GARNET CROW “parallel universe” Interview (UtaMap)

January 6, 2011うたまっぷAdded on July 9, 2026

GARNET CROW, who marked the tenth anniversary of their debut this year, have released *parallel universe*, their eighth original album overall. The four-member lineup has not changed since the band was formed. For ten years, their style has also remained completely unchanged: vocalist Yuri Nakamura composes, AZUKI Nana writes the lyrics, and Hirohito Furui and Hitoshi Okamoto build the sound. It is extremely rare for a band to have a dedicated lyricist within the group. AZUKI Nana does not often speak at length about the lyrics she writes, but this time we interviewed her deeply and carefully about lyrics: how she writes them, the beliefs she holds when writing, and advice for everyone who posts their own lyrics.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of their debut. They have not become like friends in an overly familiar relationship; a strong relationship of trust has continued. They are companions, and also each other's greatest rivals. That is GARNET CROW.

-- This year has been the memorial year of your tenth anniversary. Looking back, how does ten years feel? Was it long, or did it pass in an instant?

Okamoto:At first, I did not know left from right in the music industry and had no room to spare at all. But after we began performing live in 2002 and a cycle of activity was created, time suddenly started passing quickly.

Nakamura:Once the large cycle of making songs, releasing an album, and presenting it live was established, each year became a repetition of that, and it feels as though ten years passed in no time.

AZUKI Nana: I think it was a dense ten years. Ten years is enough time to do this many different things. Even just looking at the number of works, I feel again that steadily piling things up is amazing.

Furui:I think it passed very quickly, but when I look back on each individual event, ten years really is a long time. My feelings have not changed at all, so it does not feel like that much time has passed.

-- When you first formed, did you have any image of ten years later?

Nakamura:Not at all. We were doing everything we could just to finish the work in front of us, and we did not even have the room to imagine a few months ahead.

-- In reality, you have spent this long period of ten years together. How do each of you take that in?

Okamoto:I think it is important that we respect each other in the fields each of us is in charge of. The fact that this has continued all along is significant.

Nakamura:The main thing is the song, so I think it is important to remain in a relationship where we can clearly say whether a song is good or bad, and what should be done to make it better. If that collapses and things become too casual, an ambiguity of "well, whatever" starts to appear. But I think that kind of ambiguity is a fatal loss in a job where you create things. So it is important that we maintain a good tension where none of us can say "well, whatever" to each other. We do not interfere with or involve ourselves with one another more than necessary. We do not become like friends in an overly familiar relationship. But a strong relationship of trust has continued. We are companions, but also each other's greatest rivals. First of all, more than anyone else, I always want the members to praise me and recognize me.

If the vocalist does not sing, nothing can begin. Whether a band can continue for a long time depends on whether the vocalist can keep singing.

-- How would you describe the secret to having continued for so long?

AZUKI Nana: First, if the vocalist does not sing, nothing can begin. Whether we can continue depends on whether the vocalist can keep singing. For example, if she became ill or ruined her throat, then there would be no question of continuing. A few years ago, when we were going up to Tokyo for a television appearance, Yurippe was late. In the Shinkansen heading to Tokyo, I thought, "What are we going there for?" If the three of us went without the vocalist, it would serve no purpose at all.

Nakamura:I had mistaken the meeting time by one hour. I did make it in time for the actual performance, though (laughs).

AZUKI Nana: At that moment, I really felt that we cannot do anything unless the vocalist sings. When we first formed, I could not imagine a woman continuing to sing for ten years, and I thought first of all that her throat might give out. And yet, from partway through, the live schedule became extremely hard, and she was going into the studio diligently every day, so I did not think she would be able to keep singing in that situation. That is why I think these ten years existed above all because we had a vocalist.

Furui:The fact that we keep a certain distance and that the division of roles works well probably has to do with the personalities of these four people. Usually, when bands split up, there may be differences in musical direction, but often it is human relationships or money trouble. In that sense too, I think we were fundamentally able to manage our relationships well as people. It is true that if I alone went to a television station, I would be of no use at all. I think we have continued because each person has that awareness in many different areas.

