Getting to Know... BECCA BECCA. THE ROCK VOCALIST, MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER WHO IS PRODUCED BY MEREDITH BROOKS (KNOWN FOR HER HIT SONG BITCH ) IS A MUSIC ARTIST THAT HAS BURSTED ONTO THE MUSIC SCENE IN JAPAN COURTESY OF HER SONGS USED IN SEVERAL TELEVISION SHOWS BUT NOW HER MUSIC WILL REACH STATESIDE WITH THE RELEASE OF HER DEBUT ALBUM ALIVE!! J!-ENT S DENNIS A. AMITH INTERVIEWS THIS HOT, UPCOMING ARTIST IN REGARDS TO HER CREATIVITY, BALANCING A MUSIC CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES & JAPAN, WORKING WITH MEREDITH BROOKS AND MORE! PHOTOS COURTESY OF SONY MUSIC JAPAN. LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DAVE WUJCIK/COPYRIGHT 2009 BY OTAKORP INC.
Becca performing in Baltimore. Photography by Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2009 By Otakorp Inc. J!-ENT: Before we get into discussions about music, let s get to know a little about you. I read in your bio that since the age of two, you were starting to show signs of your interest in music. Are you from a musical family? BECCA: My dad side of the family is musical but my immediate family has no musical gifts at all. J!-ENT: Who did you listen to a lot when growing up? BECCA: I was inspired by a lot of musical female musicians. I knew that this is the genre that I wanted to do. I wanted to become a female rock artist. One of the bands that really inspired me and influenced me was The Tuesdays. J!-ENT: What kind of person were you back in High School? The party girl? An artist? The band girl? The cheerleader? Etc. BECCA: I really worked hard to not be grouped into anything. I wore whatever I want. Hung out with everyone who was nice. I was into drama, anything that had to do with musical theater or choir. I was whoever I felt liked being. J!-ENT: You play the electric guitar quite well. I m curious what kind of 2 J!-ENT AUGUST 2009 songs did you like to jam to in your earlier years playing the guitar. Led Zeppelin, Heart, or any artist or band? BECCA: I actually picked up the guitar to write my own music. I didn t really play other people s stuff music that much. Of course, I learned Stairway to Heaven and some Jimi Hendrix stuff and some Switchfoot. J!-ENT: If I was to look into your MP3/ CD player right now, which artists or song would you be listening to at this time? BECCA: You would find me listening to Blue October, Garbage and Incubus. J!-ENT: Multi-platinum artist, producer and songwriter Meredith Brooks was a big part of getting you ready for your entrance to the music industry. How did you find out that Meredith wanted to work with you? BECCA: I first met Meredith when I was like 13-years-old through a family friend in Oregon where she also grew up. And at the time she said that if I ever had a demo, to send it to her because she was looking for someone to produce and work with. So, I went to the studio and wrote two songs on my own, two cover songs and sent her the demo and luckily, she liked it. So, I would travel to Los Angeles to do some recording, then back to Portland and attend High School. And eventually I ended up moving to Los Angeles. J!-ENT: How was it like working with Meredith? BECCA: Meredith is definitely an intense person and I was very shy. So, at first it was hard to warm up to each other but she taught me so much about the music business, about myself and she s great! J!-ENT: I was surprised when I heard your album because most artists signed to a Japanese label typically have hybrid tracks with Japanese songs and English lyrics but your album Alive!! is very Western and songs are all in English. How was the transition as a musician from America and promoting your music in Japan? BECCA: It s interesting because the culture is different and the business is different and there are so many customs that I had to pay attention to. So, the first time I went over there, I was overwhelmed by the differences. The more I went over there I got really used to it and fell in love with how things were run there. It was very cool because I was promoted like a
Becca performing in Baltimore. Photography by Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2009 By Otakorp Inc.
