Video Event Review Interview Travis Japan Embarks On Road To A World Tour 2024 Talks Favorite City Debut Anniversary And More de Genius Japan 2025 Lyrics Lyrics

Genius Japan - Event Review Interview Travis Japan Embarks On Road To A World Tour 2024 Talks Favorite City Debut Anniversary And More Lyrics

Interviewed + Written by Genius Japan | October 23, 2024
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Having kicked off the national tour of 30 shows in eight cities that started at Yokohama Arena on January 4, 2024, Japanese boy group Travis Japan embarked on the Travis Japan World Tour 2024 Road to Afeaturing eight shows in six cities across Asia and North America. This was not only Travis Japan’s first world tour, but also the first group from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT to organize a world tour that included the United States. The world tour opened in Taipei on September 3, 2024, followed by Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seattle, and Los Angeles before wrapping up in New York on October 16, 2024.

Back in August 2023, the Genius Japan community had the absolute pleasure to have interviewed Travis Japan. With the excellent feedback from readers, we are excited to sit down with Travis Japan again to another interview at Sony Hall as they stopped by New York, and offer us with an exclusive glimpse into their show and debut anniversary, plus many more!CONCERT REVIEW
On a lively Wednesday afternoon, fans from around the globe gathered outside Sony Hall, a prestigious concert venue with a capacity of 1,500, eagerly anticipating the 8 PM show. The first group in line shared with us their 13-year devotion to Travis Japan, having traveled to every city to attend their performances. Contrary to the old myth that only local Japanese residents sponsored by Japanese companies fill the seats when artists perform in New York, the audience here was a vibrant mix of both local and international fans. We noticed many couples and families, with young children excitedly accompanying their parents.

In recent years, music has become increasingly borderless thanks to digital distribution, allowing fans worldwide to connect with J-Pop without needing to live in Japan. It's clear that interest in the genre is on the rise, especially in the NYC metropolitan area, as evidenced by the enthusiastic crowd gathered for Travis Japan's performance.
As the constant chanting of TJ from the anticipated audience echoed, a moment of silence fell on the pitch-black stage. A flash of light and the powerful shoutout of “Let’s dance together. We are… TRAVIS JAPAN” broke through the silence, when we all knew that the party had begun with their popular dance tune “LEVEL UP.” There came Travis Japan in their shimmering black tuxedos. The group’s leader, Chaka, had what looked like a black bandana wrapped around his head. Followed by Umi’s shouts of “Let’s go, New York!” Travis Japan continued with signature J-Pop dance tunes such as “JUST DANCE!” and “My Dreamy Hollywood.” Each member introduced themselves to the audience in English along with an electro-pop remix version of “LEVEL UP!”

The crowd's enthusiasm continued as the members of Travis Japan gracefully kneeled on the floor and bowed in zarei - an important opening ritual is commonly seen at authentic Japanese theatrical performances. Although singing along with dancing is a J-Pop staple, Travis Japan has added this stunning dance-only performance to their world tour setlist. Originally choreographed for the 2022 World of Dance (WOD) Competition, the series of dance segments featured well-blended acrobatic movements with the concept that returns to the origin of traditional Japanese entertainment, using items like Japanese fox masks and hand fans.
The light-hearted talk between songs also added an excellent touch to the show’s structure. The audience laughed as the members took water and wiped away their sweat, encouraging the audience to take a break with water as well, while they themselves tried to order tequila from the bartender at the bar counter in the back of the room. Travis Japan continued to send fans all sorts of surprises during the world tour. Backstage at the performance in Taiwan, it was announced that Genta had won the open casting call for a Japanese voice actor to play “Taka,” the young Scar who grows up with Mufasa and becomes his adversary in the Disney film “Mufasa: The Lion King,” and this topic was mentioned at the New York performance.

In the original choreography segment, members danced to songs of the popular artists from each country of the show. In the United States, “Firework” by Katy Perry, Travis Japan’s labelmate at Capitol Records, was used for their performance. The dance was choreographed by Shizu and the members. As for “King of the Jungle,” the members were dressed wildly in unbuttoned tuxedo shirts with red caps in white TJ emblem and matching red gloves. Using the entire stage to gather in the center from far left and right, the choreography with a series of complex routines was outstanding, and the high-energy track with powerful vocals captivated the audience.
Followed by the group's hit songs “Moving Pieces” and “Candy Kiss,” signature upbeat tunes echoed through the venue with clear voices only possible to embrace in the live performances. In the solo dance segment, each of the seven members fully overflowed with their own charms. Noel impressed the audience, as always, with his superb acrobatics. Shime was one-of-a-kind in his delicate yet bold body isolation movements. Umi incorporated the authentic American street dance style of Krumping, and Machu danced carefully from slow to quick transition with a dazzling smile.

The songs from the first album “Road to A” continued energetically, to the last song of the New York performance, the new digital single “Fly Higher,” which was first performed at the Seattle show prior to its release on October 21, 2024. This is the theme song for the Japanese anime TASUKETSU -The Fate of the Majoritywhich is also available in the United States through Crunchyroll website. Noel participates as a voice actor in this anime series.

