【Exclusive Interview】ATARASHII GAKKO!

BOUT. 314

ATARASHII GAKKO!

receive the whole energy of the four of us.

First live performance in NY

“Atarashii Gakkou no Leaders!” is a four-member dance-vocal unit that has been making waves in the Japanese music scene. Self-proclaimed as “representatives of Japan’s youth,” their song “OTONABLUE ” performed in sailor uniforms, has been viewed more than 25 million times on the YouTube channel “THE FIRST TAKE” and is the center of attention. In January 2021, during a pandemic, they made their world debut under the name “ATARASHII GAKKO! At the end of May 2023, these girls visited New York for the first time to perform at a music festival. I spoke with the girls about their thoughts on their world debut and future prospects.
(Interviewer: Yoshiaki Takahashi)

First of all, what is your impression of New York?

RIN A new world! It’s totally different from LA, and totally different from Tokyo. Anyway, the buildings are so tall, and I want to go inside various buildings.

KANON It’s rainy and cloudy today. I love the scenery of the city and the way it looks.

MIZYU It is a very sparkling city. The first place I went to when I arrived was the “Edge,” that high-rise observatory. I was able to see a spectacular view of New York from there, and since I actually walked outside today, I felt even more like I was in New York, and I thought I was walking in a dreamy place. It was just too sparkling.

SUZUKA For me, “New York” is the place where movies and TV dramas are set. I have always wanted to visit there, and I am glad that I finally made it. The moment I arrived, I felt as if I really was in the world I had seen before…. It was a very romantic feeling.

RIN I watch a lot of Marvel movies, so when I was walking on the street, I was wondering if Spider-Man would appear.

You have been to LA many times already, is it that different even it’s same country?

SUZUKA It’s different! LA is like, “The America!”. I had an image of “cool” and “big scale,” but New York is a bit more romantic.

MIZYU Also, aren’t there a lot of people? Compared to LA, the population density is much higher.

RIN Also, everyone is very tall. LA has a huge site and the buildings are large horizontally.

MIZYU Here, the buildings and people are taller vertically!

Vertically high (lol). But of course, you all know that New York is a city where artists from all over the world come to complete their goals.

All Yes!

You guys made your debut in North America last year and became very popular, being a part of the selling-out festivals, and now you are playing at the festival in New York City……I don’t think all of you really understand how great that is. (lol)

All （roar of laughter）

SUZUKA That’s not true (lol)! This is our first time performing at the music fest in New York, we just wanted to do our best in the 30 minutes that we were given.

How did you feel when the world debut was announced last year?

MIZYU It had been about 6 years since we formed in Japan when we first heard about the U.S. debut. It was around that time that we began to formulate our own live performance style and policies! I was honestly surprised.

SUZUKA It was like we were finally starting to catch on. we were told that we would be invited to compete internationally at that time, so I thought, “If we have this feeling and sensation, we will be brave enough to take on this challenge.”

KANON I took the plunge! That’s what it felt like. However, at first, because of the pandemic, we were not able to go abroad right away, and we made our global debut on the Internet first, so I didn’t really feel it at first.

RIN It was more than half a year after our first visit to the U.S. that we actually tried our hand at live performances. I think it was a good thing that we had the opportunity to work with Manny Mark (a producer who produced songs in the U.S.) and go through the stages of production. We were very “fully prepared” for the project.

Did you feel differently when you first performed in front of American audiences for the first time than you did in Japan?

KANON At that time in Japan, there was still a limit to the number of people who could attend the live performance, and the audience could not speak out loud, so even if they wanted to get excited, they could not get excited. In the U.S., where everything had been released, the volume of voices and reactions to the stage was already amazing, so I think it was easy to feel a big difference between Japan and the U.S.

MIZYU Over here, the reactions are really loud. I feel that more people are coming to the show with an uplifting mindset than in Japan.

SUZUKA Also, from the backyard to the stage, everything is like a big party. It’s amazing.

KANON Our attitude is like, “We know you don’t know us very well, but let’s give it our all.” I went to the show thinking,  “If the four of us have fun, we can grab a lot of people,” but there were so many people who knew us.

Whether it is in LA or Japan, I can feel the atmosphere of enjoying the performance. There is no self-consciousness.

MIZYU Of course, I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that is why I decided to enjoy it more!

SUZUKA I really wanted to keep sending out messages about youth. Enjoying the present moment to the fullest and living life to the fullest is the essence of youth. Of course, there are struggles in adolescence, but even with those struggles, you have to make good work, prepare for the live performance, and then enjoy the performance to the fullest. This creates a good groove with the audience, and it feels really good, so I think all four of us value that.