er when I was 14 and some of the songs we wrote together are on this album. So, technically, you can say it took five years. J!-ENT: I have had your album on my playlist and I ve listened to it on repeat many times. I m very impressed by your vocal range, your music and how well-produced this album was. Now, I m curious of what is your favorite song on the album and why? BECCA: I would say, one of my favorite songs is Make You Mad because it really represents bad breakups and it was great to say everything that I wanted and I didn t censor myself at all with those lyrics. It s really fun to be yourself in a song. J!-ENT: When it comes to songwriting, are you the type who can crank out songs quickly or are you the type who toils around with lyrics for a long period of time and in a sense, a perfectionist? BECCA: I m definitely a perfectionist when it comes to writing music. But I learned that if you judge it to much before it s a finished project, you won t finish writing the song. But I really vary from pumping so many songs to automatically I have all these lyrics that I am waiting to put music to them. Sometimes I drag it out. So, it really depends where I am in my life and how busy I am. Because it takes time to concentrate on music. J!-ENT: What was the most challenging track on album for you and why? BECCA: I would say Lose You Now because it was definitely challenging and trying many different approaches. I really wanted to show off my vocal abilities, so that definitely took a lot of work. Becca performing in Baltimore. Photography by Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2009 By Otakorp Inc. Japanese artist and got to be part of anime and travel all over Japan. So, it was a pretty smooth debut. J!-ENT: There have been several Americans who have made a transition to Japan and for the most part, it has taken them a long time to get any an television show tie-in. Within the year of signing to Sony, your music was featured on the popular American drama Damages in Japan and your music is featured not on one but two anime series Ultraviolet: Code 044 and Kuroshitsuji. And recently, you have a song titled Shibuya for the very popular Vocaloid character Miku Hatsune. How was the experience for you to have your music featured on these TV shows? BECCA: Very overwhelming. With Damages, that s my seriously, my favorite show on television. Such a wonderful show! And for anime, it s a very good way to get into the Japanese market and also the American market. It s been a good experience, pretty much a dream and I wasn t expecting all that to happen while going there to Japan. Everything kind of went very fast. I have a wonderful A&R person and a great team and they really worked hard for me. I m very lucky! J!-ENT: Let s talk about your album ALIVE!! The album is produced by Meredith Brooks and both you and Meredith wrote many songs on the album. How long did it take to create and record this album? BECCA: Well, we started working togeth- J!-ENT: You performed at Otakon, an anime convention? What was it like performing in that type of setting? And what is it surreal performing for such a large group of people in costume (cosplaying)? BECCA: It was actually the best show I have ever played so far aside from the ones in Japan. The audience was really great. They listened. It was so much fun! The stage was incredible, the room was really big and the whole thing about the costumes, I guess it could have been distracting if I paid attention to much attention to it. But yeah, the costumes are awesome! J!-ENT: You performed at Summersonic in Osaka and Tokyo, how was that experience for you? BECCA: It was really nerve racking because I never played at a music festival before and the weather was so hot. But it was amazing experience because I was 4 J!-ENT AUGUST 2009
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I was inspired by a lot of musical female musicians. I knew that this is the genre that I wanted to do. I wanted to become a female rock artist. Becca performing in Baltimore. Photography by Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2009 By Otakorp Inc.
Becca performing in Baltimore. Photography by Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2009 By Otakorp Inc. surrounded by talent such as the Ting Tings, I got to go backstage with Alicia Keyes. It was so surreal and I m really happy to have that experience. J!-ENT: Outside of music, I read that you express yourself and your music through your comics. Please tells us more about your comics and are you inspired by any comic titles or artists/ storytellers? BECCA: With my comic in particular, it was inspired by my own personal story. But I was inspired by NANA and Emily the Strange. My comic is my story, about me coming to LA and getting signed and making the band. It s pretty accurate, not 100% but it s pretty accurate. J!-ENT: There are many talents such as Rosario Dawson (Clerks) and Milo Ventimiglia (HEROES) who have went on to have their careers but also have done their own comic book series. On your album ALIVE!!, your fans/listeners have a chance to check out your Lady B. Story which featured a story written by you and artwork by agoo. Does it interest you in having any of your stories published or even working on a comic book series like other talents have done? BECCA: That would be incredible. I love comic books and it s an awesome form of expression. I really hope one day I can have my comics in a bookstore. That would be so incredible. That would be a dream to inspire to. J!