The you chatting with me here and the you that performs on stage are both the same person, of course, but they feel a little different. Are they both equally real?I think so, but I don’t know. The me on stage feels a bit more... with it, I guess. When we’re in the studio, Mayuka and I can goof off to the point people start asking if I’m really the vocalist
Is that a part of you that only comes out when you’re on stage?I think so. But I wonder why that is... My stage persona feels like an extension of my everyday self — like the things I experience in daily life feed into it and shape who I am up there. But once I step on stage, it’s like I power up, probably because of the incredible energy I get from the crowd. Lately, more and more of our shows have been close to full or even completely packed. As I’ve gotten used to that, I think I’ve also gotten used to this powered-up version of myself.
When we started drawing bigger crowds — when it really hit me that more people knew about Haku. — that’s when I began to truly feel the power an audience can bring. When I can feel all those eyes on me, or when they start singing along, that’s when I discover a version of me that doesn’t exist in everyday life.