Es VOL.18 新single“Smiley Nation” and concert DVD 两部 Yuri Nakamurainterview

●○○From music freak Es Vol.18

GARNET CROW entered their 11th year since debut and released their new single “Smiley Nation” on June 29!! As their first single of 2011, it is a pop tune with an invigorating intro. Each instrument and voice rides a light rhythm and blows through like the wind, creating a number that is truly made for a “blue sky.” As the title suggests, listening to it naturally brings a “smile” to your face, thanks to the song’s positive spirit. It should make the listener’s heart feel lighter. The coupling track “Night in August” is a mellow number tinged with the wistfulness GARNET CROW does so well. It is a song to listen to quietly while surrendering yourself to its groove. Two live DVD titles, *GARNET CROW livescope 2009 ~Soul at Dawn~* and *GARNET CROW livescope 2010⁺ ~welcome to the parallel universe！~*, were also released at the same time!! We spoke with Yuri Nakamura mainly about the contents of the new single.
(INTERVIEWED BY EMI MORI)

●It has been a while since your last single. When was “Smiley Nation” written?
Yuri Nakamura (hereafter Nakamura): It was written last year, and follows the flow of pop songs such as last year’s “Over Drive” and *parallel universe*. Last year was our 10th-anniversary year, so we had many opportunities to meet everyone. When people spoke to us directly and said, “Congratulations on your 10th anniversary,” it gave us energy and became a source of strength. We made this song by giving back the energy we received, so it is filled with the happy feelings of our anniversary year.
●Over the years, your relationship with the audience, including at live shows, has become closer, hasn’t it?
Nakamura: Every year, our desire to create live shows together with everyone and have them enjoy the experience grows stronger. At first, we aimed for shows where people would listen to our work, but as we performed more often, held various events, and met people in person during campaigns, we began to think it might be more enjoyable to go beyond the boundary between artist and audience, with everyone participating in and building the show together. That is why our shows now include songs with call-and-response sections and group singing. Rather than simply showing people our live performance, we aim for a stage where we can build it together and make sure everyone has a wonderful time.
●What feelings did you put into “Smiley Nation,” which was created through that kind of interaction?
Nakamura: Last year, everyone across Japan gave us so much energy, and we truly realized, “So many people support GARNET and love every one of our songs.” We were always smiling, including during live shows, and worked with the feeling of saying, “Thank you so much, everyone.” I wrote the song because I wanted everyone to feel that happy aura. I hope that when people hear it, they will naturally smile, casually sing along, and feel like moving their bodies to the rhythm, becoming energized before they even realize it.
●Did you focus on the brightness and tempo of the song as a whole?
Nakamura: Yes. I wanted it to be an energetic song that people could listen to all the way through, so I kept that in mind and wrote it in one burst. To heighten its freshness, the song is rhythmic, with many key changes and chords and melodies that shift rapidly. For the arrangement, we also wanted to preserve the feeling that “something good might happen” and the excitement of looking toward the future. With its forceful piano in the intro and wah guitar, it became a treasure chest of a song packed with sounds. I think its sonic texture also has a clean feeling, like freshly washed white sheets hung out to dry on a clear, dry day.
●Did it already feel refreshing at the demo stage?
Nakamura: Yes. Even in the demo, the members could feel its pop quality and lightness, and the lyrics and arrangement amplified them further. With those elements emphasized, it became an aggressive, dynamic song, and it also feels like an unusual type of song for GARNET. At the same time, “Smiley Nation” was born after last year’s “Over Drive” and *parallel universe*, so regardless of whether it is a single or an album track, it completes our “bright trilogy.”
●Did production move smoothly?
Nakamura: The demo came together in one go, so the other work progressed smoothly too. It is a difficult song, though, so recording the vocals was challenging (laughs). Because we wanted to preserve the song’s freshness, I did not sing it repeatedly before recording; instead, I recorded the whole song in one continuous take. The chord changes by one note at a time, so even following those notes is difficult. When the demo was first finished, I did not think it would become a single, so I half-jokingly said, “It would be difficult if we ever had to perform this live.” Now I am thinking about how we should do it (laughs). The song itself has such great punch that both the singer and the players have to approach it with care, or its momentum will overwhelm them. That is how much sunny power I think it has.
●What was especially difficult about recording the vocals?
Nakamura: The chorus, naturally (laughs). It was fun to sing. Singing it naturally made me brighter and more positive, so I hope everyone who hears it will sing along and receive some of its power.
●Was the word “smile” an important keyword from the beginning?
Nakamura: After the song was finished, I realized that when you listen to an exciting song, your body naturally moves; when your body moves, your heart clears; and when you become positive, a smile appears. That made me think again that “this song may have the power to make listeners smile.” Since it was being released at this time, I also put in the hope that people who are still facing difficult circumstances because of the earthquake, as well as those carrying various other burdens, might have their hearts lifted even a little and find a smile through this song.
