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Brandy Senki released their first album, BRANDY SENKI, on May 14. The band, which formed in August 2022, is made up of Hazuki (guitar and vocals), Minori (bass), and Bori (drums). They’ve picked up a tremendous amount of momentum, selling out shows on both their first solo tour of Japan, in January 2025, and their upcoming BRANDY SENKI 1ST ALBUM RELEASE TOUR, which will begin in June.

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Their major label debut album, BRANDY SENKI, is the culmination of their efforts so far. It’s a collection of 13 songs including “Musica,” which brought them to the attention of the world at large, “Coming-of-age Story,” which generated a ton of buzz when it was shared by NJZ’s Minji, and “Fix,” a dramatic song that depicts the weaknesses we all have. Billboard JAPAN took the opportunity of this momentous release to talk with Brandy Senki about how they felt as they enter this new stage of their musical careers.

To start off, could you tell us about Neon Oasis Fest 2025, the Taiwanese music festival you just finished performing at in late April? What did you think of your first overseas show?

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Hazuki: Standing up there on stage, you could feel the love, even in another country with a whole different language. Also, the way people listened was a little different than the way Japanese audiences do. There were people who were really amped up, but there were also people slowly swaying to the music. There was this striking feeling of personal freedom. It was a lot of fun.

Your new album, BRANDY SENKI, is the same as your band’s. What led you to choose this name?

Hazuki: There are only really a few times when you can self-title an album. This album has lots of songs that we’d released in the past, so we talked about making it a self-titled album to share the message that “this is what Brandy Senki is today.” That’s why we called the album BRANDY SENKI.

I think the first song on an album is important. Why did you pick “The End of the F***ing World” to start off the album?

Hazuki: We thought a lot about how someone who didn’t know Brandy Senki would feel when they listened to the album for the first time. We thought it would be good to start with a song that would get the listener excited, like “What’s about to start?” This song was perfect for that.

You’ve said that this song was influenced by the British show The End of the F***ing World. When you write poetry or music, Hazuki, are you usually influenced by things like novels or movies?

Hazuki: Always. But being inspired by a single work, like I was with “The End of the F***ing World,” is unusual.

Could each of you share a song on the album that is especially important to you?

Bori: For me, it would be “The End of the F***ing World.” There’s this bouncy beat that goes through the entire song, and it was a bit of a struggle to perform. Now, having finished the song, whenever I hear it or when I play it live, I’m glad I put in the effort.

Minori: For me, it’s the fifth song, “Water Mirror.” We’ve been playing it pretty much since our first show. I think it was also the first song that I wrote a bass line for after Hazuki sent me a demo. So, for me, it’s an important song because it represents a lot of firsts.

Hazuki, what about you?

Hazuki: I’d probably answer that question a different way every day (laughs). Today, I’d say the first song, “Spring.”

The lyrics of “Spring” are very evocative of summer. They mention the beach, and a shirt, and a “Sicilian painting,” which conjures the image of the seaside.

Hazuki: The reality is that, for the people in the song, spring hasn’t even come yet, let alone summer. The heart of the song is this longing to go to the beach, this yearning for Sicily, that kind of feeling. But time just passes in this room.

You’ve also been playing “Last Live” since your early live shows, right?

Minori: It goes back to right around when we were starting out, but we changed the arrangement a little when recording it.

How so?

Minori: In the middle, when the tempo changes in the bridge. There’s a drum fill there now, but that wasn’t there originally.

Bori: We decided to make that part, so we changed the arrangement around that.

Hazuki: We were thinking of a cool way to speed up the tempo of the song.

I also saw the music video. It has this very “kawaii” feel to it. What did you and the director Nathalie Scarlette talk about when making it?

Hazuki: Nathalie came up with pretty much every aspect of the music video, starting from the initial idea. For us, filming in Akihabara or a roller skating rink was really novel. We were really impressed with how great the visuals came out.

Minori: Nathalie really loves Brandy Senki. She understood the lyrics Hazuki had written at a deep level, which was wonderful. Nathalie’s Australian, so she understands what Japan looks like from the outside. She sees beautiful things that we overlook because we take them for granted. It’s wonderful having someone who notices those things and can depict them. I’m always impressed at how she can make these interesting music videos that wouldn’t have even occurred to us.

Bori: It was all shot guerilla-style, too. We set up a drum set in a truck, and there were tourists out there taking photos of us. It was a very different experience than the usual filming of a music video, and really stimulating.

Then there’s the lead single, “Fix.” That word has a lot of different meanings, right?

Hazuki: It’s used to mean a lot of different things, so we thought it would be an interesting name for a song. You can fix something in place, or you can fix something that’s broken. In the song, we use it in different senses, singing about whether you can fix these relationships between people–between yourself and others.

There’s also a brand-new song, “Memento Waltz” Does the title simply mean “don’t forget this waltz?”

Hazuki: Yes. We wanted to make a waltz, or rather a song in triple meter. That was our starting point.

It also has a string part. Was this was your first time using strings since “Nightmarish – Acoustic?”

