Interview: VICKE BLANKA On His North American Tour And How His Travels Influence His Music

Vicke Blanka is an artist that is unapologetically himself. Hailing from Japan’s pop music scene, this singer, songwriter, and composer has captured the hearts of a worldwide fanbase with his music transcending both genre and cultural boundaries and infectious personality that embraces his true self without any limitations. Over the past few years, Vicke Blanka has thrived within the J-Pop music realm with his various hits eliciting both energy and emotion that has reinforced his dynamic presence within the industry in Japan and overseas. 

Currently signed under the record label, Avex Trax, Blanka has released several albums, EPs, and compilations that include music from various genres including rock, pop, techno, funk, and more. His versatile vocal range combined with his songwriting and composing abilities distinguished him amongst his labelmates. In 2018, Blanka’s song “Masshiro” from his album “wizard,” was featured in a TV series and soared to #2 on the iTunes Japan Top Album Chart. His 3rd album, “Devil,” released in 2020 reached #1 on the iTunes J-Pop charts as well. Blanka’s latest release is his EP, “Worldfly” released in October of 2023 containing a collection of songs inspired by experience he’s had in his world travels. 

Some of Vicke Blanka’s most popular tunes are the theme songs he wrote for the anime series, “Black Clover.” The songs, “Black Catcher” from 2020 and “Black Rover” from 2018 have become mega hits globally with both songs helping Blanka to achieve 1.6M monthly listeners on Spotify. In addition, the music video for “Black Catcher” has 60 million views and counting on Youtube! 

After playing various concerts in both Japan and around the world, Vicke Blanka embarked on his first ever North American tour this year. The tour included a total of 10 shows in both the US and Canada starting in Vancouver, BC on January 31st. This month, I had the pleasure of speaking with Vicke Blanka on behalf of BroadwayWorld about his current tour, music, and his evolution as an artist. This interview was completed before the end of his tour on February 20th in New York. Read the full interview below! 

Being your first-ever North American tour, you must be excited to play your music for your international fans. Will it be your first time visiting these cities or have you previously been to any of them before? 

VICKE BLANKA: No, I’m a perfect stranger to all of these cities and I’m super excited to visit them! All of the cities I am touring to in North America are famous, so I know a bit of information about each place. I hope to explore each city a bit by myself so I can see each city’s situation to get the real view and see humanity there through my eyes. I’m really excited! 

For this tour, what songs will you be focusing on for the setlist? 

VICKE BLANKA: Anime theme songs, piano songs, DJ songs, and EG songs … pretty much every song! I am definitely looking forward to performing my anime theme songs. There’s “Black Catcher” and “Black Rover” from an anime called Black Clover, “Lucky Ending” which is the ending OST from Fruits Basket, and “Walk” from the animated movie, Flavors of Youth. All of these songs are always in my top 10 on Spotify, so I always promise to play them at my shows. On the other hand, I create music in a variety of genres, so I look forward to showcasing many different tracks of mine to share with my North American audience.

What is the theme or atmosphere you wish to create on-stage and with your audience for this tour? 

VICKE BLANKA: The themes for this tour centre around bravery and smiling. I’m not used to setting a specific atmosphere for my show because I don’t want to try to force a specific feeling. I will be playing with bravery and a smile. During my concerts, I perform from my heart, which lends itself to a very natural atmosphere. 

Is there a song you never get tired of playing live? Do you have a memory of a performance of that song that was particularly memorable? 

VICKE BLANKA: Yes, I played my song, “Black Catcher,” in Barcelona for a festival with an audience of 10,000 people for two days. Almost every person in attendance was able to sing along to “Black Catcher” in Japanese. They really sang the song like me in Japanese, which was amazing! I never get tired of playing both “Black Catcher” and “Black Rover.” I always experience something new and feel a different atmosphere in every place I play those songs. 

What would you say is the easiest aspect and most challenging aspect of being on tour? 

VICKE BLANKA: Honestly, this whole tour has been super easy for me. There are a lot of fans in each city and I feel so thankful that they come to see my shows. I feel like grabbing a beer with them! Performing is easy for me, but practicing is not something I enjoy doing. I try to practice the piano and my vocals, but deep down, I am just not a practice person. In addition, staying healthy can also be challenging for me. Once I damaged my throat and it was really hard to come back from that situation. I always try to stay chill before all of my gigs. 

