How Japanese girl band XG went from brutal six year training to global pop stars

How Japanese girl band XG went from brutal six year training to global pop stars 2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Mark Savage Music correspondent XGALX XG's hits include Hypnotise, Mascara and Left Right Every night, before they take the stage, the seven members of pop group XG form a circle and join hands. Band leader Jurin shouts " Hesono ", and the other members reply with a loud shout of " Oh ", flinging their arms towards the sky. They're not the only band to have pre-show ritual – but there's a special message behind XG's chant. Hesono-o (or, more accurately へその緒) is the Japanese word for umbilical cord. It can symbolise someone's fate or destiny from birth. For XG, the phrase represents the intensity of their bond. "We're so strongly connected, we're always thinking the same things," says Chisa, the group's oldest member. "In our early days, I actually had a dream we were connected by an umbilical cord, like a mother and child. "So I threw that out as an idea for our identity. People said, 'That's so new and interesting', and that's how the concept of Hesono-o was born." PA Media The group received a rapturous response at London's Summertime Ball earlier this month XG talk to the BBC the morning after a triumphant (if rain-soaked) debut at Capital's Summertime Ball in Wembley Stadium. All seven members - Maya, Juria, Hinata, Harvey, Cocona, Chisa and Jurin - are dressed in vibrant neon outfits that erupt with tufts of faux fur and intricate belt buckles. Cocona sports a necklace that reads "rock star". Harvey has so many bangles that she rattles as she walks. Everyone has their own individual spin, but they move as one - and their camaraderie is conspicuous. Answering questions, they confer in a huddle before appointing a spokesperson. It's a connection forged more than 10 years ago, when some of the band were only 11 or 12 years old. XG's members were scouted from thousands of hopefuls across Japan in 2016. Twenty-one qualified for training, living together in dormitories while taking dawn to dusk lessons in singing, dancing and speaking in multiple languages. The regime could be harsh. In a documentary capturing the band's early days , the trainees were berated for posting photos from their dorms on social media. "You're never going to earn respect for doing that sort of thing," a tutor scolded the teens. XGALX Twenty-one trainees were gradually whittled down to form the group's final line-up, before they made their public debut in 2022 Another scene showed them performing squats until they fell sick, or burst into tears. "It was the toughest and most difficult experience I've ever had," says Maya of the experience. "A battle against myself physically and mentally." Looking back now, Chisa calls training an act of "pure survival". It was only when the candidates were split into teams that a sisterhood began to emerge. "In a good way, we pushed each other to improve, so each team became really united," she says. "From the