Last week I talked with Japan Progressive Metalcore band Graupel about life and music. Graupel’s music can be found on the bands official band pages on https://graupel.bandcamp.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/c/GraupelOfficial.

Happy listening!

What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before?

We are Graupel. We wanted name our band something related to winter and searching on Wikipedia, we got the word Graupel. We have never changed our band’s name before.

Oh wow that’s actually pretty interesting. Tell me a little bit about yourselves?

I’m a guitarist and composer for Graupel. My name is Yuta and live in Tokyo.

Cool, nice to meet you Yuta. I play guitar myself. I rock a black sparkle Fender Stratocaster. What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?

Our music is categorized to metalcore and we define our music as “Progressive Blackened Metalcore.”

I got the influences from many genres. At first, I started playing guitar inspired by melodic hardcore like NUFAN, Greenday, Rufio. Talking about Graupel, I’m influenced by melodic hardcore, new school hardcore, post rock, black metal, J-POP, soundtrack for video game and cinema and of course other metalcore band like IKTPQ, Parkway Drive.

Very nice very nice. I like all those bands as well. How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?

Original member is me and drummer(Julien). We know each other from 2014 spring. We met in music club in the university. I asked him to play drum in my band. At next, Takuma(guitarist) entered the same music club and I asked him to join Graupel in 2015 spring. We did audition for bassist and vocal this spring and autumn. Then, Kai(bassist) and Sota(vocal) joined Graupel .

When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?

I started composing some demo song played in Graupel in 2013 but they were not for Graupel then. They were just composed for my solo project. I decided doing band in 2014 summer, started some rehearsal in 2014 autumn. We started using the name of Graupel in 2014 winter. Uploaded a demo in 2015 May. Started to play some show in 2015 October. Only groove inspired us.

Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?

Not yet.

What can you tell me about your instruments?

I use a black telecaster deluxe made by Fender Mexico. I like a shape of telecaster.

Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?

We have played in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido. Our favorite is Shibuya Cyclone, Sapporo Klub Counter Action, Umeda Zeela. Otaru CRU-Z. Shibuya Rubyroom was hard for us because stage is too small for 5 members to perform while moving. We have upcoming shows is 1/31 Shibuya Cyclone, 2/17 Shibuya Cyclone, 3/2 Shinjuku Antiknock(not announced yet), 3/10 Hachioji Rips, 3/25 Hosei University(not announced yet), Shinjuku Antiknock(not announced yet).

Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?

We perform Horizon, Etherial, and Frozen in every show. We have covered Say Goodbye by IKTPQ, Stillborn by Maroon and It’s not safe to swim today by Veil of Maya. We play some song not recorded, so we don’t have a set play list on the Internet.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?

I(Yuta) write every music for Graupel. Themes is blue, cold and beautiful. This concept will never change.

Could you briefly describe your music-making process?

Jamming in my brain, recording demo with Logic. The other members practice with demo by themselves and jamming in the rehearsal studio.

What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?

Practice through the show set list. After that, we practice some parts with problems. We have rehearsals every Tuesday night.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

We got tight through many shows and hanging out together.

What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

Hokkaido touring. 7 shows in 9 days. It was our first tour and we finished the tour without any trouble.

What's your ultimate direction for your band? What would you want people to take away from your new music?

Making our own era. We want people to get the visions of beautiful landscapes.

What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

Never give up. Efforts are rewarded.

How can fans-to-be gain access to your music?

Check out our bandcamp and Youtube channel

https://graupel.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/c/GraupelOfficial

Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

Friends, family, staff and fans.