Extreme Metal Over Japan 2012 – BLOODSHOT DAWN Interview

Here is the final round of Extreme Metal Over Japan Tour Reports, and my heart is full to feature one of my favorite support bands BLOODSHOT DAWN this time. The band had proved me that they are the real enormous band not only with the recording stuff but also with the unforgettable live performance in Tokyo! I had an interview with Josh and Ben about the Japan tour. So, here we go!

First of all, thank you so much for coming all the way to Japan! I heard it took about 23 hours to reach here, phew. How was the flight?

Josh: Haha. Well we arrived the day of Osaka, so we only had ourselves to blame but we had a 12 and half hour flight then a 9 hour drive from Narita to Osaka! The flight was fantastic we were given free alcohol which typically we took advantage of!!

So, after the long flight you had to make through the tight scheduled but great organized tour with travelling by car. Are you already familiar with travel to such widely separated venues within a short time (e.g. the long distance between Tokyo and Osaka)?

Josh: No we are not used to this intense travel, but we didn't care the build up to this tour has been unreal so we knew we had to deliver in Osaka!! We arrived at the gig half asleep but with a meal waiting for us we focused and took the stage! The reaction of the crowd was so fantastic it helped us out in that tired situation!

Cut to the chase, how was your first impression of Japan?

Josh: Was unreal... Since I was a kid I have wanted to go to Japan because of the cartoons and games I was bought up on (Dragonball / Pokemon / Final Fantasy) and to be honest it was above all expectations. I could not be more glad I visited as a musician the fans and crowd were so friendly it almost felt like home!

Did you have any troublesome matter or surprised things because of cultural differences between Japan and your country?

Ben: There are some differences between our cultures, yes, but I don't think any of these caused us any problems. We really enjoyed the cultural change coming over to Japan. We got a strong impression from everyone we met that there is a higher sense of respect and common politeness in Japan and we felt very welcomed from the first minute we were there!

How was the very first show in Japan – at PANGEA in Osaka? How was the crowd there?

Ben: The first show was insane.. for a number of reasons. Firstly, we were absolutely exhausted after travelling for over 20 hours with little to no sleep (and getting drunk on the plane into Japan). This meant that playing the show was a little more difficult than usual, but adrenaline kept us able to put on a good show. We were using amplifiers and equipment that we were not used too, for the first time as well, so that was a bit less comfortable for us. The crowd made the show go amazingly though. The reaction from fans was incredible and made us all so happy that these other small problems did not matter. We also got to meet a good friend, Toshihiro Egawa, who had designed some of our t-shirts in the past, so this show was really special. We couldn't believe how great it was, so thank you to all of the fans that came to see us in Osaka! :)

Well, you visited Nagoya Castle in the afternoon on the day of the gig at 3Stars, right? Did you like it? What about the show and the metalheads in Nagoya?

Ben: Nagoya Castle was beautiful, and we were really excited to have a little time for sight-seeing. We knew we would get to see modern city sights in Tokyo, but it was great to explore something more traditional while in Japan. I would have loved to have longer there, but it was brilliant! The show was great again that night. There were more surprises for us as a this gig, as we had fans meet us outside the venue before we had even walked in to set up the show! The reception was wonderful, again, and we were blown away after the show as so many people came to talk to us after our performance. Thanks, Nagoya!

Did you have a fun time at the signing party at Shinjuku GODZ in Tokyo, by the way? I guess you guys got surprised with a lot of gifts from your fans there?

Ben: This night was crazy! We are still a very small band, considering we have only released one album so far, so we felt like we were in a dream when we went to GODZ. The atmosphere was so great - everyone was meeting new people and talking with fans and friends, having a drink and partying for the whole night. And yeah, we were so surprised by the gifts that some fans had for us. Some people had even hand-made or drawn for us, and it was really incredible. I can't possibly tell you how much that meant to us and we are never going to forget it!

I’m still stoked with the amazing night at Shibuya Cyclone! I and everybody else had an incredible time with your kick-ass performance! How about you guys? Do you think our passion matched well to your expectations?

Ben: Thanks, Kumi :) We had an absolute blast at this show! The energy in the room was so intense that it made performing that much more exciting. For me personally, it is undoubtedly one of my favorite shows I have ever played.. maybe even the best! I had an awesome time on stage, and usually I am super focused on my instrument on stage because of the technical music, but I kept finding myself with a huge grin on my face during our songs! I think I can definitely say that the passion of the fans, both at this show and the others, has far exceeded our expectations!

BLOODSHOT DAWN is a very technically adept metal band with very complex songs and I was totally impressed with your absolutely precise and tight playing. Concerning to various circumstances like the changed environment you had with this tour, do you feel any difficulties to play the songs on gigs as same as on your blasting record?

Ben: Thank you! I'm really happy it sounded precise! It is always going to be different playing shows with equipment that you are not used too, or after travelling / with a time zone change. It's a bit more challenging as we had to get used to the new equipment while performing (no practicing with it before hand), but it only makes a slight difference I think. Without own equipment it is more comfortable for us and I think the songs go a little smoother, due to some of the changes in our music, especially with lots of solos. We were still happy with how the shows turned out though, and fans seemed to really enjoy it, so no complaints from us! Hopefully next time we will have a little more time to get settled before we begin performances and then we can play even better! :)

I wonder why you have avoided to play the new song - Theoktony - on this tour. Can you tell me the reason?

Josh: Simple reason being that the song was ready to present to the Japanese crowd and due to time constraints with our set we wanted to give Japan the best set possible! Next time we come we will be armed with a bunch of new songs ready to grace your ears!!

The next question is to Josh. You joined Deals Death to sing along to their song without your axe, that was a real highlight for us! Did you enjoy it too? Have you ever stood on a stage for singing without a guitar before?

Josh: I am glad you enjoyed it, the song "Fearless" is a very exciting song and I enjoy it very much on record, on the day Olle from Deals Death invited me to join the stage and help get the crowd really pumped up for the remainder of the bands set, needless to say I was excited to rejoin the stage after our awesome set just 30 minutes before! I have been in other Death Metal acts in the UK in which I screamed without guitars so its something I feel comfortable with anyway, as its easier to interact without having to hold that spikey piece of wood!!

By the way, it’s really enormous that you sold a lot of physical copies of the first full-length in Japan. Even you have won the first prize for sales among imported albums for a while, as you know. Congratulations for your epic success! In this regard, the tour was just at the right time for you, right? How did you feel when you knew that you became No.1 in Japan?

Josh: The response has been absolutely fantastic in Japan, we have been seriously well received in such a short period! The Tour was perfect timing and our distribution and promoters have done a fantastic job, without them we would not of sold 1/10 of the records! For this we would like to thank Benneth and Fay at Chaotic Tapestry Management Asia, Disk Union and last but not least Kumi!!! Being number one is Testament to the hard work put in by there great people and organisations, we are extremely humbled to be a part of such a great collective of metal fans and together reaching number 1 In the import charts!!

Thank you so much. Hope you come back and have a much bigger tour in Japan very soon! We love you guys! Good luck!

Live photos at Shibuya Cyclone Tokyo below by METALSHIP
Check the complete pics on https://en.metalship.org/livereports/379

BLOODSHOT DAWN facebook: www.facebook.com/BloodshotDawn
BLOODSHOT DAWN Official online store: bloodshotdawn.bigcartel.com

The latest music video: Theoktony – BLOODSHOT DAWN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7c5T1Qbbiw