In a music industry long whispered to be in recession, there are people desperately trying to create new systems. Year by year, more people calculate upon calculation, trying to build mechanisms that will be even slightly more sensational. In such an era, GARNET CROW, who persist to the end in "song-first" principles, are becoming a rare presence.
Why can they continue to stand near the top of the hit charts without changing their stance? Why can they continue their musical activities without hesitation? Wanting to search for the truth, we made contact with the "GARNET CROW raised in the sound room (sound quality)," who have now produced a new work, *Nostalgia*, that can be called a top-class masterpiece, and conducted this interview.
A Fan Was Drinking Beer and Shouting, "Okamocchi!"
▲DVD *GARNET CROW livescope 2012 ～the tales of memories～*
-- This is our first interview since the release timing of the album *メモリーズ*. What kind of period has this been for GARNET CROW?
Hitoshi Okamoto (g): This summer, we performed at OTODAMA, at Zushi Beach in Kanagawa. When we arrived at the venue, a fan was drinking beer and drunkenly shouting, "Okamocchi!" I thought, "Nice" (laughs).
Yuri Nakamura (vo, songwriting): There was also someone who had spread out a GARNET CROW towel and was sleeping in swim trunks. From our side, it was like, "The live is about to start!" I wondered, "Should we wake him up?"
-- In March, you also held "GARNET CROW livescope 2012 ～the tales of memories～." What kind of live performance do you feel it became?
Yuri Nakamura:Full of content. By having a string quartet join, the sound pressure and warmth of sound were different from usual. Some songs stood out because of that effect, and I think we were able to expand the worldview and let everyone hear it. But there was a section where I sang with only the quartet, and matching with them was difficult. With a band, the first beat is very clear, but with strings, the sound rises in a kind of swelling way. Until I got used to that groove, my singing would sometimes run ahead or lag behind. In the end, I think I somehow passed the line, but when I watch it back on DVD, my face looks extremely tense. And after I finish singing, the feeling of being relieved really shows (laughs). Next time, I would like to try singing with an even larger orchestra behind me.
Hitoshi Okamoto:It feels good. During the live performance, the strings come into my in-ear monitors, but once I start playing guitar, they become hard to hear, so I wanted to stop my hands and listen. Of course, I cannot really do that.
-- Of course.
Yuri Nakamura:(laughs). I would like to watch our own stage live from the audience.
-- There was also Mr. Okamoto's (SUPER LIGHT) section, where you performed "海鳴り."
Hitoshi Okamoto:Usually that is a section where I sing a GARNET CROW song. I suppose it is a good cushion. It is meant to buy time for costume changes, with a longer talk... Ah, on the DVD that part was cut completely. Along with the full performance and a bonus-like ending, it was a little over ten minutes, I think.
-- What impression do you have of the DVD of that live performance, *GARNET CROW livescope 2012 ～the tales of memories～*?
Hitoshi Okamoto:I thought the costume changes were more effective than I had expected. There were costume changes, sections with only strings, and me singing half as a tease. I realized again that having the picture change is necessary. Also, the silly MCs were actually pretty funny, but they were cut cleanly, so that is a little regrettable.
Yuri Nakamura:Because they really are silly.
All:(laughs)
Hitoshi Okamoto:But they are funny!
Yuri Nakamura:That can be something only the people who actually came to the live can enjoy. We did not say anything worth listening to again at home (laughs), so on the DVD, the songs are enough.
-- How long was that live performance in reality?
Yuri Nakamura:A little under three hours, I think. ... Which means, how much did they cut!? We actually talked quite a lot (laughs).
Deliberately Choosing a Song That Does Not Feel Like GARNET CROW
▲Single "Nostalgia" Music Video
-- Next, I would like to talk about the new single "Nostalgia." Personally, I think it is one of the top-class masterpieces in GARNET CROW history. I was overwhelmed by the sharply ringing arrangement and the tremendous heat of the vocal. What impressions or evaluations do you have of it yourselves?
