Interview with UNIONE

JaME had the opportunity to interview the boy band UNIONE ahead of their first show in Europe at Japan Expo, thanks to their sponsor Neokyo, an online selling service for Japanese webstores. UNIONE was formed in 2015 and is currently composed of four members: ISSY, YUUKI, SAM and JIN. This interview underlines their goals and how they ended up performing in Europe.

Some of our readers may not know you; could you please introduce yourselves?

ISSY: I am ISSY.

YUUKI: My name is YUUKI.

SAM: I am SAM.

JIN: My name is JIN.

What led you to create this group?

JIN: We used to make music in different groups. We eventually met through various events and started to hang out more often, and usually we’d go for karaoke. We ended up forming a group together and an agency asked to manage us. Now we all work to keep improving ourselves.

Where does the name UNIONE come from?

JIN: UNIONE comes from the word “union” because we’re united, so we’re “one.” This name was a suggestion from our agency and we also liked how it sounded.

Does your group have a general concept?

JIN: Well, most groups dance while singing but we don’t. We also come from different countries in Asia such as Japan, of course, the Philippines and South Korea. We managed to come up with a different aura by being united and that’s what allows us to stand out, but also to show what we’re really like.

Could you describe what your music sounds like?

SAM: I like rap music while the others prefer J-pop music, rock music and ballads. These genres are really different yet we combine them to create our own style, both musically-speaking and personality-wise. This is who we are.

Which UNIONE song would you recommend to a first-time listener?

YUUKI: We’d advise you to listen to Revive, which is the ending song for "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection". We made it during the COVID-19 pandemic so its goal is to give hope those who felt desperate and lost their loved ones. We wanted to help them by telling them not to worry, because everything will be alright in the end. We stand together as we are all in the same situation.


How do you work when it comes to writing songs?

ISSY: We work with songwriters, which means that they come up with an idea, on the piano for instance, and then we add a melody to this base to create the song.

Are there any artists you look up to and would like to collaborate with?

ISSY: I really like One Direction since they’re a group of friends eager to share their music, just like we’d like to do.

SAM: Our label also features LiSA, whose songs I really like because they remain in your mind for a long time. I would love to elaborate on a song in collaboration with LiSA; I’m not talking about singing together, but really just working along with her on a track.

YUUKI: I really like Official HIGE DANdism, they do a lot of opening songs for anime series. I would love to work with them out of respect for what they do.

JIN: I like ONE OK ROCK and, just like the others, I would love to work with them someday. We all enjoy different kinds of artists but it would be great to make music all together.

You’re performing in Europe for the first time ever. What are your expectations regarding Japan Expo?

ISSY: It’s our first time in France and at Japan Expo, so we would like to showcase the unique style of UNIONE to as many French people as possible, so that get to they know it, and Japanese music as well. The language barrier makes it hard to talk with them but a song can transmit emotions that are easily understandable.

Do you have any spare time to visit Paris?

SAM: We arrived in Paris two days ago, which was enough to have a lot of fun here. We went to see the Eiffel Tower, and other popular things. Of course we couldn’t visit everything, and that’s why we would like to come back and see the rest.

Really? What are the other things you would like to see in France?

YUUKI: Disneyland Paris!

SAM: The Louvre museum. We wanted to go visit it but it was closed on that day!

JIN: The city of Toulouse! It’s not far from the sea. (Everyone agrees.)

Do you have plans to release a new album anytime soon?

JIN: Not yet, but we released GOOD GAME last year, which was a collaboration with a video game called "Knives Out".


What are your plans for the future?

JIN: Since we’re having our first live show in Europe, we would like to go to other countries and showcase our music so that more and more people can get to know it.

Last question: do you have a special message for our readers?

JIN: We’ll spend the next days singing and we would like to show our music to everyone. Please get to know UNIONE and, furthermore, cheer us on to help us grow. Thank you!

JaME would like to thank UNIONE and their sponsor Neokyo once again for this interview.