Take a look into the world of PSYCHO SONIC BOOM!

This month, vocalist/guitarist kairu (カイル) changed the name of his solo project to PSYCHO SONIC BOOM and announced its first full album, DESTRUCTOTRON. He kindly granted us a short interview about the change and provided liner notes for each song on the 15-track album.

The album is out now through the official web shop and at various physical stores—take a peek inside kairu's world and learn more about its making while you wait for your copy to arrive!

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Interview

• On December 21st, you released your first solo album. Please tell us a little bit about it, and what fans can expect.

This release is like a celebration of things I liked from a very young age, like pleasing my inner child. Maybe it doesn't completely reflect my current self but rather an old but important part of my self, like my roots of being influenced by late 90s industrial rock.

• You've been active for a few years as “kairu,” but this is your first solo release as “PSYCHO SONIC BOOM.” What is the difference between these two forms?

I started the solo project in 2010 and there is actually a remake of my first solo song on this album so it is really all just a continuation. Choosing to use a band name has to do with the current world with everyone obsessing over themselves in the SNS age and the weird thing that it is maybe easier for their egos to relate to a band name rather than a solo name? I am not sure but it is weird.

I went to a cafe with Ice from Black Gene For the Next Scene once and he brought that up when we were talking about his solo project and that really stuck with me. Plus if I do some stuff overseas again kairu is pretty weeby, even if I am used to it everyday here in Japan, I don't want to scare people off with my weeb powers.

• You seem to take great care with the design of your works. Please tell us a little bit about the production of this album from a design standpoint.

Ah, Thank you for saying so! Well I've worked as a pro designer for host and hostess clubs etc. all over Japan and such so design is really important to me.

For the audio side of things it was touching on a kind of vibe I connect with something like the Sega Dreamcast haha... uh how do I say... The vibe of Japan I get at times is of something like that.. in the past was ahead of it's time and hi-tech but now alot is obsolete but there is a nostalgia attached to it all.

So I used an old Fernandes/Burny guitar and bass from the 90s, and Digitech stuff that is now kind of cheesy to young kids but I love it. So the old doll on the cover also fits that while also touching on the theme of the title track.

Basically whenever I make an album I always just want to make an album I wish existed so I made this kind of hide / zilch, powerman 5000, etc. roots album to please my inner jr.high self.

• What's next for kairu and PSYCHO SONIC BOOM?

I am working on music all the time so I never know what I will do next exactly... like this album could have been 20 tracks but I cut it down for everyone's sake haha...

We will do some studio live video recordings soon and I am working on finding a new vocalist for 【En'Cell♰Dis'Dein】 as well. I have a 7 string album I need to make soon but not sure what I will use that for or if I will release it publicly but hey! Keep a look out to see what this crazy stupid white guy in Japan will do next!

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Self-Liner Notes

• THE ATOMIC BOMB

A kind of cyber punk high energy intro. Simple but effective and straight to the point! I like punk music alot so it was fun to include some of that influence into this.

Sets the theme of “an obsession with destruction.”. I remember as a kid after 9/11 some people often said things like “we should just nuke them all!” and thinking to myself “uh... that will only make things worse. You all are crazy.”

As it has been 10 years since the start of my solo stuff and 15+ years since my first live you will see I am touching alot on my past self in these comments.

• PARASITOSIS

Every once in awhile a song comes to me like being struck with lightning, Made this right after buying a 90s Fernandes Vertigo guitar and it took maybe 2 hours to make it? I had the chorus riff and lyrics in my mind since 2014 so it was nice to finally find a place for them. I remember thinking “ah fuck・・・ I have to go to the Ikebukuro studio right now to record the vocals! Cannot wait!” those times feel kind of like an out of body experience, like I am on auto-pilot.

Delusional Parasitosis is a condition where you think there are insects crawling on you and such, and what are humans but little insects running amok all over the planet?

• FASCISTA No. 5

I do not like to get directly political as I try to be as balanced in the middle as possible but the conditions of the world breeding more and more extremism I wanted to make a song that would challenge people. Like if you are a typical person of this age with a tiny tiny attention span you will maybe only listen to the start and already think “oh he hates the far left! He must be some far right nut!” haha... but if you listen to the next verse then slowly it goes to talking shit about the other end of the spectrum and the far right get the same hate.