RIN When we had the first live performance in LA, I was so happy to see the audience’s enthusiasm. But I wish one of the fans had not said the name of the song first. (lol)

SUZUKA At the moment of breathtaking silence and seriousness, someone shouted:”‘Night Before the Exam'”. (Lol)

KANON He was pretty loud, wasn’t he? (lol)

MIZYU Yes, he was. (lol)

RIN But I felt that live performance is fun.

This is your first performance in New York. What do you want the audience to feel?

RIN On every stage in overseas, we say “We are from Japan! “on every stage. We want to convey with pride the good qualities of Japan and the great energy we Japanese young people have. Japan is a very small island country and may be tiny in scale compared to the U.S., but there is a lot of great talent there.

SUZUKA I want people to see the four of us and feel the newness. I want people to look at us as if they are seeing a new type of artist with a new concept! We have been doing this for 8 years, so we want people to feel the real thing with a lot of heart. That is why we have to give a good performance. Yes, a “new concept artist”. I’d love to see that in the headline (of the article). (lol）

(lol) Yes, a headline!

KANON After having performed overseas several times, I realized that language has nothing to do with performance. We will show you that “That’s who we are!”

“I’ll show you what we are, and we want you to take it”……. This could be the headline! (lol)

SUZUKA No way! I want a conceptual artist!

All （roar of laughter）

MIZYU What was the question? (lol）

What do you want to show in the live performance?

MIZYU We also create all of our own choreography, and we will give a 100% performance of the songs, so we want the audience to feel the music with their ears as well as their eyes, and to feel and receive the energy of the four of us.

“feel and receive the energy of the four of us”. Here is the headline.(lol)

RIN The headlines keep getting updated. (lol)

After this festival, what do you think will happen to “ATARASHII GAKKO! ” in the future? What are your goals for the future?

RIN Performing in new places is a great way to meet fans we don’t normally see or people who weren’t planning to get to know us, and they may come to like us even more because of it. We want to go to various places and show our performance to many people. I am confident that the four of us will make people fall in love with us once they see us perform live.

SUZUKA As four young people living in the present, we would like to make new inroads into Japan and the world in 2023! I hope that the four of us can share with everyone a lot of things that don’t have a social message, but just let’s have fun and be free to be ourselves.

KANON Up to now, the four of us have always faced each other when new songs were created, and when we went to a new place, the four of us gathered our heads together. This year and next year, I think we will go abroad a lot, and at the same time, we have live shows scheduled in Japan, and in the end, I think the four of us will enjoy ourselves to the fullest each time. I hope we can create something new in the meantime.

MIZYU It has been eight years since the four of us created something that we simply love and are passionate about, and we would like to continue to renew that in the future. Recently, I feel that the number of people who enjoy what we have created has increased dramatically, and we would like to expand that to the world as well.

Lastly, please give a message to Japanese people living in New York.

SUZUKA New York is full of individuality. So, I would like to say, “Let’s have individuality, and be out of the ordinary in New York!

[Music festival “Head In The Clouds”].
(Both May 21, Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY (photo by @estherjy.kim 88rising headinthecloudsfestival)

 

ATARASHII GAKKO!
Whirlwind group ATARASHII GAKKO! represent a new generation of Japanese youth (seishun in their native language), one embracing personal expression and pushing against traditional boundaries a little at a time. The outlandish quartet ― comprised of kawaii-but- fierce MIZYU, wildcard SUZUKA, graceful KANON and funky RIN ― break genre walls to create music mixing elements of pop, jazz, hip-hop, rock and more, delivered with punk energy and featuring frantic dance moves, choreographed by the four members themselves.

【Official Website】leaders.asobisystem.com/

【SNS Official Account】
Twitter：twitter.com/japanleaders
Instagram：instagram.com/japan_leaders/
Facebook：www.facebook.com/japanleaders
TikTok：www.tiktok.com/@japanleaders
You Tube： www.youtube.com/@ATARASHIIGAKKO
Official LINE：lin.ee/xLoYyxG
note：note.com/8304leaders

〈interviewer〉
Yoshiaki Takahashi
Born on September 8, 1973. Born in Okayama Prefecture. As an interviewer for “New York Biz” ,he has interviewed more than 1,000 celebrities, including U.S. presidents, major leaguers, Hollywood stars, athletes, musicians, idols, politicians, and businessmen. He has conducted interviews on the front lines of the world and delivers the living words of successful people. He also gives lectures to companies and individuals who want to expand their business overseas, and coordinates events for companies wishing to expand their business to New York. He is the author of “Buki wa hashirinagara hiroe”, “8 Success laws taught by 1000 people who challenged New York”.

（2023年６月17日号掲載）