Kagrra
"It's good for everyone to have their own 'story' inside them."

In June of this year, Kagrra was born from CROW, and on June 21st they released "Kotodama" their first demotape as Kagrra. With concepts of Japanese "beauty" and "style" they have a unique worldview. Isshi (Vo), Akiya (G), Shin (G), Nao (B), and Izumi (Dr) talked about it with us here. They plan to have lives in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo in July and August. Within the daydream world where these 5 people invite you, how do they express the daydream world in their own way different than the same world as us?
―Will you tell us how your conversation on the band's formation first came about?
Isshi: Myself and Izumi and Nao wanted to be in a band and we put up member recruitment ads in instrument stores, and then Shin and Akiya wanted to join.
Shin: That was around autumn of '98.

―Were Shin and Akiya looking for recruitment individually? Or did you two already know each other?
Akiya: Shin and I wanted to be in a band together at first, but it wasn't something we could do just like this.
Shin: So when we were searching for band members, we looked at ads and there was precisely one looking to recruit dual guitars, so it felt like "Ohh!" (laughs)

―Why were you particular about having dual guitars?
Isshi: As you'd expect a strong sound emerges from dual guitars, and having 5 people is good for the band's appearance too.

―Your band concept is about things like Japanese beauty and Japanese style, but is that something you came to investigate after recruiting these members?
Isshi: That's right. At the time of formation the band name was "CROW" and around then all of us were investigating "Japanese style". But, in June of this year we changed the band name to "Kagrra" and the concept from "..." to "the state of nothing" though we all individually felt like expressing parts of "Japanese Style".

―Well, for "the state of nothing" everyone must have their own visual concept of an era, right? Could you tell us about it one at a time?
Akiya: The era that each of us feel strongly about is different. For me, it's Taisho and Meiji. It feels like a blend of Japanese and Western styles. My visual is an "ambassador to China". But I'm a little out of alignment with those eras. (laughs)(*1)
Isshi: For me it's the Heian era. Maybe around when the stories from that time were written. I feel a kinship with the people in those stories. In an old Japanese fantasy world, my visual concept is an "Oni Princess."
Izumi: For me, it's the Sengoku era, I think. It's like, "Men win!" (laughs) I have the sense of being a military commander.
Nao: Things like eras and history are... a weakness for me. (laughs) M-Meiji?
Akiya: Why don't you ask someone? (laughs)
Shin: Maybe Heisei era? (laughs)
Izumi: That's now! (laughs) What about Azuchi-Momoyama?
Nao: Ahhhh! Like Ushiwakamaru.

―That's... not an era. (laughs) But, you have the most feminine costume, right? Is that Ushiwakamaru?
Nao: That's right. The Ushiwakamaru within me.
Izumi: Isn't Ushiwakamaru a man?
Nao: Huh? But that's how it feels. (laughs) Please treat me well hereafter!
Shin: (laughs) For me it's around the end of the Sengoku era. My visual has the sense of a "fleeing soldier". A fleeing soldier looks good even when defeated? That's what I want to express.

―How do you compose your songs?
Shin: Myself and Isshi and Akiya do the music, the lyrics are Isshi's responsibility.
Isshi: The lyrics are "old stories" that I made, and song by song I'm telling the story. My current theme is "death". Even for love songs, in the end it'll have to conclude in death.

―Is the subject matter of the lyrics for "Kotodama" which was released on June 21 also an old tale from your daydream world, Isshi?
Isshi: That's right. The subject matter is that there's a woman who falls in love with a man. But, the man is pretending and before they realize it, that love becomes a passion that changes into hatred and resentment. She does things like placing a curse on him at a shrine(*2), but she loses sight of herself and dies, and in the next world they can be together again... that's what I think about while singing.
Nao: I like it a lot.
Isshi: Did you even actually read it?
Nao: I read it~ And I thought they were good lyrics. But the meaning I got from it might be different than the story Isshi was thinking of. (laughs)
Isshi: That's right. It seems like everyone will get something different from it. But that's the point. It's good for everyone to have their own "story" inside them.
Izumi: There are a lot of difficult parts to Isshi's lyrics, but I think they're interesting on the surface too.

―I see. Well, you plan to have lives in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo in July and August, so give us an enthusiastic message.
Akiya: In Nagoya I want to try eating misokatsu.
Izumi: That's food. Talk about the lives. (laughs)
Akiya: Ahh. (laughs) Of course, I think being at a live will be much different than listening to the tape. I want you to feel it with your body. So please come!
Isshi: Tokyo is the capital, so we're getting fired up conceptually aren't we? We'll be having fun, so everyone else please have fun so you don't disgrace us.
Izumi: I think this is an opportunity to gain experience so I want us to do our best. If you've only listened to recordings so far and haven't seen us in reality, definitely come to our lives.
Nao: My message is 'Anyway come see Kagrra!' Mm, and... no, that's the best I can do. (laughs) Anyway please come see us!
Shin: If you think listening to the CD at home is the same and boring, after you come to our live we'll have fun together with all our might.
Notes:
As always, notable mentions in the interview text are peppered with links to their pages on wikipedia (or in one case, an online cookbook). Kotodama links back to the lyrics page for that song, too.

*1 The "ambassador to China" thing Akiya mentioned was 遣唐使 (kentoushi), specifically referring to Tang Dynasty, years 618–907.
Taisho era = 1912-1926
Meiji era = 1868-1912
So Akiya's eras are out of alignment only by 900 years or so. :P

*2 The phrase Isshi used here is 丑の刻参り (ushi no koku mairi) literally "2am shrine visit". It refers to a curse ritual performed by nailing a doll representing that person to a tree and praying for their death.

Make a free website with Yola