This article is the second part of our interview article series with Ladybeard. Click here to read the first part of the article.
As a part of the Chibicon Jakarta event, KAORI Nusantara’s team has been allowed to interview Ladybeard, a former pro wrestler/stuntman turned idol. In the first part of the interview, Ladybeard and the KAORI team talked about how he first created the persona, the challenges that come with it, and other interesting stories that occurred during his career.
In this second part of the interview, we talked about Ladybeard’s new group Babybeard, their experience, and Ladybeard’s current activity. The Interview was conducted by Dean, our Greater Jakarta Area contributor, and edited for clarity and conciseness with the focus on the questions. Here is the interview!
Dean (D): Let’s talk about your latest project. So, right now you have a group called…
Ladybeard (L): Babybeard! Yes, Ladybeard’s group, Babybeard! I’ll explain. Ladybeard is the leader of an idol group called Babybeard. It’s Ladybeard and two young female Japanese idols The girls are babies, I am Ladybeard. Babies plus Ladybeard equals Babybeard. Simple mathematics.
D: What’s the most exciting experience that you’ve had with this group?
L: With this particular group it’s been four years now, the first exciting thing was getting to the end of COVID-19. Babybeard was supposed to begin at the beginning of 2020. The story is that I moved to a new talent management company in the middle of 2019. At the end of the year, we’re prepared (with a new group) and getting all organized. I went back to Australia for Christmas, and then I came back to Japan and it was going to be “Alright, 2020! Here we go!”. Then COVID-19 happened, and 2020 turned into “Alright, everyone’s at home for the next two years.”
Turns out it’s a bit longer, three years. That was so frustrating. It’s actually quite challenging to form a group in Japan. There’s a lot of politics, relationships, and a LOT that needs to be managed. We finally got it all in place and then the world shut down. And kind of, when that happened I was like “Well, we don’t know how long this is gonna last, we might not make it to the end of this.”
But then we did, thank goodness. But COVID rules were so strict in Japan. When we were allowed to do shows in Japan, it was so strange. You’d have a room which was designed for three hundred people and has twenty people in there- and that’s just the social distancing rules. They wear masks, and they can’t make any noise with their mouths. So they have to stand there still, they can’t jump around at all. These are the rules- the law! The law must not be broken. And then at the end of every song you get this. *claps* And that’s all.
So it was like performing for a room full of mannequins. It was so strange. I kept saying to the girls, “Look. Just wait til’ this is over. Trust me. This could be a lot more fun.” Because the girls were both young performers they hadn’t really done much. I think from their perspective, they were like, “This is not what I signed up for!” *laughs* So when we finally had our first show in Brazil in 2022- we got over in Brazil. By this time, the Brazilians didn’t care about COVID-19. We haven’t even made it to the stage but there’s like a thousand Brazilians were going, “BABYBEARD! BABYBEARD!” and the girls kind of looked at me and went, “Ah, now we understand how it’s supposed to be.” That was beautiful to witness.
So after that, the girls went onstage. That’s the first time the girls had a big audience, the first time the girls had a receptive audience as well. The audience was allowed to cheer. And of course, Brazilians were so passionate so they really cheered. The girls were so excited about the whole thing that they didn’t want to leave the stage (at the end of the show). They stayed there with the fans. That was a really lovely and beautiful thing to have happened.
Beyond that, we did a half-day, half-convention, half-music festival in Chile called GamersCity[1] last year. That was a massive show, the biggest one we’ve done! Yeah, that was just a giant event with a really huge awesome stage, excellent video, and lighting package. So that was just a highly enjoyable experience because it was such a big stage. Again, Latin Americans are the super passionate audience, That was wonderful as well. Two highlights of ours so far.
D: The other members (sound like) they really enjoyed every moment.
L: Well yeah, it’s like… especially with COVID, it was so strange. And I kept saying to them, “Please just trust me, we don’t know how long COVID is gonna go on for, but I promise you this is more fun than this. Normally!
D: So, you can speak English, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, and some German. You’re also Australian- (as one of our neighbors) can you speak some Indonesian?
L: No. Sorry! Not at all. Teach me some! How do I say like, “What’s up?”
D: “What’s up” would be “Apa kabar”.
L: Apa kabar! Apa kabar, KAORI? “Apa kabar.” I love it. Give me something else. How do I say, “Take your frog off my piano?”
D: *laughs* That’s complicated. “Ambil kodok itu dari piano saya.”
L: You’d be amazed how often I need that sentence. To all piano-dwelling frogs of Indonesia, beware! Also, “Baik-baik saja”? Is that Indonesian?
D: Yes! It means “I’m doing good.”
