GUMMY on Rock Ballad Album 'GIVE ME CHOCOLATE' and the Band's Genuine Side: "We can be ourselves without pretense. That's what GUMMY is"
This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
GUMMY Interview
Four members with long careers started a rookie band called GUMMY with the concept of “girls bar employees and manager.” All the character and image they’d built up until now has completely collapsed, yet they’re not genuinely indulging in cross-dressing either—just occasionally genuine smiles slipping through, which feels incredibly fresh. With the added convincingness of genuinely dangerous garage punk, the band has been on a winning streak since rolling out in March 2026.
Their 1st EP ‘GIVE ME GUMMY’, which came out in April, was a straightforward rock and roll album, but this time’s 2nd EP ‘GIVE ME CHOCOLATE’ centers on mid-tempo vocal songs. This is apparently also the middle installment in a series of three consecutive EP releases. What became a surprisingly promotion-light interview is also very much part of how you experience GUMMY. The four members talked at length.
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In my case, I don’t think I laugh this much during live shows except with this band
Q: I heard Mad Dangerous came up with the concept for this band.
Mad Dangerous: Well, the concept… actually, in order of events, Kota invited me first.
Kota: Yeah, that’s right. I wanted to do something with aie-kun (Mad Dangerous), so that was my first invitation.
Mad Dangerous: “Why don’t we do something fun? How about a three-piece rock band?” So I invited Lotto on drums, and we spent about a year writing songs. Then I was like, “Actually, I think I shouldn’t be the vocalist.” It overlaps with the other three-piece I’m doing, the god and death stars. So when we were drinking and talking about wanting to get a vocalist… Gara-kun happened to be available for something else. It was around 5 AM though.
Q: That’s prime drunk hour, right? (laughs)
Mad Dangerous: Right. Everyone would forget about it, and it would’ve been no problem if it just ended there. But I was like, “Hey, there’s this thing,” and sent him a demo tape. He sent back a version with vocals pretty quickly. Then we went into the studio to try it out. But nothing was decided at that point. Whether this band would actually happen was still up in the air—like, “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, so let’s just record something.” After we recorded it, I called Shinjuku Loft and booked a live on March 7th. That’s when things got real and we were like, “…Okay, now what?”
Mad Dangerous (G)
Q: “Now what,” meaning?
Mad Dangerous: We had the songs, but if we just went with that, we’d just be some cool rock band in suits. That wouldn’t grab anyone’s attention at all. So I was like, “What if we all go full drag?” (laughs). We were talking about it like a joke while eating yakitori, but somehow everyone started searching for women’s clothing on their iPhones. “Isn’t this kind of cute?” and before we knew it, this is what happened (laughs). At first, we were even suggesting Kota-san do drag too.
Kota: I politely declined (laughs). I just couldn’t picture what I’d look like. I thought it’d be a disaster.
Q: So then you came up with the “girls bar employees and manager” concept.
Kota: Yeah, the “manager” role with the black outfit felt right.
Mad Dangerous: So Kota-san is in a suit, and we’re the employees. It kind of developed from there. And honestly, once we tried it on, it wasn’t so bad.
Kota (B)
Q: Lotty and Gara were pretty into it too?
Lotty: Not exactly “into it,” but (laughs)… we hadn’t done it before, so I thought it might be interesting.
Mad Dangerous: Gara-kun, had you done drag before?
Gara: Not to this extent. I hadn’t, but when aie-kun asked me, I thought, “This seems really fun.” No matter what direction or style we went with, I wanted to try it with these guys first.
Mad Dangerous: The direction’s still not really set though, right?
Gara: …Yeah. Like, “What’s my position, or rather, who am I?”
Mad Dangerous: What gender are you thinking you are right now?
Gara: Right now… I’m back to being female (laughs). I don’t know what’s the right answer. Nobody’s telling me.
Mad Dangerous: Gender aside, basically Lotty’s the cute one. And Kota-san’s locked in as the manager, right? I think Gara’s the middle-aged woman and I’m the middle-aged guy. That’s the right balance.
