The thing these four are aiming at is "Mode Rock."
Interview with NEW SODMY in VICIOUS (September 2001).
Interview by:Mami Akagi, Photography by: ?? (not credited in the article)
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--How did the four of you meet?
YOU: Well, I was involved in an indies band, and one of the members in that band was a LAREINE roadie. And so, I was aquainted with LAREINE from a long time ago. In the end, that band I was in stopped activities... and I wondered if there was anyone who might be interested in starting a band with me. And so, the two who I approached were these two (KAMIJO & MAYU).
KAMIJO: I was continuing LAREINE alone at the time, but I also was thinking of becoming active as a band again. YOU's timing was perfect. But when I heard that YOU had also approached MAYU as well, I was, as you might expect, pretty surprised. (laughs)
--What were your feelings about being able to work with MAYU again, KAMIJO?
KAMIJO: Well, I've always thought that I wanted to work with MAYU forever... so much that I invited him to do so just before LAREINE's final concert.
MAYU: Yeah, I've always felt since the begininning that I've wanted to work with KAMIJO. Only, he wasn't doing what I really wanted, and that was to work as a band... But, this time YOU invited me and since things worked out well in terms of timing and circumstances, I was like why not go for it?
--And about meeting AYA?
YOU: Well, the three of us started making songs, but we wanted another spice and began talking about if there may be another guitarist out there... and then the discussion became, how about former Blue-B member AYA?
KAMIJO: We'd seen him on TV a couple of times, didn't we? (laughs) And so, we got someone to introduce him to us.
--What did you think when you were invited, AYA?
AYA: Well, I had known about LAREINE since long before. And when I thought about working together with them, I was like... am I going to become like that (wear elegant costumes and have a hairstyle of long curls), which made me pretty uneasy. (everyone laughs)
--That you'd have to wear that kind of costume too?
AYA: Yeah (laughs). But when I met them and listened to what they had to say, I realized that it didn't look like that was going to happen (laughs).
--Hahahaha. And the origin of the band name?
KAMIJO: As for Sodom, it's the name of a city of criminals that is mentioned in the Bible. I've always really liked the sound* of that word. I investigated various things, and made up my own word "Sodmy," plus, since I wanted to do something new, I added the word "new" in front of it.
YOU: We really struggled over the band name, didn't we? More than a month...
--So long!?
YOU: Yeah. We didn't want to add any adjustments, and because we're serious.
--I see. By the way, what direction is NEW SODMY aiming for?
KAMIJO: Well, I guess it's the thing that the four of us are always talking about, "Mode Rock." Each member has their own thing that they've brought with them, and without changing those things... we'll create new things from what we've brought together. That's a belief that we hold, and we'd like to keep that close to our hearts as we continue our activity.
--Hm... also, what are your plans for the future?
KAMIJO: Well, we'd like to release some kind of work in fall. But before that, we are thinking about appearing at several events this summer under the name of "WEREWOLF." You may wonder "why WEREWOLF?" but it's because we'd like our first live as NEW SODMY to be a solo-live. Until that time, we'd kind of like to go around violently at various live houses (laughs). We might even suddenly appear at the Rock May Kan** (laughs). We don't really know where we'll appear yet, so please check often! (laughs)
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*By sound, he means that he likes the way the word sounds when you say it.
**A livehouse in Meguro, Tokyo.