Melody comes first, then lyrics and arrangement proceed at the same time. This pattern has continued for ten years. With these four people together, chemical reactions spark, the song changes, and it is completed.

-- How do you make songs? Has it not changed since the beginning?

Nakamura:The song always comes first. I write the song, and based on that demo, the lyrics and arrangement proceed at the same time. We are always making songs, and when a certain number of songs accumulate, it is like, shall we gather them together? That becomes an album. This pattern has not changed at all since the beginning.

-- At the composition stage, is there anything that inspires you?

Nakamura:There is no fixed pattern. Sometimes I consciously compose at the piano, thinking, "Now let's make a song." Sometimes a melody suddenly comes to me before I sleep and I write it down. Sometimes after watching a film, I am inspired by its story and write. Melodies come out in all kinds of situations.

-- When making songs, do the members discuss things like, next let us do a song that feels like this?

Nakamura:We do not discuss that at all. I want them to expand their inspiration from only the image of the demo, so I give them no information at all, only the demo. From there on, I leave it to each section.

-- You do not tell them anything about the background of how the song was born, or the image you yourself have?

Nakamura:I do not. As a result, sometimes it becomes something close to the vague image I had, and sometimes it becomes a finish I could never have imagined. An arrangement, words, or a worldview I do not have in my own drawers, something I could never create alone, is created. I think that is exactly the real pleasure of making songs. For example, Mount Fuji looks different when you see it from the Shizuoka side and from the Yamanashi side. What you see also differs depending on whether you are at the summit or at the foot. From my perspective, I may feel that I am moving around quite a bit, but in reality the scenery I can see may not change that much. But when the other members add their hands there, the scenery changes completely. It becomes red Fuji, or Mount Fuji at night, or an aerial view of Fuji. Every time, I am very surprised and think, "Ah, there was this kind of approach." With these four people together, chemical reactions spark and the song changes. Then I add my vocal recording again, and another chemical reaction happens there. The song is completed with a quality that could not be imagined from the demo. That is very fun, and no matter how many years pass, it stays fresh. That is why I cannot stop making songs.

What is indispensable when writing lyrics is becoming "empty-minded." Lyrics are not something you attach by thinking; they should already be attached to the melody from the beginning.

-- What about the lyrics? When AZUKI writes lyrics, how do ideas come to her?

AZUKI Nana: There are many concrete patterns for how I write, but what is absolutely indispensable is becoming unconscious. I want to listen only to the song without thinking about anything.

-- When you say becoming unconscious, what kind of situation do you put yourself in?

AZUKI Nana: Anywhere is fine as long as I can become unconscious, but I remove everything that bothers me... In short, it means concentrating. I do not want to listen to a song while feeling very tired, and I do not like listening when I am hungry, or when I am strangely high-tension. In any case, I want to listen after I have entered a state where I am ruled only by the song. Until I am in that situation, I do not listen to the song at all.

-- When you listen to the song in that environment, do the words come out?

AZUKI Nana: I think the words should already be attached to the melody. It feels like listening for them. It is not something I think up and attach. When I am in the best condition, even though it is a melody I am hearing for the first time, the words come out at the same time as the melody progresses. I do not know the length of the song, and I do not know whether a B melody is coming after this or what kinds of rises and falls the song has, but the words come out smoothly, and sometimes I finish writing at exactly the same time the song ends. It feels as if my writing cannot keep up. That is the luckiest pattern.

-- Are there times when you suffer over it?

AZUKI Nana: What makes me suffer is when there is a tie-up, and a theme, and I cannot understand that theme smoothly. Sometimes the original theme becomes like a game of telephone, and then my interpretation shifts slightly. Once that point shifts, the song itself becomes secondary, so it takes me a little farther away from the pleasure of writing. That kind of difficulty does happen sometimes. But the hardest thing is deadlines (laughs). Instead of becoming empty-minded, my mind goes completely blank (laughs).

-- In any case, empty-mindedness is the starting point?

AZUKI Nana: Yes. As long as I can become empty-minded, I am all right.