Masked Avatar Band FZMZ on ‘Shangri-La Frontier’ Theme Song ‘BROKEN GAMES’ & Plan for the Real World: Interview

FZMZ, pronounced fathoms, is the masked avatar band that burst onto the scene with “BROKEN GAMES,” the opening theme to the TV anime series Shangri-La Frontier, which began airing in Japan in October. FZMZ is said to be a collective of artists on the front-lines of the music scene, hailing from inside Japan and overseas, and the true identities of several members have already been discovered. JACK is (sic)boy, GAVI is Ivan (of Survive Said The Prophet), and KAMATA is Pierre Nakano (of Ling tosite sigure). However, the band remains shrouded in mystery. Billboard Japan talked with MAQUMA, HONNWAKA88, and KAMATA about their new CD single, “BROKEN GAMES,” which will be released on November 29, about what FZMZ is all about, and about the band’s plans for the real world. 

FZMZ, we know you’re a group of active artists from Japan and abroad. While we know some of your true identities, there’s still a lot of mystery about you, and all kinds of theories are circulating on social media. Could shed some light on what led to you coming together and how it’s felt working as a group. 

MAQUMA: Urggg…while I’d love to leave it all to your imagination, I shall take advantage of this opportunity and deign to answer your questions! I was approached regarding Shangri-La Frontier, and I thought to myself, if I’m going to be doing this, then why not join with musicians HONNWAKA88 and KAMATA, who are fellow game and anime aficionados, and create a new project?! Then JACK and GAVI joined, bringing us up to five members. I wrote the demo and HONNWAKA88 worked on the arrangement. As soon as I heard it, two words flashed through my mind: “Giant, Massive Success!” 

Details regarding FZMZ’s members are still sparse, but you all clearly have a lot of experience and are highly skilled. It would be unsurprising if there had been some conflict between you, in terms of your motivations and musical preferences. Have you all gotten along well from the start? 

HONNWAKA88: This…is the NETAVERSE… 

Lineage matters not… sleight of hand matters not… 

Crazy sounds spill from our souls, laid bare… 

There is no need to hold back…we give ourselves up to the chaos, like a turbulent stream, to surging elation…and thus we are “FZMZ”… 

We can go… 

What kind of creative work do you see as the exclusive domain of FZMZ? 

KAMATA: FZMZ’s, like, this really avant-garde project, and we’re using VR, and games, and anime to open new doors. We’ve got some members we haven’t announced yet that are gonna blow people’s minds, so I’m super-hyped about the future! We’re gonna do some real world live shows and some particle live shows, and we wanna make things even more exciting! Now, if we just had some liquor and some meat and social media, it’d be perfect! Especially liquor! 

Your long-awaited first digital single, “BROKEN GAMES,” will be coming out soon. I know that you wrote it as the opening theme song for the TV anime Shangri-La Frontier. What feelings were evoked for you by this anime, this tale of a devotee of terrible games who uses the skills he’s learned through them to take on a beloved gaming masterpiece? What aspects of it did you want to express through your music? 

MAQUMA: Urgg…Going back to the comic book source material, I was struck by the dynamism of the battle scenes, so full of energy and movement they scarcely felt like a comic. Now that comic was going to be adapted in anime form, so it was vital that our song had a breakneck beat that could keep up with the anime’s tempo. That said, this anime is no simple collection of battles! There are also the aesthetics of the fantasy world, and appearances by other games, so we needed to weave new approaches into our music! Our supremely gifted rapper, Jack mixed in a hip-hop approach, to great success (that said, I am also a talented rapper!). What’s more, there’s a jangling yet sweeping chorus. These diverse musical elements come together to express the world of Shangri-La Frontier in sonic form! 

From the soaring, aggressive intro to the layers of rap, each with their different flows, and then the melodious chorus that opens up the song, it’s really a superb song that makes a tremendous impact. What areas did you focus on when writing the song? 

MAQUMA: Urggg! The whole world has its attention focused on the anime coming out of Japan. The image of anime reaching foreign audiences long after Japanese viewers is outdated. Now overseas audiences are keeping up with the latest anime. This is no exception, so, to some extent, we wanted to make a song that would click with overseas fans! For example, my rap, the first verse in the song, is in Japanese, but with English-style pronunciation. 

I imagine that lines like “Not not not yet NO, I haven’t had enough” and “this world is going to be mine…duh” reflect the feelings of the main character of Shangri-La Frontier, who keeps taking on games without ever tiring. There must be some overlap there between him and yourselves, who have such illustrious careers but never feel sated and keep pushing forward. What do you think? 

MAQUMA: A valiant attempt at an insightful observation, but unfortunately the lyrics of the song are all about the main character, Sunraku. It is free of the feelings of the members of FZMZ! How unfortunate! Don’t feel bad, interviewer! Urggg! However, it is true that no matter how much plankton I eat, I am never sated. This is because I am always growing hungrier! 

MAQUMA, you and JACK share credits for the lyrics and music. Is there anything you could share with us about how you divide up your lyric-writing and track creation duties? 

MAQUMA: Simply put, Jack writes his own rap parts, and I write the other parts! He’s more of a rap specialist than I, so there’s not much I can say about his part…but I was originally going to sing the “we can go” melody in the chorus. Instead, he sang a high-pitched version, and, honestly, I was stunned. What a serendipitous mistake that beautiful voice was! 

MAQUMA, some people have been saying that your voice sounds like the voice of MAH, the vocalist of SiM. They’ve also been saying that your sound production is reminiscent of SiM. What are your thoughts on that? 

MAQUMA: Urggg…Interviewer! Do you need to take a break or something? Are you suffering from sleep deprivation?! I am MAQUMA, and no other! We’ve heard in the NETAVERSE that there’s an incredible band called SiM in the real world…but FZMZ is number one! We’re unrivalled and unique!! 

Is FZMZ a one-time band, created for just this song, or are you planning on creating more in the future? Could you shed some light on that? 

MAQUMA: That’s not important! What’s important right now is that you get some sleep! You can’t do good work if you aren’t well-rested! Urggg…We’ve gone to the trouble of bringing together this group of thrilling and provocative members, so of course we’re going to gift the world with even more of our artistry! If the technology advances enough, the day may come when we can travel freely between our worlds and put on live shows in the real world. But until that day comes, listen to “BROKEN GAMES” and enjoy Shangri-La Frontier! 

–This interview by Ryuji Yakou first appeared on Billboard Japan