Combining catchy beats composed by DYES IWASAKI with lightning-fast yet melodious rap lines delivered by TOPHAMHAT-KYO, "nisemono" ("fake") duo FAKE TYPE. have been pleasing electro swing connoisseurs
all around the world since 2013. In October 2020, the duo came back from a three-year hiatus with the single BEELZEBUB, before releasing their fourth album FAKE LAND in early 2021.
Since then, FAKE TYPE. has
released multiple singles—always accompanied by their colourful MVs—worked on a song for the "One Piece Film: Red" movie soundtrack, and created the theme song for the party game "GOONYA MONSTER", which is to be released in early December. But the musicians
who describe themselves as "fake" have also reached another great milestone in their career this year with the release of their first major album, FAKE SWING, on November 16th.
A few days after FAKE SWING’s release, we had the
opportunity to talk with FAKE TYPE. about this new opus, their creative process, and their busy year, amongst other subjects.
As this is JaME’s first interview with you, could you please introduce yourselves to our readers and share an interesting fact about yourselves?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: It’s nice meeting you. I’m TOPHAMHAT-KYO. I’m the main vocalist of FAKE TYPE. I gave myself this name because I used to be a ham maker.
DYES IWASAKI: It’s good to see you all. I’m DYES IWASAKI. I make tracks/beats and am in charge of scats.
You call yourselves a "nisemono" ("fake") unit. Why do you choose to describe yourselves this way?
FAKE TYPE.: The word “fake” seemed like a perfect word to describe ourselves. The word sounded so catchy, and we both liked it. There is an electro swing band called TAPE FIVE and we were looking for a word to rhyme, so we added
TYPE. at the end to create “FAKE TYPE.”
It’s not that we had studied music at the start of our career. It was a lot of self-teaching through trial and error, and we thought it would draw more attention if we owned that and described ourselves as “nisemono”.
Which song would you recommend as an introduction to your work for someone who has never heard FAKE TYPE.’s music before?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: I’d love for people to listen to Shin FAKE STYLE so that they can enjoy our tricky rap and electro swing, which are synonymous to FAKE TYPE.
DYES IWASAKI: I choose FAKE LAND because it’s a fun song like an amusement park!
Your songs intertwine catchy electro swing music with melodious, lightning-fast rap lines. Where do you draw inspiration from to create this sound?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: I’d say we are influenced by Movits!, a Swedish swing band.
DYES IWASAKI: Additionally, there are artists like Caravan Palace, Swingrowers, TAPE FIVE, Jamie Berry and Smokey Joe & the Kid who have influenced us.
Are there any artists you admire or who inspired you to become musicians?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO:RIP SLYME, Eminem and many more.
DYES IWASAKI: It all started for me when I first heard ZEEBRA’s songs, which got me obsessed over hip hop. There are lots of musicians I admire. I admire cool track/beat makers like Skrillex and Zedd.
You released your latest album FAKE SWING on November 16th. Could you tell us more about this new release? Is there a particular theme or sound you wanted to focus on?
FAKE TYPE.: Since we had never made an album that was entirely in the electro swing style, we decided to make one. We felt that the most of our listeners were looking to hear electro swing tunes, so we feel this album delivered that.
In your song Nightmare Parade 2020s, you talk about the internet, and more specifically about SNS. What are your feelings on how SNS has become so closely intertwined with the music industry?
FAKE TYPE.: It’s great for artists like us whose main platform has always been the internet. It helps us reach people not just in Japan but also around the world like this [interview]. However, if you use it incorrectly, you can lose everything
instantaneously, so you need to handle it carefully like you are driving a car.
GO
ON YA WAY featuring Chogakusei is the theme song for the party game “GOONYA MONSTER”, in which you also appear as monsters. Could you tell us how you came to collaborate with the video game studio MUTAN, and what that experience was like?
FAKE TYPE.: When we were first informed about the project, we were going to be part of it as producers and to write a song for a different artist to perform. However, they decided to change it and asked that we perform it as well and here we are
with this collaboration.
