Butterfly Scissors is a new international band consisting of members, KENGHH and Kala (solo, Tidebringer). JRockOne had a chance to talk with them about their new project.
(all photos by Jun Tsuneda)
° You guys just started out your activities as a band, please introduce yourselves. Who is Butterfly Scissors? Why did you choose that name and is there any special meaning to it?
Kala: My name is Kala, I’m the vocalist and co-producer/writer in Butterfly Scissors. I’m a content creator for Cloud9 esports, one of the biggest gaming teams on the planet, and am a solo musician outside of this project. Honestly, the name holds no significant meaning - it only made me feel ‘star power’ when I originally heard it. I was able to see branding and the logo/name everywhere in the world, so I felt drawn to it.
KENGHH: My name is KENGHH.I am a guitarist and beat maker.The name BUTTERFLY SCISSORS comes from the idea that a butterfly has two wings and scissors has two blades.
I thought it matched the name very well since our project is just Kala and me.
° You both come from different countries originally, how did you guys get to know each other and how did the band form?
Kala: Kenghh reached out to me over social media, as he was introduced to my solo music by a number of his friends from SLOTHREAT. They are fans of my solo project and thought it would be cool if Kenghh made some music with me. It started pretty slowly, and honestly it was kinda difficult to work together at first because Japanese music production is so different from what I’m used to, but once we got our work flow together (he would write a bunch of material and send it to me, I would structure and arrange the songs and then write vocals), things got a lot smoother.
KENGHH: I contacted him first. My good friend Katsuya from SLOTHREAT told me about Kala’s music a few years ago.I was shocked when I heard Kala’s music for the first time.
That’s when I decided I wanted to produce a song with him.
° What inspired you to become musicians? Is there any musician or band you look up to? And did any of your former projects have any impact on you?
Kala: Growing up listening to bands like Good Charlotte, Linkin Park, Blink182, Blindside, Saosin etc is what inspired me to start making music. Linkin Park was probably my biggest inspiration as a kid, then as a young adult it was probably Nothing, Nowhere and Secret & Whisper.
KENGHH: When I was a teenager I used to listen to a lot of rock and metalcore.
I’ve been listening to Nothing Nowhere a lot for a few years now.
° Who composes the songs and writes the lyrics and where do you take inspiration from, for songs or lyrics? What is your creative process like?
Kala: Kenghh writes most of the instrumentals, sometimes they will stem from ideas I send to him but it’s usually him who starts the idea. After that, I structure the songs from the ideas he makes, and then write all of the melodies and lyrics myself. Butterfly Scissors is special to me because I have no identity within the music, I just write everything that comes from the heart and don’t try to conform to any sort of inspiration or style. That’s why I love the project so much - I’m not trying to make anything in particular, just trying to be honest.
KENGHH: The inspiration for the songs is my mind.
There is no sound or artist that I refer to.
Because I am uniquely capable of making music.
Stayed tuned for their first release “You still have my heart” and Pre-Save it → HERE ←
° KENGHH, what type of guitar(s) and equipment do you use? How do you think that will help shape Butterfly Scissors’ sound?
KENGHH: I mostly use a Xotic Telecaster.
I had this guitar semi-ordered and produced several years ago.
To be honest, you could tune the guitar much lower and make more intense music, but we like to make music that is more unique.
° You held your first live performance in Japan, how did you decide on performing there?
Also, Kala, how was it performing in Japan for you? Have you been to Japan before or was it your first time?
Kala: I told Kenghh I was coming to Japan to visit for a month and asked if it would be possible to perform, and he worked his little butt off to get us our first show. He’s so awesome that way, I’ve never worked with anyone who grinds so hard for what he believes in.
It was a dream come true for me. I’ve always wanted to perform in Japan because it’s my favourite country in the world. I’ve visited 8 times and have no intention of slowing down. My goal is to move there one day, as it’s the only country where I’ve truly felt peace.
° Butterfly Scissors consists currently of only two members, do you have any plans on having more members join the project?
Kala: I don’t think so. I feel like we’re able to do everything we need to do as 2 people, and it makes it easier to be able to put time into the project if we’re only splitting any sort of revenue 2 ways, so we can scale harder as a band. There is very little ego to deal with when it’s just us 2 people, and everything just seems simpler. We’ve both come from full band backgrounds, and neither of us want to go back to that.
KENGHH: I don’t think so either.
° Kala, you also released your first solo album a while ago. And released a new track with one of your other projects, the canadian metalcore band Tidebringer. Congrats and great songs you released there.
Is it difficult to keep track of all your projects? Do your other projects have any direct influence on Butterfly Scissors?
Kala: It’s a little bit difficult for sure. My order of importance for me is
Kala>Butterfly Scissors>Tidebringer, so I just have to manage my time appropriately. Right now I’m a full-time musician, so all of my time is spent either creating content on social media or making music. I actually think it’s the other way around, Butterfly Scissors has been impacting Kala a bunch, and you’ll definitely be hearing that in my new singles that I’ll be releasing throughout the year. Thank you for listening <3
Check out Kala’s solo album “Diary of a Depressed Creative”
Check out Tidebringer’s latest release here
° On JRockOne we have often discussed the use of streaming services like Spotify and in Japan a lot of bands seem to have very mixed feelings regarding those services. How do you both feel about distributing your music on streaming services?
Kala: I think it’s a necessary evil, but one of the biggest reasons why I think the music industry in Japan is so damn successful is because of the lack of abandonment for traditional medium. CDs are still sold, vinyl is still a massive industry, and people actually care about all of the work it takes to create those products, whereas in NA nobody gives a shit about that stuff. I personally think the way that Japan’s music industry operates is the pinnacle right now because streaming services are so predatory.
KENGHH: While I think it is a very good service regarding spotify, I think there are many disadvantages to spotify.
It is great that we can easily distribute our music to the world.
° Are there any bands you both would love to perform with in the future?
Kala: Coldrain, Nothing, Nowhere, (Sic)boy, Dezert
KENGHH: Nothing Nowhere, Dance Gavin Dance, Hotmilk, Waterparks
° What are your future plans for Butterfly Scissors? Is there anything you would like to achieve?
Kala: I want to start touring a lot. Now that my solo album is out, I want to start putting in more effort towards BS. We’re going to be putting in as much effort as possible to do Asian tours, and hopefully some bands within Japan see what we’re doing and help put us on some shows 
My goal with BS is to open up the topics of mental health discussion in Japan. I know it has been historically a difficult subject, and I just want to make it more and more accessible and let people there know they’re not alone if they deal with things like suicidal ideation, depression and self hatred. I just want to help people with my music, and for one reason or another I feel drawn to that country specifically.
KENGHH: I want to do a lot touring around the world, like in the US, UK, AUS, ASIA.
° Please leave a message to the readers and your fans.
Kala: Thank you so much for listening and supporting every project I’m part of. I truly hope to be able to play as many shows as possible in the future, and I promise, I’ll continue to work hard every day at becoming the best vocalist and performer I can possibly be. Love you all, thank you <3
KENGHH: Thanks for your support.
We will be releasing more and more great music.
Please check out BS!
Peace.
Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity for this interview. We are looking forward to further releases and activities of Butterfly Scissors.
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