Boys Republic_Real Talk

Exclusive Interview: Boys Republic get personal before their Royal Tour

by with No Comment Music News

Boys Republic_Real Talk

Most of our dedicated K-pop readers will have seen the news that the K-pop boy group Boys Republic are coming to London Islington Academy on July 4th as part of their “Royal Tour“. Tickets are already on sale so be sure to grab yours as soon as possible.

Members Wonjun, Sunwoo, Minsu, Sungjun, and Suwoong have already sent their greetings to their European fans and are really excited to see everyone. So whilst they were still hyped up about their upcoming tour, we managed to grab a small interview with all of the members to see what makes Boys Republic a Korean boy group to watch.

– — – — – — – — – 

You debuted in 2013 with “Party Rock” which bought a new flare to the K-pop world. Did you ever think you would get as far as you have today when you first started out?

We really appreciate all the fans who have supported us over time. It is all about them as to why we are here now.

What are Boys Republic’s favourite video games? Are there any games that inspired your music video?

We love to play GTA (Grand Theft Auto) and FIFA.

Your music is being listened to worldwide, what do you feel sets you apart from other artists? 

We are not afraid of trying different types of music.

The dance choreography to your music can be very hard. Who out of the group is the best dancer?

Sungjun and Minsu easily master the choreography, especially Minsu as he learns choreography very fast. For new songs we practice more than two months before we start TV promotions.

Who is it that inspires you all? Is there anyone (from around the world) that inspires you to do what you do?

Always The Beatles, Shinhwa, and G.O.D.

Untitled 4

I recently watched one of your videos where the members dressed up in funny costumes. Just watching I felt embarrassed for you all, but what was your most embarrassing moment performing?

During one of our performances there was confetti and one piece went into one member’s mouth during the performance. It didn’t get caught on camera and fans in front saw it and laughed at them.

Fanservice is a big deal, especially for international fans. You had done a Lazer Tag fan meeting once. What other activities would you like to do with your fans in the future?

We’d like to do a charity event with Royal family.

Your last group release was “The Real One” in November 2014 with a modern Vs classic concept. Do you have any plans to release a new album or song for 2015?

Of course! We can’t tell you the details, but it will be awesome!
(E/N: Boys Republic have just released their new single and music video “Hello” which you can see below!)

“Rookie King: Boys Republic” was a much loved TV show for fans worldwide, allowing a bridge between the idols and their fans. How would you like to interact with your fans in the future?

We want to hold a small concert with fans.

You are travelling around Europe on your tour soon, but have any of you previously visited any of the countries you are going to? 

It is our first time to go to Europe and we would love to go to all countries, but Paris, France should be a must!

And lastly, do you have anything to say to your UK fans, and readers of MCM Buzz?

We hope you will keep supporting us please!

– — – — – — – — –

A big thank you to B7klan and Boys Republic for their cooperation and time, and be sure to keep checking back to MCM Buzz for news and updates about Boys Republic’s European tour. Below is their latest release “Hello“. You can also view our own Boys Republic picture folder on the MCM Buzz Facebook page.

OmocatPokemonBoutique

Cool items that fans can catch at the Pokemon Boutique!

by with No Comment News

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Pokémon fans in the USA are now able to pick up some really unique items thanks to the Pokémon Boutique pop-up shop that has recently opened in Los Angeles. After a little investigating, we found some of the cool items that you can purchase from this limited-time event, some of which will also be available on line in the near future .

First thanks to the designers Omocat you can get a range black tops that are graced with the likes of Espurr, Gengar, and Drifloon.

OmocatPokemonBoutique

JapanLA have made a pastal coloured reversible top that is also available as a babydoll dress and crop-top tanktop featuring Pikachu, Plusle and Minun.

Japan LA Pokemon Print Dress

Clothing brand Mighty Fine will have items on offer including a Pokéball jumper and a Pikachu-themed black cardigan with yellow trim and Pokéball buttons. This item can also be purchased here for $38.80 excluding delivery thanks to online retailer Hot Topic.

MightyFinePokemonCardiganandJumper

The final item on our list is this amazing special 14kt gold dipped Pokemon Necklace with Swarovski Crystals that has been created by Onch Movement and features the much loved Electric type Pokémon, Pikachu. This item is said to be very limited and was launched at the event’s party.

PokemonNecklacePhoto

Those who spend over $30 at the boutique on items including at least one Pokémon-related purchase will receive a special Pikachu tote bag to carry home all their merchandise.

