A conversation with Yoasobi, Japan’s biggest international act

0:13Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. This time I had the pleasure to interview Iwasobi, the incredibly successful Japanese duo that is conquering the global charts. I've met both of them at the Barbican Centre after the duo headlined Two Nights at Wembley, London this June. Here is my conversation with both the composer Ayase and vocalist Ikura.

0:47I want to ask about your band. You're, I believe, one of the first Japanese acts to top the global charts of Billboard. So are you happy that you're having kind of this fan base, not only in Japan, but outside from Indonesia to the UK to the US? Tell us, how are you feeling about that kind of success outside Japan? We're extremely humbled and honored. Very pleased with the reception. It's amazing. I'd never expected this level of reception, really, when we started. But through social media, we do receive a lot of messages, direct messages from fans. And it is just wonderful to see them. And when we play live as well, we do get to see the first-hand reactions and interact with them, as we saw in Wembley as well.

1:37So it's been amazing, and we hope that it would carry on. I was in Wembley on Sunday as well. It was an amazing day. So tell us, where else have you been in Europe? I know you've been also to Spain, to the Primavera Festival. So tell us a bit more about which countries have you visited. So on this tour, those two locations, so Spain, Primavera and Wembley, too, will end. However, we'd love to visit other destinations. and we cannot wait to meet the fans and play there. One question, I want to ask the connection of Yosobi, the duo with Japanese literary scene, because I think there's a strong connection.

2:23There's the monogatari as well. I wonder if you can explain a little bit more about that. Yes, so all our songs are based on writing stories. But in Japan, so there are many different mediums, whether it be from books, anime, manga, and all of them are interconnected. And we do represent that style as well, which is slightly unusual, but I hope that the audiences get to enjoy the entirety of the medium and representation. So it's not simply just a pop song, it's a little story, right? We are producing pop songs. However, there is always a background, more of a depth and the context through stories that we are basing all those songs on.

3:14And through that understanding, music becomes a lot more three-dimensional. So I see it as more of a new form of entertainment. And we produce music in J-pop genre, which I'm very proud of. It's something that I love and I want to continue this act. And so through the J-pop songs that we produce, we hope that everyone gets to enjoy Japanese culture and this new form of entertainment. Well, you're certainly both representing Japan very well. And as a big fan of Japanese music, even from the 80s, I would like to know from both of you, what was your influences, music influences? Could it be a little bit of city pop as well?

3:58I don't know. I would like to hear from both of you on that one. I grew up listening to notable Japanese musicians, frontrunners at the time. So Arashi, Yui, Ikimono Gakari are the ones that I can think of right now, if I were to give you an example. Also Japanese bands as well, such as Rugby Wimps. But my parents were an influence in the sense that I did listen to the music that they listened to in the 80s and the 90s. For example, Yumi Matsutoya and Southern All Stars as well. So all those wonderful musicians have influenced me and I think they exist as an essence musical. For me, yes, I have been greatly influenced by the J-pop scene, J-pop as well as folk songs.

4:53So yes, I have been influenced by Yumi Matsutoya as well as Maria Takeuchi. and Kubota Toshinobu as well. So leading on to that, I love Japanese R &B as well as hip-hop as well. So both of those genres I love. But I... So I was in a band, actually. My previous band's music was a lot harder than Yosu B's sounds. So within that line, I love metalcore, hardcore. So I was very... I was very excited to see the picture of Slipknot being displayed in Wembley Arena.

5:47One of my surprises in Sunday, of course I'm a fan of your music but I never seen you live. he felt sometimes like a rock concert that you're singing the beats, he was very very energetic so I see a lot of rock in you thank you and I'd like to ask, I know you just released a recent single Watch Me, but what's the next plans? Because you've just finished a tour in Japan sold out many places are you resting a bit or are there new music coming out for new gigs? No, in fact, we actually have a tour waiting for us, which is happening in Japan in Fulki, so we will be playing for these shows. For the next week, we will be staying in Europe.

6:38And we will use that as an input period. So we will try and absorb as much as possible. I'm enjoying being in Europe. And yeah, that's our plan. I would like to know, because I know the Japanese consume music in a different way, like CDs, vinyls are still very big in Japan. What do you think of that? How do you see the Japanese music market compared to other places where it's more about streaming? I prefer the Japanese way. I love CDs and physical media.

7:13What we would say is that Japanese music scene has shifted more towards streaming as well. So they don't sell as well as before. Most of the people listen to music through streaming. CDs and vinyls are being bought as a memorabilia, really, especially for those fans who love the music. They just want to buy it as a keepsake. So that does still exist. But mainly, people tend to just listen to streaming. So maybe not that different to the rest of the world, perhaps.

8:06Thank you both Ayase and Ikura. I'm a big fan here. And for more information on Yasobi and their upcoming concerts, go to yoasobi-music.jp. The show was edited by Elliot Greenfield and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco. Thank you for listening.