Now, let’s move on to our last topic. I was allowed the very special right to listen to your new song, “Butterfly” (laughs).Fujiwara: Thank you.
It’s an amazing song. This will surely be the centerpiece of your next album.Naoi: It will.
Fujiwara: I get that feeling too.
It packs just the right amount of heat to act as the engine for an album. But what I was surprised by when I listened to it was that it’s EDM. It’s really and truly EDM. Chama, weren’t you surprised as well?Naoi: No, actually, I wasn’t surprised.
Fujiwara: (laughs)
Naoi:
Fujiwara-kun had us listen to it after almost all of the arrangement was already done. It already had the bass, and an analogue sequencer. But I was used to it already. It being electro, I mean, because “ray” was like that.
Well, that’s true. Four-on-the-floor (straight beat, 4/4) is one of the standards when it comes to Bump.читать дальше
Naoi: It is. “Tentai Kansoku” is the same way. If things had been different, we might have ended up with an arrangement closer to this one. We just won’t quit with the four-on-the-floor.
Fujiwara: Both “Lostman” and “Lily” are like that.
Naoi: But we didn’t do it because we were trying to make electro (laughs). “ray” isn’t very electro either. And this time with “Butterfly,” it doesn’t sound too much like EDM. It’s more like, “Oh, this is what it sounds like” (laughs) (офигенно объяснил, Тяма, молодец ). But if we’re talking about being surprised, I was surprised that it’s such a good song. Right away, we dug into the lyrics – they’re super funny. The way they’re phrased, there’s only one person on the face of this earth who would sing about something like this. We teased him about it being titled “Butterfly” too.
But this title is really great. “Butterfly” refers to tears, and it’s incredible that tears turn into butterflies.
Naoi: It is incredible. Butterflies are beautiful things, not tears, as you would normally think.
Listening to the lyrics, they’re clearly butterflies. This is amazing.
Naoi: It’s just like Bump.
Just like Bump (laughs). Even though you are Bump. Hide-chan, what do you think of the song?
Masu: Along with Chama, I wasn’t surprised that it’s EDM. I was surprised at how much was already done when it came to the demo tape. I’m in charge of drums, but there wasn’t really anything for me to do (laughs). My role was all already thought out.
I think that this will definitely turn into a very emotional sort of sound during lives.
Masu: In the end it became a much more physical thing than the demo.
What about you, Masukawa?
Masukawa: Like the other two said, the demo already had some great acoustic guitar on it (laughs). Certainly at first listen, the impression that I got was that it’s very EDM-like…
Fujiwara: That fill-in phrase.
Masukawa: I really got that impression, but if you think about it, it fits in with our band sound. It’s jam-packed with our real skills, our abilities pushed to the limit (laughs). All the instruments were already on there. It’s like a cutting-edge sound for us, and it’s really cool. And, the way Fuji-kun sings on top of all that is super funny (laughs). It’s like a refreshing feeling, for whatever reason (laughs). I remember feeling like it was a breath of fresh air. It was almost too new (laughs).
Naoi: Again, this bass line is really good (laughs). I was beat. Of course I don’t want to play the exact same thing, because that was what Fujiwara-kun made. And more than anything I wanted to impress the other three. I wanted them to tell me my bass line was really good; I wanted to see their expressions. That’s one of the vices of being a musician. So I deconstructed all of it. And then I went back to the original (laughs).
(Laughs) What the hell.
Naoi: I went back and ended up not changing a single thing (laughs).
Fujiwara: But the process itself is important.
Naoi: So yeah, Shibuya, I didn’t change a thing (laughs).
I get it already (laughs).
Naoi: [TN: I am uncertain about this entire part as I’m not versed in musical terms] Fuji-kun asked me, “I put a lot of thought into that, but you’re setting it off to the side?” And I said I thought I’d try something else first. Naturally I wanted it to turn into something more than just a try (laughs). But “Butterfly” had it’s own place. It’s very “Butterfly” for it to be 16-beat. I wanted to stand out as a bassist, so I tried to ignore the 16-beat. It was horrible (laughs). When we were recording and I asked Fuji-kun how it sounded, he said that I had better run it up to the next level. I did, and when I got home and listened to it, it sounded exactly like the demo (laughs). (ЛОЛ)
(Laughs) But that process is important, yes?
Naoi: I don’t want you to misunderstand me here, but Fuji-kun is the type to make a demo and then forget all about it.
Fujiwara: It’s true, it’s true.
Naoi: It wasn’t like he guided me when it came to the bass line. He really did forget about it. Even his own guitar parts; on the day of recording he has to re-listen to them. He sometimes even denies that he played it in the first place.
Fujiwara: I often can’t figure out how I played it (laughs).
