Hello, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How are you doing?
Kai: We are doing great thank you! Good to talk to you guys.
For those unfamiliar with Esprit D’Air, how would you describe the band?
Kai: We are a DIY and self-signed J-rock band. We play metal music, but we mix in a lot of melody and hooks. We produce the music ourselves, and love being independent.
The band came about in 2010 and then disbanded in 2013, what has brought you back as a trio in 2016?
Kai: That’s a really interesting story, but one I’ll need to keep for another time.
The new album, Constellations, was released recently. Can you tell us a bit about how that album was written and recorded?
Kai: We started putting it together since our reformation on 29 June 2016. At the beginning, my friend Koichi helped me engineer some of the vocals for some songs, and the rest of the vocals and instruments were recorded in my studio. Over several months, I mixed and mastered all the tracks and put all the arrangements together.
Eventually, we released Constellations on 30 June 2017, which is almost one year after our reformation. We like to keep everything DIY, but doing everything ourselves can be challenging, especially when you have to give yourself a deadline and push for it. At the end of the process, we had some time to record three more tracks which were added on as bonus tracks to the CD version.
What are your favourite parts of the album?
Kai: Recording ‘Starstorm’ was really fun. It is a different style to the rest of the album, but I think it fits in.
You’ve announced a tour at the beginning of next year. How excited are you to be over in the UK?
Kai: I am very excited! There’s a lot of different sized venues we are playing, so there is a mix of intimate shows and also larger shows like in London’s Underworld Camden. We will also be going to Wales and Scotland for the first time.
Last question, in the UK we’re getting more and more Japanese rock & metal making it over here. Are there any other bands that you would recommend we check out?
Kai: If you like 80s metal music style, check out LOVEBITES and Mary’s Blood from Tokyo. They have recently signed to a European label, JPU Records.
Thanks very much for this. Do you have any parting words?
We hope you enjoy our new album, Constellations and see you on tour. Thank you!
