Interview with ASTERISM at Japan Expo 2024
MIYU (bass), HAL-CA (guitar & vocals) & MIO (drums) from ASTERISM band at Japan Expo 2024. Pictures by Ryunako.
ASTERISM is a Japanese heavy metal band created in 2014, composed of HAL-CA (guitar & vocal), MIO (drums) & MIYU (bass). They started young and became popular with their unique anime song covers on YouTube.
We had the chance to interview the band at Japan Expo in France to ask them about their music and ambitions in the anime music industry.
This interview was originally conducted in French at Japan Expo 2024, and was slightly altered to fit to text format.
You became quite popular thanks to your YouTube videos, in your first uploads you were between 13 & 16 years old. What motivated you to share your music on YouTube at that age?
MIO: We originally met at a musical competition in 2014, and that's when we formed ASTERISM. At that time, YouTube was just a way to post our practice sessions or our live performances, we didn't really have other motivations in mind.
On your YouTube Channel, we can find a few "ASTERISM at home" videos that you posted in 2020 during the pandemic. How was it for the band at that time? Was it hard for you to work together as a band?
HAL-CA: It was a complicated period for us, we couldn't do any live performances or even go out. MIO and MIYU were living together, but I was alone, and we needed a way to stay in touch with our fans and to share our music with the world, and that's how we decided to post those videos.
Some of your anime covers count more than a million views on YouTube. Which of you three had the idea to make anime covers?
MIYU: All of us knew that anime were very popular worldwide, and we are fans ourselves, so we thought it was a good way to reach people around the world. We all have our favorite anime, so we usually pick those series or songs we like to decide on covers we want to make.
For more than a year now, HAL-CA started singing on your songs, while you were only doing instrumentals before. What was the trigger that convinced you into using vocals in your songs?
HAL-CA: It's true that ASTERISM was an instrumental band for a long time, but we thought that vocals were a great way to make our music known to a broader audience.
Was it hard for you to combine guitar and singing?
HAL-CA: Yes, it was very hard for me! (laughs)
HAL-CA playing guitar on stage at Japan Expo 2024
In 2022, you collaborated with PelleK, who also became popular thanks to his metal anime covers. Are there any other artists you would like to collaborate with?
MIYU: I'd love to work with Ozzy Osbourne!
HAL-CA: For me, it would be Japanese heavy metal band LOUDNESS. I started guitar thanks to them.
MIO: (pauses) It would be Ozzy Osbourne for me too. (laughs)
PelleK reached his goal of singing an anime opening [Skeleton Knight in Another World Opening "Ah, My Romantic Road"], is this also something you would like to do?
MIYU: Of course, yes!
MIO: If we ever have the chance of making an anime opening, we would love to see PelleK doing a cover of our song on his YouTube channel.
In your STARDOM music video, you integrated a lot of references to legendary bands such as AC/DC and Guns N Roses, but we also see nods to BABYMETAL. What is your relation with them?
HAL-CA: In this MV we wanted to integrate bands for which we have a lot of respect.
MIO: For example, we had the chance to make the opening act of SlipKnot's KNOTFEST festival in Japan, and we also performed at BABYMETAL's FOX_FEST with METALVERSE.
On your ANIMETIC album, we can find a lot of highly popular anime covers (Jujutsu Kaisen, Tokyo Ghoul, My Hero Academia) but also some songs which are less known by mainstream anime fans, such as "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari", the ending song of Bakemonogatari. Are you fans of Monogatari Series?
MIO: MIYU and I love Monogatari Series, so we absolutely wanted to make a cover.
If you had a wish, which anime would you like to perform an opening song for?
MIYU: Honestly, I'd be satisfied with any anime! (laughs)
HAL-CA: (laughs) Please, let us do one!
MIO: I would love to do one for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure or Jujutsu Kaisen, for which we already made a cover on our ANIMETIC album.
HAL-CA: For me, it would be for a Gundam anime.
We leave you with a video from their latest EP “PLANET OF METAL”, a collaboration with Japanese illustrator Acky Bright:
AniPlaylist would like to thank HAL-CA, MIYU & MIO for this interview and the Japan Expo staff for making it possible.
Posted by Willy Reyno on 24 Sep 2024 at 12:19 UTC