It has already been 12 years since debut. These men, who give off and outstanding and grandiose presence as a Visual-kei band even more so than ever, are unstoppable if they can also make you laugh. Ever since their tour at the start of the year, 『【BLACK PERIOD】Dress code:BLACK』, thanks to (?) Nao (Dr), who is currently going wild by barging onto the stage of the other band during two-man lives and singing, and showing off not Sunshine Ikezaki but “Sunshine Nao” jokes during their own lives, A9 are showing us their intense vitality. We will present to you a one-of-a-kind amazing interview that talks about their first single as A9, 「MEMENTO」, their first full album 『IDEAL』, and the nationwide tour that starts on the album release day.
First of all, I would like to ask why Nao has been standing out in areas other than the drums ever since the 『【BLACK PERIOD】Dress code:BLACK』 tour. At SPICE, we did a live report on your show with DIAURA. Did you ask to perform together?
Nao: It was our first time seeing each other, so I went to greet them in the morning. During that tour I had previously barged onto DEZERT’s stage, so when I asked them “Can I barge onto your stage today too?”, they gave me ready consent, saying “By all means”. So I did.
But when Nao barged onto their stage, yo-ka(vo) was really surprised.
Show: I remember that moment well too. Until that point in the show, we were really in the world of DIAURA, but when Nao appeared on stage, I ended up blurting out what I was thinking, “He really did it!” (laughs)
Nao: Maybe they didn’t think I would actually do it.
But by barging onto the stage during another band’s set and singing, or by becoming “Sunshine Nao” during your own live shows, Nao really is becoming a hit at a scarily fast rate (laughs). But why did you start doing Sunshine Nao in the first place?
Nao: I dunno (laughs). What was it again?
Tora: No one ever told you to do it, but you just did it on your own free will (laughs)
Hiroto: He did it out of the blue on the first day of the tour.
Tora: I thought that the really knew it (Sunshine Ikezaki’s skit) well. I didn’t even know the second half of the skit. That’s why I think he memorised the whole thing.
Nao: I’ve known it for years now.
Show: How do you know? (laughs)
Nao: Because I knew his skits from the early years. I’m really touched that the time has come where we can see him on TV often.
And when Nao becomes Sunshine Nao and does this skit, he gets plenty of laughs.
Nao: If the people who came to see us have more moments, if even just briefly, where they can smile, then doing the skit is worthwhile.
What was the main motivation for A9 that made you think to do this tour with younger Visual-kei bands like DEZERT, DIAURA and Pentagon?
Show: After 1 or 2 years since first forming the band, rather than “working our way up”, we already had some fans from the very beginning, so it’s like we had skipped a step and kept on going upwards. Even our band activities were only solo shows. So we didn’t really have a time where we worked hard to improve ourselves with a friendly rival. But after leaving our company and by appearing at live events, it felt like things were completely different. The lives that we could play with other bands were really motivating. And at the same time, last year we celebrated our 12th year anniversary. Since we also did a “returning to the starting point” live, we looked for some bands who we could battle with at livehouses regardless of seniority or career length, with the intention to start the band over again from our first year. That was the biggest motivation behind it.
And after this tour, you released your new single 「MEMENTO」 on February 28th. Here we thought all the members can introduce the song while playing the word chain game1.
Show: Then I’ll start. “Memories strong enough to become a memento”.
Hiroto: …… "With large scale yet gorgeous elements".
Nao: Uh…… “This song that feels real (raises the volume of his voice), is an unprecedented (All members laugh), and raging new A9 song! A song that loves Visual Kei fans and is loved by Visual Kei fans! This is loved so much that songs like 「Shunkashuuto」「RAINBOWS」「the beautiful name」 are afraid of it!”
Show: He’s still going (laughs).
Nao: “With 200 BPM and the drums in 16 beats, and the song that starts of with the drums that make me very, very nervous, A9! ME.ME.N.TO!!”
Tora: I guess he’s done now (laughs)
Nao: “Yaaaaaaaay”. Yes. Next (laughs).
Tora: Ack. He did it all so I’ve got nothing left to say (awkward smile). “Pretty good Visual Kei”. Yes, next.
Saga: …… There really is nothing left to say (awkward smile). “SMAP has disbanded”. It finished on the “closing” letter.
Show: That was a fantastic ending (smiles)
That was an amazing relay. With what concept did you make this song?
Saga: As we kept on playing at live events, we slammed into the eternal problem of what it means to be “like A9”. We’re a band that does many different things, so no matter which part you try to isolate, it is only just one part of us. So if that was the case, we thought to just pack it all in there. The concept was to make a song that had all of the elements in it so you could say “This is all of A9”. Also, for lives and especially for live events, we wanted a song where we could show our power. Whenever we made setlists for live events, we really had a lot of trouble. After wandering from three different major record labels, we came to this realisation of “Crap, we don’t have any lead songs that are fit for lives” (awkward smile).
