The band name ZEROSHIKI should not be not unknown to readers of AVO Magazine; we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing the band on several previous occasions and even organised a couple of concerts in Europe when the band first came over to perform. ZEROSHIKI’s new album, Banbutsu-Ruten, has been out for a while now, but with their first live show in two years on the cards, it was time to sit down (digitally) with leader and founder of the alternative heavy rock band, Mugi, to look back at how the album took shape, from concept to production, and how COVID and mountain climbing played a part in it.
AVO Magazine: The new album Banbutsu-Ruten was released without much advance promotion. What exactly was the reason for releasing a new album virtually out of the blue?
Mugi: Actually, the recording was already finished by 2022. But at that time, the world was still in the middle of all the chaos surrounding COVID, and personally, I just wasn’t in the right state of mind to focus on music anymore. So we basically left the recordings sitting there. Then, sometime before the summer of 2024, I happened to listen to those recordings again, almost as if I had suddenly remembered they were there. I was surprised by how good the songs still sounded, and I thought it would be a shame to just leave them sitting there. So we decided to work on them a little more and eventually release them. From there, we spent another year and a half or so revisiting the songs, making arrangements and refining various things. We finally finished everything in December 2025, and then released the album at the beginning of 2026. We never really had a specific release schedule in mind. It was more like, “We’ll release it when it’s finished.”
AVO Magazine: We’ve spoken twice before for an interview; the last time was in 2022, ahead of your performance at the Toybox Showcase. At that time you were already talking about a new release back then. To what extent did the COVID pandemic affect your songwriting and music production?
Mugi: COVID didn’t have much of an impact on my everyday life itself, but the whole world was in such chaos that I gradually lost the motivation to do anything musically. I live about two hours by car from Tokyo, while all the other members live in Tokyo. So whenever we needed to record or work on something together, I had to drive to Tokyo. At the time, there was so much confusing and conflicting information about COVID that, honestly, I didn’t really want to go near Tokyo. If it had only been about myself, I probably wouldn’t have worried as much, but I had my family to think about too. I felt it was better not to take unnecessary risks. Of course, we could have worked remotely, but when it comes to creating music as an art form, I personally feel that there are certain details you simply cannot communicate properly unless you are sitting in the same room and talking face-to-face. So instead, I would listen to the results afterwards, while DAI on vocals, Chocchi on guitar, and LIN, who helped us with the recording, handled most of the work together. That was basically how things progressed in 2021 and 2022. And as I mentioned earlier, because I simply wasn’t in the right mindset, I went into a kind of hibernation for a while. We eventually started revisiting the recordings again toward the latter half of 2024.
AVO Magazine: You also mentioned in one of our previous interviews, that the band was working with a producer who had a lot of ideas for the album. How many of the original ideas actually made it onto the album, given that several years have now passed since that interview?
Mugi: For this album, our friend LIN, the guitarist of abstracts, handled the overall production to a large extent. He came up with all kinds of ideas regarding arrangements, sound design, and the overall construction of the songs. Most of the ideas he gave us actually made it onto the album. I remember being really impressed because there were so many ideas that we simply would never have come up with ourselves. When we started revisiting everything in the latter half of 2024, Chocchi and our support drummer Hikari took care of a lot of the organizing and refining. Hikari is also an incredibly talented musician, and I’m always impressed by what he comes up with. Then, once we reached the mixing and mastering stages, whenever we were able to get everyone together, we would go through the songs again and again, making further changes and adjustments. In the end, I think it was really valuable to have everyone contribute their opinions and ideas throughout the final stages.
AVO Magazine: The concept behind the album is that nothing stays the same forever; people, emotions, and life itself are always changing and moving forward. How did this concept come to life?
Mugi: Both we as individuals and the world around us are constantly changing. Even landscapes that seem completely ordinary and unchanging at first glance are actually different every single day. And when it comes to living things, whether it’s our emotions, our physical condition, or anything else, I don’t think anything can ever remain exactly the same. Four years had already passed since we initially finished the recording in 2022. During that time, even the music itself had evolved from what it originally was. When I thought about those changes and the passage of time, I felt that it was exactly what Banbutsu-Ruten was about. That’s how we came to give the album its name.
AVO Magazine: You mentioned in a previous interview that you had taken up mountain climbing. What has been your greatest achievement in mountain climbing so far?
Mugi: The biggest thing for me has been becoming much more conscious of my physical and mental health. I’ve actually come to enjoy maintaining my health. After all, you can’t climb mountains if you’re not healthy in the first place. In terms of achievement, I think discovering the joy of hiking from mountain to mountain while carrying my own tent and food has been the biggest thing for me. Walking 20 or 30 kilometres and basically traveling through the mountains is incredibly enjoyable.
AVO Magazine: Has being active outdoors given you a different perspective on how the world works, and has this perhaps found its way into the songs on Banbutsu-Ruten?
Mugi: Before I started spending time outdoors, I used to think there was nothing in the countryside. But I realized it’s actually the opposite. There’s nothing in the city. Of course, you have everything you need when it comes to shopping, entertainment and things like that. But that’s really all it is. It’s completely material. Nature gives you an energy that goes far beyond what you can imagine. It’s not something created by humans; it’s an energy that has been built up over an incredibly long period of time. I think it has a very positive effect on the human mind and spirit. You can experience everything from the terrifying power of something beyond human control, like a natural disaster, to the enormous gentleness of the sky and mountains that seem to embrace everything. If you ask me whether those experiences directly found their way into the songs on Banbutsu-Ruten, honestly, I’m not sure. But Banbutsu-Ruten is definitely one of the things I came to feel through spending time outdoors.
