For the first time in their career, the Japanese band Lovebites will come to Latin America and will do so within the framework of the first edition of the Titans of Metal festival that will take place on March 1 at the Bicentenario Park in Mexico City.
We were able to talk with guitarist Midori Tatematsu about her first impressions of arriving in Mexico and the growing and admired Japanese metal scene.
How do you feel about coming to Mexico for the first time and sharing the stage with great bands like WASP or Six Feet Under in the first edition of Titans of Metal Fest?
This will be our first live performance in Latin America so we are especially excited about it. For us as a band, it is a great honor to be able to share the stage with these metal legends and personally, I really want to see them on stage because I have not had the opportunity to attend any of their concerts.
The world is currently enchanted by Japanese bands like Babymetal, Band-Maid and of course Lovebites, where do you think all the fascination with your country's rock scene comes from?
I think every band has a different appeal, but one thing is that, to varying degrees, a uniquely Japanese musicality is woven into their songs. As a band, of course the most important thing is the music, but at the same time, as a performer on stage it is very important that the total package is appealing.
At Lovebites we don't foreground typical Japanese culture/subculture, but of course I think the atmosphere we create is different from what people in the West are used to.
What do you think about the fact that the most famous rock and metal bands in Japan around the world are mostly led by women?
There are many all-female or female-fronted rock and metal bands in Japan that define the music scene there. That has helped a lot in bringing out great musicians within the Japanese scene.
Especially since the emergence of Babymetal, more people within the general Japanese population enjoy metal music, which makes it easier for bands to grow. Although the metal scene in the world is still dominated by men, I am proud that in Japan we were able to produce so many high-quality female bands.
Japanese rock and metal have a very distinctive sound, what do you think defines the difference between the Japanese sound and the one we are used to in the West?
I think there are many reasons. In terms of song structure, most Japanese pop songs have a verse and a pre-chorus before the chorus, and the same is true for rock and metal. In general, songs tend to have more complex structures and developments than Western songs.
When it comes to melodies, a unique scale called the Japanese pentatonic scale is often used, which gives a unique feel to the music we make. Also, when singing in Japanese, the melody tends to have detailed movements due to the characteristics of the language. Personally, I think that Japanese songs often have an emotional impact by using specific chords.
The band's name is based on a Halestorm song, what other bands have served as inspiration in Lovebites' musical career?
There are a lot! But to give you some examples, the range is really diverse, including power metal like Angra, Helloween and Stratovarius, hard rock and British heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, thrash metal like Metallica and Slayer, and especially in terms of guitar, melodic death metal like Children of Bodom and Arch Enemy.
Have you thought about releasing an album written in Japanese?
I don't really think that's something we're going to do. First of all, I think the universal language in the metal genre is English. If Halloween had sung in German we wouldn't have been able to perform 'Eagle Fly Free', for example. We also value the message of the lyrics and we think that English is the best way to convey that message to the widest audience.
Also, as I told you earlier, the characteristics of the language change the way melodies are created. We try to create melodies that convey the English lyrics well, and the way Asami's voice sounds changes depending on the language. So no, I don't think a Japanese album is something Lovebites would do.
The album ‘Judgement Day’ was released two years ago, do you still have something left to give live or are you already working on new music?
We are currently touring Japan promoting ‘Lovebites EP II’, which was released last year. So, although we are not in a clear songwriting phase yet, we are constantly stockpiling songwriting ideas, and those ideas will no doubt be used in our next album.
You're about to celebrate a decade with Lovebites, what do you think of the band's current growth?
Thanks to you fans in Mexico and around the world, Lovebites is becoming more and more well-known and we feel like the band is getting bigger and bigger. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thanks to our fans around the world, we can perform live in many cities and every time we do, we grow as musicians. But we are still only halfway there. We want more people around the world to enjoy Lovebites' music, and we will keep working hard to make that happen!
