This May, Japanese metalcore band Hanabie kicked off their 2024 North America tour, performing in over 10 cities across the continent. This tour marks the four-piece band’s second time headlining shows in North America. Ahead of the tour, Hanabie shared their thoughts with Asia Blooming on their years together, from starting as a cover band to creating their own original music and style, and their new tour.
The North America tour is taking place before Hanabie’s ninth anniversary this June. Looking at the band’s origin, members Yukina (vocals), Matsuri (vocals and guitar), and Hettsu (bass) formed the band in their first year of high school “Since high school, everyone’s life has revolved around the band,” the group shared. “And now that Chika (drums) joined our band, we have been able to expand our activities even further. Seeing many people who come to our shows and listen to our music gives us confidence and makes us feel like we are still going strong.”
Originally, the group began as a Maximum the Hormone cover band in their high school days, and earlier this year, Hanabie came full circle when they co-headlined a show with the very band who served as their inspiration. “It was a great honor to be able to perform with a band that can be said to be our starting point,” the group shared. “As a fan of the band, we were reminded of our desire to reach a higher level by performing with our seniors, whom we have admired for a long time. It was also a day for Hanabie to touch base with our starting point, and we were all deeply moved. It was a fantastic day, and we strongly felt that we would like to perform with them again on a bigger stage.”
Moving on from covering Maximum the Hormone, the band developed a process for creating their original music. Matsuri starts off by making an instrumental demo and shares it with Yukina. The two discuss the demo and decide on the concept. From there, they each create lyrics for their parts and then work on bringing them together. When writing lyrics, both members take inspiration from a variety of sources such as daily thoughts and conversations and their latest interests and trends.
Given that Hanabie’s music is a blend of sounds, fashion and pop culture, each member is currently hooked on something different. Hettsu shared, “I’ve been doing this for a long time, but recently I’ve been even more re-invigorated by KIYO, the online-live video game player! I’ve been watching his videos on games like Supermarket Simulator and The Legend of Zelda because he’s so funny! I’m currently addicted to completing all of the games in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which I got into after being influenced by his videos!” Meanwhile, Yukina said, “As for anime, I’ve always loved the magical girl genre like Ojamajo Doremi and Sailor Moon, etc. Also, Sanrio characters are my favorite! My love for them is probably expressed in the pop style of the band.” Chika’s recent interest takes her back to her drumming roots: “Recently, a friend of mine let me borrow her Switch for a while! I’ve been hooked on a game called It Takes Two, which is a two-player co-op game! I hope to play Taiko Drum Master for the first time in a while because it’s why I chose to start drumming!” Lastly, Matsuri shared, “I recently purchased a gaming PC, so I play games on my days off and whenever I have free time! I’m currently playing Monster Hunter Iceborn and Overwatch 2! In terms of music, I’ve recently become obsessed with Delilah Bon.”
As the band geared up for their North America tour this year, they reflected on their first ever U.S. tour in 2023. On how they spent time between shows, Chika exclaimed, “We played Momotaro Dentetsu on travel days and during breaks! It’s a backgammon game that takes you around Japan, and a world version was recently released, so I’m looking forward to playing it on this tour!” As for who made the best roommate on tour, Chika easily pointed to Hettsu: “She gave me rice and miso soup when I was hungry and made and passed out onigiri to everyone! When someone said, ‘I don’t have that!’ she would lend it, saying, ‘I have it!’ She is like a mother to me!”
Aside from looking out for the other members, Hettsu often thinks about what looks best for the band’s outfits. In the past, Hettsu would create each outfit from scratch, but now she enlists a school friend to make and style outfits based on her vision. Regarding the styling for this tour, Hettsu shared, “This time, I wanted to make a more mature and feminine look than before, so I requested a suit-like look!” She added, “Actually, I’ve been wanting to do a suit-like visual ever since we shot the music video for ‘Pardon me, I have to go now’! The jacket and shirt look is a bit mature, but it’s made just right to lightly fit with our Hanabie-like performance.”
This time the band will be visiting Canada for the first time, scheduled to perform in six cities across the country. As there may be fans who will come see the group for the first time in Canada, the group shared their excitement to see their reactions. Hanabie couldn’t leave out what they hoped to bring back home from Canada as well: “When we think of Canada, we think of maple. We love sweet things, so we would like to buy some as souvenirs and also enjoy them in Japan!”