PokemonTote

Well there you have it: just a few items that you can find at the Pokémon Boutique pop-up shop which is open from June 6th-July 5th and is located inside JapanLA Los Angeles.

JapanLA has also confirmed that some of their items will be available to purchase online in the coming weeks including the aforementioned Pikachu necklace.

Sources: Japan LA, Japan LA Tumblr

Juck Juck Grunzie 1

Korean Indie Band “Juck Juck Grunzie” To Feature At Glastonbury

by with No Comment Music News

Juck Juck Grunzie 1

For people interested in Korean music but looking for something a little different from your usual K-pop or K-HipHop, the Korean Indie scene is possibly one of the best places to look. Seoul has a lot to offer for music fans, but one group that seems to be making leaps and bounds in the Western music market is the psychedelic noise rock quartet “Juck Juck Grunzie“.

Originally, Juck Juck Grunzie was formed as an all-female band back in 2007, but along the lines things got mixed up and male drummer Kyung Hyun Lee joined vocalist and synth player Ah-Reum Lee, guitarist Jee-Hye Ham and bassist Hyojeong Shim. Capturing the attention of many within Seoul’s indie scene by wearing only lingerie for their first performance, the group came second place at the 2012’s Hello Rookie finals in Korea. In November 2013, the group to released their first full-length album, “Psycho”, which brought them worldwide success, highlighting their progression from post-punk roots into noisier and more psychedelic sonic terrains. In the summer of 2014, the band was featured as one of the central subjects of Van’s “Off the Wall” documentary series about South Korea’s indie scene and captured the attention of the British Glastonbury Festival organizers.

Juck Juck Grunzie 3

Juck Juck Grunzie’s music can only be described as marrying irregular rhythms with chaotic soundscapes, where the sounds explore the boundaries between dreams and nightmares to create something dark, mysterious, and hauntingly beautiful. Several major outlets have praised their work. Said MTV Iggy:  “This is a band that I’ve hoped and prayed would some day exist — four (now three with the addition of a guy drummer, but still) bitches in fishnets and leather jackets who birth Le Tigre post-punk fed through a Nirvana machine.” Meanwhile, Asian music leaders Daum Music described their music as, “Noise rock that is both dreamy and limitless. Mixing genres (Juck Juck Grunzie) has created music that is at once improvisational, creative, and unique.”

The band with be gracing Europe with a tour that will start at the biggest live music events in the UK, including Glastonbury Festival on June 25th. The tour will end in Berlin on July 3rd.  Below are a list of places to grab a chance of seeing the band perform live, and if their previous live performances in Korea are anything is to go by, you can expect exciting shows featuring pajamas, footballs and lingerie.

June 25th
Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival (Pussy Parlure)
June 26th
Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival (Gully Outernational)
June 30th
London, UK @ Windmill Brixton
July 1st
Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain
July 3rd
Berlin, Germany @ Trixster

If you don’t get the chance to see them live, be sure to follow Juck Juck Grunzie on Facebook and Twitter, or check out some more of their songs on Soundcloud. “Concrete Jungle”  and “Meth-Od” are particularly recommended – be prepared for something a little out of the ordinary!

Juck Juck Grunzie 1

Korean Indie Band "Juck Juck Grunzie" To Feature At Glastonbury

by with No Comment Music News

Juck Juck Grunzie 1

For people interested in Korean music but looking for something a little different from your usual K-pop or K-HipHop, the Korean Indie scene is possibly one of the best places to look. Seoul has a lot to offer for music fans, but one group that seems to be making leaps and bounds in the Western music market is the psychedelic noise rock quartet “Juck Juck Grunzie“.

Originally, Juck Juck Grunzie was formed as an all-female band back in 2007, but along the lines things got mixed up and male drummer Kyung Hyun Lee joined vocalist and synth player Ah-Reum Lee, guitarist Jee-Hye Ham and bassist Hyojeong Shim. Capturing the attention of many within Seoul’s indie scene by wearing only lingerie for their first performance, the group came second place at the 2012’s Hello Rookie finals in Korea. In November 2013, the group to released their first full-length album, “Psycho”, which brought them worldwide success, highlighting their progression from post-punk roots into noisier and more psychedelic sonic terrains. In the summer of 2014, the band was featured as one of the central subjects of Van’s “Off the Wall” documentary series about South Korea’s indie scene and captured the attention of the British Glastonbury Festival organizers.

