j!-ent's dennis a. amith interviews wednesday campanella … · j!-ent 2016 annual wednesday...

$: J!-ENT'S Dennis A. Amith Interviews Wednesday Campanella … · J!-ENT 2016 ANNUAL WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA \\\ J!-ENT | j-entonline.com 2 DECEMBER 2016 KOM_I of Wednesday Campanella$
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水曜日のカンパネラWEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA

P H O T O G R A P H Y & I N T E R V I E W B Y D E N N I S A . A M I T H

THE J!-ENT INTERVIEW

WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA \\\J!-ENT 2016 ANNUAL

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KOM_I of Wednesday Campanella (Suiyobi no Campanella). Photo by Dennis A. Amith, J!-ENT

The following year, KOM_I would perform live performances with just her on stage and the group released their first mini album titled “Crawl to Saka Agari” and it was released at Village Vanguard Shimokitazawa. But it wasn’t until 2014, when the group’s track “Momotaro” appeared on J-WAVE and would be-come popular. In 2016, Wednesday Campanella would make their American debut at SXSW in Texas and would perform in July in San Francisco at J-POP Summit Festival. While the first five mini albums were released by Tsubasa Records, the group would be signed by War-ner Records and would release their first major label album “UMA” in 2016. And since then, Wednesday Campanella’s popu-larity has skyrocketed. From a promotion and music video with Toyota for the Prius, multiple television performances, magazine interviews and live perfor-

ack in 2012, Dir.F, a label manager at Tsubasa Records wanted to create a new music project featuring provisional female members. While the music and lyrics for the group would be created by music producer, Hidefumi Kenmo-

chi. The name of this group project would be “Suiyou-bi no Campanella”, which translates to Wednesday Campanella. That same year, Dir.F was at a house party for a friend and he would meet KOM_I and he invited her to join Wednesday Campanella as one of the provi-sional female vocalists and the group would upload two tracks on YouTube that year, “Oz” and Kukai”. Wanting to push their album later that year, the group’s first CD titled “Suiyoubi no Campanella Demo 1” was sold at Design Festa Tokyo Autumn.

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mances throughout Japan, KOM_I also appeared on the popular variety show “SMAP x SMAP” with SMAP (who also sung along with her). J!-ENT’s Dennis A. Amith had the opportunity to interview KOM_I the day after Wednesday Campan-ella’s performance at J-POP SUMMIT.

Before we talk about your music, let’s get to know more about SUIYOUBI NO CAMPANELLA. How you came up with the name SUIYOUBI NO CAMPANELLA? KOM_I: One reason is that because everytime we had a meeting, it would be on a Wednesday. The oth-er reasons is because there are three characters in our name, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji and it catches the attention of people.

Growing up, which artist or bands inspired you? KOM_I: Mr. Children and Tokyo Jihen.

Curious, if I was to take a peek into each of your music players, which artist, song or album would I catch you listening to right now KOM_I: (pulls out her cell phone) I am listening to Supercar, the Boredoms and Chiaki Naomi. I listen to Rihanna, Aphex Twin, Australian singer Chet Faker and an Australian band, Hiatus Kaiyote. Right now I am listening to Hiatus Kaiyote a lot. They are jazzy, pop. I really recommend their music.Were you ever into Shibuya-Kei? KOM_I: Like Pizzicato Five? Yeah, I like them. Nomiya Maki and Konishi Yasuharu.

When I listen to your music, I get the Shibuya Kei vibe.KOM_I: It makes sense. To see the connection with Wednesday Campanella and Shibuya kei. Our albums in the beginning had a Shibuya kei influence.

I was reading about your performance debut at


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that I would become better as a music artist but in the beginning, I did struggle with that. So, now things have changed and I am performing at bigger and better venues and the team has grown. When I provide input, our team makes it happen. I am happier and a much better place and it reflects in the quality of our music.

In June, you released your first major first major label album “UMA”. Can you tell us more about the album? How long did it take to cre-ate the album and how different is it compared to previous album releases? KOM_I: All seven songs are related to “UMA”, Unidentified Mysterious Animals or creatures such as the Phoenix, Yeti, Kraken, Chupacabra, Unicorn and others. I wanted to show a bad trip of a UMA. So, they are happy songs that seem normal but then you will be pulled into a trippy world.

