Interview: NAQT VANE
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NAQT VANE is a creative team project which was founded in September of 2022. Produced by Hiroyuki Sawano, this project welcomed Harukaze, a vocalist who had just returned from the states, with creative collective Classic 6 in charge of the art direction for the team.
Both Hiroyuki Sawano and Harukaze have their stories that this project will blow the “new wind” into, as to free themselves and saying hello to the new version of themself.
We were able to interview the wonderful Haruzkaze and the timing couldn’t be more perfect as NAQT VANE just announced they will be having their first live-stream concert on Saturday May 20, 2023 at 18:00 (JST) via the streaming site ZAIKO. Be sure to check out their official bio and be purchase your tickets to their concert here!
For those interested in hearing a bit of NAQT VANE’s unique style be sure to check out the music video for their track “CHRONIC” below!
Ken: First of all thank you so much for letting us do this interview, we are big fans and love what you bring to the Japanese music industry and congratulation!
Harukaze: Thank you so much for having me! So excited to answer your guys’ questions.
K: What made you choose a path in the music industry? Who had the most inspiration on you and led you to choose this path?
H: I’ve been wanting to pursue my career in music as my parents were both in the music industry and I have been witnessing their works since I was very young. I would say my dad- who is a concert promoter in Japan- inspired me the most as he always took me around to his work and concerts, teaching me the joy of making people entertain and happy with the power of music.
K: Which artist would you say is your biggest inspiration? Also are there any international artists that inspire you guys as well?
H: We can for sure say that we get the inspiration by discussing what we want to tell through songs we deliver. We would have a casual conversation and that often leads to inspiration. We also do get inspired from a lot of genres and a variety of artists all around the world but we don’t have a specific artist who we want to become like- we want to be the one and only.
K: Can you share with us your experience debuting as a music artist and how it has been so far?
H: After I graduated school in LA with a bachelor in Music Business , I moved back to Japan and started to work as an A&R for a record label. I did release a couple of singles as “Harukaze '' during my time in LA but it wasn’t anything very serious. Although, I gave up my dream to be an artist once and started working for other artists, I kept posting covers on instagram which later caught Sawano-san’s eyes. Then, I got an email from Avex, the current label I’m signed with, saying if I was interested in working as a vocalist for the project. At first I thought it was one of those scam emails and I was about to ignore it but my inner instinct made me reply to it; I’m so glad I did haha. After that I met up with Sawano-san and the team and the process to debut went by really quick.
K: Who are your biggest musical influences and how have they impacted your sound? Can you walk us through the creative process with Hiroyuki Sawano for your latest EP?
H: As we answered previously on the inspiration related questions, we don’t have any specific artists we get inspired from, however, I personally think I was influenced a lot by Tatsuro Yamashita. Although his style is far from what we deliver as NAQT VANE, he is the artist who influenced ME the most.
As for the EP creative process, we started off by adding two new songs to the four we already had released. Sawano-san brought me the instrumentals and from there we did a discussion on what we want these songs to be like. I had clear visions of the message I wanted to tell through these songs so it was quick from there.
Each song is like a letter to the listeners, spreading messages. We want to keep spreading powerful and motivational messages through our music and aim for larger fan base.
K: What themes or messages were you trying to convey through your latest EP? How do you see your and Sawano-san’s music evolving in the future?
H: NAQT is a word from a german term “NACKT” which means naked in English. This title comes from our project NAQT VANE, and thus it shows our true self through 6 songs. It’s an EP that even if you didn’t know us you can grasp what kind of artist we are. Each song is like a letter to the listeners, spreading messages. We want to keep spreading powerful and motivational messages through our music and aim for larger fan base.
K: Can you share with us any advice you have for aspiring music artists?
H: I’ve just started my career as an artist so I can’t say anything big but just know the dream will come true if you believe and love yourself the most. Keep trying and someone is definitely watching you and know you are doing the most you can do. Confidence and manifesting is the key!
K: How have you been staying creative and motivated during the pandemic?
H: NAQT VANE officially debuted in 2022 so the situation wasn’t that bad compared to the most pandemic era- we were still able to meet and go out to be creative. I personally was staying motivated by watching other artists’ endeavors to deliver their best during the hard time (online concerts, delivering home-made music video and all)
K: What can fans expect from you in the coming months?
H: In May, we have our first-ever show and we are super stoked for that! Since the debut we have been wanting to deliver our “NAQT” self through performances. It’s the first time Sawano-san and I will perform together too, so we are preparing for that. We are considering the streaming of this show too so I hope to see participants from all around the world. We are also working on new music as well so please stay tuned for updates.
K: What is it like teaming up with Hiroyuki Sawano? Were you familiar with his works before?
H: It was a very eye-opening experience to team up with such a talented person. It’s always a learning experience and I’m super thankful and honored to be in the same project as him. I wasn’t really familiar with anime before the debut so I was only aware of his name.
K: When working on your debut in NAQT VANE, did you already have songs written? Or did you write your lyrics as you began your debut? Did you have a certain theme you were specifically wanting to sing about?
H: I first listened to the demo and started to brainstorm. It was difficult to write them all on my own as Sawano-san has these specific rules to follow when writing for his songs. So I learned those from other lyricists and with their help I was able to word them. I wanted to write about how it’s important to be ourselves which relates to where the name” NAQT VANE '' is coming from, that I will be explaining below.
K: How did the name NAQT VANE come about?
H: “NAQT” comes from a term in German “NACKT’ which means “naked” in English. “VANE” is defined as a broad blade for windmills or a wing, /to be moved by the air. We decided to name it NAQT VANE as we want people to be naked (be true to themselves) and move with the air/flow that they believe in. The era we live in right now is also called “era of air” which sounded right to us to name it NAQT VANE- as “era of air” is defined to be an era that values knowledge, experiences, human connections, networks, and new things.
