SCANDAL; Special Interview on J:COM (Part 1 of 2)
―― It’s the 10th year anniversary since the band formed in year ‘06. At that time, have you thought that you’ll come this far?
HARUNA: “We weren’t thinking of continuing, but we also weren’t thinking of not continuing. We had the opportunity to be part of a band, as recommended from our dance school teacher, but it wasn’t like we picked up instruments out of our own will. At the start, it just feels like this was all left to us.”
RINA: “With such light feelings, that’s how we began our activities. We had our CD debut decided, I went up to Tokyo, switched high-schools during that time; I became aware that the journey before many things was budding. When we went for zero to 10 people in the audience at our street lives at the Shiroten streets, we went,「For the sake of the people listening to us in this way, let’s do it!」It was also huge because we’d discovered a goal.”
―― I’d all along thought that the drums and bass’s rhythmic team formed a great groove, so did you train up your rhythmic senses over dance?
RINA: “That might be possible. Thanks to us having learnt to dance, it seems that the rhythm in the background have seeped into bodies habitually.”
TOMOMI: “For me, I thought that because the (bass guitar) had 2 fewer strings than the guitar and that it might be easier, so I chose the bass with such light-hearted feelings (laughs). Afterwards, I then got to know that it’s a instrument with a huge responsibility. In such a way, just listening to the sounds made by the rhythmic team makes me happy.”
MAMI: “I think the fact that HARUNA and I are able to do this freely is all thanks to the two on the rhythmic team. Upon feeling the groove by these two during lives, I end up snickering.”
HARUNA: “Yes, yes. They’re reliable.”
TOMOMI: “But our count for the drums isn’t 1! 2! 3! 4!, it’s 5! 6! 7! 8! (laughs).”
RINA: “Yes, yes (laughs). Because the teacher’s way of achieving the rhythm (the beats when clapping) during our dance lessons is 5! 6! 7! 8!, it became a habit. And since the other members are also used to it, no one had any doubts. When we work together with other bands, they’ll say,「Why’s it starting from 5?」, so that’s when we first realised.”
―― After having 10 years of activities, to speak of the greatest thing that had happened to the band, is it your first Osaka Jo Hall live in year '13?
TOMOMI: “That’s because it was a dream that all 4 of us held together for the first time. All the fans, staff, friends from our dance school; everyone who had supported us were happy for us.”
HARUNA: “With the Osaka Jo Hall right in front of our eyes, we played for the few audiences we had at the Shiroten streets, while thinking of standing in there someday.”
MAMI: “When we accomplished being at the Osaka Jo Hall, after having spoke of it as our eternal dream, I thought that I was really glad to have came this far without giving up. Once again, it gave us fighting spirit, the feeling of having tightened one’s shoelaces.”
RINA: “The year before, we got to stand on the Budokan, but since all the members were born in the West, if we have to speak of a huge venue, we possess a much greater consciousness for the Osaka Jo Hall, so much so that we forgot about the existence of the Nippon Budokan (laughs). However, when we stood on its stage for the first time, we got to realise just how amazing the Budokan was and that it’s a place in which if you’re in a band, you’ll wish to be at at least once.”
Original article by J:COM HERE, translated by fyscandalband. Heads up w/ thanks to DAL0821-san. Interview was long so I’m splitting it into 2 parts~
