Moran
FOOL'S MATE EXPRESS VOL. 3 (April 2008)

The fusion of fashion and music - total art
This is the birth of a new wind that blows up the outworn image of Visual Kei. 

The band's name comes from a character of the children-story "The Moomins". She (Moran) is obviously sinister, she has problems because of her alienation and her cruel self and she is lonely. She has all that in common with the philosophy of life that the band want to make up. For the first time we have talked to those four, who created a new band and a new style.

 Hitomi and Soan, you were active in the same band before, right?

Soan: Yes, but forming Moran was Hitomi's and Velo's idea in the first place.

Hitomi: When our former band broke up, I went with various band-members to the studio and did some live sessions. While doing so, I really liked how Velo played. In an instant I decided that we were going to perform together. 

 Velo, did you know that those two played in a band before?

Velo: I only heard the name, nothing more. But when I heard their CDs, I came to think myself that I'd like to perform with them once. I thought, they were great people and I really wanted to perform with them. At the time when we did a session together, we talked about things like: "Hey, let's play together!" After that, we started to look for band-members. That's already two years ago. 

 And did you also ask Soan back then?

Hitomi: Back then each of us was about forming a band. 

Soan: Yeah, I've been a band-member before and I also wrote some songs. But various things happened and my plans remained a draft. At about the same time Hitomi contacted me.

Hitomi: I didn't think we'd join a band together again.

Soan: I didn't think so either. But we talked about that.

Hitomi: I didn't want to pull at our old band, and then I wanted to face and aim at the top. For that reason I searched for different people to create this band with. But as time passed by such worries vanished. I told myself: "That's not what's bothering you." So I came to ask Soan. 

 And how about Zill?

Zill: I know Velo for a very long time. We were mates since we played in a band long ago, that's why I know him for long. 

Velo: It was me who designated Zill. I thought that he plays well and he'd fit in well. I believed he was the right man. 

Hitomi: I saw him at his first live after he had joined his former band. I had the impression that he's a really good bassist. Not all members could agree quite well, but after we had started, everyone agreed.

Zill: Thank you very much. Usually people don't praise me that much. *smiles brightly*

 When the four of you played together for the first time, how was that?

Hitomi: We started with copies.

All: *laugh*

Hitomi: We played songs which are easy to listen, we also copied bands that played rather difficult stuff, to discover our strength. 

Soan: When Zill came to the studio, my real strength was understood, too. In the beginning I had the feeling that Velo didn't want to play together with me. 

 Velo is strict, isn't he?

Velo: I have talked to Hitomi that I'd be particular about the drums. I would not just yield it to somebody. 

Hitomi: Somebody who plays the drum smartly, but who is also stable, is good for the job. Soan is very flexible. 

Velo: That's the art, but his nature is also very charming. All members just gathered around him at once. 

Soan: I'm Moran's mother. *laughs*

Hitomi: In a band come many factors together, which get really important. So it's useless if the members are just talented. They also must get along well with each other.  

 So you have been particular about the members and searched carefully, right?

Hitomi: Yeah, we've searched really carefully. We thought about everything. I guess you won't find something we did not worry about.

 Did you have many ideas for the band's name?

All: *laugh bitterly*

Hitomi: Maybe that's the only thing we did not worry that much about. *smiles bitterly* Moran is a character from "Moomins", but she's in the position of a bad-guy and really unsteady. Additionally, everything she touches turns frozen and she can't talk either. It's not like she's doing bad things, no, she avoids everybody. A sad character, isn't she? Looking at her, you can't tell that she's a female, but she is established as "a woman". I've been attracted to this character a lot, and actually I thought about calling myself 'Moran', however it was proposed as the band's name, so I said: It's also fine as a band name and then it was decided. 

Soan: Sorry that we didn't worry that much.... 

 No, I have the feeling that you worried a lot. As for your concept, you put up: "Total Art, That Fuses Fashion and Music". 

