GARNET CROW “君の思い描いた夢 集メル HEAVEN” Interview
May 2005music freak magazineAdded on July 9, 2026
-- First, "君の思い描いた夢集メル HEAVEN" is the theme song for the anime *MÄR Heaven*, and the title also makes you think of that connection. Were there parts of the song itself that were made with that in mind?
Yuri Nakamura:No. Actually, the original demo already existed at the end of last year. And it was a ballad. Then after the new year, we wondered what would happen if we made it uptempo, tried it a little, and it came out very cool, so it was like, "Then let's go with this." I think the person in charge of *MÄR Heaven* liked that song after we had proceeded with it uptempo. The lyrics were attached from there, so the lyrics do take a suitable form, but the song itself was not newly written for that.
-- I see. Still, the idea of changing a ballad into an uptempo song is bold.
Yuri Nakamura:Maybe we had not done that since "Spiral" (laughs). The feel changes completely. Because it became uptempo, the lyric fitting also became more detailed. But in return, the song gained a lot of momentum, so I think it was absolutely the right decision.
-- Was the fact that the arrangement and rhythm changed that much thanks to the god hand, Mr. Furui's skill?
Yuri Nakamura:That is part of it. I only requested, "Please make it uptempo." I think Furui probably listened to the original ballad version, but the change from there into this arrangement is Furui magic. But this was fun to do. It gained momentum, and it is easy to listen to. I think it moved in a good direction. This time the vocal range is not that high either, so I think it may enter the ear straightforwardly.
-- It is a song different from GARNET CROW's recent subdued image.
Yuri Nakamura:Partly because ballads had continued for a while, it was a reaction against that... It had been a while since we did a song with this kind of feel, and seasonally it is spring, the time when things sprout. It seemed all right for us to burst out a little too (laughs).
-- And the single's release date is May 18: your fifth anniversary and eighteenth single. Did you aim for that, Ms. Nakamura?
Yuri Nakamura:Oh, is that so!? No, I only thought, "This is our first one this year"... (laughs). I see, that is easy to remember! In that case, yes, we aimed for it (laughs).
-- What do you think of the lyrics? Connected to the anime *MÄR Heaven*, it becomes "集メル HEAVEN."
Yuri Nakamura:I thought, "Well done!" As expected. The content of the lyrics is also very positive and easy to understand. Of course, there is also the intention of making them understandable for the audience of the anime *MÄR Heaven*, but above all, the words enter easily. And yet there is a worldview in those lyrics. I think that balance is very good. Even reading them makes me excited, and because the scene comes to mind so clearly, like being in a dream world, singing it was fun too.
-- This title is long. Was it difficult to remember?
Yuri Nakamura:But if you sing that melody, it is actually the title (laughs). So please remember it by singing it.
-- The second song, "Circle Days," brings out GARNET CROW's dark side.
Yuri Nakamura:It has a slightly mellow feeling. Actually, at the demo stage this song was very guitar-pop-like, or uptempo. But when the B-melody came to me, a world suddenly formed, and I felt, "Ah, this should have a slower tempo and go with a mellow groove." Not an upright, upper feel, but something like European dark pop (laughs). That kind of image came all at once, so we moved toward it.
-- I heard production was difficult.
Yuri Nakamura:We had trouble deciding the tempo feeling. The groove is quite important, so if the tempo feeling is too slow, it becomes too long or loose, but if it is too fast, it ends before you feel anything. It was quite difficult to decide on the pinpoint tempo feeling that fit perfectly. But thanks to that, we were finally able to find the exact point that fit.
-- You are quite detailed about those things, aren't you?
Yuri Nakamura:Am I? (laughs). The groove changes just by changing the tempo by one or two. Even whether it is one step slower or faster makes a considerable difference. You have to make that area fit perfectly and feel right.
-- Actually, I thought you would lean more toward the melody.
Yuri Nakamura:Groove is very important. When the groove is riding, the singing naturally rides too. But if the groove is not solid, no matter how much you sing, it does not mesh. And because it does not mesh, it becomes hard to listen to. In making recordings, especially with a medium tempo like this, the groove feeling is completely different depending on whether it is a little fast or a little slow, and even the feeling of the melody you hear changes. So we became quite severe about whether to raise the tempo by two or lower it by one. The point that catches well is narrower with a song like this. But although it is like threading a needle, precisely because the strike zone is narrow, once the tempo is decided, singing becomes much easier afterward.
-- On top of that, this song's lyrics, vocal, and melody fit so well. Even the final phrase ends with something like "恋の終わりのよう…かな." It is beyond imagination.
Yuri Nakamura:I made the melody normally, as usual, but I did not think the lyrics would fit in this way. Yes, the landing is exquisite. This is the result of the lyrics coming up and the arrangement being completed. When I make a demo, it exists as one melody, and AZUKI skillfully drops the parts that should be dropped. Those words were fitted in, and the sound also disappears there with a whoosh, so the singing naturally took on a lowered tone too.
