Coloread based group April Fool is going on their first World Tour. They gave their first ever solo concert in their home city in July. And today we'll get the chance to interview them for the first date of their Home Made tour, the concert is set in London. April Fool has celebrated their third anniversary since debut last week. In Summer they released their second studio album called Home Made.
Interviewer : Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to receive the group April Fool today, who are our guests. Could you introduce yourselves to our viewers ?
Leah : Hi there! I am Leah Kyle and I am the main vocalist and the leader of April Fool. I can play the guitar and the violin. I would like to hold an art exhibition one day, because my sister and Ashley are always saying that I am the most creative person they’ve ever met *laugh* I might look shy but actually I am the one who speak the most among the members. You can ask my sister if you don't believe me.
Ashley : I am Ashley Connor and I am the main lyricist and composer. I can play the flute and the harmonica. I played a main role in a theater play, back in college. My dream is to write our own theater play based on our musical universe.
April : Hi! My name is April Kyle and I am Leah’s younger sister. I am the bassist and I play occasionally for some performances the guitar. Ashley and I are the main composers, while Leah and Ashley are the main lyricists. If you were looking for the funniest member, you already found it!
Why did you choose April Fool as a group name ?
Leah : You agree that on April Fool's Day, you can joke about any subject. We have a common point with that idea, because our creativity has no limit. We are not stuck in our debut concept, we keep changing and testing new things.
April : The only limit is our creativity !
Let's speak up about your concept now, as you said that you like diversifying your music. How people react to your changing concept?
Ashley : Sometimes people are surprised at first that we changed our concept after the release of our first album "Zero Gravity", however the majority of our fans also appreciate the fact that we change of music style from one release to another.
Leah : I can't imagine ourselves to have continued in the same style of music. I like what we did until now, but I don't like being stuck in one style. I feel way more free with our changing concept, because it allows us to compose whatever we want to. We can access to a wider range of tunes and of music shades as well. If I want to try any new style of sounds, then I can!
Your group has known an unprecedented hype since the release of "Unforgotten Love" last February. How do you manage this rapid increase of popularity in such a short amount of time ?
April : We were surprised by the fans' feedback about this song, I didn't expect such a welcome by the public.
Ashley : At first I thought it was impossible that they were talking about our song... But then I have realized that I wasn't dreaming!
Leah : I thought it was a bad joke. I just couldn't believe it.
Tonight you are going to give your first performance in a foreign country. Your growing popularity will allow you to perform all over the world. How do you feel about meeting your fans from around the world?
Leah : I am really impatient to explore the world and to meet our fans. I have dreamt during three years for that moment. Can't wait to begin our world tour! I might add that we chose to begin our tour in the UK because our parents have lived here for a little bit more than two years now, we will finally be able to see them again... Meanwhile, Ashley's parents live currently near to Dublin, Ireland.
April : I didn't expect that we have had that much fans that support us. Many dates are already sold out ... I am really thankful to Four Leaf Clovers (our fandom name). I would like to learn new languages during our tour as well !
Ashley : It is like a dream that finally comes true ! I hope that we will be able to give a memorable performance, that you won't forget.
You'll visit more than thirty cities during your world tour. Which cities are you the most eager to visit?
Ashley : New York and Taipei ! New York seems to be a very cosmopolitan city, it has triggered my curiosity.
Leah : Berlin and Barcelona! Both cities are really interesting, because of their history and art museums!
April : Montréal and Tokyo! I remember that when we shot Hachiko's music video, I really enjoyed visiting Shibuya and Harajuku!
Why did you choose to invite Pink Punch for your opening concert?
Leah : More than the half of Pink Punch's members often help us to compose new stuff, and also April and I are close to Yuko and Candice. I thought that it would have been a good opportunity for the group to be more known by the public.
April : They've trained with us under StarMine agency for a few years now. Leah and I were supposed to join Girls10 as second generation members, however the group disbanded before we could have been added in the line-up.
Leah : During that time, I was a member of the original line-up of 4MissSunshine, along with Marina, Candice and Linda. But this unit wasn't active during a long time ... We had only performed on stage but we have never released any of our songs...
Ashley : I recognize myself in the lyrics of their songs and I really appreciate what the band is trying to deliver as a message through their music. They sometimes talk about sensitive topics such as depression, fear of rejection and jealousy. However, most of their songs talk about more positive aspects of life like wonder, mystery, love, hope or friendship.
Which songs do you prefer performing on live for your fans ?
Leah : That's not an easy question to answer, actually most of our songs are meaningful for us. I can't choose one more than another, but I love performing catchy songs like Black Cherry and Twilight Kiss on stage. Our fans are always very excited when we play these songs on live. They sing the chorus with us and move their arms in rhythm, it’s very funny to see. Whenever they react like this to any of our performances, it touches my heart. I feel really proud of what our group has achieved until now.
April : I'd rather be playing our first songs, because I am always thinking of the first fans that supported us. They have supported us for three years now and they have followed our evolution until now. They saw when we were crying and when we were smiling on stage, they know how hard we worked to reach our popularity. That's why I would choose Irish Coffee and Lonely as my favorite songs to play on live.
Ashley : We have written many songs for the fans, both in English and in Japanese. That's why my choice would be to our fans, Green, Blue and Gold and Four Leaf Clover. Those songs are the most relevant to me, because it is our fans that allowed us to be recognized for our talent and for our work.
I know that you will be busy until the end of March with your World Tour, however I suppose that you've already an idea about what you will do next. What are your upcoming projects?
April : We have already some new musical projects that we expect to be released soon. I can't tell you more about these, but they might be revealed soon.
Leah : A new mini-album called Stay is already scheduled for the 30th October, I think that many people already know about it. I can tell you that we have included few new tracks in it and some covers of previously released songs, some of them were revealed during our concert in Coloread. Our first and second single will be released before the end of the year and our third album will be released hopefully in April.
Ashley : Meanwhile, three concept albums will be revealed soon, each one will have its own theme. The first one will be announced after our UK tour I guess. The fourth one is expected for the first half of 2020, maybe in Spring.