flumpool - 5th Anniversary [Interview]

After had an event in Indonesia, on the next morning [2014.02.16] flumpool flied to Singapore to do fans meeting and acoustic mini concert.

Back to their past days, Ryuta Yamamamura (Vocal), Kazuki Sakai (Guitar), and Genki Amakawa (Bass) were performing as an acoustic band and later, Seiji Ogura (Drums) joined to form flumpool in Januari, 2007. In 2008, their first single (online downloading only) “Hana ni nare” was taken for AU “LISMO!” TV commercial which was vastly broadcasted and there were a million of downloads for just the first 10 days. Their second online downloading single “Over the rain~ Hikari no hanshi~” became the theme song of the TBS drama “Bloody Monday” and also got high ranking in the music chart. Since then they have packed schedules and they now are in their way to conquer Asia.

This is the interview between Kojacon and flumpool. Enjoy reading!

Kojacon (K) : Last night, after your performance in Jakarta, what is the most special memory you had during the live in Jakarta?

Ryuta : I remembered we spoke in Bahasa Indonesia. It is a challenge for us. We try our best to speak Indonesian. We memorized it over and over…

K : Did you try our Indonesian cuisine?

All : Yes! They’re so delicious!!! Enak*! (*Delicious in Indonesian)

Ryuta : Enak! Mantap*! (The best in Indonesian) I ate Rendang. It’s a seasoned beef. What else…hm…

Kazuki : I ate a lot.

Ryuta : Es campur, Sate Ayam… Nasi Goreng.

Genki : Everything was delicious!

K : Did you try durian?

Genki : Impossible! I can’t stand the smell. If I put it in the refrigerator, then my refrigerator will all smell like durian.

Ryuta : There are many people like durian, right? Do you like durian?

K : I eat it, it’s delicious but the smell is strong though.

Ryuta : Like natto?

K : Yes, yes…

Seiji : I never eat durian because I think I won’t like the smell.

Kazuki : Well, well… I ate it. I can eat it although the smell is strong. The taste is ok for me.

K : Ok then, soon you will release your first best album. Can you tell us the charming point of the album?

Genki : Hmmm, the charming point of the album. Well, I really love the song titled ‘Taisetsuna mono kimi igai ni miataranakute” in this album. I can’t find any reasonable answer of why I like this song, it’s just that… I love this song.

Kazuki : I think the charming point of the album is the fact that I composed the songs in this album haha…

Ryuta : Hm…SO MANY!!!! You know, this album will insert the songs before our debut time. When we’re still indie band, we also produced songs and we will insert some of the songs inside this best album. The album’s charming point is that the fans can listen to the old and recent flumpool. I think fans will know more about our music after listening to this album.

Seiji : I love all of the songs in this best album, but the charming point of this album for me is still “Hana ni nare” because this is the song that brought us to major debut. I want more fans to listen to this song because this song has a deep meaning to life. I want this album to give strength to the listeners.

K : After years together in a band, what makes you feel that you’re glad to be in flumpool now?

Ryuta : For me, flumpool who can sing both rock and ballad is really cool. We are also happy that our music can be accepted in different countries outside Japan. We played in Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia. We are happy to sing various genres for our fans. All in all, the flexibility.that we have in flumpool’s music is what makes us glad to be in flumpool.

K : You’ve been together for so long, do you notice any specific changes from the other members?

Genki : Actually since we’re together for so long, I hardly notice any changes. I feel nothing’s changed in us.

Kazuki : Ah!! Ryuta!! He is changed! Actually, we originally came from Osaka, but since we moved to Tokyo, this guy, Ryuta, he has lost his Kansai-ben* (kansai dialect). He now no longer uses Kansai-ben.

Ryuta : NANDE YANEN!! (Trying using kansai-ben but with a strange dialect).

Kazuki : See! See!! That’s a fake dialect! He can’t use the Kansai-ben anymore!

All : (laugh)

K: The last question is about your national tour this year, can you tell us about your preparation so far?

