GARNET CROW “Smiley Nation” Interview (BARKS)
June 27, 2011BARKSAdded on July 8, 2026
—After going through your tenth-anniversary year, how do you feel now?
Yuri Nakamura:In 2010 we had many live shows, and many chances to meet the fans directly. We received energy there, heard their impressions in person, and could see their reactions. That made us even more motivated, and we were able to receive power and become energized ourselves. It was a busy year, but a fun one. I feel like that is still continuing; it hasn’t been cut off.
—You also took on new challenges, like performing live with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.
Yuri Nakamura:It was really stimulating. In pop music, there are many attack instruments, so it’s a world where you match the first beat exactly at 00 seconds. But an orchestra isn’t like that. The rise of the sound is more relaxed. Their one beat is different from the one we think of. Getting used to that gap was very difficult. You match with the conductor’s breathing and the air. We match with numbers. Our ears have become used to feeling uncomfortable if those don’t line up. That difference in how sound is grasped was a learning experience, and I was also surprised that when GARNET CROW songs are performed by an orchestra, they become classical music. There was a sense of tempo and atmosphere you cannot experience at an ordinary live show... It made me think that music is a living thing.
—It was a stimulating experience.
Yuri Nakamura:It truly became a good experience, and there were discoveries. Even though we are doing the same music, the atmosphere changes this much depending on where you focus. Of course there is a pleasantness in everything matching perfectly, but music played through breathing is comfortable too. I realized that we are too used to music that is tightly aligned. Even without being fixated on that, it is necessary to look at sound in a much broader way.
—After receiving that year, what about 2011?
Yuri Nakamura:2011 is not an anniversary year, but there is a happy afterglow. I think it may be a year where we work hard to return the power we received last year into our works.
—That feeling also appears in the new single “Smiley Nation.” It has already been released digitally, and I hear it is already familiar to fans.
Yuri Nakamura:We made it in 2010, but without intending it, it links to what we want to convey now. We had many other songs stocked, but we said we wanted to release a song that was positive and could make people smile. Since it was also a release after the earthquake, I thought that if it was a song people could listen to and smile even a little, there might be meaning in releasing it at this time. I didn’t want a concrete message like “Do your best,” but something that could make you smile when you heard it. It was not a release made in response to the earthquake, but with many things overlapping, if we were going to release something at this timing, I felt this song was the best choice. And because it was a song born after the 2010 anniversary year, it is a song that would not have come out without the fans who supported us.
—It is a positive song, which is rare for GARNET CROW.
Yuri Nakamura:That’s true. What we are good at is sadness, melancholy, transience. Medium-tempo ballads tinged with sorrow, or the worldview represented by a song like the coupling “八月の夜.” We have made those songs because we like them too. A song like “Smiley Nation,” with a pop, breakthrough kind of momentum, is rare. But the reason I deliberately wanted to draw this kind of song was because last year happened. I’m grateful to everyone. That feeling of gratitude appears in the song.
—It has a pop quality that makes you want to hum it, but in fact it modulates many times and is a difficult song.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes, actually (laughs). We overdid it, didn’t we? There are many modulations, so it’s hard for the singer. It needs energy. The backing track itself is thick and has many sounds, so to not lose to that backing, the vocal needs energy too, and it takes concentration. It was a short decisive battle, sung with the force of finishing it in one take. It is a song packed with energy.
—It is also a song you could sing through precisely because you had the energy received from the fans.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes, maybe so. It’s our first single of the year, so the next time we do a live show, we absolutely have to perform it. When we were making it, everyone was saying, “This song is difficult, so I don’t want to do it live” (laughs). But now that it has become a single, we’re saying, “What do we do?”
—The A-melody, B-melody, and chorus are all different.
Yuri Nakamura:Exactly. The chords keep changing. In the chorus, with the modulation, the chords change one note at a time. We weren’t thinking at all about reproducing it live, so putting it together will be hard (laughs).
—But that development is necessary to convey the story of the lyrics. The A-melody has sad content, and then it becomes more and more positive toward the chorus. I think it comes across precisely because of this modulating melody.
Yuri Nakamura:I heard that the lyrics were written all at once with momentum. Excitement about the future, hope, things you can feel even if they aren’t stated directly. Precisely because of this time, I think there may be something that resonates with everyone. I want people to listen to that part. It feels like we took the GARNET CROW-style pop song to its limit. In the arrangement too, we valued the feeling that something is about to happen. That is why there’s a glissando right from the very beginning of the intro (laughs). It comes in at maximum tension from the start, so it feels like the “momentum” and “freshness” are packaged in that instant.
—Then the live performance should be driven by momentum too. Even if the playing and singing are difficult, the fans will sing along.
Yuri Nakamura:I’d really like them to practice and sing it with us. Once you get used to it, you can sing it. I also want everyone to sing the “Ho” before the chorus together. It’s fine to do it in your own way. The song itself lets people feel the “dynamic” side of GARNET CROW, so if they hear the CD and are surprised, like, “What? This is GARNET CROW!?” then I’ll feel, “Yes!” The jacket also pursues freshness to the absolute limit (laughs).
—It felt fresh, and it’s lovely. The coupling “八月の夜” is royal-road GARNET CROW.
Yuri Nakamura:It is very GARNET CROW-like, so I think longtime fans may feel more at ease with this song. It’s a medium tune full of the melancholy and sadness that GARNET CROW is good at. I think it is a flawless song (laughs). There are many places that bring tears, and the synth lead in the intro and outro has flavor. It takes the royal-road GARNET CROW style, where you understand the point but still end up crying, but I think listeners will hear a “sad pop” that also suits this season and is not too heavy. The lyrics and arrangement both value the feeling of being wrapped in comfort. I think everyone will be able to feel that sense of reassurance too. I hope people relax, let the tension out of their shoulders, and listen at the end of the day.
—With these two songs, it became a single with real breadth.
Yuri Nakamura:Right! They’re a little contrasting. It became a daytime song and a nighttime song. During the day, when you need energy, listen to “Smiley Nation.” And for “八月の夜,” please listen when you feel, “Good work today! I did my best today too.”