Kanonxkanon is the creative collaboration unit of Kanon Wakeshima and Kanon (former An Café). With smart electronic music geared towards the anime crowd and Wakeshima’s adorable vocals, the group has two anime opening themes under their belt in under a year. Their first single, “Calendula Requiem,” appeared as the second opening theme to the animated series Shiki. In just six months they’re back again with “Koi no Dotei” and a US appearance at AM2 in California, July 1-3.
pSKY: You have a new single out, Koi no Dotei. Tell us about the single.
kxk: It’s an original song written for the anime series 30sai no Hoken Taiiku. There are some sexual depictions in the anime, but it’s actually a pure and awkward love romance. We wrote the lyrics accordingly and it became a refreshing love song.
pSKY: Have you ever watched the anime 30sai no Hoken Taiiku? What do you think of the anime?
kxk: Yes, we are watching it. It’s really crazy!! The characters are cute. We both like Macaron-kun. Macaron-kun is using Twitter so you should go check it out! (http://twitter.com/#!/macaron_cupid)
pSKY: Will there be a PV for the new single? If yes, please tell us about the concept (costumes, story).
kxk: There will be no music video for this single… But the visuals in the booklet are very nice. The costume ideas for the doctor and the nurse evolved originally from Nightingale as a model. We both actually wore costumes (3-dimensional) on our first single “Calendula Requiem,” but our new artist photo is an illustration (2-dimensional).
pSKY: Is kanonxkanon just music collaboration? What else would you be interested in creating besides music together?
kxk: Well… it’s not just a music collaboration unit, but more like a project for the children’s dream… (giggles).
We heard that Walt Disney values children’s dreams and we were impressed by that. Kanonxkanon is also a huge anime fan and we decided to become an artist who would cherish children’s dreams!
pSKY: You’ve been invited to perform at AM2 in California. Do you plan on going to Disneyland?
kxk: Yes, we hope to stop by if time permits before going back to the 2.5th dimension world. We’ve never been to Disneyland in California, but we’ve been to the Tokyo Disneyland.
kanon(♀): I like the Haunted Mansion and Disney Sea.
kanon(♂): I just go to buy the character merchandise!
kxk: We hope the American Disneyland is fun too! Everybody, please let us know if there are any rides we need to check out.
pSKY: What can fans expect from your upcoming performance?
kxk: It’s still a secret, you have to come see it! There will be a surprise! We hope to make it into a fun live performance, sort of like visiting a theme park and forgetting about daily life. We hope to bring back the memory of fun times as a kid and enjoy the feeling of unreality time.
pSKY: Please leave a message for your fans in North America.
kxk: Our friends Kanon Wakeshima and Kanon from An Café told us that the American fans are very passionate and friendly. They always appreciated the US fans! This is our first live performance as kanonxkanon and we very much look forward to it !
kanon(♂):I’m looking forward to eat a hamburger.
kanon(♀): I’m looking forward to the California Roll!
kxk: Hope to see you at AM2 and look out for our album too!
1 1 1 Official Kanon Wakeshima website – http://www.kanonweb.jp/main.html Official kanonxkanon website – http://www.kanonkanon.net/ Am2 website – http://am2con.org/
When your band’s music, image, and overall mantra is basically to have fun and make everyone smile, it’s hard to justify a depressing final show before an impending hiatus. Amidst rumors and speculation, Harajuku dance rock kings An Cafe stepped onto the Nippon Budoukan stage on January 4 without so much as an overly dramatic tear. AN CAFE LIVE CAFE TOUR 2010 King of Harajuku Dance Rock ~Ikinari Nyappy Legend~ was to be their last show for an indefinite time span.
That’s not to say the music isn’t the heart and soul of their act. Granted, the girls in the audience love vocalist miku’s playful smile and teruki’s (drummer) boyish good-looks, but the real test was their sound. An Cafe has a knack for delivering extremely danceable tunes that require impeccable rhythm and a tight set up to execute. If one strum of a guitar was out of order, the audience would lose the beat and the music would simply turn awkward.