Basically I hate extremists, though I understand how humans can be twisted to those ends because well・・・ life can be a bitch. But humans being tribalistic we cling to things like extreme political affiliations like it is our favorite sports team or brand and make it part of our identity instead of trying to understand our shared troubles and failures, thus I used the title that sounds like a fashion product or perfume: Chanel No.5 (my favorite as a teen)

• MODEL CITIZEN

A nice little break~ continuing with the fashion theme of the previous song and the aspects of human consumption in the modern age. Did the vocals in one take to keep a punk kind of feel even though it is a song with lots of electronic beats in it.

Maybe you know some pretty lady with a nasty attitude but great fashion? That kind of woman inspired this song.

• CHAOS THEORY

I completely forgot I made this song to be honest... if I remembered I would have put it on the Fascista No.5 EP when I released that. The bass was super fun to make for this song.

Whenever I find some song I forgot I made it is like Christmas morning and I say “thank you me!”

• GET HIGH

Drugs are bad mmmkay.

• SCIENTIFIC BETTY

A fun instrumental song to keep the flow of the album going nicely, the slap bass parts were really fun to perform and got to use some weird guitar stuff I would not normally put in a song.

• DESTRUCTOTRON

This song was a battle to make, lots of programming small drum machine parts and changing the arrangement over and over until it was completely right. It is a song that has old drum machine parts, modern sample drum parts, and acoustic drums as well so it is a nice mix up of many things. Kind of a Ministry feel at times I think.

• MISS DESTRUCTIVE

A remake of my first solo song that came out of nowhere! While fooling around with old 90s sampler cds I thought “oh with this I could remake that old song...” and suddenly it came to life.

Songs like Kumo onna no Kiss, Model Citizen, Miss Destructive, and Revenge Addict... oh lord I love me some crazy women so these themes come into songs. I have a problem, and I love it.

• THE BLACK LOOP

As someone who has worked in the red light district here in Japan for almost a decade I have seen lots of crazy things and the most common thing I thought of when seeing some people is “they are caught in a loop of darkness.” I used to live in the middle of Kabukicho, not just near it, but literally in the middle of it and all the experiences from that were a real lesson in human chaos.

I see lots of foreign vk fans that glamourize that world while not realizing how dark and evil it is, Well you cannot really talk about it all without consequences thus Vice news putting out misleading videos on hosts and such haha・・・ Basically a song about addiction and self destruction! Satan is bad mmkay.

• ROCK ZOMBIE FEVER

Basically a fun kind of spooky rock anthem, sometimes you need to party rock.

• ANIMAL

Another kind of simple but straight forward song touching on the overall theme of the album.

• S.D.R.A.

If a normal person met aliens they would probably be scared but it is really my dream to party with aliens! If I met them I would be so happy and would want to hear their music and partake in all of their fun things. Maybe I should not mention this but uh... My hometown has an important air force base, we get destroyed at the beginning of Red Dawn if memory serves?

Well anyways~ one week there were lots of UFO sightings in town and two friends and I were talking about it outside of my house at night saying things like “oh I want them to come! I'd just want to say hello and communicate.” etc. etc. suddenly there were some strange lights coming from places that would make no logical sense at all... maybe should just leave it at that... but that was really a crazy experience to have with 3 people together at once!

If you are monitoring my activities space-peoplez please come and pick me up, listen to the song, I am your friend!

• REVENGE ADDICT

Ah, another song about me loving some crazy kind of woman... if you are a crazy woman this is your jam and I am your man! Haha.

• INTO THE SKIN

All of our good and bad is tied together in one, in the macro and in the micro,

So not just talking about humanity as a whole like throughout the album but the inner personal struggle for this song. Made this at a very dark time but kept fighting on, I hope you can find a feeling of not being alone in your own struggles with this one!

Life sucks, come on aliens and pick us up for a party already~!

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Thanks to kairu for agreeing to this interview and providing deep insight into his mind as usual! You can purchase DESTRUCTOTRON through the Night Child Productions web shop or directly through him by DM.

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Interview conducted by @inartistic. If you liked this feature, you can help by liking, sharing, commenting, or supporting vkgy on Patreon.