From the Sai Myspace page – SAI is an alternative rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Their repertoire of songs range from infectious to intense, mixing all the band’s influences in order to convey their view on life – perfectly matched by their dark, exotic image.

The band was founded by it’s main composer Arian in 2007, although 2008 should be considered the band’s true start due to this being the year when the present line-up was established: Huy (vocals), Arian (lead guitar), Nikke (rhythm guitar), Ken (bass) & Andie (drums).

SAI – Avantgarde (Music Video / PV)

Here are the choice bits from the JRock NYC interview with Sai, a visual style rock band from Germany.  The full interview is available here.

Go: Okay, so , first question.  You guys are in Sweden…so have you seen Crucified Barbara in concert?

Andie: I have actually! They kick ass. Saw them a few years back at Sweden Rock Festival…

Arian: Actually no, I’m very selective in my musical taste, and the western music doesn’t really interest me, nothing against it though.

Go: Alright.  So how did you two first meet?

Arian: It started with me and a fellow friend from the band Marionette, (a metal band here in sweden). We were both searching for people to start a band with us, a band that was influenced by the VK scene. Just like us.

Andie: Arian found me on a Swedish community for alternative music… I remember that he wrote “I’m starting a band influenced by J-rock” and I stopped reading at “J-rock” and replied that I wanted to join. I was in another band at that time and I just longed to find another, haha!
or rather, Arian & Mike found me

Arian: And we started looking for members all over the net. And I found Andie on a community and I saw that his favorite band was X Japan. So I mailed him right away, asked him. And he said yes on the spot, haha.
So we met later on at a coffee shop and began talking about music and all those things. And the rest is history I guess. We just clicked.

Andie: Indeed

Arian: I was really lucky to have found him, he’s an excellent drummer, prolly one of the most promising in Gothenburg at his age.

Go: Arian, tell me about when you first heard Sugizo. Was it instantly “WOW!” or more of a slow build up in admiration?

Arian: Well, I first heard about Luna Sea way back, and I didn’t really care so much about them. “It’s alright I guess” and then I saw the STORM PV. And when Sugizo played the guitar solo I lost my mind.

Go: “In the stormy…”

Arian: Goosebumps were flying all over the place.

Go: What’s Avantgarde about and what were you thinking about / going through when you wrote it?

Arian: Well, the song was written right after a lineup change and alot of screwups in the band, etc. The beginning of something new. That’s what I had in mind when I wrote it. Then Huy put his own emotions in the lyrics, so it’s a blend of different thoughts. But we didn’t start rehearsing the song until long after.

Andie: yeah, the song’s title has more in common with what the band was going through when it was written rather than the lyrics.

Arian: But the song was written a very long time ago actually.

Go: haha, what do you guys think of Yoshiki? Love him? Hate him? WIsh he’d do more? Or less?

Arian: Well, I wish he could probably stick to one project for now. And maybe start over a little, or maybe help out more bands, etc. ‘Cause he is talented, so he should focus more on making one good thing [rather[ than alot of different stuff.

Andie: Yoshiki is actually the reason why I’m a drummer. When I saw a live clip of “Kurenai” back in the day, it was a religious experience. I had one of those lightning in my head kind of sensations. I knew what I wanted to do – to play drums. So I’m always gonna love and respect him for that, since drumming is the most important part of my life. But I can’t say I really respect what he does these days from a business standing, although he’s still a very talented musician.

Go: How’s business in Sweden, as far as gigging — is it easy to get gigs for you guys, or are you squeezed in with goth bands or melodeath bands?

Arian: We’re squeezed, haha. But you know, it’s only natural, since we do stand out and want to make our own thing, so we have to take the crap

Andie: At an evening where we play with 3 bands, the other 3 are almost always melodeath. Goddamn Gothenburg, haha.

Arian: There’s no scene in Sweden at all, in terms of VK inspired music,
just metal metal metal.

Andie: There are lots of gigs to find in Sweden, the hard part is to find good ones. Many venues are really bad and there are lots of bands here too that fight for the positions.

Arian: And I don’t really care for that kind of music, so to me it’s a little sad.
Go: Does that suck, or does it help emphasize your differences and freshness to an audience that’s probably never even heard of Luna Sea or VK?

Arian: Well, the jrock that’s popular here isn’t into Luna Sea and bands like dead end or Zi:Kill. It’s mostly An Cafe and such.

Andie: you get the “what the hell is this?” reaction as well as “oooh, what is this reaction?” so I’d say it works both ways. I also think it’s a good thing to stand out.

Arian: Yeah it has helped us alot too.  It’s a double edged sword.

Go: Do a lot of those metalheads buy your photosets after the show ?

Andie: yeah.. it’s easier to remember a band like ours then for example any given black metal band with blood in the band name.

Arian: Then there’s this misconception that we’re trying to be a JROCK band, that’s not the case, we know we’re Swedishthat happen to listen to VK.

Andie: Some of them do… heh.

Go: Ha! Cool.

Arian: It’s just the same in Japan when the peeps over there were influenced by western music. It just moves around in generations.

Go: ooh, that’s a great point!

Arian: Like dead end. They loved Iron Maiden.

Go: Up the irons!

Arian: Who then influenced alot of VK bands, so it’s just the same.
Go: have you guys gotten any feedback from Japanese fans/bands/etc?

Arian: We have a Japanese street team, with quite a moderate following, and that’s is lovely I think. We’re mostly appreciated outside Sweden. It’s hard to be popular in your own country here.

Go: Interesting

Arian: Since most people think we just want to be Japanese.

Andie: Yeah, most big Swedish bands hit it big outside before they manage to get somewhere within the country itself.

Arian: And that is so not why we play music. We just love music, period.

Andie: Yeah, it’s important to mark the difference between “being influenced by” and “wanting to be.”