The four members of LAZYgunsBRISKY Lucy, Azu, Izumi and Moe decided to form a band when they were in high school. They released a few songs before debuting in major with the agency BabeStar at the end of 2008. They kicked off their first European tour in 2010. That same year, the band created its own label G.O.D Records. In 2011, LAZYgunsBRISKY joined the programmation of the famous French event Japan Expo and embarked on its second European tour. The group however announced its separation a year later, in May 2012. But, surprise! A few years later, in 2015, the group is reforming. Izumi unfortunately chooses to leave the band soon after and is replaced in October 2016 by Yuko. They started again their activities. And now they are coming to Europe for the third time with 11 dates in 5 different countries. We had the opportunity to discuss with the members before their show at Paris Manga !
Could you present yourselves?
Lucy: Hi, I am Lucy, LAZYgunsBRISKY’s vocalist.
Moe: I am the drummer Moe.
Azu : My name is Azu! [in French]
Yuko: I am playing guitar, my name is Yuko.
Lucy: At the beginning, we were in high school together, Azu, Moe and I. Yuko came and joined us recently, something like two years ago.
You have a kind of old-fashioned rock style. Why this style?
Lucy: We were simply inspired by our parents who loved this style of music and who gave us that passion. But also quite often by the friends of our parents. They inspired us a lot too by letting us discover more and more things.
Women’s bands are not very present on the Japanese rock scene. How do you stand out?
Lucy: It is often said that men must show their virility so we try to show all the masculinity that our femininity allows us to! As soon as we put our feet on the stage that’s what we try to show. Unfortunately we are in an essentially male society so it is sometimes difficult to express ourselves. Another problem is that people tend to categorize us as a female band, whereas we are primarily a rock band. This categorization is futile for us.
If you had to choose 3 words to describe the band?
Lucy: ROCK N ROLL! You do not agree? (Laughs)
What messages do you want to convey through your songs?
Lucy: In our songs, but especially through our music, there is of course a strong message since we are girls. We have to fight to live and to move forward every day. We must be strong.
This is not the first time you come to Europe. What do you like about the French audience?
Lucy: Yes it’s the third time we come to France! The last time was 7 years ago. Many fans came to see us at the concert. Many were happy to see us again and even asked to see us again and again. French people simply express themselves, they are very expressive and do not hesitate to externalize what they feel while listening to our music.
Did you prepare specific things for the French audience?
Lucy: We’ve prepared a few more things than we usually do. We have prepared albums, goodies, but we have mostly made origami to offer fans. It is important for us to value Japanese traditions as well.
There is in France an important craze for Japanese culture, what do you think about it?
Lucy: We try to bring everything that is really Japanese, keeping this traditional side. This is what we do by wearing kimonos on stage for example. That’s also why we made origamis. We remain close to the spirit of festivals in Japan, a good-natured spirit. It is important for people to learn more about Japan.
How do you see the future of the band?
Lucy: We see ourselves even more famous in a few years. We hope to gain popularity to be able to have broad shoulders to ensure concerts alone in Europe. For the moment we have no new album projects but some concerts will take place soon in Japan.
A last message for your French fans?
Lucy: I love France, it’s with great pleasure that we go on stage here. Come see us as much as possible and we hope to see you again later!
LAZYgunsBRISKY: Thank you very much!
A big thank you to the members of the band for this interview done at the last minute,
to the interpreter, but also to Paris Manga for having accredited us for this new edition.
A special mention to Amélie who did everything she could
to make this interview possible until the last second!
