Interview with HANABIE.: Rising to global fame as fans learn to pronounce their name

The metal quartet “HANABIE.” is rapidly making waves in the metal scene with their distinctive “Harajuku-core” sound, fusing heavy riffs with catchy, cute elements. During their 2024 EU tour, we caught up with the band to discuss their major debut journey, artistic growth, and explore some silly moments while touring abroad.

As the band has gained lots of attention from new listeners, they’ve noticed that their name isn’t always easy to pronounce for people abroad. The band clarifies the correct pronunciation, as it’s been frequently mispronounced by fans (including us!).

Along the way, we’ll showcase photos taken from various locations across Europe, capturing the energy of their tour.

Jump in to discover how HANABIE. is breaking down barriers with their music!

It’s been almost exactly a year since your major debut album, “Raise wa Ijin!” (Reborn Superstar!). During this time, what new experiences have you encountered that wouldn’t have been possible before signing with a major label?

Matsuri: Since our debut in July 2023, we’ve been consistently releasing new songs and such. However, when it comes to music videos and outfits like these [gesture towards our current outfits], we’ve always had numerous ideas that we haven’t been able to materialize up until now.

With the support from the promotional team and our artist label since our major label debut, it feels like we’ve finally been able to project our own ideas into reality. We can now create music videos the way we envision them. Before our debut, we brainstormed a lot of ideas but only considered what we could realistically handle financially while doing our best to reach our goals. So, I think that’s certainly been a huge change for us.

From these experiences, how have you and the band grown?

Yukina: I think we have experienced profound growth as a band and in our performances. Sometimes, after a show, I’d catch myself thinking my vocals were fantastic with Hettsu’s backing, even if we didn’t do a proper warm-up together beforehand or something like that.

Every time we finish a show, or put out a new music video, or a new release; any time we’re accomplishing something we set out to do, I feel we are growing a lot in skill and on the technical side of things as well.

It’s great to hear how you’re noticing tangible improvements in your performances. And since going major, do you have any highlight moments?

Yukina: There have been so many, especially in Japan, like when we announced our major debut concert at the rock festival we’ve always wanted to play at. We announced it by pulling out a banner that had the announcement, which we wrote in calligraphy. We’ve also been able to make so many memories in places outside of Japan, in all the other countries that we’ve been able to perform live at. Hettsu has that memory related to beer too [laughs].

Hettsu: I’ve been trying to toast the crowd at each country in their own language. Each country and its fans have their own way of vibing at the shows, and it’s been a joy to experience that, and also the different food and beautiful views from abroad.

Now that you’ve been able to tour abroad a lot more, have you discovered what type of shows you want to achieve with your music?

Matsuri: We’ve been able to start touring outside of Japan in earnest since last year. At first, it was really nerve-wracking. We were gauging the fans’ reactions, and they were probably wondering what kind of show we would deliver. So, we would just show up, perform the same show we’ve always done, and see how they would respond. As it turns out, their reactions were always fierce and intense, regardless of the language.

But once we realized that we could express our thoughts and feelings on stage without the boundary of language, we began trying different things more often. For example, we included more parts in the show where we engaged the audience more, and had Hettsu—who was already doing much of the speaking between songs—try to do those parts in English, or say certain things in English.

Lately, we’ve noticed that a lot of fans have been mispronouncing “HANABIE.” as “ha-na-bee”, as opposed to “ha-na-bee-eh” [which is how it is supposed to be pronounced]. When you look at it in English, it might naturally seem as it’s pronounced as [ha-na-bee], because of that, we also started letting fans know how it is pronounced.

I feel more and more often now that the barrier between us and the fans has disappeared. I think that’s largely due to the number of shows we’ve been doing and the experience we’ve been gaining, as well as our continued desire to try new things.

The new things we were trying to incorporate on stage; when we did those the first time last year and noticed that they were being properly understood by the fans, that was a real confidence booster for us. It helped eliminate our hesitation to try saying new things.

Yukina: That truly made us happy, indeed.

Matsuri: As a professional, I’d like to continue to build a more positive connection with our fans through our performances in this way.

As you mentioned that the barrier between you and the fans has disappeared, do you see language being a barrier at all?

Yukina: I’ve always thought that the language of music is universal, but now more and more I am absolutely certain that this is true!

Certainly! Out of curiosity, has touring abroad motivated you to study English?

Yukina: Of course, whenever we interact with other bands at festivals that we are with, or other guest bands, I’m always like, “I would have loved to have been able to have fluent conversations and hang out more with them”.

A lot of times I get stuck trying to find the words and end up using a translator, but I would love to be able to talk more smoothly. I’ll have to study more for that [laughs].

Speaking of interaction, how has the interaction with overseas fans been? Such as the V.I.P. meet & greet?

Yukina: We had so many fun conversations! [Laughs]

Chika: There was one that stood out to me—I think it was in America—where a female fan who stripped down to her underwear. There was this desk there [laughs]… She just laid down on the desk and exclaimed, “Sign right here!”, motioning to her bra [laughs]. That was very shocking for me [laughs].

