Chihiro: My favorite song is *Pirates of the Fathomless Sea*. I’ve always loved the *Pirates of the Caribbean* movie series and wanted to create a song themed around pirates, so I’m thrilled that we could make it happen. The chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics are packed with elements inspired by the movies, so I hope you’ll enjoy discovering them while listening! We also put a lot of effort into the music video, so please check it out!

Chihiro: I met Takuma when I was studying classical voice in university. At the time, he was playing guitar in a metalcore band, and as I started going to his shows, I felt inspired to start my own band.

Takuma: On the other hand, when I saw her opera performance, I realized it was completely different from the music I had been creating, and I thought mixing the two could result in something unique. That’s how the band was formed. In the early days, I invited TETSU, who was playing support drums in my previous band, and Takahiro initially joined as a support bassist. Over time, TETSU officially joined as our drummer in 2021, and Takahiro became our guitarist this month.

Chihiro: As I mentioned earlier, I’m the one who deeply studied classical music. I originally majored in vocal music in university, planning to become a music teacher, but I was influenced by the vibrant city life and ended up becoming a band musician instead! Discovering Nightwish on YouTube back then was one of the most important encounters in my musical journey.

Takuma: Actually, I also had some classical influences growing up—I learned the violin as a child and have always loved film music. Maybe classical music was always close to me in some way.

Chihiro: Our songwriting process varies depending on the song. Some songs started from a melody that suddenly came to me, while others were created because I wanted to compose a piece inspired by a specific movie. The most important thing for us is what kind of scenery and emotions our listeners imagine when they hear our music. Creating immersive worlds is always our top priority in our music.

Takuma: As a band, we’re strongly influenced by Epica, Ice Nine Kills, and Alestorm. Besides that, we listen to a wide range of genres, including film scores, anime soundtracks, and video game music. For the guitar and instrumental parts, I personally draw a lot of inspiration from Killswitch Engage and Sum 41. Funny enough, my musical background isn’t actually in symphonic metal!

Chihiro: As a vocalist, the biggest influence on me has been Nightwish. But when I compose guitar melodies, I take a lot of inspiration from Avenged Sevenfold—I’m a huge fan of theirs!

Takuma: Our inspiration mainly comes from movies and anime. When creating songs based on movies, I watch multiple works that fit the theme and expand my imagination from there. If the world of the song is filled with “rage,” I incorporate more metalcore elements. If it’s meant to be “cheerful,” I emphasize folk influences. This approach shapes the world of FATHOMLESS SKYWALKER’s music.

Chihiro: The main reason we sing in English is that its rhythm fits FATHOMLESS SKYWALKER’s music better than Japanese. Because of that, I’m always working on improving my English pronunciation to make our songs even more accurate and expressive. That said, I also want to incorporate more songs in Japanese in the future. In this album, for the first time, we included a Japanese-language track, *侍 -The Proud Warrior-*. It’s packed with traditional Japanese elements, so I hope international listeners will enjoy it as well!

Chihiro: We don’t have any confirmed plans yet, but we definitely want to perform live soon! Our dream is to play at Wacken Open Air!!

All Members: Thank you for reading this interview! We’d love for you to immerse yourself in the world of FATHOMLESS SKYWALKER! We hope to see you at a live show someday!!