[INTERVIEW] Garnidelia at Anisong Stage – AFASG

Hi everyone! Still on AFASG’s Anisong stage, titled “I Love Anisong Reboot”, now Kojacon Report is very happy to greet Garnidelia to share their impression about this event and also deliver their message to all of you through music. Garnidelia (stylized as GARNiDELiA) is a Japanese music unit signed to Defstar Records, consisting of vocalist Mai Mizuhashi, also known as Maria, and producer Yoshinoli Abe, also known as Toku.

Your most recent Album Birthia is a compilation of your Indies Songs, how do you see Garnidelia has changed over time from your early days as an indie group till now? 

We recently released a compilation of our early works. We’ve just realized that when we sang all those songs again, we have really become more mature. When I (Maria) sang Aria, I was just 18, now I’m 23 so now my voice is also changed from then. We also got to meet so many new fans. It makes us gaining our confidence as well. So it is quite different from then and now.

The Cover Art for Garnidelia Single & Album looks really good, how much input did you guys put on the cover art? And how do you feel to have yourself as your cover art, as opposed to the mascot you used in the early days? 

We use the Mascot in our Indies time but when we debuted and gained more fame we want ourselves to be on the cover to let people know who we are. Regarding the cover art, I (Maria) have the full input, but I also discussed with our producer and stylist. In our indie days, it was more popular to use a mascot character, so we used it to get more sales. But in the Debut days, we think it will be easier if we’re using ourselves as our Single & Album Cover Art.

Your fashion is always beautiful, where do you get your fashion inspiration?

I (Maria) don’t get it from any one source or person. I got a lot of inspiration when I go out on the street and see what people are wear. I also got my inspiration from Anime characters, sometimes seasonal trends or even the Paris collection. Once I’ve got an idea I’ll discuss it with my stylist to come up with a design and make it into costumes.

What are the main challenges you’ve faced? And after you guys are debuting what is the challenges you are facing now? 

Back when we first started, our main challenges were to increase our views in Nico Nico Douga, Youtube and also to take criticism. On the internet there were good comments and also bad comments, sometimes a very harsh one. We read them all, but we had to learn how to deal with them and not to lose ourselves in it. Back then, our concerts would be spacious, with only a few people. Once, we did our live with only 10 audiences. Now we’re much more popular. Our lives are attended by 1300 people and now we have chances to perform overseas so we have a duty to stay healthy and perform well for our fans.

What was the happiest moment you had as a group? 

We are always happy to have a chance to meet so many fans. But we think our major debut was our happiest moment and it was so memorable for us.

How do you relax away from music? 

We really love music, music is our life. Most of our resting time is spent by sleeping or eating, but we can’t stop thinking about creating music. We always link everything with music. We are trying to come up with new ideas and looking for inspiration.

Do you have any advice for any aspiring artists?

There are a lot of increasing talent pools now. It is much easier to get noticed than before, but that also means the competition is harsher. The most important is to find their own style, be firm in their strength and beliefs that cannot be replaced by any other artist. They should not get swayed by other artists. We are also going to work hard as well.

And that’s the end of the interview, thank you so much! If you’re interested, you can follow up on their individual works, such as MARiA’s dance video with Miume and her debut song ARiA. You can also stalk follow their official Facebook page, or even MARiA’s personal Twitter and Instagram, and toku’s personal Twitter and Instagram.