TOKYO: Japanese pop-metal group Babymetal have toured with Lady Gaga and attracted monster crowds in America and Europe with their sugar-coated hard rock, but the schoolgirl trio have even bigger plans -- to conquer the world.
Dressed in 'Lolita-style' frilly red skirts and their hair in pigtails, the teenagers told AFP in a recent interview at Tokyo's Summer Sonic music festival that the band's whirlwind success has fuelled their appetite to dominate the heavy metal scene.
"Our goal is not to be number one," 16-year-old lead singer 'Su-metal' said before a high-octane performance in front of 20,000 head-banging fans. "Our aim is to be the only one."
Babymetal shot to fame in 2011 when the single "Doki-Doki Morning" went viral on YouTube, their fusion of J-Pop and thrash metal forging a new genre they call 'kawaii (cute) metal' and earning them slots at festivals alongside giants such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Anthrax.
A phone call from Lady Gaga followed and they opened a handful of shows for the "Born this Way" singer earlier this month.
"When we heard we would be supporting her we couldn't believe it," beamed Su-Metal, sitting on a sofa backstage. "She told us to keep working hard to be the best we can be. She's amazing, the power she has."
Their overseas shows went down a storm with metal fans unfamiliar with Japanese pop culture and its conveyor belt of bubblegum teen idols.
"When people saw us for the first time they were just open-mouthed," added Su-metal. "Then they really got into it and started wearing Babymetal T-shirts. We've taken Japan's 'idol' music genre of pretty girls singing and dancing and added 'kawaii metal', which is totally new."
Babymetal had no idea what heavy metal was before forming four years ago.
"We had no clue what heavy metal was," said Yuimetal, 15. "We were like 'What's that?' At first we had a scary image of metal and it was hard to approach other artists. I'm not sure we understand metal perfectly yet but we've met lots of bands and they've all been really sweet to us."
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