K: In your song 'Break Free' you sing about liberation, what inspired the lyrics for it?
H: Break Free is all about my thoughts prior to the debut. Becoming my true self and breaking free from whatever was holding me back changed my life. I feel like there are a lot of people who can’t say their dreams out loud and have to be silent on what they actually want to be- this song is for those people to believe in themselves and try for once.
I feel like the best part of being an artist is when the message we want to deliver actually reaches out…
K: What are you looking forward to most in this project?
H: To meet listeners in person/perform for them. I feel like the best part of being an artist is when the message we want to deliver actually reaches out, and the best way of doing that is by actually seeing them, making eye contact and singing songs with your heart out. We definitely want to tour around Japan and globally!
K: Two of your tracks, Break Free and VANE have English versions (at the time of this interview). Is there a reason you decided to do an English version of these specific tracks? Can fans expect more tracks to have English versions?
H: We actually have English versions to all the four singles ( Break Free, VANE, TOUCH, and CHRONIC). We decided to release that as we seek to be abroad in the future and we want non-Japanese listeners to understand the meaning of these songs. It’s pretty funny how some of my listeners abroad like the Japanese version more and some Japanese listeners prefer English versions. We are planning to continue releasing English versions of our songs in the future too, as we feel like we can deliver slightly different vibes in each language.
K: What has been the most challenging song to produce so far?
H: I feel like every song was challenging for me in various ways but I think “VANE” was the one I remember being hard to record as I had to keep shouting the chorus.
K: The image for your “NAQT” is you taking your face off like a mask, where did that idea come from and what kind of symbolism were you going for there?
H: NAQT VANE consists of three members - myself, Sawano-san and there is a creative team called “Classic 6”. They are in charge of all the art work of NAQT VANE. With the keyword “Metamorphose”, the image shows the mask, which symbolizes the new “real” NAQT face that NAQT VANE and the listeners find as they move along the generation.
Evolution unfolds in time as we live, and we hope that people find the next new mask to suit the purpose.
K: What song(s) had an impact on you while on this project?
H: We feel like every song has impacted our growth but TOUCH and CHRONIC has been a good impact for us as we feel like we were able to reach more audiences through dramas that these songs were used as theme songs. We felt more reactions from listeners and we were able to hear what they wanted from us, so it definitely affected us in a good way.
K: What are some challenges you have faced as an artist? How have you overcome them?
H: I personally still struggle with the high notes with chest voice- I am still trying to control my voice and practice to get better but NAQT’s songs are never chill (lol) so I’m trying to figure out how to perform all the songs without running out of breath.
I also am facing the difficulties of how to actually be myself while showing them in an attractive/fascinating way to people. I feel like all those artists I admire know how to show their best- so I’m learning from them.
K: Is there a particular genre of music that you would like to try that you haven’t already?
H: In this EP “NAQT '', for the first time ever we have a ballad song - not too ballad but definitely quieter than other songs we put out. Having this out I received many compliments as we were able to show NAQT’s other side. In the future I definitely want to try more ballad/chillipop or very rock tunes.
K: For international fans, how they usually find out about J-pop is through anime. First, do you guys watch anime, and if so what would you say is your favorite?
H: I actually don’t really watch anime but I know a lot of you do. When I was in the states, I got so many questions about anime and I was a little sad that I didn’t know any of those titles that people were talking about. I am interested in watching them if any hits my interest. Please let me know if any of you have recommendations!
The dream place that NAQT VANE wants to perform in the future is any stadium in the world.
K: Is there a venue that you performed at that you’ll never forget? Also is there a dream venue that you would like to perform at?
H: I had a chance to perform for Tokyo’s volleyball team last fall and the arena was astonishing that I can precisely remember the performance and atmosphere even after half a year. The audience was so warm enough to put the phone flashlights on when I was singing and the sound was amazing too.
The dream place that NAQT VANE wants to perform in the future is any stadium in the world. When we first debuted I claimed that we will be performing at the stadium in 5 years- so people who are reading this, you are the witness! We’ll see you all at the stadium.
K: What track(s) are "your favorite to perform live and why?
H: I love performing “CHRONIC”! The energy the song has just gets me very excited to perform and it’s also easy to motivate the audience to move/vibe along.
K: What would you say is your most difficult song to perform?
H: I would say the debut song “Break Free” is the most difficult song to perform. It is the song I’m used to singing the most but there is no rhythm going on for first verse so I really have to be careful not being late on the beat. While this is my favorite song to sing, I do have hard time practicing it. Practice makes perfect though, got to put more work to it!
K: Who is the one artist you would love to work with in the future?
H: Honestly there are many, however, some come to mind such as, Dua Lipa, ONE OK ROCK, Tate McRae, BIBI, Sofia Carson, One Republic, and so many more…Any artist in the world who’s down to do a collabo with us !!!
K: Do you have a message for your international fans?
H: To all the readers of Ongaku to you, we’d like to thank you all again for reading this and listening to our music! If you haven’t, I hope this interview made you want to dig into our world. We hope to bring good vibes and blow the good motivational wind to you all so that you can become your true self and challenge many things! We are hoping and we will try our best to be able to perform and see you all soon face to face! Please love our newest EP “ NAQT” and stay tuned for the updates through our social media! I hope your day is going to be filled with happiness ! xx
K: Once again, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule and we look forward to your upcoming releases!
H: Thank you so much for having us! Answering these was so much fun, we’ll do our best to deliver songs so please interview us again :)
Once again we thank Harukaze for the wonderful interview and be sure to check them out in the following socials below!