After two encores, the New York performance which lasted an hour and a half since it started on time, concluded with a greeting by Chaka.

CHAKA: "JUST DANCE!" will keep on going. Together with you when the perfect time comes, we can make a movement and we believe that’s what the title of our debut song, “JUST DANCE!” means after all. So please continue supporting us. We want to become a group that everyone around the world can support and be proud of!
During the encore, a young boy with his mother, who had been in the back, came up to the front as the show was coming to an end. The fans in the front rows, who must have lined up in the cold for a long time to secure their standing place, promptly moved around to create a space for them. A very friendly atmosphere surrounded the venue, and that’s when we remember the seven members of Travis Japan, sitting tightly packed on the sofa in front of us. They looked so happy and had such dazzling smiles on their faces when we told them after the interview that their fans, Traja-TAN, are all dedicated and wonderful people.

Travis Japan’s endeavor as junior trainees in the United States began with rehearsals for WOD in an empty parking lot at the shopping mall, House of Blues, in Los Angeles. In just two years since then, the group made its global debut from Capitol Records and had rapidly grown to become a worldwide act. Their first world tour has been a huge success, with all the shows sold out. But they have warm spots in their hearts for Los Angeles, where they lived together in a house to explore the entertainment industry in the US. When Travis Japan performed in Los Angeles prior to their New York show, they changed the lyrics of their popular song "My Dreamy Hollywood" to "Our Dreamy Hollywood" for once that night. Overwhelming emotions were so mutual between each member of Travis Japan and the fans that some of them were moved to tears.

So, was the successful world tour one of those dreams-come-true moments for Travis Japan? We believe it was merely a milestone for them. Along with their dedicated fandom “TraJa-TAN,” the road to authenticity will continue in Japan as well as around the world. Perhaps one day, Travis Japan will become an iconic figure to bring some new international fans to Japan who are eager to explore and learn more about Japan or J-Pop.EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
── First of all, welcome to America, and congratulations on your successful final night of the worldwide tour here in New York! You all lived in Los Angeles prior to the CD debut in 2022, so indeed welcome back to America! How have you been enjoying your stay so far?

ALL: YEAH!!

── That's great to hear! The second half of the world tour was in the United States from October 10 to 16. What are some of your favorite things about Seattle, Los Angeles and New York?
SHIME: Personally, I really liked Seattle. The weather was nice and the temperature was cool and comfortable. Moreover, there was a lot of nature to relax in. I spent a very happy time taking a walk with the members.

NOEL: Coming to New York for the first time in 10 years, I got the impression that a lot has changed since then. The whole city seems to be a little bit cleaner than it was before. The last time I visited in February, it snowed so hard that even with my boots on, the snow got inside. However, this time I was able to see beautiful scenery, and I am glad that I came at a really good time of year to visit New York City.

── Have you had a chance to explore New York City in your private time yet?

MACHU: Can I mention a place that I want to go to instead? I came to New York by myself for about five days when I was 19, and I saw a lot of Broadway shows. If I have time, I'd like to go to Broadway shows again.

── Must be nice! Indeed, there are many other beautiful cities in America. We hope, on your next world tour, that you will perform in more cities and attract as many overseas fans as possible. Speaking of attractions, did you find yourself intrigued by new music based on your experiences in the places you’d visited on the world tour?

CHAKA: When we visited Hong Kong, we were lucky to be able to appear on ViuTV, a local TV music program and performed with Hong Kong’s boys idol group P1X3L (read: Pixel). They sang our songs and we sang along with P1X3L members, which was a wonderful collaboration. It was a great pleasure and gratification to perform with international artists that we don't often have the opportunity to meet and get acquainted with. By performing together, we felt that we were able to communicate beyond the boundaries of our different languages. Noel and “Matsu-Matsu” (Nickname for MACHU and GENTA as duo) took on the challenge of singing in Cantonese for the first time.

NOEL: When Travis Japan collaborates with overseas artists, we normally use our English songs to be sung along with us, but the moment we started singing in Cantonese, the audience got excited and said, “They are singing in Cantonese!” We were very happy to see the great reactions from them. We certainly realized that the language is a wonderful tool.

SHIME: Yeah! That was so much fun, wasn't it?

ALL: You bet!!

── The world tour included Los Angeles, which is a memorable place for all of you, and I'm sure you had a lot of thoughts about it. Looking back on this tour as we reach the final show in New York, are there things that you learned, discovered, felt, or resolved to do for the future? If there is anything that has really resonated with you, please share it with us.

GENTA: As a group and as individual artists, we felt that we would like to continue doing what we are doing now, singing and dancing in various places, in the longest path we can possibly find.

UMI: Yes, that's true. And once again, I felt a strong desire to be on Billboard charts and nominated for a Grammy.

CHAKA: Thankfully, the venues this time were theaters this time, so we were able to feel the reactions of the audience up close. It was easy for us to see the expressions of enjoyment and excitement on everyone's face. We knew that the joy of each person would be linked together to liven up the entire venue, but we were actually able to feel that all over again. By focusing on such things, we believe that this kind of experience will help us in our next creative program production and provide a stepping stone to our next project.
── Despite being in the middle of the world tour, you all had a very busy schedule such as shooting a music video for the new song and performing at two prominent music festivals, Summer Sonic Bangkok in Thailand and TV Asahi Dream Festival in Japan. Now that you completed the world tour, what would you reward yourself for all the hard work when you get back to Japan?

