Animangaki 2015 Exclusive Interview With Zwei (Ayumu and Megu)

Hey guys! It’s time for Animangaki once again! Joining the roster for this year’s special guests for the convention was certainly a treat for all the attendees. As the singers of Occultics no Majo from the famed Umineko series as well as Junjo Spectra, the opening for for Robotics; Notes, the rock band Zwei dropped by to the Sunway Pyramid Convention Center on Saturday to rock all of the attendees’ world upside down.

Megu (left) & Ayumu (right)

Formed by vocalist Ayumu and bassist Megu, they started in 2003 with their first song Movie Star which went on to be used as an ending song for an entertainment show (Guru Guru Ninety Nine). Their band name, Zwei (German for Two), is used to describe the powerful combination style of their music, which combines: Digital and Analog; jPop and U.K. Rock; and especially Voice and Visual, representing Ayumu’s powerful and clear vocals, and Megu’s eye-catching appearance.

On the first day of Animangaki, the convention ended with a spectacular live performance from Zwei. Receiving the opportunity to interview the invited guests, we made our way to a room on the mezzanine floor of the Sunway Convention Center on the second day of Animangaki, where the two jRock stars sat with beaming smiles welcoming us.

I: Interviewer
A: Ayumu
M: Megu

I: Welcome to Malaysia, Zwei! How has the country been treating the two of you so far?

M: This is the first time we’ve been to Malaysia. When we checked out the country on the Internet to get ready for our visit, it said that the country was really hot and really humid. We were actually a little worried about that but it’s actually been rather pleasant! Plus the Malaysian food was really nice.

I: Was there any food or drinks that were really good?

M: Well… The watermelon juice was really good! (laughs)

A: The local White Coffee was my favourite. We also enjoyed the Muah Chee that was sold in the local markets.

I: Last night’s concert was absolutely phenomenal! The energy and tension you created was amazing. Do you find performing on stage more natural than performing in a recording studio?

M: Well, we both felt a lot more comfortable performing live, we just really like to stand on a stage!

I: You’re both really natural when you perform on stage! But do you ever feel nervous before a performance on stage?

M: Well, yes. But when we get on stage, when things get hot, the nervousness simply just fade away when we see the audience cheering along with us.

I: Many of your songs have quite an explosive impact in them! Did the two of you have to experiment with a variety of music styles when you first started out recording together, or did you just sat down and go “Yeah let’s do rock”?

M: When we first started out, we went with Eurostyle in the beginning. But that method of performance didn’t have much movement on stage as it was more “cool” and relaxed. As we did more performances, we began to move around more as we interacted with the audience. Eventually, we moved to the style we currently have because we wanted the audience to not just enjoy the music we made, but also to participate together as if they were performing with us.

I: Is that how your iconic “Wassho” chant was formed?

M: Ahaha, well, “Wasshoi” was originally used during festivals in Japan as a chant from people when they carry a heavy palanquin. During my school days, I made a pun where I combined “Konnichiwa” and “Wasshoi”, where I greeted people with “Konniwashoi!” (laughs) So during the early days when we started Zwei, I thought it would be cool to greet our fans with “Wasshoi”. I was certainly quite surprised when they suddenly chanted back our greeting to us! From there on, it just became a recurring theme with us.

I: How did you first get exposed to the rock genre?

M: I’ve always been fascinated with music since young, but I was first exposed to this genre when I caught a glimpse of Metallica on TV, and I thought it looked really cool! So from there on I wanted to do Rock.

A: My first musical experience was actually from classical Japanese opera music, but for rock I first started when I listened to Aerosmith.

I: Since you expressed interest in Western bands such as Metallica, What would you say are your favorite bands from the west?

M: well, I like bands such as Rammstein and Slipknot*, I always try to go their concerts live when they come over to Japan. I also like Visual Rock bands from Japan such as X Japan as well.

*our interviewer had a little bit of a fanboy moment here, due to being a Rammstein fan as well.

A: I’m more of an American rock fan, so other than Aerosmith, I also follow singers such as Sheryl Crow.

I: Since your formation, you’ve accumulated quite the following! Is there anything that you were very thankful for?

M: Because we’re only a two person team, it’s difficult for us to produce music. So the best way for us to get started was to collaborate with existing artists, which eventually allowed us to get our own CD, so we’re very thankful for them helping us with this journey.

A: I originally started as a one person band. When I joined Zwei, there was a moment where after a performance, the crew brought me a birthday cake on stage, so that was a moment I would never forget.

I: How did you find the transition from J-rock to Anisong? Was it more difficult when trying to come up with the songs?

M: I enjoyed anime and games for quite a while, so I was actually quite excited to begin creating songs for this genre.

A: Before we began creating anime songs, I first did some research into this subculture. I was very intrigued by the way the audience using things like the penlight batons to cheer along with the singers. It was the first time I saw something like this and I was honestly quite interested to jump into such a world.

I: I see… Speaking of anime, I remember from your Abunai! interview that you watched and read some manga. Have both of you caught up with any of the recent series lately?

M: Um… yeah actually, both of us got caught with a recent school life manga, but I’m afraid I couldn’t remember the title recently, sorry! (laughs) We also caught up with Kuroshitsuji as well.

I: Ahaha, thanks anyway! Well if it’s not too personal or intrusive, would you care to tell us about your dreams?

A: Hmm, I suppose it would be just to do live concerts. But I do have a dream of doing a performance while flying!

M: For me… well, I’ve been interested in bass for a long time, but not a lot of people are actually aware of the significance of the bass instrument, so my dream would be to let everyone know and like the bass instrument.

I: Is there anything you would recommend your fans to expect in the coming months from you?

M: We’ve just come up with a new album, but we’re about to release a new single soon, let’s just say it’ll be the ending theme for Steins: Gate Zero. The song name will be Rising, so please look forward to it!

After Zwei’s interview, our photographer brought his digital printer and printed out a photo of the two rock stars and presented it to them as a souvenir. We also passed a wonderful drawing from the artists of our friends over at SEGi College’s Otakura which they loved.

Here’s to Zwei for being such awesome guests, and maybe we’ll see them in the near future in Malaysia again. Until then, this is Terrierist, signing off!

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Editor’s note: Hope you enjoyed the first of our series of coverage of Animangaki 2015, a transcript written by Terrierist who interviewed the VIPs. Please look forward to more interviews in the future!