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An interview with PSYCHO SONIC BOOM about new album CHIMERA

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Today we have an interview with PSYCHO SONIC BOOM!

PSYCHO SONIC BOOM is the solo project of Kairu (カイル) [XAVAK, ex-【En'Cell♰Dis'Dein】], and his new album CHIMERA was released this month. Kairu (カイル) kindly granted us an interview about this album and how it differs from this previous works.

Thanks to Kairu (カイル), one lucky winner will receive a free copy of CHIMERA! Read on to learn how to participate.

Interview with PSYCHO SONIC BOOM

Kairu (カイル), thank you for granting us this interview about PSYCHO SONIC BOOM.

Please introduce yourself to new readers.

Hello, I am Kyle, or as known here in Japan: Kairu (カイル). If we ever meet in person feel free to pronounce my name correctly, I miss it!

I am the leader of XAVAK and I do a few other things too here.

PSYCHO SONIC BOOM V. KAIRU (カイル) solo photo

PSYCHO SONIC BOOM V. KAIRU (カイル) solo photo

Your new solo album, CHIMERA, has just been released. Please tell us a little bit about this album and what we can expect.

This album came out of nowhere. Local fans were asking me many times to make some solo stuff in Japanese so I made a single and then wow・・・ I was surprised how many people bought the CD so quickly, so then I decided to make one more and again, so I was like “fxxk, may as well just put out an album.” And then within like a month I just did my best.

It's an album that maybe has a feel like early dawn? At least I feel so. Like early dawn in dirty Tokyo, walking home.

In Greek mythology, a chimera is a multi-headed monster made up of various animals. Does this creature relate to the concept behind your new album?

I used 7 string guitar in 2 different tunings, and then 6 string guitar in・・・ 3 different tunings I believe? And then I wanted to make sure I mixed Japanese and English in a natural way across the album. There are various genres popping their heads out in songs too, sometimes mixed together in ways I have never heard before. Also, I feel like I myself am a strange mix; I wanted to make an album with this name for 12 years now.

Of the 16 songs, which one is a good starting point for someone who has never listened to your music before?

Please listen to the album from start to finish! In this day and age we have such small attention spans, even if you initially do not understand an album I think after multiple listens you will understand. That is me being an old optimistic man haha. I know lots of people won't take that time, however I do not make music for them, I make it for myself. Of course I made a music video, so go check out Jikai (自戒). I think even if you cannot understand the Japanese you can grasp a good feel of the album and my world view.

Which song was most challenging or most exciting to see come together?

None of them were really challenging but I was really happy to see how Zou (像) turned out. When I listen to that song I think “wow, I really put a piece of my soul down on this one.”

Muchitsujo (無秩序) is also extremely gratifying for me to listen to each time; it's a part of my inner self that I can never really show to people was able to be put into a song format.

HEART IN SPIRAL is also a song I am so proud of. Originally that was a song I was making for a friend in Yokosuka but after I finished the demo I sent it over to Kaya and then the next time he and I met up he said “that song was really good!” and the way he said that I thought “oh shxt well, my friend did not pay for the exclusive rights to it so I guess I am going to use that now!” haha.

Other songs I am really proud of but the lyrics were extremely personal so I do not want to touch on them, I would rather the fans interpret it themselves too, so!

How is CHIMERA different from your previous solo album, DESTRUCTOTRON?

DESTRUCTOTRON was a nod to my youth and roots. This album, like all of my albums, I still ask myself “what would you think of this in highschool or junior high?” so I do not lose hold of my initial spark. So maybe this album has just different aspects of my roots, i.e. some KoRn and Deftones inspiration is in the 7 string songs.

But I think this album is more so a nod to my current self. If you met me in person and knew how I talk in Japanese and then you heard some of the songs with rougher impolite lyrics you'd probably laugh and say “oh yah, that is Kairu for sure.” I also really put lots of personal things in the songs in a very direct way. It is very odd for me still to listen to some of those lyrics and remember vividly the moments they are connected to.

Also I think I have a well established guitar playing style that was not on DESTRUCTOTRON, the way I mix up certain scales and play all the time was really apparent on this album I think, so even in a drop G 7 string tuning song there are some 90s vkei harmonic minor scale type phrases etc.

In general, how does your solo work differ from your bands?

Because making the songs for the bands is just all done by myself maybe there is not a huge difference? For solo stuff I can maybe think “oh I can just do whatever and not worry if they can play this part.” etc. But even then I have to say “oh wait・・・ support members at a live.” So there are always considerations of what musicians are at my disposal. Maybe the biggest difference is that I know my vocal range so when making the vocal melodies I can go with whatever I know will work.

Please tell us your process when recording solo works. Do you personally record each instrument or rely on support members?

I record all instruments by myself and even some of the drums on this album I went and recorded. I honestly do not want to push that out there so much as I think vulnerability is a key selling point in this age of ego stroking 24/7 on phones. Majority of drums were handled by people I paid etc. however everything from drums to piano on this album I handled myself.

Sometimes I write out a song in bandscore format—the upcoming XAVAK releases were all made that way—however for this album I just plugged my guitar into my LINE 6 HELIX in my apartment and said “let's fxxking do this.” Drank some caffeine and set off on adventures, sometimes making 3 songs in one day.

