[EXCLUSIVE] fripSide – AFA is the best. Chicken Rice is also the best.

fripSide once again visited Singapore for Anime Festival Asia Singapore in December 2014, bringing with them their signature blend of electro-pop and trance to our I Love Anisong series of concerts. AFACHAN took the opportunity to speak to producer sat (Satoshi Yaginuma) and vocalist Nanjo Yoshino about performing live again in Singapore.

As fripSide has performed in many cities prior to Singapore, especially for their Infinite Synthesis 2 Japan tour, we asked them about their experiences in different cities. Nanjo said that every city is memorable and left a strong impression, and that she has observed that fan from different regions tend to behave differently. For example, while concert-goers in Osaka were really genki (spirited and enthusiastic), audiences in Nagoya were “cool” (calmer and quieter). And when we caught up with fripSide after their performance at I Love Anisong, Nanjo shared that the audience in Singapore was really fired up, and was really impressed that just like any of their lives within Japan, the Singaporean crowd came well-prepared with fan cheers to support them during the performance.

Since this was their second visit to Singapore, the duo had over ten hours of free time after their rehearsal the day before, and managed to get some sightseeing done. As they had only seen the larger Merlion at Sentosa during their previous trip in 2012, they were happy to be able to visit its more famous predecessor at the Merlion Park this trip. As returning visitors to our tropical island, fripSide is now familiar with all the good food Singapore has to offer, managing to dig into local favourites such as chicken rice, laksa, and satay at a local food centre.

sat admitted that they even had a luxurious meal at a Chinese restaurant a few nights before, paired with his favourite Tiger Beer. sat’s love for Tiger Beer was clearly evident, with proclamations of “Tiger Beer oishii!” peppered throughout the interviews, even admitting that he drank more than a litre the night before. When asked about Singaporean dishes they must have before heading home, Nanjo named the perennial favourite chicken rice, while true to his nature, sat assertively named Tiger Beer again. Give the man a Tiger endorsement! (Asia Pacific Breweries are you listening?)

When quizzed about future plans, sat proudly spoke about their upcoming first live at the Yokohama Arena in March 2015, where they will be expecting a 10,000 crowd. And true to the original aim of fripSide, they will continue to work on more anisongs and tie-up songs with various collaborators, putting in their best effort to present good A-side and B-side (or flipsides – true to their name) songs that everyone can relate to. Watch their post-concert video interview below, for a message to their fans at AFA, and more confessions of Tiger Beer love.

Don’t forget to catch fripSide when they head to BITEC, Bangkok for AFA Thailand in May 2015!