MELL’s press conference was held at the start of the second day of Otakon, and (much like the VAMPS conference) was attended only by approved members of press and some Otakon staff. MELL’s manager was also present for this event. I have tried to make this as visible as possible in my transcriptions, but MELL was in an extremely gracious, cheerful mood for the entirety of the press conference; she smiled at everyone (and even looked a bit startled) when we entered the room, and answered every question willingly. She was a delight to be around, and I have to say… I think she has gained a fan for life (lol)

This was a very long conference–my recording is over 35 minutes long! So please be forewarned that this will not be quick reading…

Legend: Q: press submitted question, M/T: MELL via translator, M: MELL without translator.

MELL: Hi~ domo arigatou~

Q: You put on a great show last night. What was your reaction to the fans that showed up… when there was one big rave basically going on, what was your reaction to that?

M/T: It really filled my heart. I was so happy about all of it that I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want the audience to think that I was sad, so it was really hard to hold it back.

Q: I know a lot of your songs [use?] English. How much English have you studied?

M/T: (MELL laughs several times during her answer) As you may or may not know, Japanese schools have this thing that they try to pass as English class. (laughter, MELL pretends to be studying and gasps “maji de?”) But even in those classes, I didn’t do too well. (more laughter) I’d get my tests back and be shocked by just how low [the grades] were. (laughter) I’ve tried to study it on my own, but it’s just so difficult.

Q: You had several very beautiful costumes last night. Do you pick them out on your own, or… how do you decide on those?

M: (says thank you?)

M/T: I was trying my best to keep pace with you guys on your cosplay. (laughter) Well, the live from last night… we took a lot of stuff from my solo live tour last year. So the set list and the costumes were all the same, and were all made for [those concerts]. I try to have my outfits express the worldview within my songs. So I work with a designer who creates the outfits for me, and I wear them in my PVs as well. (MELL suddenly adds another note) … And I wore a kimono because I knew I was coming to the US. A red kimono.

Q: You’ve done several songs for anime, and I was wondering about the process for that–do they approach you for a song, or do they just say “we wanna use one of your songs,” and… how much creative control do you have over it? Do they tell you the story of the show… what’s the process for it?

M/T: You’re absolutely right. The producer of an anime approaches us to create a song for [it]. (as the translator asks for clarification, MELL consults with her manager) So… after we get the request, Takase-san, my producer– (MELL interupts to clarify that she meant “instrumental version” for the following portion of the line, ending with a gomen nasai) … Takase-san starts writing the melody, and creates an instrumental version of the song, and I read the manga, or whatever material I have, and… I try to fit the image of the anime with the instrumental song [when] writing the lyrics.

Q: (IW Question) This is, I believe, your second time in the United States. Are you interested in returning, or touring in any other countries?

M/T: I definitely want to come back to the US again. There are many different places I still want to visit. I’ve been to LA on my own before, and I went to Texas for A-KON, and now I’m here in Baltimore for Otakon [so, three times]. Some other places in the US I’d like to visit, well… “Sex in the City” is really popular. (laughter) Everyone is watching it. (more laughter) So… I’d like to visit New York. Outside of the US… France. I’ve been to Otakon and A-KON, and I’d really like to go to AX (Anime Expo).

Q: You’ve seen your fans in the US and (Japan?)… who are your musical inspirations? Who makes you go fan-crazy?

M/T: Well…as I said in my MC last night, I’m a big fan of the band Deep Forest. Whenever they have a live in Tokyo, I fly into Tokyo from Sapporo just to go see them. I was also a big fan of Michael Jackson, and I’m a fan of American hard rock. I love Aerosmith, and… (there’s a pause as MELL struggles)

M: wake me up, anou… (singing) wake me up inside, wake me up inside… Evanescence!

Translator: … and Evanescence.

Q: I was wondering… in the future, do you have any more up-and-coming CDs planned?

M/T: I have a single planned for this year. I can’t tell you any more about that though… (laughter) Towards the end of the year, I’m going to start working on a new album. I’d like to release it late this year, or early next year, and if I can release my second album, I hope to be going on a live tour… and I hope I’ll be able to come to America as part of my live tour as well.

Q: Your band had a very good stage prescence last night. I was curious if you could tell us how you put your band together when you started to become a professional singer, and the process that was involved with that.

M: Arigatou gozaimasu, thank you!

Translator: I’m sorry, your question… “how did you choose the members for your very first band,” or “how did you choose the band from last night?”

Q: Uh… let’s go with last night for now. (laughter)

M/T: The guitar player is someone who writes music for our label, so he’s just one of the gang. (laughter) As for the other band members, we look at the people that we like, and we basically send them offers asking if they’d like to play as part of the band. If you remember the dancing guy from [last night?], on the keyboard, he was actually part of a very famous underground electronic group in Japan, called Soft Bal… Soft Balan… (MELL consults with her manager, an audience member helps her out) Soft Ballet. I was a big fan of their music, and when Soft Ballet disbanded, we asked if he would like to perform as part of my band. … and, everyone loves heavy metal. (laughter)

Q: JAM Project, the band that attended [Otakon] last year, has a yearly concert at Animelo Summer Live. How would you feel about participating in it–and, I’m not sure if you have participated in it…

M/T: I’ve never participated in Animelo… (MELL looks to her manager to confirm this, and he speaks momentarily) I work as part of I’ve, and we perform in Budoukan every year, I’ve in Budoukan. But if the opportunity comes up, I might be interested in performing [at Animelo]. It’s a strange sensation that I haven’t performed in any anime events in Japan, but I have in America, twice. Am… am I allowed to do this? (laughter)

Q: You have a bit of a rock sound, which isn’t common for female vocalists–usually females have more of a pop sound. What made you choose to go with the rock sound, and how do you fare [with it]?

