BARKS interview about the new releases. Translated by Grok. I highlighted some parts I considered interesting.
【Interview】NIGHTMARE: Their First Single in About 2.5 Years, “Reach for,” Is Released — “We Want to Show You a New NIGHTMARE”
In 2025, NIGHTMARE completed their 25th anniversary “Tenka Dai Bousou” with their fifth performance at Nippon Budokan in 13 years as a band. Now, heading into their 26th year, they’re getting moving again.On March 25 they release their 33rd single “Reach for” — their first in roughly two and a half years — followed on April 22 by the live Blu-ray NIGHTMARE TOUR 2025 Kaisei Tenka Dai Bousou Saishu Kosen Yakan 2025.11.09 Nippon Budokan, recorded at last year’s Budokan show. A nationwide tour, NIGHTMARE TOUR 2026 “Reach for”, also kicks off in April. We asked the band about wrapping up their 25th anniversary, the new single, and more.
── Before we talk about the new song, I’d like to look back on your 25th anniversary activities. Now that it’s over, how do you feel?
YOMI (Vo): I think it was the best anniversary we’ve ever had. The fans stuck with us, we really felt their love, and it left me motivated to keep working hard.
Hitsugi (G): We played a ton of shows. We’ve always thought of ourselves as a strong live band, so I feel like this anniversary let us level that up even more.
Sakito (G): There were ups and downs, but overall it turned out exactly the way we wanted. Even when you plan ahead, things rarely go exactly as imagined, but this time everything flowed smoothly.
Ni~ya (B): For me it was definitely the overseas stuff. Our first one-man shows in Asia, the event in Brazil, the European tour — everywhere went way better than expected. That gave us a lot of confidence. So now I really want to do even more overseas activity.
RUKA (Dr): For us, the fans, the staff — everyone — having clear goals like “47-prefecture tour” and a solid roadmap leading to the 25th-anniversary finale made everything so much easier to manage. I realized how helpful that structure really is.
── So after the 47-prefecture tour, you wrapped up the 25th anniversary with the Budokan show NIGHTMARE TOUR Kaisei Tenka Dai Bousou Saishu Kosen Yakan. What was the concept behind it?
Sakito: Basically just the culmination of the tour — the grand finale.
── It was your fifth Budokan show as a band. What are your thoughts?
YOMI: Mentally, I felt like I was able to approach it without forcing it too much. Personally, though, I sang too much in rehearsal and messed up my throat adjustment, so my condition on the day wasn’t great. That’s my only regret. Other than that, it was amazing.
Hitsugi: When the show started and I looked out at the audience, I thought, “Ah, so this is what Budokan looks like.” We’d already played more than 40 shows by then, so I was able to stay relaxed in a good way.
Sakito: Personally I was still a little anxious because I didn’t feel like I’d reached the “okay, we’re good” level. But the opening — we came out on those custom bikes, you know?
── Of course! I couldn’t be there that day, but I saw it blowing up on social media. Before the show, when I interviewed you for another outlet, you mentioned, “For Budokan we’ll wear tokko-fuku and come out on bikes just like the artist photo.”
YOMI: Oh yeah, right, right.
Sakito: So you’re a prophet!
Sakito: When was that interview?
── Haha, exactly!
── During the √25 interview season.
Ni~ya: At that point it probably wasn’t decided yet.
Sakito: So maybe your comment actually influenced us!
── Wow, I’m so touched! Anyway, can you tell us what happened after you came out on the bikes?
Sakito: Right, right. When we rolled out, I thought people might just laugh, but the reaction was surprisingly positive. There was laughter, but from the stage it looked like everyone was getting hyped, so I felt freed. Even during rehearsal that day I had equipment trouble — my amp kept acting up — but once I shook that off, I wasn’t nervous at all during the actual show. It might have been the most relaxed I’ve ever felt at Budokan.
YOMI: We were so relaxed that Ni~ya was napping backstage (laughs).
Ni~ya: I was! Right behind Zojii (YOMI’s nickname) while he was getting his makeup done.
YOMI: Seeing that actually made me relax too, so I didn’t get too tense.
Hitsugi: But some people get nervous after a nap, you know.
Ni~ya: Exactly! Right before showtime you can’t help but get nervous.
YOMI: I still can’t believe you could nap (laughs).
Hitsugi: Sleep and tension aren’t connected in his brain, I guess.
Ni~ya: Yeah. People always say Budokan is haunted by demons, so before the show I was terrified something would go wrong. But once it started, nothing bad happened and the crowd got really into it. Like Sakito said, the way the fans embraced that opening bike entrance instantly melted the tension and gave us a great start.
RUKA: I don’t remember much, honestly. But those opening bikes! I usually ride an electric bike, so riding a normal one after so long felt insanely heavy. I probably put weird strength into pedaling. The first song was “Believe,” but my legs were shaking and I could barely hit the bass drum. My body’s completely adapted to electric bikes now.
── (laughs). The live Blu-ray coming out April 22 will definitely make that bike opening a highlight.
