FIVE NEW OLD is a Japanese pop-rock band that formed back in 2010 in Kobe. Their sound is colored deeply by R&B, black music, and elements from the 80’s. With a wide range of expressive performance, the lead vocal HIROSHI sings in fluent English with the breezing melody which shows style of great pop rock attracting their wide fan base.
FIVE NEW OLD is comprised of three members; WATARU (Guitar/Key/Chords), HIROSHI (Vocalist/Guitar), and HAYATO (Drums/Chords). They made their major debut under the label Toy’s Factory in June of 2017 with BY YOUR SIDE EP. Following their major debut single, FIVE NEW OLD released their first major album Too Much Is Never Enough.
Congrats on your first major album! I really enjoyed “Dance with Misery,” what was your favorite track in this album?
(HIROSHI vo.,gt.) Thank you so much!
Because we’re fond of every song in this album, it’s very difficult to decide the best one. Even so, everyone’s favorite is probably Gateaway. It’s a very emotional and dramatic song, and even live it’s very emotional to sing.
What’s the meaning behind your band’s name, FIVE NEW OLD?
There’s no particular meaning (laugh). Originally, we choose this name only because it sounded pleasant and harmonious to the ear. But then fans prompted various speculations and attached to it a lot of wonderful meanings afterwards like “It’s FIVE a thing related to the 5 senses?” or “Does it have the meaning of making a new (NEW) sound from the old (OLD)?” and so on.
Are you guys involved in the composition and writing process of your tracks? If so, how does the process differ from your previous releases?
I’ve done composition with the members and I write lyrics myself. Although our composing process has not changed, lately it’s done more densely and closely with the members. We’ve become able to write sharing with everyone all the images that come to mind which are our inspiration so that we can obtain good lyrics.
Is there any artists or bands that have influenced the type of music in this album?
Hammock, Maroon 5, Beck, Snow Patrol, Cosmo Pyke, Rex Orange County, Tatsuro Yamashita, 80’s Superstars.
Do you have any dreams or goals as a band? For example, performing at a certain music venue or collaborating with another artist?Our dream is to perform live in our local arena in Kobe. Then, since we’re singing in English, we’d like to perform overseas and also go to many music festivals.
Is there a reason why you’ve chosen to sing all your songs in English as oppose to Japanese?
Thanks to my mother and grandmother’s influence, I’ve been listening to western music since I was a child. So, for me it was something like “To sing = produce English sounds”, that’s why writing English lyrics felt quite natural for me. Moreover, I think that overseas there are a lot of people who speak English so by writing in English, I think I can deliver my thoughts and feelings to more people.
What is your favorite part about singing and performing?
Releasing our true selves and be free.
And especially sharing this with the people who are willing to listen to it.
What is your favorite song to perform?
It’s a song called “Lair”. The emotional shoegazer feel and the moment in the outro when the lighting and our performance gets really intense and strong are the best.
What is a genre of music/concept that you would like to try?
There are many. We want to challenge whatever we think it’s cool. We want to try using sampling and we’d like to challenge ourselves to a more electronic sound. Something like Radiohead’s Kid A.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
We want to write music that it’s loved all over the world. And we’d like to perform in many countries, not only in Japan.
