On December 1st, Kagrra's anticipated first mini-album "Nue" will be released. This time they will tell us about their 5 brand new tracks, accidents during recording, and unexpected incidents. These guys are as energetic as ever at lives, even with their fascinating new costumes. They're planning for their first tour starting in December, so we'll have to keep our eye on them more and more. With "Nue" and a lot of familiar songs, let's be entranced by Kagrra's world at lives.
―This time I think we'll continue in more detail from last month about your mini-album "Nue" that will be released on December 1st. Is that okay?
Isshi: That's quite okay. (laughs)
―(laughs) This time, a lot of the tracks compiled on this album won't be familiar from lives, right?
Isshi: That's right. Other than "asaki yume mishi" it'll be intense!
―That's right. Well, how did the whole album come about? At the time of our last interview, you said that the title would be something that ties 5 stories together as an album, and it would be the name of a "monster"(*1) that encompasses various living things, right?
Isshi: That's right. You know, it goes from looking pleasant to dangerous. It has a feeling of being dumbfounded like "That's not good~!"
Shin: (laughs) But did we really make it that kind of feeling? I think it's good.
Izumi: I think we did our best with it.
―Oh, that's cool. This time it feels like a confident work. Akiya-kun?
Akiya: It feels strong, you know? But I noticed when we started recording, of the 5 tracks, 4 of them are longer than 4 minutes. It's strong right? (laughs)
Shin: I think "a full album with 5 tracks" has a satisfying feeling.
Nao: Doing 5 tracks, mastering it and listening to it, the first impression I felt was like (holds both hands in front of his mouth) "Hey!! We did it~!!"
Shin: Wow, I zoned out just now. (laughs)
Isshi: That guy's remark just now was "We did it!" (laughs)
―Ahahaha. Saying "We did it!", ahh, does it have the same sense as "That's OK!"?
Nao: Yeah yeah yeah. (OK sign)
―I'm sorry to say but can I digress a bit? Nao-kun, aren't your large, manly hands not suited to your face? Don't they look rough?
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Isshi: That's not digressing at all. (laughs) How admirable of you to notice! Since we still haven't decided on a jacket cover for this album, we can consider Nao's inhuman large hands that aren't suited to his face. (laughs) It's seriously great.
Nao: (putting on airs) Well, you know, it's because I was born to be a bassist~
Shin: Wow. That was so lame. (laughs)
―Well let's return to the discussion. (laughs) Can you introduce the tracks beginning with "Kiyuu no Uta"?
Isshi: I feel like you absolutely can't imitate the vocals of this one. Because it's not a man. I was singing in falsetto the whole time.
―Even though we can hear that you use a second voice too? It feels like a man and a woman duet doesn't it?
Isshi: I wanted to convey the emotions of the lyrical content, so I sang in two voices. But it's not a man and a woman, both are women, but I wanted to express that one woman has a good role and the other woman is a villain.
―I see. That's cool! And about the composition?
Akiya: It's a song that feels like the sequencing can't be expressed in a single comment.
Shin: The essence is set in at every point, and the chorus is thick with feeling. (laughs) Every part of it is the strong point.
Nao: If I say it in one word, it feels like, Aaaaaaaaah~ ngah!!
Isshi: What the hell? (laughs)
Akiya: Right? (laughs) The coolest part of this song is where it's like a 'surprise attack'. Is it over? You wonder, and then it's like it starts again. In things like manga it's like, "Oh? This is gonna keep going?"
Isshi: That example is really easy to understand!
Izumi: This song has a very good pace.
Isshi: That's right. Nao is conspicuous. So he plays with a melody so that my vocals aren't conspicuous!
Nao: Yep. I'm doing my best~ Well, it's like the guitars. Look! When I first heard this song, I thought "Could I have done it~?" Now it's really hard for me. But I had to do it. (laughs) Can I do it at lives?
―You're worrying you won't! What about "Mateki"?
Akiya: For this one, there are 2 guitars at the same time. We wanted to give a feeling of disappearance.
Shin: Passion is the feeling of this one.
Akiya: But, with regards to this song, you can notice that we're harmonizing with the vocals in the chorus.