Hitoshi Okamoto:In detail, it is something that seemed as if it had existed before, but had not. It is a fresh song, so I want to perform it live soon.
Yuri Nakamura:Rather, we deliberately chose a song that does not feel like GARNET CROW. The second track, "風の中のオルゴール," was also a single candidate, but this time, more than "likeness," we wanted to throw out a curveball that would make people think, "Oh!" It is a digital specification that does not feel like GARNET CROW. The synth in the intro, the four-on-the-floor disco-tune feeling - first of all, I thought the sound itself was interesting, so in the singing too I expressed a sense of speed, of breaking through, and of moving forward and forward. I wanted people to hear a fairly strong and cool GARNET CROW. The PV also expresses an inorganic, metallic feeling, and I wanted people to feel that kind of coolness.
-- In the previous interview, you said, "Remove taboos. Do things that would have been impossible up to now." Was that intention strong this time as well?
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. I try not to make NGs inside myself. Originally, at the demo stage, it was a more ordinary eight-beat song, with melancholy closer to pop or kayokyoku pushed to the front. But we tightened it up, made it a digital sound, and by making it four-on-the-floor, deliberately brought coolness and a sense of speed forward.
Hitoshi Okamoto:To keep continuing our musical activities with fresh feelings ourselves, it is necessary to bring an unexpected song like this to the A-side. That keeps the freshness. Then, when one day in the future a truly royal-road single comes out, it creates a range, and it would be nice if people say, "We've been waiting for this"... Well, it is a setup.
Yuri Nakamura:A setup!? This is?
-- This is also a serious song, right?
Hitoshi Okamoto:A serious setup!
All:(laughs)
-- You cannot just attach "serious" to anything and make it work!
Yuri Nakamura:It is not a setup!
-- Personally, I strongly approve of your stance of challenging new things, but it also comes with the risk that listeners may not accept it. How do you think about that?
Yuri Nakamura:I want to keep taking risks there. All four members have the attitude of "if we are unsure, let's do it," so we do not become too cautious there. If we hesitate, we choose the adventure that seems interesting. At the root, everyone has the awareness that routine and predictable harmony are not interesting, so we always want to bring in new things.
Hitoshi Okamoto:As a result, it is also significant that the fans accept those things. Even when we think, "Did we go too far this time?" it is unexpectedly okay.
Yuri Nakamura:Recently, we have been performing digital-type songs like this live, and the response has been very good. That feeling can sometimes create a flow of "let's try making this kind of song." In any case, when it comes to adventure or challenge, we are more the type who enjoy doing it.
-- Also, the "Nostalgia" in this song is not at the level of "a little sad." There is even pain in it. Ms. Nakamura, how did you interpret these lyrics?
Yuri Nakamura:This time, I valued the surprise and freshness I felt when I first heard the finished arrangement, and the first impression I had when I first read the lyrics. I sang in an honest, neutral form. If I read deeply and deeply and interpreted it in my own way, I did not want a habit to appear that would even change the melody. I wanted it to be a song listeners could interpret in various ways.
-- As a result, a straight and emotional vocal was recorded. Mr. Okamoto, what impression do you have of the vocal this time?
Hitoshi Okamoto:The long tones feel good. I am repeating myself, but I think it is a vocal that does not break the melodic phrasing, sacrifices nothing, and feels very pleasant to the ear as sound.
-- If this voice and melody were playing in the city, people would react.
Hitoshi Okamoto:That may be true.
-- Not limited to this song, do you ever think about how to make listeners outside GARNET CROW fans turn around?
Hitoshi Okamoto:It is difficult if you say "with guitar," so I do not think of it that way, but I do have the hope. I hope songs we all make can make people other than fans turn around too. I want people who have never listened to GARNET CROW to say, "Oh, this is good."
Yuri Nakamura:When it comes to what we can concretely do for that, it is difficult. But we always hope that somewhere, a trigger will appear that lets even one more person hear our songs.
Raised in the Sound Room, Sound-Quality Raised. Nicely Put.
-- Personally, my image of GARNET CROW is that you create songs you yourselves think are good. I feel you are relatively unconcerned with things beyond that.
