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This is a conversation between Misa of Band-Maid and Chris Peppler.

2010.01.18 J-wave FM 81.3 Japan
OtoAjito (Sound agitating point or hiding place?)

https://www.j-wave.co.jp/original/otoajito/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuP2K9-jlts

Good evening. This is Chris Peppler hosting a smart little hour with a special guest to get drunk with the finest music. Today's guest is Miss Misa, the bassist of Band-Maid. Band-Maid is also active overseas. Misa is playing the bass with a super technique. What kind of music has she listened to so far? Let's hear what she says.
This program is brought you by Sapporo Beer, etc..

C: I have invited a guest this evening. Would you please introduce yourself?
M: Good evening. I am Misa of Band-Maid.
C: Thank you, Misa. Nice to meet you.
M: Nice to meet you, too.
C: I saw your live performance at the Summer-Sonic Festival and your base play has beaten me. At first glance, members of Band-Maid are all dressed up like maids, so people would think that Band-Maid would be a girls' pop rock group. However it plays solid rock with a pretty hard and awesome drive, beside they're all good performers.
M: Thank you.
C: Well, let's toast right away.
M: Toast. Delicious beer.
C: It's delicious. Misa, you like alcohol.
M: I love alcohol.
C: Do you drink at the live?
M: Yes, I keep on drinking during the performance.
C: The nibbles for drinks that you brought today are perfect for drinkers. Thank you, Misa.
M: Ufufu. Yes, I brought three things. Chikuwa (tube‐shaped fish paste cake like a bamboo ring) with soy sauce and wasabi, and the other is "fried potatoes as they are".
C: Is this so? Is it just fried?
M: It's a confectionery product called so. Also, I arrived at the neiborhood of this studio early today, so I bought another nibble. It is canned gizzards.
C: Do you like gizzards?
M: I love gizzards.
C: Then, you will always have them when you go to the yakitori shop (grilled chicken restaurant).
M: I always eat two sets.
C: You eat two sets. Then, please cut me kamaboko (boiled fish paste).
M: Not a Kamaboko but a bamboo ring.
C: Not a kamaboko, it's a bamboo wheel! I see.
M: I cut the bamboo rings.
C: Then I open the canned gizzard.
M: I usually buy them at convenience stores and supermarkets, but the Roppongi bamboo ring is amazing.
C: It's elastic.
M: Really.
C: Isn't it oyster soy sauce?
M: Yes. Ufufu.
C: That's amazing. Let's eat right away. From where do you have?
M: Then I'll start with a chikuwa. A little bit of wasabi.
C: Is it so good? Oh, it's a chikuwa. But good!
M: Ufufufufu. Roppongi's chikuwa is delicious.
C: Yes. Then, try eating gizzards. (Sound of drinking beer) Next, fried totato.
M: May I open it?
C: Looks just like fried potato. It's good.
M: You eat with good sound.
C: What is the taste?
M: Double cheese flavor.
C: That's perfect. You know properly. You know exactly what would suit for beer.
M: Ufufu. Wet things, dry things, things with wasabi.
C: Excellent. And where do you always wander?
M: My recent favorite spot is Sakuragicho in Yokohama.
C: Sakuragicho is cool, isn't it? Where do you live?
M: In Kanagawa prefecture.
C: Were you born in Kanagawa prefecture?
M: I was born in Okayama prefecture.
C: You were born in Okayama and grew up in Kanagawa?
M: I lived in Shimokitazawa (Shimokita) in Tokyo long time, because my mother and I came out of Okayama for the first time and then lived in Shimokitazawa.
C: I have lived in Shimokitazawa for about 6 years. That time was the most fun in my life. Living in Shimokitazawa is the best.
M: Ufufu. it's the best. I was able to find my favorite shop to drink after I was over 20, and it was fun.
C: Shimokitazawa is also a city of music, too. Musicians live a lot.
M: It's a town where we meet a lot.
C: Is your first encounter with music in Shimokitazawa?
M: My first encounter with music was around the age of three or four. I've been playing the piano for several years, and started playing brass instrumentslike horn and trumpet in elementary school, and went to junior high school when I touched the guitar. So I went to high school and started playing guitar vocals first. Ufufu. I tried it for half a year or a year, however a little, the band did not rather go well. I tried to form a band, but I could not do any activity at all. When I got in second grade of high school, my two-year senior frienf, who had already graduated, asked me to do the base.
C: Until then, you were a guitarist, weren't you?
M: At that time, I wasn't interested in the bass or wanted to do the bass, but when my senior asked me to play the bass, I became conscious of the bass for the first time, and then I took it in my hand. At first I borrowed one. The band was playing original songs from the beginning, so anyway I just started. At first, I was astrayed in various ways, but after five and a half years, I ended up with "the Smashing Pumpkins". I made a completely "grunge" sound with the bass on everything. I was doing live shows many times in Shimokitazawa.
