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Another interview with THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S! We especially wanted to ask them about their new vocalist, KEKE and they gifted us with quite a few funny stories!
The last time we had the pleasure of interviewing THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S was in 2021 when they were still looking for a vocalist, so we are very excited to meet you, KEKE. Can you tell us, how did it all come about, and what was your first thought when you realized you’d become a member of the band?
KEKE: The occasion that led to me joining THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S was the vocalist of the first generation, Ricky. A member of my previous band was good friends with Ricky and he introduced me to him, hence it linked me to THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S. When it was decided that I would become a member of THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S, I honestly didn’t realize it, and it was only when we were about to perform our first live show that I finally realized it. It’s a band of legends for me, so at the beginning it didn’t seem real to me as it does now; I was on cloud nine (laughs).
Do you still remember the first time you heard about the band and what was your first impression of them?
KEKE: When THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S was formed, I checked them out before anything else, you know. I was a big fan of D’espairsRay, and I often listened to FANATIC◇CRISIS under my parents’ influence. My first impression was “They’re so skilled…”.
And for the rest of the members, what was your first impression of KEKE and what made you realize he would be a great fit for the band?
kazuya：I didn’t know whether he would fit, but I was fascinated by his madness and energy, and I wanted to make him grow as a vocalist.
SHUN: At first I had the impression that he was a bit feminine, but the more I got to know him, the more he turned out to be the complete opposite – a man full of chivalrous spirit (laughs).
ZERO: He surprisingly has his shit together. I think the part of him that wants to take care of the members fits this band. This is an important point for us.
TSUKASA: If I reveal my first impression of him without whitewashing, he seemed like a playboy, but in reality he is extremely passionate, very manly, and similar to us from the Showa era, so I thought we would work well together.
With the new member joining the band, how did the song writing process change for you as a band and was there something new you discovered?
kazuya: We recently started writing songs with him as the vocalist. My speciality is voice ranges and I enjoy working on them, but I’m currently trying to create songs that will bring out his charm more than ever.
SHUN: KEKE’s motivation for the songs is very positive, and I feel that our progress is smoother than ever.
ZERO: We haven’t reached the stage of writing songs as a band yet, but I feel that we can pick the best of THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S so far.
TSUKASA: Since he expresses his preferences quite strongly, I feel like he’s going to include his own colors in the future, and I think that the fourth generation will be even more intense.
THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S are in their 4th generation. How would you describe this generation compared to the previous ones?
kazuya: The difference lies in the size of the amplitude between the mischievous side and the serious part.
SHUN.: I think each period of Maifo (short for MICRO HEAD 4N’S) had its own individuality, but I have a hunch that the 4th generation will be more offensive than before.
ZERO: If we compare the first period to high school, the second period was junior high school, and the third period was university. And now the band looks like elementary school students. I don’t know if it’ll be visible, but even though our vocalist changed, I hope we can express new possibilities and pure fun.
TSUKASA: KEKE gives me serious advice on how to connect MCs to songs at live performances, so I trust him very much to lead the band from the position of the vocalist. Also, contrary to his enthusiasm during live performances, he also has a homey feeling, and our My Clone (nickname of our fans) already integrated him, and a sense of unity already started to emerge. Playing catch with the fans is the most important part of our activities, so I think that the love will intensify from now on.
You recently released a new best-of album, NEW GENERATION, where you re-recorded your songs with the new vocalist KEKE. Can you tell us, what made you decide to release a best-of album and what was important for you for this release?
kazuya: This is a review including all the fans. And we produced it from the desire to cherish the music we have created so far.
SHUN: First of all, we wanted to reproduce and improve the representative songs of Maifo we had created so far. While digging up memories, we wanted to improve the songs even further- something like that, you know?
ZERO: Many of the songs are the most popular ones from our past activities, so I wanted to make an album that can prove that a good song stays a good song even if the vocalist changes.
TSUKASA: I wanted to revive the melodies of my memories with all our My Clone and express them with the new THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S.
Also, you already performed live together, for the first time in October of 2022. hat was it like, to present 4th generation to the fans? They must have been very excited.