Sakito: Yeah. On stage we come out one by one starting with RUKA, and everyone’s on these modded bikes looking all tough — except Zojii, who was riding normally (laughs).
YOMI: No, no! The bikes are heavily modded and super heavy with all the extra parts. Everyone else had these crazy ape-hanger handlebars, and mine was like that at first too. But when I tried it I thought, “I’m gonna fall,” so I had them switch mine back to normal handlebars. That’s why my posture looked like that — it was the handlebars’ fault.
── We’ll have to pay attention to YOMI’s handlebar posture too.
YOMI: Also, I really like “BIRTH,” so please watch for that.
── On the 47-prefecture tour you put together setlists that revisited your past albums, playing songs you don’t perform anymore and letting fans enjoy NIGHTMARE’s history. When you played those old songs again, what did you feel?
YOMI: There were quite a few songs where I thought, “Man, this song is actually really good.” I rediscovered the quality of our older material.
Hitsugi: I felt like, “So this is the nuance it has when we play it now.” The impression and atmosphere I remembered from back then had shifted a little. I can’t name specific songs though.
Sakito: We played some songs we almost never do anymore — ones that were only played on the album tour at the time. The moment we started, the fans reacted like “Whoa, they’re playing this?!” Seeing that real-time reaction was really happy and motivating. Personally, I also felt that the way I approach those songs now is different from back then. There used to be songs I couldn’t even listen to again because I felt I hadn’t done them justice, but that resistance is gone now. It felt like meeting old friends I couldn’t talk to before and suddenly being able to chat normally again. Also, putting music theory aside, I realized there are just so many interesting songs in our catalog. I want to keep digging up old songs and playing them regularly from now on. It was a big learning experience.
Ni~ya: I also feel like there’s a lot to learn from our old songs. I rediscovered cool lyrics, chord progressions, and phrases. And when we actually played them as a band, they felt fresh. The fans’ reactions when we performed them live were great too. It was a really good experience.RUKA: I’m not sure why, but my playing style or sense of rhythm must have changed. The songs I’m good at now are completely different from back then. I don’t know the exact reason.
── How exactly did they change?
RUKA: Take “BIRTH,” for example — that kind of song feels easier for me now. Back then I only thought of slow songs as “just slow.” I never understood what people meant by “spacing” or “timing”; I just thought it was a slow tempo. Now I kind of get it — I can feel the space between notes. That’s the biggest thing I noticed.
── That’s a huge change.
RUKA: Whether it’s good or bad, I don’t know. Sometimes the raw speed of our younger days is better. Things have just changed.
── Let’s switch topics and talk about the new single. The title track “Reach for” was composed by Sakito.
Sakito: We actually recorded the single version quite a while ago. This song itself is from two years ago.
── Had the recording already been finished back then?
Sakito: Even the mix was done. It’s exactly the same version as back then — nothing was changed. Since it’s from two years ago, it really captures the atmosphere of “We’re heading into the 25th anniversary.”
YOMI: Wasn’t that around the time we were making “Labyrinth”?
Sakito: Yeah, maybe.
Hitsugi: Wasn’t it around the outdoor show at Yoyogi?
YOMI: I think it was right around then or a little before.
Sakito: So by 2024 it was already finished. But at the time I felt it was a bit off. Last year we released the conceptual mini-album √25, so this song got pushed back again. We had actually prepared another new track for the single, but both musically and thematically it didn’t feel right as the first release right after the 25th anniversary. So at the very last minute I asked them to switch it to this one instead.
── I see. What was the theme when you wrote it?
Sakito: The feeling that even though we’ve reached the 25th anniversary, there’s still so much more ahead — like we were getting a little too comfortable and rounded off, and I wanted to sharpen the edges again.
── That’s why the lyrics even include the band name itself.
Sakito: Exactly.
── What about the sound?
Sakito: While producing it I was struggling with the final direction. So instead of the usual keyboardist, we had Yoshitaka Yokoyama (who’s worked with BUCK-TICK) handle the keyboard parts, and it turned out really cool. My guitar recording schedule has been ridiculously late lately — I tend to record after all the other material is ready — so when I finally added the guitars, the final shape came together. The chorus is very clear and catchy, while the rest has this thick, muddy feel, and there’s no guitar solo. I think that contrast works well.
── The tapping guitar in the intro is really cool too!
Sakito: I planned to put that in from the very beginning. The song might have started with that riff. I had done low-string tapping like that in another project before, but when that project ended I thought the feel would work great for us, so that became the starting point for this track.
── How did the rest of you receive “Reach for”?
YOMI: To me it feels like a proper title-track song.
Hitsugi: It’s catchy. Especially the chorus — it really opens up and spreads. As for the guitar, the riffs are fun to play.
Ni~ya: The moment the song starts you think “Whoa, something huge just arrived,” but when the chorus hits you go “Ah, yeah, this is a single.” It’s that kind of song.
RUKA: When I first heard it, it felt a bit darker than the finished version. It became a lot brighter and more colorful. Also, that “doom” sound in the B-melody feels like it’s ripping your guts out — especially with headphones. It’s addictive.
Sakito: I love that part. It’s the kind of “doom” sound you hear in club music (laughs).
