Interview with BLAZE

BLAZE is a newly formed visual kei band consisting of five musicians. Mio, NERO, Kururu, Uta and Hotaru-chan brought together by their passion for music and a serendipitous meeting. Their kote-kei-inspired sound blends classic visual rock with metal and 80s influences, centered around the theme “For the Irredeemable“. The Band led by Uta, the band aims to connect with fans, known as “Kyuunansha” through raw and heartfelt performances. Their debut ONEMAN live, “MAYDAY“ is scheduled to take place on August 11, 2025, at Ikebukuro BLACKHOLE and will mark their emotional first step on stage.

■ ■ ■ INTRODUCTION ■ ■ ■

■Please introduce yourself.
(Name, Part, Birthday, body height, favorite drink, favorite food, favorite cigarettes)

澪-Mio-: I’m Mio, the vocalist. Born on June 15, left-handed, blood type AB and an INFJ. I claim to be 160cm tall. My all time favourite cigarettes are Black Devil Originals.

NERO: I’m Nero, the stage-right guitarist. Born on June 21st and I’m 172cm tall. I like Coke Zero and Sokenbicha (caffeine-free) tea. I celebrated six years smoke-free this February.

クルル-Kururu-: I’m Kururu, the stage-left guitarist! I grew up in Osaka, so I love takoyaki, but I totally hate mayonnaise to it’s maximum. Just writing that made me wanna puke… 

うた-uta-: I am bassist Uta, I like Plush-Toys.

螢ちゃん-Hotaru-chan-: I’m Hotaru-chan, the drummer. I’m complete with beer, takoyaki, sea urchin and salmon caviar.

■ Could you share with us how your stage name came about?

Mio: I came up with the name after talking it over with a senpai I really looked up to.

NERO:  There’s a song called Kuroneko no Nero (“Black Cat Nero”) and that’s where I got it from.
Also, I just wanted a name that didn’t sound typically Japanese.

Kururu: The name Kururu just sort of… came to me out of nowhere. It popped into my mind like a vague vision.

uta: Derived from real name

Hotaru-chan: Part of it is because I really admire K from PTP (Pay Money To My Pain). The rest is a secret.

■What is your favorite kanji and why?

Mio: 虜 (toriko „captive”). Because I’m a Kyo虜.
(*“Kyo虜” refers to being a devoted fan of Kyo, DIR EN GREY.)

NERO: 猫 (neko “cat”). Just look at the shape of the kanji!!! It’s so cute!

Kururu: 神 (kami „God“). He is the strongest. Invincible.

uta: 仏 (hotoke „Buddha“) I want to rely on him for help.

Hotaru-chan: 鳥 (tori „Bird“) because I want to fly like a bird.

■Please tell us what made you become a band member.

Mio: I didn’t want to live my life as just some NPC, I wanted to be the protagonist of my own story.

NERO: Back in my first year of middle school, I randomly came across a DIR EN GREY MV online.
That’s when I knew I wanted to be in a band. Later, seeing Nightmare and decided I wanted to play guitar.

Kururu: Back in my first year of middle school, I randomly came across a PIERROT MV on a videotape.
That’s when I know I wanted to be in a band. Later, I saw the GazettE and decided I wanted to play guitar.

uta: It was the only thing I could do.

Hotaru-chan: I guess I wanted to brag about being able to play the drums.

Edit: updated Nero and Kururu. Kururu wrote a mimick copied Nero’s writing style.

■What made you decide on your current part?

Mio: Got kicked off the drums position and got told that ” short vocalists sell well.‘ So, I took the hint.

NERO: The musicians I admired like Hide, Kaoru, Hitsugi and MiA, they all were guitarists.
Plus, in every band, the one with the most sex appeal was always the guitarist and I wanted to be that guy.

Kururu: I weekly bought Shonen Jump just to read ‚Bo-bobo‘(ボーボボ), on the back was an ad for a guitar going for 20,000 yen. That’s how it started.

uta: I admired Taiji (ex. X-JAPAN)

Hotaru-chan: There were so many parts to hit, it looked like a castle and that was just really cool.

