Worldwide Sensation SCANDAL’s Haruna On The Band’s August 21st Livestream, Future Plans & More
SCANDAL is an all-female Japanese rock band from Osaka, Japan. Formed in Summer 2006 by 4 high school friends, SCANDAL played live street performances until they were noticed and signed to the indie label Kitty Records. Although all 4 members have provided lead vocals, their “primary roles” — as listed within the band’s official bio — are Haruna on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mami on lead guitar, Tomomi on bass guitar, and Rina on drums. In 2019, the band founded its own record label named “her” and has continued to release a steady stream of chart-topping singles and albums since then, while bringing its acclaimed, best-selling music to concert venues all across the globe.
The band’s 9th studio album Kiss From The Darkness was released in February 2020. The album peaked at number five on Japan’s Oricon weekly charts, extending Scandal’s streak of having all 9 of its albums reach the top 5 of the charts upon release. SCANDAL’s latest digital single “Spice” dropped earlier this summer in collaboration with Xflag for the animated film Xpice. SCANDAL had plans for international touring in 2020, including U.S. dates, but these tour dates were cancelled as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. In place of that touring, SCANDAL will be hosting a livestreamed concert event on August 21st, which has more information via https://livefrom.events/scandal.
To learn more about SCANDAL’s August 21, 2020 livestream event, I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with guitarist and vocalist Haruna over e-mail. More on SCANDAL, including information about its August 21st event, can be found online via the band’s official website at www.scandal-4.com.
You have a big livestream event scheduled for August 21st. What should be expected from it?
Haruna: Since our world tour for our new album Kiss From The Darkness was cancelled due to COVID-19, we want to re-create the same stage performance for this Livestream concert. We usually can’t bring our entire stage set to our overseas shows, so we are very happy to show/bring the full stage set concert to everyone in the world via Livestream concert. Plus, we will perform some news songs, so I hope everyone will enjoy!
I believe Scandal first toured the U.S. over a decade ago as part of SXSW and Sakura-Con. Have you ever traveled to the U.S. besides Scandal touring?
Haruna: I think our first U.S. appearance was in 2008 so, it was 12 years ago. Time flies! (laughs) Other than the U.S. tour, I’ve been to New York twice, and enjoyed a Broadway performance of Kinky Boots.
Scandal’s latest album is 2020’s Kiss From The Darkness. When did you finish recording it?
Haruna: Our first recording for Kiss From The Darkness was in February 2019. I think recording finished in December 2019, so it took us 10 months to complete the full album.
Do you have a favorite song on Kiss From The Darkness?
Haruna: Personally, I love “Neon Town Escape,” because I wrote both the music and lyrics for it, and we were also able to invite our close friends as the guest, so the creative process overall was very exciting! As a band, we have a special place in our hearts for “Master Piece” because this is our first single release from our own label “her.” I also really love “Saishu Heiki, Kimi,” it’s so fun to perform live on-stage.
Kiss From The Darkness is the first album that has Scandal has released on the “her” record label. Do you enjoy having your own record label?
Haruna: I feel like since we launched “her,” we all feel as if we can continue SCANDAL for many more years and we can go anywhere we want. Also, we think about our own identities and originality more than ever. “her” is a very special space for us!
Besides your August 21st event, what is coming up for SCANDAL?
Haruna: It’s very hard to make plans for the future at this moment, but we definitely want to go to all the places we were supposed to go for our 2020 World Tour in 2021. We are making more music, so hopefully we can release new songs when we tour in 2021!
Do you have any projects you are working on besides SCANDAL?
Haruna: Other than music, we have a fashion brand called Feedback. Each band member is working on different projects, but I’ll tell you more about that next time!
Besides Kiss From The Darkness, what has been your favorite album of 2020?
Haruna: I can’t think of a specific album title, but I was definitely inspired by K-pop artists, such as BLACK PINK.
Finally, Haruna, any last words for the kids?
Haruna: Don’t miss our first world-wide livestream concert on August 21st! I promise you that this will be the best Livestream show! Unfortunately, we are in this stressful and confusing time, but if we stick together and stay positive, we can move forward! We want like to unite with everyone through our music! See you all on August 21st!
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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