Ni~ya: Isn’t that what Murakami Shoji says? “Doom.”
Sakito: Stop giving it weird associations (laughs).
── Track 2, “[N],” is composed by RUKA. What does the title mean?
RUKA: NIGHTMARE.
YOMI: Wait, that’s different from what I heard earlier.
Hitsugi: Does the meaning of “N” change every time?
Sakito: Depending on the interview, it might become “Ni~ya’s N” (laughs).
── Maybe that’s why it’s written “[N]” in brackets (laughs). When did you write this song?
RUKA: Last year, when we started talking about the single. I can’t make songs on purpose, so I tried to write something with a sense of speed, but somehow it turned into a completely different song. I think I lost momentum halfway through. For the lyrics, I heard that “the WORLD” was turning 20 years old while I was writing, so I tried to write a “future” version of that song.
── So it has nothing to do with Ni~ya’s “N” after all.
Sakito: Well… lines like “The vanished beyond, turn the needle back” could be about Ni~ya fishing…
Hitsugi: You mean it got snagged …? [the fishing term for when your rig gets caught on rocks or obstacles underwater]
Ni~ya: It fits! Like “snap!” You lose the rig, so you turn the reel back and start over. Maybe that’s what the song is about.
── I don’t think it’s a fishing song (laughs).
Ni~ya: Sorry (laughs). When I finished recording all my parts and listened to the whole thing, the vocal explosion was insane! It really transformed in a good way
Sakito: I often get to do cool guitar parts on RUKA’s songs. This one has arpeggio guitar, right? The demo was different, but RUKA told me I could change it however I liked, so I made several versions and he picked the one he liked.
── There’s synth behind the arpeggio guitar, isn’t there?
Sakito: RUKA said he wanted the synth and guitar to feel like they were in unison, so that’s how it turned out. The solo is very free and loose.
Hitsugi: I kept my part strictly as backing. The melody was so impactful that I just wanted to support RUKA’s characteristic melody.
YOMI: For the vocals I consciously tried to sound like “the WORLD.” While doing pre-production I realized the theme was “the WORLD”-like, so I deliberately sang it in a way that evoked that era. I also worked hard on the attack, punch, and power in the chorus. There’s a part in the second half where the chorus repeats twice — in a small live house I might actually pass out from lack of oxygen.
── You do realize the upcoming nationwide tour is almost all live houses, right?
YOMI: Yep. I’ll do my best.
── Track 3, “Sendōsha” (The Agitator), is also composed by Sakito.
Sakito: I wrote this after watching a documentary of Yukio Mishima debating with the Zenkyōtō (All-Campus Joint Struggle League) students. The heat, the atmosphere, the strong will of that era — it’s something you don’t see today. I’m not saying I agree with everything, but I thought that passionate momentum was cool, so I made the song around that feeling.
── It makes you picture fans going wild at a live show.
Sakito: Exactly. I wanted that image to be easy to see, so I deliberately chose aggressive words for the lyrics and made the sound intentionally messy and heavily distorted instead of clean. I ran the guitar through an effector that sounds like a bass synth, so when we play this live I literally can’t move my feet — I have to keep stepping on the pedal the whole time.
── The powerful chorus — is that all of you?
YOMI: Me, Ni~ya, and Hitsugi. I’d love it if the audience shouts along with us live.
Sakito: I really love Zojii’s vocal on this track. It has real thorns. Especially the way his voice breaks in the last chorus — it’s my favorite on the whole single.
YOMI: I’m glad. I sang it like I was channeling Yukio Mishima a little!
── The tour NIGHTMARE TOUR 2026 “Reach for” starts April 4. What kind of tour do you think it will be?
YOMI: We’ll definitely play “Reach for.”
Hitsugi: Obviously (laughs).
YOMI: We’ve finished our 25th year and are now in year 26. We want to show everyone a new NIGHTMARE.
── It’s been a while since fans saw NIGHTMARE without the tokko-fuku (special attack uniforms).
YOMI: True. We might wear them occasionally in the future, but this tour we’ll have regular stage outfits. Personally, since we played a lot of older songs during the 25th anniversary, I’d like to focus more on newer material for the setlist.
Hitsugi: Like Zojii said, I want to present the current NIGHTMARE on stage.
Sakito: It’s a tour named after the single, but I think all the new songs will fit well with the rest of our catalog, so I want to keep the heat we had last year and bring that energy into the tour.
Ni~ya: So… are we doing “Medley IV” (a medley of existing songs)?
YOMI: Don’t tighten the noose around your own neck!
Ni~ya: I was thinking a medley of recent songs might be cool… or maybe not (laughs).
RUKA: We haven’t decided yet, but putting together the setlist is going to be tough. For the 25th anniversary we had clear album themes for each period, but this time it’s a single. It’s been a while since we toured behind a single, so we’ll have to mix in older songs while figuring out how to make it feel fresh. We still have time, so we’ll keep thinking about it.
── Are you planning to keep running in full “Tenka Dai Bousou” (great rampage) mode this year too?
YOMI: Of course!
