Poppin’Party is an all-girls band from Bushiroad’s project BanG Dream! They have an upbeat rock style that won’t lose to their other band projects from the same franchise. The band consisted 2 of its members below, where they performed the acoustic versions of the band’s songs.
Poppin’Party:
Hi everyone. I’m Aimi, the guitarist and the vocalist of Poppin’Party. And I voice Kasumi Tomoya.
I’m Otsuka Sae. I voice Tae Hanazono, the lead guitar.
Game Press: Last year at CharaExpo, you two and Nishimoto-san perform very well in the live, you guys also show off your BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! rhythm game skills in the live. Have you improved since then and do you still play the game often?
Aimi: For me, it’s still the same level. I feel like once I reach a certain point, I just stay there. As for the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!, I can barely finish level 26 on Expert level.
Sae Otsuka: So I’m always in the radio show called Bandori TV and during that show, I’m a Garupa Banchou (also known as Garupa Gang Leader) so I always play the app on the show. Sometimes they tell me to play the game and do something different at the same time. So I think I’m improving.
Poppin’Party has grown tremendously since its inception in 2015 and many fans might not know you had only 3 members in your first live. So Aimi, do you have any memories to share during that period?
Aimi: At that time when we first started, we weren’t sure that voice actors being in a band can be a thing. When we perform for the first time, everyone at the venue, the audience was hyped up for us, cheering for us from the first song. I felt like something fun was about to start from now on.
Sae Otsuka: I was actually at the venue at the back of the audience. I saw the whole performance from the back and thought, “Wow. This is going to be legendary. A legend is born right here.”
Grand Geek Gathering:
Was there a particular funny moment between the two of you? Could you please describe it to us?
Aimi: Sae has come over to my house and slept over. My room was a little bit too small so we had to sleep together. She was talking a lot during her sleep but I don’t remember what she said. Sae has also slept over at Ohashi Ayaka’s, our drummer’s, house. Ayaka told me that Sae was singing during her sleep at the time. What song did you sing?
Sae Otsuka:: I don’t know. I was sleeping. (chuckles)
Are there any artists you draw inspiration from when you do perform your
lives, whether it’s all the band members together or the acoustic live you just perform now? And who are your favorite artists?
Aimi: The Japanese band called SILENT SIREN. We have actually performed with SILENT SIREN at Met Life dome recently. Even before I met them, I’ve been listening to their music and respecting them. After I met them, I got to love them even more. SILENT SIREN’s performance has been our goal for a long time as Poppin’Party. We always wanted to be like them. I feel like SILENT SIREN’s performance is always sparkling. Not only their techniques as a band but also their performance is amazing so we always study their lives.
Anime Trending:
Poppin’Party is the only band to have acoustic versions of their songs and even solo character songs. Why Poppin’Party in particular? What lead to this?
Aimi: As for the character songs, it’s because we had the anime, BanG Dream! season 1. Season 1 was mainly focused on Poppin’Party so that’s how we started the character songs. I wonder how did we get into the acoustic version?
Sae Otsuka: I think it sounds great when the acoustic guitar comes into the sounds of Poppin’Party. Poppin’Party’s music goes well with the acoustic arrange. I feel like we’re expanding the different aspects of Poppin’Party with acoustic guitar perform
Aimi: Our song lyrics are very dynamic like a story. When we perform the songs in the acoustic guitar, I feel like the lyrics sound a little bit different and extra emotional. Someday I hope we can have an entire live concert with acoustic performance only.ance at live concerts.
As Day 2 of CharaExpo USA 2019 comes to an end, how was your experience compared to last year’s and as well as 2017 Grand Fest?
Aimi: This year we had a special acoustic live session. The audience, our fans were hyped up for it like it was actual live. So it made me really happy. During our performance, a lot of fans cheered for us like “Whoo~~!” They cheered for us and it doesn’t really happen in Japan. We don’t really get to see that from the audience at the acoustic performances in Japan, so we were really happy to see that.
Sae Otsuka: Of course our Japanese fans are very warm and supportive as well. Compared to Japanese fans, American fans’ reactions are very dynamic. For example, each person’s voice and claps sound a lot louder so the response from the audience sounds very lively. I could feel the passion and love from the fans directly; I’m so happy to come back here and perform for everyone. Compared to last year and 2 years ago, I can see that our fans are growing. We see more and more people every year. I’m very grateful.