Isshi: The subject matter of the lyrics and the music are linked to good feelings. The subject of the lyrics is my own 'fiction' again. Anyway, the bright chorus has a passion like "Is it okay to do this kind of song so cheerfully?"
Izumi: The bass and drums were settled solidly in place, and I think it's a song that's easy to listen to.
―Well, what about the 3rd song, "Nue no Naku Koro"?
Akiya: This song is the newest written, but while we were recording it felt like it would naturally be one of the tracks. Next we arranged it and then it came to be one of the tracks.
Isshi: I think this song is even more fun at lives than it is on the recording. I feel that it's a very Kagrra-like song because while where are pretty parts, there are also heavy parts. And there's furitsuke(*2) too!
―Hey~ What kind of furitsuke?
Isshi: I say furitsuke, but all 5 of us move our feet together like we're making footprints. I'd call it a new style.
―How does Izumi-kun do that while at the drums?
Izumi: Right. (laughs) I'm doing it in secret by the bass drum. It's difficult to match the rhythm with everyone.
―Is that so? That's a kind of coolness determined by a precise tone. Isshi-kun, don't fall down in the middle of the stage, okay? (laughs)
Isshi: Ahh, you can see that. (laughs) Since this is a new costume I fall down occasionally. It seems like the shoes are a bit too high. I stopped wearing them about an hour before. I was worried I'd fall over onto the people in front. (laughs)
Shin: Ah! That would be in the video! A resigned frame out.(laughs)
―That's bad~ (laughs) I guess there's nothing left to say about this song. What about "Konton"?
Isshi: It's the only ballad.
Akiya: Since this one is continuing from the strong tracks 1, 2, and 3, it's a track that feels a little like resting the body.
Shin: The sound feels "painful" doesn't it? When we finished it, it became a song with a nice mechanical feeling. During recording for this one, something really unexpected happened. (laughs)
Akiya: We'd finished recording the music, and when we were recording vocals, the story didn't match up!
Isshi: That's right. We had to re-record. (laughs)
Akiya: Because this one was unexpectedly different from our other songs for sure. (laughs)
―The second bad story in one day. (laughs)
Isshi: This song has an interesting history too. During recording no matter how many times we did it, the breaker shut down. Since it's an underground studio it was scary to be in total darkness.
Izumi: It wasn't the first time or the second was it?
Isshi: But probably nothing will happen at lives~
―Yeah. What about "asaki yume mishi"?
Shin: It's the track that's the most like a song that would be on a single.
Isshi: Now, this was the best I could do. It feels wider than half of my singing range, so please listen to that one closely. My voice is a musical instrument too, and I rediscovered my own possibilities with it. The lyrics are seriously tearful.
Akiya: With 3 beats per measure(*3) in this one we defied the convention of what you hear when listening to usual songs.
Izumi: There wasn't anything particularly difficult about the rhythm, but arranging this one was my favourite.
Nao: This one probably has the deepest memories. When we finished this song, it seemed like "We made a really good song!"
―That's important, and I think that's conveyed through listening. Well, for the end, do you have any messages for the fans attending your tour that starts in December?
Isshi: Everyone, it'll seem like you read SHOXX if you suddenly say "Yo, Eriko!" when at our live~ (laughs) We'll be going to each region for the first time for our tour starting in December, so even if want to show off, and you say "Yo, Eriko!" ... I'll be worried now. We'll release the CD and soon we'll have lives, so we're doing our best!
Nao: One by one we want to have fun at all of the lives.
Akiya: We want to show you the difference between CD and lives!
Izumi: I think we'll have to do our best to not break our bodies, so please treat us kindly.
Shin: We'll do our best at each one with all our fighting spirit!
Isshi: This time pay attention to the 2 choco cornets on my head. And also pay attention to Nao's hands!
Isshi: That's quite okay. (laughs)
―(laughs) This time, a lot of the tracks compiled on this album won't be familiar from lives, right?
Isshi: That's right. Other than "asaki yume mishi" it'll be intense!
