Carrying MIKOSHI Is The Key Point of the Dance of "METALI!!" --"METALI!!(feat. Tom Morello)" is a collaboration with a legend, Tom Morello for the first time. It is a great combination of BABYMETAL and Tom Morello, and the theme of the song is the summer festival song for the “The Metal Village (METAMURA)”. How did your producers explain about this song?SU-METAL: It was just as rough as "It's a song for a summer festival" (laughs). No need to explain with words but (the staff) let us listen to Tom Morello’s guitar first. From the beginning, I thought it was a very BABYMETAL song, and when I first heard it, I felt like this song took the best parts of "PA PA YA!!” and "Megitsune". Not only “PA PA YA!!" and "Megitsune” , there are elements in "METALI!!" that everyone can sing along to at a live performance.
MOMOMETAL: It's already one of my favorite songs, and once I heard it, I can't get it out of my head so much that it's hard to forget. It has Japanese elements, but it also has upbeat elements that are sure to get the crowd going. I am really looking forward to performing it live.
--What does the music video look like? (*The music video was not completed at the time of the interview and had not yet been seen)SU-METAL: It’s like “Wasshoi, wasshoi, wasshoi”(laughs).
*”Wasshoi” is the typical chant used by a group of people to synchronize their movements, to encourage each other especially while carrying Mikoshi, which is a carriable religious shrine at festivals in Japan
MOAMETAL: There hasn’t been a music video featuring the BABYMETAL members since "BxMxC", has there? I'm glad we can finally release a song that includes a music video and lets the audience get to know us.
SU-METAL: I'm glad, because the music video has a Japanese summer festival feel with the lanterns and the Japanese-style tatami room, so I'm looking forward to the song becoming a favorite of people overseas as well. Also, I danced a lot in the music video.
--What is the uniqueness of this song's choreography, from your point of view, MOA?MOAMETAL: I think it is easy to dance. Some of the songs on the "THE OTHER ONE" album have choreographies that only experienced dancers could do, but the chorus of "METALI!!” can be danced by even small children, so it is very easy to get into the groove of the chorus and so on. My favorite part of the dance is the part where they carry the Mikoshi. We dance like carrying the Mikoshi so many times. It's perfect if our fans all do "Wasshoi, Wasshoi" together.
--The lyrics "Wasshoi!” and “Dokkoisho!" are very catchy hooks for the audience. By the way, who is rapping the "ODORU AHOU-NI MIRU AHOU-” part?MOAMETAL: That’s MOMOMETAL!!
--Oh, I see! What a surprise! !SU-METAL: Generally nobody recognizes her rapping this part. Well, she rarely sings or says anything.
MOMOMETAL: Well, it's almost like saying nice to meet you for the first time (laugh).
--Is this your first time rapping like this?MOMOMETAL: Yes, it's my very first time.
MOAMETAL: She is very good at it, isn’t she?
--So we might be able to hear this at a live performance?MOMOMETAL: I don't know...? (Laughter)
Everyone: (laughs)
MOMOMETAL: I'm looking forward to seeing how the audience will react.
--But it's great to have Tom Morello's guitar in the mix of those BABYMETAL elements, isn't it?MOAMETAL: It's true. If you just look at the choreography, there is no Tom Morello element at all. Our stance is that we’d like everyone to listen to the sound and feel of Tom Morello. And I think everyone can enjoy this song visually and audibly in different ways.
-It's like BABYMETAL's summer song, and you will probably perform at Summer Sonic, and it's sure to be a lot of fun.
SU-METAL: Yes, it will be. I'm thrilled to see how our fans will enjoy our performance. This song is really amazing.
MOAMETAL: It's extremely awesome, so I want the audience to be careful. We are sweating like a waterfall just dancing to this song, so you have to hydrate yourself.
-By the way, when do you three feel like “it's summer!”?
MOMOMETAL: I feel that summer has arrived when I hear the sound of cicadas.
MOAMETAL: I wonder, when I feel like I want to eat ice cream?
SU-METAL: I'm always saying that I want to eat ice cream.
MOAMETAL: I eat ice cream all the time, but I only want to eat sherbet in summer.
MOMOMETAL: That's true.
SU-METAL: I see. You want to refresh yourself, don’t you?
MOAMETAL: Basically, I like thick ice cream with rich milk, but only in summer I like refreshing one. When I want something refreshing, I know it is summer.
SU-METAL: I think it would be Summer Sonic, which I have attended almost every year since 2012. It's been a while since I was last there, so I'm really looking forward to joining this year. From the moment I enter the waiting room at Summer Sonic, I feel "wow, it's summer". I feel like I want to say "I'm home." I think of it as a home since I go back there every year, so I'm missing it. Well, I think it's going to be really hot and humid for sure.
MOAMETAL: It is hot, isn't it? It certainly feels like summer at music festivals.
SU-METAL: When you travel to different continents, the seasons can be the exact opposite.
MOMOMETAL: That's right. When we went to Australia the other day, it was almost winter.
SU-METAL: It was almost winter, though it was June.
MOMOMETAL: There is no sense of seasons.
SU-METAL: So maybe the food at Japanese music festivals makes me feel summer.
MOAMETAL: True. We are in Japan during the festival season. That's a good point.
SU-METAL: (laughs).
MOMOMETAL: Indeed.