Gara: I’m the middle-aged woman?! Should I lean more into the middle-aged woman thing?
Mad Dangerous: Nah… you’ll naturally age into it anyway (laughs).
Gara: I guess. So I’m a middle-aged woman. I might’ve been trying to be more of a sophisticated woman.
Kota: No, you had good middle-aged woman energy in the “造花” (Artificial Flower) MV, right?
Gara: Oh man, that looked exactly like my mom when she was young (everyone bursts out laughing).
Q: Once you got going, apparently you had a huge turnout at your first live. How do you analyze what got people excited?
Mad Dangerous: It’s like hitting a perfect niche. Since we all have long careers, even with the drag, people can tell “these guys are definitely not serious about this,” and that’s actually good. Like, “Let me buy a ticket and go make fun of them”—I think that vibe works. That delicate balance just worked out.
Gara: Yeah. While each of us has our own careers, we’re basically playing around seriously as adults. I don’t think there was a band quite like that. It felt like people around us were freaking out more than we were—”What’s this weird band?”
Q: Like I wrote in my review—there’s the “genuine self A,” the “Visual Kei otherworld being B,” and then this “it’s all just an act C” character on top of it all. That blending together is what makes it the most interesting.
Mad Dangerous: The setup’s loose, you know? Just something everyone can enjoy together. We’re not heavily planning every detail. It’s fine if it doesn’t work. As long as we don’t go in the red, that’s the vibe.
Kota: Plus, setting aside the look, the songs are completely serious. We really enjoy that balance, and it’s leading to good results.
Lotty: Yeah. We’re shocked at how well it’s going—tickets are selling out now. But lately I’ve been feeling like, “We have to keep being ridiculous” and “We have to stay funny” (laughs).
Gara (Vo)
Q: Besides Gara, you’re all in multiple other bands. Is there a version of yourself that’s new with GUMMY?
Mad Dangerous: Maybe. I realized the female part of me is incredibly childish. Like a bratty little girl—something like Jarinko Chie is living inside me (laughs). When I go out dressed like that, without even trying, this giggly energy just comes out. I’ve always thought people like Shiina Ringo are cool, but the girl inside me is totally different.
Kota: In my case, I don’t think I laugh this much during live shows except with this band. Because it’s fun. I’ve been doing mostly more serious bands, but now smiles just naturally come out when I’m performing. Maybe that’s interesting too. I don’t usually wear makeup like this, but here I wanted to have a genuinely scary vibe in my appearance. And when someone who looks scary suddenly smiles, it just gets scarier, right? That just happens naturally without us calculating it.
Q: How about you, Lotty?
Lotty: Hmm, I’m in various other bands too, but the backing, the sound—GUMMY has the most straightforward rock and roll sound. It’s like a right hook straight to the jaw. The drumming is the most powerful too. We look like girls, but I can play the most boldly, the most satisfyingly. It’s physical playing, so it’s tiring, but that feels good in its own way.
Q: How do you feel about being called “cute!” by people in the band?
Lotty: Um… it’s complicated (laughs).
Mad Dangerous: That’s better than being called “ugly!”
Lotty: Well, yeah.
Lotty (Dr)
Gara: I got fired up about it! I want to be cute too!
Kota: Can’t you just let Lotty have the cute character?
Gara: I can’t. I’m still going for it.
Kota: So you haven’t given up on cute (laughs).
Gara: I haven’t. Hey, aie-kun, remember when we were drinking and you said you wanted me to sing a Moritaka Chisato cover?
Mad Dangerous: Oh yeah. “Even When I Become a Middle-Aged Woman.”
Gara: Right! Which means I still have some cuteness in me, right?
Mad Dangerous: You should wear that kind of outfit. Moritaka’s skirt style.
Gara: Nice. That’s cute.
Mad Dangerous: Yeah, we started paying attention to stuff like that (laughs). Since starting this band, I’ve been looking at female artists’ outfits thinking, “I want to wear that.”