ネガ (NEGA) is one of the artists signed to the UNDER CODE PRODUCTION label, which has been created by KISAKI, who is no stranger to the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) scene due to his role in many different bands, but the most familiar one probably is the now disbanded Phantasmagoria. Regardless, ネガ (NEGA) is easily the darkest band on the label with their concepts that involve both horror and vampires, so to see them here in The Netherlands admittedly is a little bit of a party for me.
Before the show I managed to sit down with the four guys that make up the band, but I’ll leave the introduction to them. So…
Let’s start!
I believe this is your very first time in Europe, so, welcome! And while I know who you are, can you please introduce yourselves for the readers?
儿 (Jin): I’m vomiter 儿 (Jin).
優 (Yuu): I’m 優 (Yuu) on drums and piano.
Ray: This is bassist and shout-chorus, Ray.
SAN: And I’m SAN. I play guitar.
You’re currently here in Europe to promote your revival single “FABLE IN THE COLD BED”. Can you tell me a little bit about the single?
儿 (Jin): The cover for type A of the single is inspired by the lyrics, while the cover for type B shows there is a heaven in my bedroom, along with an angel. The cover for type C shows hell and darkness.
Next, I have a few questions about the band and it’s image. When you started the band, what did you want to communicate to your fans/audience?
儿 (Jin): When I formed ネガ (NEGA) I hoped to be the best performer in the world. Or at least the best vocalist.
優 (Yuu): I wanted, or still want to, actually, to be able to play my own sound forever.
SAN: I wanted to seek more good music, and create a deeper world for ネガ(NEGA).
What about the costumes for the band? Since you are in the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) genre, but what has inspired your outfits the most?
儿 (Jin): We design our costumes ourselves. I like various styles of fashion and I take my inspiration from there to create the look of a modern vampire.
優 (Yuu): As you said, we are a ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) band. So what you’re looking at is ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei).
SAN: For my costumes I imagine a vampire of the future.
Ray: I’m a samurai vampire.
To be a musician you of course have to like music, but what brought you to the music scene?
儿 (Jin): I discovered my talent as a vocalist about ten years ago, and as I told you, I aim to be the very best…
優 (Yuu): I taught piano lessons to three-year olds before I joined the band.
Ray: When I was fifteen years old I learned that I really liked to play music.
SAN: I discovered music about nine years ago, and I just never had the intention to leave.
Let’s talk about your current tour here in Europe for a moment too. Since this is a large continent with a lot of different countries and cultures, is there something you were looking forward to seeing or doing before coming here?
優 (Yuu): We’re in The Netherlands right now, which is a country that’s famous for it’s windmills. We really want to see some of them in real life!
Ray: I’m really interested in seeing the different beaches that Europe has to offer.
SAN: I really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris (France)… We were in Paris a few days ago to do a show for this tour, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go and see the tower.
儿 (Jin): I think I speak for all of us when I say we really want to come back a second time and explore more of Europe, right? (everyone nods in agreement)
I’m sure some weird stuff has happened during the tour as well, since the audience here in Europe is very different than the audience you play for in Japan, right?
儿 (Jin): Oh yes, it’s definitely different. At one show here -I won’t tell you which one though-, I stagedived and someone grabbed me in my “personal space”. (laughs)
優 (Yuu): At the end of one of our shows here in Europe I threw my drumsticks into the audience and I was amazed to see some very tall, strong guys actually fight over who would get my stick!
Ray: I have received underwear… Both for men, and for women! (laughs)
SAN: During an MC in France I was talking about chocolate snacks, and someone in the audience actually had some. They threw them at me from the audience and I tried to catch one with my mouth. When I did, I ate it! (laughs)
Switching back to life in Japan, since I’m sure you’ll take at least a little bit of a break once you return home after the tour… What would you be doing to relax?
儿 (Jin): I would play basketball or football, but usually I don’t have the time to practice this hobby…
優 (Yuu): I’m a big fan of movies, one of my favorites is “Titanic”.
Ray: I’d probably be watching football.
SAN: When I have time I like to watch DVDs of “Masked Rider”.
What about dreams? What do the members of ネガ (NEGA) dream about?
儿 (Jin): My dream is to keep evolving myself.
優 (Yuu): One day, I would like to live in the countryside.
SAN: I dream about being the most famous guitarist in the world.
Unfortunately we’ve already reached the last question… Which you could probably see coming, didn’t you? Do you have a parting message to finish off today’s interview with?
優 (Yuu): This tour is the very first time I’ve been able to visit Europe, so I really want to come back soon and visit again!
SAN: We like the European audience, but they don’t feel as if they’re a part of the world of ネガ (NEGA) yet. We want to see them more deeply.
Extra information
Like mentioned earlier, this was the very first time the four guys from ネガ (NEGA) actually toured overseas, and even though we didn’t get to talk for all that long I can tell the continent and the people here have already left them wanting to explore more of it!
We also took photos of their performance at Tivoli de Helling (Utrecht, The Netherlands). You can find these photos on our photography portfolio, Arlequin Photography, by clicking the image below!
(In 2021 Arlequin Photography was officially changed into a full photography portfolio, while all interviews and news were moved to a new domain called Arlequin Magazine. At this time ネガ (NEGA) were no longer active in the music industry. This is why there is no social media section for this article.)
雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years she is still the main person who does interviews the interviews and live photos that you see on Arlequin, but also a large chunk of the reviews and behind-the-scenes work and communication goes through her.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.