●The smiles of you and AZUKI in the jacket photo are striking too.
Nakamura: After the song was finished, we decided to use “smile” as a keyword and thought we should smile in the jacket photos too… (laughs). There were other photos where we were smiling much more openly, but we decided a smiling-with-the-eyes type would be better, so this one was chosen. The members are often smiling in everyday life, so this may be a photo close to our natural selves.
●The music video for “Smiley Nation” was made using photos of smiles submitted by fans. What kind of work is it?
Nakamura: The photos people sent included couples, friends, beloved dogs, and children—things that make each person smile. Looking at them made us smile too, and the result is a warm, heartwarming video. Rather than watching GARNET CROW perform in the footage, this music video shows us alongside the multinational extras, so it has a feeling of “if you look closely, the members are in it too” (laughs). We would be happy if the song made people in Japan smile, and we also put in the hope that it would reach beyond Japan and bring smiles to people around the world. We did not consciously set out to send a message about that, but we would be glad if people could also feel the love and peace beyond those smiles.
●“Night in August” has a calm feeling to it.
Nakamura: I wrote this song specifically after the year began, and it is a medium-tempo tune of the kind GARNET is good at. The chorus and the sections outside the chorus do not change dramatically; the song proceeds calmly from beginning to end on the same groove, so I hope you will find that comfortable. I had been writing brighter songs until then, and wanted to make something a little bittersweet, so I wrote it. It is a song you can listen to without tensing your shoulders, and I think it sinks into the heart when heard while relaxing. If “Smiley Nation” is a daytime song, “Night in August” is truly a song to listen to at night and savor.
●So you focused on its relaxed quality.
Nakamura: Yes. Even though I wanted it to be relaxing, I did not want to make it sound like healing music. I wrote it because I wanted to create a song that would gently resonate deep inside, like a sponge absorbing water, and ask questions of your heart. I like bright, exuberant songs too, but sometimes I want to write a song that faces myself and reveals what is inside my heart, so I write this type whenever I feel the urge. If I force myself to write one while I am in a playful mood, it can become half-finished. When I wrote “Smiley Nation,” I had no desire at all to write a song like “Night in August.” When I had some time off earlier this year, I had time to look back on myself and settled into a calmer mood, so I refreshed myself and wrote it.
●Is there a particular time of day when you write songs?
Nakamura: As far as writing the song itself goes, day and night do not matter. After trying various things during the day, I often leave it for a while and listen again or do the final check at night. The song may often come together completely at night. But strangely, songs sound better when I listen to them at night (laughs). For example, when I listen again during the day to a song I made at night, I sometimes think, “It felt good when I heard it last night, but was it really like this…?” In the end, that means my daytime senses are sharper (laughs). In my case, perhaps I naturally enter rest mode at night and my senses become duller. People say, “You should reread a letter written at night the next day,” and it is the same thing (laughs). You can overdo things until they get out of hand, or know what you want to do but lose the ability to put it together well… I get excited at night, but when I listen again calmly the next day, I think, “Huh!?” (laughs)
●Why did you decide to include “Night in August” on this single?
Nakamura: “Smiley Nation” is a powerful song, so I chose “Night in August” because I wanted listeners to cool down and savor the mood afterward. “Smiley Nation” pursues a new GARNET style, while “Night in August” draws on the wistfulness and melancholy GARNET has traditionally carried. I think both are true to us, and this single lets listeners enjoy two numbers with very different characters.
●Two live DVDs are also being released with the single. Could you tell us what to look forward to in each one?
Nakamura: *GARNET CROW livescope 2009 ~Soul at Dawn~* is very solid and cool. Since it was a live-house tour, the content strips away anything unnecessary and puts the music itself first, so you can see us completely exposed. *GARNET CROW livescope 2010⁺ ~welcome to the parallel universe！~* is a stage full of entertainment in both its structure and direction. A Christmas tree appears, and we bring seasonal elements to the forefront in a way we had never done before, making it something fantastical and fun to watch. When I watched the footage again, I was surprised to see that we had done something so different (laughs). The two are clearly divided: *livescope 2009* is black, while *livescope 2010⁺* is white.
●This single and the live DVDs are GARNET CROW’s first releases of 2011. How would you like GARNET CROW to work this year?
Nakamura: I would like to keep wearing the happy aura born from the energy everyone gave us through last year’s activities (laughs). I hope we can release more and more work, so please look forward to it.
●You have also been confirmed to appear at [OTODAMA SEA STUDIO 2011]. What kind of stage do you expect it to be?
Nakamura: It will be a stage at a venue and in an environment we have never experienced before, so I would really like everyone to come and support us (laughs).

■OFFICIAL WEBSITE　http://www.garnetcrow.com/