SUNS OWL has performed at "BEAST FEAST 2001" and has a strong fan base on the underground scene. The first interview by BURRN! portrays Suns Owl as a going-their-own-way-Japanese-metal-band with strength as the main theme.

The Japanese metal band Suns Owl consists of four members: MZM (vocal), Sab (Guitar), Satoh (Bass), and Go (Drums). I can certainly say that they are one of the few true metal bands around. Their sound is heavy, fast, sharp and has a edgy metallic thickness. They are powerful. Once you see them live, you'll know they are one of a kind by their impressive performance and deliverance. They are currently releasing a combination album with the heavy rock band, HAIT from Osaka on June 30th. I've been wanting to interview Suns Owl for some time, and finally made it happen:

―Is SUNS OWL the first serious band for both of you guys?

Sab: No, I've been in other bands before. I was a bass player then.

Go: We were in different bands. Sab was the vocalist from Sab's band, and I started playing with them. Soon after the vocalist quit, but I had this other singer I've been wanting to play with, so I dragged him in...

―It wasn't MZM who you've been wanting to play with back then, was it?

Go: No. He was cool (laugh). He was like 6 '4, did good ad lib, spoke good English and I really wanted to play with him. But it didn't work out when we actually played together. He didn't go well with Sab (laugh). And then, they both confronted me like "What are you going to do?"...and I chose Sab (laugh).

―I heard you started as a punk band. Was that a punk band?

Go: No, I always wanted to play metal. But the vocalist was punk (laugh). You usually start with cover songs at first as a band. We did a song for 7 SECONDS which the vocal brought (laugh). I brought some songs from PANTERA (laugh).

Sab: Yeah, we didn't fit well. It's like 9 years ago.

―Would you consider your roots to be punk music?

Go: I've been through a faze of metal, punk and then metal again.

Sab: I was a generation "Best Hits USA." I used to listen to Van Halen and Bon Jovi as a junior high student. But what convinced me to form a band was punk music. I used to like Swankys, Laughin Nose, Aburadako, Stalin, and Inu from Japan. But seniors told me "Punk is easy!" and then I started to listen to X, Aion, and Loudness (laugh). I was still playing punk but I wanted to show that I can play metal as well.

Go: I use to watch "Best Hits USA," too. I used to loooove Motley Crue, Ratt, Michael Shanker, Quiet Ratt, and Rainbow! I was strongly influenced by my older brother.

Sab: But punk was huge in the indi-scene when I started a band...

―So, the full-dressed beginning of Suns Owl was when MZM joined after the old volcalist quit?

Go: You can say that.

Sab: Well, we had a few singers before MZM. And I switched to guitar from bass at that point. Back then, there was this crazy half Japanese guitar player and we tried to get him involved but we failed. So, I ended up playing the guitar. Seriously, I thought I'd rather play the guitar myself if we could not find a guitarist.

―MZM was in a band called Inferno Fighter before Suns Owl.

Go: He broke up with Inferno Fighter to take an audition with Suns Owl. Back then, I had many bands, like I was helping out as a back up drummer in 8 bands at the least. One of them was Inferno Fighter. We were good friends in our private lives, so Sab used to hang out at rehearsals and live shows as well. Then, I think MZM started to be attracted to our band. Like, "it seems heavy over there."

―You have turned down the offer once from MZM to join Inferno Fighter?

Go: Yes, absolutely (laugh). Then he goes " Can I join you guys?" but I didn't say yes immediately. I said "I'm sorry but we will decide after you try out in the studio like everyone else."

―Then, you just clicked in the studio?

Go: No, it wasn't decided right away.

Sab: I thought he wouldn't fit well.

Go: His spirit, power, and how he changed the style completely from Inferno Fighter caught my heart. Like "Huh, you can do it." But Sab couldn't say yes right away.

―How was MZM's singing like when he was in Inferno Fighter?

Go: It's very different when comparing now and then (laugh). Inferno Fighter was like poppy beat punk. They played simple songs. MZM was in to something like that and I thought it was cool, but I didn't think he was suited to the music we wanted to play. Then, we already had original tunes, so I told him to add melody and lyrics over them in his own taste for the audition. He couldn't make up many patterns but he definitely created something obviously different from Inferno Fighter.

―How long did it take to establish Suns Owl's own style after MZM joined the band?

Sab: We had many different steps... We experimented tuning up and down matching MZM's vocal range. I'm very strict and I asked him for many difficult things to do. I'm surprised that he's still with us.

―Are you the core of songwriting?

Sab: Yes.

―I've heard Suns Owl's motto is "strong sound" but what is that "strength" specifically?