KEKE: Personally, I was worried about whether I would be accepted. However, over half of my anxiety was blown away with the first song, you know? Fortunately, it was a live show where you could shout and the first song was HELLO MY CLONE, with a moment where the fans call your name. I also heard people shouting my name and it was like a switch was turned on violently. After the concert, various people said to me, “It didn’t look like it was your first concert as the 4th generation”. Since I joined the band, communicating between the members has been very important to us, and I think we were able to hold a performance that didn’t feel like a first concert because we had built a good relationship with each other before our first live performance.
kazuya: On that day, we started the 4th generation with a rescheduled concert due to my illness. I think it was a very memorable day, as many miracles happened, such as being allowed to shout.
SHUN: It was a coincidence that the concert happened at a time when shouting was allowed again, but it was very memorable because it was reminiscent of the live shows before the pandemic. I thought once again “fans’ voices give us so much power!” And it also made me reconfirm that concerts are built up by everyone. Even though it was KEKE’s first time on stage, he gave a magnificent performance, and I felt as if we had been together for years.
ZERO: In addition to our comeback, like icing on the cake, the ban on shouting was lifted, and even though it’s not 100%, it was a day when I could feel the passion within everyone.
TSUKASA: As expected, it reaffirmed how good it is to perform as a 5-member band, and I’ve been overcome with emotion by the fans that have been waiting for us and conveyed their feelings. Due to the coronavirus, I’ve felt lonely for a long time, so I’m looking even more forward to our future activities with the five of us.
Also, with the start of the new year, do you have any personal goals or things you want to accomplish during 2023?
KEKE: ︎Personally, I’d like all the members to climb Mt. Fuji to pray for Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall, which is one of our goals for the 4th generation (laughs).
kazuya: It’s all related to how close we can get to our dream of performing at the open-air venue.
SHUN: In terms of private life, I’d like to enrich my hobbies. I like camping and riding a bike, so I want to go to various places. As for the band, all I want is to go on tour!
ZERO: Little by little, the world is restarting to be able to do things that weren’t possible before, and there are things that I have gained from having to live under these restrictions, so I’d like to use it as a weapon to grow bigger.
TSUKASA: I’ve recently been into kite flying, and the other day I succeeded in attaching a LED to the kite and making it fly in the night sky. I went to make it fly again, this time with the LED blinking, but due to the weight of the circuit, the balance was bad and it didn’t fly. I’d like to succeed by the end of 2023 and upload the video in the fan club’s contents.
It’s a little off-topic, but if you could choose a movie to represent your current mood, which movie would it be?
KEKE: It’s not a movie, but lately I’ve been watching The Walking Dead for a mental break. It’s about to be concluded…
kazuya: It’s not a movie, but the image of Itaewon class rising to the top.
SHUN: My Wonderful Life.
ZERO: I don’t have a specific movie in mind, but it’d be a comedy movie. I want to laugh at silly things.
TSUKASA: Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro).
If you had one of DORAEMONS tools, which one would it be and what would you do with it?
KEKE: It’d be the Anywhere Door. So that it can shorten my travel time. I’d like to see all kinds of World Heritage sites.
kazuya: The Anywhere door to save time.
SHUN: A time machine. I’d love to go back in the past and start over…
ZERO: It’d be a 4D pocket. You can store anything and use any tool you want.
TSUKASA: The TV torimochi. When you see something you want on TV, you plunge into it and take it out. I want to take out Doraemon.
What are your visions and hopes for THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S in the future?
KEKE: First of all, I want to steadily climb up the stairs, step by step, towards Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall. Personally, I hate to lose, so I’d like to spend my daily life seeking for the coolest THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S so that people will think “the 4th generation is the coolest!”
kazuya: For the 4th generation, I want to become the most passionate band ever, including the fans and our staff who want to talk about their dreams.
SHUN.: Now that we are in the 4th generation and we finally have 5 members, we are just getting started! So I want to do as many shows as possible, you know? I’d be happy if we could do many concerts to make up for the time we made our fans wait due to the pandemic and our hiatus!
ZERO: First of all, it would be great to dig back into the past while also performing new songs. THE MICRO HEAD 4N’S has been inactive for a long time, so I’d like to make up for that time little by little with everyone.
TSUKASA: First of all, my goal is to stand at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall with these five members, and I want to love all our My Clones while also competing against other bands. I’d like to challenge various things again. I also want to cherish the encounters we have. I think the scenery that we can see will change from there. No matter what, I want to enjoy everything with our fans, from live performances and events to everything else.
Interview: Olga
Translation: L-A.
English Edit: Kaity
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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