MEJIBRAY will go on hiatus

[jaymee 405]

On 2017/5/15 at 0:20 AM, filth_y said:

 

Well, i dont know what size of band we are talking about. But i would say 90% of the bands discussed here have no idea/dont care if their CDs are bought overseas. Their income comes mostly from tickets/merchandise (Cheki, cheki, cheki)..

Also, surely everyone can write band xy sucks or xy is so amazing, while their bandpicture is pure photoshop, their CD recording is done by session musicians, writing by ghostwriters, etc. The oversea fans then are critizising something totally different from the actual band. But well, thats how it is. I actually dont want to sound like some elitism shit here, just raise awarness maybe, idk. Everyone critize/like/hate how they want, when you visit the actual live you notice how it doesnt matter.

 

Yep. They don't care, and yes especially for indie bands, most of their income comes from lives/merch sales.

 

Somehow people seem to confusing "in the big scheme of things your opinion doesn't really matter if you aren't a part of the scene" with "omg some elitist said I can't listen to/enjoy VK/ever have an opinion".

 

It's kind of like Miley Cyrus wanting people to care about her opinion on hip hop. She's free to do so, but nobody's going to giving it much weight, irrelevant of how much she may or may not be a fan of hip hop, how many CDs she owns, etc. because it's not based on anything credible.

Edited May 16, 2017 by jaymee

[sakuran 1216]

9 hours ago, jaymee said:

Somehow people seem to confusing "in the big scheme of things your opinion doesn't really matter if you aren't a part of the scene" with "omg some elitist said I can't listen to/enjoy VK/ever have an opinion".

 

It's kind of like Miley Cyrus wanting people to care about her opinion on hip hop. She's free to do so, but nobody's going to giving it much weight, irrelevant of how much she may or may not be a fan of hip hop, how many CDs she owns, etc. because it's not based on anything credible.

lmao you're literally sitting here implying people's opinions aren't credible because they aren't ~part of the scene~ and you don't seem to understand why they're getting salty with you?

 

Here's the thing YOU seem confused about. You seem to be confusing "your consumption and interaction with the band are financially irrelevant" to "your opinion is irrelevant and no one should care about it." Let's, for a moment, humor whoever it was in this thread who said vk is "art." Here's the thing about art - once it's produced and released into the world, in whatever form it may be in, it's out of the artists' hands, and it becomes a matter of opinion and interpretation for whoever is consuming it in whatever manner they see fit. You don't get to sit here and tell people the ~correct~ way to consume it (i.e. attending lives in Japan) and you don't get to sit here and tell them their opinions are invalid because they're not consuming it in the way it was "intended" or in the way that is most financially profitable for the band. If Miley Cyrus owns literally thousands of hip hop CDs then I imagine she has her reasons for having her opinions, and while obviously no one is obligated to take her opinion seriously, that doesn't mean it's baseless. In fact, let's rework that last sentence in the context of this thread and see what happens:

"It's kind of like [a foreign visual kei fan] wanting people to care about her opinion on [visual kei]. She's free to do so, but nobody's going to giving it much weight, irrelevant of how much she may or may not be a fan of [visual kei], how many CDs she owns, etc. because it's not based on anything credible."

 

[filth_y 189]

39 minutes ago, ryuhime said:

lmao you're literally sitting here implying people's opinions aren't credible because they aren't ~part of the scene~ and you don't seem to understand why they're getting salty with you?

 

More like "you saw a photoshopped picture of ugly middleaged men and heard a CD written by ghost writers/producer and played by session musicians". Why you call the band "amazing"? Many people just have wrong images of bands and people that have seen them question their opinion. Maybe we shouldnt say "oh your opinion is irrelevant" rather than "you should see them live, they are better/worse/totally different than on CD". I've seen discussions here where people discuss certain band members look on basis of twitter pictures, weather he looks good or plastic surgery etc. I mean, when you meet the person irl you notice "how could people ever think this or that about him"? Yes, because they just read the twitter/blog posts or saw altered pictures and made ridicioulus speculations based on those.

 

Of course you can have your opinion in your/(our) fantasy world on here, but as ryuhime said, in the big scheme it does not matter. But this probably applies to most things internet forums.

But for the band as actual real people, your opinion is completely irrelevant. The opinion of the bangya that goe to the live and buy their merch is the thing they care for.

[AliceParanoid 292]

I'm so mad that's there isn't a live version of Agitatio Grimore. Lmao fuck off Mejibitch.
Still sad cause I mostly loved there PV's and Titel-Songs. 

[Kiryu999 3336]

2 hours ago, AliceParanoid said:

I'm so mad that's there isn't a live version of Agitatio Grimore. Lmao fuck off Mejibitch.
Still sad cause I mostly loved there PV's and Titel-Songs. 