-ENT: Outside of music and comic books, what are your hobbies? BECCA: I love to shop I m a girl! I love traveling. I love writing stories, going to movies, the beach, hiking and becoming a part of nature. J!-ENT: If there is one word to describe yourself, what word would that be and why? BECCA: Weird. Because I hear that a lot. J!-ENT: In every J!-ENT Interview, we do a wordplay where I give you five words and you give us your definition of those words: BECCA: a. LOVE Love is a commitment that goes outside of yourself. The act of not being selfish. b. SUCCESS Success comes when you do something on our own and you see that grow and people respect you for that. c. FAMILY Everything to me. Most important thing in life. d. ALIVE!! Living live to the fullest. Being free and being open to bigger dreams and trying new things. e. LADY B. The passion for lady bugs and for comic books. J!-ENT: What final words would you like to say to your fans? BECCA: Thank you so much for all your support. I want to meet you all and maybe one day I can. I can t wait to play more shows. Please check out my album ALIVE!!! which will be in stores this Fall. I love you guys! For more information on BECCA, please visit her website at www.beccachan.com. or her MySpace site at: www.myspace.com/beccachanofficial AUGUST 2009 J!-ENT 7
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world J!-ENT groove BECCA ALIVE!! Sony Music Japan International JAPAN RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2009 Format: CD (SICP-2131) TRACKLIST: 1. I m ALIVE! (now available on itunes) 2. Better off Alone 3. TURN TO STONE 4. Lose You Now 5. Guilty Pleasure 6. Turn Up the Stereo 7. Outside Of You 8. EMPTY 9. Without You 10. Make You Made 11. Perfect Me (Album Version) 12. Falling Down 13. I Drove All Night USA version coming out soon! In Japan, the Japanese music fans go crazy over Western female rock artists such as Avril Lavigne, but now there is another American-based artist making waves in Japan and her name is BECCA. BECCA is a music artist from America but is signed by a Japanese music label and her songs are very Western, all English and her music has been featured on the popular American drama DAMAGES in Japan but also featured in anime series such as Ultraviolet: Code 044 and Kuroshitsuji. Her Japanese album was produced (and songs co-written) by music artist Meredith Brooks (known for her 1997 hit song Bitch ). For the most part, this album is upbeat, rock driven and some can say its comparable to rock artists such as Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch. But the fact is that BECCA is a talented musician and songwriter and has a pretty solid vocal range. For tracks such as I m ALIVE!, you re greeted with awesome guitar playing by Akira (of UVERworld) and an enjoyable upbeat track. The similar upbeat rock style is duplicated in the second track Better Off Alone. There are also cover tracks such as Outside of You which is written by PINK (and originally sung by Hilary Duff) that shows off BECCA s vocal range and is really well done! There is also BECCA s awesome < Move over Avril, here comes BECCA! rock-driven cover of Cyndi Lauper s 1989 hit song I Drove All Night (which was released in 1992 by Roy Orbison and in 2003 by Celine Dion). But there are also slow tracks that are touching and just well-done such as Lose You Now, EMPTY and Falling Down that are just well done. Also, showing off her artistic creativity on her CD insert booklet, BECCA and artist agoo have teamed up to create a story titled Lady B. Story featuring a story loosely based on BECCA s life as a music artist moving to Los Angeles and performing live with her band. When I first listened to this album, I was shocked of how good this album was. I had it on repeat on my playlist and considering how many albums and singles I go through per week, it s quite rare for me to have an album playing over and over many times. I have to admit that I was surprised that her music was released in Japan first. Primarily for the fact that the song is all in English. Typically in Japan, artists that are prepared for the Japanese market, typically sing in Japanese with maybe a few songs that are sung entirely in Japanese. So, you usually have a hybrid type of album. This is not the case with Alive!!. This album is all in English and for the most part, it s a very Western style of album and its evident with the musical push on various TV shows and her performance and major rock n roll festivals in Japan, the Japanese have surely warmed up to her music. ALIVE!! is well-produced, her music is awesome, songs that are wellwritten and for the most part, BECCA can definitely sing! There is so much talent with this musical artist that I can only hope when her album is released in America, she gets the marketing and the promotion. For now, people interested in BECCA s music can find her single I m ALIVE! on itunes USA. ALIVE!! is highly recommended! DENNIS A. AMITH AUGUST 2009 J!-ENT 9
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