Following the success of their first world tour, JO1 returned to the U.S. on their second round of stateside shows. Titled after their recent EP, ANIMAL, the tour took the group to new cities such as Toronto and Chicago before wrapping up in Los Angeles. Ahead of their final tour stop in LA, the members sat down with Asia Blooming to discuss the ANIMAL EP, their new single “IGNITE,” touring, and more.
JO1 was first formed through Produce 101 Japan, a survival competition show in which viewers voted to select the members who would debut. Despite many other iterations of the Produce competition shows, JO1 was the first to debut as a permanent group. After the show first aired in 2019, the members made their official debut in 2020 with “Protostar,” which was met with immediate success. Since their debut was dependent on voting from the audience, their bond with their fans, JAM, has continued to strengthen with time. In fact, according to Ruki, it’s thanks to that support from JAM that the group feels they’re able to overcome challenges and grow step-by-step. They’ve gone through difficult times alongside their fans and continued to move forward together on their shared journey.
Their first single debuted at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and another song from the same single also debuted on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. Continuing their success on the charts, at time of press, the group has earned themselves 10 consecutive No. 1 singles on the Oricon charts. While the group expresses gratitude to fans for helping them reach such significant milestones, Sho said they don’t necessarily feel pressured to replicate that success. Instead, they just hope to continue giving fans something new through their music, style, and performances. To JO1, each new release is a gift to their fans, and seeing them enjoy what they’ve created is their greatest source of motivation.
ANIMAL marks the group’s first original U.S. release. While the EP offers a new opportunity to connect with global fans, the members see it not as a goal achieved, but as the beginning of the next stage of their journey. “There are still many things we need to learn and improve, and we want to show everyone how much we’ve grown. We hope to become an even stronger group and reach more people through our music, and this experience is an important first step toward that future.”
Despite having no native English speakers in the group, the JO1 members put a lot of emphasis on expressing themselves properly in English through the EP. Whether they were recording the songs in the studio or performing it live, they wanted to ensure they weren’t simply thinking of the lyrics as English words or phrases. Instead, they focused on understanding what the words meant and imagining the emotions and scenes behind them. That way, they could express those feelings when singing and proudly present these songs as a gift for their global fans.
Thanks to the support from their fans, JO1 feels like they’re able to take on harder challenges and push the boundaries without letting fear hold them back. “We’re still working hard together as a group, but we’re also pursuing more individual activities. Each of us is becoming more confident about expressing what we want to do and following our own instincts, and we think these experiences are helping us grow, both as individuals and as a group. We’re becoming more willing to challenge ourselves and explore new possibilities.”
One of those challenges and new possibilities presented itself to Takumi while working on the ANIMAL EP, co-composing its title track. He expressed his gratitude for the chance to collaborate with producer Dem Jointz and bring his own creativity to the process. “Dem Jointz is a genius, but I am also a genius,” he shared with a laugh. “We’re both pretty confident in our abilities, so working together felt almost like a competition. I don’t think I was losing!”
During the music making process, the group spent a lot of time discussing what they want fans to experience through this EP. “People unconsciously create boundaries for themselves, where we tell ourselves that we can’t go any further or that we’ve reached our limits,” the members began. “But, we want to show that those boundaries don’t necessarily exist. With this project, we’re stepping out into the world and sharing our music with people everywhere. We want to break through borders and distance, showing that music can connect us regardless of where we come from.”
With this in mind, the group described the entire EP in two simple words: adventure and jungle. Working in the U.S. has presented the group with many challenges. It’s a competitive environment, and surviving in a jungle isn’t easy, so a few members compare their experience to feeling like animals learning how to survive and find their place in it. On the other hand, members like Sukai see the jungle analogy as one of self-reflection. In this scenario, the jungle is somewhere you can discover your true self—the more deeply you explore it, the more you begin to understand who you really are and what kind of person or animal you truly are. Growing up in their hometowns in Japan, some members never even imagined ending up in Tokyo as part of JO1, let alone touring the world. Traveling the world together, making an overseas debut, and getting to experience everything together with their members has been one big adventure.
Another exciting milestone came with the release of “IGNITE,” which serves as the new theme song for popular anime series, Tokyo Revengers. With the series approaching its final arc, the opportunity carried added weight, especially for members who are fans of the show. Despite the pressure, the group was relieved and happy with the song’s positive reception. “The song’s title also connects to the idea of lighting a fire inside yourself,” they shared. “We wanted to create an encouraging song for people who are working hard toward their goals, even when things get difficult. We know what it’s like to struggle and give something your all, and we want that determination to come through in our music. We hope the song inspires people who are feeling discouraged or lacking motivation. If listening to it helps someone find the strength to keep going and lights a fire in their heart, that would mean a lot to us.”
JO1 has spent the last six years releasing music that’s true to their group’s concept, which has appealed to both Japanese and international fans. It’s not an easy feat by any means, but the members believe they’ve been able to accomplish communicating their feelings through their music and performances, even if the listener doesn’t understand the language. When it comes to performing for international audiences, the members are especially touched when they see everyone singing, dancing, and expressing their emotions with them. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves and connecting with their music has been fulfilling and rewarding, especially because they know their songs can mean different things to different people.
Ultimately, the members simply hope for fans to enjoy their music in the way they want to. “We want to keep making people happy through music and continue sharing that happiness with our fans,” they began. “In Japan, we might focus more on how to make the stage visually exciting through the production and overall presentation. When performing for international audiences, however, we also think about how to get the crowd more involved. For example, we might change a section of the choreography to include call-and-response moments, because audiences in the United States often respond enthusiastically to that kind of interaction. We consider what each audience might enjoy and make adjustments accordingly, because our goal is to create exciting performances for everyone, whether they’re watching us in Japan or elsewhere in the world.”
With JO1’s growing momentum, from their stateside tour to new music that includes their first original U.S. EP and the opening theme for Tokyo Revengers, the group is poised to reach new audiences around the world. “We hope our new fans will explore both our newer songs and our older releases,” Junki began. “There’s a lot of music and performance content we’d love for everyone to discover, so we hope they’ll take the time to get to know us better. Ultimately, we hope fans can listen to these new songs and return, so we can continue to show everyone the full extent of what JO1 can do.”
JO1 will be releasing their 11th single, AAO, on November 18, which will feature the title track “IGNITE.”
