interview jrnr An Interview with RANA - A band who let music rain!

[BrenGun 2261]

 

Thanks to @Katt for the grammar/spell check!

 

Read on jrockrnoll

https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-rana/3/

 

RANA, thank you very much for accepting this interview! 

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Heartbreakingly intense, sometimes tender.
A rain of musical notes in your heart…

 

To know you a little bit better, please introduce each other with a funny comment.

 

Vo. AME OTOKO AME (雨男雨) ↓

Ari’S is a multi-talented guitarist who can do everything and anything.

Sola is a drummer with a five-dimensional sensibility. 

 

Gt. Ari’S ↓

AME OTOKO AME, is a serious, stoic and seamless person. But he is also cute and unexpected too. Funnily enough, when he’s drunk, you can have more mature conversations with him.

Sola, is a natural and easy-going person, but he sees people and things in a different way that makes him dependable. When he’s drunk, he likes to act like a sumo wrestler.

 

Dr. Sola (昊) ↓

AME OTOKO AME, is sensitive and stoic. He is quite versatile as he can compose and write lyrics and draw oil paintings. He is also very  mischievous when he drinks.

Ari’S, he is outspoken and an honest person, and on top of that, he has great talking skills.

 

Japanese contains a lot of Kanji, so which Kanji would you give to RANA? 

【真】[Truth] One’s true self, “truth”, is an attitude that we all share.

Also it can mean that we are a band that pursues the creation of great and pure music.

 

Also which Kanji would you choose to express yourself?

 

AME OTOKO AME →  【雨】 Rain, I have a gloomy personality.

 

Ari’S → 【無】 Nothing, No waste, no pressure, nothing at all…

 

Sola → 【心】 Heart/spirit, Even when playing music, it’s the most important thing to live as a person.

 

Please tell us about your encounter, how did you all meet?  

When frogman Jack-©︎ and AME OTOKO AME met each other, they talked about the need for musical notes “rain” to bring inside the modern world and so they planned to start a band to bring  that kind of “rain” to the world. AME OTOKO AME asked his former band mates Ari’S and Sola to join him and so RANA was formed.

Dir&Pro. Jack-© is a frog, right? Why does Jack-© look like a frog? Explain a bit more about the image of Jack-©.

We don’t know if he is a human being who has turned into a frog, we don’t know if humans are disguised like frogs, honestly, we don’t know the truth I guess you could say? But he is the planner of RANA and he’s the one in charge of us behind the scenes. 

 

What was the reason why you became a bandman? Was there anybody who inspired you to become one? 

AME OTOKO AME → I thought it would be lots of fun, I like hide and Ulfuls (ウルフルズ). 

 

Ari’S → The first band I copied was SHAKALABBITS, and that was really fun.

 

Sola → I love music and music saved my life. I started playing drums naturally because I loved to beat to the rhythm of music. The band who inspired me firstly would be the German heavy metal band HELLOWEEN.

 

Being a bandman isn’t always easy so, what’s the most difficult thing about being a bandman?

AME OTOKO AME → Mental strength.

 

Ari’S →  I guess for me, it would be to stay motivated?

 

Sola → To earn money and to stay alive?

 

RANA has an interesting worldview, so could you tell us a little bit more about RANA’s worldview?

The perspective of humans and other living things and “rain” is also an important keyword. While “rain” seems a bit negative and depressing to modern people, everything is inextricably linked to each other, and because there is something negative, there is also a positive. If we can see it all in such a kind of “light“, the message is that “negative” isn’t just always something “negative“.

 

Why did you decide to use “RANA” as a band name? And what does it actually mean? 

Rana is the human condition from a perspective that crosses the boundaries of living things. In keeping with that theme, we could have also used any non-human creature.

 

AME OTOKO AME → So the word RANA felt right. 

 

Your costumes look trendy, so what about your costumes for RANA? How do you decide?

We choose the ones that fit our music, based on fashion trends.

 

Due to Corona your activities and appearances of live shows have been postponed. What would you want to accomplish when you finally can stand on stage? 

AME OTOKO AME → I want to increase the number of fans we have in an audience!

 

Ari’S → Our first step is to make our lives a success. Then the next step is stepping up higher!

 

Sola → It would be nice to have an environment where we can enjoy our live shows as we did before, but it will be difficult to do that for at least a while. But we won’t let that stop us from performing even better and we want to give everyone better shows than before. 

 

Being on stage, what’s the best part of it?

AME OTOKO AME → The best part of being on stage for me is  pouring out a song with a strong message and a hard sound. Also to introduce ambient surround synths, which is rare in live houses which expands the range of sound expressions.

 

Ari’S →  For me, it’s when i’m faced with lots of smiles and when I’m covered in sweat!

