GARNET CROW's first single of fiscal 2006, "籟・来・也," is a grand and delicate work they send out as they move toward their sixth year since debut, and it makes you think they have opened up new ground. As the image song for a TV documentary program, it is full of imagery that strongly suggests a sense of collaboration, but an unexpected fact was hidden in how that came about. We asked vocalist Yuri Nakamura about this episode, which could be called a mysterious connection. (INTERVIEWED BY SAI SAIDA)
-- "籟・来・也," your first single of fiscal 2006, has wonderful content suited to GARNET CROW as you reach your sixth anniversary. First, I would like to ask about how it began. Since this song is tied up with a TV program (TBS national network Canon Special "Ancient Excavation Mystery: Great Discovery of a Giant Civilization in the Amazon's Unexplored Region! Ruins From B.C.... The Phantom People Who Remade the Land" image song), I assumed it was made from the program concept. What was the trigger there?
Yuri Nakamura:Actually, this song existed since last year, and someone from TBS heard it and said, "This is perfect!" for the program, so they decided to use it. So we did not write this song specifically for that program. It already existed from the beginning with the title "籟・来・也" and with this arrangement.
-- That is unexpected.
Yuri Nakamura:It is. The title was the same, and it was one of the many songs that had already been completed last year. We had stocked it with the feeling that we had something in this style, and maybe we would put it on the next album (laughs).
-- Even the phrase "籟・来・也" fits this program almost too perfectly. I had assumed the singing style and the lyrics were made with the program in mind.
Yuri Nakamura:From our standpoint, it is more like, how did there happen to be a program that fit this song so perfectly? (laughs). It was the reverse idea. The fact that there was a program with a concept that fit our song so perfectly was itself surprising.
-- Even so, this title is novel.
Yuri Nakamura:The title "籟・来・也" was attached at the very end of production. At first, when we were doing it according to the demo, I was putting it on as a fake phrase like "ai-ai-ya." But since it was the strongest part of the melody at the very end, we wondered if it might be better to attach some lyrics there. Then AZUKI brought in this "籟・来・也."
-- So "籟・来・也" was born from the "ai-ai-ya" fake phrase.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. She said that, and then thought about how to make use of those vowels. First the character "籟" came, and then she added "来る也."
-- I thought a character like "籟" was not a word that would come out unless you thought about it very carefully. The lyrics also depict spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and they bring out the vastness of nature. The melody has a Japanese taste too. Did you have that kind of image when you made the song?
Yuri Nakamura:I have always liked Japanese-style tastes, so this time I tried emphasizing that a little. But the final worldview came into being after the arrangement and lyrics were completed. It feels as though they brought out the qualities and direction the song originally had. At the demo stage, the image was not that concrete, but once that arrangement and those lyrics were attached, the song's direction became very clear.
-- So the arrangement too was finished that way from the beginning entirely through Mr. Furui's sensibility.
Yuri Nakamura:Exactly as it is.
-- Does that include the ethnic-instrument-style sounds?
Yuri Nakamura:Ah, yes, those were in there. Sounds like quena and other ethnic instruments were included from the beginning, and it was in a state close to perfect, so they heard that and liked it.
-- That is a little hard to believe (laughs). Considering it was for an Amazon unexplored-region program, and how well it matches this song, I had assumed the arrangement was absolutely made with the tie-up in mind.
Yuri Nakamura:We ourselves are surprised too (laughs).
-- Still, this seems likely to become one of GARNET CROW's signature songs.
Yuri Nakamura:It is a song with a very strong quirk. I think it may become a song people surely will not forget once they hear it. The lyrics and worldview are also a little different from what we have sung up to now. They sing about a large sense of scale, nature, and questions like what it means to be human and how to live, so I hope people can feel something fundamental about human beings from it.
-- When AZUKI handed you these lyrics, what impression did you have?
Yuri Nakamura:I thought they were unusual, but they fit the melody very well, so I liked them right away. It is a song with a very distinctive melody, so I thought, she really fit words to it well. I had been wondering what kind of lyrics would fit, and then it was, "Ah, it came like this..." They may be lyrics with an even deeper spirituality than before.
-- I feel that depth in the vocal too. I heard that this time, for the vocal recording, you completely redid something that had been recorded once.
Yuri Nakamura:I did quite a lot of re-singing. We changed the tempo feeling in various ways, tried lowering it by a few steps at subtle tempos, and so on. Each time, I would sing it to search for the tempo feeling that fit perfectly, so I think I sang more than usual. It felt like singing it in and singing it in. There were parts where it was a little difficult to find the best tempo feeling. But it felt good to sing. I sang with the feeling of facing the earth and the vast sky, so I was singing within a very liberating feeling.
-- I heard that "wind" is a concept running through the whole single this time. From when did you have that image?
Yuri Nakamura:This is something I felt from the finished work, so it is closer to being added afterward.
-- All three songs have "wind" as their theme. Did that happen as a result?
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. The remaining two songs also existed last year, and once it was decided that we would release "籟・来・也" as a single, we chose what else to include. By chance, when we thought about the two songs we had chosen afterward, their theme was "wind."
-- Did AZUKI have that concept?
Yuri Nakamura:I wonder. The songs were made completely separately. They were not recorded in advance for this single, and songs like "over blow" all existed originally. We only chose them thinking about their compatibility with "籟・来・也." After putting them together, it was like, "Ah, if you look closely, we can connect them through 'wind'" (laughs).
-- Even the unified theme was added afterward. It feels as though coincidence became inevitability.
Yuri Nakamura:Conversely, this kind of thing is hard to do even if you try. Even if you decide "wind is the theme," various kinds of "wind" would come up as themes, and if you tried to make one song for a single based on that, I feel it would probably become overworked and fail.
-- What kind of wind do you personally imagine for each of these three songs?
Yuri Nakamura:This is my image after lining them up, but "籟・来・也" has a strong image of the earth, and I feel a powerful wind. With "over blow," I felt a very pleasant wind, like a light breeze flowing softly past your ear. With "風の音だけをきいて," I felt a draft blowing inside the heart, a sense of fiction or emptiness. But I think it is fine if everyone who listens feels each in their own way.
-- Even so, this single took shape through a mysterious encounter. GARNET CROW often has things like that (laughs). From continuing to make music at your usual pace, without any strain just because it is your sixth year since debut, this work was completed.
Yuri Nakamura:That's right (laughs). There was absolutely no overexcitement. (Firmly!)
-- You really are doing it naturally.
Yuri Nakamura:I do not want to break my own pace, after all. I think the foundation we have cultivated over these five years is gradually growing. From this year, since we have planted the seeds, I do feel that now may be the year for the work of firmly spreading roots. But we still have a long way to go (laughs).
-- Then please give us one word about last year's fifth-anniversary premium live. The costumes were glamorous too.
Yuri Nakamura:(Smiling) It was fun. It became a good memory. Since it was such a gorgeous and splendid place, we all tried to look a little sharp (laughs). Since it was called "premium," we wanted to give it a special feeling, so we tried expressing a worldview we usually cannot do very easily. It seems everyone enjoyed it and went home happy, and the reputation was good too, so I feel it was worth doing.
-- Finally, what does GARNET CROW in 2006 look likely to become?
Yuri Nakamura:We did not release an original album last year, so I hope we can release an original album this year. That would be the first goal for this year.
-- As fans, we also hope for more live performances.
Yuri Nakamura:Well, live performances are fun in their own way, and original albums and live performances are becoming two pillars for us, so I want to treasure live performances too. Please wait patiently (laughs).