The crowd was insane and the band was spectacular. Hyrdophobia’s set at their recent gig in Singapore, did not disappoint the fans one bit. This Japanese band adds friendliness and smiles to the brutality that is metal. They came outside to mingle with everyone before the show and were the biggest sweethearts. I was incredibly surprised at how nice and adorable these bunch of guys were. The organisers had set an interview for me with their guitarist/vocalist Rin. Unfortunately, due to the barrier in language, I had to cut our interview short. Thanks to Defiled’s guitarist, Yusuke for helping us translate during this interview.

Shout!: Why did you choose to play Death Grind?

Rin: [long pause] We love extreme metal that’s why we decided to play deathgrind. It started from our love for fusion music.

S!: How is it like touring with Defiled?

Rin: Awesome! They are like our big brothers and we look up to them.

S!: Why did you decide to do an Asian tour now?

Rin: The underground music scene here in Asia has been constantly evolving and has been getting better day by day. Thanks to the internet, this type of music has had plenty of exposure. And there is so many new good metal bands rising these days.  That’s why we decided that touring Asia now, while the scene is rising, was a good idea.

S!: You’ve recently released your first album after forming the band 12 years ago. What challenges did the band face while recording this record?

Rin: Hmm…We wanted to be as original as possible and do the record exactly the way we wanted.  We wanted it to be technical but simple.

S!: What is the metal scene like in Japan?

Rin: There’s so many young bands rising up now but it takes a lot to succeed as a great band.  If they keep their faith for their music strong, they’re bound to get far in the future.

S!: Which band got you into metal?

Rin: Hmm. There are many to choose from but to name some would be Napalm Death and Testament. Great grindcore and metal bands.

S!: What other types of music do you listen to other than metal?

Rin: There’s too many to list down. I enjoy various types of music. I try to keep an open
mind to all types of music. My favourites would be fusion and celtic hardcore.

S!: Any rituals you perform before going on stage?

Rin: I do some warm ups to prepare my fingers for the show and hit my chest to get my heart pumped up.

S!: How much wasabi can you consumed before you internally combust?

Rin: I love wasabi! I am Japanese afterall. There’s no limit of consumption for me. [laughs all around] We’re very proud of our culture!

S!:Thank you so much for talking to us! Arigato!

Rin: Arigato!

• Official Site: http:// hydrophobia-jpn.com
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/hydrophobiajpn