Calling themselves 'the most powerful Japanese girlie pop rock group', Scandal returned to Hong Kong to the delight of their fans.
The group consists of four Japanese high school girls from Osaka: Haruna Ono and Mami Sasazaki on guitar, Tomomi Ogawa on bass and Rina Suzuki on drums.
Like many bands, the girls met by answering an advert looking for band members. They got together in 2006 and started writing and playing their own songs. The girls started off listening to contemporary J-pop, but were soon drawn to bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The band draws influences from a diverse range of artists. Sasazaki says 'I was inspired by Judy and Mary,' referring to a popular 1990s Japanese rock group. 'The band's guitarist has awesome guitar skills. When he performs it looks like he's playing with a toy,' she says.
Ogawa admires bass player Michael Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and says her goal is to be as good a musician as he. Ono is influenced by Avril Lavigne: 'her style, music and look all have power, so I really admire and like her.' Finally, Suzuki admires fellow female drummer Nao Kawakita from the Japanese nu-metal band Maximum the Hormone, saying 'she's just as strong a musician as the rest of her band mates and stands out as a singer as well as a drummer.'
Despite their mixed musical inspiration, the four are huge fans of Japanese pop culture. Last year, Scandal told SYP that their favourite manga was Detroit Metal City. When asked if they were still reading it, Sasazaki replies: 'Oh yes! We still like reading DMC - it's amazing. This year we also got into K-On! because its about a high school girl band like us and its really good. We strongly recommend it to everyone.'