UMI: Genta kept saying that he had a craving for “Tamago kake Gohan” (Japanese-style raw egg over rice). Hmm… Not that one. You wanted “Natto (Fermented Soybeans) and Miso soup,” right?

GENTA: Yes, I’ll reward myself with Natto and Miso soup. Lol.

SHIME: I want to eat “Gyudon!” (Beef Rice Bowl)

GJ: Well… You guys have picked pretty reasonable things to call rewards, haven’t you? Lol.

SHIME: Oh, anything at all? Then I want to buy a new refrigerator as a reward for myself.

ALL: All of sudden? For sure, you can always find larger refrigerators in America that are not as expensive as those you can buy in Japan, but…

GJ: Shime, are you sure we can publish what you just said? Your American enthusiastic fans might start sending you refrigerators as gifts!

SHIME: For real!? Let’s see. My mailing address is, “Tokyo…”

(All members abruptly interrupted SHIME's words.)

SHIZU:And I would like to choose food to reward myself as well. Right now, I could definitely go for good Sushi!


── The exciting news of the release of three songs was recently announced. "Staying with you" - the soundtrack of the movie The Ordinary Life of Yano co-starring Umi, and "Fly Higher" - the opening theme song for the TV anime TASUKETSU -The Fate of the Majority and “Crazy Crazy.”

As for “Fly Higher,” which was added to the world tour setlist from Seattle performance and on, this song is not only Travis Japan's first anime theme song but also Noel's first role as a voice actor. What message would you like to convey to international anime fans through the songs?
CHAKA: Hi, Anime fans! As Travis Japan, we have been given the opportunity to sing the theme song for an anime, and our member Noel will also be expanding his career into the field of anime as a voice actor. This is a first for us, but we hope to continue creating many opportunities for people who don’t yet know about Travis Japan to learn about it.

We will work hard to do our best in terms of both music and entertainment, so that we can work together as one to express wonderful works as everyone encounters them. We will strive to make you feel even closer to Travis Japan. We hope you will like Travis Japan as much as you do the anime!

── In the setlist for the world tour, which differs slightly from the national tour “Road to Authenticity Concert Tour 2024” that began in January 2024, you’ve shown the original choreography to the popular songs by local artists, such as “Friday Night” by Energy in Taipei, “Megahit” by Anson Lo in Hong Kong, “HIT ME UP” by TIMETHAI in Bangkok and “Firework” by Katy Perry in the US. How were these songs selected? Was the audience reaction as you’d expected?

UMI: We looked up songs that were kind of like oldies or favorites that everyone knew for each place, and from those we chose songs that we thought we could dance to. Upon choosing an American song, we all knew that our label mate Katy Perry would be a great choice. Then Noel said, "How about Fireworks?" And that’s how the song selection was decided.

SHIZU: Yes, the audience got very excited, and they sang along with us as well.

NOEL: Rehearsals were led by Shizu, with Machu and Shime also participating in the choreography. Once the choreography was completed, we naturally began to hear and remember the lyrics in foreign languages as we practiced the routine over and over again. I was happy to feel the atmosphere and culture of the foreign countries while we worked hard on the rehearsals.

── Last but not least, October 28th is the CD debut anniversary for Travis Japan. Congratulations! We heard that there will be a live stream to celebrate the 2nd anniversary on your official YouTube channel. Is there anything special that you have prepared for your overseas fans? Please share with us as much as you can!

CHAKA: I don’t know if I can talk about it yet. But we're preparing it right now (laughs). We're thinking about what to do along with the staff. It's our anniversary, but it's also an anniversary for all our fans, so I hope we can celebrate it in a way that makes everyone happy, and that makes us all look forward to the future. We’d like to do something that can share this passion with various people, so please watch it if you have an opportunity

(All members) Thank You!

── Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule before the NY show today. We look forward to your continued success!NEW YORK PERFORMANCE SETLIST
1. LEVEL UP
2. JUST DANCE!
3. My Dreamy Hollywood
~Greetings~
4. LEVEL UP (Sam Feldt Remix)
World of Dance Performance
5. Unique Tigers
6. Till The Dawn
7. Still on a journey
8. T.G.I. Friday Night
9. Sweetest Tune
~Greetings~
Firework / Katy Perry (Original Choreography)
10. The Show
11. King Of The Jungle
12. Moving Pieces
13. Candy Kiss -House Remix-
~Solo Dance Performance~
14. 99 PERCENT
15. Love Tag
16. Lock Lock
17. Fly Higher (English Ver.)

-ENCORE-
1. DRIVIN' ME CRAZY
2. Okie Dokie!

-DOUBLE ENCORE-
1. JUST DANCE!

All photos courtesy of Genius Japan and STARTO ENTERTAINMENT. Any unauthorized copying, alteration, reproduction, or distribution is prohibited.
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