Juck Juck Grunzie 3

Juck Juck Grunzie’s music can only be described as marrying irregular rhythms with chaotic soundscapes, where the sounds explore the boundaries between dreams and nightmares to create something dark, mysterious, and hauntingly beautiful. Several major outlets have praised their work. Said MTV Iggy:  “This is a band that I’ve hoped and prayed would some day exist — four (now three with the addition of a guy drummer, but still) bitches in fishnets and leather jackets who birth Le Tigre post-punk fed through a Nirvana machine.” Meanwhile, Asian music leaders Daum Music described their music as, “Noise rock that is both dreamy and limitless. Mixing genres (Juck Juck Grunzie) has created music that is at once improvisational, creative, and unique.”

The band with be gracing Europe with a tour that will start at the biggest live music events in the UK, including Glastonbury Festival on June 25th. The tour will end in Berlin on July 3rd.  Below are a list of places to grab a chance of seeing the band perform live, and if their previous live performances in Korea are anything is to go by, you can expect exciting shows featuring pajamas, footballs and lingerie.

June 25th
Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival (Pussy Parlure)
June 26th
Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival (Gully Outernational)
June 30th
London, UK @ Windmill Brixton
July 1st
Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain
July 3rd
Berlin, Germany @ Trixster

If you don’t get the chance to see them live, be sure to follow Juck Juck Grunzie on Facebook and Twitter, or check out some more of their songs on Soundcloud. “Concrete Jungle”  and “Meth-Od” are particularly recommended – be prepared for something a little out of the ordinary!

Uwe Boll Kickstarter Rampage 3 rant 570 x 270

Uwe Boll rips Kickstarter a new one

by with No Comment IndieNewsTheatricalVideos

Uwe Boll’s Facebook followers will have seen his latest video update, which he sarcastically tagged with the message, “as you see —-i’m in a very very good mood.”

Still, you know it’s not going to be a happy smiley Uwe Boll when he titles the video: “fuck you all”.

It seems the Kickstarter campaign for Rampage 3 didn’t go so well and he’s not happy, as the message below the YouTube clip makes very clear…

“never will do crowdfunding again …. thanks to the few they supported rampage 3 -.-.—the rest can fuck their mothers incl. KICKSTARTER and all the idiots who talked me into bullshit like this.”

Don’t feel too worried about him, though. He’s still got “enough money to play golf until I am dead.”

godzilla

Smash the Capital, Join the Country: Godzilla Gains Japanese Citizenship

by with No Comment Movie NewsNews

godzilla

You may think that the last thing you’d want to do with a monster famed for smashing up your country is make him a permanent resident, but whoever said the movies or fandoms made sense?

No, you didn’t read wrong: the legendary radioactive sea monster has been officially registered as a citizen of Japan, after papers were drawn up by city officials to claim him as a resident of Shinjuku, Tokyo. 5,000 copies of these papers have been printed and distributed free to fans on a first come, first served basis.

Don’t worry though: if you can’t afford a flight out to Japan, or whatever price the documents end up being sold on for on eBay, at least you can still find out what they say. According to Rocket News, the papers read as follows:

Name: Godzilla

Address: Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho, 1-19-1

Date of birth: April 9, 1954 [the year of the release of the very first Godzilla film]

Date of becoming a Shinjuku resident: April 9, 2015

Reason for special residency: Promoting the entertainment of and watching over the Kabuki-cho neighbourhood and drawing visitors from around the globe in the form of the Godzilla head built atop the Shinjuku Toho Building.

Previous visits to Shinjuku Ward: 3 times; Godzilla (1984), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah(1991), Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Lest we forget, the original 1954 movie ended with attempts by the city’s inhabitants to destroy Godzilla, so things have certainly changed. With “watching over the Kabuki-cho neighbourhood” given as one of the reasons for his acceptance, perhaps more sympathetic portrayals in subsequent films had something to do with with the decision. That, or it’s a clever marketing ploy both for Toho and Tokyo tourism.

Sources: IGN | Rocket News

505696ae58e821347851950hatsunemikumigerunaluka

Create your own Vocaloid hologram concert with Hako Vision from ‘Something Kawaii’

by with No Comment Music News

505696ae58e821347851950hatsunemikumigerunaluka

Whilst walking around the traders’ hall at the MCM London Comic Con I noticed something very unique and very cool that every Vocaloid loving fan simply must have. Taking pride of place on the Something Kawaii stall I was intrigued by a small box which had a movie playing a Hatsune Miku hologram concert song. Above the box was placed a mobile phone which I believe the owner had placed there to keep safe – but there was more to that box than I originally thought!