M/T: (MELL laughs) I would rather sing kawaii (which the translator uses “cutesy” for) songs, I really like them better. (laughter) Well, women have many different faces… (more laughter) There’s the cutesy side to women–

M: (interrupting the translator, pointing to pengie and the two women to her right) Cutesy! (pointing to two others in the front) Cutesy! (laughing–she was apparently very amused with this word)

pengie, Press Member: … arigatou gozaimasu!

M/T: … but at the same time, there’s a fierce element to women as well. I’d like to display both sides–all those different emotions and sides in my songs. So I know my songs are [rock], but I’m actually very cute. (laughter; MELL laughs some more, obviously still amused)

Q: How do you feel, being a woman in the Japanese music scene, and being perceived [differently than men?]

M/T: In Japan, I see a trend that female vocalists… their lyrics get softer and softer, while songs that I’ve released so far have been very fierce and hard in [their message]. Of course, this is only one year out of my career. In the future, I hope to show many more different types of songs. But it’s my hope that through my singing, I can create a place where women in Japan can express more than what they are expressing right now.

Q: A lot of artists who come over [to the US] find the fans very different [than those in Japan]. How would you compare the two sets of fans?

M/T: The fans in America are much more friendly…

M: (imitating fans) Hi, MELL! Hi, MELL!! Hi, MELL!!! (laughter; MELL pretends to be herself now, looking a touch bewildered) … hi~ (more laughter)

M/T: … but the fans in Japan are …

M: (again imitating fans) Ou~ MELL-san. (bowing deeply in her seat, with a serious tone) Otsukaresama deshita, MELL-san. (loud laughter) Arigatou gozaimasu.

Translator: I’m sure you got most of that answer already… (laughter; he translates it, and there is even more laughter)

M/T: The Japanese are very shy.

Q: This may seem a little out of left field, but something that all the Japanese and American [guests] have in common is a favorite Motley Crue song… (laughter) They’ve all mentioned, several times, a love of hard rock. So I was wondering if you had a favorite.

M: (throws her head back and laughs very loudly)

M/T: (excitedly) I’ve been to their concert!! (laughter)

M: (pretends to wave a lighter over her head, then pauses) “Smoking in the Boys Room.” (she begins singing it and playing an invisible guitar)

Audience: (sings along, much to MELL’s great amusement; laughter)

Translator: … did you get that? (laughter)

M/T: I like Bon Jovi, too. I love hard rock.

Q: You said several times that you collaborated with Eric of Deep Forest. I was just wondering how that started.

M/T: [Eric] did the arrangement for a few of my songs. During the opportunity we had to work together, I got to visit his studio, and we worked together there.

Q: Something that almost got mentioned earlier was how you chose the members of your first band. If we could go back to then, I think that would be a good story.

M/T: I was sixteen… (laughing) There was a guitar shop I went to all the time, and they had fliers for bands looking for members. I saw this one flier listing artists that I really loved–Prince, Madonna, and other pop artists. They were looking for a vocalist. I was sixteen, but I gave them a call, and joined a band with local college kids.

Q: Your costumes for the concert were all in general, except for the red kimono, very white, almost virginal. I thought they were an interesting contrast to [your music]. Was that sort of thing deliberate?

M/T: Usually I wear a lot of black dresses, in my concerts and PVs. So this time, we were thinking we would change things, and that’s why we picked the white dresses.

Q: You’ve been to several conventions now. Do you have a favorite convention story, or a crazy fan moment?

Translator: Crazy fan moment?

Q: Yeah. Or a favorite convention story, either one.

M: (laughing loudly, making faces throughout the entire next portion)

M/T: I was walking in [a] convention center, and right ahead of me, I saw a woman in a beautiful dress, with a beautiful hat, who looked just like Scarlett O’Hara [from Gone With the Wind]. It was such a gorgeous dress, and I got really excited, so I ran up to her and said “are you Scarlett O’Hara?!” And she turned around… and it was a man. (loud laughter) I was surprised!

M: Good–good job! Good! (in deeper voice, imitating cosplayer) Thank you~

M/T: Everyone’s cosplay is fantastic, do you all make your own costumes?

Press Member: Some people commission, and some make their own. (translator tells this to MELL)

M/T: That’s cool! It looks great on everyone!

M: Kawaii~ kawaii~ (she starts wiggling)

M/T: Will you make me a costume? (laughter)

Q: Going with that, what kind of costume would you like us to make for you? (laughter)

M/T: What do you think? (laughter) Dresses sure are beautiful… But actually, I’d like to do the other version of [the Scarlett cosplay], where I’m dressed up as a burly guy, and someone comes up to me and [sees?] I’m a woman. (loud laughter)

M: (in a very deep voice, raising her eyebrows suggestively) You’re cute. (more laughter)

M/T: I can put on whiskers… (continued laughter)

Q: Do you have a message to your fans, or anyone reading [this conference]?

M/T: (MELL actually sniffles through this, as if she is beginning to cry, and she does sound teary) I was so excited and full of emotion–I’m so happy, really so happy that I can’t express how I’m feeling in words. I never thought I’d get a chance to perform in the US like this. Thank you very much. This event has been great–I never thought I’d get to perform at [an event] like this. It’s my hope that at events like Otakon, Japan and the US can further their friendship, that more countries around the world can become frriends with each other, and that more people around the world can become happy.

M: Arigatou gozaimasu! Arigatou gozaimasu! Bye-bye~!

Audience: Thank you!

Very special thanks to Otakon Guest Relations staffer Fufei Zhang for providing translation for this conference, and thanks to Alyce Wilson for sending me his name!

This transcript is copyright © Nicole Utz for International Wota, 2009. Reposting of this transcript on other websites is not permitted.