Two all-female rock bands hailing from different countries — Japan's BAND-MAID and Mexico's The Warning — have come together to record a collaborative single titled “SHOW THEM,” due on Wednesday (August 7). The members of the two groups hit it off after first meeting at a US music festival where both bands performed in 2022.
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In this rare chat with all members of both bands – five from BAND-MAID and the three sisters from The Warning – present, the women who continue to blast hard rock for fans around the world talked about their respect for each other's music. and the process of recording their new single together.
Your bands first met when you performed at the Aftershock Festival in California in 2022, right?
Miku Kobato (guitar/vocals): Yes. We showed up the same day and the members of The Warning found us and said hi while we were doing an interview there. They said, “Let's do something together,” and we said, “We'd love to!” We made it and had a great time.
Daniela Villarreal Vélez (Guitar/Vocal/Piano): I would like to meet BAND-MAID all day that day.
Paulina Villarreal Vélez (Drums/Vocals/Piano): BAND-MAID are great musicians and I've loved them for a long time.
AKANE (Drums/Percussion): This makes me so happy!
Kobato: We also became very curious about The Warning after our bands joined the lineup at Aftershock Festival, po. I thought it was so cool how three sisters are together in a band, po.
MISA (Bass/Vocals): There's a groove that can only come from sisters, isn't there?
KANAMI (Guitar/Vocals): They're so in sync, on the same wavelength. It is something we cannot imitate.
Daniela: We are very close and share a sisterly bond.
Paulina: We try to be conscious of clearly separating our time as sisters from our time as band members, so I think there's a good balance there. But we had a fight this morning. [Laughs]
Alejandra Villarreal Vélez (bass/vocals/piano): We often clash when composing. We each have many different ideas, so sometimes we get into big disagreements. [Laughs] But basically we have a good relationship and we make up fast.
What do the members of The Warning find exciting about BAND-MAID?
Daniela: Japanese rock and the rock you hear in the US and Mexico are the same genre but they sound completely different. This is the main reason I was drawn to BAND-MAID's music. I also like the fact that they put a very high level of technique into their music.
Paulina: AKANE and I have completely different playing styles, so there were some phrases that were difficult for me, but I really enjoyed practicing them. BAND-MAID helped us grow and I appreciated that.
AKANE: Wow… I want to say the exact same thing back to you! [Laughs]
Alejandra: MISA also has a different style than mine, and I think her performance is awesome. I find it really amazing how he can mix parts where he's playing a pick and parts where he's slapping a song, and it's so exciting. Tell me how you can play like that. [Laughs]
Daniela: And of course, I think SAIKI and Kobato's voices are also very good. It must be the difference in language, but Japanese is unique in that the melody changes one letter at a time, and it's really amazing how they can sing it so well. I got a lot of inspiration from the vocal side as well.
By the way, do you know why Kombato ends her sentences with “po”? [Translator’s note: Kobato has a signature way of speaking in Japanese, ending sentences with “po,” an onomatopoeia expressing the call of a pigeon. The kanji for Kobato is “little pigeon.”]
SAIKI (Lead Vocals): Tell them why you say “po”. Tell them who you really are.
Kobato: I'm Kobato, meaning I have a bit of a pigeon in me, po. That's why I end sentences with 'po', which is the sound a pigeon makes, po.
Daniela: So they're pigeons. [Everyone laughs] I just got it now. “Narimasita, po.”
Combat: [Laughs] We feel like we've gotten a little closer again, po.
Let's talk about your collaborative single, 'SHOW THEM'. How did the production process go?
Kobato: KANAMI came up with the foundation of the song. We started by having the members of The Warning listen to it.
KANAMI: We wanted to be bold and make a song that would bring out new aspects of each band for this single, and that's how “SHOW THEM” came about. Everyone at The Warning made changes to the demo I made. We then made new sentences in response to that and repeated the process over and over until the song was finished.
Daniela: When we heard the demo that KANAMI made, we were very surprised because it was completely different from the direction of our usual music. But we soon began to enjoy figuring out how to mix our own colors into it.
Lyrics are credited to Miku Kobato and The Warning.
Kobato: Yes, po. Since this was a collaboration between two all-female bands, we first discussed making the song about rising to the top together by portraying a strong female figure who can fight in the world.
Paulina: While we started by sharing this lyrical idea, there were times when we interpreted things differently due to the cultural differences between our countries. But when we came to Japan and worked on the lyrics together, it felt like we were on the same page. The nuances that Kombato was looking for became clear.
Kobato: Speaking face to face, we managed to understand each other down to the smallest details, po.
Did you record the music together in Japan?
KANAMI: Yes. But we didn't have much time, so BAND-MAID recorded beforehand and The Warning later. I actually directed the shows and all three were really great. We were done in no time.
Paulina: We didn't actually play until after we got to Japan, but we did a lot of mental rehearsals on the plane.
Alejandra: Yes. We listened to the song over and over again.
AKANE: My passion for the show has really intensified through our collaboration with The Warning. I feel so tired now and I don't know how to handle it. [Laughs]
Paulina: It was a great experience for us as well and it gave us a huge motivation.
How did the voice recording go?
SAIKI: It was my first time recording with another person, so everything was inspired. I also discovered a lot of things singing by hearing someone pronounce very good English up close.
Daniela: The melody and the prosody are different from our usual songs, so everything was a challenge. But it was really fun to try something new!
SAIKI: The key was also very high. We both did well!
KANAMI: I really like vocals that make an effort in a higher key, so I might have made it harder for both of them. [Laughs] But the result was really satisfying, so I'm happy about that.
Your bands grew closer through this collaboration, so it would be great if you could do something together again.
Kobato: Since The Warning came to Japan this time, we'd love to go to Mexico and do a show together next time, po!
Alejandra: Maybe next time we can work together on a song we wrote the basis for.
Daniela: I'll lower the key a bit then. [Laughs]
—This interview with Hideyuki Mori first appeared on Billboard Japan