■What do you think are the good points and challenges of visual kei?

Mio: The strength is that there’s total freedom in how you express yourself.
The challenge is… that it can be too free.

NERO: You get to express your world not just through the music, but through your appearance too.
The challenge is making sure the flashy visuals don’t outshine the music.

Kururu: There aren’t a lot of fake or preachy lyrics, you can really be saved by something that comes straight from the heart.
The challenge is that, for a lot of people, visual kei has become something of a joke.

uta: One of its strengths is that it’s a world that embraces various kinds of minorities.
As for challenges, I think it’s about finding ways to bring back those who’ve drifted away to other scenes.

Hotaru-chan: As musicians, sound is our strength, but since most information is received visually, visual kei lets us amplify what we express through both sight and sound.
A challenge is that some still reject bands just because men wear makeup, which feels outdated in today’s diverse world.
Also, some groups focus too much on looks and neglect the music.
I believe both should be equally important.

■Please tell us if you have any hobbies outside of music.

Mio: I play ‚The Legend of Zelda‘, or go for drives. Or eat at Yamaokaya (ramen shop).

NERO: Playing mobile games and looking for new clothes and furniture (but online…)

Kururu: I go for rides on my motorbike for about 10 to 20 kilometers.

uta: sleeping.

Hotaru-chan: I go for rides on my bicycle for about 100 to 200 kilometers.

edit: Changed “bike” into motorbike and bicycle to avoid confusing.

■Please tell us if you have a motto.

Mio: “If you want to die, then die. (If you want to live, then live.)”

NERO:  At the moment I have no particular motto.

Kururu: Whatever it takes, make it work!!!

uta: “Shogyo Mujou”- All things are impermanent.

Hotaru-chan: Do your best… then dope up (but with legal supplements)
*A playful twist on the Japanese proverb “Do your best and leave the rest to fate.” → Hotaru-chan replaces “leave it to fate.” with “take legal supplements.” showing his humor.

■ ■ ■ ACTIVITY KICK OFF ■ ■ ■

■ Please tell us how BLAZE was formed.

BLAZE: So, NERO invited Kururu to a party, saying, “I’ll definitely bring some good people” and then just disappeared into the streets.
He ended up at a bar where all the city’s rough crowd hung out and guess who was also there?
Mio and Uta. We all met up, hit it off, and decided to start a band.
Honestly, how NERO, already pretty drunk, managed to connect with us is still kinda a mystery.
When it came to picking a drummer, everyone agreed on Hotaru. At first, he politely declined though.
But we didn’t give up, kept asking him, even sent him our first MV song “MAYDAY” to convince him.
And that’s how the band came together.

■ Please tell us the origin and meaning of the band name.

BLAZE: The name was already decided before I knew it. (according to Hotaru-chan)
But I really like the meaning and the origin behind it! (according to Hotaru-chan)

■ What is the concept behind BLAZE and why did you decide on that concept?

BLAZE: BLAZE is built around the theme: „For the irredeemable.”
That idea runs through everything we do.
Our lyrics often touch on things like life and death, how we live and the darker sides of human nature.
Mio brings those ideas to life with his own unique metaphors, creating the world of BLAZE.
The lyrics might not always feel comforting or easy to relate to, but even so, if they can still be a kind of salvation for someone out there, that means everything to us.

■ Have you decided on a special name to call all your BLAZE fans?

BLAZE: We call our fans 【救難者 -Kyuunansha- 】(It basically means Irredeemable’).

■ Which member is the leader of BLAZE?

BLAZE: It’s Uta. He was the one who stepped up to take responsibility for the band.

■ How do you feel about your first oneman “MAYDAY” on August 11th SOLD OUT so fast!

Mio: I was definitely anxious. But in the end, results are everything. I don’t want to get comfortable, I want to stay alert.

NERO: It’s not like I’m trying to act cool or anything, but honestly, I don’t feel much about it yet.
The lid hasn’t even been opened. What matters is what happens next and what we do from here.