Naoi: He’ll go to the engineer and say, “We added this part in later, right?” And the engineer will say, “No, we didn’t add it. You played it” (laughs). And he’ll look at the data that proves he played it and say, “Oh, I did play it. What a pain” (laughs). So you can see how he’d forget the bass.
I think your fans will find this to be hilarious (laughs). Although I was surprised that “Butterfly” is EDM, how do you feel about it, Fuji-kun?
Fujiwara: I didn’t think it was EDM in the sense that I didn’t set out to make EDM. I started writing new songs around May or June of this year. This song “Butterfly” was the one of the first I completed. When I first recorded the demo tape, it wasn’t 16-beat yet. To oversimplify it, it was fine as just guitar and vocals. If I’m to put it in more concrete terms, it was eight-beat, I think. I muted my acoustic and played while singing. For some reason it sounded funny (laughs). Finally it ended up as something closer to 16-beat. When I played it by myself in eight-beat, it had a different title, but because I changed it to 16-beat, and because it starts off differently, I knew it had to change the title. The title was more stiff, originally (laughs).
Chama, you phrased it perfectly earlier. “Why are tears butterflies?” And, “Why EDM?” “Why is it this emotional?” There are many similar questions that arise when listening to it. Many different layers pile on top of one another to create this kind of song. It’s a song about tears, about sadness. Naturally, the title would be stiff. I don’t know what kind of song it was in its earlier forms, but if I’m to guess, it was a little heavier.
Fujiwara: That’s right. It was heavy.
I think it’s amazing that it went from that to a four-on-the-floor EDM song.
Fujiwara: Yes.
This phrase from the chorus is everything. “You gave wings to your tears / they sparkled in delight and flew away.” Tears are something that fall; they’re sad, they don’t fly. Why don’t they fall from your eyes? (laughs)
Naoi: See? It’s not like we’re in space (laughs).
They can’t resist gravity and go up instead of down. Despite that, they receive wings and fly away. We all have tears, but you’re saying that we can give them wings depending on our thoughts and emotions. And if we do, they fly into the sky and become butterflies. All based on that word, “butterfly,” this song carries an emotional melody, it carries that beat, and even though in the end it’s a song about tears, it’s somehow EDM (laughs). In other words, I think it’s a sort of abstraction of pop. “Butterfly” is an apt title. I’m saying this in place of the person who made it; it should be you who says it (laughs).
Fujiwara: (Laughs) Thank you.
Naoi: Although we’re in the midst of recording right now, there’s something I really want to ask Fuji-kun. How were you able to write so many songs in such a short period? Why is each and every song so representative of the band? This is just like Bump! Although all I would get is an, “Eh? What?” in response (laughs). What I want to say is, everything is still chaos. I have no idea what’s going to happen next. But really great things are happening now. Things that we’ve never done before, for example. So let’s meet for another interview once the album is done.
Yes, let’s. I get the feeling that the next album will carry the theme of “Butterfly” throughout. The message, the sound, the lyrics, the melody; everything. The only thing left is to see if I’m right.
Naoi: Even for us, there’s too much going on to be able to say (laughs). But it’s not going to be all EDM.
I thought so. But I still think that the whole thing will be surmised by “Butterfly.”
Fujiwara: Hopefully you’ll be able to listen to it soon.
Naoi: Yeah, let’s talk again when it’s finished.
Now then, because this remains the only certain thing: I’ll be waiting for your appearance on Countdown Japan.
All four: Thank you!З.Ы. Не знаю, как остальные отнеслись к тому, что Мотоо опять в одно лицо написал все партии, но Тяма его, по-моему, немножко возненавидел И даже не за что, что у него отняли право заниматься своими непосредственными обязанностями в студии, а за то, что, принципиально начав писать другую басовую партию с нуля, он всё равно в итоге вернулся к партии Мотоо И вот за этот 16-битный ритм, возмутительно ограничивающий тямину свободу самовыражения, он, наверное, никогда не простит эту песню (в отличие от Мотоо, которого он стопудово уже давным давно простил).
Мы с А. вчера с таким упоением предавались отчаянию по поводу слащаво-сопливых строк припева, приведённых в интервью, что как-то упустили из виду, что в нужном контексте они будут звучать вполне адекватно. Сегодня я на свежую голову перечитала и, должна сказать, всё не так плохо, как казалось. Слёзы с крыльями - это, конечно, в любом случае ахтунг, но, может, в куплетах им найдётся логичное объяснение.
А что касается музыкальной стороны вопроса, я сегодня весь день пытаюсь представить, что Мотоо там мог насочинять, что было бы "EDM, но не совсем EDM, как Ray, но с совершенно новым звучанием, но всё равно в духе Bumps; грустная, но гораздо легче, чем задумывалась изначально, с базовой басовой линией, но крутой басовой линией" В общем, представила себе нечто максимально близкое к Ван Дайковскому Let Go. Посмотрим, насколько я окажусь (не)права ))