INTERVIEW

*Photo by Chloe Gonzales for The Luna Collective*

“WHAT MAKES US SHINE THE BRIGHTEST?”—says Shime of Travis Japan, when asked about their sound and influences. Travis Japan arrives in Los Angeles, tackling its scene after conquering the city of Tokyo. The seven-member dance and pop group, consisting of Genta, Shime, Noel, Machu, Umi, Shizu, and Chaka, has achieved a lot, with their debut single “JUST DANCE!” and debut album Road To A breaking records for Japanese acts. “陰ニモ日向ニモ” lands as their latest single, which is featured as the theme song for the TV drama Zenbu, Anata no Tame Dakara. The Luna Collective had the pleasure to photograph the group as they stopped in Los Angeles and got an exclusive Q&A from the group.

LUNA: How do you guys shine individually while still contributing to a group setting?

GENTA: For me, it’s about enjoying each day, eating well and getting enough sleep. Keeping myself stress-free is really important!

LUNA: How would you guys define your genre? What influences do you pull from? (Musically or not!) Does your sound change with each new release/era?

SHIME: Travis Japan has challenged many different kinds of songs, styles and genres so far, but I feel like we’re still on a journey, asking ourselves: What makes us shine the brightest? Of course, the songs we’ve done until now are all wonderful, and we always give our best, but we’re still exploring. We want to keep trying new kinds of music. It’s the same with dance—we’re experimenting with many styles, and maybe in 10 or 20 years we’ll arrive at that point where people say, “This is Travis Japan.”On our album, each member produced a track, so you can feel how each of us personally sees the style of Travis Japan.

Our influences differ depending on the member—our lives, the music we’ve listened to, the artists we admire. For example, we all went to see Katy Perry’s show together, and it was incredibly inspiring. We even talked about how amazing it would be to put on a show like that one day.

LUNA: Favorite song to personally perform?

NOEL: I really love “Tokyo Crazy Night.” The choreography has a jazz-like feel to it—it’s less about straight lines and more about curves. I enjoy moving in a flowing, expansive way, and that really fits my own style.

There isn’t any official footage of me performing it yet, but it will be included in the DVD of our VIIsual tour in Japan, so please look forward to that! We’re also performing it on our world tour, so I hope you’ll enjoy it live.

LUNA: How does your social media account shape your personality as a band? Do you feel like it helps show another side of the group that you can’t show in performances?

MACHU: We’re a group that loves to perform—dancing, singing, putting on a show. Performance is one of our biggest strengths. But at the same time, we’re seven very unique, funny, and quirky individuals. With social media, we try to create content that shows both sides—our strong performances and our personal, playful sides. Our goal is to let people get to know us better and hopefully grow to love us as individuals too.

LUNA: What differences do you feel performing internationally versus domestically? Crowd energy differences at all or different cultural ideas that contribute to the concert itself?

UMI: In Japan and across Asia, it’s common for fans to cheer us on with uchiwa—fans that they’ve decorated with so much love and effort, and they hold them up during concerts. In America, on the other hand, people seem to enjoy concerts with their whole bodies. The way they move, the voices they shout—it all comes through to us directly. It’s not about which is better or worse—both cultures are wonderful, just in different ways.

LUNA: How does it feel reaching new heights as a group (ie. “JUST DANCE” breaking the top 5 Billboard’s Global Excl. US Chart)? Does it feel stressful or exciting at all? Mixture of both?

SHIZU: To me, leaving a record on the charts means that we’re also creating memories for so many people. The fact that our love for music is being felt by fans and listeners, and then reflected in the numbers, makes me really happy. I don’t feel stress or pressure at all—it’s exactly what we aim for and value as a group. It’s all thanks to the fans who cheer us on with so much passion. That’s what makes me happiest.

LUNA: What’s next for the group?

CHAKA: We’re able to do what we do now because we have fans who share experiences we’ve had as a group and as individuals. That pride we share with our fans is something I want to keep cherishing. Whenever we take on new challenges—whether in Japan or overseas—I want us to face them together, supporting each other.

There may be brand-new stages waiting for us, or familiar ones we’ll revisit, but no matter the form of the challenge, we want to carry our Travis Japan pride with us, involve our fans and keep moving forward together.