Few Japanese artists have managed to make their mark in the West, and even fewer Japanese rock bands have managed to appeal to a global audience — ONE OK ROCK is just one of those few that have accomplished both. With powerful and piercing vocals, expansive instrumentals that evolved with every album, and moving lyrics that are mostly sung in English — ONE OK ROCK resonates with its listeners from every corner of the world both sonically and lyrically in a way that no other native Japanese artists have done so before — at least on such a global scale.

This success is made evident with the release of their Luxury Disease album which was dropped back in fall 2022, followed by sold-out shows to their world tours across the U.S., Europe, and now, Asia. The journey to their global success wasn’t easy — the band debuted in 2007 and has since traveled the world and made their marks across continents while touring alongside the likes of Linkin Park, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Ed Sheeran, and Muse.

On Saturday, October 7, ONE OK ROCK was meant to perform at their Luxury Disease Asia Tour stop in Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront Event Space. Unfortunately, the concert was eventually canceled following heightened weather warnings as the city prepared for Koinu – the fast-approaching typhoon that wreaked havoc in Taiwan just two days prior – which was predicted to be at its closest proximity to Hong Kong on Sunday morning.

In place of roaring crowds queuing with excitement to see the band, groups of would-be concertgoers were spotted in mourning as they camped outside the deserted venue. Some fans took commemorative group selfies, some left heartfelt messages on fan-made banners all around the event space, while others completed walks around the outskirts of the venue playing the new album out loud on speakers.

The outdoor open-air venue spanning nearly 36,000 square meters of land was intended to house 17,000 concertgoers. If not for the unprecedented weather conditions, ONE OK ROCK’s concert would have been one of the most epic, as it was the only outdoor venue for their entire Asia tour.

Just before the band headed to soundcheck rehearsals on Friday – the day before their scheduled concert – Hypebeast had the chance to sit down with Taka (frontman and vocalist), Toru (guitarist), Ryota (bassist), and Tomoya (drummer) to discuss everything about their year of touring and performing around the world.

You guys have been touring since the end of last year. By now you’ve traveled across various cities and different continents, what are some of the most memorable things you’ve experienced on tour so far?

Taka: Pretty much every place we’ve been to is beautiful and has great energy and good vibes. Also, the cultures are totally different in each country. We really like drinking wine, so when we visit Europe, especially France, Italy, and Spain, we’re always chilling, drinking good wine, and having nice chats. For me, that’s actually the most exciting thing to do after each show.

Ryota: One of my most memorable moments during our tour was yesterday. I was surprised to get such a clear view of our venue for tomorrow’s concert from the hotel we’re staying in. We haven’t been to Hong Kong that often, and to have a huge venue that could gather so many people to come and see us is an amazing feeling.

Tomoya: During Covid, we all wanted to go on tour, and I struggled a lot during that time battling the feeling of not being able to perform. So, being able to travel the world and perform like this again brings me immense happiness. As much as we enjoy performing in all the different countries, I also love traveling and sightseeing on my days off, so that’s one of the highlights of being on tour. I haven’t really had the chance to properly visit Hong Kong, so I would love to take this chance to see as much of the city.

“I’m always thinking of ways for our live performances to connect with the audience, so it’ll be great if we could perform in a way that draws us closer to each other.”

Aside from the various types of venues you’ve performed at, what else makes each performance different and unique for you guys?

Taka: We try to adapt our setlist based on the culture, language, and even the different levels of passion we experience in each country. So we’ll always try our best to accommodate. I’m always thinking of ways for our live performances to connect with the audience, so it’ll be great if we could perform in a way that draws us closer to each other.

You guys added I am King for the Asia Tour and even added We Are back into the setlist for the Jakarta shows as it was highly requested by local fans. Are there any other old tracks that could be making a comeback onto the setlist for future ONE OK ROCK concerts?

Taka: I’m always trying! But we have so many songs now, so it’s getting really hard to make a setlist even during the planning process. Especially for a show like Hong Kong, it’s just one night, so we wanna try as much as we can to make everyone happy.

You guys often fit in these songwriting sessions in between tours. How does it compare to your usual songwriting process?

Taka: Although making music and doing live shows are separate things, if there are members from the supporting teams that we developed good chemistry with, we end up channeling that very energy into our music production. So the vibe is really different when we do these sessions, and I was fortunate enough to take part even though our schedules were packed. It was a lot of fun.

“We’re gonna promise you guys, the next [album], and the one after – rock. No more pop!”

Your previous album, Eye of the Storm had more of a stadium pop sound, whereas, Luxury Disease felt much more rock and more reminiscent of your earlier sounds. What could the next potential album sound like?

Taka: We’re gonna promise you guys, the next one, and the one after — rock. No more pop! I thought we had to do it, as I’m living in LA now, I need to learn more about their culture and what exactly is their kind of pop music. That’s why we’ve made the previous album like that, but when we toured for Eye of The Storm, it was actually kind of boring. We want to do more rock because we’re a rock band! There was nothing exciting about those songs when we played them on the stage, and so I thought, “No, this is enough. No more f*cking pop music. We need to be more f**king rock and roll.” That’s why we made this new album, even though there’s still some pop essence in it. But the next one and the one after? Totally f*cking rock.

Are there any lyrics from this album that really struck a chord for you all?

Taka: A lot of things happened during the pandemic, it was a hard time for everyone really. Since the album was made in that period, each and every song is a piece of what we experienced within ourselves then. It’s hard to choose a specific line because I poured all my emotions into every track of this album, so they’re equally as important.

What will ONE OK ROCK be doing after the Asia tour?

Taka: Make a new album. I mean, it’s actually almost done. We want to tour again so badly, so we don’t want to waste any time. For 10 years, we couldn’t make it to Jakarta for a solo show. We did go there with Ed Sheeran for his tour last time, but even that was 4 years ago. I don’t want to wait years like that again, so we’re trying to tour as much as we can and as soon as possible.