C: I suppose Misa's mother loved music.
M: Rather, my mother implanted music in me. The greatness of music. The impetus was also made by my mother.
C: How did your mom make it happen?
M: It was a long-term education of talent. When I was in kindergarten, I was always listening to the music of "the Who", "Red Chili Peppers", and Japannese Okuda Tamio in my home or in the car. So I started to like music. My mother told me that, when she was cleaning up the room, I was doing "headbang" next to her (moving the head up and down to the rhythm).
C: You was doing headbang. Misa? How old were you that time?
M: It was in the lower grades of elementary school. So I was 8 or 9 years old.
C: What were you headbanging for? Was it "Red chili"?
M: What I heard from my mother was a song from "Red Chili".
C: I see. Which album do you like in "Red Chili"?
M: The album I bought was "a pink and white capsule" (Monarchy of Roses).
(a song of "red chili")
C: After all, did your mother give you everything or did you buy it yourself?
M: When I was in elementary school, there was a song that I became fond of for the first time, and it was "Jelly fish"'s "New Mistake".
(Jellyfish/ New Mistake)
M: I was addicted to this song when I was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school (around 10 years old).
(Jellyfish/ New Mistake)
M: When I was in the third grade of elementary school, My mother gave me a cell phone. Then I set it as a ringtone that lasted until being in high school. I kept listening to this until my second year in high school.
C: As to the base, you went to a music college. You had been learning the piano since you were little so you can read music, and to some extent, the theory is perfect. Right?
M: I went to a professional school for music. Well, maybe. Ufufu.
C: Are the other members reliable?
M: Our drummer and guitarist can read music score.
C: Sure. The level should be so high unbelievably.
M: Ufufu. I played the piano halfway through elementary school, so I'm not very confident about the theory. Ufufu, sorry.
C: Did you go to the professional school after you became a base? Or while you were still playing guitar?
M: After graduating from high school, I ended up choosing a professional school for music. For the first year, I chose the PA (Public Address) course, not the base course. I went to the PA course, but at that time I was also doing a band, and I was doing lives actively. It was fun and comfortable to stand on the stage. I could not go to school every day, so I was thinking what to do. Then, I moved to the base course from the second year.
C: I see. By the way, what surprised me was that while playing with a pick, you would suddenly slap on the way. Where do you hide your pick? If normal, the player will throw the pick, and play with another pick.
M: Basically, I only use only two picks in a live.
C: That's amazing. How are you doing?
M: Now I have my pick, so I'm going to talk about it now. But listeners can't see it on the radio, hahah. Anyway, with two or three fingers,
C: With index finger, and thumb.
M: And then, when it comes to slap, put your index finger flexed on the palm and do it with your middle finger and thumb. And you can return immediately.
C: Yes ~. Is that already you are used to it?
M: I won't drop my pick with this way.
C: Really? amazing. Don't you play fingerpicking?
M: I also play fingerpicking. But after all, there are more pickings.
C: Why is it so? Is the music you're doing good for picking?
M: That's right. And when it comes to quiet songs, middle tempo songs, and delicate songs, I think it's better to play with fingers.
C: I see. By the way, what is "Crosstown Traffic"（in 1968) that triggered your music?
(Jimi Hendrix/ Crosstown Traffic)
M: This is also a song my mother had been playing at home all the time. Listening to this song reminds me of my childhood.
C: It's cool to talk about kindergarten, elementary school, or childhood by this song.
M: I remember when I was in kindergarten or elementary school.
C: Cool. Like "When I listen to this song, I remember my mother." and my mom's memory is with Jimihen. You look cool. It's Rock!
M: Fufufufu. Yes, my mother might be thinking, "Everything went right for me.
C: Your mom should be having fun.
M: She says so exactly. She says the same thing.
C: She may be saying, "My talent education to may daughter has worked perfectly." Is it according to your mother's scenario? It's amazing.
M: That's exactly as her scenario. Thank you mom. Fufufu.
C: So, your mother will attend to your lives, won't she?
M: In Tokyo she will join us, and in Okayama, she is coming on an expedition.
C: Well, what's your favorite music recently?
M: The band I've been watching recently is "Ruido Rosa". It's a Mexican girls band. All members are beautiful.
(Ruido Rosa)
C: So your rival?
M: I don't think It's our rival at all. Rather I hope that someday we can get together at a festival. Although all the members are beautiful, the songs are intense, and they are really cool. "Ruido Rosa" consists of four members. Everyone is beautiful, but the sound is cool and cool.
(Pause)
C: Tonight the band-maid bassist, Misa is here. By the way, is the guitar vocal Miku the bandmaster of Band-Maid? Is she the leader? Is Band-Maid born from her idea?