 

There is one actually (first song is Agitato Grimoire) 

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by Kiryu999

[AliceParanoid 292]

41 minutes ago, Kiryu999 said:

 

There is one actually (first song is Agitato Grimoire) 

 

Omfg I never saw it till now lmao. 
Though I looked through every Live content on YT haha.
I FCKN LOVE U ;; 

[jaymee 405]

18 hours ago, ryuhime said:

lmao you're literally sitting here implying people's opinions aren't credible because they aren't ~part of the scene~ and you don't seem to understand why they're getting salty with you?

 

Here's the thing YOU seem confused about. You seem to be confusing "your consumption and interaction with the band are financially irrelevant" to "your opinion is irrelevant and no one should care about it." Let's, for a moment, humor whoever it was in this thread who said vk is "art." Here's the thing about art - once it's produced and released into the world, in whatever form it may be in, it's out of the artists' hands, and it becomes a matter of opinion and interpretation for whoever is consuming it in whatever manner they see fit. You don't get to sit here and tell people the ~correct~ way to consume it (i.e. attending lives in Japan) and you don't get to sit here and tell them their opinions are invalid because they're not consuming it in the way it was "intended" or in the way that is most financially profitable for the band. If Miley Cyrus owns literally thousands of hip hop CDs then I imagine she has her reasons for having her opinions, and while obviously no one is obligated to take her opinion seriously, that doesn't mean it's baseless. In fact, let's rework that last sentence in the context of this thread and see what happens:

"It's kind of like [a foreign visual kei fan] wanting people to care about her opinion on [visual kei]. She's free to do so, but nobody's going to giving it much weight, irrelevant of how much she may or may not be a fan of [visual kei], how many CDs she owns, etc. because it's not based on anything credible."

 

 

 

Great, let's assume most VK is "art" rather than the manufactured rock idol business it's become. Let's talk about interpretation.

 

- Do you understand Japanese fluently enough to interpret it? I'm going to guess probably not. I speak Japanese pretty fluently (enough to translate as a career), but even then a lot of the wordplay and VK references are often lost on me because I'm not a native speaker. I also wasn't raised in the same social climate. Some bands include inside jokes/information that I wouldn't know because I'm not a fan of that band.

 

- Do you understand musical theory well enough to evaluate it on those terms? I'm going to guess probably not again. Even if you did, there are a number of ways Japanese music theory differs from Western theory that you would also need to consider. You, like most of us, probably have your own musical preferences that influence how much you dislike/like a band. That's cool, but it's not a proper evaluation of how well they make music. Not to mention, like filth_y said, a lot of musicians "cheat" on pre-recorded records by using session musicians, autotune, or altering their sound post-recording. While you might be able to hide this with production, it's a lot harder to hide this on stage.

 

- Have you seen them live to see how well they are at the business side of things? Are they friendly with their fans? Do they know how to MC well or read the audience well? Do they know how to sell themselves and their merch well? How is their SNS game? This is the backbone of the VK business. Once again, I'm guessing probably not.

 

This is what I mean when I say your opinion isn't "credible". If you (or anyone else) want to get salty over any of that, fine.   I'll be over here laughing at how seriously you're taking yourself/yourselves.

 

BTW, the reason nobody is taking Miley serious is that she's oblivious to the history of hip hop and the movements/social issues behind it. Like you, she's listened to a small bit of it, possibly seen or met a few big names, and now believes this somehow makes her opinions credible. 

Edited May 17, 2017 by jaymee

[Elazmus 1873]

When the discussion gets strung out too far and everyone sounds like a bunch of

[emmny 4139]

im actually enjoying this debate all sides are spilling tea and is probably one of the smarter quarrels i've heard on here in a while

 

ps the oricon sales were surprising...how did messiah and sabato flop when they're meji's best songs but shitatrical blue black was....shite

 

also @filth_ywho are these ghost writing bands you are discussing plz open our minds

Edited May 17, 2017 by emmny

[jduv86 224]

I'm also curious about these ghost writing bands. 

[Elazmus 1873]

2 hours ago, emmny said:

im actually enjoying this debate all sides are spilling tea and is probably one of the smarter quarrels i've heard on here in a while

 

ps the oricon sales were surprising...how did messiah and sabato flop when they're meji's best songs but shitatrical blue black was....shite

 

also @filth_ywho are these ghost writing bands you are discussing plz open our minds

just that I'm seeing people sound legit offended over "VK" "credibility" which to me looks like marking out - marks jumping sharks.

 

The business is what's fun to explore or expose though I wish it came up more outside of disbands

 

for Theatrical Blue Black I imagine just because it was the first new single after SM had come out - IDK another reason for it to sell well either lol

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

Sales are more about just momentum that's caused by numerous factors and not some vague notion of what's better musically. Around 420 it did seem like they were on top of the world and going straight up... and just didn't go anywhere afterwards. Definitely appeared to plateau in venue size at least. I think the Emily single came with a live of Sadisgate that was performed at the same venue that was mentioned in this thread earlier, and that Agitato Grimoire live is from there also. 

 

inb4 this is merely a ploy to kickstart their careers again

 

[Saishu 1589]

Can we all acknowledge that flying out to Japan to see Mejibray live in order to give a "credible" opinion is rather absurd?

