Kazha Interview at Nan Desu Kan

Hello everyone! We have a great interview for you from Nan Desu Kan in Denver, Colorado .
http://www.kazuhaoda.com/

Visual AM: We are here at NDK with none other than Kazuha herself, please introduce yourself.
Kazha: Introduce myself? (smiles) I’m Kazha from Japan (laughs)

Visual AM: Is this your first time in Denver, Colorado?
Kazha: ah, Yes

Visual AM: What do you think about the anime convention?
Kazha: You know there a lot of people in costumes and I was so excited to see them. I love the atmosphere it’s so, how do you say, fun and interesting.

Visual AM: Are there any cosplays that you saw that you really liked?
Kazha: Definitely Totoro ! (laughs)

Visual AM: What do you like about visiting here in Colorado?
Kazha: I think the view and the weather is the kind I like, love! I love cold weather and with the mountains, its perfect for me.

Visual AM: Can you tell us a little bit more about your solo act like other things you’ve previously done, singing and music wise?
Kazha: (pauses then smiles) Sorry its kind of hard for me to explain… explain it?

Visual AM: What kind of experiences did you have just being solo before you went into your band?
Kazha: I first started singing classic that was Italian opera, and I also sang Christian music, that was when I was like 12, 13 years old.

Visual AM: That was a while back?
Kazha: So I started from classic, then went into pop music and then became a singer/songwriter so I was seen playing piano and singing by myself at first then released some albums. Then for some reason [I] became a metal vocalist from I don’t remember when (laughs) I’ve been through a lot of genre jumping but it was all from classic.

Visual AM: After going from classic then entering into the rock scene, that’s how Kazha got started?
Kazha: Yes, Yes.

Visual AM: You previously toured here in the U.S., can you tell us about your experiences with that tour?
Kazha: You know it’s still hard for us to make the big move because we are still on our own. Driving is pretty tough on us but you know we’ve been through about… 27 states now.

Visual AM: Wow!
Kazha: So far we have only played 15 states, but with driving we’ve been through 27 states and yeah its different, it’s the biggest experience in my life. I’m having fun but at the same time it’s really hard but I’m tough. This will be good for us. This is our learning tool (laughs) in a way, learning experience.

Visual AM: Well I do hope you conquer all 50 states!
(both laughs)
Kazha: oh I forgot there was 50!
(both laughs)

Visual AM: So how do you balance yourself expression and connecting with your fans through your music?
Kazha: Balance?… hmm (pauses to think) it’s kind of difficult for me. (continues to think) balance, balance… can you describe it?

Visual AM: Kazha has their own look and concepts that they want to express through their music, so how do you accomplish that goal and also interact and connect with the fans at the same time.
Kazha: We have our style, but we also want to be friendly to anybody and we want everybody. It doesn’t matter how old he or she is, it doesn’t matter where they are from. We just want to be friendly and want everyone to listen to us more. So we have our style in a way, but we don’t really care about our style. I kind of have my personality too, I have both sides. I love animation and cute stuff like bunny or toys, but the other side; goth, dark stuff but its like, be ourselves on the stage and that’s us. We have a style but we also want to be friendly so It’s not like we want to be cool, we just want to have fun.

Visual AM: So it’s just like a combination of both. I heard that after being here at NDK you’re going to tour in Mexico, will it to be your first time? How do you feel about it?
Kazha: hmm, We’re so much interested in going to Mexico but we are a little bit scared since we’ve never been there and nobody speaks Spanish. It might be… a fun experience (laughs)

Visual AM: Is there a special or hidden story behind the Overture album?
Kazha: I think so… (laughs) There’s a lot. Yeah so many, trouble, hard times, especially about Overture. The album, you know is made by me and Hideki. But the hidden story, there’s a lot. I don’t know which to tell…

Visual AM: Would you say it’s a compilation?
Kazha: yeah, a lot of things happened so yeah…

Visual AM: Is that why you specifically chose the name Overture for that album?
Kazha: Yeah, it’s like the beginning of our new life and I wanted to start over, you know, like start everything from the beginning. I’ve been through classic, pop, a lot of genre and if I stay there, I could live with that but even though I knew were going to have a hard time, because we have to start from the beginning I still wanted to try. That’s why I picked overture.