Hitomi: We asked ourselves: "For what purpose a Visual Kei band?" We don't want to jump into the flow of 'in' and 'out', we want to grab the 'Visual Kei' at what it expresses throughout and always, we want to express ourselves with the music and the lyrics and their different nuances. We want to express ourselves through Visual Kei.

 In Visual Kei the use of soft colors and a soft atmosphere is rare, isn't it?

Hitomi: The colors we use aren't vivid, neither red nor blue. They are pale and dark. 

 They're fantasy-like; they remind one of fairy-tales. In any case, they're individual.

Hitomi: We don't use gaudy colors just to be gaudy. We want to go through many different shades and nuances. But we don't want to change just to sell. We don't only want to think about colors and the like.

 Well then, how do you make songs?

Soan: Mainly, Zill and Velo make them.

Velo: I make both, bright and dark songs. Dark songs should be thoroughly dark. I want to make sad and painful songs which are thoroughly sad and painful. If possible, I want to make songs which suit Hitomi's world perfectly. 

Zill: In my former band I made totally different types of songs, more straight, harsh and extreme. Originally, our preferences in music were also very different. We did some trials and errors, because we wanted to play together, but in the end everybody played as he liked it. 

Hitomi: The sense Velo has is quite different from Zill's. For example, Velo puts reason and many thoughts into his songs. 

 Is there something you're particular about when making songs?

Velo: I'm as a guitarist in Moran, but I think it can also work without a guitar. If a song can express its message without guitar, there's not necessarily a need for the guitar, no? It's also fine when only the percussion plays. I want to express something through the music honestly, so I want to strike many tones. 

 All in all one can feel a world with shadows and a special atmosphere.

Soan: I guess you can say so.

Zill: There are triads and such, but I don't think that very happy songs fit Hitomi's singing voice. I have to consider this point, too.

Soan, I think all instrument-groups need to be considered. After all the vocals are the leading part, that's why it needs special consideration. 

Velo: This doesn’t mean that we won’t make any bright songs.

Hitomi: The whole song doesn't turn bright just because of a bright composition. I like songs in which dark lyrics follow a soft sound. That's why I write dark lyrics to any kind of composition.

 It seems like it's all going to be very complex.

Soan: Put in one word, it's "adult".

Hitomi: When I listen to the songs they have made so far, I already feel their very individual peculiarity.

Soan: The drumming is absolutely hard, too. It's worth doing it, anyway.

 As for your image "Total Art", did you already determine it completely? 

Hitomi: As far as the music is concerned, I think we'll change it sooner or later. If we can, we want to create something complete, but that takes time. I believe, when we just go on playing, we can determine an image. Then... maybe another guitarist could join?

Soan: We're 4 now, because the other guitarist left after performing about one year with us [in session bands]. He came to perform with us, but was bound to time-limits. 

Hitomi: If there's someone reading and thinks about joining, please...! *laughs*

 So to say, you're looking for band-members. Now I'm interested in the atmosphere of your concerts.

Hitomi: We want to create an atmosphere which is catching until the very end, just as lives should be. Just performing without anything fun is horrible, so we want to bring enjoyable parts into our show. I want them to be lives in which I can throw everything, which I want to express, with power into the audience, because I really to use my whole body when I'm singing. 

Soan: Everyone has his own place, maybe it's a matter of staging. 

Zill: On stage are things close to Hitomi. He's moving so full of energy, he could break his neck. He doesn't want to lose there [on stage].

Hitomi: They always say that: "Don't lose to the guys playing the same part as you, at least among equal bands!" "Always go and win!" Nowadays the Visual Kei-scene consists of all the same members gathering in new bands, repeating it all over and over again. We want to blow a new wind into the scene. 

 Your sounds are rather moderate, but the inside seems hot.

Soan: Actually it's boiling!

Interview by Sachi Murayama
Copyrights by FOOL'S MATE EXPRESS
Inofficial Translation by Kibou