[JO1] Arne 220519

https://arne.media/news/282819/

Asking everything of which everyone is curious off! An exclusive interview with JO1’s Kawashiri Ren

JO1 is an eleven member global boy group that is not active just as music artists but in various other fields such as radio or variety shows.

This year, all members each star in one episode of a drama streamed via Amazon Prime Video and their documentary movie was released in cinemas. No one knows where their energy stops.

To celebrate the release of their second album “KIZUNA” on 25 May, we had an interview with Kawashiri Ren, who comes from the prefecture Fukuoka!

Release of the 2nd album “KIZUNA”!

The 2nd album KIZUNA features 7 new songs including the title track “With Us”.

Under the theme of “The bond with our friends realised at the end of the road of overcoming various hardships and challenges” the album includes the message of “The cherished bond with you by my side. Let’s enjoy this shining moment together.”

Interview with Kawashiri Ren who hails from the prefecture Fukuoka!

Arne also interviewed Kawashiri Ren-san before his debut in March 2020 and at the time of the release of JO1’s second single “STARGAZER” in August 2020.

Also this time, we asked him everything from what he is up to recently, about the 2nd album and what JAM wanted to know!

Now that you have reached the third year after debuting, is there anything that changed like the relationship with the member or your state of mind?
I got along with the members from the start, but we are even closer. Recently, I got into the same game as other members and we played until late at night while chatting via voice chat. Save for my sleeping time, I’m always doing something with someone.
My state of mind has not changed, but I’m happy to have fancy hair again (laughs).

For the 2nd album your hair colour is purple, but what was your favourite hair colour so far?
I liked the whitish silver that I had from the audition to the first three releases. Basically, I like light hair colours.

Is there a hair colour you would like to try?
Neon Green! I just want to have an incomprehensible hair colour (laughs)

Is there a colour you want the other members to try? This time Shion has pink hair, but there is always a member with pink hair. Hence, I want to see a member who did not have it yet try it. I feel it will go around in the group, so maybe one day… It will be my turn.

Following the 2nd album title “KIZUNA”, what made you feel the “bond” with the members?
When I was walking while dancing around a little, I forgot that I wore a hat and habitually brushed up my hair, which caused my hat to bounce off. But Ruki caught it in a snap. We were both surprised of each other, but this is our “bond”.

What is your “Oshi song” (favourite song) among the featured tracks of the album?
It changes on a daily basis, but today it might be “Algorithm”.

In the last interview you said that you were in charge of the choreography for the song “My Friends”, but did you do another choreography for the songs on this album?
I did not do any choreographies, but I did the treatment (uniforming the varied movements) for the songs including the title track “With Us”. Thankfully, we are quite busy and thus can’t take a lot of practice time, but nevertheless we concentrate and quickly align (the dancing). All members have honed their skills, so we practise while helping each other.
We can correct things that are easily visible such as the height of the hands or the direction of the body by talking with each other at an early stage, but aligning the feeling of the movements or the nuance is difficult. Thus, I keep in mind to match it with an image such as “move with a bit of difficulty as if you were in water” or “here the image is of a dry sound of something being hit“ and do the treatment.

He also answered the questions from JAM!

From here on, we asked this and that focusing on questions we collected from JAM.

What is something you look forward to when you come home to Fukuoka?
Eating dishes my mother made and meeting my brothers. I look forward to family time.

What is your favourite dish your mother makes?
Hamburger!

What do you want to do with the members together in Fukuoka?
I want to go and eat motsunabe with everyone. Also, I haven’t been able to go to Mucchan Manjuu, so that is another place to go.

If you could change places into another member for a day, who would you choose? What would you do?
I would change places with Sho-kun and have a one day muscle training life! I want to try holding weights I cannot lift now.

Lastly, his future goals!

What is your goal for the group?
Last year, we were able to hold live performances with an audience, but because of the Corona situation we had to limit it to one venue (Tokyo) only which was frustrating after all. So just as originally planned, we hope to have concerts in different regions so that all JAM who support us from afar can meet us.

And your personal goal?
Becoming the representative of Fukuoka! I work hard both as (a member of) JO1 and as Kawashiri Ren so that people will say “Speaking of someone coming from Fukuoka, Ren-kun is that, right?”

As residents of the prefecture Fukuoka, we look forward to the day Kawashiri Ren-san becomes the representative of Fukuoka. We cannot take our eyes off his further activities in the future.