Minori: “Nightmarish – Acoustic” had strings, too, but this was our first time using strings that were performed live. On the album, there are strings on “Memento Waltz” and also on “Untitled”

“Untitled” is an acoustic piece. When was it written?

Hazuki: We wrote “Untitled” over a year ago. It’s the only song on the album that I think you could call a pure love song.

To close off with, are there any new things that you’ve been trying your hand at, or that you want to try to do in the future?

Minori: I like going on long train trips, but you need to have a whole day free to do that. I want to make time for myself and learn about trains throughout Japan.

Bori: In a certain sense, I’m taking on the challenges of drumming. Ever since I started playing in a band, I’ve been learning different beats and really making them part of my own repertoire. Lately, I’ve been reexamining just what a drum is, and learning more about drums — how do you get a better sound? What form should you use when drumming? That sort of thing.

Hazuki: I just want to work hard on writing our next song.

—This interview by Tatsuya Tanami first appeared on Billboard Japan

The members of King Gnu chatted with Billboard Japan for its Monthly Feature series spotlighting currently notable artists and works. The popular four-man band’s latest single “TWILIGHT!!!” was written as the theme song for the blockbuster anime movie Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback and dropped digitally on April 18.
Last year, the “SPECIALZ” band’s first-ever domestic five-dome tour entitled King Gnu Dome Tour “THE GREATEST UNKNOWN” drew crowds totaling 380,000 people. Soon after, the quartet embarked on its first Asia tour visiting Taipei, Singapore, Shanghai, and Seoul, expanding its overwhelming presence outside of its home country.

The band’s new single is being featured in the latest movie version of the hugely popular Detective Conan anime, also known for having a history of famous theme songs. “TWILIGHT!!!” fuses ’80s synths and Afro-inspired grooves to create a danceable track that transforms incredibly live. The four members — Daiki Tsuneta, Yu Seki, Kazuki Arai and Satoru Iguchi — talked about this new single, which they say is an extension of a new way of working they settled upon during the making of their most recent album THE GREATEST UNKNOWN.

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First, tell us about your KING GNU LIVEHOUSE TOUR 2025 CLUB GNU EDITION that ran from February to March. Most of your performances of tracks off your albums CEREMONY and THE GREATEST UNKNOWN probably took place in arena-sized venues or larger, so were there any new takeaways or insights when you performed them in a club setting?

Kazuki Arai (Bass): The audience was really close to us, so I think there was more tension because of that. We could feel the passion from the audience directly without loss, which was unconsciously reflected in our staging and performance. But our dome tour was followed by our Asia tour, so it wasn’t like we suddenly downscaled to club-sized venues, because we also did halls during our Asian trek in between and there was also a bit of time after that as well, so it was a bit more of a gradual process.

Satoru Iguchi (Vocals/Keyboards): During the Asia tour, the show in Seoul had this really great vibe, so we thought it’d be nice to see that in Japan at a venue around the same scale. The Seoul crowd sang a lot and cheered really loud. It’s not like our fans in Japan aren’t energetic, but they are shy, it’s just how Japanese people tend to be. So regarding our domestic fan club tour, we did hope that we’d be able to perform with that kind of energy again.

You also seemed to actively hype up the audience on many occasions, Mr. Tsuneta.

Daiki Tsuneta (Guitar/Vocals): It’s no fun when people are just listening to you. There’s no point in performing live like that, is how I basically feel. Our energy level of the day changes depends on whether or not we get something like a response, to the point where we might seem like a different band.

Your new song “TWILIGHT!!!” is the theme song for the movie Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback. It’s tied into a work that’s been on the air since you were kids and has been loved for a long time.

Iguchi: Yes. I used to watch the anime at the time.

Tsuneta: I used to read the manga.

Yu Seki (Drums): Of the movie versions, I liked Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital.

What was the reaction like when you announced the tie-in?

Arai: I have friends who are fans and when I told them directly, they went crazy. They were like, “That’s so awesome!” A lot of people contacted me about it, so personally, there was a lot of response.

The movie is set in Nagano Prefecture, where Mr. Tsuneta and Mr. Iguchi are from. 

Arai: Did you get a feel of home when you saw it?

Iguchi: Yeah, I did. Yatsugatake (mountains) and Zenkoji (temple) appear in the movie.

When you were tapped to write the movie theme song, what kind of song did you envision when you first started working on it?

Tsuneta: Personally, when I’ve been asked to write a song for an anime show, singing about that work itself doesn’t sit well with me. Because when we perform that song live, I’ll be like, “Who is this song about, anyway?” and won’t feel comfortable with it. I believe strongly that the song has to be ours that it has to be a King Gnu song. In that sense, I’m not writing about any of the characters in particular, but the inspiration from the world of Detective Conan that I felt after seeing the movie is there, so I suppose what’s most important is maintaining a good sense of distance. I’ve been conscious of that since “SPECIALZ” (opener for the Shibuya Incident story arc of the anime series Jujutsu Kaisen). Though of course I do want it to overlap with the anime as well.

