NIGHTMARE on New Single "Reach for" After 2.5 Years: "We Want to Show a New Side of NIGHTMARE"
This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
NIGHTMARE Interview: “We Want to Show a New NIGHTMARE”
In 2025, NIGHTMARE completed their 25th anniversary with their fifth Budokan performance in 13 years as a band—a spectacular finale to “Tenka Daibouso.” Now, as they head toward their 26th year, the band is moving forward with renewed energy.
Their 25th Anniversary Campaign Complete
On March 25th, they’re releasing their 33rd single “Reach for” for the first time in approximately two and a half years. On April 22nd comes the live Blu-ray “NIGHTMARE TOUR 2025 Kaisei Tenka Daibouso Final Performance Yayoen 2025.11.09 Nippon Budokan”—recorded at last year’s Budokan show. Starting in April, they’ve also announced the nationwide tour <NIGHTMARE TOUR 2026 “Reach for”>. We sat down with the band to discuss their 25th anniversary wrap-up, the new single, and much more.
Q: Before discussing the new material, I’d like to wrap up the 25th anniversary activities. Now that it’s over, how are you feeling?
YOMI (Vo): I think this has been the best anniversary we’ve done so far. The fans supported us, and I really felt their love. It became a year where we could say, “Let’s keep working hard going forward.”
Coffin (G): We did a lot of live shows. We’ve always felt that NIGHTMARE is a strong live band, so through this anniversary, I think we were able to strengthen that side even more.
Sakito (G): Despite various things happening, it turned out to be an anniversary where we could do the activities we’d imagined. I think there are often things that don’t go as planned even if you prepare beforehand, but this time things went surprisingly smoothly.
Ni~ya (B): It was definitely the overseas stuff. Our first solo shows in Asia, events in Brazil, European tours—everywhere exceeded our expectations in terms of excitement. That really boosted our confidence. So now I want to do even more overseas.
RUKA (Dr): Both the people coming to see us and the people around us—when there’s a clear, easy-to-understand goal like “We’re doing a 47-prefecture tour” and a solid flow leading toward the 25th anniversary finale, I realized how much easier it makes things.
**Q: After that 47-prefecture tour, you wrapped up the 25th anniversary with the Budokan show
Sakito: Basically, it was a culmination of the tour. A collection of everything.
Q: This was your fifth Budokan performance as a band. How did it feel?
YOMI: Mentally, I was able to approach it without tensing up too much. But personally, I over-sang during rehearsal and messed up my voice adjustment, so my condition on the day wasn’t great—that’s a bit of a regret. Otherwise, it was really good.
Coffin: When the live started and I looked at the audience, I thought, “Oh, so this is what the Budokan view looks like”—it felt nostalgic. Since we’d done over 40 shows leading up to it, we were able to relax and not force anything.
Sakito: Personally, I wasn’t at the level where I could say “Yeah, we’ve got this,” so there was some anxiety. But for the opening, we came out on a bike. Do you know about that?
Q: Of course! Since I couldn’t make it to the venue that day, I saw it on SNS—you came out on a modified decorated bike and I was blown away. Actually, before the Budokan show, I did an interview for another publication, and you mentioned something like “At the Budokan, maybe we’ll come out in tokko outfits on bikes like in this artist photo.”
YOMI: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!
Sakito: So you’re a fortune teller!
Q: Right?!
Sakito: When was that interview?
Q: During the √25 interview period.
Ni~ya: That probably wasn’t decided yet at that time.
Sakito: So maybe that comment influenced it!
Q: Wow! (laughing) So please continue the story after you came out on the bike?
Sakito: Right, so when I came out, I was initially wondering if people would laugh, but the reaction was surprisingly positive. There was laughter, but it looked like everyone was getting hyped from our perspective, so I was able to let loose. Even during the day’s rehearsal, I had mechanical troubles with my amp and all sorts of things, but because I’d let loose, I wasn’t panicked during the actual performance. This might be the first time I’ve played the Budokan so relaxed, without forcing it.
YOMI: He was so relaxed that Ni~ya and others were napping in the green room (laughs).
Ni~ya: I was! Behind Zoji (=YOMI’s nickname) while he was doing his makeup.
YOMI: When I saw that, I felt reassured and wasn’t as nervous.
Coffin: But some people get nervous after they finish napping, right?
Ni~ya: Yeah! People definitely get nervous before the actual performance.
YOMI: And yet he could sleep (laughs).