M: Well, Yes. Kobato Miku originally worked at a maid cafe, and she also wanted to do music at the same time. So in short, she joined the talent office, and proposed it would be interesting if she crosses a band with a maid. From there, she gathered members. I was invited by one of the current members when my band that had been playing for just five and a half years was dissolved. But I said, "Can I think it over one day?" I wanted to continue music, and I didn't want to stop playing bass, so I ended up saying, "I'll join you." the next day.
C: I see. I am just watching YouTube these days.
M: You are doing so!
C: The overseas evaluation for you is amazing.
M: Thank you.
C: And every member is good at playing. So you are getting a very high reputation.
M: Mufufufu.
C: There have been many contacts from overseas.
M: Yes.
C: When did the band maid begin to take a shape? Before that, when was Band-Maid formed?
M: Formed in 2013.
C: Well, not a long time has passed as a band. So, when did you think it would do well? At first, I guess there was a time when you wondered what was it.
M: There was a time when I said, "I'm sorry. I would quit." That was before the first one-man live, and the person who was the manager at that time said, "Let's do a one-man live and look at the scenery. After that, you can decide it, can't you?" After all it was fun to do live, the visitors came thankfully and I thought I had to continue a little more, and it has been 5-6 years since then. Ufufufu.
C: When did you feel like you could go?
M: Two or three years ago. Ufufufu.
C: What did that trigger?
M: Maybe it was a live abroad. It was my first time to do live in the United States three years ago, but a lot of listeners came and it was the first time in my life that the tension was rising so high.
C: What was different? After all, the reaction of the listeners?
M: The pressure from the listeners was amazing, and the number of them was unprecedented. Ufufufu.
C: Do you have more listeners overseas? That's amazing.
M: Yes, there are many. The first live in Seattle in the United States came around 3,000 or 4,000. It was not a one-man, rather a part of the Sakuracon event of Japan. I thought they had come our live like this way even though it was not our one-man.　I felt happy. Ufufu.
C: That's why you taste it.
M: Yes, I can't stop. Hohohoho. Through my lifetime. Ufufufu. As it became more and more intense, I bacame much happier. Originally, I like "grunge". I hadn't listened to fast hard songs so much, but I still like heavy sounds, so I'm glad that Band-Maid is approaching the music I like in this new album.
("Thrill")
C: It's "Thrill". That's it.
M: Ah! Ah!
C: It's heavy.
M: Before this "thrill" came out, there was a choice to play such an intense song or keep it as it was. Everyone said that it was better to be intense. Especially our members said so and moved to this line.
C: Was this Miku's idea, too? That's amazing.
M: Yes. The first album, "Maid in Japan", was already a world-conscious album.
C: I think it's amazing. By the way, what about that "Po!"?
M: "Po!?" Ahaha.
C: Is that good in the band?
M: I have no choice but to accept. Hahahaha.
C: Without that, you're not "Band-Maid Po?
M: Not really, but Kobato wants to use it. Ufufufu.
C: She is going to keep that desperately. Already, it's her identity Po.
M: It is ", Po!".
C: But as a producer, it's amazing. Of course, maids are already well-known overseas as Japanese subcultures and pop cultures, but there is a huge mismatch between maid outfits and the kind of rigorous music that men would do. I feel this idea is amazing, Po.
M: Ufufufu. Yes.
C: By the way, you told tell us about some of your albums that you were absorbed in. How about "radiohead"? Did your mother also introduced it to you?
M: That's right. I went to see the "radiohead" live when I was the first grade of high school, and before that my mother made me listen to this album.
("radiohead")
C: Do you like "radiohead"?
M: I really love it. The live was really good. There is an album called "Rainbow", and they came to Japan on a tour of that album. So we went to see the live.
C: I went to see it a lot, but Tommy Walk is amazing.
M: That's true. It is cool. Tommy Yorke's dance is cool. Ufufufu.
C: It's just so strange what happened if someone else did it.
M: It looks like a Bon Festival dance. Ufufufufu.
C: He doesn't look at people. The standard is himself. Even if he is doing live in front of thousands of people, it seems that he is only watching himself, doing his own standard. It's not a weird meaning, it's not about appealing to people, it's about being honest with himself. He exposed that much!
M: Yes. Also, there's a member called Johnny, who hits toms, and plays guitar. He hits toms at live, and it's cool.
C: Hmm. Also, you like "Blur". Did your mom introduce it to you, too?
M: No, I found this myself.
("Blur")
M: I was hooked around the age of 20. I also went to "Blur"'s live.
C: When I first interviewed "Blur", they were very cheeky.
M: Is that so? It sounds like "Oasis" vs "Blur".
C: About in the mid 90's. Everyone in the UK was cheeky.
M: That's right. It's easy to understand.