AVO Magazine: What has the response to the new album been like?
Mugi: Other than a few close friends telling me they really liked it, I honestly don’t know. One thing I think is different about me compared to many other musicians and artists is that I don’t really create music with the intention of having someone listen to it in the first place. I create because I simply want to create. I create because I want to satisfy myself. That’s really all there is to it. It’s not directed at anyone. I don’t feel the need to deliberately direct it toward somebody. If something truly needs to reach someone, I believe it will reach them. And even if it does reach someone and their reaction never makes its way back to me, I’m completely fine with that. I really just create because I want to create. That’s it. So if I happen to hear that someone had a positive reaction, I’m simply grateful. And if someone has a negative reaction, I just think, “Well, it is what it is.”
AVO Magazine: Is there something you want fans to take away from listening to the new album?
Mugi: As I said before, I didn’t create this album with anyone in mind, so there isn’t really a specific message that I want people to take away from it. Whatever someone feels when they listen to the album is their own experience, and I think that’s everything. The way you perceive something is part of what creates your own world, so I would like people to value that. Whether you have a positive reaction or a negative one, that’s perfectly fine. If I had to mention something specific, though, the songs Circulation and Soar were composed by Chocchi. They have a somewhat different atmosphere from the other songs on the album, so I’d be happy if people notice that difference.
“We basically just create what we want to create, whenever we feel like creating it, and we try to make something we can genuinely be satisfied with.” – Mugi of ZEROSHIKI
AVO Magazine: Playing together in a band for a total of more than 28 years is a really long time; many people would expect that, as time goes on, you might drift apart. Or, the other way around, that you would become or remain very good friends. What exactly is the secret of being able to work together for such a long time?
Mugi: I guess the secret is that we don’t really interfere with each other’s lives. As long as nobody commits a crime, we don’t really care what the others do. We don’t chase after people who leave, and we don’t reject people who come along. We just let things flow naturally.
AVO Magazine: It was announced that ZEROSHIKI will be performing on 27 September, which will be your first concert since the album’s release. This show will also be streamed, so it’s particularly interesting for anyone who can’t be there in person. How are you preparing for a concert like this after such a long break?
Mugi: We’re putting together a setlist that mixes old and new songs. This time, we’re not going to have a support guitarist either, so it will simply be the four of us. It’s been a long time since the four of us have played together like this, so I have no idea how it’s going to turn out. But I’m really looking forward to it.
AVO Magazine: With ZEROSHIKI performing so infrequently, it makes it all the more special when a new live show is lined up. Just when it is expected for musical acts to go on tour following the release of a new album, it seems that you have actually chosen to do things differently. Or are you currently planning a tour of Japan?
Mugi: As I mentioned earlier, we basically just create what we want to create, whenever we feel like creating it, and we try to make something we can genuinely be satisfied with. So I’m not particularly interested in playing live shows. The reason we’re doing this particular show is simply because a friend invited us to play. We’re not planning a tour at the moment. That said, if an opportunity comes along, I would definitely be interested in playing overseas again.
AVO Magazine: With the recent developments in AI and the fact that for many people it has been an invitation to use it to generate images, videos and music… how do you view this development as a musician through and through?
Mugi: I think it has certainly made things more convenient. But I’m honestly getting tired of seeing so much stuff being generated, not necessarily because people want to create something, but because of their desire for self-expression or validation. Actually, I’ve experimented with AI music myself. I’ve made all kinds of things — something that sounded like fusion, something like an anime theme song, something in the style of the Red Hot Chili Peppers… I just tried all sorts of things. And honestly, some of it was really good. I’ve listened to some of those tracks by myself over and over again. [laughs] Personally, I think AI is fantastic if you want to create something and simply enjoy it yourself. It’s also a great way to have fun with close friends. Through experimenting with AI, I started thinking that maybe music doesn’t always need to be pushed outward into the world. Maybe it could be something much more personal, something directed inward. Although, I have a feeling the world is going to move in exactly the opposite direction.
AVO Magazine: What will be the next steps for ZEROSHIKI after the performance later this month? Are you currently working on something that you can share?
Mugi: Honestly, we haven’t thought about anything. We don’t really plan on organizing live shows ourselves, so if someone invites us to play, we’ll see what happens. For now, I just hope everyone stays healthy and enjoys life.
Follow ZEROSHIKI on their official website, Instagram, Facebook, X account (formerly Twitter) and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
Streaming Tip: ZEROSHIKI’s first live performance since the release of Banbutsu-Ruten will take place on Sunday 27 September at the Guilty live stage in Shibuya, Tokyo. The band will share the stage with rock musician GAKI, who is celebrating his 15th anniversary as a solo artist, and the rock band Dawn After Rain. The performances will be streamed via Twitcast, for which you must purchase a ticket.
Many thanks to Mugi for taking the time to answer the questions for this interview and to Chocchi, Yume and Lecros for working with me on the translations of the interview. We reviewed ZEROSHIKI’s latest album, find the music review here.