-- This is a worldview that could only exist with GARNET CROW.
Yuri Nakamura:I really like this song too.
-- The third song, "いつかまた会いましょう," is a light bossa nova.
Yuri Nakamura:In my mind, the groove that makes you feel a little simple happiness has the image of a bossa nova rhythm. I imagined a song where you can feel a slightly cheerful, natural kind of happiness, like freshly washed cotton, and wondered what it would be like to combine that with a bossa nova rhythm, so I made it. That image was preserved as it was, but it is a rhythm GARNET CROW does not often have. Because it was an unusual rhythm, singing it felt fresh too. I also thought this song might be perfect for the current season. It would be nice if it could evoke an image of ordinary happy daily life, like playing in a cafe while you are having tea outside, or listening at home with the window open, bathing in sunlight while reading.
-- Recently, GARNET CROW seems to give a sense of that kind of ordinary happiness, or small happiness within daily life.
Yuri Nakamura:I think we probably are not aiming for that, but the things the songs imagine end up becoming that way. In terms of how songs are made, "いつかまた会いましょう" turned out this way because I decided on the bossa nova rhythm from the beginning, but usually I add melodies with no preconceptions at all. So as a way of writing, "いつかまた会いましょう" may be the more unusual one.
-- This kind of song is not, for example, inspired by music you usually listen to?
Yuri Nakamura:No. In my case, it is not that I listen and think, "Ah, this is it!" I think I hear something somewhere, and then when I suddenly think of it later, it comes out. Maybe with this bossa nova too, I was shopping somewhere and heard something playing in a shop, and only that rhythm remained in my memory. Melodies always come out like that, so I never know when they will appear (laughs).
-- GARNET CROW really has no strategy at all in that area (laughs).
Yuri Nakamura:Everything is the result. Rather than deciding too much before making something, I feel that for us, it often goes more smoothly if we just quickly put out what we are thinking or imagining. Even if you say this and that in your head, I think the sounds that actually come out are different, and even if I think I will sing a certain way, once I hear the actual backing track and the singing rides on it, it can be different again. Whether it is the song, lyrics, arrangement, key setting, or tempo, we basically put everything out once, try it, and then judge from the result.
-- How has the pace of production been this year?
Yuri Nakamura:I think it is going well. We have not hit any walls, and we are being allowed to spend time on recording, so good songs are coming up one after another (laughs).
-- Do you still have stock?
Yuri Nakamura:We have a lot of stock, and we work from that or do recently written songs... We ourselves are enjoying it, saying things like, "This is a song written quite a while ago," or "This is a recent song."
-- Is the pace the usual GARNET CROW pace?
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. I think we are making things at just the right feeling.
-- With this "for now, let's try it, let's do it" style, five years of GARNET CROW's activities have passed...
Yuri Nakamura:Looking back, it feels very short. Five years is long, but it feels very short. We have not really been looking back as we did it, because we were always working hard to finish the song in front of us. When I look back now, it feels like, before I knew it, there was five years' worth of works. So I think the way we make songs and the way we think probably have not changed at all during this time.
-- That indescribable harmony among the four of you, the subtle distance and atmosphere, probably has not changed much either.
Yuri Nakamura:It has not changed.
-- From your perspective, have the other members changed from your first impressions?
Yuri Nakamura:No, they have not changed. (Firmly.) I am the one who gets most excited, and AZUKI says, "Sure." Furui feels like he is looking furthest ahead and says, "Yeah, isn't that good?" Okamocchi says, "Yeah, sounds good." I am the one saying, "How about this, how about that, waah!" (laughs). It feels as though the other three are the ones who skillfully bring that together... But I tend to see things like, "only this song right in front of me" (laughs), while I feel the members other than me are looking farther ahead. AZUKI is looking at GARNET CROW this year, next year, and even farther beyond. Furui too, as an arranger, watches the flow of the scene, while also having the desire in GARNET CROW to make things that will remain forever. In that sense, their way of looking ahead is far superior. I think GARNET CROW has come this far because we have not changed all along, so we probably will not change from now on either, and I do not want us to change. I want us to stay as we are.
-- I hope you continue just as you are.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. Quietly and steadily, always... right.
-- Since this is your fifth anniversary, are there still other plans this year?
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. For the fifth anniversary, from the start of the year we held a tour, released our first photo book, and were able to hold our first fan-club event, so if you say it is fulfilling, it has been very fulfilling. In that context, with the singles too, more than in an ordinary year, I want everyone to remember things like, "GARNET CROW did this," or "They wrote this kind of song." We ourselves also want to enjoy this fifth-anniversary year, so we want to make it a memorable year, and various things are still being planned.