Arai: I was thinking about something like that too. Like SLAM DUNK, anime songs from back then weren’t about the content of the work itself, you know?

Tsuneta: I’m aware of things like words that resonate with the audience, but try not to narrow it down too much. I really try to keep in mind that the music has to be believable when we play it as a band.

I think the sound is a new departure for King Gnu, with synths that have an ’80s feel, for example. Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to do from the demo stage?

Tsuneta: Yes, I’ve really been into that ’80s feel recently. I used lean more into alternative music before and that kind of sparkly, disco vibe wasn’t something I liked. But now that I’m at this age, I’m starting to like that type of music because I think it’s refreshing in a different way.

Did you come across any particular works that sparked that interest?

Tsuneta: The Weeknd, Daft Punk, I’ve been wanting to try stuff like that recently.

What were your first impressions of the demo?

Seki: It had an Afro feel to it, but I sensed that he wanted to take it in a city (sophisticated) direction. I personally found it kind of difficult because it wasn’t in my deck of cards.

Tsuneta: The beats are definitely Afro-oriented. I imagine it’s super hard for our audience. They’ll probably have a hard time grooving to it.

Seki: But when I listened to the finished song, I think we settled on a really good place.

Tsuneta: It has a mixture feel to it, doesn’t it?

The chorus also references Jersey club.

Seki: Yes, it does. We did sneak in a little bit of that context of club music. But we hadn’t decided on anything until the four of us got together to play it. We just inserted the samples and were like, “Let’s figure it out during rehearsals.” That’s how King Gnu’s new songs are finished up these days. We have no idea where we’ll end up, so we just get the samples ready and sit down and figure it out. And it all seems to work out somehow.

Arai: It works out, doesn’t it? It was the same with “Asura”

Seki: Both “Asura and “IKAROS” worked out.

Speaking of which, “Asura is one of those songs that transformed during your live performances.

Arai: It feels like that this time, too.

Seki: I think I’m getting more comfortable with the instruments. I use electronic drums on this one.

I see. What about the bass?

Arai: The bass ended up copying the groove and nuances that Daiki had included in his demo. We tried various takes, but agreed that it’d be better if the bass could be heard together with the beat. We usually just put in what each of us wants to do, but this time, I think we were more conscious of putting (the bass and drums) together as a set than in other songs. The nuances (Tsuneta) wanted were already apparent in the demo stage, so in the end we went full circle and settled on that. Our approach was to make it work with a minimum of bass sounds.

Seki: Since we’re a band, doing things like that can be awkward or difficult, but I did want to try it out. I’ve noticed that some of the songs that are popular overseas feature the bass guitar and bass drum doing the same thing.

Tsuneta: I’ve been thinking that it’d be better if (the bass and drums) aren’t divided. They’re often separated when a band is producing the song, but in today’s mainstream music, they’re very much one and the same, so that was something I wanted to try. “Nekko” was the complete opposite, with each member playing their own part, very much like a band, and I was getting a bit tired of that. Both have their merits, of course, and we’ll separate them in our live performances, but I thought we could try something like that in the production.

It’s also a continuation of your production style after THE GREATEST UNKNOWN, isn’t it?

Tsuneta: Yes. I felt pretty confident about “SPECIALZ” and “Asura and realized there aren’t any bands that can create these kinds of sounds. My current mood is to pursue that further.

How was the vocal recording process?

Iguchi: My voice has a lot of overtones, so it doesn’t work too well with Auto-Tune, and it took me a while to find a good place to land. It also took me a while to get used to the rhythm patterns. So it was pretty fun in terms of it being a challenge, but we started rehearsing recently and I’m finally getting used to it and want to record it again. I feel like I could sing it better now.

Tsuneta: You mean you’re evolving?

Iguchi: Yeah, basically.

Arai: Daiki also said, “I should have recorded the guitar.”

Tsuneta: I added some guitar for the live performance, and thought it sounded great.

Seki: That happens a lot with this band. The songs change again after playing them live.

Iguchi: Yeah.

Tsuneta: Very few of the songs are done the same way as the original recordings.

You constantly update them.

Tsuneta: So next time, it’d be cool if we have the luxury of rehearsing, then recording. We could probably make them even better if we try to input them first, then record them based on that. 

Seki: That would make them really King Gnu.

Arai: Yeah, make them purer.

We look forward to your upcoming music.

Tsuneta: I think the next one is another completely different type of song, so I can’t wait to release it. It’ll probably help people understand this one better.

I see. Is “TWILIGHT!!!” symbolic in some way in terms of where the band is at musically?

Tsuneta: It’s quite symbolic in one aspect, but only in one aspect. We’ll be releasing some more new songs, and only then will certain things become apparent.

Iguchi: I think all four of us are more grounded now.

So your personal development is showing in your music as well.

Tsuneta: I mean, Kazuki is raising a kid and we’re all at an age where such things are relevant.

You’re more deeply rooted in your daily lives in that sense.

Tsuneta: Yes. I want to face that kind of reality in the things we create and also in the way we work.

—This interview by Takuto Ueda and text by Maiko Murata first appeared on Billboard Japan