NEK!の #ネキ史 - 2026-08 - Column translation - NEK!

Hello to everyone reading 'NEK!'s #Nekishi'! I'm Cocoro, the drummer of NEK! !
For this fourth installment, I'd like to talk about how I first discovered the drums and my feelings toward NEK! !

I first encountered the drums when I joined the percussion section of the brass band club in my first year of junior high school. There was only one drum set in the club, so the members were always fighting over it (laughs)
When competing in the annual brass band competition, only one person could be in charge of the drums, so in order to win that spot, I started going to a music studio on my own to take daily lessons from a professional drummer. I met many older musicians there, and as we played in cover bands and did jam sessions together, I began to think that a band might suit me better than an orchestra, and I gradually started aspiring to become a professional drummer in a rock band.

Around that time, my older brother took me to a B'z concert, and I was glued to the powerful drumming of Shane Gaalaas. Even though it was a stadium, I could feel the sound pressure as if he were playing right up close, and it made me strongly feel, "I want to become a drummer like this!!"

I have spent my days immersed in music as both a drummer and a listener. I have been going and still go to live concerts and music festivals of various artists, and I started listening to a wide variety of genres, including J-POP, K-POP, and Hiphop, not to mention Rock. (If I were to list my favorite artists, this installment would end with just that, so I will omit them this time, haha) I think the wide range of songs I have listened to until now is being put to good use in NEK!'s genreless musical style.

In the past, I played music with people of various ages, but I always had a dream of wanting to form a band with people of my own generation. NEK! has made that dream a reality. I cannot thank Hika enough for finding me among so many female drummers and reaching out to me. Thank you so much!

It has been about two and a half years since we started performing as NEK!, and I am living days that are so fun and dream-like that I could never have imagined them before we became NEK!. I’ve been able to achieve big dreams I never could have reached on my own—like holding a solo concert at Zepp and making our major debut—thanks to the support of the members, staff, family, friends, and, above all, the fans. Everyone’s presence is so important to me that this life wouldn't be the same if even one of you was missing. Thank you all so much, always!!

And for us in NEK!, the fans give true "meaning" to our music. The cheers we receive from all of you every day have become an essential driving force for us. The sparkling looks on your faces that I see from the stage and the powerful fists you raise to support us create such a wonderful sight that it feels like a waste that only we can see it. Every time I see that view, I feel even more strongly that I want to continue making everyone in front of me happy with our music.

Those of you who have been to a NEK! concert will probably agree, but I really love the atmosphere of a live venue filled with the intense energy created by the interaction between us and the crowd. On the nationwide tour we held this spring, we were able to create an enthusiastic live space even in cities we visited for the first time. I could feel firsthand that the circle of NEK! is spreading across Japan, and it made me happy from the bottom of my heart.

The heat of a live venue cannot be conveyed through a screen, so if you haven't been to a NEK! concert yet, I definitely want you to come and see us at least once. We will never make you regret it!!

Moving forward, I want Team NEK! to continue working together to make many of our dreams come true, and we want to become an irreplaceable, one-and-only girl band for you who love NEK!'s music.
Please continue to support NEK! as we keep moving forward into the future!