In September of 2025 we introduced you to a new band that had only just started their journey in the music scene of 名古屋 (Nagoya): SLEIPNIR.
Under the name of the war horse of Nordic legends, vocalist ルージュ (Rouge), guitarist シュンヤ (Shunya) en bassist ジャック・イット・アウト (Jack It Out)* presented their first (digital) single and music video for their song “Breed” on YouTube and streaming services in June of last year.
According to ジャック・イット・アウト (Jack It Out) in our previous interview, the song was very well received in Japan: “Our song “Breed” peaked at number 4 in the metal genre on the iTunes Store in Japan. Numbers 1 to 3 were all for Ozzy Osbourne. It’s an honor.”
During that same interview he also teased a second release, which would be coming very soon. And on October 6 the band followed up with their second song and music video “Into The Light”. Both the song and music video have a different approach than their first release, both in terms of their composition and their visuals.
Based on that first interview we could tell you really enjoyed SLEIPNIR, and the band really enjoyed seeing that as well. So much that ジャック・イット・アウト (Jack It Out) reached out to us again with a request for a second (although shorter) interview.
* In Japanese ジャック・イット・アウト (Jack It Out) is shortened to just ‘ジャック’ (Jack), so that’s the name we’ll be using in this interview as well.
Into the light. I want you to believe then.
Before we officially start the interview, we want to introduce the members one more time. Also to let you know who will be answering our questions today.
“I’m ジャック・イット・アウト (Jack It Out), the bassist.” ジャック (Jack) kicks off the interview. “I’m the vocalist, ルージュ (Rouge).” ルージュ (Rouge) continues. “And I’m the guitarist, シュンヤ (Shunya).” シュンヤ (Shunya) adds, concluding the mandatory introduction process.
“We’ve received a lot of better-than-expected responses to our song “Breed” on YouTube in particular. Both domestic and international.” ジャック (Jack) starts. “It makes us very happy. Among them we’ve also seen comments with different perspectives depending on the country, which was very refreshing.” He adds, once again confirming that “Breed” was received extremely well by the audience in different parts of the world. But what about “Into The Light”?
“I always write the lyrics, but I don’t like the bright, easy-to-understand content or direct phrasing that pop songs tend to have. They contain a lot of real-life experiences and my thoughts on the world.” ルージュ (Rouge) explains. “I’m very grateful that even if the content would be annoying to viewers if posted on social media, it can be more easily accepted when it’s set to a melody and becomes a work of art.” She continues. “Although, I personally intended to write something more positive this time… I got so nervous that it almost ruined the band!” ルージュ (Rouge) laughs. “The lyrics turned out to be more positive than I expected, so I didn’t want to use black for the music video. I didn’t want to stereotype the image either.”
“In terms of the recording, we aimed for a different sound than the previous song. So we introduced new equipment and new methods for this song.” シュンヤ (Shunya) adds. “The music video also has a different feel than the previous one, so I think people enjoyed it.”
“I feel like the range of genres that SLEIPNIR’s listeners are listening to has broadened compared to the previous release as well.” ジャック (Jack) says.
“We still have some unreleased songs, and we hope to announce our future activities along with them.” ジャック (Jack) answers in regards to future plans and activities for the band. “Whether you’re just getting to know SLEIPNIR, or are already a fan, we hope you’ll keep watching our growth.”
“The three of us will continue to explore the best way to continue as a band in its current form.” ルージュ (Rouge) adds. “I hope to be able to show a new side of myself.” シュンヤ (Shunya) says. “It’s turned out really cool, so we hope you’ll listen to it a lot.”
—
Despite this interview being on the shorter side, we hope you enjoyed learning a little more about SLEIPNIR’s second single through it. Our goal wasn’t to explain everything step by step, but to give you some information to form your own ideas about their style and vision. If you’d like to learn more about the band, we spoke to them about their concept and first single “Breed” in this interview: SLEIPNIR // “We’re a local, handmade indie band that just recently played our first live show.”
Unfortunately, the members of SLEIPNIR decided to go their own way before this article was finished. After some careful discussions we decided to publish it anyway, with their permission to do so. Bassistジャック (Jack) has started a solo project in the meantime, together with guitarist シュンヤ (Shunya). We hope to be able to tell you more about it in a future article!
More about SLEIPNIR
      |  (Rouge) |  (Shunya) |  (Jack It Out) |
雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years, she's still the one responsible for the interviews and most of the live photography you see here at Arlequin, but the majority of reviews and behind-the-scenes work is also done by her.
The reviews she writes are from the viewing point of an overseas fan, and thus written in English before being translated to Dutch, Spanish and Japanese. In the English versions she also tries to explain the meaning behind certain kanji or song titles to the readers, but what you don't see here is that these explanations are omitted in the Japanese versions in order to appeal to these readers more.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.