for NUL.'s first demo can be viewed below.
Watch the teaser for maboroshi, NUL.'s 2nd DEMO CD:
