Plasticzooms is a Japanese band composed of three members, and accompanied by a support drummer for tours. During their ast European tour, the band came by Paris Manga & Sci-Fi Show for an exclusive showcase. At this occasion we had the opportunity to ask a few questions to them.
Could you present yourselves for our readers?
Sho: We are the band Plasticzooms. I’m Sho the vocalist.
Tom: I’m Tom, the guitarist.
Kamba: My name is Kamba, I’m the support drummer.
Jun: I’m Jun. I’m the bassist.
How did you met each other and then decided to create a band?
Sho: I studied fashion ten years ago when I was in High School. When I was a high school student in fashion, Ithought “why are Japanese bands separated between fashion and music style?”. For example in the US and the UK bands such as Depeche Mode or The Libertines are matching their music and their fashion. So Istarted to put fashion and music together in Plasticzooms. We went to music clubs and listened to a lot of techno and underground music.
Tom: I joinded the band 4 years ago. I was already listening to Plasticzooms’ music at that time and I went to one of their shows. I had a lot of fun and then we became friends.
Jun: 7 years ago I was in another band. Once, we shared the stage with Plasticzooms. But later my band decided to disband and Sho asked me to join.
Sho: Kamba is a support drummer, we found him last month.
Tom: We only started to play together this year.
Sho: He is the best drummer.
You lived in Berlin during one year, do you have any other city in mind where you would live to live for some time?
Sho: I wanna go to many countries. New York next time. But now we are in Belgium and I would like to live there.
Tom: San Francisco, it’s warm, and there is a lot of sunshine.
Sho: There are many artists and music styles there.
Jun: I’d like to try living in London.
Sho: But it’s expensive.
Kamba: I’d like to go to New Orlean. There is a lot of jazz music there.
You released your new album in last January, could you tell us a few words about it and your sources of inspiration?
Sho: This albums deals with the period we were living in Berlin. I wrote this album when we were there. We passed a lot of time in clubs. There are many DJs in Berlin. And their sound is really profound. So I used all this to create our album.
I think that the most important thing is that people can dance on my music.
Your doing everything from composing songs to merchandising, did you study those things?
Sho: I studied fashion. But for music, I learned alone. I love creating things and that’s why it’s a pleasure to do all those things.
My creative mind comes from my everyday life. It’s important to use real life.
What was your dream when you were a kid?
Kamba: I wanted to become a game designer.
Tom: I wanted to be a Kamen Rider.
Sho : Basketball player.
Jun : Ingenior for Bandai.
You are now touring for your 2nd European Tour, what do you like about the public in Europe?
Sho: Of course it’s a perfect audience! European people like to make noise and to move. It’s different frtom Japan. Japanese people are shy sot hey are really quiet.
Last year you released a collaboration single with a Fench DJ. What did you lear from this collaboration?
Sho: He is a techno and electro DJ. He is a professional for making sounds and his sounds are quite simple. We have different styles but it’s interesting. What I learned is that it’s important to use simple sounds in my music.
What do you know about French music in general?
Sho : Phoenix, Justice, Daft Punk… There are many bands in France. My favorite one is Phoenix because they are elegant.
Tom: We all agree about Phoenix.
What are your next projects after this tour?
Sho: I’m currently working on new songs. Maybe we will release a new single or EP this summer.
Do you have a message for your French fans?
We love France. We are very happy to be here. We would like to come to France every year for French Tours.
Thank you to Paris Manga and the band for their time and answers.
