This is CHAI: The redefinition of Kawaii.
Direct from Japan, the j-pop band CHAI landed in Mexico City to perform at the Indie Rocks Forum!. Before this show, we had the opportunity to interview them so they could tell us a little more about their project and future plans. This is what they told us.
It is true that in the last decade K-pop took over the entire world; music platforms, social networks, even old television channels and that could be one of the Asian genres that stands out the most. However, J-pop also has its charm.
This is something that only we do, but we believe that we can influence the world in a unique way. There is a message we want to share through our music too, we even made our own world’neo kawaii, its charm is that it has no rules. This world was born because we are Japanese and where we come from’kawaii‘is the best compliment a woman could receive. Very few people are considered ‘kawaii’ and there are no words to describe them all.
For a long time they called us ‘kawaii‘And we wanted to pay a compliment to people like us who do not fit into that concept.’
On their first albums, the band has a garage/punk style, but on their new material they moved closer to pop. This has a reason and they tell us:
Our album is ‘chai pop‘Pop is something we always tried to do since our beginnings, but we couldn’t create our own pop… until now.’
This movement is demonstrated in songs like “We The Female”, in which both the lyrics and the music have a message of power, not only for them, but also for their fans and the people who follow them. “The world is changing and segmentations based on our age, gender and history are no longer important. People begin to declare who they are, what they think and what is most important to them; So we wrote this song as a statement.”
Even if you’re not sure who you are, we want people to feel confident in how they want to live their lives and shout it at the top of their lungs.
We are women, but we have a masculine part in our personality, also a bit of childish traits. All that makes us feminine, right? The important thing is that when we go on stage we forget all that.”
To create this concept and be true to your beliefs, CHAI He tells us what his creative process is like when writing.
We embrace the environment and the emotions we have when recording. “We let all the toxins out of the body, so we make sure we are healthy and well prepared.”
For the Japanese band, their influences are important, from Devo, Gorillaz and Jungle until Yumi Arai and Eiichi Otaki, bands from their country. But, there is an artist for whom they have deep admiration.
She is not from our country, but we would like to collaborate with Rosalia. We love the album Motomami from the sequence of their songs to the phonetics of their lyrics and their sound nuances. It’s irresistible, even its visuals are ‘neo kawaii’.”
It seems difficult that in a world governed by K-pop and where most bands from both the East and the West are dominated by the male gender, a band like that of CHAI could stand out, but they continue with a goal.
Our greatest motivation and aspiration is to continue spreading our message’neo kawaii and also the food. Self-love is also a topic that is very important for us and the rest of our lives. So we really want to share this experience through music.”
Friday the 13th was his first show as headliners in Mexico City, but it is only one of many more cities that they seek to conquer.
Other countries that we also want to visit are New Zealand, Australia and Egypt, we want to see all kinds of countries. We love interacting with nature, animals and history, so we would like to spend more time relaxing in those cities and enjoying ourselves.”
We hope you haven’t missed the show. CHAI in it Indie Rocks Forum! and enjoy their songs.
