Interwoven with "Japanese style"～A melody of elegant heartstrings～
[From time immemorial it's said to be a monster with
the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon, the tail of a snake, and the legs of a tiger.]
Kagrra releases their first mini-album on 12/1, half a year since their formation. These guys who conspicuously stand out on stage with their subtle grace and magnificent worldview will have their first oneman live on 3/3, the day of Hinamatsuri, at Shibuya ON AIR WEST. It seems like the CD release is around the same time. Like the name of their mini-album, are these 5 people getting closer to becoming an enormous Chimaera?the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon, the tail of a snake, and the legs of a tiger.]
Personal Data
①Birth date(Star sign・Blood type) ②Birthplace ③An artist you admire ④Favourite perfume ⑤Mobile ringtone ⑥Motto
①Birth date(Star sign・Blood type) ②Birthplace ③An artist you admire ④Favourite perfume ⑤Mobile ringtone ⑥Motto
Isshi (Vo)
①Born December 7(Sagittarius・Type A)
②Nagano
③Sada Masashi, Tamaki Kouji (they're calming)
④Laula
⑤Ringtone 4
⑥Reality is more Oni than ghost stories.
①Born December 7(Sagittarius・Type A)
②Nagano
③Sada Masashi, Tamaki Kouji (they're calming)
④Laula
⑤Ringtone 4
⑥Reality is more Oni than ghost stories.
Shin (G)
①Born September 11(Virgo・Type B)
②Saitama
③Secret
④Bvlgari
⑤Pururururu
①Born September 11(Virgo・Type B)
②Saitama
③Secret
④Bvlgari
⑤Pururururu
Akiya (G)
①Born August 25(Virgo・Type B)
②Mito, Ibaraki
③Tsuyoshi-san (He's great)
④Christian Dior's "Poison"
⑤"Zetsubou no Oka"
①Born August 25(Virgo・Type B)
②Mito, Ibaraki
③Tsuyoshi-san (He's great)
④Christian Dior's "Poison"
⑤"Zetsubou no Oka"
Nao (B)
①Born February 5th
②Hokkaido
③There are a lot
④Sculpture, Gucci, Dior
①Born February 5th
②Hokkaido
③There are a lot
④Sculpture, Gucci, Dior
Izumi (Dr)
①Born February 11
②Tomakomai, Hokkaido
③Yasu (after he went blond)
④Sekken
⑤Oha Rock
⑥River
①Born February 11
②Tomakomai, Hokkaido
③Yasu (after he went blond)
④Sekken
⑤Oha Rock
⑥River
―What's your connection to the members?
Akiya: Shin unexpectedly lived near the high school I went to.
Isshi: That's not a connection! (laughs)
Shin: Well, when we were looking to gather band members, Akiya called me up but actually before that I had been listening to a demo tape of the band Akiya was in previously I think?
Akiya: Ahaha! Yeah, me and the guys I was with before arbitrarily sent a demo tape to him.
Shin: I showed Akiya, saying "I got this tape~" and he was like "That's me!" (laughs)
―What were your impressions when you listened to that tape?
Shin: "Nothing but the sound of explosions?!"
Akiya: Ahahahaha! It ended with a sound like 'doka~n'.
―(laughs) And the others?
Izumi: Myself and Isshi were in the same vocational school, and when we were aimlessly walking I asked him, "You, vocals?" like a pick-up artist. (laughs) And I called Nao from Hokkaido.
Nao: Izumi and I went to high school together. He said "Will you come here? (to Tokyo)" and the next day I went to Japan.
Everyone: "Went to Japan"? (explosive laughter)
―So you moved to the city without taking anything.
Nao: No, I stuffed my bass into my bag.
―Eh? You "stuffed it in"?
Isshi & Izumi: Gyahahahaha~
Izumi: This guy is great~
Isshi: When we played lives with the band before now, he'd disassemble his bass and stuff it into this little bag. (laughs)
Izumi: It'd be compact backstage and he'd reassemble it.
―Hey, you're a mechanic! (laughs)
Nao: No, no, I just didn't have any money to buy a case for my bass. (sob)
―Well, can you introduce the members?
Shin: Izumi is the band's womb! ...huh, womb?
Isshi: Don't ask to explain that again! (laughs)
Nao: Ahaha. He's a leader who is good at keeping the reckless band members in one piece. He's also extremely good at cooking~
Isshi: All the members have been obliged to him. When me and Izumi went to a fortune teller before, we were told "When you two pass 50 years you'll open a fluorishing restaurant." So when we retire from the band we're going to open a shop. (laughs)
Shin: That's frightening to imagine~
Izumi: Ahaha. Well, Nao~ You see him as he is.
Nao: (he suddenly takes out sunglasses and starts putting them on)
Shin: He's very good at constructing himself.
Nao: I don't "construct". I'm the original. (decisively)
Everyone: Ehhh! (extreme booing)
Isshi: He has 'cunning' intelligence. Cunning until the bitter end!