After taking a few snaps of the stall – which definitely lives up to its namesake, I asked about the box. It turns out that it is called Hako Vision from Bandai. Basically you buy a plain looking cardboard box with a plastic film surrounding it. At first it appeared to be a gimmick, that you needed to press a button for the hologram concert to begin – I was totally wrong! After you unpack your box, you need to use your smartphone to scan the QR code on the side of the box, after which you will be given a choice of two songs to pick from. You then have to place the screen of your smartphone down onto the top of the box and it creates a 3D hologram concert.

Something Kawaii are the exclusive UK retailers for the Hatune Miku Hako Vision, and at just £6.95 it’s a total steal! Check out the video below, and make sure you check out their website.

505696ae58e821347851950hatsunemikumigerunaluka

Create your own Vocaloid hologram concert with Hako Vision from 'Something Kawaii'

by with No Comment Music News

505696ae58e821347851950hatsunemikumigerunaluka

Whilst walking around the traders’ hall at the MCM London Comic Con I noticed something very unique and very cool that every Vocaloid loving fan simply must have. Taking pride of place on the Something Kawaii stall I was intrigued by a small box which had a movie playing a Hatsune Miku hologram concert song. Above the box was placed a mobile phone which I believe the owner had placed there to keep safe – but there was more to that box than I originally thought!

After taking a few snaps of the stall – which definitely lives up to its namesake, I asked about the box. It turns out that it is called Hako Vision from Bandai. Basically you buy a plain looking cardboard box with a plastic film surrounding it. At first it appeared to be a gimmick, that you needed to press a button for the hologram concert to begin – I was totally wrong! After you unpack your box, you need to use your smartphone to scan the QR code on the side of the box, after which you will be given a choice of two songs to pick from. You then have to place the screen of your smartphone down onto the top of the box and it creates a 3D hologram concert.

Something Kawaii are the exclusive UK retailers for the Hatune Miku Hako Vision, and at just £6.95 it’s a total steal! Check out the video below, and make sure you check out their website.

Namie-Amuro-Vogue-01

Namie Amuro releases her interactive MV for Golden Touch

by with No Comment Music News

Namie-Amuro-Vogue-01

When you are usually offered a fully interactive video you kind of expect a click to view interaction, but Japanese singer Namie Amuro has taken the idea of video interaction to a whole new level.

Her new song Golden Touch hints that your touch is of course golden in when it comes to her new music video. All you have to do is place your finger on the heart shaped dot and let the video interact with you – Simple and fun!

Without trying to spoil it too much, the interaction takes place with objects interacting with the position of your finger whilst the song plays in the background. The song itself is an upbeat feel good track which is akin to Namie’s earlier releases. With everyone trying to outdo the last entertainer, it seems that this music video has opened up a possible new trend of interaction between the performer and their fans. Hopefully it won’t be too long till we see this method of interaction used around the world to create some special moments for fans.

So time to test the amazing video – Place your finger on the dot, press play, and enjoy!

DissidisaFinalFantasy1

Square Enix reveal more classic characters for Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade

by with No Comment Gaming NewsNews

DissidisaFinalFantasy1

During a livestream event for the latest Dissidia Final Fantasy arcade game, Square Enix revealed that Final Fantasy V protagonist, Bartz Klauser, and Final Fantasy VIII protagonist, Squall Leonhart, will be added to the character line up.

DissidisaFinalFantasyBartzKlauser DissidisaFinalFantasySquallLeonhart

The news was confirmed by the game’s director Takeo Kujiraoka, who was joined on the livestream by producer Ichirō Hazama. The arcade game will play with a 3 vs 3 battle system and also incorporates modified PlayStation 4 hardware. The game features a new Summon system, allowing players to call summons (Summoned Beast) into the battle, such as Ifrit or Ramuh, after filling up a special gauge.

Characters that have already announced include Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy I, Onion Knight from Final Fantasy III, Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, Y’shtola from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and Ramza Beoulve from Final Fantasy Tactics.

The game is currently being developed by KOEI Tecmo Games Team Ninja and will be released in arcades in Japan this winter. Thanks to the use of PS4 technology, it could see a console release not too long after.

Click play below to watch the full stream video and if you want to listen to some music from the game then why not head over to the official website here.

 

Sources: Gematsu | Silconera | PlayStation Lifestyle