Kururu: Thanks to everyone. I’ll do my best to not let you down and meet those expectations.

Uta: If I wanted to sound cool, I’d say it was expected, especially after we released that MV

Hotaru-chan: Right now, the only thing most people know about us is the MAYDAY Music Video.
But even with just that, if something manages to reach people and move them, it makes me really happy and gives me confidence.
Of course, I’m sure there were also fans who already knew us from before and bought tickets.
To those people, I want to make them fall in love with us all over again, starting from zero.

■ I checked the details about the oneman, but I cannot find any extras such as “6-shot or 2-shot” with the band etc.
Will there be any extras on the event for the visitors? 

BLAZE: There aren’t any free Bonus items, but we’ll be selling a venue-exclusive release of 【失楽園 (Shitsurakuen)】 for purchase.

■ What kind of feelings are put into the ONEMAN title “MAYDAY”? 

BLAZE: Our very first song is titled “MAYDAY”.
Actually, I (Mio) wrote the lyrics to MAYDAY and for me, it’s a kind of farewell poem, a way to move forward.
BLAZE was formed by five people who each walked their own paths in life before coming together.
I’ll skip the long version, but to put it simply: at that time, we were the ones who wanted to be saved.
But now that we’ve found form again and returned like this, it’s our turn to reach out and help others.
When “those in distress” send out a “mayday” signal, it means they’re truly serious, this song captures that feeling.

■ What do you want to convey to your fans through MAYDAY?

Mio: Please check out the lyrics. I wrote them honestly, from my own perspective.

NERO: Right now, I want to reach the people who have watched over me and my journey.

Kururu: Pretty same as what Mio wants to say. I just hope this song shows how serious we are about putting everything into BLAZE.

Uta: let people know, we‘ve come to save you.

Hotaru-chan: I’ve spent my life running through the darkness. At one point, I made the decision to leave the stage behind. But this song gave me the reason to struggle forward again. That’s why I want to put everything into this live and proudly show you how we live now, true to the name “MAYDAY.”

edit: fixed Kururu sentence.

■There will also be a series of 6 2MAN’s [8.22・9.12・10.03・10.09・11.05・11.06 ].
What’s your spirit to play and win against those bands?

Mio: I’ll show respect, but I‘m not holding back.

NERO: We just hit up bands we get along with or who give off a similar energy.

Kururu: These are our rivals, the ones we need to defeat.

Uta: We reached out to bands we already knew and genuinely wanted to perform with.

Hotaru-chan: I’m pumped to go all in and throw down with everyone. Some of our former members will be joining too, so I wanna show what we’re all about right now.

■ ■ ■ MUSIC ■ ■ ■

■ Visual kei has many different styles, including kote, medical, and menhera. What style of visual kei best represents BLAZE aesthetic? And why did you choose this aesthetic style? 

BLAZE: Rather than tying ourselves down to a specific “visual kei” style, we want to use visual kei as a way to express whatever we’re feeling at the time.
Well, if we had to choose, though…right now I’d say we’re probably closest to kote-kei.

■ Visual kei music spans many different genres, including rock and metalcore. What music genre best defines BLAZE’s sound? And why did you choose to create this style of music?

BLAZE: At the core, our sound is rooted in classic visual rock.
But each of us brings in our own influences, such as loud rock, metal and even sounds from the 80s.
All of these elements are woven together as part of our musical essence, creating a sound that’s uniquely BLAZE.

■ Why did you call the album 失楽園 (Shitsurakuen)?

BLAZE: I feel like nowadays, a lot of people are searching for salvation.
People who either got pushed out of a place they once thought was their paradise or realized it was never really paradise to begin with.

■ Please tell us a fun story about the MV [MAYDAY].

Mio: Hotaru-chan was really giving it his all while singing. It was super cute.

NERO: I was excited, thinking, “Alright, we’re starting all over again from here.”

Kururu: The place we met up at was somewhere we used a lot with our old band, so it felt kinda special knowing this is where the new band’s journey begins.

Uta: The studio where we filmed the MV was a place I always dreamed of shooting in, so it felt like a dream come true.