This whole album, besides the drums, was made in my apartment actually. I even just recorded vocals through my HELIX and even the bass on most songs is just my guitar being pitched down perfectly with the power of that fancy little HELIX. - This reply was brought to you by LINE 6 haha.

Originally this album was to include a second disc with 【En'Cell♰Dis'Dein】 covers. What caused you to change the format of the album?

When listening to that album sequence it felt like an album with another thing attached to it, like it was not one whole piece, so that made me go back to the drawing board. I am a big fan of Prince and all of the die hard fans know he was switching up album sequences many times even after announcing albums, so please forgive me and recognize I am influenced by him・・・ let's say it is his fault haha.

2022-07-05
PSYCHO SONIC BOOMPSYCHO SONIC BOOMCHIMERACHIMERA
  1. 0-Ji (0時)
  2. 13-nichi no Kinyoubi (13日の金曜日)
  3. COLORLESS・・・
  4. Kanashimi no WONDERLAND (悲しみのワンダーランド)
  5. MENHERA wa Jinsei no SPICE (メンヘラは人生のスパイス)
  6. Kokuou Satsugai (国王殺害)
  7. ZOHAK
  8. Muchitsujo (無秩序)
  9. HEART IN SPIRAL
  10. THE MISSING DEAD
  11. FETUS
  12. KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
  13. Zou ()
  14. Mainichi ga HALLOWEEN (毎日がハロウィン)
  15. Jikai (自戒)
  16. ENDLESS DARKNESS

Speaking of covers, this album still contains a few remakes of older songs. How did you pick which tracks to remake and how have they changed?

Basically I chose those three 【En'Cell♰Dis'Dein】 songs because I knew that I would be able to play them live correctly even in a solo format, and also because I knew fans would want to hear them! The last song ENDLESS DARKNESS is actually a song I made around age 18; it was a secret song that sometimes I would play live. The last 【En'Cell♰Dis'Dein】 oneman's encore was actually me playing and singing that solo.

Another reason for choosing to make those En'Cell~Dis'Dein songs in English was because I was still hearing aspiring western vk musicians use the same tired excuse of “Japanese is better for melodies.” or “only Japanese makes it sound like VK” etc. This is so odd to me as I know so many musicians here who just add lyrics to a predetermined melody line so it is not like the language is going to change anything about melody.

Also had heard a few times things like “Japanese sentences in songs can be cut off and continue in another part.” which is not exclusive to Japanese and just like with English if you did it in a way where you were not fluent in the language it would just be super odd. So I wanted to show something like: “these songs that everyone in Japan said were like ‘new oldschool vk' are still just that even if I use English, and English can do those things too and sometimes even way better” Don't be a weeb haha~ Innovate, never imitate.

Your cover artwork always has a distinct style. Can you speak a little bit about your influences and creative process for graphic design?

I really enjoy mixed media so making something initially on paper and then scanning it and messing around with it in photoshop is very fun. If I can make digital and analog things feel natural together then I feel so good with the end results, this is my same philosophy for making music too: neo~retro<->digital~analog. Also ungodly amounts of caffeine. My name is Kyle and I do indeed love Monster energy drinks, nu-metal, and have daddy issues.

CHIMERA cover

CHIMERA cover

Through your solo project and bands, you have created several releases with special packaging or formats. What kind of considerations do you take when choosing the best format for a release?

Basically I just want to subvert norms; pointless old ideals are boring. Like I even hate barcodes being on my cds, if possible I do not want something like that on my art. Really I want to step away even more from normal ideals but I have to balance that with the reality of what fans want. I also hate CD pressing companies here in Japan overcharging and knowing how to make the items myself I just decided to press all the CDs myself now.

The visual kei stores, CD pressing companies, record labels, livehouses—if they do something stupid now I can only respond with: “no thank you, I can do it myself in a better way” or “thank you but your rules are just for making money off of artists, we have different rules.” So it is out of wanting to actually survive financially too and not just be another victim to older pointless ideals.

You have been involved in three full albums within the past year. How have you managed to be so prolific without burning out?

Basically I am crazy. My soul feels like an endless pool of ideals and then being connected to the higher self I can always reach out to that area too. There are so many ideals of what I want to make and only one lifetime.

What do you have planned next for your solo project?

I already started writing again and maybe I want to put out a one of one release. Only one copy, in a book format again. From now on my main focus will be the XAVAK album maybe. I am also working on producing a release for a female artist for Night Child Productions too. Please don't be like Japanese fans and assume she is my girlfriend or something haha・・・ I am too tired for romance and such.

Please give some parting words to the readers.

Thank you for reading this far and if you supported the release thank you so much! Music is my only job so anything that helps me stay away from being around the zombie people of Tokyo is greatly appreciated. I hope you feel inspired, or can escape from your everyday life even just for a bit when you listen to this album!


CHIMERA was released earlier this month and is available now through the Night Child Productions store. Buy the CD+MP3 version here or the MP3-only version. The web shop accepts overseas orders and is currently selling several other rare releases.

Please also be sure to check out Kyle's new band XAVAK!


Thank you to Kyle for participating in this interview.

This interview was conducted by .

If you want to support us and make future artist interviews possible, please consider joining our Patreon.

CHIMERA Giveaway

Kairu (カイル) has graciously agreed to give away a free copy of CHIMERA! To enter the giveaway, simply join our Discord and react to the appropriate post in the #giveaway channel by July 30. That's it!

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