C: But cool.
M: That's cool.
C: I really like "Sound Garden". Especially, Chris Cornell.
M: Ufufufufu. I like him. I feel sorry that he died and I couldn't see the live. Two years ago.
C: I couldn't see him. either.
M: I'm really frustrated. It's cool and the songs are really good. Hey. I wanted to see the live. Once!
C: This "Superunknown", I wanted to see it in live. If I pick up a recent male rock vocalist, Chris Cornell would have been nice.
M: Yes, I think so, too.
C: By the way, who would you like as a bassist?
M: Well, I like the base player of "Pixies". Her name is "Paz Lenchantin".
("Pixies")
C: Nice!
M: That's right. I'm not too conscious, but her playing figure is amazing. "Paz Lenchantin" plays a lot with fingers.
C: I see. She plays a lot with fingers. "Pixies" has the feeling of 80s, but 80s there were a lot of picking.
M: I first watched "Paz Lenchantin"'s video about eight years ago, and then I gotgoose bumps. Ohohoho.
C: That was so cool, wasn't it?
M: That was my first encounter with her. Mmumumu.
C: So, then do you still like female bassists? It will be your model. At least, the appearance.
M: That's right. It is different from a man.
C: But when you think about it, one of the charms of Band-Maid is that you are all pretty girls, but the music is manly. More manly than other women's bands.
M: Is that so?
C: When I close my eyes, you look like a man.
M: Muhahaha.
C: When I open my eyes, pretty girls are dressed like maids. That's right there.
M: When you listen to drums, you'll find my drummer is really a man. Fufufu.
C: She is a man, or she is a guy.
M: She is a bastard. Ufufu.
C: How to hit. How to take time between her favorite interval. She is a man. We can really know the difference between a man and a woman as a drummer.
M: Because each sound comes out clearly.
C: Yes. The place where the sound comes out in a single blow with a big bang, and the place where the sound is pulled out with a thump. So, I like that interval.
(Rinne)
C: Band-Maid released the album "Conqueror" in last December 11th. The title shows the strong desire of the band to be the conqueror.
M: Hahahaha.
C: Have you ever talked about conquering the world since early times?
M: Yes. We have kept saying so without change.
C: That's progressing steadily.
M: It's just like to be a conqueror.
C: When it comes to "Kankara" in Japanese words, it’s like kicking a can.
M: Is it a can? Ufufu.
C: No, you should be a conqueror. Is this the idea of ​​Kobato?
M: Yes. And the vocalist Saiki was thinking together.
C: And Tony Visconti was eager to do work with you.
M: Yes. There was a propose from Tony.
C: He wanted to do with Band-Maid. Let me do it as "Maid's souvenir". "Maid" also means "after world" in Japanese.
M: Is it a souvenir of the underworld? Hahaha.
C: He's more than 70 years old already.
M: That's right. Yes.
C: This guy has been a producer since the 1970s.
("the Dragon Cries")
M: This is the song produced by Tony Visconti. It's cool. Ufufufufufu. This song was also basically made by guitarist Kanami, so we made our own bass and drums and sent it to Tony. So, Tony was so happy with this song that he would be happy if he could add a little essence of his own.
C: What is different. Sounds? when Tony does it.
M: When Tony does it, the way he applies effects is completely different compared to our own mix. The reverb is tight, the distortion is more distorted than usual.
C: There must be no relaxation.
M: When I asked my mother to listen to it, she said, "It will come nicely."
C: Right. Why don't you ask him to do it again?
M: I would like him to do it.
C: World Domination Tour, Former Shibuya Public Hall, now i-Cube Hall in Shibuya, February 13th, 14th, Valentine's Day. The old Shibuya Public Hall is a hall of fame.
M: We are happy.
C: Do you have overseas expansion this year? UTA will deals with you like with One O'clock and Baby-Metal.
M: United Talent Agency.
C: That's what American management promotes for you. It's amazing.
M: Yes. I never dreamed that there is something like this in my life. Uhahaha.
C: It's thanks to your mother's genius education.
M: That's right.
C: And do you appear as Band-Maid in a new NETFLIX movie?
M: Yes. And one thing more, in July, we are the first Japanese musicians to attend an American festival where Limp will be.
C: It seems like your dream has come true.
M: One step closer to conquering the world.
C: What is your future dream?
M: In Japan, I want to do dome tours, and in the world, I want to go to big festivals. I want to do also overseas dome tours as one-man tour. I hope my dream will come true. Ufufufu.
C: I think that the vague dream is good like "conquer the world". Finally Limp.
(Limp Bizkit)
M: Cool. Sake goes on. Ufufufu.
C: Today's guest was Misa, the transcendental bassist of the band maid. Thank you very much.
M: Not transcendence. Ufufufufu. Thank you very much.