Special thanks to SVGV, HIGHFeeL and AVO Blog for making this interview possible!
01. At the end of August you will start your new European tour as SVGV, while your last time in Europe was under the name SAGA in 2015. Will you focus primarily on your new songs, or include some of the older songs as well?
SVGV: We will definitely play many of our new songs, but I don’t think we still play any of our old songs as they were originally composed. We’ve done many remixes of them to ensure that our old songs are better as well. We are very excited to share our music with the audience!
02. This tour will be your 4th one in Europe, and I’m sure every time you’ve seen something new. Are you hoping to see new places (other than the venues of course) this time, or have you been looking forward more to seeing familiar places again?
SVGV: We are always excited to visit the new cities and meet the new people, but on top of that we can’t wait to meet our fans who have been waiting for us for so long after the last tour ended.
03. Is there any specific song you’re really looking forward to play for the European audience? And if yes, why this song specifically?
SVGV: We have been producing EDM-based music the last few years, but recently we have been trying a completely different kind of music. We really hope you’ll enjoy it!
04. The tour carries the name “Further Than Ever”, does this name hold any special meaning? Like, did you push yourselves “further than ever” for your new album for example?
SVGV: We have been trying new things, and we’ve also been trying to push ourselves to try new things. So to us the name means that we are pushing our own boundaries and limits.
05. There’s also a new album for us to enjoy in the not-so-distant future. Can you tell me something about the story you’re going to tell all of the people listening to the album? Can fans look forward to something you’ve never done before in the music you make?
SVGV: We are thinking about naming the album “Closer Than Ever” because we have been challenging our limits on the outside, but on the inside we were trying to create something that’s very close to our hearts and emotions. This album will be a very emotional one.
06. Last August you decided to add PEACH to your lineup as a support singer. Since PEACH comes from a different country (China), how did you meet her and what made her the perfect singer for your band?
SVGV: We have been trying a lot of things this year, always thinking about how we can develop our career further and bring our music to the next level. PEACH has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard in a singer, like an Asian version of Adele. We met in China during our last tour and I asked her if she wanted to make music together. She’s usually working in China as a singer, so it’s very hard to match our times to be able to work together, but despite that she’s an amazing person. I will definitely record more songs with her in the future.
07. For a lot of fans the “magic” of Japanese songs lies in the Japanese language being used in the songs, but you’ve used all kinds of languages in your songs, like Chinese, Korean, English for example. What made you decide to use different languages in your songs, and do you feel like you’ve made more people understand your music by using those languages?
SVGV: Every singer will have the best performance if they can sing in their own language, and for me as the composer a language different than my own will always sound fresh and give some new life to music. This is why I often offer the singer to write the lyrics in their own language, but it’s also for the local listeners. For the global fans it’s something so they will be able to remember the song, but also to feel the song and be able to sing it together. English is the perfect language for this.
08. Europe is the last leg of the world tour you’re currently on. But what will happen after the final show in Europe? Are you going back to the studio immediately, or rather enjoy a bit of a vacation?
SVGV: This year we have been facing a very sensitive problem. Korean artists can not perform in China for some kind of political reason. It’s very sad and caused us to cut a lot of dates from the schedule we had for the tour. However, it did make us stronger and pushed us further to challenge new markets in new ways. We are our own company and manage ourselves because of that, so everything is a learning process. We have moved to the United States as well to open up a new market for us there with our music.
09. Do you have any dreams for the future of SVGV, and of course since dreams are only dreams, do you think there’s any chance on those dreams being realistic, and thus becoming reality?
SVGV: We have been following our dreams since the very first day we started making music. We wrote a song called “Dreaming” about this too. We really want the ones who have been chasing their dreams to listen to this song.
10. And as the infamous and probably overly used final question: do you have a message for everyone reading this interview?
SVGV: Thank you so much to all of the fans who have been waiting for us to visit again in Europe, and hello to all of the new listeners! We hope all of you enjoy our music and find something that’s close to you in it. We are confident in bringing our brand new music and the best show ever to Europe this time. See you soon!