Visual AM: You just mentioned you and Hideki both work together in creating music. How do you decide on what you want for a certain song and how it should sound?
Kazha: hmm… you know we have a different type of culture, genres, that we’ve been through are totally different but rock or metal is the only thing we’ve worked together from before. We just want to express whatever we have. I don’t want to push or do anything musically that he doesn’t do. So we just try to express like whatever we have and collaborate.

Visual AM: So it’s more like a team effort?
Kazha: Yeah, yes. We don’t really have specific genre, like we call ourselves rock, rock music but in a way it could be pop for some people. I was surprised some metal fans of ours say we are metal (smiles) and but we don’t really think we are metal. If they say so, we are happy, so it’s not like we want to do this or that. We don’t want to say anything like, “Oh it’s not our style.” We want to do whatever we have [inside] and want people to listen to whatever they like you know… do you understand what I’m saying? (laughs) So if they love metal, they can say we are metal. That’s okay for us.

Visual AM: Would be more considered as a compliment?
Kazha: Yeah, we just want to do music. So it’s not like we’re rock or we are metal, not like that. We just want to do music and we just want them to feel that.

Visual AM: If given the opportunity to film a music video for the overture album, what song would you pick and what would you want the video to be about?
Kazha: hmm… (pauses) Give it away, I think, and Breathe through your dreams, that could be good too, but yeah maybe Give it away. I don’t think there’s a reason but yeah for some reason I love that song the best. (laughs)

Visual AM: It’s my favorite too…
Kazha: Oh yeah?!
(both laughs)

Visual AM: When you are in a recording studio, what kind of setting or atmosphere, do you need to really create your music? What do you need surrounding you to really get inspiration?
Kazha: Kuromi. (laughs)

Visual AM: Kuromi?! (laughs)
Kazha: yes, of course, Kuromi. (laughs) but yeah, just make the room dark and that’s it. I don’t really need anything but it’s better to be alone. I don’t want many people to be there. It’s just like creating something but I put Kuromi next to me, all the time, so even when I go into the studio, I bring her with me… I mean, him with me. Yeah, he’ll stay with me.

Visual AM: And who is Kuromi? (joking)
Kazha: Kuromi. (laughs)

Visual AM: Is he Kazha’s mascot?
Kazha: Yeah. (laughs)

Visual AM: Well I would definitely want one if I were recording. I know you said that you don’t really want to be defined by a certain genre. Is there any other genre that you want to experience with more with while writing music?
Kazha: hmm, yeah… I never been to… what was that… rap (laughs) that kind of music. Well I don’t know if I’ll ever try [rap]. If I ever try I would choose experimental, more like experimental.

Visual AM: Would you focus more on the instrumental side?
Kazha: ah, not really, but maybe mixing my voice as an instrumental.

Visual AM: Interesting!
Kazha: yeah.

Visual AM: Would it be more like easy-going?
Kazha: Yeah, yeah but [only] until I get old, I’m not going to do that. (laughs) To do those kinds of music, maybe it’s good for me when I’m old, that way older people could listen more. (laughs)

Visual AM: You have really graceful movements while performing. Is there anything specifically that goes through your mind when you go on stage?
Kazha: nothing (laughs) I just be in the music so I don’t think about anything, actually I just [want to be] with the audience and be with the music. So I really don’t think about anything, sometimes I get too nervous and my hands start shaking so I need to, stand kind of… how do say…

Visual AM: Stand still?
Kazha: yeah, stand still, well like with my feet opened. I need to stand in a manly pose, that’s why I make a pose… but yeah that’s my style.

Visual AM: I couldn’t honestly see if you were nervous or not. (laughs) Today you are going to perform an acoustic set, are you excited about that?
Kazha: Yes, yes

Visual AM: Well I know I am definitely going to look forward to seeing the show.
Kazha: ah, thank you very much. (smiles)

Visual AM: For the final question, could you please leave a message for your fans?
Kazha: I just want to say thank you, and yeah, arigato. (laughs)

Visual AM: Thank you so much Kazha for taking your time out for this interview, So definitely good luck on the acoustic show.
Kazha: Thank you very much.

We would like to thank Kazha, Jess, Jinnie, and NDK for the interview.
more information on Nan Desu Kan can be found at http://ndkdenver.org/