Shimokitazawa ERA and promoting your music in Setagaya at Village Vanguard in Shimok-itazawa. What is your best memory of that time?KOM_I: I was so nervous. The first time I per-formed at Shimokitazawa ERA, my first impression was “Wow! Great sound in this venue!”. I was sur-prised that music that I performed sounded so good at this venue and the audience was really into it. But yeah, my best memory at that time was hearing the music played on a very good sound system during my performance.

Since your debut in 2012, what has been the biggest difference musically for Suiyoubi no Campanella from then and today?KOM_I: When I first started, I felt I could perform better and perform at better venues. But at the time, I felt what I was delivering to the audience, I felt I could do better. So, I had the confidence and belief




Is your music influenced by your dreams?KOM_I: I love singing songs from my dreams. I dream and sleep a lot and I think the songs that come from my dreams are the best ones. I can’t control what happens in my dream and the explorations in my dream are what I always enjoy. So, when I’m recording my music, I will start imagining things and give input. But sometimes, I can’t come up with an idea and our director comes up with a concept.

Earlier in the year, you released your Face Edi-tion LP, “Kotobuki Limi non-Je ta’ime”. Can you tell us more about that LP release?KOM_I: So, I went to a music bar in Tokyo and saw a French guy dancing all funky and I went up to him and stopped him and told him to listen to my music because I really think he would enjoy it. It turns out the guy owned a label and he loved our music and so, he released our music in France. “Je ta’ime” also sounds like the Japanese folktale, “Jugemu” about a

child who’s parents went to a priest to name the child and he couldn’t think of a name that would go after Jugemu, so he gave the baby a very long name. It became problematic for the child because his name is too long. The name “Campanella” would resonate and if you say it so fast. All kids would remember that. I think that with Wednesday Campanella and the LP’s title released in France as “Je t’aime”, so Campanella and Je t’aime, saying it fast, it would be something that people would remember much easier.

One of my favorite Wednesday Campanella vid-eos is “Shakushine”. How long did that video take to make? KOM_I: It took about six hours. I went on a tour to Hokkaido and while there, we shot the music video. So, it was a random, extra thing we did. There was just a crew of three including me. Just the director, manager and me. No hairstylist, makeup artist. I was wearing the hotel bath robe throughout the day.


Do you have creative input on the making of your music videos or do you leave it up to the director to come up with something creative?KOM_I: Depends on the song. If I don’t have any ideas, I let the crew handle it.

If you have one word to describe yourself. What word would that be and why?KOM_I: I am not sure what the word would be but I would like to have two sides of me. Balance? I would like to have a balance of having an intelligent side and a silly side.

Let’s do a little word play. With our J!-ENT interviews, I ask a question and you fill in the blank.

a) The last movie I watched in the theater was ________.KOM_I: (Looking at her smart phone) I take notes daily. The last movie I watched was “Ex Machina”.

b) Before each live performance, I like to ________.KOM_I: Stretch, listen to my music or dance. I also like to loosen up a bit.

c) The food I really want to try in America is ________.KOM_I: Hamburger and pizza. Really, there’s nothing particular that I can think of, but there are a lot of international cuisine that I would love to try.

d) I like to ________, to keep my voice fresh.KOM_I: Drink water

d) I like to shop at ________, in Japan.KOM_I: Secondhand stores in Shimokitazawa, Harajuku and Shibuya.

What final words do you have for your fans?KOM_I: Thank you for listening to my music and I hope to visit and perform in your city. I look forward to seeing you at a live performance!


KOM_I of Wednesday Campanella (Suiyobi no Campanella) performing at J-POP SUM-MIT. Photo by Dennis A. Amith, J!-ENT

Wednesday Campanella’s upcoming album “SUPER-MAN” will be released on February 8, 2017.

For more information on Wednesday Campanella, please visit their website at:

http://www.wed-camp.com/

You can also visit the following social media sites:

YouTube

Twitter

http://www.wed-camp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/wedcamp

https://twitter.com/wed_camp

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