Your latest EP, Worldfly, was released in October of last year. As the EP is based on your experiences overseas, particularly your observation of different mindsets, it is evident each song has its own personality and feel. If you had to write a song that encompassed your own mindset, what style and sound would it have? 

VICKE BLANKA: I guess the song would chase my own trend of music. I listen to all genres of music, so I consider myself to be very open minded. I’m just a lover of all kinds of music! Two summers ago, I was really into techno, so I made a techno song. Last winter, I was really into piano ballads, so I made a piano ballad. I am currently into orchestral music, so I want to make a song with a huge orchestra. Just an orchestra with piano accompaniment and melodic vocals would be too dull for me though, I would want to incorporate really hard kicks at 128 BPM with the orchestral sound to make it more exciting! We will see what I will create with time. Whatever it is, I look forward to sharing it with all of my listeners. 

From Worldfly, which song would you say was the easiest song to write and why? 

VICKE BLANKA: “Sad In Saudi Arabia” was very easy to write. It took me one week to put it together. I spent two weeks in Saudi Arabia in the capital city of Riyadh. Riyadh sang to me and I really felt its melody. I remembered it very clearly when I went back to Tokyo and felt so inspired to write the song! 

What is the hardest thing about being an artist? After being in the music industry for several years, is there anything that still remains challenging for you? 

VICKE BLANKA: Nothing. I was going to say something related to being artistic, but I truly don’t have anything that still remains challenging for me. Everything is just a daily and natural thing for me. I try to stay focused and always continue to develop my skills. The most important thing is to stay natural. I don’t really think about being an “artist.” I feel that I am just being myself, so there is nothing hard or challenging about that! 

How do you see your music evolving with time? 

VICKE BLANKA: The North American tour will definitely change my mindset and the way I create my music. All my travels and performances have had this effect on me so far. Looking back, my music style has changed compared to five years ago. The only thing that hasn’t changed is my ability to play and create on the piano. When I compose, my partner is always the piano even though on stage, I am sometimes a DJ or perform with an electric guitar. 

Additionally, I need to develop my English more, so maybe after my North American tour, I will work on more English music. I want to learn and use more idioms and slang to evolve my music in the future! 

What is an experience you wish to achieve or an overall goal you hope to reach with your North American tour this year? 

VICKE BLANKA: In Vancouver, I stayed at the Hilton Hotel near BC Place Stadium. It’s such a huge stadium and I would love to perform there one day! For this tour, I feel like there are no walls between me and North America because I possess a key and that key is music. I feel as though this tour will give me more of a reason to believe that music has no borders. Once it is over, I believe that my confidence level will rise and my connection to places outside my hometown will build up. 

I used to say that Japan was an island country. Going abroad to pursue something is very important and memorable for island country people. The North American tour is a huge opportunity for me … more than you guys think. I am very excited and know every gig will be great. I also look forward to seeing some friends I have in North America as well. For my fans, we always talk on SNS (like on Instagram through the comments), but finally we can now meet each other in person at the concert venues. We will converse a lot and I really want to ask my fans what they think of me, Vicke Blanka, the real guy. It’s going to be great seeing everyone there. 

Vicke Blanka North American Tour 2024 Tour Dates were as followed: 

January 31 in Vancouver, BC at the Vogue Theatre 

February 2 in Denver, CO at The Gothic Theatre 

February 5 in San Francisco, CA at the Great American Music Hall 

February 6 in Los Angeles, CA at The Belasco 

February 8 in Dallas, TX at The Studio at the Factory 

February 9 in Houston, TX at Scout Bar 

February 13 in Chicago, IL at Park West 

February 15 in Toronto, ON at Annabel’s 

February 18 in Montreal, QC at the Rialto Theatre 

February 20 in New York, NY at Palladium Times Square 

To learn more about Vicke Blanka, his music, and upcoming shows, visit the link below! 

Top Photo: Vicke Blanka 2024 

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