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We once again had the pleasure to interview the solo artis L from MEME for his new digital album. If you are interested in our old interview, you can find it here: MEME Nov 2020
MEMEs music is strongly influenced by horror, but even if horror isn’t your cup of tea, MEMEs music is still impressive and worth a try!
Thank you for agreeing to another interview with us! Your new album will be released digitally on the 1st of September. To realize the album you had started a fundraising earlier this year. We are really glad everything worked out well, but how was that experience for you? Were you maybe worried that you wouldn’t make the amount necessary for the album?
I was worried, of course, but MEME is all about challenges and experimentation. It’s the basis to do the music I want to do.
Digital releases have become very popular recently. Releasing something digitally is probably easier too, but many bands still prefer physical CDs. What are your thoughts on this topic?
I have the bad habit of breaking and throwing my CDs, so digital is safe. And above all, it can be delivered to anyone who wants to listen to it, no matter where you live. If you want to send music to many people, digitally is the most appropriate way. I don’t know well how it works for bands.
The title of the album is “BIOGRAPHY.” Can you tell us why you chose that name?
It’s about L’s path until now. Fans will get it, and from there a new BIOGRAPHY with you and me will start.
Quite a few of your song titles make us think about a connection to horror movies. The horror motif seems to be a constant element in your concept, but what is it that fascinates you about horror?
I feel that the psychology of horror and its various depictions are sometimes more beautiful and subtle than a love story.
Some songs on the album already sound like they could be a title of a horror movie, but on the other hand you also have songs like THIS IS LOVE SONG, ICE CREAM SUNDAY and BORN TO BE FREE, which sound rather cute or, at least, not horror related. However, if you look at the lyrics they’re quite erotic and grotesque, aren’t they?
No one is born to kill humans. That’s a premise. I think that everyone is pure and innocent at the time of birth only. It’s maybe that part of me that gave birth to such songs.
In KOJIIN R&B「孤児院R&B」you sing about rock stars acting like politicians, aren’t you? Were these lines inspired by something concrete?
The type of mass-produced artists for the Japanese mass-market.
During the creation of the album, was there any song that was difficult to finish?
I spent some time on the guitar sound of BELIAL (ベリアル).
What song do you think will be most fun to perform live?
THIS IS LOVE SONG, ICE CREAM SUNDAE (アイスクリームサンデー).
Which song was the most fun to write and why?
Working on songs is always tough. But when I composed BORN TO BE FREE and when I came up with KOJIIN R&B (孤児院R&B), I feel like something changed.
At the end we would like to know what your hopes are for this album. Is there anything you want to achieve, like a goal for example?
My goal is to meet at least one person that constantly needs my music. I hope this album will give me the opportunities to do that.
Interview: Jenny
Translator: L-A
English Edit: Franzi
It would be great if you could support us with a small donation.
It might not be much for you, but it would help us providing more and better interviews in the future.
With a little bit of your support we might be able to realize even more!
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