Akiya: He displays various artistic skills, but I can only see them when stealthily under cover.
Izumi: You don't cross paths directly. (laughs) Next, Shin~ If I say it in one word, "da na".
Shin: "Da na" is my manner of speaking. (wry smile) Or should I say, how I end with a single word?
Isshi: Ahaha. That's right~ Myself and Shin quarrel often, but it always ends up with things like 'pointless arguments' and 'because we talked, we were actually going in the wrong direction'. When we hang out... aah it's the worst...
Shin: Gyahahaha~ We're good bad friends.
Isshi: Next~ (smiling) I feel like Akiya is a bad younger brother. I don't even know how he's so bad. But as a musician he's fantastic! Because he's really good at putting a musical track to my poetry.
―You're good partners aren't you? And how about Isshi-san?
Nao: (immediately) I do battle with him. His vocals clash with my bass phrases because of his hateful singing, but he sings well despite that. I'm charmed with his talented singing voice.
Isshi: I love you~♪ Chu♥ (blows a kiss)
Nao: Yuck (cries)
Izumi: But everyone is charmed with Isshi's singing voice. Personally, I think it'll be the "source of growth" for the band.
―The underlying concept for your band is "Japanese style" isn't it?
Isshi: Yeah. But it's not that we only express "Japanese style"...
Shin: Up until now, being too conscious of "Japanese style" gives a feeling of national isolation, so we're "opening Japan to the world~!"
Isshi: We want to expand our vision after this too, and bring in various other components.
―And that intention of "opening up the country" will be embodied by your first mini-album "Nue" which will be released on 12/1, right?
Isshi: Yeah. There are songs that weave "Japanese style" into a "universal" scent. Nevertheless, our songs may be received differently by the people who listen. Because even within the band we have different ways of grasping the songs as we work on them one by one...
―Certainly. And they have meaning consistent with literature.
Isshi: Ah, a consistent theme is "fiction and legends". But it's not any specific legends from the past, just original stories that developed within me. When I have time, I often read the modernization of "Records Of Ancient Matters", which may be reflected in our works.
―I see. The songs are made by you too, Isshi-san?
Isshi: ......(faltering a little) If I told anybody they wouldn't believe it, but it's not that I "make" them but they "descend on me".
―Like "the word of god"?
Isshi: Well... (wry smile) It's not something as immense as that, but, it's like (while making motions with his body to catch something falling from above) Refreshing.
―Hey~ And what's the stance for the rest of you?
Nao: I play with the self-confidence that we have something stylish. (decisively)
Shin: It's not that songs from our CDs reappear at lives, but when I can make an arrangement that's distinctive of a live performance I get entranced, like "Coooool~♥" (laughs)
Akiya: (wry smile) For me it's not "the songs I make are good" but "this is the best I can do in my present state" so I keep working on songs.
Isshi: In other words, it feels like "I'll make the next one and the next one good too."
―Do you agree with that, Izumi-san?
Izumi: Huh! Ah (flustered) I'm ordinary. (laughs)
Everyone: Hey! (laughs)
―While everyone has their own part and their own personality, you've all come together as one very well.
Isshi: Yeah, something like a member change would be unthinkable. Because it's the 5 of us, we can say the things we want to say, and we can perform how we want, more than anything we can make good things.
Shin: Because after all, there's no way to count "good things".
Isshi: Kagrra's lives should give rise to feelings other than the usual "That's cool". (decisively) We'd like you to listen to our CDs too, and when you come to our lives feel it with your whole body.
Akiya: Shin unexpectedly lived near the high school I went to.
Isshi: That's not a connection! (laughs)
Shin: Well, when we were looking to gather band members, Akiya called me up but actually before that I had been listening to a demo tape of the band Akiya was in previously I think?
Akiya: Ahaha! Yeah, me and the guys I was with before arbitrarily sent a demo tape to him.
Shin: I showed Akiya, saying "I got this tape~" and he was like "That's me!" (laughs)
―What were your impressions when you listened to that tape?
Shin: "Nothing but the sound of explosions?!"
Akiya: Ahahahaha! It ended with a sound like 'doka~n'.
―(laughs) And the others?
Izumi: Myself and Isshi were in the same vocational school, and when we were aimlessly walking I asked him, "You, vocals?" like a pick-up artist. (laughs) And I called Nao from Hokkaido.
Nao: Izumi and I went to high school together. He said "Will you come here? (to Tokyo)" and the next day I went to Japan.
Everyone: "Went to Japan"? (explosive laughter)
―So you moved to the city without taking anything.
Nao: No, I stuffed my bass into my bag.
―Eh? You "stuffed it in"?
Isshi & Izumi: Gyahahahaha~
Izumi: This guy is great~
Isshi: When we played lives with the band before now, he'd disassemble his bass and stuff it into this little bag. (laughs)
Izumi: It'd be compact backstage and he'd reassemble it.
