[Exclusive] Royal Pirates Interview & Photo, 'First Debut On U.S. Billboard At Number 8'

★Congratulations! You ranked No.8 on U.S. Billboard World Album Chart!

All: (In Japanese) Thank you so much!

★How did you feel when you heard that you had made your first appearance on World Billboard?

JAMES: I just couldn't believe it.

SOOYOON: I really couldn't believe it, as well. At first, my parents thought we ranked on the main chart. Later I explained it and they looked a bit disappointed, which made me feel a kind of guilty sorry. (laughter)

All: Haha!

MOON:Like, they were "Oh my, congratulations! (with excitement)." I explained that's the world album chart, then they said, "Ah, yeah, congrats! (calmed down)" (laughter)

★You made a quest appearance on Lee Minho's concert conducted at Pacifico Yokohama and performed for thousands of fans who came to see the handsome actor! How was it?

SOOYOON: It was pretty fun. In Korea, we give frequent TV appearances but have few opportunities to get on stages like this. So it was really fun.

MOON: As it was the first time in a while that we played the music before huge audience as we used to do back in the U.S., it was really nice and fun. Also it was a great pleasure and blessing to be on the same stage with the big star Lee Minho!

JAMES: We are also a big fan of "The Heirs." (laughter)

★When Lee Minho unexpectedly went to backstage, you all looked pretty confused left alone on the stage! (laughter)

All: Hahaha! Yes, we did!!

MOON: We really had no idea what to do, haha!

★Since you play in a power trio, I was curious how you'd perform on the stage. You just played in three instruments and sometimes synchronized the pre-made sound.

SOOYOON: Yes. We basically play in a three piece rock band and sometimes synchronize other sounds like synthesizers and piano. But we can do better in trio.

MOON: For bigger live concerts, we use additional instruments to cover up empty spaces. We had Lee Minho's band this time, but sometimes we don't get notified beforehand what kind of instrument we would have on the stage. In case, we have always the sound for synchronization in store.

★I saw you appeared on a Korean TV program "After School Club" with MC Kevin from U-KISS and played the acoustic guitar! You can play many different instruments, indeed!

All: Yes! (with a confident smile)

MOON: I can play the guitar, drums and the bass competently. Also I can play general chords on the piano.

SOOYOON: I can play the guitar and drums.

JAMES: I can play the bass and the guitar. I used to play the trumpet when I was a university student. Now I want to learn how to play the piano.

★Now, let us know a brief history about how you formed a band!

MOON: I and Sooyoon met at church in our middle school years. We were not close friends at all but later we found we had something in common - "music." Then we started to visit each other every day and spent together listening to music. Our dream was to be a musician, so we decided to give it a try together. Then we formed a band. We had no bass player in our university days.

★I saw many Youtube videos of Moon and Sooyoon singing covers together. Was it from your university days?

MOON: (In Japanese) Yes, it was. And out of the blue, James joined the band through a mutual friend, saying "I know someone who can play the bass." (laughter)

JAMES: On the first call to Moon, his very first phrase was, "Hey! Why not join us?"

MOON: I was like, "Okay." That's how it went. (laughter)

★What do you think is the attractiveness of playing in a power trio?

MOON: With only three people in a band, we can have more room to create an awesome feeling of "groove." The downside is that three instruments can sound rather sparse, but still the upside is that we can generate a rhythmic feel!

JAMES: Also one's voice can really stand out in a good way!

★You have done many covers, right? I got interested in Royal Pirates when I saw one of your covers of Sakanaction's "Night Dancers (Yoru no Odoriko)" on Youtube.

MOON: (In Japanese) Wow! Really! We will perform that tomorrow (31 March)!

SOOYOON: Although we wanted to cover Japanese songs, we didn't know anything. So we asked our friends and made a list. The list even included Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. (laughter)

JAMES: Yes, it did. (laughter)

MOON: Since I have to sing in Japanese, I picked up the song with simple Japanese lyrics. About Sakanaction's "Night Dancers," the refrain part feels fun, but a little bit bittersweet.

★What kind of music gave you inspiration?

MOON: We started off with rock music, but got affected by R&B and funk music, too. We listened to various kind of music to achieve quality and originality to our higher selves.

★Who gave you the most inspiration as a rock band?

MOON: MUSE. (An England rock band) In Japanese bands, Janne Da Arc. (A Japansese visual kei band)

Janne Da Arc?! (surprises)

MOON: The first time I listened to theirs songs, I felt it unique that there is this kind of music.

SOOYOON: For me, L'Arc-en-Ciel and Rage Against the Machine.

JAMES: L'Arc-en-Ciel's's amazing bass line inspired me a lot.

★Finally, you released your 1st album "Shout Out" in Japan! Tell us about the album.

MOON: It includes many songs with multiple genres which we made 2 years ago, it will allow you to hear the songs when we were still pure in heart,

SOOYOON: These songs were made when we were still looking for our originality / uniqueness.

JAMES: We have so much to feel good about the songs once again.

SOOYOON: Since the songs receive many loves from many people, our love for the songs get stronger.

MOON: Previously, I used to sing "Shout Out" without emotion / expression, but these days our fans happily shout out together, which made me enjoy the song from the bottom of my heart and now I really enjoy singing it with emotion.

★Since you speak English in daily lives, please leave some messages to your fans in English-speaking countries.

James: Hello, This is James, Royal Pirates, and I wanna thank you for guys to being just Royal fans for this whole time, and I know that you are waiting, but more working really harder than studio to bring this music that you gonna love, and to all the new fans, we really excite to meet you, and we are so happy so you guys are with us right now. part of the Royal Pirates family, we love you guys, so, and we will show you more surprise news soon, so keep checking up with our stuff,

Sooyoon: Thank you everybody we love you and please wait a little more, we want to tour around, and see you guys, thank you guys,

Moon: This is moon from royal paletes, you guys are awesome thank you, and we love you, Bye

★In Japan, we have rock festivals every summer. Wanna join, huh?

All: Of course! We would live to! Please invite us!

★Please come to Japan often to hold concerts.

All: Yeah, sure!

(Text: Kiyori Mastumoto, Photo: Akiya Uchida, Translation: Nanase Yamaguchi)

Tags
Royal Pirates
interview
Exclusive
Join the Discussion

Latest Photo Gallery

Real Time Analytics