VOL.146 “風とRAINBOW／この手を伸ばせば”Yuri Nakamurainterview

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.146

●First, I would like to ask about last year's live tour, “GARNET CROW livescope 2006 〜THE TWILIGHT VALLEY〜.” It had been a while since you had performed live in support of an original album. Now that the tour is over, what are your thoughts?
Yuri Nakamura (hereafter Nakamura): We made this tour completely different from what we had done before, changing the set list and trying a lineup that included strings, so I was somewhat worried about how everyone would react. But once we started, it was genuinely fun, and I am glad it went well. This time, we were able to realize the kind of live show we most wanted to do, which made me very happy.
●Did you have a particular theme in mind when planning the show's structure?
Nakamura: Our fifth album, 『THE TWILIGHT VALLEY』, was a work that gave us a great deal of confidence, so we began by thinking about how we could have people hear the songs from that album. GARNET CROW is entering its seventh year this year, and until then we had generally toured about once a year. As a result, we had gradually become able to predict how people would respond to each song... I started to feel that a live show whose outcome could be predicted was boring. One of the pleasures of a concert is the thrill of hearing an intro and thinking, “What song is this...? Oh, this one!?” So we wanted to make a show whose direction could not be seen in advance. We left out songs that would usually guarantee excitement and built a new structure instead. Rather than performing the same songs over and over, we wanted people to hear more of our many different songs, so we changed the set list completely. Until now, we had been doing our best just to sing and play, but after building up five and six years of activity, I think we finally had enough room to pay attention to the idea of “putting on a show.” With “watching and enjoying” in mind, we were particular about making the costumes, set, lighting, and staging different from before as well.
●Could you sense what was happening in the audience from the stage?
Nakamura: We could see the audience clearly. When an intro began, some people would whisper to the person next to them, “That's that song, right?” while others looked surprised and seemed to say, “I know this one!” It was fun to see those expressions. I think people enjoyed not knowing what would come next.
●The new single “Kaze to RAINBOW / Kono Te o Nobaseba” was performed for the first time at this show. How did that feel?
Nakamura: We were so focused on what we were doing that there was not much room for anything else. “Kaze to RAINBOW” was introduced and sung as part of a back-and-forth with the audience, so I am glad we were able to perform it while riding that momentum.
●When you performed “Kono Te o Nobaseba” during the encore, many people in the audience listened with great concentration, and the tension came across from the stage.
Nakamura: That made me very happy. When people lean forward emotionally and listen so intently that they do not want to miss a single word, I can feel that attitude very strongly even while singing onstage. It gave me the real sense that they were listening carefully. During “Kaze to RAINBOW,” too, I could hear the applause from the audience when we announced the title, so I was happy that the sincerity of the people listening came through to us.
●You have said that “Kaze to RAINBOW” was born after the album. What kind of image did you have when creating it?
Nakamura: I wanted to try something with a little more strength—what you might call a solid, muscular sound—so that is how I approached it. The Latin flavor was also part of a direction carried over from the previous album, but from there it took one more step toward a rock sound. We kept the groove and buoyant rhythm of Latin music while making the sound itself more rock-oriented.
●Did you make any requests to Hiroto Furui when asking him to arrange it?
Nakamura: I simply told him, “Rock,” (laughs). When I heard what he came up with, it was much cooler than I had imagined, and I thought, “This could really work.” It had a masculine sound, and the lyrics also felt rather impersonal, so it was a perfect fit.
●Was there anything that struck you when you read AZUKI's lyrics?
Nakamura: There were rhythmic divisions I had never imagined myself, moments that made me think, “Those words can go over this melody?” The divisions between phrases in the demo melody were subtly different from the divisions that emerged after the lyrics had been written and fitted to the song, and I found that interesting. The words “body” and “metal heart” that appear near the beginning are examples. They were not emphasized that much at the demo stage, but once those words were added, the melody stood out more, and I found that fascinating.
●The title “Kaze to RAINBOW” is striking as well.
Nakamura: AZUKI said that writing “RAINBOW” in uppercase English letters looked much cooler than writing it in katakana (laughs). Apparently she tried various forms, but the uppercase English spelling felt the most natural.
●Both “kaze” and “RAINBOW” refer to things that cannot actually be grasped. What image do you have of a rainbow?
Nakamura: I used to have a fairy-tale image of rainbows, but my impression changed after reading these lyrics. Before, they felt like an extension of something resembling a young girl's romantic feelings, but now they seem cool to me. You do not picture a “seven-colored rainbow” when you hear this song, do you (laughs)? Here, it feels a little cold and unreachable—almost impersonal.
●Is there a part of the “Kaze to RAINBOW” lyrics that you particularly like?
Nakamura: The opening line, “That alluring body lying in a patch of sunlight.” At last year's Tokyo show, I actually struck a pose at the word “body” (laughs). It left such a strong impression that I felt I had to pose. It gets your heart racing from the very beginning. Among GARNET CROW's songs, I think it is an aggressive and provocative one.
●“Kono Te o Nobaseba” is a different kind of song from “Kaze to RAINBOW.”
Nakamura: It was mostly finished by the end of last year, but it took several rounds of revising and refining the melody to reach that point. That is how it arrived at its current form, but we brought it out very directly, without any tricks... We created it by taking care with the beauty of the melody, the lyrical phrases, and my voice.
●Was the sense of scale in this song there from the beginning?
Nakamura: Yes. From the time I started making it, I wanted it to be an expansive ballad. I think that intention carried through even after the arrangement was made.
●Is there a part of the lyrics that left a particularly strong impression on you?
Nakamura: I like the lines, “Can people really keep walking while simply believing in tomorrow?” and “You already see tomorrow in your eyes.” In fact, I feel that this year may be GARNET CROW's true starting point. Last year, I think we kept moving forward while still carrying the momentum of our fifth anniversary from the year before in our hearts. This year, emotionally, it feels as though we have completed one lap and are beginning a second cycle, and that feeling is stronger than it was last year. In that sense, the lyrics' desire to “face tomorrow” and “move forward” connects with our own feelings, so I think this song has come to represent where we are now, or GARNET CROW in this year. I am also glad that we could present it as our first single of the year.
●When you performed it live, it was striking how you seemed to savor each word. Was the recording done in the same spirit?
Nakamura: Yes. I think the words in this song are easy to make out one by one, so I sang while taking care to preserve that quality. There is something good about a song that comes across directly, so rather than trying something unusual or taking on a new challenge, we simply let the melody's strengths flow into the vocal. That is how we made it.
●I hear that “Mawarimichi” changed considerably from the way it felt when it was first written. What was it like originally?
Nakamura: It was originally written as an all-ballad, but I wondered what would happen if we raised the tempo. When we did, it became more dramatic and cooler at the faster tempo, so it took its current form. We tried many things while making it; Furui created several versions of the intro, and we exchanged ideas along the lines of “This would be better” and “What about this?” We also worked quite extensively on the phrase before the vocals begin. Of the three songs this time, it may have taken the longest. It was one of the candidates for the album 『THE TWILIGHT VALLEY』 when we were making it. Because it took so long to reach its current form, I have grown attached to it, and the sound has become exactly what we believe is good, so I can recommend it to everyone with confidence.
●The lyrics also evoke vivid scenes. What did you imagine when you read them?
Nakamura: I think the word “sunset glow” makes this a song that draws on the world of 『THE TWILIGHT VALLEY』 while also expressing the direction we are moving in during our seventh year. “Sunset glow” gave me the impression of the sky opening out, and it also felt refreshing, so when recording I sang while trying to bring out a transparent voice and a feeling of breaking free.
●Releasing this single should make GARNET CROW's musical activities in 2007 even more active. It sounds as though this will be an important year...
Nakamura: Yes. As I said earlier, it feels like we have completed one cycle and are entering the second, and in that sense I feel refreshed, as though we are starting from zero. Last year we were doing various things while still carrying the momentum of our fifth anniversary, but since this year began, that burden has been lifted in a good way. Until now, the things we had built up had given us a certain established color, and we had been looking for what we could do within it. This year, though, we have turned the next page and set out with a blank notebook, which feels wonderfully fresh. Compared with last year, I feel that this year we have taken a step forward while returning to our roots. It has also made me eager to write even better songs, and of course we hope to release an album this year too, so I am looking forward to it.
●You also mentioned this at the live show, but it seems that various projects connected with the number “7” will be held to mark your seventh year.
Nakamura: At first it was just a joke—we thought, “It would be fun if we could do something like that.” But once we mentioned it, the staff became incredibly supportive, and now it has really gathered momentum! I have always liked coming up with ideas, so it is fun to think about all sorts of things outside music production as well. We want to create projects that will make our fans happy, and I hope they will look forward to them just as much as they do to our releases.