―Hey, you're a mechanic! (laughs)
Nao: No, no, I just didn't have any money to buy a case for my bass. (sob)
―Well, can you introduce the members?
Shin: Izumi is the band's womb! ...huh, womb?
Isshi: Don't ask to explain that again! (laughs)
Nao: Ahaha. He's a leader who is good at keeping the reckless band members in one piece. He's also extremely good at cooking~
Isshi: All the members have been obliged to him. When me and Izumi went to a fortune teller before, we were told "When you two pass 50 years you'll open a fluorishing restaurant." So when we retire from the band we're going to open a shop. (laughs)
Shin: That's frightening to imagine~
Izumi: Ahaha. Well, Nao~ You see him as he is.
Nao: (he suddenly takes out sunglasses and starts putting them on)
Shin: He's very good at constructing himself.
Nao: I don't "construct". I'm the original. (decisively)
Everyone: Ehhh! (extreme booing)
Isshi: He has 'cunning' intelligence. Cunning until the bitter end!
Akiya: He displays various artistic skills, but I can only see them when stealthily under cover.
Izumi: You don't cross paths directly. (laughs) Next, Shin~ If I say it in one word, "da na".
Shin: "Da na" is my manner of speaking. (wry smile) Or should I say, how I end with a single word?
Isshi: Ahaha. That's right~ Myself and Shin quarrel often, but it always ends up with things like 'pointless arguments' and 'because we talked, we were actually going in the wrong direction'. When we hang out... aah it's the worst...
Shin: Gyahahaha~ We're good bad friends.
Isshi: Next~ (smiling) I feel like Akiya is a bad younger brother. I don't even know how he's so bad. But as a musician he's fantastic! Because he's really good at putting a musical track to my poetry.
―You're good partners aren't you? And how about Isshi-san?
Nao: (immediately) I do battle with him. His vocals clash with my bass phrases because of his hateful singing, but he sings well despite that. I'm charmed with his talented singing voice.
Isshi: I love you~♪ Chu♥ (blows a kiss)
Nao: Yuck (cries)
Izumi: But everyone is charmed with Isshi's singing voice. Personally, I think it'll be the "source of growth" for the band.
―The underlying concept for your band is "Japanese style" isn't it?
Isshi: Yeah. But it's not that we only express "Japanese style"...
Shin: Up until now, being too conscious of "Japanese style" gives a feeling of national isolation, so we're "opening Japan to the world~!"
Isshi: We want to expand our vision after this too, and bring in various other components.
―And that intention of "opening up the country" will be embodied by your first mini-album "Nue" which will be released on 12/1, right?
Isshi: Yeah. There are songs that weave "Japanese style" into a "universal" scent. Nevertheless, our songs may be received differently by the people who listen. Because even within the band we have different ways of grasping the songs as we work on them one by one...
―Certainly. And they have meaning consistent with literature.
Isshi: Ah, a consistent theme is "fiction and legends". But it's not any specific legends from the past, just original stories that developed within me. When I have time, I often read the modernization of "Records Of Ancient Matters", which may be reflected in our works.
―I see. The songs are made by you too, Isshi-san?
Isshi: ......(faltering a little) If I told anybody they wouldn't believe it, but it's not that I "make" them but they "descend on me".
―Like "the word of god"?
Isshi: Well... (wry smile) It's not something as immense as that, but, it's like (while making motions with his body to catch something falling from above) Refreshing.
―Hey~ And what's the stance for the rest of you?
Nao: I play with the self-confidence that we have something stylish. (decisively)
Shin: It's not that songs from our CDs reappear at lives, but when I can make an arrangement that's distinctive of a live performance I get entranced, like "Coooool~♥" (laughs)
Akiya: (wry smile) For me it's not "the songs I make are good" but "this is the best I can do in my present state" so I keep working on songs.
Isshi: In other words, it feels like "I'll make the next one and the next one good too."
―Do you agree with that, Izumi-san?
Izumi: Huh! Ah (flustered) I'm ordinary. (laughs)
Everyone: Hey! (laughs)
―While everyone has their own part and their own personality, you've all come together as one very well.
Isshi: Yeah, something like a member change would be unthinkable. Because it's the 5 of us, we can say the things we want to say, and we can perform how we want, more than anything we can make good things.
Shin: Because after all, there's no way to count "good things".
Isshi: Kagrra's lives should give rise to feelings other than the usual "That's cool". (decisively) We'd like you to listen to our CDs too, and when you come to our lives feel it with your whole body.
Notes:
Unrelated to the subject matter of this interview, but this masterpiece of Izumi's appeared on the opposite page along with a bunch of other 4 panel comic strips by members of other bands. I have no idea what it means.
Unrelated to the subject matter of this interview, but this masterpiece of Izumi's appeared on the opposite page along with a bunch of other 4 panel comic strips by members of other bands. I have no idea what it means.
