[Version française en page 1]
Just as you have to pronounce every syllable of their name, you also have to revel in all of their songs. Covers or original pieces, UNION is a group not known enough for everything they already presented to us: harmony, beauty and joie de vivre! On the occasion of their visit to Japan Expo (France), as guests of Neokyo website, UNIONE gave us a lighthearted interview, with the desire to break through. Enjoy!
Nice to meet you UNIONE, can you introduce yourselves?
ISSY: Hello, I’m ISSY.
YUUKI: Hello, my name is YUUKI.
SAM: Hi, I’m SAM.
JIN: Hello, I’m JIN. Our group name is UNIONE, “UNI” for “UNIVERSE” and “ONE” because we are trying to unite in this universe.
You all have quite different styles, why did you want to become singers?
ISSY: Basically I liked to sing, and in addition I wanted to become popular with girls.
Did it work?
ISSY: Not really, but I hope I can catch up with the French public [laughs].
SAM: I’ve loved music since I was little and I was born in the Philippines. When I went to Japan, I heard a lot of different styles of music, as J-Pop, but also music from America and so I wanted to mix my Filipino culture with Japanese culture.
YUUKI: I started to appreciate music at 20, before I only had activities that were lasting a while, whereas when I started music, I had a click and I said to myself “this is my thing “.
JIN: When I was in middle school, I had some problems, so I was listening to an English band to give me strength and I thought to myself that I wish I was like them. I wanted to learn English, so I went to New Zealand to be trained, and then after, I naturally continued pursuing music.
As foreign members, what is your relationship with Japanese music?
SAM: In Filipino music, you often find love songs and ballads, and in Japan too there are other types of love songs, so for me the goal is to link both to create an even more beautiful sentimental music.
JIN: I was born in Japan and I grew up there. When I look at Asian groups, Korean ones are well known in the world, but Japanese ones are not as famous, so we would like to become the new trendy group which promotes Japanese music culture around the world.
Which message do you want to convey with your latest album, GOOD GAME?
JIN: Our album was made during the coronavirus period and the idea was to encourage people who were in despair by telling them “it’s going to be okay”, “it’s going to be okay”. Therefore a collaboration between video games and music helps to give strength.
What about you? Did you find comfort in video games during Covid?
JIN: During Covid, we either played together or we all gathered because we couldn’t do live concert, and video games gave us strength, because they entertained us.
You are going to perform on Japan Expo’s stage, how do you feel?
ISSY: For the moment, we are not well-known, so we would like people finding out about us, to be able to show Japanese music at Japan Expo, what it sounds like, our group and our identity.
A lot of fans found out about you through your covers, which one is your favorite?
JIN: Since I’m Korean, I’ll say the two songs that made us famous, by BTS and BIGBANG. I love K-Pop.
SAM: For me, it’s the song « Steal My Girl » by One Direction, because while doing this cover we realized that we could sing in another language, in English, which opened up other perspectives for us.
ISSY: Me too, it’s « Steal My Girl » by One Direction, because in this cover, we managed to unite our voices to create harmony. I think that is the strength of UNIONE, harmonization.
YUUKI: For me it’s the music of « Supercell, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari ».We often cover female songs and we managed to show the beauty and strength of our group through these songs.
What is the most memorable memory of your career?
JIN: We had the opportunity and the chance to perform at the Tokyo Dome, in front of many spectators, which allowed us to make ourselves known a little, that’s the most striking thing of our career.
Do you have projects for the future or already on the way perhaps?
JIN: We were lucky enough to be invited by Neokyo at Japan Expo, which allows us to show our performances first. After this occasion, we would like to be able to sing in different countries, European and worldwide, to give our fans some strength.
Do you have a message for your fans?
ISSY: We just learned that we received a gift from a French fan, and we know that we probably have more Japanese fans than French ones, but we wanted to thank them for always being there.
Do you know some French words learned during your stay?
ISSY: Merci ! (Thank you!)
SAM: Bonjour ! (Hello!)
YUUKI: Coucou ! (Peek-a-boo!) (laughs)
JIN: Voilà ! (That’s it!)
UNIONE: Venez, venez, venez ! C’est tout bon ! Bon appétit ! (Come, come, come! It’s all good! Enjoy your meal!)
We would like to thank Neokyo and UNIONE for this lovely interview !
