Interview: STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION
/STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION is the sound making project of songwriter/music producer and former rock band OLDCODEX member R·O·N who produces various sound contents and music for varieties of popular Japanese artists and Anime series.
To celebrate the latest release of his single ‘PEACEKEEPER’ which is the opening theme song for “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” Season 3 which you are able to listen to here! We were able to interview R·O·N at Hawaii’s anime convention Kawaii Kon!
Ken: First of all thank you so much for letting us do this interview, we are fans of what you bring to the Japanese music industry. And congratulations on passing your tenth year in the industry!
RON: Nice to meet you Ken and thank you so much for having me!
K: As this is your first Hawaii convention, are you having fun and is there anything you would like to do while you are here?
RON: Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun so far! I wanted to eat Poke (Raw fish with sauce) and I did!
K: Where did you go to eat Poke, might I ask?
RON: Oh just UberEats haha
K: Honestly, one of my favorite places to eat Poke is nearby at Foodland Farms and I would highly recommend it. Be sure to have the legendary Poke Bowl which is like Danburi style (Fish and Rice) and is very delish.
RON: The Poke I had was very good, however it was also very spicy.
K: Ah I see, yes, they probably gave you the Spicy Tuna which is a local favorite.
RON: I see!
photo credit by jus. management
K: For your upcoming release ‘PEACEKEEPER’, where did you have the idea to talk about a theme of handling the difficulty of communication.
RON: In regard to the lyrics, I first receive a basic overview of the anime and then I think about how I should express the idea for the song. So it ended up not being so difficult to handle a theme like that.
K: Oh I see, so for a majority of the anisong that you have done, is that the usual thought process?
RON: Yeah, yeah it’s almost exactly like that!
K: Oh I see! Since you have done so many anisong in the past, What would you say is your favorite anisong that you have written/composed?
RON: That is such a difficult question haha. In terms of only STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION songs, I would have to say ‘STORYSEEKER’. It is one of my favorites.
K: I see. How do you curate your set list?
RON: So specifically over the last two or three years. I had done about 10 shows or so, and during those shows I developed about 4 patterns of a specific setlist that I built around.
K: Do you take a different approach when making a setlist Japan versus overseas?
RON: Actually as of right now I’ve only performed once in Japan about three years ago, when I was a part of a band setlist. While overseas it’s usually just me as a one-man, so I would say that is the biggest difference.
…my most cherished memory would have to be when I was able to perform in Germany last year…
K: What would you say is your most Cherished memory in the 10 years you have been active?
RON: Oh my most cherished memory would have to be when I was able to perform in Germany last year, mostly due to the fact that I had lived in Germany when I was in grade school and it was a very memorable experience for me.
photo credit by jus. management
K: When performing, how do you prepare?
RON: I usually try to get into the mindset that I hope that the audience would enjoy the setlist that I’m doing. That is the most important thing for me.
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?
RON: It would have to be the Mercury Lounge in New York, as it was the first venue that I had done a solo one-man show at.
I hope to perform in Los Angeles and Torrance, California as I used to live there as well haha.
photo credit by jus. management
K: Who is the one artist you would love to work with in the future?
RON: YOSH the vocalist from the rock band SSTP (Survive Said The Prophet), I really want to make a song with him!
…making music feels natural to me.
K: Do you have a process or certain mind set when creating your songs, if so would you like to share that process?
RON: Not really, making music feels natural to me. So there isn’t really a special mind set that I have to be in when composing songs.
K: Which was your favorite song to write/ compose?
RON: I can’t just pick one, I usually compose and write about 200-250 songs a year so to be able to pick just one, is really difficult. I would have to say every song haha .
K: Which artist would you say is your biggest inspiration?
RON: The rock band Korn ahaha.
K: For international fans, how they usually find out about J-pop is through anime. First do you watch anime, and if so which would you say is your favorite?
RON: Unfortunately, not the recent anime but I used to watch ones like Gundam, Evangelion, Sazae-san, Chibi Mariko-chan. Maybe you might not know the last two haha, but I used to watch Anime.
K: Thank you so much for joining and I look forward to the concert tomorrow (at the time of interview) and enjoy your time in Hawaii!
RON: Yes, Thank you very much, and thank you for having me!