―That's right. Well, how did the whole album come about? At the time of our last interview, you said that the title would be something that ties 5 stories together as an album, and it would be the name of a "monster"(*1) that encompasses various living things, right?
Isshi: That's right. You know, it goes from looking pleasant to dangerous. It has a feeling of being dumbfounded like "That's not good~!"
Shin: (laughs) But did we really make it that kind of feeling? I think it's good.
Izumi: I think we did our best with it.
―Oh, that's cool. This time it feels like a confident work. Akiya-kun?
Akiya: It feels strong, you know? But I noticed when we started recording, of the 5 tracks, 4 of them are longer than 4 minutes. It's strong right? (laughs)
Shin: I think "a full album with 5 tracks" has a satisfying feeling.
Nao: Doing 5 tracks, mastering it and listening to it, the first impression I felt was like (holds both hands in front of his mouth) "Hey!! We did it~!!"
Shin: Wow, I zoned out just now. (laughs)
Isshi: That guy's remark just now was "We did it!" (laughs)
―Ahahaha. Saying "We did it!", ahh, does it have the same sense as "That's OK!"?
Nao: Yeah yeah yeah. (OK sign)
―I'm sorry to say but can I digress a bit? Nao-kun, aren't your large, manly hands not suited to your face? Don't they look rough?
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Isshi: That's not digressing at all. (laughs) How admirable of you to notice! Since we still haven't decided on a jacket cover for this album, we can consider Nao's inhuman large hands that aren't suited to his face. (laughs) It's seriously great.
Nao: (putting on airs) Well, you know, it's because I was born to be a bassist~
Shin: Wow. That was so lame. (laughs)
―Well let's return to the discussion. (laughs) Can you introduce the tracks beginning with "Kiyuu no Uta"?
Isshi: I feel like you absolutely can't imitate the vocals of this one. Because it's not a man. I was singing in falsetto the whole time.
―Even though we can hear that you use a second voice too? It feels like a man and a woman duet doesn't it?
Isshi: I wanted to convey the emotions of the lyrical content, so I sang in two voices. But it's not a man and a woman, both are women, but I wanted to express that one woman has a good role and the other woman is a villain.
―I see. That's cool! And about the composition?
Akiya: It's a song that feels like the sequencing can't be expressed in a single comment.
Shin: The essence is set in at every point, and the chorus is thick with feeling. (laughs) Every part of it is the strong point.
Nao: If I say it in one word, it feels like, Aaaaaaaaah~ ngah!!
Isshi: What the hell? (laughs)
Akiya: Right? (laughs) The coolest part of this song is where it's like a 'surprise attack'. Is it over? You wonder, and then it's like it starts again. In things like manga it's like, "Oh? This is gonna keep going?"
Isshi: That example is really easy to understand!
Izumi: This song has a very good pace.
Isshi: That's right. Nao is conspicuous. So he plays with a melody so that my vocals aren't conspicuous!
Nao: Yep. I'm doing my best~ Well, it's like the guitars. Look! When I first heard this song, I thought "Could I have done it~?" Now it's really hard for me. But I had to do it. (laughs) Can I do it at lives?
―You're worrying you won't! What about "Mateki"?
Akiya: For this one, there are 2 guitars at the same time. We wanted to give a feeling of disappearance.
Shin: Passion is the feeling of this one.
Akiya: But, with regards to this song, you can notice that we're harmonizing with the vocals in the chorus.
Isshi: The subject matter of the lyrics and the music are linked to good feelings. The subject of the lyrics is my own 'fiction' again. Anyway, the bright chorus has a passion like "Is it okay to do this kind of song so cheerfully?"
Izumi: The bass and drums were settled solidly in place, and I think it's a song that's easy to listen to.
―Well, what about the 3rd song, "Nue no Naku Koro"?
Akiya: This song is the newest written, but while we were recording it felt like it would naturally be one of the tracks. Next we arranged it and then it came to be one of the tracks.
Isshi: I think this song is even more fun at lives than it is on the recording. I feel that it's a very Kagrra-like song because while where are pretty parts, there are also heavy parts. And there's furitsuke(*2) too!
―Hey~ What kind of furitsuke?
