Interviews (219)

• August 16, 2016
• Colleen Johnson
• 0
• 2290
• 0

Last week, I set out to the Great Scott to sit down with the incredibly talented LITE, a Japanese instrumental band that has been together since 2003. To sit down for an interview took a bit of rehearsal for the band due to a slight language barrier but the band was great to chat with and it was an interview I wouldn’t pass on ever. So disclaimer, it’s a bit of an awkward read but that’s purely because we had to stick to the questions the band had already seen. The band had the questions on their phone screens through out the chat so it made for a pretty different style of interview.
The band’s music spoke for itself as they mesmerized the sold out audience that night at the Great Scott. Through out the set, there were huge cheers from the audience, breaking into clapping despite no encouragement from the band. It was a spiritual experience and definitely a show I won’t be forgetting easily. This is the kind of music that transcends any barriers and it was pure, unadulterated magic. I see so many performances through doing this and there are those acts that are okay and the ones who blow my mind. LITE definitely falls into the second category and I’m super grateful for the time I was given with this sure to be huge band!

So while the band has been a band since 2003, the music is still relatively new to the US. How has your time been so far on tour with TTNG, another international band?
Jun: It’s been great. We’ve known about them since a long time ago but we had never played with them in the US. We just played with them in Japan one show but we knew we wanted to do a tour with them. So it happened on this tour so we are so happy.

Perfect and then what are the three things you must have with you while on tour to survive?
Nobuyuki : I think one of them is a sleeping bag. We actually haven’t brought our sleeping bags for a long time. We used to have sleeping bags because we used to stay at someone’s place so often. The band who we are touring with have many friends here so we can stay at their places. But before, we never had a person who knew people here so we had to stay in hotels. So we haven’t brought the sleeping bags. So just one thing.

Then “Installation” was released in 2014 in the US. Are you currently working on a new album slash new music?
Jun: Yes we’re working on it now.
Working on new music now?
Jun: Yes, maybe we’ll release it this year. After the tour, we’re going to track the album in Boston.
Nobuyuki: Yes, starting tomorrow. We’ve done the record this time different. It’s going to be cool in sound and should be out this year.

And then how does the band go about the songwriting process? Is there one main song writer, do you all collaborate?
Jun: Some of us collaborate. Nobuyuki is the musician that leads us and makes the sound and then we collaborate to flesh it out.

Then there are very few bands from Japan that come tour in the US, with Crossfaith and coldrain being the main two. What advice would you give to bands to make the jump and try to come here?
Nobuyuki: So one reason is that it’s quite expensive to fly here but the second point is if you don’t have any person you know here so they don’t have any connection over here. So it makes it really difficult. So we are so lucky because we met a person a long time ago so that’s why it happens often to be able to tour here. Most Japanese bands don’t have any person so that’s why it makes it difficult.
Lucky to have that help.

To end it off, what is coming up in the next few months for LITE?
Jun: In November, we will go to the west coast for a US tour then we will release our album on Topshelf!
Perfect, well very exciting!