ATARASHI GAKKO! had their international debut with 88rising in 2021. Now, fresh off a live concert at San Diego Comic-Con, the Japanese rock band is bringing their music to Crunchyroll Expo 2022. A part of the first-ever New Crunchyroll City, a concert series running during the anime convention, we got the chance to sit down with Suzuka, Mizyu, Rin, and Kanon before their Friday night performance.
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If you’re unfamiliar with this girl group, they’re pure creative chaos with fun dances, eclectic beats, and a whole lot of energy. Pushing back against conformity with humor and a love of pushing what people expect, the group represents a new generation of Japanese youth (seishun in their native language), one embracing personal expression and pushing against traditional boundaries. Incorporating pop, jazz, hip-hop, rock, and even genres you can only find in Japan, the band has also sought to bring Japan to the world and push expectations.
While their music videos are loud and push the boundaries, they always make sure to never lose their sound nor their dancing style. Suzuka explained that the balancing of elements is extremely important to them, “You can’t make a good music video by just messing around, but if you don’t mess around at all, it’s less fun. They’ve also put a lot of thought into the balance but it all depends on finding the right balance for each song.” And that balance is found by developing creative concepts together, Rin said “Individually [we] all have hobbies and those things influence [us] to some extent. But primarily the things [we] make as a group are fundamentally new and born out of the work with the people around [us].”
But perhaps the best part of our chat with the group was getting to hear each member talk about the one song they would recommend to new listeners so that they can get to know who they are as a band, and as people.
Koi Geba
ATARASHII GAKKO! – 新しい学校のリーダーズ ｢恋ゲバ｣
作詞：松永天馬 作曲：H ZETT M 映像監督：瀧澤雅敏 2019年3月6日発売 メジャー2ndアルバム「若気ガイタル」より …
Susuka’s pick for new fans to listen to “Koi Geba,” “It’s a very Japanese song and based on a genre that is really only in Japan. With a music video that uses a found footage element through security cameras, “Koi Geba” is sure to get you on your feet, especially at the rock dance breaks.
NAINAINAI
ATARASHII GAKKO! – NAINAINAI (Official Video)
Official music video for “NAINAINAI” by ATARASHII GAKKO! New single “NAINAINAI” out now: https://atarashiigakko.lnk.to/NAINAINAIID Words & Music: yonkey, Yoshio Tamamura, and ATARASHII GAKKO! Produced by yonkey Watch ATARASHII GAKKO!’s culture series episode 1 “Come To School With Us” here: http://88rising.lnk.to/ATARASHIGAKKO-SA101 Watch ATARASHII GAKKO!’s performance at DOUBLE HAPPINESS here: http://88rising.lnk.to/DH20-ATARASHIIGAKKO Subscribe to ATARASHII GAKKO!
For Rin, it’s “NAINAINAI” which was also the band’s first release with 88Rising which launched them into the United States and other international audiences. “This was the first song that [we] made with overseas audiences in mind. It’s the first time that [we] added elements of hip-hop and also [we] worked to make sure that some of the Japanese in the song was intelligible to foreign viewers. For people who maybe knew a tiny bit of Japanese but maybe didn’t speak Japanese.
Koi Bumi
Koi Bumi – ATARASHII GAKKO! Live Performance 2020
Song is Koi Bumi 新しい学校のリーダーズ
Kanon added that for her, it’s “Koibumi” for a couple of reasons, “First it sounds very anime-esque and has elements from anime and influence from anime, both in the sound and in the video [we] play when [we] perform on stage. So, it’s easy for people to get into if they like anime. The other thing is that it was the first song for [us] as a group where [we] really stepped up our choreography for it.”
Pineapple Kryptonite
ATARASHII GAKKO! – Pineapple Kryptonite (Official Music Video)
AG! goes out to battle against a formidable intergalactic supervillain with extraterrestrial superpowers. Charged with 100% Seishun Power and insane fight choreography, they are determined to win the battle and save humanity! And doggos! But will they succeed? The outcome largely depends on whether they will figure out what the alien’s kryptonite is!
Finally, Mizyu talked about their most recent single, “Pineapple Kyrptonite as capturing who they are as artists. “The reason is that about a year ago [we] came to the United States as a group and made this song from scratch with Money Mark, the person who worked with the Beastie Boys. [We] think it’s really representative of the kind of music they want to make and the way [we] want to be seen as a band. If you’re going to listen to one song to understand who ATARASHI GAKKO! is as a band, this song is it.”
ATARASHI GAKKO! are set to perform in Los Angeles and San Francisco later this month.
Atarashii Gakko! CRX 2022 Interview | But Why Tho?
Our Editor-In-Chief got a chance to interview the Japanese Girl Band Atarashii Gakko at this year’s Crunchy Roll Expo. Want to read the interview? Check it out here: https://butwhytho.net/2022/08/06/crunchyroll-expo-2022-pineapple-kryptonite-and-more-with-atarashii-gakko/ Catch up on all of our Crunhcyroll Expo coverage here: https://butwhytho.net/tag/crunchyroll-expo
