Hello everyone! Eastwave continues its interview series and today we are here with a very exciting interview. Our guest is XY, who combines J-Pop and J-rock together!
XY came together with the Yoshiki Superstar Project X program performed by the famous artist Yoshiki. After Yoshi, who was selected in the program and unfortunately passed away in a motorcycle accident, XY, which formed its final form with 13 people at the end of the program, basically consists of two units. On the Band side, vocalist Karma, vocalist and rapper Gai, drummer and leader Kyohey, violin and bass guitarist Furutatsu and guitarist Kairi, while the DanceVocal unit includes dancers P-Star (P→★), Mitchy, Kosei and vocalists Raia, Kanji, Kice, Hayato and Jay.
At the end of 2024, with Yoshiki Super Star Project X Season 2, popular artist Tegoshi Yuya, formerly a member of NEWS and now pursuing his solo career, joined XY as the 14th member, and XY continues its musical life with different units, styles and songs.
Have fun reading our interview with XY!
1.Hello! First of all, thank you very much for accepting our interview offer. I know XY as &Z very well, but could you introduce yourself for our readers?
KYOHEY: XY is a fusion of band and dance. A performance group of artists who transform themselves like an amoeba and express themselves differently.
2. XY has a new member, Tegoshi Yuya, who was announced in October. This was quite surprising news for all of us. What did you think at the time and how is your work with Tegoshi Yuya going now?
KYOHEY: Through XY’s filter, I think we can show a different Tegoshi than the Tegoshi you’ve seen so far. He’s someone who has been active for a long time, both as a solo artist and as a group member. But we want to show him as “XY member Tegoshi Yuya”, not the Tegoshi that everyone knows.
3. I remember during YOSHIKI SUPERSTAR PROJECT X there was talk of an Amoeba session. This concept is a bit foreign to us. So can you tell us what an Amoeba session is and how XY is practicing it?
P→★: Of course. There are times when DanceVocal (Get Stupid, Talk etc.) and the band (YG, Facts etc.) perform at separate events. However, there are also scenes where we perform as 13 people (Crazy Love) and solo. For example, 3 members of the band playing instruments and 3 dancers (Dream Park) or the vocals of the band (2 people) joining the DanceVocal side for a 10-person dance performance (Crazy Love / DanceVocal version). We change the shape of our events depending on the song and the stage.
HAYATO: Units of 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14 people… Oh, we also have a unit of 4 people.
KYOHEY: We are trying to be a group that is not bound by any limits and has unlimited possibilities.
4. You just finished your first ONE-MAN tour, KALEIDOSCOPE, and I read great reviews about it on social media. How was the tour for you? How was it meeting &Z in different cities?
P →★: There are someone from Osaka among us, right?
HAYATO: I live in Tokyo now, so my family and friends who I don’t always get to see came to see us. I was very happy that we had a concert in Osaka!
KYOHEY: I was happy that we were able to go to Osaka as a band and invite our fans “&Z” to my hometown, which I love very much. I also have a connection with the local houses and venues here. It was a great feeling to be able to perform at a venue where I saw a lot of live shows when I was a student.
P →★: We have usually performed in Tokyo as 13 members, but we haven’t had the opportunity to perform outside of Tokyo. So it’s nice to know that there are &Z’ers in Nagoya and Osaka who love to listen to us.
KICE: Our Fanclub project of selecting local gifts from Osaka and Nagoya and giving them to the fans was also a lot of fun.
P →★: Everyone was so happy, right?
KICE: They were really happy. That’s why I want to do more events like this.
5. At SINGULARITY concert you performed new songs that your fans hadn’t heard before. Lily and Talk’s performances were great by the way, they are my favorite. I learned that you also performed new songs on the KALEIDOSCOPE tour, can you tell us a little bit about these new songs?
P →★: As members, we haven’t been involved in making many DanceVocal songs, but this time we have a brand new song with Kice and Raia involved in the production and we created an atmosphere from the past with this song.
KYOHEY: Band’s new song is like a fast paced rock song, a bit like the melodic speed metal of the past. But it’s also a unique XY song with a modern vibe.
6. In addition to new songs, we are very happy that you are covering Yoshi’s songs in some of your concerts to commemorate him. Are there any Yoshi songs you haven’t performed yet but would like to?
KYOHEY: I wonder what it would be like to play this with a band, but I would like to try “only one”.
FURUTATSU: I’d like to play the song “crazy”.
KYOHEY: Any other suggestions? A Yoshi song you’d like to cover?
KICE: I like “TWOTOP” a lot.
FURUTATSU: I think “crazy” is good.
KYOHEY: “Hate me now” is pretty good too. I like “Hate me now” a lot.
7. I’m very excited since you announced that you will release your first full album during the last leg of your tour in Tokyo. When will the album be released and what can we expect from it?
KYOHEY: Our album will be released in June, but no other details have been announced yet (and they couldn’t give us spoilers 🙁 )
8. Speaking of concerts, does XY have any plans to expand outside Japan? Previously, some of XY members performed in France with Yoshiki. If you were to do a world tour, which countries would you like to go to?
P→★: USA.
RAIA: Los Angeles.
FURUTATSU: I have to say Türkiye.
KOSEI: I would like to go to France again.
P→★: We can go to Europe.
KOSEI: I want to go to Europe too.
HAYATO: How about Korea? I was once talked about a lot on social media in Korea. I want to be popular in Korea again.
9. This is a classic question from our team. Do the members know anything about Turkey? If so, we wonder what you know about our country.
P→★: Turkish ice cream! I know Istanbul. I want to go on a balloon ride.
KICE: I want to go on a balloon ride.
KYOHEY: I’m sorry to speak as a drummer, but in Türkiye, whether it’s Istanbul or any other city, there are Turkish cymbals, and surprisingly among drummers, it’s like a sacred thing. Turkish cymbals are so different from the others that everybody just knows them as “Turkish cymbals”. Turkey is a sacred place in that sense. It would be interesting for me to visit. Especially to go on a tour to the factories of these cymbals. I would definitely like that.
10. And last question. Do you have a message you would like to convey to &Z who follow you from different parts of the world and our Turkish readers?
RAIA: One day we will be there for a concert. Please wait for us.
MITCHY: We will continue to share more with you through our activities. So, please continue to support XY!
XY’s Social Media Accounts
TikTok: @xy___official
YouTube: @XY___official
Website: https://x-y.tokyo/
Fanclub: https://x-y.love/