Yuri Nakamura:... Unconcerned?
-- In reality, do you think about things like "we want to sell more, and what should we do for that"?
Hitoshi Okamoto:We may really be unconcerned there.
Yuri Nakamura:Do other artists think about that more?
-- Some people devise strategies for that themselves.
Yuri Nakamura:I see.
Hitoshi Okamoto:We do not have that.
Yuri Nakamura:We are "onsitsu-raised," after all (laughs).
-- Greenhouse? Sound quality?
Yuri Nakamura:"Onshitsu" as in a room of sound, and also sound quality. Raised in the sound room. Nicely put.
-- You said "nicely put" yourself (laughs). Then what is the driving force that keeps GARNET CROW's activities going?
Yuri Nakamura:Not getting bored myself. Making fresh songs. There are live performances and many other things, but first of all, not getting bored of making songs. Making them by inertia is the worst. I think it is important that we can still think "this is interesting," or "next time I want to make this kind of song," or "I want to try doing it this way." Also, whether we can feel freshness in each song.
-- Because that exists, GARNET CROW can continue.
Yuri Nakamura:We are not making songs by inertia. We have been doing this for so long, but there are still new discoveries, and parts where we think, "This is interesting," or "This is fun." I suppose that is the driving force. "We want to sell" is not the driving force. That is only about the level of "it would be nice if that happened." We are relatively optimistic. People inside the whirl of making songs are in the eye of the typhoon, so they do not really understand those things. Since our activities are centered on studio work, in that sense the voices from outside do not reach us that much, and we are allowed to make songs in a good environment. That is why we can make what we want to make without being swayed.
-- Still, when you put new elements into GARNET CROW's music, the sounds currently ringing in the world become one option, don't they?
Yuri Nakamura:That happens quite a lot. Music ringing in the streets enters your ears even if you are not consciously trying to listen, right? From among that, if something makes me think, "Oh, this," or "What is this?" I listen properly, and if I think it is interesting, I will try to bring it in. That happens normally. Of course, it is not only the latest popular music, but classical music, folk songs, canzone, chanson - it happens with any music. We are fairly omnivorous. If we think something is good, we bring in anything. Whether we can sublimate it into something original as GARNET CROW is a separate matter.
Hitoshi Okamoto:We are expanding our territory very naturally. This repeats what I said, but in order to maintain fresh feelings ourselves, we have to expand our territory.
-- In the tenth-anniversary interview too, you said you had never faced a breakup crisis or serious crisis. Do you ever feel hesitation about your activities?
Yuri Nakamura:No.
Hitoshi Okamoto:Right. More than ourselves, I am concerned about the influence of the environment. How long the current system in the music industry will continue, for example. I think it is becoming difficult everywhere to continue music. Right now, we are being allowed to do music with pure feelings, but can we continue that forever? I have those worries, but I do not feel hesitation about the way GARNET CROW itself exists.
-- Listening to today's conversation, I thought that no matter where you go, it is about the songs. That is what the four of you think about when doing this work.
Yuri Nakamura:The songs are first. Precisely because good songs are made, that connects to promotion, and because we feel we want many people to hear them, it connects to live performances and to the next work. So unless it begins with songs, no matter how much we ourselves try to step forward, it cannot stand. In short, I think whether people feel, "Ah, this is a good song," is the dividing line of GARNET CROW's evaluation. If that collapses, everything collapses. So we absolutely will not lower the quality of the songs. We are strict there and do not compromise. Because every song can be delivered with confidence, we can accept interviews openly, do live performances, and the staff can work hard; receiving those feelings from the staff makes us think, "We have to make even better songs." There is no merit in breaking that.
-- Raised in the sound room to the end.
Yuri Nakamura:Let's make that the catchphrase! "GARNET CROW, raised in the sound room" fits nicely too!
-- Understood. I will use it!
Yuri Nakamura:The sound is not sweet! ... You do not have to print that (laughs).
Interviewer:Tetsuo Hiraga