Interview

We Interview (Internet) Idols: Kyunchi♡

/ Cal

If you’re cool and have amazing taste, you might have caught wind that our new best friend Kyunchi♡ dropped a track with Nonamera today. If you’re a little behind, Kyunchi♡ is Thee genderless pop icon from cyberspace, smashing together global pop culture and spitting out high glamour songs for high stakes times.

Previously, we featured their track “Mecha Angel Genesis♡” in our article about the influence of jpop on hyperpop – idol fans are no stranger to the crossover of genres, but this was more than a crossover, an American artist so proudly working with Syva from Codomomental was a shock! And why stop when you have something good? “WORLDWIDE☆GIRL feat. Nonamera” served as a great opportunity to sit down with Kyunchi♡ in the digital realm and really talk about the method to the 200BPM madness. 

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We Interview Idols: END OF IDOL

/ HALIEN

From the start of this small project dedicated to Vietnamese idols, I have had the idea to contact and interview them in mind. However, as a person who has a lot of worries, I just opened my email and then closed it multiple times. Perhaps, on that day, the heat in Vietnam ignited the passion flame in me (or it just burned all my worries and anxiety into ash), but somehow I had enough courage to compose an interview request and hit the “send message” button. 

And now we are here, with Shynii Quỳnh, Kim Anh and Rin from END OF IDOL, who have agreed to share a bit of their idol experience with us. 

(From left to right, Shynii Quỳnh, Kim Anh and Rin during one of their Month End Test)

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We Interview Idols: LuciDreaM

/ farfromsleep

While last time we covered a veteran group of the Korean live idol scene, this time around I wanted to showcase a newer addition with a charm all their own. And though they may have formed only recently, this is a group with some serious past experience and a very interesting pedigree. So why not read on and allow Homicidols to introduce you to LuciDreaM, an idol duo formed by a pair of seasoned rock vocalists.

LuciDreaM’s Ria (left) and PPOYO

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We Interview Idols: NEKIRU

/ farfromsleep

There are few things more exciting than a vibrant new music scene exploding into life, and it has been a real joy to see the Korean jihadol or “live idol” scene thrive in the time since Homicidols last stopped by for a proper visit. So on that note, I’m delighted to welcome you back to the continuation of this series covering both the established and upcoming stars of the scene.

For my first article there was one group that immediately sprang to mind, the trailblazing two-member idol unit who go by the full name of Ne, Kitteru? (“Hey, are you listening?”), but are better known to the world as NEKIRU, the longest-running and almost certainly most influential group so far.

NEKIRU ‘s Soha (left) and Nyaryu

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We Interview Idols: Minna no Kodomochan

/ DAEMON / 1 Comment

Cinnamon of Minna no Kodomochan has been incredibly busy of late. Not only has she been conducting the in-store events and other duties associated with promoting her latest single, “The Final Blinkings”, but she has been personally illustrating each and every CD being sold in record stores around Tokyo. In between all of these activities, performing her birthday live, and preparing for the next round of the Artists’ League competition where Kodomochan are appearing as a referee’s choice, Cinnamon very graciously agreed to carve out some time to do an interview with us.

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Let’s Discover Some (Korean) Idols: X!DEN†

/ Cal

If you’re active on Twitter, you might have already caught the buzz on a very new, very cool trio of metal idols from Korea. Finding out about X!DEN† feels like when you’re diving at the record store and you absolutely have to tell your friend about the new coolest thing on earth. And hey, we’re all friends here right? So let us tell you!

Promo shot for Korean metal idols XIDENT Continue reading →

MERRY BAD END to Headline International Livestream Event: Digital Scene 4.0

/ DAEMON

MERRY BAD END has been invited to perform as the featured artist in the latest installment of streaming music and arts event, Digital Scene. 

Digital Scene is the brainchild of Baltimore-based OTS Productions and Montgomery Drive. As they describe it: “The concept behind Digital Scene is to bring people together by virtual collaboration from around the world. We strive to present different experiences with each edition of the series.” Version 4.0 featuring MERRY BAD END will be streaming on Twitch TV next Friday, July 24th at 8:00 pm EST (9:00 am JST).   Continue reading →

We Interview Idols: Broken By the Scream

/ DAEMON

Broken By the Scream is one of the most unique, talented and loud acts in alternative idol and, over this past Labor Day weekend, Saboten Con played host to their U.S. debut in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Although harsh vocals in chika idol have been normalized over the past few years, most groups still only use death voice elements to provide an occasional emotional emphasis or shock.  Broken By the Scream, however, has flipped this norm, embracing harsh vocals for the lead part in the majority of their songs. Having a dedicated screamer (Io) and growler (Kagura) also lends a signature contrast to the vocal delivery, oftentimes in a call-and-response style reminiscent of a collaborative rap.  In this harsh environment, it is the entry of the clean vocals of Yae and Ayame that oftentimes serve as a purifying and cathartic shock.

Towards the end of Saboten Con weekend, Team Homicidols was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to sit down and speak with the four talented idols whose singular voices combine to make Broken By the Scream the vocal powerhouse that it is. 

Broken By The Scream Homicidols Interview

Yae: This is a genre that you’ve probably never heard anywhere else in the world.

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Monster of Dolls interviews, Part 1: Sari

/ chris

First, apologies that it’s a little short. Translation difficulties I alluded to elsewhere meant that the chat was not as free-flowing as I had hoped. But hey, isn’t this the first post-Necronomidol interview with Sari?I’m pretty sure it’s the first one in English, so let’s claim that.  Friends, Romans, countrymen: Homicidols.com presents…

THE FIRST POST-NECRONOMIDOL INTERVIEW WITH SARI (in English)!

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Making an Idol Monster: We Talk to the Creative Team behind Monster of Dolls

/ DAEMON / 1 Comment

Just a few months ago, Homicidols published a profile of fans-turned-promoters bringing alternative idols to the Western World.  Looking back now, the article is a bit embarrassingly anglo-centric. Unbeknownst to us at the time, a group of Italian-speaking fans were putting the finishing touches on their own considerable efforts to launch an alt-idol festival in Italy. When the final lineup for the event was revealed in mid-February, it was clear that there was a new and significant player in the business of importing underground Japanese idol to the West.

https://twitter.com/monster_dolls/status/1096753534014578688

Seemingly overnight, the hardol diaspora had grown another tendril.

On May 11th in Bologna, Italy, Monster of Dolls will play host to alt-idol A-listers LADYBABY, the Western debut of JyuJyu, and an appearance by the legendary Sari of NECRONOMIDOL fame. The event’s biggest coup, however, is scoring the first ever overseas live for perhaps the hottest chika idol act in Tokyo: Melon Batake a go go.

The appearance of this top-tier alt-idol festival, seemingly out of nowhere, was the most pleasant of surprises. Our curiosity was piqued, not just about the cost of plane tickets to Italy, but also about the festival itself, the brains behind it, and about the Italian-speaking fandom whose presence we had been totally ignorant of until now. So we reached out to our new Italian allies in the quest to bring alt-idol to the West in the hopes that we could learn all we could.

We think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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