YOASOBI just concluded a great year. 

From the quiet studios and venues that defined a larger part of their 2022 to receiving booming applause from a regional crowd, the Japanese duo recently made their Head In The Clouds debut performing at the festival's Jakarta and Manila editions to thousands of people. It was not only their first time performing in Southeast Asia, but also the first time they heard a crowd cheer them on. 

"It was very great time for us because this is the first time for us to hear actual cheering from the crowd. In Japan, [the crowd] cannot cheer due to COVID-19 restrictions so this is actually our first time hearing the crowd singing for us. It was a very great feeling to be able to hear that, it was a very fun performance for us," Ikuta told Bandwagon. 

"We are definitely very happy about [our performances in Jakarta and Manila]. We could feel the power from people coming to the show throughout Head In The Clouds. We knew that there were fans overseas from our social media but this was beyond our expectations. There were a lot of fans in Jakarta and Manila. We want to reach out to more of our overseas fans in the future," added Ayase.

In spite of the language barrier, YOASOBI had no problem uniting the crowd with their story-filled Vocaloid music reminiscent of early 90s anime, cementing themselves as the festivals' biggest highlights. Drawing crowds in both Jakarta and Manila, the duo embraced everyone with their warm, nostalgic sounds—which has always been their goal. 

"We want to deliver music or performances that are very fresh to the listener. We want to inspire or amaze the listener throughout the song and want to make music that makes them feel inspired and motivated," said Ayase. 

YOASOBI's music is special, in that it brings to life fictional stories and novels that only once existed in the form of sentences and paragraphs. Since the duo's formation in 2019, they have been turning original stories off of the popular Japanese creative writing platform, Monogatary into beautiful melodies that have even soundtracked several TV series and films. 

"Every song is based on an original story or novel. So first, we need to read those stories until we get the mood or vibe of the message of the story itself.  And then, we also need to understand how the character in the story feels, just really dive into that story. After that, I start to write the melody from the message. That's how we make a song out of it," explained Ayase. 

While their unique music-making process definitely sets them apart, it's a combination of Ayase's technical yet warm melodies, Ikuta's captivating vocals, and their bright visual aesthetics that have enchanted listeners all over the world. 

Most recently, the duo released their debut English EP, E-Side and its sequel E-Side 2 which brings their beloved Japanese hits to the global stage. 

Moving forward, YOASOBI want to continue to go along the path they're on, meeting their international fans and sharing music that ignites a fire in people's soul. 

"The music-making process [is of course, very fun] but for me, the best part of YOASOBI is when we do live performances. So in Manila and Jakarta, I felt that very much. I performed and got cheers from the people so that's where I feel very glad when I'm able to sing in front of the people," said Ikura. 

Coming from their Head In the Clouds stint—which Ayase shares is their best of 2022, YOASOBI are kicking off 2023 with their first Japan arena tour. While the rest of the year is open to new opportunities and adventures, the duo are certain that there will be new music to come, some that might even highlight a new side to the beloved duo. 

"This is our first arena tour in Japan so we're going to prefectures that we've never been to before. This is a great chance for us to reach out to fans that have never seen our performance before so I'm pretty sure that it's going to be an exciting performance. Then, for the overseas fans that cannot come to Japan yet, I think that there's some way for them to enjoy our performance as well so I look forward to that." said Ikura.

"As YOASOBI, we'll continue making songs—I think we have enough songs to make an album so maybe we'll some works [this year]. I'm now actually making a song that is quite different from the previous YOASOBI songs so people can look forward to that. We have some concerts as well, so please look forward to that and keep supporting us," said Ayase.

Check out our full interview with YOASOBI here.