Yoku Interview~

My job is just kicking my ass lately. It's not school, but it takes up just as much of my time, more often than not. We should be slowing down again in a little while though, since Autumn isn't a busy season for us. But that's my main reason for slow blogging. Without further rambling, let's jump right into this;

Yay another interview! lol. I promise I'll try and get to the million of things I need to- it's just one thing at a time. As I've been saying, I'm trying to sort of 'SAY HELLO! HELLO!' to some of the smaller dubbing groups out there, and when I spotted Yoku project's name on my subs list, I decided to get ahold of the nice gal who runs it; Liz / Lizzie.

I feel a little bad that this is such a simple interview- it's usually more interesting on a back-and-forth basis over messenger; But! I am happy to have gotten my questions answered and I hope all y'all give the project a go~

AYA: Your YT channel lists your join date as May 4th and that's the day you opened your first set of auditions. So in October y'all will have been active for a little over 6 months! What did you have in mind when you created Yoku? Did you have a game plan? Have things gone smoothly so far?

LIZ: Well, on the day I created YokuProject, I was listening to a lot of groupdubs and you see, I really admire projects like MilkyStar, because their members harmonize so great- even if there are many people to mix, it still sounds very professional.

So, I wanted to give it a try, although I already had a project with a friend once and it became inactive. But I just was so motivated to build my own project. Sadly, we have a few graduations these days, but everything else is going quite fine.

AYA: How do you decide what songs to dub? Do you poll the members, talk it out with them, or choose yourself?

LIZ: I honestly don't have a constant method how to choose the songs. For the newest Singles I polled the members, but I decided the older ones. Also, the °Amai-Koubou Single poll was just for the Berryz Side.

AYA: I know you're the leader of Yoku- are there any subleaders? Or people who don't necessarily hold the title, but help you out a lot?

LIZ: There aren't any subleaders, because I don't think that there's so much to do yet. But of course there are people who offer their help, which means a lot to me.

AYA: What would you say is the goal of your project; Are you set on making progress as a group, or is your main goal to just have fun? Somewhere inbetween?

LIZ: I wish that everyone continues progressing and people notice that. So, having fun, being energetic, being a high quality project and maybe growing as a project family; these are my goals. Surely, the important thing is to stay active, but I guess we're okay with that right now.

AYA: Anything you'd like to add that I haven't directed in a question, lol?

LIZ: Well, I have to admit that I'm a bit scared to let the project grow through the auditions, because more people mean more risk for inactivity and a lot more work. That's why I'll maybe need a subleader soon~

AYA: Any questions for me?

LIZ: Actually, yes ^^ How did you become so interested in other people's voices? I mean, I'm interested in my members and my friends voices too, but not in every dubbers voice.

AYA: Good question LOL. I've always been interested in music, I'm the weird girl who sings to herself as she walks through the hall at school, work, the mall or the freaking bathroom. Getting into Asian music was my road to the world of dubbing. I suppose I love the idea of it!! That singers of all ages go out and get whatever equipment they can, in order to sing for the pure pleasure and fun of it. That it brings people together, to share their voices and music-related talents.

That people take the time to learn how to mix, in some ways learning more about the technical aspect of music than a lot of people ever consider. And many of them are pretty young! Plus running a project / group (or working solo) is like a crash course in business management (without the money part, of course)- dealing with other people, organizing and planning, being the boss when you need to, finding and acknowledging what your resources are and making do with what you can, and sometimes cleverly coming up with a new approach to something!

LOL I'm rambling. I guess it's many things. You can learn a lot, meet a lot of people, and have a hell of a good time. There is the fun side, where people can interact with others that have similar interests. Just rock out, sing out; laugh, live, love and learn through the beauty of music. And at the same time, people strive to get better. To work on this or that, to improve. So it's very meaningful.

It also bridges gaps across the world, connecting people of different countries and languages! I enjoy looking in on -and sometimes taking part in- the whole experience. Even if I am a little on the side lines, a girl jotting down her thoughts, occasionally pushing up her glasses. Laughing her ass off, and getting over emotional & crying sometimes *ahem* Or just bopping her head and totally jammin' out!

I think everyone could use a little encouragement now and then. Someone to say "HEY I LIKE HOW YOU SOUND" or even a "GOOD JOB!" or a bit of friendly advice. At first I was just commenting on videos, saying what I liked. But then it turned into this blog over time, and I have a blast being up to my ears in fantastic dubs/covers, knowing that people worked their asses off & poured their heart and LOLs into something that I am listening to. It's special. It's fun. It's music.

AND SO YEAH I'm going to shut up now. And share with you Yoku's latest;



Natsuyaki Miyabi - Coco (CocoNStorm)
Sugaya Risako - Lucy (CherryxJuice)
Tsugunaga Momoko - Hanni (HanniLoreee)
Kumai Yurina - Natsumi [covered by me]
Tokunaga Chinami - Kurichii (KuriDesu27)
Suodo Maasa - Belly (Rasubelly)
Shimizu Saki - eun mi (eunmijjang)

Otakebi Boy WAO! by °Amai-Koubou