If you’re a fan of the louder side of the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) genre there is a high chance that a song named “薄明” (Hakumei / Twilight) suddenly appeared in your suggested videos or songs lists last June. But in case it hasn’t (or you have forgotten about it already), please allow me to explain you a little more.
“薄明” (Hakumei) is the very first single from a new ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) metal band named OPHELIA. And while the project has the title of ‘band’, the lineup is a little more complicated. On paper OPHELIA only has one official member: vocalist 煉華 (Renka).
But on that same metaphorical piece of paper guitarist ノク (Noku – you might remember him from another, currently inactive, ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) band GLIM GARDO) has been credited as a composer for this first digital single.
With my interest thoroughly piqued, I reached out to 煉華 (Renka) with the request to tell me a little more about “薄明” (Hakumei) and of course OPHELIA as a whole. So, before we begin today’s interview, please allow me to introduce you to 煉華 (Renka): “Hello to all readers of Arlequin Magazine, I am 煉華 (Renka) from OPHELIA.”
“I myself am still far from an artist who can talk about music.”
Since I don’t want to jump back and forth between topics, I want to talk about OPHELIA as a band first, and go into more details about the first song a little later. But, before I let 煉華 (Renka) do most of the talking, I do want to point out that there are a few small things that we will not go into too deeply. Before the interview actually took place 煉華 (Renka) told me a bit more about his wishes regarding the lyrics of 薄明 (Hakumei) and his history as a musician. So please rest assured, I haven’t forgotten to add the information, I am merely respecting the wishes of the artist.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about OPHELIA!
“The reason I chose the name OPHELIA is because of our band’s concept, which is ‘life’. The band’s catchphrase ‘今、ここに生きた証を’ (Ima, koko ni ikita akashi wo / Proof that I am alive here and now) embodies what I’ve build up, including my songs, expressions as an artist and the way the band is, as well as the new path I will take together with you all through OPHELIA.” 煉華 (Renka) explains, not shying away from a more detailed explanation.
“And, it was named after Ophelia – a character from Shakespeare’s works. ノク (Noku) is the heart of OPHELIA and is involved in the production behind the scenes. I first met him when we performed a session together at the 高田馬場AREA (Takadanobaba AREA) venue in Tokyo in 2019. He is so indispensable to me that I could even say he’s a member of the band, and I plan to continue working together with him to make OPHELIA an amazing band.” He continues after being asked about his collaboration withノク (Noku).
“I first encountered ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) when I was in 6th grade and saw a TV commercial for X JAPAN’s comeback live show. I was deeply impressed by the genre and became fascinated. As I got to know and watch many other artists I absorbed all kinds of different expressions and musical styles, and the style I aspired began to take shape. Throughout the years I’ve been influenced by many artists, but when it comes to metal the artist I have the most respect for is Will Ramos of Lorna Shore.” He continues after being asked about his musical history. Because what exactly draws someone to the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) genre when there are so many other choices out there? Plus, usually I hear this question the other way around, like ‘why do you like this genre’ for example. But unsurprisingly, X JAPAN keeps drawing people towards the genre. (And not just from Japan, let me tell you.) Not everyone immediately thinks ‘I want to become a musician in this genre!’ though, and the same can be said about 煉華 (Renka).
“When I was in high school I went to a live performance of a VK artist for the first time. It was my very first time experiencing the atmosphere of a livehouse and a live performance, and I was so impressed by his singing that in that moment I thought ‘I want to stand on that stage and sing too’. From then on I started doing freelance session work, so I have been active in the music industry for many years before forming OPHELIA, and I have had the experience of being in a band before too. Back then I was much more inexperienced that I am now, so I spent a lot of time and effort finding members and forming the band of my dreams, and after many years I was finally able to launch OPHELIA.” He adds, revealing that OPHELIA has actually been in the making for a long time. But, he also mentions finding other members. And I can already hear you thinking: ‘didn’t you say OPHELIA only has one official member and a composer?’. To which I have to admit that you are right. But during live performances 煉華 (Renka) has a support band on stage with him, namely つよメロ (Tsuyomero) from XELESIAH as a guitarist, 鈴華 (Suzuka, ex.XELESIAH) as a bassist and スガ (Suga) as a drummer. But, these members are currently support members of OPHELIA. Are there any plans to turn the project into a full member band in the future?
