Interview with Bomb Factory

At the Kiwi Fest' in Cambrai, France (October 9th, 2004), Bomb Factory began their "Discord" tour, which would entail roughly 15 concerts throughout the whole country. JaME was privileged to have a short interview with the band.

First of all: hello, konnichi wa
Bomb Factory: Konnichi wa, bonsoir, hello.

Please introduce yourself to the readers that don't know you yet.
Kazuya: Bomb Factory is a band, which plays a mix of punk and hardcore. There is not really one specific category the band fits in. We combine a number of different styles together and that's what makes Bomb Factory.

Can you tell us something about the beginning of the band, how was the band formed?
Jun-ya: We had the idea to start a band in 1991, in Tokyo. When we were teenagers we played music, so we were already friends because of that. As time passed, the band came into being.

What are your musical influences? What bands have influenced you in particular?
Bomb Factory: First of all, we've been influenced by Splorited, Biohazard and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But all of us have our own styles; we listen to different bands so one can hear we've been influenced by many things.

What is your big dream?
Bomb Factory: The dream we all have, is that Bomb Factory will be famous over the whole world, not only in Japan. We want to be everywhere, to be an international band, and we are working hard to achieve this goal.

Do you have any idols, any people you admire a lot?
Shira: For me it's the band Blink and Tony Parker.
Joe: Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols).
Kazuya: No one (laughs).
Jun-ya: For me, it's Scott! (laughs) (note: we have no idea who Scott is, but he doesn't want to say)

What made you decide to release the album "Discord" in France?
Bomb Factory: In the past year, we participated in many events in Germany, Belgium and also France. These performances were successful and the audience reacted very positively. So a logical next step was to release our first album in Europe and continue like this.

Why did you decide to sing more in English instead of Japanese?
Bomb Factory: That's actually quite easy. Various songs have been created with an English feeling to it, so that's why we chose for English instead of Japanese. And to reach an audience outside of Japan, we thought it would be better to sing for the whole world.

You've started this new tour in France, how does this make you feel?
Bomb Factory: Today is our first performance and we hope it will be successful. After today's show, we will know if our tour can be successful or not.

On most of the concerts, you will play together with the band Leptik Ficus. What do you think of this band?
Bomb Factory: To be honest, we know very little about this band because we only met them an hour ago, during the practising, but we think they're quite nice. We think that we'll have a good time when we talk to them after the concert about the upcoming tour.

One of your songs has been featured on the original release of the game "Dead or Alive 2". How did you get this opportunity? Many people, especially Europeans, have discovered you through this.
Bomb Factory: Well, with "Dead or Alive" it was very easy. The editor of the game contacted us and asked us if we wanted to be on the original release. We joyously accepted this offer.

Some magazines regard punk as the discovery of the year in France. What do you think of this?
Bomb Factory: To be honest, we are very happy about the fact that the press defines us like that. It's different from how things are in Japan, because over here in Europe it's still a discovery, while in Japan we're pretty much a model for many new bands.

What do you think of the European audience, in comparison to the Japanese?
Bomb Factory: We are very satisfied with this new audience, because it's not easy to find people in the punk environment in Europe. In France and Europe many styles are discovered, which have already been developed in Japan or the USA. In Japan Hip-Hop and Rap are new styles now.

Japanese artists seem to reach out to other countries than Japan more and more with many go to the USA or Europe to play there. What do you think of this?
Bomb Factory: We also noticed that, but most bands that leave their home country prefer the United States because they don't have enough money to tour in Europe, and because it is an unknown continent for most Japanese artists; only a few dare to start this adventure. Europe is also little behind on the underground scene, and that's also keeping the Japanese bands back.

About the USA, did you already experience that? Or do you have plans for it?
Bomb Factory: Yes, we're planning it. The USA is a dream for many Japanese artists and bands because they are very active with punk, rock and metal. We have many plans for the USA.

Well, that's it, a big thank you from JaME and we hope you will have a great tour in our country, as well as a lot of luck as you further your career. Thank you very much!
Bomb Factory: No, thank you, thank you very much!

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Thanks to Bomb Factory, their manager Wenke, the staff members of the Kiwi Fest' and Ludo.M for the translation.