Coffin: For him, sleep and nervousness aren’t connected at all, I’m sure.
Ni~ya: Exactly. They say the Budokan has a demon living in it, right? So before we started, I was worried something would go wrong. But once it started, nothing happened. The live was exciting, and like Sakito said earlier, all the fans accepted that opening, so the nervousness eased and we had a great start.
RUKA: I don’t remember much, honestly. But that opening bike! I normally ride an electric bike, so riding a non-electric one after so long, I was like “This is so heavy!” I was probably pedaling with strange tension (laughs). The first song was “Believe,” but my legs were trembling and I couldn’t really hit the bass drum. I’ve become someone who can only ride electric bikes now.
Q: (laughs) The bike opening will definitely be a highlight when the live Blu-ray comes out on April 22nd.
Sakito: Yeah. During the live, RUKA comes out first and we all come out on modified bikes, so we’re looking all tough and aggressive. But YOMI just looks… normal (laughs).
YOMI: No wait! Because it’s a modified bike with all these parts, it’s heavy. And the other members’ bikes have these oni-like handlebars, right? Mine was like that at first too, but when I tried riding it, I thought “I’m gonna crash,” so I had them switch mine back to normal handlebars. That’s why I ended up looking that way. It’s the handlebars’ fault.
Q: Note to viewers: pay attention to YOMI’s bike handlebars and posture!
YOMI: Also, I really liked “BIRTH,” so I’d love for people to notice that too.
Q: During the 47-prefecture tour, you reviewed your past works album by album and performed songs you don’t usually play, letting fans enjoy NIGHTMARE’s history. Now that you’ve revisited your old material, what did you feel?
YOMI: I realized a lot of songs were “Wow, this is actually really good.” I was able to appreciate the quality of those past songs in a new way.
Coffin: I thought things like “Oh, so this is the nuance when we play it now,” which was interesting. The atmosphere felt a bit different from my initial impression. I don’t remember specific songs, though.
Sakito: We played a lot of songs we rarely do—some that we’d only ever done during those album-era tours. When we started playing them, the fans who came would react like “Wait, you’re playing this?!” I was glad to feel that reaction in real time, and it gave me a real sense of purpose. Personally, I also felt that my approach to some songs had changed since the old days. There were songs I couldn’t fully pull off back then, and even listening to the recordings made me uncomfortable. That’s gone now. It’s like bumping into an old friend you haven’t talked to in years and suddenly you can chat normally. And aside from music theory, I realized there are a lot of interesting songs. So I want to keep digging up old material and playing them regularly. Going forward, too. I learned a lot.
Ni~ya: I also found that our old songs have a lot to teach us. I’d notice things like “Oh, that lyric is cool” or “That chord progression is awesome,” and there were discoveries. Plus, when we actually played them as a band, there was something fresh about them. And when we showed that to the fans at live shows, their reactions made me happy. It was a great experience for that tour.
RUKA: This is something I don’t fully understand myself, but it feels like my playing style changed—or my sense of rhythm changed. I’m not sure what caused it, but the songs that are easy for me now are different from back then. My comfortable rhythmic feel has completely changed.
Q: How has it changed?
RUKA: Like “BIRTH,” that kind. Those feel easier to me now. Back then, I only understood it as “slow.” I had no idea what people meant by “the space between notes.” I just thought the tempo was slow, that’s it. But now I’m starting to get it, in a vague way. I’m learning to feel the spacing. That’s the biggest thing I noticed.
Q: That’s a major shift.
RUKA: But I don’t even know if it’s good or bad (laughs). Sometimes that youthful, rushing energy is better. But yeah, things have changed.
Q: Let’s shift gears and talk about the new single. The title track “Reach for” is composed by Sakito.
Sakito: We recorded for the single a while back. This song is actually from two years ago.
Q: Were the recordings finished back then too?
Sakito: Yeah, even the mixing was done. We haven’t changed anything—it’s the same version from then. From two years ago, when there was this energy of “We’re heading toward our 25th anniversary.”
YOMI: Were you writing songs like “Labyrinth” around then?
Sakito: Yeah, maybe around that time.
Coffin: Wasn’t it around when you did the野音 (outdoor show)?
YOMI: It was around then, or maybe a bit before.
Sakito: Yeah, so it was already done by 2024. But at that time, it felt like something wasn’t quite right. Last year we put out a conceptual mini-album (√25), so this song’s turn never came. There was another song we were working on specifically for a single release. But with that one, both the song style and the lyrical theme didn’t feel right as the first release after the 25th anniversary. We waited till the last minute, but this felt more appropriate, so they swapped it in at the very end.
