{"id":26743,"date":"2012-08-21T14:49:59","date_gmt":"2012-08-21T18:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=26743"},"modified":"2014-01-28T10:49:36","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T14:49:36","slug":"justins-japan-interview-with-minoru-niihara-of-loudness-on-eve-to-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2012\/08\/21\/justins-japan-interview-with-minoru-niihara-of-loudness-on-eve-to-dawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin’s Japan: Interview with Minoru Niihara of Loudness on \u2018Eve to Dawn\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Compared to the \u201880s, record labels, media and music industry are totally different now, but rock bands\u2019 success has been always written on the stage. I believe that rock bands should live on the stage and that\u2019s the most legitimate way to do our job.” (Courtesy of FrostByte Media)<\/p><\/div>\n

By<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0JQ\u00a0magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0editor\u00a0Justin Tedaldi<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/strong> (CIR\u00a0Kobe-shi<\/a>, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his\u00a0Japanese culture page\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for related stories.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the beginning, there was\u00a0Loudness<\/a>. Formed in 1981 in Osaka, the Japanese quartet started out as a successful hard rock and\u00a0metal<\/a>\u00a0outfit and expanded their fanbase to America four years later with an international album deal and hit single \u201cCrazy Night<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

History is now repeating itself. Twenty-five years after the release of original frontman Minoru Niihara\u2019s last album with the group during their \u201980s heyday,\u00a0Loudness<\/a>\u00a0has now inked a new global record deal with FrostByte Media<\/a>\u00a0to reintroduce them to a new audience outside of\u00a0Japan<\/a>. First up is the newly released studio album\u00a0Eve to Dawn<\/em>\u2014their 26th overall\u2014and a fall North American tour is in the works.<\/p>\n

In this exclusiveinterview, I caught up Loudness\u2019 charismatic vocalist to discuss opening for M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce at Madison Square Garden, the similarities between Japanese and American groupies, and which heavy metal movie makes him cry.<\/p>\n

Eve to Dawn<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0was released last year in Japan. Are there any differences between the original version and the American release?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have a copy here yet, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any difference between the two.<\/p>\n

Are there any plans for your new label to release your most recent album,\u00a02012<\/em>, which\u00a0<\/strong>also just came out in<\/strong>Japan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be released next year.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with the band, how would you describe Loudness\u2019 sound and lyrical themes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a very unique hard, heavy and explosive, Asian metal rock band. The most recent album has lots of songs with positive and encouraging messages because of the quake in 2011.<\/p>\n

What made you want to become a rock singer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was about 15, there is a cool singer named Masaki Ueda in Osaka, and because I really liked him, I got interested in singing. After a while I found joy in singing when I learned that people loved to listen to me sing. I became a pro, one synchronicity after another.<\/p>\n

In a recent\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0with New York\u2019s own\u00a0Chopsticks\u00a0<\/em>magazine, the band mentioned that its main goal now is to become a success in the U.S. What plans do you have to achieve this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is nothing but touring and doing lots of live performances, I guess. I believe that rock bands should live on the stage and that\u2019s the most legitimate way to do our job. That\u2019s our policy!<\/p>\n

For the complete story, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0JQ\u00a0magazine\u00a0editor\u00a0Justin Tedaldi (CIR\u00a0Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his\u00a0Japanese culture page\u00a0here\u00a0for related stories. In the beginning, there was\u00a0Loudness. Formed in 1981 in Osaka, the Japanese quartet started out as a successful hard rock and\u00a0metal\u00a0outfit and expanded their fanbase to America four years later with an international album deal and hit single \u201cCrazy Night.\u201d History is now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,26,25,340],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-celebrity","category-interviewprofile","category-justins-japan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t