Shiroiwa Ruki, Kinjo Sukai & Tsurubo Shion talk about JO1’s current location. JAM’s existence and “finally reaching the place where they want to be”
We want to give dream to the people of our generation
In the song explanation of “CHALLENGER” there was “their 2nd arc has started”, but what kind of meaning does it have? Ruki: From “PROTOSTAR” to “STARGAZER”, the “STAR” concept came to an end with the album “The STAR”, so it’s called the first arc. The first arc was described as us becoming a team and growing, but I think in the second arc from “CHALLENGER” onwards, we want to show “the us who has become a team, how will we grasp new things in the future?”
It’s meeting a new JO1 in the future, right? I have the impression that also in Japan the number of boy groups has drastically increased, but how do you react to this? Ruki: More than the increase of boy groups themselves, I‘m strongly aware that auditions are popular. Since “PRODUCE 101” has arrived in Japan, the auditions culture has sunk in and I feel that people in our generation have changed positively.
What do you mean with “I feel that people in our generation have changed positively”? Ruki: Until now there was barely the chance that someone like us, without any experience makes their debut, appears on TV and performs in a cool way. However nowadays there are various auditions held and the opportunities to grasp the chance have increased. I also hope that we as a group born from an audition can give dreams to the guys of our generation.
JO1 is a meteorite in the current music scene
In the current music scene, what kind of existence do you think is JO1? Ruki: To be honest, I think currently we are still seen as youngsters who just popped up. Isn’t it that the public recognition is “a boy group who has a bit of momentum”. Shion: I think the same as Ruki-kun. I don't think we have reached the level where we can tell people “what kind of artist” we are, and I don't feel we can tell people “what kind of existence” we are. Sukai: I think JO1 is a meteorite. An existence like when it’s still forecast, it is said “It seems like a small meteorite is flying” and once it comes closer “If it hits the earth, it’s going to be terrifying”. Something that’s still hidden. Usually boy groups have a producer who takes the lead, but we create our things and produce those ourselves, too. I think they are not many boy groups out there who grow independently in this manner.
Of course, it might be like that. Sukai: I think that the time when the meteorite “JO1“ fully hits the earth will come for sure. I feel “Just wait!” and that we are still flying in the surroundings of the earth. Ruki: Because we can still not deliver our own vision, right. I want us to become even bigger and in the end I want to do it with the power like colliding with the earth.
We aim for "the place we want to be" without comparing outselves to others
Out of the countless boy groups out there, why do you think JO1 has been able to rise to popularity? Sukai: The presence of JAM is big. The members' individuality is strong and they are cool and funny, but this might be the same for other groups… I feel that our biggest strong point is that there are fans who know us crawling in sweat and support us the whole time. The testimony of JO1‘s existence are JAM. Ruki: A strong point of JO1 is that JAM walk with us together. What I also noticed recently is that it’s not just JO1 and JAM but also LAPONE growing with us together. Honestly, because it’s a company in its 2nd year, there are a lot of mistakes. After the first online live, there were various opinions like “the camera was bad” “the illumination made it hard to watch” “there were too many project corners”. But if you don’t try it, you won’t know that. As a result we kept alive the expectations and we were able to improve the camera work and the lightning during the online live "STARLIGHT DELUXE" in February this year. I'm thankful that JO1, JAM and LAPONE became in moving forward, and I think this is something different from other artists.
I see. Ruki: There is also the stance of not being afraid of challenges. We want to take the lead in challenging songs, dances, costumes and make-up that have been rare in Japan. There are also barely any Japanese groups who have such flashy hair colours, right? Because I think it’s such small things that add to one’s aura. Also when we sing Japanese lyrics, we try to give it an unique pronunciation as if it was sung by a non-native Japanese speaker. By shifting the intonation, we are able to sing melodies that are difficult to express in Japanese… Shion: I understand that. Ruki: We want to create the genre “JO1”.We want to blend the good points of J-POP and K-POP and set the trend of “JO1” as a new genre.
Tsurubo-san why do you think JO1 has risen to popularity among the countless boy groups? Shion: I think the big thing is that we all aim for the same place. Abilities are not everything, but I think a group is only as good as its members. Just because I am polishing my rapping, it doesn't mean I’m neglecting my dancing. I’m working hard both on rapping and dancing. During offtimes I have a childlike side, but I want to go through the things I’ve decided on.There is the feeling that everyone of JO1 is comparing expectations and reality and is considering those. Don’t you compare yourself to other artists of your generation? Ruki: Of course, we want to absorb their good points. We don’t see other groups as rivals or as something to be surpassed. We only head forward towards our own ideal of “we want to do this more”. Shion: It’s “the place where we want to be”!
We absorb each one's methods and transform those into our expressions
I’m always surprised by the fast progress speed of everyone in JO1 in regard to each one’s singing, rapping and dancing, but what is used as a reference to express yourself in the songs? Shion: I sing the songs of other artists as if I was the main character of that song or MV. If it’s rap, I’m doing it as if I was covering the song. Well, when it comes to singing my part in JO1, I’m comfortable and I end up not knowing what I’m doing, so I feel like making a habit of being myself on a daily basis makes my expressions alive. Ruki: I’m watching the lives and performance videos of various groups and I’m often studying those. When it comes to performing online, you can only appeal to the camera, can’t you? When it comes to that, the main point becomes the expressions, the gestures and the arrangement of the choreography. On YouTube a lot of material falls into your hand that you can refer to, so I find it very motivating. Sukai: For me it might be movies. Because when I’m confronted with scenes that I haven’t experienced like action or psychopath acting, I’m thinking “In this moment, you do that expression” and I’m learning a lot.
Well, finally please tell us about the “expression” that you are particular about in “CHALLENGER”’s lead track “Born To Be Wild”. Sukai: The MV is filled with encouragement! It’s a story in which the leader who has the key, gathers the members who are each at different places, but I think it’s a fresh portrayal of the feeling of never giving up and continuing to challenge. Shion: It might be my rap for me. The part when Kimata and I changed from high to low was difficult, so we practised that a lot. I’m also particular about the strong low tone. Ruki: It’s the leg choreography during “Get get get you want”. When Mame who is in the center in the MV is recorded, me and Ren-kun who are on his sides are also displayed, so we practised while being particular about our silhouettes and angles.
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