Isshi: I say furitsuke, but all 5 of us move our feet together like we're making footprints. I'd call it a new style.
―How does Izumi-kun do that while at the drums?
Izumi: Right. (laughs) I'm doing it in secret by the bass drum. It's difficult to match the rhythm with everyone.
―Is that so? That's a kind of coolness determined by a precise tone. Isshi-kun, don't fall down in the middle of the stage, okay? (laughs)
Isshi: Ahh, you can see that. (laughs) Since this is a new costume I fall down occasionally. It seems like the shoes are a bit too high. I stopped wearing them about an hour before. I was worried I'd fall over onto the people in front. (laughs)
Shin: Ah! That would be in the video! A resigned frame out.(laughs)
―That's bad~ (laughs) I guess there's nothing left to say about this song. What about "Konton"?
Isshi: It's the only ballad.
Akiya: Since this one is continuing from the strong tracks 1, 2, and 3, it's a track that feels a little like resting the body.
Shin: The sound feels "painful" doesn't it? When we finished it, it became a song with a nice mechanical feeling. During recording for this one, something really unexpected happened. (laughs)
Akiya: We'd finished recording the music, and when we were recording vocals, the story didn't match up!
Isshi: That's right. We had to re-record. (laughs)
Akiya: Because this one was unexpectedly different from our other songs for sure. (laughs)
―The second bad story in one day. (laughs)
Isshi: This song has an interesting history too. During recording no matter how many times we did it, the breaker shut down. Since it's an underground studio it was scary to be in total darkness.
Izumi: It wasn't the first time or the second was it?
Isshi: But probably nothing will happen at lives~
―Yeah. What about "asaki yume mishi"?
Shin: It's the track that's the most like a song that would be on a single.
Isshi: Now, this was the best I could do. It feels wider than half of my singing range, so please listen to that one closely. My voice is a musical instrument too, and I rediscovered my own possibilities with it. The lyrics are seriously tearful.
Akiya: With 3 beats per measure(*3) in this one we defied the convention of what you hear when listening to usual songs.
Izumi: There wasn't anything particularly difficult about the rhythm, but arranging this one was my favourite.
Nao: This one probably has the deepest memories. When we finished this song, it seemed like "We made a really good song!"
―That's important, and I think that's conveyed through listening. Well, for the end, do you have any messages for the fans attending your tour that starts in December?
Isshi: Everyone, it'll seem like you read SHOXX if you suddenly say "Yo, Eriko!" when at our live~ (laughs) We'll be going to each region for the first time for our tour starting in December, so even if want to show off, and you say "Yo, Eriko!" ... I'll be worried now. We'll release the CD and soon we'll have lives, so we're doing our best!
Nao: One by one we want to have fun at all of the lives.
Akiya: We want to show you the difference between CD and lives!
Izumi: I think we'll have to do our best to not break our bodies, so please treat us kindly.
Shin: We'll do our best at each one with all our fighting spirit!
Isshi: This time pay attention to the 2 choco cornets on my head. And also pay attention to Nao's hands!
Notes:
*1 - The monster is a chimera.
*2 - Furitsuke (or furi) refers to the gestures etc (by band members and/or fans) coordinated with the song. Usually it refers to hand movements.
*3 - A bit of music theory involved here. I had to get my roommate to explain this to me (thanks Bastian)! Basically most rock/pop songs are written with 4 beats per measure. Asaki yume mishi is written with 3 beats per measure, so it's different than most songs in the genre, not only Kagrra's songs. If you know what to listen for it's really cool. :)
...I have no idea what the "Yo, Eriko!" thing is all about though.
*1 - The monster is a chimera.
*2 - Furitsuke (or furi) refers to the gestures etc (by band members and/or fans) coordinated with the song. Usually it refers to hand movements.
*3 - A bit of music theory involved here. I had to get my roommate to explain this to me (thanks Bastian)! Basically most rock/pop songs are written with 4 beats per measure. Asaki yume mishi is written with 3 beats per measure, so it's different than most songs in the genre, not only Kagrra's songs. If you know what to listen for it's really cool. :)
...I have no idea what the "Yo, Eriko!" thing is all about though.