Over the last few years I've followed a number of acts with great interest. BABYMETAL however is rather a unique animal when it comes to the experience of being a fan, at least, to me it is. Some things are positive, others not so much. Here are some things I've noticed along the way.
Are you old enough to enter?
One funny little thing that pops into my head when I think about my fandom of BABYMETAL is the fact that I know exactly how old they are and when they celebrate their birthday. Ask me about the ages of Tom York or Damon Albarn and my only comeback will be a blank stare, but Yui Mizuno's age, birthday and birth year are all in the front of my mind. It's not like I looked it up either, but every news fragment about them I've seen mentions their age, a concert is held on their birthday and we have legends 1997 and 1999 to remind us when they were born (god I feel old all of a sudden). I imagine this gives some the impression that we're indeed all paedophiles, but come on, how many people of that age do you know who're that successful? I think their ages are well worth mentioning when talking about them. Besides, it's a common part of the whole idol thing to know trivialities like that about the girls. Speaking of which...
The whole idol thing
I tried, I really did, but to no avail. I just can't get into it. A quick warning for those who think I was overly critical at it in the past (just pretend you remember me): you might want to skip this part.
I just can't bring myself to care about the fact that Yui leans forward when she's excited, or that Moa ate a big steak when she was in New York. To me it all seems like the most trivial nonsense imaginable. It's like when people obsess over the dumb things celebrities do, only it's about the completely inconsequential daily occurrences in the lives of teenage girls with less of an edge to them than weekdays morning television for children.
And yes, they are very cute, everything they do is very cute. But the thing is, It all seems so much like an act, a mask they wear whenever the public eye is focused on them. There's a short video on youtube, uploaded by The Thrawn, called Sakura Gaukuin - How Tall? where for a short moment we see Suzuka looking annoyed. I actually really like that, since all we ever say of her otherwise is her smiling and looking cute, which to me, frankly, gets boring really fast. I've seen what an amazing stage performer she is, she absolute doesn't need to continue the act when she's offstage to get my attention.
To go on a bit of a tangent here, I've thought about the reasons for my distaste of idol culture, and I think at least part of it is due to an insurmountable cultural barrier. Note that this is coming from a guy who's never been to Japan, doesn't know any Japanese people and has very little knowledge of modern Japanese culture, I'm just passing on what heard through the grapevine so take it as you will. Idol culture is the product of a very hierarchical society, where it's quite normal to recognize someone else as your better and in a sense idolize them. I myself come from one of the most egalitarian societies on earth. To me words like "better" or "worse" are very much relative in nature. The Japanese don't see it that way I think. They have a pretty clear image of what, for instance, the perfect girl is like. To be more precise, she's a bit like Yui, Moa and Suzuka.
Despite my going on about this I want to stress that I'm happy for anyone who can enjoy idol culture and don't wish to ridicule or insult them in any way. We all have our quirks, take for example...
Metal fans obsessing over metal things
I'm not the type to care about genre or subculture a lot, but if I had to label myself I'd probably go with "alternative music" enthusiast. Alternative music, alternative rock, indie rock, by this point all those terms are so vague they can include pretty much anything, and I like it that way. Metal music seems to work in exactly the opposite manner, with metalheads arguing over what is and isn't metal.
From what I can tell metal fans are very passionate lovers of music, but one thing they apparently love even more is taxonomy. Every single slightly distinct sound has to be categorized in it's own subgenre, sometimes to a rather perplexing degree. Most readers will probably remember ADoseOfBuckley's rant about some metalhead's reaction to BABYMETAL. A bloke named Brian made a response where he argued that metal subgenres are important because metal is so incredibly diverse. He then goes on to give a few examples, and I have a really hard time telling if he's joking or not. There doesn't seem to be any significant difference between those sound bites, not so much that they should be put in different subgenres.
Doesn't this kind of thing stifle creativity? If you resigned yourself to being, say, a black metal band, does that mean you have to make music that sounds exactly the same for the rest of your career? Might this have something to do with the fact that so many metal fans saw BABYMETAL as a breath of fresh air? I've already seen some people complain that Road Of Resistance doesn't sound like BABYMETAL. I'd like to ask those people if they've considered that might be a good thing. The last thing we want is BABYMETAL becoming just as stagnant as the rest of the genre.
There's other things too of course: do the girls actually like metal music, is it all part of their image? It's the kind of pondering that keeps us all busy while we wait for the next big story. Honestly though, if BABYMETAL decided to start doing Irish folk music all of a sudden, it wouldn't bother me as long as they did something interesting with. It's their fresh interpretations of old genres that makes people take interest after all. Which brings me to...
People take interest
This one is kind of a double edged sword. When mentioning BABYMETAL you are pretty much guaranteed to get a reaction from people. Sometimes they grab their hair with both hands and cry out to the heavens, sometimes they just stare with a look of confusion on their face, sometimes the response is quite positive, even if it's lukewarm at first. Whatever the reaction may be, I've never come across anyone who just didn't care. I know I've introduced BABYMETAL to at least two people who liked it, possibly two more.
Metal fans often express disappointment that the music they love is so often ignored by the mainstream. On that point I can sympathize, because being an alternative rock fan is almost defined by that experience. I know this scene is full of hipsters who pride themselves on listening to music you never heard of, but frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of nobody caring about the music I love, sick of every conversation about it lasting a few sentences and always ending with "don't know them". I never wanted to be a hipster, I just like what I like.
That's why seeing such a widespread and varying reaction to BABYMETAL gives me hope...
Hope
The Huffington Post did an article a few days back about which Japanese acts should be on your radar in 2015. In it they proclaimed that "This year is going to see Babymetal go mainstream, trust me." I can't tell you how much I hope they're right. BABYMETAL is like a shining bright light guiding me out of the marshes of obscurity. They have become very special to me. Being able to see their rise over the past year unfolding before my very eyes (well, most of it anyway). Every time I rewatch the footage of them slowly entering the stage at Sonisphere I feel like I'm witnessing a small miracle, the excitement gushing through me. The fact that more and more people are discovering them right now as I type this and that we have no idea yet where it might end, all of it sparks a passion in me like never before. It was pretty satisfying to see Kendrick Lamar make it big, as well as Daft Punk FINALLY getting their big hit, but nothing compares to the absolute ecstatic joy I will feel if BABYMETAL succeed in taking over the world.
I'm not the only one who feels that way. Apart from our mutual desire to see BABYMETAL make it big, like me hoping to become part of the mainstream through them, many have their own high hopes for the metal trio. Metalheads hope they can revitalize interest in metal music, idol fans hope they won't have to hide their hobby any more, even Japanese musicians see a glimmer of hope that BABYMETAL will finally pave the way for their success abroad. It's quite a lot to put on the shoulders of the three girls and the team behind them, but don't you worry: we'll be behind you, cheering you on, every step of the way.
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