Show: Only King Records didn’t say anything about having a lead song, but at that time, we chose songs within the company. For the other companies apart from King Records, the director clearly told us what kind of song they wanted and we made them.
So do you mean that this is the first single where the lead song is hard-hitting?
Saga: Yes, since 「Kowloon-NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW-」 and 「RAINBOWS」, which we released when on King Records. But with 「Kowloon」, it’s more like the song became a lead song (laughs). 「RAINBOWS」 is a song that, at the time, was dissed a lot, such as A&R telling us “There’s no way this can be a lead song”. But the two songs are still here (laughs). I thought that as expected, a band should release band-like songs. 「MEMENTO」 is definitely a song that any major record label would not release as a single.
I felt that the lyrics must have come out from a really negative place.
Show: Yeah. It was just around the time where the band’s environment was changing rapidly and there was lots of chaos in actuality and mentally too. What saved us then was, as expected, the memories of the times the fans and the band created together. Wanting to reach out again to that light. What made us think that was the fans’ words. For this song, it has the image of coming out from a chaotic world and breaking out into the open during the chorus, so I felt like I had to link those two things. And though it’s talking about negative things, I think that the lyrics also express facing the light and reaching out to the hand that saves you.
The truth is that no matter what happens, you will reach out to the light, and that is the reason why you’ve been able to continue on as a band. What do you think is the main reason why you’ve been able to do this with the same members for 12 years?
Nao: Because we’re not finished yet. There are still many things we can do.
Show: It’s because Nao sometimes～ says serious things like this, I get surprised (laughs)
Hiroto: Because he says it out of the blue.
Nao: No, no, no. I’m always serious.
Saga: Lately he’s been saying “I’ll get double eyelids”. So it seems like he’s not finished yet.
Show: There are still things he can do (laughs).
Saga: Since he’s been standing at the front lately (as “Sunshine Nao”), maybe he’s become more aware of aesthetics.
Oh, I see (laughs)
Nao: In the schedule for Thursday, it had “Nao Plastic Surgery” written there (laughs).
Tora: Everyone saw that and got afraid (laughs)
Saga: Like “Are you serious? People will be able to tell”.
Nao: But actually I had really bad stuff shoulders so I went to see the orthopedist (laughs).
Saga: It was just abbreviated2
Show: I did a double-take at the schedule (laughs)
Puhahaha (laughs)
Show: Anyway, about why we can continue on. A long time ago at a bar in Takadanobaba, Nao said to me “You can talk to me about anything”.
Nao: Ah. I kinda remember that.
Show: Ever since then, I get the feeling that he built this foundation of being a person that you could talk to about anything, even if it were something you couldn’t tell your family. I think that is the secret behind us being able to continued.
Nao: Because bands are about team effort. In order to unify and keep on doing this, this kind of thing is important. Since we are chasing the same dream, it would be a waste to give up half-way, so we have to understand each other. Yaaaaay! Justice!!!!!
You’re in fine form, Nao (laughs). Also, it seems like Tora edited the music video for 「MEMENTO」. Did you study footage editing?
Tora: No. I learnt it all from YouTube (laughs).
Show: Sometimes it’s important to tell the truth.
Tora: I’ve always been interested in footage (flat out). So I learnt some things on my own.
Saga: Including porn.
Tora: I learned things from there too (laughs).
Making music and making footage. To you, Tora, do they feel like the same thing?
Tora: They’re the same. To be honest, isn’t footage more definite than music? With music, when you’re making it yourself, it has this ambiguous feeling. It’s hard to rate it because it’s hard to determine whether it’s good or bad. But with footage, it’s easy to determine if it’s good or bad, and it’s easy to understand. So making the footage, I think “This is fun!”. They are both similar in that I can make what I like.
What was the thing you focused on for 「MEMENTO」?
Tora: My intention was to pick up the members’ good points, and because I’m their fellow member, I know what they are. If I watch the footage, I know which parts the members probably want me to use. I didn’t choose the shots with the notion of making a music video. I chose the shots not based on the kind of shots a normal director would use at a certain spot, but based it on the kind of faces from the members that the fans probably want to see. I think that it really shows in the video.
Nao: But based on that way of thinking, didn’t you want to shoot the footage yourself?
Saga: Like “I’m gonna film it”.
Nao: You would be like “I’m sure I can film something better”.
Tora: That’s right! That’s why lately, since I’ve pretty much learned everything about movie editing, I’ve been studying cameras (laughs)
Meaning that it’s not impossible that Tora will make his debut as a director?