L: I see. “Baik-baik saja” seems to be the Indonesian word that all the children in Australia learn, and then that’s all they learn. You guys are our closest neighbours. So makes sense that we pick up some of your language.
D: Some of us also know your slang. “Wanna go to Maccas[2]?”
L: Go to “Maccas”, hey, exactly!
D: “Ozzie” slang is built differently.
L: Oh, it’s ridiculous. “Stone the crows[3]”. Out of control.
D: *laughs* So, moving on. You’ve been an actor, voice actor, stunt person, wrestler, and idol. You’ve done it all. Is there anything you want to do but haven’t gotten to? What is the limit to Ladybeard?
L: I wanna do Ladybeard movies. So. That’s what I’m going to begin working towards.
D: We heard it (here) first!
L: Hey, KAORI got it first. Ladybeard movies coming at you. Get your damn frog off my piano! The Ladybeard movie will actually be about a frog wearing a bikini. It’s a cross-dressing frog. Spends a lot of time trying to play (the) piano. It has like, Mozart envy. The Mozart-wannabe, cross-dressing, pro-wrestling, metal-screaming frog. That’s the story- that’s not what the movie’s about at all. Ladybeard movie, yeah! Coming to cinemas in 2032.
D: That’s a long way from…
L: Well movies take a long time to put together. I’ve got my concept organized. That’s all I’ve got. I’ve got to get a script, get a technical producer, get someone to sponsor it. But the Ladybeard movie, it’s coming at you! Prepare yourselves.
D: You’ve been a former DDT Pro-Wrestling Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion multiple times[4]. What’s the most bizarre or memorable match you’ve ever gotten yourself into the ring for?
L: Oh wow, bro. So many of the matches I did with DDT were just all so strange. Everything that happens in DDT is endlessly bizarre. I don’t remember any of the actual matches. A bunch of madness and nonsense happened.
The match that I remember as my most memorable one was actually before I came to Japan. It was in Hong Kong against my former nemesis Voodoo[5]. What he did once was he kidnapped me and put me in a trap like in the “Saw” films. And he was going to cut off my pigtails… unless I put on pants. So, of course, pants are my one weakness, and my strength comes from my hair, so if I lose my hair…
D: We’ll cut that (part) so people won’t know your weakness.
L: Good point, thanks very much. Well now they know, pants. Ladybeard’s weakness is pants. So Voodoo tried to force me into pants, putting me in this “Saw” trap and then I finally got out of that, but then I had to face him in the ring. The whole match he’s throwing pants at me, confronting me with my “phobia” of pants. That’s a challenging match. That’s kind of my most memorable match, I’d say.
And then also the other thing (during that match). The ring had broken! There was a hole in the ring. So, underneath the wrestling ring mat, there’s a series of wooden planks that kind of click together to make the ring. So what had happened was somewhere in one of the earlier matches, upon taking impact these wooden slats had like, displaced? Like that, the ones that go on top of each other.
So there’s a big hole in the ring. If you step here, you know, it’s just a canvas. Just a sheet. So we get told before the match: “There’s a hole in the ring, don’t use the eastern corner.” Yeah, man, it was very strange. We’re doing this whole match where Voodoo’s throwing pants at me and all this madness is going on, and I’m having flashbacks to when they tried to force me into pants, and… that all happened in a ring that had a hole in it. *laughs* A ring that had a hole in it and ropes that were too loose to actually bounce off. It was something.
D: (Was that) DDT?
L: Well, that wasn’t DDT, that was Hong Kong indie wrestling. That’s the joy of indie wrestling and underground kind of nonsense. Just- bonkers things like that happen and everyone goes, “Welp, let’s just figure out a way to get through it. Got no choices, keep going.”
D: Let’s move on to outside of wrestling. You have a podcast called “Cat with Beard from Japan”…
L: Yes, “Cat with Beard from Japan”, which is my podcast, thank you!
D: And congrats on reaching 100 episodes a few months ago!
L: Thanks, bro! Yeah. Yeah, who would’ve thought? Didn’t expect us to make it to a hundred. And now we’re over a hundred, where are we, a hundred of twenty-something now?
D: Maybe you could add to that with an episode discussing our Indonesian gifts. *laughs*
L: Yeah, that’d be a really good point actually. There’s an episode right there. Indonesian noodles. There you are, I appreciate it.
D: So, what we’d like to know is, what’s your thought process on deciding topics that you want to discuss, or guests who’d you like to feature for episodes?