■“Kaze to RAINBOW / Kono Te o Nobaseba” 2007.2.21 Release
GIZA studio　GZCA-4087　¥1,260 (tax in)
1. Kaze to RAINBOW
2. Kono Te o Nobaseba
3. Mawarimichi
4. Kaze to RAINBOW (TV Edit)
5. Kaze to RAINBOW (Instrumental)
6. Kono Te o Nobaseba (Instrumental)

■“Kono Te o Nobaseba / Kaze to RAINBOW” 2007.2.21 Release
GIZA studio　GZCA-4088　¥1,260 (tax in)
1. Kono Te o Nobaseba
2. Kaze to RAINBOW
3. Mawarimichi
4. Kono Te o Nobaseba (TV Edit)
5. Kono Te o Nobaseba (Instrumental)
6. Kaze to RAINBOW (Instrumental)

※“Kaze to RAINBOW”
Opening theme for the TV Tokyo anime 『MÄR』
※“Kono Te o Nobaseba”
Ending theme for the TV Tokyo anime 『MÄR』

★Different jacket versions!
★Jackets featuring newly drawn illustrations by Nobuyuki Anzai, creator of 『MÄR』
★Different track orders, with each song appearing first!
★One track differs between the editions! (TV EDIT)

■OFFICIAL WEBSITE　www.garnetcrow.com