Q: I see. What was the theme when you wrote it?
Sakito: The feeling was “It’s our 25th anniversary—and we’re just getting started.” I wanted to gradually remove the rough edges, get polished, but then sharpen ourselves all over again. That’s the song I wrote.
Q: And that’s why the lyrics include the band name.
Sakito: Exactly.
Q: What about the sound?
Sakito: When I was making it, I was unsure about the final direction. We usually have someone on keys, but this time we had Kazutoshi Yokoyama—who plays for BUCK-TICK and others—finish up the keyboard parts, and it became really cool. My guitar recording schedule has been super late lately. I work from a template once all the other elements are done, so once I added guitar, the final picture became clear. Because the chorus is so catchy, there’s a drippy, fuzzy feeling elsewhere—and there’s no guitar solo. That contrast is what feels good to me.
Q: The intro guitar tapping is cool too!
Sakito: I knew from the beginning I wanted that in there. The song was probably built around that. I was doing low string tapping like that in another project before, but we stopped doing that one. Since the vibe seemed right, I thought, “Let’s do this with our band instead.” That’s kind of how this song came together.
Q: How did you all receive “Reach for”?
YOMI: For me, it feels like a proper title track.
Coffin: It’s catchy. Especially in the chorus—it expands and feels catchy. The guitar riff is fun to play.
Ni~ya: When the song starts, it feels like something heavy is coming, but once the chorus hits, you’re like “Oh, this is a single.” That kind of song.
RUKA: When I first heard it, it felt darker than the final version. It became really polished afterward. Oh, and there’s that “Doon” sound in the B-section that feels like your insides are being sucked out. When you listen on headphones, you really feel it. That part somehow got addictive.
Sakito: I love that sound. It’s from club-style music—”doon” is the only way to describe it (laughs).
Ni~ya: Was that Shoji Murakami? The “doon”?
Sakito: Stop giving it weird associations (laughs).
Q: The second track “[N]” is an RUKA composition. What does the title mean?
RUKA: NIGHTMARE.
YOMI: Hmm, that’s different from what I heard before.
Coffin: Does N mean something different every time?
Sakito: Depending on the interview, I might say “It’s Ni~ya’s N” (laughs).
Q: Maybe that’s why it has brackets—it keeps changing (laughs). When was this song written?
RUKA: Last year, when the single project came up. I can’t do intentional songwriting, so I wanted to make something with a rushing vibe, but it somehow turned into something different. I think my energy ran out partway through. The lyrics—I heard while making this that “the WORLD” was celebrating its 20th anniversary since release. So I thought, let me write the future of that song.
Q: So not related to Ni~ya’s N at all.
Sakito: Well, with lyrics like “the faded / far away / turn back the needle”—if you imagine Ni~ya fishing…
Coffin: So it got caught on something? (a snag)
Ni~ya: It connects! Like snapped off. Maybe the song is saying “I lost my hook, so let me rewind and start again.”
Q: I don’t think it’s a song about fishing (laughs).
Ni~ya: Sorry (laughs). When all the parts were recorded and I heard this song, YOMI’s vocal delivery had explosive power! I felt like it had transformed in such a good way.
Sakito: With RUKA’s songs, I often get to do cool guitar work. This one has an arpeggio, right? The demo had a different feel. I was told I could change it however I wanted, so I made several patterns and had RUKA choose from them.
Q: There’s synth backing the arpeggio guitar.
Sakito: RUKA wanted the synth and guitar to be in unison, so that’s how it turned out. The solo was played freely.
Coffin: I focused on backing. The song has so much melodic impact that I went with a stance of just adding backing to RUKA’s distinct melody.
YOMI: I was conscious of singing like “the WORLD.” During pre-production, I realized that “the WORLD”-ness was the theme, so I deliberately tried to sing in a way that evoked the old “the WORLD.” And I really worked hard at bringing attack, punch, and power to the chorus. There’s a part where the chorus repeats twice at the end, and if we’re in a stuffy live house with low oxygen… I might pass out. Literally collapse.
Q: You know that the upcoming tour is basically all live houses, right?
YOMI: Yeah. I’ll do my best.
Q: The third track “煽動者” (Instigator) is also composed by Sakito.
Sakito: I wrote this after watching a documentary where Yukio Mishima has a debate with members of the Zengakuren