Ryuta : Preparation…more or less the preparation will be similar to our 5th Anniversary at Budokan DVD.

Kazuki : This new DVD will consist the digest of our special two days live in Budokan. Approximately if you’re talking about the preparation, it will be pretty much like the documentary in the DVD released in Taiwan and Singapore soon in 18 February.

Ryuta : Yes, for our next national tour, fans will be able to know about how we prepare the tour from this DVD. Personally, I recommend the listeners to pay more attention to “Hana ni Nare” and “Tsuyoku Hakanaku” that will be in our best album song list. These songs, teach people to stand up and get stronger. We hope many people will listen to our music, or our fans to buy the best album and also the DVD then recommend other people to listen to our music too. I hope our fans still support our music when we’re looking forward to our next 5 years ahead. Time really flies fast. Suddenly we’re talking ahead about our 10th year hahaha… When fans listen to our best album, and watched our 5th anniversary at Budokan DVD, they will know our journey as flumpool and that’s what we have prepared so far for the national tour.

Cr: Kojacon

Lost Ryuuta

As I said before, we got information that Ryuuta Yamamura of flumpool will come late to Indonesia but still on the same day. But, we didn't think that he would come from Taiwan! We just thought he would depart from Narita Japan or Singapore. But Taiwan? It wasn't on our mind! Flumpool will hold concert in Taiwan too, but after Singapore. So we think he'd come from Singapore. We have already waited for hours in front of gate 2E without knowing where he would come out from. I'm afraid he came from 2D, where other members came first. Yah, it's destiny after all. We couldn't meet at the airport and in tomorrow press conference, but hope we can meet in the venue!

See you tomorrow, guys! Let's enjoy the lives for the sake who can't join it!

flumpool - Waku Waku Japan Press Conference

On Saturday, February 15th, flumpool who will be Japan representative on a live called Waku Waku Japan Music Festival which held on the same day, did a press conference at 4 pm. But, the press conference was started a little bit late, around 30 minutes behind the schedule. However, the mc, Sophie Navita opened the event cheerfully. She explained a bit about WAKUWAKU means in Indonesian which means heartbeat with lots of examples. Anyway, later she invited the guest stars to greet the media.

Afgan came first and posed. He wears such casual outfit, yellow shirt and jeans then greeted the media. Then Bunga Citra Lestari or commonly known as BCL came after. Another greeting and pose. She is so stunning today and look so fresh. Later then JKT 48 appeared, only six members appeared though. flumpool appeared last. They greeted everyone with their never ending smile.

Sophie asked some questions to the guest stars, the first question to Afgan is about his favorite Japanese tv show. He said he loves Japanese cartoons. Then BCL answered what she loves most about Japan is the food. She loves any cuisine from Japan. When JKT48 was asked about their favorite food, Haruka answered that she likes bakso (Indonesian meatballs), satay, and nasi goreng. Haruka is so cute that everyone keeps praising her Indonesian language. Finally, the spotlight, flumpool greeted everyone with Bahasa Indonesia. Ryuta said “Selamat sore, nama saya Ryuta, vokalis*” (Good afternoon, my name is Ryuta, the vocalist), then followed by Genki, Seiji then Kazuki.

They were asked whether this is the first time they come to Indonesia and how they feel to be in Indonesia. Ryuta answered that they are happy to be invited in the event. Then the mc asked Seiji whether he has ever gone to Indonesia, for example Bali, to go for a holiday. It was a sudden question to Seiji and he’s quite surprised then smiled shyly, “No, sorry.” The answer is so short that he keeps making everyone laughs with the answer.

The mc, Sophie, is so funny. She kept saying that she can’t stand with Genki’s hair which covers his eyes and asked whether he actually can see well because of the hair. Ryuta explained that they were in Jakarta, Indonesia for four days. He said that everyone in Jakarta is so energetic. He added that the girls in Indonesia are cute and smart. Ryuta also imformed that flumpool will play 6 songs in the event, and all songs are in Japanese.

It was a very short press conference without Q&A from the reporters and it was closed with the photo session.