Off The Record with ONE OR EIGHT

There’s a kind of full-circle moment you can feel in the room before anyone even says it out loud. For ONE OR EIGHT, it happened this year in Los Angeles, on the HEAD IN THE CLOUDS stage, their first-ever U.S. festival appearance, at a festival built to celebrate Asian artists talents.

It’s the kind of stage that doesn’t come out of nowhere. It comes after a first live tour, a documentary that followed the group through cities most people only dream about visiting, a song (“TOKYO DRIFT”) that somehow found its way onto hundreds of millions of screens, and a run of releases that have let ONE OR EIGHT get a little more honest, a little more themselves, with every single one.

Their debut EP, EN-GÏNE, is here, and it’s six tracks built around the things that matter to them: home, friendship, freedom, belonging. Not concepts they’re performing, but ones they’re still figuring out in real time, same as the rest of us.

We got them off the record to talk through what that HEAD IN THE CLOUDS stage really felt like, what “home” means when you’ve spent the year chasing it across time zones, and where ONE OR EIGHT goes from here.

‘TRANSLATE’, the lead track off of their 1st EP, “EN-GÏNE”

Milestones & Reflection

“HEAD IN THE CLOUDS marked your first-ever U.S. festival appearance, a festival that celebrates Asian talent, no less. Looking back at everything that led up to this moment, the tour, the releases, what has this performance meant to you as artists?”

NEO: “HEAD IN THE CLOUDS” was a really special moment for us. It was our first U.S. festival, and being part of a festival celebrating Asian talent made it even more meaningful. It showed us that what we’ve been creating in Japan can connect with people around the world. It felt like the start of a new chapter for us.

SOUMA: Being able to perform at HEAD IN THE CLOUDS less than two years after our debut was something we had always hoped to achieve. We know that this opportunity was only possible because of the support we have received from so many people, and we are truly grateful for that. This experience also gave us a meaningful opportunity to reflect on how we want to approach our performances and who we want to be on stage moving forward.

EN-GÏNE: Concept & Continuity

“YANKEE SQUAT” pulls from a specific, personal part of Japanese youth culture, and it connects back to the story you started with “GATHER” and “TOKYO DRIFT.“ Now that EN-GÏNE is almost here, how do you feel this chapter closes out that story, or sets up what’s next?”

MIZUKI: I think “YANKEE SQUAT” brings everything that has continued from “GATHER” and “TOKYO DRIFT” into one complete form. However, rather than being the end of that story, I see it as a new beginning. Building on everything we have done so far, we have come together through “GATHER,” and now, with “EN-GÏNE,” we want to show everyone a new and further evolved side of ONE OR EIGHT.

TSUBASA: As ONE OR EIGHT, we want to share Japanese culture with the world through our music. We feel the same way about “GATHER.” Through this album, we hope people can get to know more about ONE OR EIGHT, while also discovering new aspects of Japanese culture that we can share with listeners around the world.

You have an upcoming EP called EN-GÏNE releasing in September, with themes ‘home’, ‘friendship’, ‘freedom’, and ‘belonging’ woven through it. Can you tell me a bit more about the title itself, what’s the concept or metaphor behind it?

RYOTA: The “EN” in “EN-GÏNE” comes from the Japanese word “en,” meaning a connection or bond. It represents the bonds we have with our friends and the connections we will make with people we meet through this album as we continue to grow ONE OR EIGHT together. “GENE” represents awakening a new DNA within ONE OR EIGHT. With this new DNA, we are ready to move further toward the world. Our engine, or our heart, has already started revving up.

The songs on this album are very different from what we have done before, both in terms of how we present ourselves and the styles of the music. I think they will allow us to show a new side of ONE OR EIGHT.

REIA: “EN-GÏNE” has many different meanings. We see it as creating a place where we belong, leaving behind our fears and anxieties, and moving together toward a new place. I hope this album can become a trigger for people to take a step toward doing something they want to do.

The dots above the “I” also represent the idea that there are others because I am here, and I am here because there are others. In that sense, it carries a powerful message that we are never alone.

Identity, Home & Belonging

“What does ‘home’ actually look like for each of you personally, and did making this EP change that definition at all?”

RYOTA: I believe that a place where you belong is something you have to find for yourself, not something that someone else can decide for you. To be honest, we don’t really have a place we can call home right now. That’s why, through this EP, I want to share the feelings we have put into the music and our passion for what lies ahead, as we continue searching for our place.

TAKERU: To me, “home” is when we are together with 1DERZ. I really feel that it is our place, especially when we are performing at our own shows. There are people who connect with us through what we put out into the world, and when all of those connections come together to form something meaningful, that is what I think of as home.

“Is there a track on the EP that pushed you outside your comfort zone, creatively or emotionally, and is there one you’re especially excited for fans to hear?”

REIA: I have a strong connection to every song, but “INVINCIBLE” is a track that I especially like listening to when I want to feel calm. I feel that the meaning of the lyrics and the melody really stay close to you. I hope we can take on challenges together and become invincible while watching our journey unfold.

YUGA: “INVINCIBLE.”

The Road Ahead

“Is there ever a moment where staying true to something specifically Japanese and making music built for a global audience pull in different directions? How do you navigate that when it happens?”

NEO: We don’t really see being Japanese and making global music as opposites. We just focus on making music that feels authentic to us. We want to bring our identity as artists from Japan while creating something that anyone around the world can connect with.

TSUBASA: I’ve never really felt much conflict about it. That’s because we put things that are uniquely Japanese, Japanese culture, and even experiences that have happened to us as members into our lyrics. We make and choose our music with the intention of sharing those songs with audiences around the world. We want to continue creating music in this way and see it as part of what makes us who we are.

“How would you describe this next era of ONE OR EIGHT?”

YUGA: “2GTHER.

SOUMA: “A sign of what’s to come.” Over the past two years, we have gradually started to understand who we are meant to be as ONE OR EIGHT. In this next phase, we want to pursue our individuality even further and keep moving forward with our engines running at full speed.

“Beyond the EP itself, what else can 1DERZ look forward to - is there anything coming up, like a tour or special collabs, that you’re personally excited to share with fans next?”

MIZUKI: Of course, there’s a lot to look forward to! We have a 47-prefecture tour in Japan and a Southeast Asia tour coming up. We also have an amazing new song that we haven’t announced yet, which we hope to share with 1DERZ before the end of the year, so please look forward to it!

TAKERU: For 1DERZ in Japan, we have our 47-prefecture tour! We’ll be visiting places that ONE OR EIGHT has never been to before, so we’re really looking forward to it. And for our 1DERZ overseas, we also have an Asia tour coming up, so there are lots of exciting things to look forward to!

Check out ONE OR EIGHT’s 1st EP, EN-GÏNE out now on all streaming platforms.

Follow ONE OR EIGHT on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and on their official website.