“If I could meet the ideal members I would like to complete OPHELIA as a band in the future. Some of the support members I’ve known for a while, but others were introduced to me via social media by fellow artists who saw them play or perform. I am quite intense myself when I am on stage, and I sing whike performing, so I was looking for support members who could express themselves to the same extent. I am very grateful to these current support members for accepting my request to support OPHELIA.
I myself am still far from an artist who can talk about music, but the thing I value most is the ability to bare my emotions and express the feelings of people’s hearts and minds. I think the most wonderful thing about music is burning with the ‘life’ that is the concept of OPHELIA, and being able to deliver that to everyone. I want to express this through the band with my own beliefs. Of course, each song will be different in sound and composition, but I would like to always pursue new elements while placing importance on musical elements such as concept and impact, and create this music together with ノク (Noku).”
“I wanted to pursue reality through music.”
Now we’re getting to the topic of OPHELIA’s first song “薄明” (Hakumei), there is something I have to tell you. If you’ve tried to find the lyrics for this song online, you might have noticed they are nowhere to be found. This was actually a deliberate choice from OPHELIA, and 煉華 (Renka) asked me not to share the lyrics in this interview either. The song however does contain a lot of emotions, so I asked him to tell me a little more about them:
“As the title “薄明” (Hakumei) suggests, I had to express many emotions in this song. Conveying anxiety, conflict, and sadness in the stillness before dawn, as well as hope and wishes before the sun rises. I used a variety of vocal tones, including a mix of shouts and clean vocals, and was conscious of ‘communicating’ first and foremost. “薄明” (Hakumei) itself is a poem I wrote about a boy living in a world based on war and religion, but as for the lyrics… I’ve always had a lot of dissatisfaction and injustice towards the world. So rather than expressing those things directly, I wanted to pursue reality through music. I wrote these lyrics as if I was simply pounding the emotions I imagined.”
“When it comes to the composing part, ノク (Noku) creates the songs up to the demo stage, and then I add the story and lyrics to them. Breathing life into the songs. Of course, during this time we also discuss and decide many parts about the instrumental sections and the lyrics I’ve written.” 煉華 (Renka) continues, showing that while he is the face of OPHELIA, the songwriting process does have a lot of influence from ノク (Noku).
“To be honest, we did shoot a music video for 薄明 (Hakumei). But it was scrapped. This song is very important to both the band and myself, and the video just didn’t have the quality we had envisioned for the world to see. I felt so disappointed, so we’re currently preparing a music video for our next single.” He continues. “I think this new song will bring out a different side of OPHELIA than 薄明 (Hakumei) did. I hope everyone looks forward to its release.” He adds.
I was quite surprised to see the band’s first song being released as an ‘audio only’ version, since a music video does have a lot more impact. But after hearing how much emotion is in this one song, and how important it is for the band, it makes sense that they decided to not release the music video if it didn’t live up to their expectations.
OPHELIA played its very first live show on August 10, so quite some time after the release of the first single. A first live has a lot of expectations both for the audience and the artist themselves, so how was OPHELIA’s first live show? “Most of our fans had listened to 薄明 (Hakumei) and came to see us based on that. There were many things I personally regret about our launch live on August 10th, but I was also able to hear from those who came that they enjoyed themselves until it was time to return home, which made me the happiest. So, for our next live shows on October 30 in 心斎橋soma (Shinsaibashi soma) and November 28 in 心斎橋 CLAPPER (Shinsaibashi CLAPPER) I want to raise the quality even more, and give everyone who comes to see us an amazing show!” 煉華 (Renka) explains as our time together is slowly coming to an end.
With all my questions answered, we’ve reached the end of this interview. But no interview can be closed without a message from the artist: “Thank you very much for reading this very long article all the way to the end. OPHELIA is a brand new visual metal band, but we hope to continue to bring you amazing music and live performances that are worthy of the genre. We appreciate your continued support for OPHELIA!”
The interview might be over, but I do have one more request for you. 煉華 (Renka) asked me: “If possible, I’d like to hear the opinions and comments of readers who have read this article.”
Of course I will pass on any comments you leave here at Arlequin Magazine’s article, but of course you’re also welcome to send your comments to him via his own social media accounts!
More about OPHELIA
        |  (Renka)  |
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.