Hotaru-chan: While playing around and singing “MAYDAY” for fun, Mio told me, “That’s awful, haha“ and made fun of my pitch. So mean!🥲

■ ■ ■ MERCHANDISE ■ ■ ■

■ Please introduce the goods which fans can buy.

➡ T-SHIRT 4000 yen
Since it’s our first piece of merch, we went with a simple, classic design.

➡ CHEKI 1000 yen

■ Will it be possible for overseas fans to buy all merchandise ?

BLAZE: It doesn’t happen often, but we sometimes run online shops that ship overseas.
The items are limited, but please check it out when you can!

■ Which merchandise would you most recommend to your fans?

BLAZE: Definitely the T-shirt. (Hotaruchan’s favorite)

■ ■ ■ OVERSEAS CONNECTION ■ ■ ■

■ Are there any members who can speak English or other languages? Also, are you confident in using those languages?

Mio: Even my Japanese is crumbly. 

NERO: I can speak English a bit … .just a little bit.
But I am pretty confident in speaking Korean and Japanese. 

Kururu: I’m confident because I can use the magic translation spell → ‘Hey, Siri!!!’

Uta: I kinda can read English, speaking just a little bit. 

Hotaru-chan: I can speak English little.very little.please speak slowly.

■ NERO, you are originally from Korea, but what made you decide to live in Japan?

NERO: After getting into Visual Kei culture, I felt that if I really wanted to aim higher, I had to go to the birthplace of Visual Kei, so I came to Japan.
Back then, I wasn’t thinking about becoming famous or anything like that.
I just wanted to start a Visual Kei band. I didn’t want to live a life I’d regret before I die, that was my only motivation. I had absolutely no plan. LoL

■ If you had the opportunity to go on an overseas tour, which countries would you most like to perform in, and why?

Mio: America. Because I want a rematch.

NERO: South Korea, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan

Kururu: As long as there are passionate fans waiting and the toilets and foods are clean, I’m happy to perform anywhere.

Uta: AMERICA!!!

Hotaru-chan: Definitely Europe.
Personally, I love the scenery in Switzerland, so I’d love to see it with my own eyes.
Also, I’ve heard that fans in Asia are incredibly passionate, so part of me wants to experience that kind of intensity.

■ When you interact with overseas fans, do you feel there is a language barrier?

Mio: I didn’t really feel a language barrier. More than anything, I was truly happy that everyone sang along in Japanese.

NERO: I do feel a language barrier, but I don’t think it really matters when it comes to enjoying live shows or music. I’m living proof of that.

Kururu: I don’t really feel a language barrier. The term「Kawaii」 is a universal language worldwide.

Uta: I believe Music is a universal language.

Hotaruc-han:  I’m currently studying English, but I can’t speak it fluently yet. Even so, I’m truly grateful that people have come to know us and support us through our music.

■ Have you ever been abroad? If so, could you tell us your purpose and your impressions of the place?

Mio: I had the opportunity to go on a world tour in the past.

NERO:  to me…this is abroad lol

Kururu: Does VRChat count as going abroad? I had a 50 meter-tall giant lady chasing me around in English there!

Uta: I went on a world tour and also visited the U.S. privately this April. It truly felt like a free country.

Hotaru-chan: I’ve never been overseas, but I want my first trip to be because of music.

■ ■ ■ LAST MESSAGE ■ ■ ■

■ Please give a message to everyone who supports BLAZE from overseas.

Mio: Are you alive?

NERO:  I’m not here to make bold claims.
I just hope our music reaches people in different countries and quietly leaves something in their hearts.

Kururu: I love you.

Uta: No matter how far you are, I’ll come to see you. Just wait for me.

Hotaru-chan: I’m Ninja,and Last Samurai.

■ Finally, please give a message to our readers and fans!

Mio: Bye-Bye.

NERO:  Thank you.

Kururu: BLAZE IS AWESOME!

Uta: love you?

Hotaru-chan: Thx. I want to expand overseas. Wait for me.