L: This is one of the good parts about having a podcast. If there’s someone who you want to meet and talk to, you now have an excuse to get in contact with them and get them in the same room as you. So that’s really the joy of having a podcast. On one level I can say “Who are the people in Japan that I haven’t met who I’d like to meet?” That’s one process to go through. Another process we go through is kind of, “Well, who do we know?” because you’re always meeting interesting people and everyone has a very unique story, particularly for a foreign audience (since) the podcast is in English. So it’s not for a Japanese-speaking audience generally.
There’s also kind of, you know, we’re here to serve the audience. So who would the audience like to hear from and how can we facilitate that? And who have we met recently who we think would make a good guest, and whose story would the audience appreciate hearing? From whom would the audience gain value? So that’s kind of how we go through that process. Do you have anyone you want to hear us have on the podcast? Any suggestions?
D: Maki Itoh[6]?
L: Oh my God. Let’s see if we can get her. I’ve wrestled with her. Her first-ever cross-body was onto me.
D: Recently, people have been learning about Maki Itoh from a clip of her match.
L: She’s doing very well at the moment! She has been having her moment in the past year or so. Doing very well. She has a large head!
D: Since you’re a very multi-talented individual who’s active in multiple projects at the same time, have you ever felt burnout at some point? If so, do you have a way to overcome (that) burnout?
L: Every day! My life’s just a walking burnout. Don’t even get a chance to kindle! Just BURN! Burn, being on fire the whole time.
Look, you work hard and then you rest! And then a new day. Sometimes you need a lot more rest so you can get back to working hard again. You need to learn how to manage yourself. Self-management, I guess? You see it with the girls since they’re quite younger and they haven’t really figured it out. We go overseas, we go on tour, then- (they) don’t understand it properly yet. So nighttime, they’re kind of faffing around until three in the morning and then the next day they’re tired. So it’s just over time you learn these things.
And then, you have to be very disciplined about your rest. Resting becomes part of the job. This is counterintuitive because you always say “I want to work hard and try to be more productive”. But it’s like, “Nonononono. You go to bed, that’s the most productive thing you do.” If you don’t get your rest in, tomorrow’s gonna be terrible. And you get so stressed out that you don’t function anymore. Probably better to take, you know, a couple of weeks off so that you can keep going for another year as opposed to just keep pushing through it and then you won’t be able to work anymore.
D: Rest is important.
L: Yeah, bro. Hey! Go to bed!
D: So, I guess we’re done with our list of questions. So, do you have a few last remarks maybe for your fans in Indonesia? And also perhaps people from outside of Indonesia who might be seeing this.
L: My dear beautiful Indonesians and others, thank you so much for listening all the way to the end. You’ve done well to hang in here this far, you’ve done a very good job, thank you so much for listening. I’m Ladybeard, you can go follow me on the internet at @ladybeard_japan and of course, my group Babybeard @babybeard_japan.
Also, make sure you are subscribed to KAORI, and you pay attention to every single thing that goes down here on this publication because you’re not gonna get the goods anywhere else! Read KAORI! Thank you so much. I need to come back to spend more time next time because I wanna do some silat[7] training here. We’re not gonna get a chance to do that this time. Next time I’m coming back for a whole lot of Indonesian silat! So prepare your nasi goreng, and prepare your- I can’t remember what it’s called… the knife they use in silat?
KAORI Team: Kujang[8]? Keris[9]?
L: Keris is the curly one is it? So, kujang? IT’S KUJANG THEN! Thank you very much. PREPARE YOUR KUJANG! LADYBEARD’S COMING TO YOU!
Notes
[1] GamersCity: ACG event in Chile, which also featured wrestling matches.
[2] Maccas: Australian slang for McDonald’s.
[3] Stone the Crows: Australian slang, an expression of surprise or dismay.
[4] DDT Pro-Wrestling Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion: A professional wrestling championship created and promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling, a Japanese wrestling promotion known for its bizarre matches. The championship is defended 24/7, “anytime”, “anywhere”, with many unconventional former champions such as animals or ragdolls.
[5] Voodoo: Masked indie wrestler. Still currently active and wrestling for promotions in China/Hong Kong, such as the Hong Kong Wrestling Federation. (HKWF)
[6] Maki Itoh: Japanese professional wrestler and former idol, self-proclaimed “cutest in the world”. Her signature moves involve a lot of headbutts.
[7] Pencak Silat: Indonesian martial art.
[8] Kujang: Small-bladed weapon used in Indonesian pencak silat.
[9] Keris: Curved-bladed weapon from Indonesia.
The Indonesian Anime Times | Interview by Dean A. | Text by Caesar E.S and Dany M. | Photo by Andira I. and Tanto D. | The interview is edited for clarity & conciseness with a focus on interview questions