On a more serious note, being able to communicate with fans we don’t normally meet, or even having a small conversation and seeing them try their best to speak to us in Japanese, makes me feel the love. It brings me a lot of joy to experience something like this.

That’s indeed quite a shocking experience [laughs]. Now, let’s talk about your music, which can be described as “Harajuku-core”. It’s loud, heavy, and catchy, and notably, you write your own music. What is the recipe to balance this unique concept?

Matsuri: The composition of our music; if you listen to just the instrumentals, it’s loud and heavy, and could be said that it’s a mix of genres such as metalcore and hardcore. It’s a heavy, cool, dark, and an unconventional style. That’s kind of our starting point.

From there, the style becomes a lot brighter by adding sequencers, synthesizers, and other effects generators. This brings in the cute and catchy elements. Finally, we incorporate Yukina’s scream vocals in a cool or catchy way, as well as her [anime-like] voice, which you can hear in songs like “Osaki Ni Shitsurei Shimasu” (Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now!) or “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu”.

Yukina: It’s a fine balance between screaming, growling, singing, and even speaking! We have to decide when and where it’s appropriate to do what.

Matsuri: We fine tune it a lot along the whole way, even when we’re at the recording phase.

Yukina: Even when we’re at the mixing phase, too!

Matsuri: We listen to it a lot on the monitors and work together to determine when and where the cutesy parts should come to the foreground, and when the heavier parts should take prominence. That’s how we balance everything out.

Your music videos often focus on Japanese cultural themes, such as NEET, gyaru, otaku, and even the concept of a “black company” (an exploitative workplace). What’s the idea behind promoting these themes, given that overseas audiences might not be familiar with or resonate with these cultural phenomena?

Matsuri: Music videos are very communicative tools in that it lets you easily see the embodiment of a song.

In “Osaki Ni Shitsurei Shimasu”, the theme clearly revolves around an office setting, but our intention is to portray it positively. Rather than depicting a “black company”, we’re simply showcasing the use of greetings like “Osaki Ni Shitsurei Shimasu”. This phrase, which means “Excuse me for leaving early”, is a polite way of saying goodbye in the workplace and is part of Japanese culture.

Not to say that it’s a good or bad piece of culture, but it’s just that this is part of Japanese culture.

You could probably just say “see ya!” to your friends, or even between musicians, we usually say “Shitsure-shaasu” [laughs].

After realizing that these kinds of words and greetings are unique to Japan, and don’t exist in many other cultures, we wanted to create a song that highlights how these Japanese expressions are an integral part of our culture, and how they are convenient phrases that everyone uses!

Even with gyaru culture—by the way, we love gyarus [laughs]—the fashion and free-spirited lifestyle are so brilliant that we wanted to create a song celebrating it, like saying, “This is the year we’ll become gyarus too!”. In our song “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu”, we also reflect on the global popularity of anime and anime culture, noting how universally recognized works like “One Piece” have become.

We thought it might be interesting, especially for international audiences, to introduce these themes in our songs and music videos. Everything is presented with positive intent, and we’d be happy if fans simply got to know these unique and quirky aspects of Japanese culture.

Speaking of gyaru, how does fashion in general play into the concept of “Harajuku core”?

Hettsu: To us, it’s about being able to express the things that we like freely and incorporate them into our songs and music videos.

I see! Shifting gears a bit, we know that Gaku-san from Crystal Lake has played a significant role in your career, particularly with his contributions to producing your music. Would you mind sharing what his support has meant to you?

Yukina: He’s really like an older brother to me, I can always count on him for drum advice! I’ve known him since around when I graduated from high school, and we’ve made songs and albums since a while ago. We all think it’s so incredibly awesome that we’ve known each other for so long, and we’re both playing shows globally and even at the same festival, on the same day, and on the same stage!

Hettsu: During that time when he had left to tour globally for a few months, we were also determined to get to that point as well, and we had talked about sharing the same stage some day. So it’s really amazing that we’ve been able to realize that.

Yukina: We were always asking him about his tours, and now here we all are!

Matsuri: If we hadn’t met Gaku-san, I don’t think it would be the same “HANABIE.”, and we owe him a lot for that!

You also mentioned in a livestream back in 2021 that you were too inexperienced to be able to play with Crystal Lake, how does it feel now that you’ve both performed at Hell Fest recently?

Matsuri: On the same main stage, we played first, followed by Crystal Lake. For us, it felt like setting the stage and the mood for them and then passing the baton, on a global stage no less. We really hope there will be more of those to come.

Lastly, please leave a message to your fans worldwide!

Yukina: Thank you for always supporting us. We hope to be able to play a show in your country some day! So please keep looking forward to all the new songs and new amazing stuff we’re coming up with! Thank you very much!

We had blast talking to HANABIE. and an amazing time at their energetic concert. We hope to see them continue their overseas effort, and we can’t wait to see them again!