Last Updated on 2025-12-14 by a-indie
Since the release of their debut EP “XIEXIE” in 2021, we’ve been following the remarkable journey of Tokyo’s four-piece alternative band, xiexie.
Building on a foundation of lo-fi indie pop while incorporating elements of psychedelic, chill, and soul music, they have achieved remarkable success through their distinctive musical additions and subtractions.
Their activities extend far beyond Japan. Recently, they performed at music festivals in Taiwan and completed their first tour across seven major Chinese cities from Hong Kong to Beijing, steadily expanding their presence throughout Asia.
They have also shared stages with Lesssugar and Subsonic Eye, both of whom we interviewed at A-indie.
To be honest, I still haven’t fully captured what makes xiexie’s music so special. In fact, I actively want to avoid definitive statements about them.
This is because they continue to change and evolve. That’s precisely what makes xiexie so captivating and impossible to look away from.
This time, we trace their journey from their roots to their new EP “zzz,” released after a year and a half, hoping to convey their unique appeal through this chronological exploration.
Artists: Meari, Yamato Koda, Kai Hiraki, Koichi Tobita Interviewer: Yuuki Takita Translation, Editing, Proofreading: BELONG Media, A-indie
The Formation of xiexie
－Yuuki Takita: BELONG Media is a music publication that focuses on artists’ roots. Since this is our first interview with you, please tell us how xiexie was formed. I understand Tobita-san was the founder, inspired by US indie music from around the 2010s. How did you meet the other members and arrive at where you are today?
Meari: I met Tobita at a morning yoga event held by a mutual friend that I happened to attend. We first talked there, and later he heard a song I posted on social media and reached out. Tobita had been in a band with Koda on guitar for a long time before xiexie, and he invited him to make music together again. He had also seen Kai play live several times and wanted to collaborate with him someday. When Kai was managing a Starbucks at Shibuya’s TSUTAYA, Tobita apparently scouted him across the counter, asking, “Would you like to be in a band together?” (laughs).
When I sang over rough tracks Koda had been making, it felt really good, and the band started moving forward from there.
The Origin of the Band Name “xiexie”
－Yuuki Takita: Please tell us about the band name. What was the reason for choosing “xiexie” as the name when starting your activities as a band, and what meaning does it hold?
Meari: We started thinking about something short, easy to say, and memorable. At first, it was “smee.”
I love the Chinese-speaking world and used to go to Shanghai and Taiwan often, so I was drawn to the sound of Chinese. “xiexie” is easy to remember, cute, and the pinyin alphabet arrangement looked cool too, so we felt this was it. I also think it represents us as a band that wants to be happy somewhere.
Each Member’s Musical Roots
－Yuuki Takita: xiexie’s sound is anchored in lo-fi, psychedelic, and dreamy elements, while each release also incorporates other elements like soul, R&B, jazz, and bossa nova. Beyond US indie, what are each member’s musical roots?
Meari: When I was little, I grew up watching Western music programs like the Ed Sullivan Show at home, and I really admired the world of performing shows in front of people. I also watched Madonna’s music videos all the time, and there was a period when I was obsessed with expression through singing and dancing, musicals, and dance.
I like what you might call “dance music-like things,” songs that make your body move involuntarily. I can basically dance to anything (laughs).
Also, my father is a drummer and often took me to live shows, so the energy and impact of live sound is a big part of my foundation.
Yamato Koda: Acoustic
Kai Hiraki: I’m strongly influenced by neo-acoustic and soft rock. Internationally, I resonate with the light textures of Aztec Camera and The Style Council, and in Japan, Pizzicato Five and Bridge.
Koichi Tobita: I’ve crossed too many genres, but all kinds of music have entered my body. Techno is also a root, I play a bit of jazz drums, and I’m in a samba team too. Before I knew it, Brazilian music has been supporting me the most.
Three Albums Rooted in the Band
－Yuuki Takita: If you were to choose three albums that have influenced xiexie’s music or are rooted in the band, which would they be? For each one, please tell us what aspects influenced you or any episodes. If it’s difficult, each member can share one favorite artist’s album.
Meari: Ducktails “Jersey Devil”
Listening to it makes me a little lonely, but that loneliness somehow frees me.
Before starting the band, I liked “flawless things,” but listening to this work, I was shocked by the space, or rather, his humanity and quirks came through, and I realized that music is a world where the person comes through as they are. It’s a work that made me want to express myself that way too.
Koda: Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues”
Kai: Beach Boys “Pet Sounds”
I think it’s an album with many common points in the refinement of chords, melody, and harmony, universality as pop music, and the attitude of depicting a worldview in one work.
Tobita: Toro y Moi “Underneath the Pine”
With this album, I first felt that music can create one world just with the three-dimensional stereo feeling coming from left and right. Beyond the concept of playing or performing instruments, I learned the sensation of sound itself becoming art. It’s an important album for me that made me want to someday create music that can present a worldview itself like this.
Consciousness in Live Performance
－Yuuki Takita: Last year, I interviewed Lesssugar when they released their debut album and went to see their Japan show, where you performed together. That was the first time I saw xiexie perform. At that time, rather than creating unity by involving the audience, I was struck by how you gave each individual listener an immersive feeling by making them listen carefully to your sound, drawing them in with an intoxicating quality while unconsciously making their bodies sway. What do you focus on during live performances? I’m curious whether you have a unified approach among members or if your thinking differs for each event.
Meari: My singing has always had the sensation of wanting to exist within the sound, and that attitude doesn’t change during live performances.
There’s also the fun of conveying life through the physical, but ultimately I want to preserve space so the audience can enter the world through their own sensations.
Tobita: I prioritize most whether it touches my own sensitivity. If I don’t first feel good about it as sound, it doesn’t mean anything. I believe that what shakes within me will definitely reach people somewhere.
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