I just got this newsletter from the people who organize Sakura-con. Here are the links: http://sakuracon.org/documents/conduit/2012_Post-Sakura-Con_Newsletter_HQ.pdf (58MB) http://sakuracon.org/documents/conduit/2012_Post-Sakura-Con_Newsletter_LQ.pdf (4MB) They're both the same thing only one is low definition so it's smaller. Page 6 has the interview with Stereopony and some very good pictures! EDIT BY RSNITEBLAZE It looks like the LQ link doesn't display the STEREOPONY interview properly, so I copied/pasted the text for the people who can't load the HQ link. Spoiler Forming in Okinawa in 2007, STEREOPONY has become famous in the world of anime through their numerous theme songs. Their debut single, “Hitohira No Hanabira,” was the seventeenth ending theme for the famous anime series “BLEACH,” released on November 5, 2008 and ranked #25 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their second single, “Namida No Muko,” was the second opening theme for the second season of the Sunrise series “Mobile Suit Gundam 00,” and achieved #2 in the Oricon charts. STEREOPONY’s fifth single, “TSUKIAKARI NO MICHISHIRUBE,” also released with a tie-in with the second season of hit anime series “Darker than Black,” which ranked #8 on Oricon. “Chiisana Mahou,” the opening theme of anime series “Letter Bee REVERSE,” was released on December 8th. STEREOPONYs Sakura-Con attendance marked the band’s first visit to Seattle and first West-coast performance. STEREOPONYs members are Aimi Haraguni (vocals/guitar), Nohana Kitajima (bass), and Shiho Yamanoha (drums). Q: How have you liked your visit to Seattle thus far? STEREOPONY: We like it a lot. Q: Before you became STEREOPONY, and Mixbox, what were you doing before? STEREOPONY: We were just regular students. Q: When did you know that music was the direction that you wanted to go in? Shiho: It was when I started to take the drums, so it was when I was sixteen or seventeen years old. Q: Where do you find your inspirations? Shiho: I am inspired by bands – many of those being girl rock bands. Q: What inspires you when you are writing and creating a song? Aimi: I write about the things that make me really happy or sad or about things that happen in my day- to-day life. StereoPony Continued... Q: What is your writing process like when writing a song? Do you write the melody first or the lyrics? Aimi: When I am riding the train home from work or, when I take a path that takes an extra ten minutes to walk through, I sing or hum to myself and that sometimes becomes a melody or a song. Q: When you started making music, was it because you wanted to become famous or was it what you wanted to do because you loved it? Aimi: Maybe it is different for Nohana, because she wanted to be on TV and become famous. Shiho and I didn’t have a goal to become famous; we didn’t like being in front of people. After we formed a band and performing on stage and making music and saw everyone having so much fun in front of us and that we were making people happy, we really started to enjoy it. P. 7 StereoPony Continued... Q: What was it like when you heard your song was going to be featured in an anime? Shiho: We were really happy. When the first broadcast of that show aired we rushed to the TV and all of us watched it. Q: How did you all meet, being from different locations? Nohana: We met at studio in Okinawa, where we formed the band. Q: When you first met, what did you do to get to know each other better and become a group? Did you do anything special? Shiho: We went out to eat, we went to karaoke and we went bowling. Stuff like that. Q: Do you have any favorite karaoke songs? Shiho: I don’t like karaoke very much. Aimi: I will often have to go by myself because nobody else likes it. Q: Since STEREOPONY formed, and have been touring, have you had any vacation time? Shiho: We have had some vacation. Q: What do you do to pass the time and have fun when you aren’t working? Do you do anything interesting? Aimi: When I have the energy, I go out and have fun. Q: What is your favorite song to play live? Nohana: Viva la Viva, from the new album. Shiho: Um... Blow in the Wind from our newest album is fun to play. Aimi: Over the Border, Hoshikuzu Kantera because it is fun to watch everyone dance to that. Q: Do any of you have any special talents? Shiho: Not really. Nohana: I talk to my dolls and stuffed animals. Shiho: Yeah, Nohana talks to her dolls Nohana: It’s fun. Q: If your songs could be featured on any show or movie, which would you choose? Aimi: A commercial broadcast across North America. Shiho: A co-promotion with a beer company. Q: When you’re performing together, what is your favorite thing to do? Shiho: I have to always sit while playing the drums, so when the guitar and bass come to play in front of me, it is very exciting. ©K.Pasko StereoPony Continued... Q: After your west-coast tour – do you foresee returning to Seattle? Aimi: We would like to come back to Seattle if we could this year, but we don’t have any plans. We would like to come to America again. Q: Have you had any chance to do any sightseeing in Seattle? Aimi: Not really, but we want to go to see the very first Starbucks tomorrow if we have time. Q: Has anything surprised you about your American fans Aimi: I saw someone with a STEREOPONY tattoo yesterday during the autograph session and I’ve never met anyone like that in Japan. I put the picture on my blog and immediately our Japanese fans said “We’re not going to lose!” StereoPony Continued... Q: Are you working on anything now? Are you ever inspired while on tour? Aimi: We have a new song called Stand By Me that will debut in an anime soon. As for touring, we have had a lot of exciting experiences in the United States and I would like to put that in a song or photos, maybe. Q: Speaking of touring and traveling, if you were able to visit anywhere in the world, where would you go or what would you see? Shiho: I would like to go see the Northern Lights. Aimi: I want to take a trip around the world. Nohana: I want to go Jamaica and get dreadlocks. Any Sakura-Con interview would not be complete without asking the following: Q: What is your favorite anime? Nohana: Sailor Moon Aimi: Pocket Monsters (Pokémon) – They went to see the movie last year, together. Shiho: Dragonball. They’re airing reruns in Japan right now. Q: What is your favorite manga? Nohana: Bleach Aimi: NANA Shiho: NANA Website: http://www.stereopony.com/