 

Sola →  I like it when there is a vibe, with intensity the genuine feel of live sounds. The drums in particular are an instrument that directly expresses emotions, and I want you to experience it for yourself.

 

What’s your biggest inspiration for making music?

AME OTOKO AME → Happiness, anger, sorrow and joy.

 

Ari’S → When you find preciousness in your everyday life.

 

Sola → Both sides of Sorrow and anguish, Ugly parts such as outrageous incidents and beautiful parts such as nature, art, and human goodness.

 

How do you decide on the title of your new song?

AME OTOKO AME → We decide by trying to be as original as possible.

 

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RANA has released two EPs, let’s talk a bit about them.

Please give us some fun comments about the release of your 1st EP “蛙の詩” and 1.5 EP “蛙の悪戯”.

【蛙の詩】 Is our first release, so we thought a lot about the band and the message we wished to convey, and we made it.

 

【蛙の悪戯】 We created this EP during the Corona restrainment period. We did the entire process online, from arranging to mastering, also it was a good period to test the band’s teamwork.

 

Please tell me about the composition of the EP. How did you write and create the new songs?

AME OTOKO AME →  We composed the EP by using smartphone voice memos and D.A.W.’s (Digital Audio Workspace).

 

Do you have any fun comment to tell about your MV’s to “蛙の悪戯” and “蛙の詩”?

蛙の詩 is the front side, 蛙の悪戯 the back side of our image.
For the MV’s, we had a meeting with the director and left everything up to his own imagination. 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Why did you choose the titles “蛙の詩(Frog Poem)” and “蛙の悪戯 (Frog Mischief)” for your 1st EP and 1.5 EP?

AME OTOKO AME ↓

1st → The title track [蛙の詩(Frog poem)] is used as it is.

 

1.5th → Since the theme is unhappiness, it’s a mischievous frog who can be compared to God’s mischief.

 

What was your main inspiration for both EP’s?

AME OTOKO AME ↓

【1st蛙の詩】→ The desire to reset what you’ve gained, your pride, and your ego, and to start over, straight away.

 

【1.5th蛙の悪戯】 → Negative, yet realistic emotions in everyday life, such as sad events and unexpected misfortunes.

 

Please tell us about the artwork and any other production efforts for both of your EP’s.

【1st蛙の詩】 On the cover, Jack-©︎ is observing us humans in the rain, and on the back, we have included a hopeful image of sunshine after the rain.

 

【1.5th蛙の悪戯】  Jack-©︎ stands in the street with the colors reversed. He’s looking at the  other side of the world.

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Please share some self line notes about each song on both EP’s

 

Spoiler

 

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1st EP 「蛙の詩」

→ 1.蛙の詩
The world is full of complaints, yet despair and hope are linked with each other. This song tells you, no matter how you feel, you always can make a fresh start and try again.  

 

→ 2.Llluvia
Creatures that humans treat with a convenient interpretation is usually done by human pattern is drawn from differing perspectives.

 

→ 3.耳カラ脳ヘ
You who behave pleasantly in everyday life.
You who are obsessed with meaningless envy and information manipulation.
The stimulus melody given to your mind via this song surely breaks your stress.

 

→ 4.ハルガサク
Like a flower that blooms around…
The proof of our lives continues to bloom in our memories.

 

→ 5.オタマジャクシの詩。
The things we’ve gained and lost.
We were upbeat and depressed.
Plus or minus 0.
From today, let’s live well again!

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1.5th EP 「蛙の悪戯」

 

→ 1.  Tranquilio
–Show your fists, not words.–
Aggressive and emotional.
An authentic rock number.

 

→ 2.  20% FORECAST
-Sun then rain, then…–
Funky & groovy sounds.
It’s a POP SONG that shakes your body.

 

→ 3.  僕らはみんな観ている
–When you look into the abyss, the abyss is looking at you.–
A dark side mid-tune song with aggressive sounds and solid lyricism.

 

→ 4.  Social Minority
-D-on’t stop, go where the impulse leads you.-
This is a new level rock number with epic melodies and dramatic developments.

 

→ 5.  他人には見えない力で動いてる
–To the unseen you, who keeps doing your best. –
You know, I’ve got an upper sound that I’ve been working on.
A powerful, straightforward ale song!

 

→ 6.  悪魔の子
-Happiness is like a bubble that disappears when you cross a line.-
A lyrical message song that questions modern society.

Spoiler

 

 

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Let’s learn a few personal things about each member.

What is your favorite music genre?

AME OTOKO AME → J-POP

 

Ari’S → Rock, metal, anime music, classics and everything in between.