This is the first time for us to be working with a game company, so it was a lot of fun. Plus, we get to be in the game too, which is such a rare experience that we are grateful for.
Your colourful music videos are an integral part of your universe, complementing your bubbly and energetic songs. Could you explain a bit about the creative process for your MVs?
FAKE TYPE.: We first discuss between the two of us and decide the overall direction of the music video and who we want to work with. We are so grateful to have so many talented video creators working with us. Some of the music videos of the songs
from the album FAKE SWING are made by artists who bring in new and different styles from what we are used to, which we hope will help you uncover a new side of us.
Your MVs feature a lot of different characters, like Baron Ham, Ms. Iwasake, Sakie and Hammy, among others. Which one is your personal favourite and why?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO:Zeney-chan from Knickknack Kingdom. She’s true to her own desires and thinks she is good at what she does when she actually isn’t. I also think she looks cute.
DYES IWASAKI: It’s Iwasake-chan. She’s been with us from the earlier days and she’s a really tough girl.
You have worked with different animators for your MVs, like PPP, ryuuseee or MORINOJI, among others. How do you choose the animators you want to collaborate with? Are there any animators you would like to work with in the future?
FAKE TYPE.: There are some creators we work with on a regular basis, so we often go to them. We sometimes search YouTube and Twitter to find new video creators. There are so many talented creators out there that we don’t have enough space to list
them all. (laughs)
Last year, to celebrate the release of your album FAKE LAND, you held two special lives at the Fairyland Theatre, located in the Sanrio Puroland theme park. Are there any other theme parks where you would like to perform from?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: We’d love to perform at amusement parks abroad.
Of these two special concerts, the second one was livestreamed and could be watched worldwide. Do you plan to continue streaming your concerts online, so that fans around the world can enjoy your performances?
FAKE TYPE.: Not at this moment but we’d love to do it again sometime in the future because we want to be accessible for fans around the world.
You collaborated with Ado on the song Fleeting Lullaby (Utakatararabai), for the movie “One Piece Film: Red”. Could you tell us more about this artistic meeting? What was your vision for the song?
FAKE TYPE.: People from Shueisha reached out to us. At the beginning, we had thought that it was for us to perform, but after discussing with them for a while we realized that it was for Ado-san to perform, which was a big surprise
for us. She is without a doubt one of the biggest artists in Japan right now, so we were thrilled to have been offered this opportunity. We were nervous writing for a film for the first time, but the song-writing process went smoothly like it always does,
and the song was completed.
Mr. Taniguchi, the director of the film, asked that the song to be filled with so much madness that it would have the power to brainwash listeners, so we gave our 100% trying to bring out all the madness that was inside us. We
would love for this song to be something memorable to all of those who see the film.
With the end of the year slowly creeping up, could you share with us what has been the highlight of 2022 for FAKE TYPE.?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: Debuting on a major record label, writing a song for "One Piece Film: Red" and then finally releasing the album FAKE SWING.
What can fans expect from FAKE TYPE. in 2023?
FAKE TYPE.: It has always been our dream to do shows outside Japan, so we hope to make that happen in 2023. Plus, we hope to bring you even better music.
Lastly, do you have a message for our readers?
TOPHAMHAT-KYO: If you have been a long-time fan of FAKE TYPE. and are reading this interview, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for enjoying our songs despite the language barrier. You truly are our hope. If this
is your first time learning about us, go check out our music because music knows no boundaries.
DYES IWASAKI: I hope we can keep bringing you songs that entertain you. We have lots of songs coming up so stay tuned. Make sure you follow us!
JaME would like to thank FAKE TYPE. for this interview opportunity.
Links to download and stream FAKE SWING on various online music platforms are available here,
and the physical versions can be purchased here.
FAKE TYPE.'s latest music video RAT A TAT WRITER can be viewed below. Turn on captions to watch with English subtitles.
