Even though Halloween recently ended, there is one band that keeps the spooky theme all year round. That band is Leetspeak monsters who we recently got the opportunity to interview during their Halloween tour. Besides discussing their stunning appearances, concept, and supernatural desires, we also wanted to find out more about the band’s latest album Monster’s Theater II, released last month on October 9.
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- Vocalist and rapper D13
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- Guitarist Yo’shmeer
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- Bassist Euskyss
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- Drummer DieWolf
Leetspeak monsters’ concept and sound are truly unique. What inspired you to create this image?
D13: When I was in Grave Town, I told Euskyss that I wanted to create a band that would be a crossover of rock and hip hop within the imagery of a haunted house.
Halloween is an exciting time for Leetspeak monsters. What Halloween sights or experiences get you excited the most?
D13: Just looking at the fans wearing Halloween costumes, my excitement goes up. And when I see small children coming to our show and having fun, it makes me look forward to it even more.
Yo’shmeer: Gothic attire is the most exciting for me, because I like black clothes.
Euskyss: It’s the decorations in the street and people wearing so many different costumes. There are many people who cosplay as anime and manga characters in Japan, but I like to see classic Halloween costumes such as monsters and ghosts. I like seeing the jack-o-lanterns and spooky decorations in the city more than I like Christmas lights or Santa.
DieWolf: Our audience wearing their favorite costumes… they’re so happy and it makes me happy too—Ooooon!
What was your goal for your album “Monster’s Theater II”? How was your songwriting or recording different from the previous “Monster’s Theater”?
D13: I wanted to increase the Japanese lyrics because I wanted the audience to sing these songs with us. There were many different music styles I wanted to try.
Euskyss: The songs so far have often focused on expressing the world of Leetspeak monsters, but this album does more to emphasize our message. Adding more Japanese lyrics makes it easier for people to participate with us when we’re performing live. As for recording, we had to finish everything in a short time on a tight schedule around the tour. It was really hard compared to the previous album which had only two newly recorded songs, and the rest were remastered songs that had already been recorded.
Vocalist D13 uses a lot of English lyrics. How comfortable are you singing in English? Why is mixing the languages important to you?
D13: I don’t think I’m that good at it. But I like English music. The groove of the words in English seems to naturally match the music that we make. I want many people around the world to listen to our music, and English lyrics help us achieve that.
When you’re creating music for the new album, do you start with the “scary” concept first, and then create the melody and lyrics after that?
D13: Some of the songs emerge from a melody first, but most of the songs I write start with lyrics based on an image, landscape, story, or even a color. Then I think about the melody that will bring those elements to life.
Leetspeak monsters filmed the music videos for “Gothic” and other songs inside scary and haunted buildings. Has anything scary ever happened while you were shooting the music videos? Have any of you ever been in a place you felt was really haunted?
D13: Ghosts are everywhere. It would be great if ghosts could enjoy the music together with us.
Yo’shmeer: There is always a ghost around someone. Look behind you. But I don’t feel scared of ghosts, because my face is scarier.
Euskyss: I’ve never had that experience when shooting our videos. I’m always laughing and enjoying myself with the members and staff. Sometimes we’ve been in places that seem like there would be ghosts there, but unfortunately, they never come out and make friends with us.
DieWolf: I can’t feel them but Domme (D13) seems to know where they are—Ooooon!
We want to thank the band, Resonance Media, and GLK MUSIC for making this interview possible.
Monster’s Theater II
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Regular edition
CD
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Limited edition
CD
DVD
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More info:
Official Website
YouTube (GLK Music)
Twitter (Staff)
Twitter (D13)
Twitter (Yo’shmeer)
Twitter (Euskyss)
Twitter (DieWolf)
Instagram (D13)
Instagram (Euskyss)
Instagram (DieWolf)
Ameblo (Staff)