Springing from Osaka, Japan’s cultural heart, HYPER GAL crafts a sonic universe that marries avant-garde experimentation with an infectious pop energy.

The minimalist duo, comprised of Koharu Ishida on vocals and Kurumi Kadoya on drums, effortlessly blend glittering keyboard loops with raw, blast-beat rhythms, creating a soundscape that’s both chaotic and beautiful. On their latest album ‘After Image,’ HYPER GAL expands their horizons without sacrificing the DIY energy that defines their sound. The album showcases their fearless exploration of minimalism, mixing stark, avant-garde moments with soft, sentimental touches. The duo’s unique blend of noise, pop, and chaos offers listeners a new world of possibilities, accessible only through an open mind and attentive ears. Their European tour promises to bring this electrifying live experience to audiences across the continent, with stops at renowned festivals like Left Of The Dial and Le Guess Who.

“We hope that listeners can feel the humanity in our music”

HYPER GAL, your name alone sounds like something you’d find scribbled on the side of a spaceship. What’s the real essence behind the name?

Koharu & Kurumi: It felt right to us. We both like the band name because it matches our personalities and the atmosphere of the music.

You straddle the line between reality and some hyper-digital, alternate universe. How do you balance being human in a world where you’re also this larger-than-life, tech-infused creation?

Koharu & Kurumi: We hope that listeners can feel the humanity in our music. This is important to us.

Your music is like a sonic explosion, almost like you’re rebelling against the idea of calm. What fuels that fire that makes you want to shatter everything with sound?

Koharu & Kurumi: We’re not fueled by anger. We are hyper-focused, but sincere. We don’t like cynicism and mockery. Perhaps it is this attitude of ours that gives the impression that we are angry?

With everyone plugged into this digital matrix, do you ever want to just pull the plug on the whole damn thing? What would a five-minute global shutdown look like in your world?

Koharu & Kurumi: We don’t want to shut it down. We want to open it up. We enjoy discovering new music and interacting with friends through the internet. Though these days, social networks only show recommendations for you, which can often seem tedious. However, when you actually go out on the town, there are still fresh surprises to be found there.

<a href="https://hypergal.bandcamp.com/album/after-image">After Image by HYPER GAL</a>

You’re undeniably the sound of now, but who haunts your creative process?

Koharu & Kurumi: The pop, yet somewhat emotional atmosphere of our songs is largely influenced by Japanese music. Here in Japan, Melt-Banana and BOREDOMS, to name just a few, are bands that greatly inspired us.

Koharu: I like music with female vocals… Jun Togawa… Grimes… I also like Visual-kei. It is uniquely Japanese. One of the things I find so attractive about Visual-kei is the chaos it creates by seeping into so many different musical genres.

Kurumi: In addition to performing in HYPER GAL, I am a noise musician. Noise is a part of our makeup, but this is channeled into catchy sounds, which have come to be the main focus. Our songs may sound chaotic, but to us, they are musical.

Your music is manic, wild, and feels like a rollercoaster ride through a digital storm. Is this you being completely open or is there more you’re keeping hidden behind the noise?

Koharu: The lyrics carry a message. However, I will not make any assurances or confirm any specific meaning. I often mishear lyrics when listening to music, and I love that. I find it interesting when lyrics leave my hands and take on different forms. Maybe those misheard lyrics are what I was looking for at the time. Maybe it is what I was trying to say, but I just couldn’t find the right words.

What’s your relationship with failure? Do you embrace it as part of the process, or do you see it as something to obliterate and turn into fuel for the next step?

Kurumi: When something bad happens, we figure out how to deal with it. Then we have a beer and forget about it.

You’re a storm of neon lights, hyper-kinetic energy, and wild vibes, but what’s the dark side of being HYPER GAL?

Koharu: I hope that you can hear, see, and feel the humanity in our music. Sometimes I get sentimental at a moment’s notice. That sentimental feeling is important to me. I feel like it is a way to see the world in a beautiful way.

Kurumi: I have both positive and negative sides. However, I think my will to live brightly and strongly is reflected in my music.

The future — what does it look like through your eyes?

Koharu & Kurumi: The most important thing is to believe in ourselves and the activities we are doing. The second most important thing is to have fun. We are interested in many things. Music, art, etc. We just want to explore all of it.

I would love if you could share some further details about the making, concept, and production of ‘After Image’.

Koharu & Kurumi: As the title ‘After Image’ suggests, the album has been created in such a way that once you hear it, you will never forget it. ‘After Image’ is like a light burned into the eye. We spent a lot of time recording the album, experimenting and creating various tones to find just the right sound. The music we make as HYPER GAL has many restrictions on performance and instrumentation, so we are very particular about how to make the music pop and keep it interesting while taking advantage of the minimalist nature of the loops.

For the album’s closing song, ‘OOPARTS,’ we wanted to add some cool guitar phrases. We unanimously decided that Tokiyo Ooto was the only person to do it, and we immediately asked her about it. Her guitar playing on the recording is incredible. It is far better than we ever could have imagined.

What’s next for you?

Koharu & Kurumi: We would like to visit other countries and will be leaving to tour Europe very soon. We want to reach as many people as possible with our music. We are very proud of how ‘After Image’ sounds, but live performance is important to us, and we work very hard to bring these songs to life in concert. We would love to tour the world, have many people join us, and experience HYPER GAL’s live shows.

If HYPER GAL self-destructed tomorrow, what legacy do you leave behind? What do you want people to still be shouting into the void long after your final track fades?

That was a weird band.

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Andy Anderson

HYPER GAL Website / Instagram / Bandcamp
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