 

"I don't like this band."

 

"But you didn't see them live."

 

"OF COURSE I DIDNT! THEY PLAY IN VENUES THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY FROM WHERE I LIVE! WTF?!"

[emmny 4139]

9 hours ago, Disposable said:

Sales are more about just momentum that's caused by numerous factors and not some vague notion of what's better musically. Around 420 it did seem like they were on top of the world and going straight up... and just didn't go anywhere afterwards. Definitely appeared to plateau in venue size at least. I think the Emily single came with a live of Sadisgate that was performed at the same venue that was mentioned in this thread earlier, and that Agitato Grimoire live is from there also.

Chamomile TEAAA BITCHHHH!!!!

[jaymee 405]

18 hours ago, emmny said:

im actually enjoying this debate all sides are spilling tea and is probably one of the smarter quarrels i've heard on here in a while

 

ps the oricon sales were surprising...how did messiah and sabato flop when they're meji's best songs but shitatrical blue black was....shite

 

also @filth_ywho are these ghost writing bands you are discussing plz open our minds

 

I don't have any answers, but things like this all affect how well a release ranks:

 

1. Release date

How many other releases was it competing with? A major/mainstream band dropping a single or album the same day as a smaller major band/indie band can really kill their chances at charting well. The reverse is also true. A slow release day/period can give a band a higher ranking than they might normally have.

 

2. Amount of promotion

How much money did the company spend on promoting the single? Did they appear on big screens outside of popular stations, were they promoted by the music trucks that drive around blaring single/album release previews, or did they receive a lot of media-related promotion (on TV, in magazines, or tied into something else)? Were there separate A, B, C types etc. that attract fans into buying multiple copies of the same release in order to boost sales/ranking? If a band decides to play the song live before the release date, this can also affect sales (good or bad depending on reception).

 

3. Quality of the release

How did fans or non-fans receive the release? Depending on previous releases, fans may be looking for a ballad, a harder song, etc. How about the costumes, packaging, design? 

 

I'm sure there's more factors that I'm not thinking of atm. 

 

13 hours ago, Saishu said:

Can we all acknowledge that flying out to Japan to see Mejibray live in order to give a "credible" opinion is rather absurd?

 

 

Yup. I wouldn't expect anyone to. Hell, I live here and I haven't bothered, lol.

 

My point was only to point out that very few opinions in VK are truly credible outside the scene. Everything else is just pure personal preference, which someone may or may not agree with depending on how close/different their likes and dislikes are. They can be useful for recommending bands to people, but not really deciding if a band truly does indeed suck or not.  "I don't personally care for Mejibray." vs. "Mejibray probably disbanded because they suck now."

[Elazmus 1873]

If we're still speculating on the success of TBB I really think it's due to being the first new single after SM. The single collection was really well done and especially featured one of their best PVs to date for Killing Me which got the remake it deserved as their original claim to fame (<this kind of subjectively from me lol)

 

but  it seemed SM attracted a wider audience than they had thus far which makes sense for what it is.. I know I was thankful for it when I'd missed basically the second half of the singles it contained lol. TBB was probably the first hyped release for a large number of "new mejibray" fans at the time

 

Some agreeing that The 420 was a peak for them I'm inclined to agree even though I liked a good handful of things from later on, hits and misses but they swung every fuckin time lol

 

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by Elazmus

[Aferni 2381]

                                                                                                                    

Edited May 18, 2017 by あなたはもう一度やった

[frayed 404]

5/19, Fukuoka

 

1. And Then There Were None.
2. SECRET No.03
3. VICTIM(ism)
4. Black bacarrat
5. Agitato GRIMOIRE
6. EMILY
7. 悲哀
8. -XV-
9. 醜詠
10. ナナキ
11. 羽花
12. 嘘と愚考-それもまた人間らしいって神様は笑ってるの-
13. 原罪の林檎
14. 枷と知能 -それってとても人間らしいって神様は笑ってるの-
15. BI"name"JIKA

 

No encore.
 

[Elazmus 1873]

awesome setlist but what a strange end piece..

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

Do they still play sadisgate

 

I got into them with that song

[Komorebi 2193]

On 2017-5-18 at 8:29 AM, jaymee said:

My point was only to point out that very few opinions in VK are truly credible outside the scene

I think you may be confusing "credible" with "objective".

 

This thread is gold.

 

What's odd/funny is I've listened to alot more Mejibray since they announced the hiatus than during all their active years lol.

[Delkmiroph 1649]

 

 

 

 

 

[Kiryu999 3336]

Ending the live with BI"name"JIKA is pretty unexpected

[frayed 404]

6 hours ago, Disposable said:

Do they still play sadisgate

 

I got into them with that song

 

Don't hold me to it, but they'll probably play it at least once this tour; they last played it during the No Mouth Slivers tour in Osaka Big Cat this past November.

[Saishu 1589]

Decadance is the only Mejibray song I like. Fuckers didn't even play it.