from left to right: Risa, Yume, Mona, Rena, Rina
The-O Network's Jason Young and Salvador Mateos had a chance to meet the youthful DJ, dance and vocal all-female music act, Carat, at their press conference during Anime Expo 2013. Not only are the girls stunning, but their talents and vocals are just as amazing as exemplified during their Day One performance with Aya Ikeda. Starting with their debut single, "KOI Indirect," the girls have ascended quickly on Ameba blog rankings. The group celebrated their second single, "Shake It Up!" at their performance during Anime Expo and if it's an indication of what we can expect from them in the future, we'll be hearing from Carat again soon enough. Discover the group's career and honest, unique personalities through our press panel transcription.
Yume: Hello! My name is Yume. I'm 16 years old. LA is fantastic! Thank you very much!
Rina: Hello! I'm Rina! I'm 19 years old. My favorite animation is Naruto. Thank you very much!
Mona: Hello, I'm DJ Mona! I'm very happy because this is the first time I've been to LA. Thank you very much!
Rena: Hello, I'm Rena! I'm 15 years old. I love anime! I watch a lot of cartoons, like the Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya every day! Thank you very much!
Risa: Hello, I'm Risa! I'm 18 years old. I'm looking forward to today's event. Now I'm hooked on animation, including Attack on Titan.
Rena and Yume [photo courtesy of Carat's Official Twitter Page (@CaratUe)]
If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
Yume: My word is Yume. It means dream in Japanese and it's my name as well. I've been pursuing my dream all my life, even though I'm still young.
Rina: I am Rina. I think that my charming point and word would be smile.
Mona: Since I was young, I've been doing things like dancing, classic ballet and DJing. So that's why I would choose the word music.
Rena: So the word I've chosen is challenging. I chose that one since I like doing sports and watching animation.
Risa: I'm originally from Hyogo, one of the places known in Japan for comedy. Since I love making people smile, I'm going to choose the word smile.
Since I imagine that some of you are still in school, how do you balance your singing career with school with anything else outside of your career?
Rina: [Since a few of us] are high school students, we don't have a lot of free time on weekdays. So on weekends, we often spend time together and practice for rehearsals as we have an opportunity to be together.
What are some of your musical influences?
Rina: There are so many musicians. However, I feel like Aya Ikeda is similar to the kind of singer we want to aspire to be and keep up with her, but not overtake her.
How do you all find time to unwind, and are there many activities that all of you do together?
Rina: During our free time, we are always together. So we do a lot of things like shopping and going to karaoke.
What do you all like to do in your free time?
Yume: Even though I dance and perform, I still like to dance at home.
Rina: I like shopping.
Mona: I like taking baths, and often just rest dipping my feet in water. I also collect specific types of soaps.
Rena: I really like watching anime, so I'm often doing that.
Risa: When I'm at home, I enjoy watching Attack on Titan and playing puzzle games on my smartphone.
How do you deal with the stereotypes that some people associate with "idols" as being fake?
Rina: We don't think that we're idols, but rather true artists. Some people might associate us as being an idol, but together we overcome that difficulty.
How does it feel knowing that you've overcome it?
Rina: It really depends on how people feel about seeing us as idols or artists. However, that perception doesn't matter when people are cheering for us and dancing with us.
What do you think is the difference between idol and an artist?
Rina: We have a variety of music including "cool" and "pop." So depending on the song, people might think that we're idols or true artists. However, I think you can be both. So I hope that people pay attention to our dancing and facial expressions.
What do you think makes the group different from other dance and vocal units?
Risa: We have a DJ and dance along with the vocals, which is different from other groups. We hope that having a DJ will make a big difference for our music.
What is the weirdest or strangest thing that's ever happened during a performance?
Yume: One time when I was performing, my dancing was so intense that my shoes ended up tearing. (laughs)
For more information on Carat visit:
http://ameblo.jp/carat-ue/
http://www.carat-ue.jp/index.html