Saga: Then Tora won’t be in the A9 music videos anymore.
Hiroto: Only the four of us will be there?
Tora: I’ll edit myself in or something (laughs)
Show: Tora can film the four of us, and for his solo shots he can film it by making our manager Ohashi hold the camera and give directions, like “Yes, zoom in here”.
All: (laughs)
Tora: If I could, I would like to do filming too.
Show: Lately I watched a music video and thought it was good, and it was filmed by the drummer of a band we once played together with. Band members have that kind of ability too.
Saga: Then in the future, Tora will be the Takahashi Ganari3 of the Visual Kei world.
Tora: Who is Takashi Ganari again?
Saga: The guy who founded “Soft On Demand”4
Nao: Since you’re “Tora” (Takahashi Ganari’s spread nationwide after appearing on a TV show called “Money Tiger”)
Tora: The adult movie business? (laughs)
So about the song the second song, which Tora wrote, 「Ibara」. With what kind of concept was this song written?
Tora: Saga told me “Make a song that will be like the second 「Kowloon」. 「Kowloon」 is a violent song with downtuning. The song changes in a way that’s easy to understand at points where the fans do different things like rushing towards the stage or headbang, but the chorus has a proper melody. So I made this song with the exact same concept.
Saga: But when we heard the song, it was much faster than 「Kowloon」, so it’s not what I asked for!
Nao: We were like "This isn’t 「Kowloon」”.
Tora: Guhahaha (laughs)
The lyrics in this song is about resentment and grudges, it really is “an orchestra of abuse”.
Show: The lyrics are like a curse. Up until now we never had such dark lyrics, so I think that in a good way, it betrays the people who like beautiful lyrics.
Saga: The other day during an in-store event, Hiroto and I talked about it, like “I wonder which member he is singing about in these lyrics”.
Hiroto: We talked about what we should do if he was singing about us.
Show: It’s not about any of the members (laughs)
So after this single, A9 will be releasing their first full-length album 『IDEAL』 on April 12th. What is the meaning of the title?
Show: When I was talking with Saga, the idea of having a hidden theme of wanting to make it an album where we redefine the songs of ours that are loved by the fans came. The word “IDEA” and the word “REAL”. We also had the theme of wanting to discuss these things while in the between that ideal and real. So we got the title by adding “IDEA” and “REAL” together.
What kind of album, which is currently being recorded (the interview took place late February), do you think it will be?
Saga: We had the image of wanting to make an album like a first album. That’s why it’s an album that only has songs that show what we are good at, and the kind of songs that lie at our roots. Like all of the songs show what we are good at. I think that’s what first albums are. It’s because bands do what they are good at in their first album, and using that as a base, they keep on progressing. Up until now we made albums conscious of making “something new and different from before”. But this time we had the exact opposite way of thinking. We thought to make something that was like an update of the past. When we tried to make an album that we could only make now since we returned to our starting point, it ended up being an album that was not just a mere update. I think that the result is perhaps a new A9. We’re still in the middle of recording though.
Show: If I can write lyrics with this kind of schedule, I want everyone to thank me (laughs)
Saga: I’ve made an agreement with Show that I’ll introduce him to some girls (laughs). Extremely beautiful ones.
Show: (Immediately) We did not!
So I hope you can finish the album with any problems. Finally, please tell us your aspirations for the nationwide tour 『A9 2017 TOUR IDEAL HORIZON』 for this album that starts on April 12th.
Show: Before we knew it, we’re almost in the 13th year of the band. We’re a band that has a real varied collection of songs, but the fans tell us that no matter what kind of hard and dark songs we do, they can see the light, so if you come see us on this tour, we will definitely make you happy. That’s why I would like for you to all come without any hesitation.
Hiroto: The things we’ve built up over the years, and the feeling of excitement just like that time we put out our first album, wondering what it would lead to, and the anticipation of wanting to move toward the ideal that is still unknown to us. I want to make it that kind of tour.
Tora: It’s been a while since we released a full album, so don’t be late or miss this moment, where the mood of the live shows change!
Saga: We’re going harder and showing what lies at the band’s core this time, so I’m looking forward to it.
Nao: It’s a tour in conjunction with our first single in 3 years and A9’s first passionate full album, so I hope you come and see us. Also, I want more people to know. About my craziness (laughs)
1This part was too hard to make it work in English
2The word for “orthopedics 整形外科” is often shortened to “整形”, which most people interpret to mean “plastic surgery”
3An adult film director
4An adult video site
Zdroj:https://mokkoriness.tumblr.com/post/159587697879/a9-spice-interview-for-ideal?fbclid=IwAR0t6S66ar6ZsEvkpGhDFyRQyi7LBrBL9O-nvogsE5B5vZprQ1zhU5DcjX4
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