Interview with HAKUEI

During the first weekend of July, HAKUEI, vocalist of PENICILLIN, machine, NANO and his own solo project, was invited to Japan Expo in Paris, not as a musician, but as a model for the brand Black Peace of which he is the main model.

On Saturday afternoon, he modelled in the fashion show of Laforet Harajuku and the day before we had an interview with him.


How are you doing, how was the flight to Paris?

HAKUEI: I’m fine and the flight was okay. It was long, but I was playing video games on my Nintendo DS on the way.

You’re here in France only as a model this time. Do you have plans to perform here with any of your bands as well?

HAKUEI: It’s not planned, but I would love to come and perform here.

And for the rest of Europe?

HAKUEI: Last year I performed in the USA and Korea, but I never had an occasion to perform in Europe. But I’m interested in Europe as a whole.

Has music always been an important part of your life, or did someone or something inspire you to start music?

HAKUEI: When I was in high school I saw a live performance of a friend of mine. And it was really –not- good, but everybody was still happy. So that’s when I realized ‘it could be an easy thing to do myself’ (laughs). So that’s how it all started.

When composing songs, is there something in particular that inspires you?

HAKUEI: What inspires me is to imagine myself during a live performance and what will feel good to the audience. And for example things that happen to me in real life can influence writing lyrics.

You’ve performed with NANO in the USA and now you’re here in France. How do you feel about the fact that Japanese artists get more and more recognition overseas?

HAKUEI: It’s a very recent phenomenon. I’m happy because it’s a good sign for the Japanese rock scene; it shows that the level is good enough to be approved overseas.

PENICILLIN has been active for about fifteen years. What’s the most memorable moment for you, such as a release, live show, etc?

HAKUEI: When we were all still college students and we started PENICILLIN, what I remember most is the first time we went to a live house with our demo tapes, and we got approved to play there. So the most memorable moment was our first performance at a live house.

When you started the band, why did you choose to be a part of the visual kei scene instead of any other?

HAKUEI: When we started, the term ‘visual kei’ didn’t exist. We were inspired by the British punk rock scene so that’s why we did make-up. In the beginning, there were like four or five bands to play in the live house at the same evening, so we wanted to be the most recognizable band. So that we could acquire the audience of other bands (laughs).

machine recently announced to be active again with a concert in September, which will be the first performance in Japan in two years. Are there other plans for machine such as upcoming releases?

HAKUEI: We will release a new single on September 5th. So as soon as I get back from France I’ll have to work on it (laughs). It has only been announced to our fan club so far, not to the public.

It's been a while since you’ve worked on your solo career. Can we expect something new from your solo career soon?

HAKUEI: No, I don’t have any real plans. Currently I’m actually producing new young bands, mainly solo artists. One of the musicians I’m producing will have his debut on July 25th, his name is Ivan. He is a quarter Japanese and also Spanish and Mexican. He used to be a model before but now I’m producing him as a musician.

You've appeared in two movies and of course in the PENICILLIN opera Hamlet. Are you still interested in acting?

HAKUEI: I actually want to avoid that (laughs).

Why so?!

HAKUEI: I consider myself as a musician before anything and acting was more because I was asked by a friend. And it’s also very time consuming.

For Fool’s Mate, you draw the manga “SUSUME! TONOSAMA!” Based on the PENICILLIN band members. Are the stories based on true events?

HAKUEI: In the beginning it was inspired by true, real events that happened. I actually started drawing in the studio because we had a lot of waiting time. So I was just drawing about the band members and it just happened to be seen by one of the redactors of Fool’s Mate. So he said “It’s quite good, why don’t you draw it for our magazine?” so that’s how it started. It’s featured in the magazine for about ten years already.

You're a multi-talented man; you're a vocalist, model, manga-ka and an actor. If you had to choose, what's your favourite?

HAKUEI: Music is the most important to me.

What other kind of profession would you like to do some time?

HAKUEI: Teacher. For any level of school.

You’re working on so many projects at the same time; do you ever have time to relax?! And isn’t it very difficult to combine everything?

HAKUEI: I relax when I drink. Of course I’m very very busy, but fortunately I manage to split it all up in my head. So in the end it’s easier to do a variety of things and projects instead of doing only the same stuff for the same amount of workload. And even though I’m very busy, it’s a lot of fun and I’m enjoying it.

Do you have any message for your fans?

HAKUEI: There are many artists now which are also doing different projects in different domains, but I believe I keep my originality in all fields and I would be happy to have my fans enjoy my activities in every kind of domain.

Thank you very much for the interview!


JaME would like to thank HAKUEI, his management and Yuta for translating.