Sab: I don't know how to explain... I would feel "strength" when I hear picking by Cobane from Nirvana and when I see the wrist band with long nails that Kerry King had... (laugh) What is it, really?

Go: I want a band with strength for everything such as sounds, live performances, and mental aspects. I want them to say we are a strong band with how we live life as a whole.

―I think Suns Owl is visually appealing but are you aware about that, too?

Sab: Yeah, I think how you look is very important. Like American bands have great performances visually. Lighting and all. I thought it's a good idea to be something different because it's natural for this scene (metal scene) in Japan to dress casual. I used to wear short pants for shows (laugh).

Go: I hate to copy others. That'll be cool if we can be a trend. Well, we need to be overwhelmingly strong for that and it's going to take some time to reach that point (laugh).

Sab: It's cool how Pantera is saying "Trendkill." (laugh). Shaved heads became ok for metal after Phill Anselmo.

―IWhat are the bands or artists that are most important to you in life?

Sab: For me, Slayer is indispensable. Nirvana is closer to that level. And then I have more below them. I'm really into music and I have tons of CDs. I can name the bands I like all day. That reminds me Shingo Otani (guitar) from United told me I should listen to Led Zeppelin (laugh). I haven't yet (laugh).

Go: It's hard to say. I'm influenced different from generation to generation. I could say what made me form my first band was Deep Purple and what made me decide the style I'm going for was Pantera. Of course, Slayer is in the place that I could give them a private room in my heart (laugh). Anyways, the first motivation was Deep Purple. I still say it's Ian Base when they ask me what's my favorite drummer at interviews of drum magazines. I used to learn electric piano and I'm picky about sound (laugh). How Deep Purple handled sound seemed fresh to me then. I thought that a rock band is incredible. What hit me like "This is it!" after I formed my first band was Pantera. They are a very strong band and I still love them. Not only their sound but I thought maybe this is what I'm looking for.

―Do you get influenced by new bands, too?

Sab: Yes, I do. Like Nothingface, MuDvAyNe, and Radiohead.

Do they influence your songwriting?

Sab: Yes, very much so.

Go: For Sab, it's too much so (laugh).

Sab: I usually am attracted to structure. Like when they have an unexpected structure. Well, I don't completely steel it but I kind of use it as accents to my songwriting. Compare to cooking, it's close to salt and pepper. Basically, I would play riffs like Slayer, Deicide, and Brutal Truth, and I would throw in Nothingface-like- movements. I won't just throw it in but I go a step further with my own ideas thinking it would be this way if I were them. I like both expressing my own ideas and expressing ideas that I was influenced by others. I just love music.

―A joint album with HAIT, "Horn of the Rising Sun" will be released on June 13th. Were you planning this for a long time?

Sab: We've known then for a while. But this thing just happened.

Go: We talked about doing a joint album before.

Why did you decided to collaborate with them?

Go: I liked their personalities. I've known them since they were in a band called John Holmez. Our band and them used to play at shows when we went to Osaka. We respected each others bands. Kosei on vocals is really energetic and he would say stuff like "We're changing Osaka's music scene!" I think that's really cool about them. It doesn't matter what kind of music it is. Of course I think they are great live.

―Did you collaborate on "Horn Of The Rising Sun" with them, which is also a title to the album?

Go: No, we wrote it. I came up with the idea, Sab made it solid and it was haphazard (laugh). We sent a tape to HAIT because they had some ideas about what the song would be like, and we discussed about it several times. Eventually, I heard what it became after being through them and I was satisfied with it. And we all decided on it.

―Did you come up with the two new songs?

Sab: Yes.

―They both are simple and straight-forward songs.

Sab: Yes, they are.

Go: It was one of our challenges to play something simple and straight but still appealing.

Sab: But it may be because we didn't have too much time to record and we only had two guitars.

―When will the third full length album be released?

Sab: We have some riffs but we haven't made them into songs. But I will seriously work on them soon since members have told me that they want to record by the end of the year.

―What is it going to be like this time?

Sab: A direction, you mean? Well, I don't think it'll be so different but MZM wants to sing more. He is into stuff like C.O.C. and DOWN (laugh). I think it'll be cool to have some tunes that he would sing out but it'll be kind of difficult to actually do it.

―Suns Owl hasn't played anything like C.O.C. or DOWN, have you?

Sab: We tried a couple of times but it all sounded like imitation.

Go: It maybe because we don't have many drawers. For example, we only have 10 now, but we'll make them 50, or even 100, and then I want us to be able to pull out more things from them. We have to digest more things.