LM.C is one of the hottest visual kei bands around, and this summer they kicked off the US leg of their world tour at Anime Central in Rosemont, IL. Roboguzu had a chance to sit in on their press conference, and get some info from the elusive band.

LM.C is the creation of Maya, a guitarist for Miyavi. After playing some shows with Miyavi's support band Ishihara Gundan, they eventually added Pierrot's Aiji, forming the core LM.C duo we know and love today.

While LM.C is sometimes referred to as Lovely Mocochang or Lovely Mocochang.Com because of the URL of their website, they admit that initially they intended the name to be meaningless. It was only retroactively that the Lovely Mocochang name was applied, and even so it's not necessarily what LM.C 'stands for'.

Growing up, they weren't exposed to much foreign music, so it's mostly Japanese bands that influence their sound. Specifically, X (now known as X JAPAN) was by far their largest influence. They are also amazed by the success of the Vocaloid movement, and they appreciate it from a musical standpoint. Even more so that Hatsune Miku and the other idols do live shows, when they don't even actually exist. But the digital music movement in Japan doesn't really affect them, as J-rock is all about real vocals and music.

As far as American bands, they consider LMFAO and their 'party rock' style to be their rivals.

That's not to say that LM.C fits into any one genre, which they acknowledge. They didn't really set out to do any style of music, so it's hard to pigeonhole exactly what they are. They just play what they want to play, and it “comes out like this”.

They're happy to be at Anime Central, and especially like the energy of the people. They like that people are walking around dressing however they want, wearing whatever they want. They believe that's where the energy comes from. When they were here a couple of years ago, a lot of the cosplay was Naruto and Bleach, but now they're seeing One Piece (Maya's childhood favorite) as well as others they can't even identify. They're happy to see the culture being embraced.

They love performing in front of international audiences, and they say that for the most part, fans are fans. In the end, they're all people that empathize with LM.C, and enjoy the music. That's not to say there aren't differences, though. They are always surprised at how loud American audiences are, and they wish their Japanese counterparts would not be so shy, and would let loose their voices like the Americans.

World tours are special to LM.C, since it's not something they can do very often, so they want to make this the best live tour ever. Each show is unique, as what is happening in the world always changes, so it can only happen once, and never be repeated. It's a miracle, in a way, and they want to bring that power back to Japan.

Now that is passion, boys and girls. LM.C put on an amazing show at ACEN, and for any fans of visual-kei and J-rock I assure you it's a live show not to be missed. You can check out their website here. In the meantime, here's a little LM.C for your listening pleasure.