 

Sola → I like listening to rock music, anything loud, anime songs, electro, etc.
Basically, I like a whole lot of different things, but mainly quiet and dark music.

 

What are your favorite bands?

AME OTOKO AME → My absolute favorite is X JAPAN.

 

Ari’S →  Recently I have found myself listening to Band-MAID.

 

Sola →  Some of my favorite bands include, Chouchou, Radiohead, 光田康典, ClariS, amazarashi etc. As for Visual Kei, I have found myself listening to Kizu a lot.

 

What is your favorite local food?

AME OTOKO AME →  Soba noodles.

 

Ari’S → Sanzoku-yaki is my favorite local food.

 

Sola →  I also like Soba noodles.

 

What is your favorite drink?

AME OTOKO AME → My favorite drink is black coffee.

 

Ari’S →  Mine’s whiskey.

 

Sola →  Lately, I’ve been drinking non-sugar latte coffee.

 

What are your hobbies?

AME OTOKO AME → I’m really into watching movies.

 

Ari’S → My hobby is that I’m into gaming.

 

Sola → Not much, I like to collect clothes and manga and I like to watch anime.

 

What makes you smile? 

AME OTOKO AME → People make me smile. 

 

Ari’S → Mo—ne–y♡money。

 

Sola → Cute people/characters and Alcohol

 

What’s your own habitat? 

AME OTOKO AME → My habit is that I like to act suspicious.

 

Ari’S →  I have lots of habits, but I always try to care about people’s opinions, so I am mindful.

 

Sola → Being Dark-hearted, unpredictable, fickle.

 

Where is your favorite place in Nagano Prefecture?

AME OTOKO AME → My house.

 

Ari’S → I like the countryside and the mountains of Nagano Prefecture.

 

Sola → The places where I can feel the beauty of trees, forests and mountains are my favorite places.

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And some various last questions

How would you like your fans to support you? What is the most important thing you want to receive?

AME OTOKO AME → We’re very happy when people like our songs, and it’s very rewarding.

 

Ari’S → We’re very happy when people try to get to know us and tell us what they think of our music in their words.

 

Sola → We’re happy when people express themselves honestly in words, or when they like and retweet us. It’s best to be able to convey excitement through sound and appearance.

 

How do you feel that you also have foreign fans?

AME OTOKO AME → I feel Ve-r-y happy about it! 

 

Ari’S → We are just grateful that you found us before we even started!

 

Sola → I’m very happy! Someday I hope to meet you in person.

 

Corona is a global problem today. How do you, as an artist, face it?

AME OTOKO AME →  We’d like to put more effort into our video productions, so that we can present RANA on the internet in a style for when we don’t have the opportunity to present our music in front of so many people.

 

Ari’S → I think that the conventional wisdom of the entertainment industry will not be accepted at all in this day and age, so we have no choice but to continue to search for entertainment that meets the needs of the times.

 

Sola → Of course, we will make efforts to control the infection, but we would like to continue to communicate with our fans without losing against the virus. 

 

What’s RANA’s ultimate goal for the future?

AME OTOKO AME → Making a living out of music.

 

Ari’S →  World domination!

 

Sola →   I would like to tour and perform at big halls, we’d like to one day tour abroad too.

 

Why do you think we should listen to RANA? What do you think is unique about RANA that other artists don’t have?

We are not limited only to just Visual Kei, our music is pure, free and has lots of diversity. 

 

Do you have any beliefs or mottos for your fans as an artist?

AME OTOKO AME →  I want to be an artist who can gently push those who want to live positively.

 

Ari’S → I would be happy if I can be the energy to live tomorrow for you. For me, your smiling face gives me the energy to live for tomorrow.

 

Sola → Give color to your days, put your fantasies in reality, music will snuggle up your loneliness. 

 

We came to the end, please give your final message to your fans. 

AME OTOKO AME → As RANA we are a newcomer in the music scene,, so please give us you support. 

 

Ari’S → We’re not able to do our activities as much as we would like because of the constant holding down, but we definitely do anything to be able to meet you, so please come to meet us! 

 

Sola → thank you for taking the time to read this interview. Hopefully we will be able to meet more and more people. We will do our very best to make you love us even more!

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Thanks again for this wonderful interview!
We wish you continued success in your future activities.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by BrenGun

[platy 3018]

I enjoyed the variety of questions. I think I prefer RANA's dark side but I still need to listen to their latest release.

[BrenGun 2261]

On 10/22/2020 at 3:15 PM, platy said:

I enjoyed the variety of questions. I think I prefer RANA's dark side but I still need to listen to their latest release.

Thank you!! I also still have to check them out better, but all what I've listened is so amazing. love it!

[Katt 63]

Loved helping with the whole process of things!