In June, the legendary Japanese musician, HYDE, announced his solo concert in Indonesia. This concert is part of HYDE [INSIDE] LIVE 2025 World Tour and is scheduled to take place on 1 November 2025, at Tennis Indoor Senayan, Jakarta.
KAORI Nusantara had the opportunity to interview HYDE for the upcoming concert and his journey as a musician. Here is our interview!
Back then, HYDE-san was featured as a guest on a famous Indonesian talk show, Bukan Empat Mata, in 2013, hosted by Tukul Arwana. Do you still remember him today?
I didn’t fully understand everything, but I felt so welcome and had a great time (laugh).
Understandable (laugh). You came to that talk show around the time of your first concert in Indonesia in 2013. You said that the concert in Indonesia was exceptional. What impresses you about our local audience?
The audience had a different atmosphere from what I’m used to. A lot of people in the audience were using hijabs. It felt really different and wonderful.
Would you have any collab show with Kiyoharu for the third time? There was a famous recording among fans of you karaoke-ing Tattoo from Akina Nakamori, and he made a cover of that song as well. That would rock the industry.
He’s one of my favourite artists, and it would be great to do something together someday.
HYDE-san contributes a lot to anime and idol songs production. What is your initial experience when you face a music world that feels like “not my style” at all?
I find it fun when a project has a specific direction. For anime, I feel almost like a music director, and writing lyrics as if I were an idol, or even imagining the feelings of fans, which is not something I normally do, so it’s really fun.
What does HYDE-san hope for the future of visual kei music, both for the listeners and for anime?
There are so many great artists here, so I’d love to see their music reach people around the world the same way anime has.
Some of the current well-known songs and artists from Japan got popular thanks to anime and social media like TikTok. How well do you think the current boom of anime would help Japanese artists reach global audiences?
It’s definitely a great starting point. In the end, if the music itself is good, people will keep listening to it.
Personally, do you find doing a solo career is better for yourself, or do you instead enjoy collaborating with other musicians? Could you also explain the reason for your preference?
Because I’m a bit shy, I feel more comfortable on my own. But staying that way means nothing new would ever really open up, you know? (laugh).
In the near future, do you plan to keep promoting visual kei music for the next generation? Considering that HYDE-san is one of the most important public figures of visual kei music.
I don’t think of myself as doing “visual kei”, but perhaps I serve as a kind of bridge between visual kei and loud music. By bringing together the best parts of both, I feel like an interesting new world can emerge.
The Indonesian Anime Times | Interview by KAORI Nusantara
