ネオンギラギラ、食らえハドーケン！

By Roger Prior 　Freelance Writer

　ハドーケン！は、対戦型格闘ゲーム「ストリートファイター」に登場する必殺技「波動拳」をバンドネームに冠したイギリスの５人組だ。インタビューに応じてくれたボーカルのジェームスは、ネオンみたいにピカピカでハイテンションだった。このバンド名を選んだ理由は「うちの両親が知らない言葉だったからね、つまりカッコイイってこと」だとか。インターネットで人気沸騰→レコードデビューと、まさに無敵の必殺技で突き進んでいる。

　A neon strip light. That's what James Smith, singer for Hadouken! reminds me of. Tall, thin, and dressed in a fluorescent green T-shirt and belt to match, I half find myself looking for a light switch to turn the brightness down. But there seems to be no way to shut down Smith, or Hadouken! for that matter, as the group has gone from Internet phenomenon to music festival regular in a few short months, success Smith acknowledges is partly due to the power of the Web.

　"The reason we got signed is probably down to the Internet, be it MySpace or YouTube. It was such an easy method to promote our music. I think that every band since the Arctic Monkeys has discovered how useful it can potentially be."

　After looking at the band's Web site, it is clear that Hadouken! has a young, mainly teenaged, fan base. Smith shrugs and says, "The thing about the Internet is that the kids clock things first, and because we're a relatively new band, they're the first ones to get on board."

　This is perhaps true of so much popular culture today. By the time the "old" people have heard of it, it's already old news among the teenagers who were the first to discover it, be it music or TV shows, but Hadouken! seems to have been particularly lucky in this respect.

　"We hadn't been gigging for more than a year, but the A&R guys were coming to our shows because of the buzz on MySpace. It gets the ball rolling," says Smith.

　It is the Monday morning after the recent Summer Sonic, and Hadouken! had performed in Osaka and in Tokyo, but Smith is showing no signs of tiredness. He offers me a bottle of green tea from the fridge ("I'm still not used to tea in bottles," he says, as he takes a Coke for himself), and sits forward expectantly, then leans back, then sits forward again. Then back. Then forward. Then ... you get the idea.

　He is delighted with Hadouken!'s performance at Summer Sonic, particularly as it is by far the biggest event the band has performed at.

　"It went really well. Up to now our biggest gig was in front of 2,000 people, so this was 10 times bigger than what we were used to, but luckily I feel we really won over the crowd."

大満足だった夏フェス

　For Hadouken!, winning over a Japanese crowd is quite an achievement, as its style of music is unusual to say the least. The group is described as "grindie," a mix of "indie" and "grime," which is a fast-paced hip-hop style that originated in London (don't worry if you have never heard of it, I guarantee you that most British people haven't either). It is fast paced, electronic and a lot of fun, but is this a style that will go over well in Japan?

　His eyes light up as he recalls his band's two performances at Summer Sonic.

　"Japanese people are quite up for getting involved and embracing the music. They're very responsive. If you ask them to clap along, they do it, so at the second gig in Osaka, we used that. There's a bit in our set when we go 'shhh!' and get everyone to go silent. Normally, in the U.K., people would shout out, but there was absolute silence: 20,000 people absolutely silent. It would be unheard of anywhere else in the world."

　Perhaps it was the band's name that helped. The word hadouken（波動拳） is well-known to anyone who has played the video game "Street Fighter," and Smith says he hit on it after band members spent a day sending instant messages to each other trying to think up the perfect name for the group.

　"It's got the reference to computer games, it's a young person's word ― my parents didn't know what it was, so that's a cool thing, a barrier between the youth and the old ― and it's got impact."

　Happy to find myself on the "young" side of the barrier, I suggest that the shouryuuken（昇龍拳）was a better move.

　"The shouryuuken is just an uppercut, which anyone can do, but the hadouken has that element of fantasy about it."

　Before leaving, Smith, a keen manga and sushi fan, asks me about "cool" places to see in Tokyo. His eyes light up again as I tell him about electronic shops and maid cafés in Akihabara and "youth" culture in Shibuya. This is the Japan he has read about, this is the Japan he wants to see. It is almost as if Hadouken! has come home.

　I wish him luck as I leave, but there is something left unspoken between us: James, lad, you're wrong. The shouryuuken was always a much better move than the hadouken.

INFORMATION

　ハドーケン！は、日本限定EP『Liquid Lives（リキッド・ライヴス）』（ワーナー）で聞くことができる。アルバムは来年１月発売予定。今秋11月に再来日も予定されている。

• strip light　 細長い（舞台照明用）ライト
• what...of　 ハドーケン！のボーカル、ジェームス・スミスが私に思い起こさせるもの。remind A of B、 AにBを思い出させる
• fluorescent　 蛍光色の
• belt to match　 マッチしたベルト
• half　 半ば〜する
• find...for　 自分が〜を捜しているのに気づく
• turn...down　 輝きを弱める
• shut down　 制止する
• Hadouken!...matter　 さらに言えばハドーケン！（を制止する）
• Internet phenomenon　 インターネット（上で人気を呼んだ）現象
• partly due to　 一部は〜のおかげ
• reason...signed　 自分たちが（レコード会社と）契約してもらった理由
• is...to　 多分〜に拠る
• be...YouTube　 マイスペースであれユーチューブであれ（どちらでも）
• potentially　 潜在的に、可能性として
• clock　 〜に気づく
• get on board　 乗り込む、ここでは「ハドーケン！を聞きはじめる」
• in...respect　 この点で
• gig(-ging)　 演奏する
• A&R guys　 （レコード会社の）ディレクターたち。A&R = artists and repertory
• buzz 　 騒ぎ
• It...rolling,　 それで動き始めるというわけ
• fridge　 冷蔵庫　= refrigerator
• sits forward　 乗りだして座る
• you...idea　 どんな感じか分かるでしょう
• by far　 断然〜
• biggest...at　 そのバンドが演奏したことのある最大のイベント
• 10...than　 〜より10倍大きい
• what...to　 ボクたちが慣れていたもの
• won...crowd　 群衆を味方にした
• to...least　 控えめに言って
• grime　 グライム。イギリスの音楽ムーブメント。本来の意味は「すす」、汚れの染みついた「うすぎたなさ」
• are...for　 〜にすごく乗り気だ
• bit...set　 コンサートの演目
• get...silent　 皆を沈黙させる
• absolute silence　 完全な沈黙。形容詞と名詞
• absolutely silent　 完全に沈黙した〜。副詞と形容詞
• It...world.　 そんなこと世界中ほかのどこでもないんじゃないかな
• it...helped　 バンド名が功を奏した。It...that の強調構文は it is (was) と that を省いてみると分かりやすい
• hit on　 〜を思いついた
• instant messages　 登録した相手とのインターネット上のチャット
• It's...to　 それは〜と関係ある
• barrier　 境界を遮断するもの
• It...if 　 まるで〜のようだ
• something...unspoken　 言葉にしないまま残されたこと
• lad 　 若者、（親しみを込めて）君