Vicke Blanka is one of the most diverse musicians creating an unreal amount of music at the moment.
Vicke Blanka recently released his whopping 36-track album Supervillain which literally has something for everybody.
Vicke is a j-pop star, DJ, singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and producer. With his incredibly wide variety of influences, Vicke’s discography is huge, to say the least. Although the music varies greatly, Vicke largely creates a blend of classic pop/rock and we’re absolutely mad for it.
The release of Supervillain marked Vicke Blanka’s 5th anniversary of his major debut and as if he didn’t have enough going on, Vicke Blanka wrote the main theme song, Changes, for the French film La Revanches des Crevettes pailletées.
We caught up with Vicke Blanka to find out a little more about his music and his process.
HAPPY: Your latest record, Supervillain is a huge, 36-track compilation album, can you tell us a bit about the song selection process?
VICKE BLANKA: I chose the songs by fan votes. It was something I had never tried before, but it went well.
HAPPY: Were the songs your fans chose similar to what you would have selected yourself if you had complete control?
VICKE BLANKA: I have never imagined that. I believed that songs chosen by the fans would be the answers, so I was only waiting for the results with excitement.
HAPPY: You have a pretty diverse range of sounds on the record, what music did you grow up listening to?
VICKE BLANKA: Carpenters, Bay City Rollers, Queen, Michael Jackson. I had been listening to music by the greatest stars of our time. Do you feel the similarity in my music?
HAPPY: The Elton John influence really comes through in Black Catcher. Was it difficult to incorporate 70s pop-rock stylisation into an anime theme song when they’re often carried by heavy-toned guitar?
VICKE BLANKA: It wasn’t difficult. I only let out the music that was rooted in my body. What you’ve cultivated in your life is firmly released as your weapon.
HAPPY: You jump between Japanese and English pretty casually throughout the whole album, and you even sing in French on CaVa?. What’s the story behind that track?
VICKE BLANKA: I went on a trip to Paris. People in the city were calling out, “CaVa? CaVa?” I thought it was an interesting sound, so right after I came back to Japan, I started producing.
HAPPY: Have you spent a lot of time in France?
VICKE BLANKA: I’ve only been there once. I feel like I’m missing out on life by not going to Paris more than once. Can someone invite me to Paris? I will sing anywhere. I am open to any offers!
HAPPY: Speaking of France, you’re new single Changes was written for the french film Les Crevettes pailletées which has an interesting plot, involving a gay polo team heading to the LGBTQ+ Olympics. How do you go about writing a theme song for such a unique and important film?
VICKE BLANKA: I talked very closely with the director. Because of my mother’s work, there have been many guests from around the world at my house since I was a child. Some of them, of course, were people of the LGBTQ+ community. Therefore, diversity was a natural thing without even having to think about it. But the world is still not accepting this “common sense”. I was surprised by this fact and deeply honoured to be part of changing this. I also have the confidence that I could only do this.
Supervillain is out now.
Photos provided.
Interview by Lochie Schuster.
