same, i cannot even imagine them releasing a song i don't like :'D even my least favorite Purple Stone song (FORGERY) has grown on me somewhat over time.
they have released a handful of 'electro-heavy' party songs so this isn't radically new by their standards. what's new is that it's an A-side this time and they made a PV for it i wonder if their B sides will be more 'serious' like Aoi yami and Kabukicho Butterfly..? either way i'm not likely to complain since i love both sides of PS <3
Purple Stone will release their new single “Kabukicho Butterfly” on 4/20. As hinted at in the title of what will be the band’s 4th single, the title track tells of a “butterfly of the night” fluttering in the interstices of soberness and madness.
A heavy sound that breeds a heightened sense of danger in thrill and excitement; but along with it, a sweet poppish melody that seduces with latent addictiveness. Dramatically coloring the track is the band’s unique arrangement which fuses darkness and flamboyance. While the title track has been informed by the band's commitment to “do straightforward rock,” Purple Stone’s extraordinary knack for bringing different elements together can be seen and heard in much of their music. At the same time, the B-sides speak to the members' desire of connecting their past with the present. We present you an interview that keenly explores these very sounds and lyrics.
***
Q: Your new single “Kabukicho Butterfly” will be released on 4/20. Were there any thematic considerations prior to composition?
Keiya: We began by agreeing to do some straightforward rock this time. We wanted to take our music seriously and not resort to any cheap gimmicks. With this in mind we eventually selected “Kabukicho Butterfly” out of the various songs we wrote.
Fuma: There were quite a few songs we wrote at first actually.
GAK: Yeah, especially songs in contention for the single’s title track.
Keiya: When we were discussing which song to select as the single’s title track, the B-side “RIVER” caught our attention initially. However we all felt that we could take it a little further. And so we collectively began to look at song after song. Sometime later we realized that we might be overdoing things, so we returned to what we started off with: let’s do an honest rock song with a strong chorus.
Q: And so you ended up with “Kabukicho Butterfly.”
Keiya: Yup. After spending a long time on my guitar, I eventually came up with a chord progression I really liked. And after humming some melody lines on top of that, we finally found what we were looking for! We then wrote the demo song for “Kabukicho Butterfly” and had GAK arrange it.
GAK: Keiya put a lot of effort into his demo track; the guitar riffs, etc., were all great. So the arrangement job I had was quite simple. We put in a lot of effort thinking about the chorus actually. The chorus we ended up with uses slash chords that give a deeper flavor to an otherwise straightforward sound, and so we wanted to make the best use of that. If it’s too simplistic the song won’t be memorable; so for the bridge we used a “four on the floor” rhythm to ground some of the heavier riffs.
Q: Seems like heavy and stylish sound elements leave a stronger impression. As for the song’s lyrics, they deal with one’s awakening of love towards the “butterfly of the night”?
Fuma: Yeah, we wrote these lyrics because we wanted to be asked about it. *laughs*
Keiya: *laughs* We thought the interviewer would surely ask, so I didn’t ask Fuma when we were recording the song *laughs*
Q: Thank you *laughs* Is that because you had a mental image of the “butterfly of the night” when you were listening to the song?
Fuma: Not really. The thing is, we often perform at Shinjuku Ruido K4 when we’re in Tokyo, and so we frequently visit Kabukicho. Each time, we always leave Osaka at night and reach Kabukicho in the morning, and after the live is over we leave Tokyo on the same night.
Q: In other words, you don’t get to see Kabukicho late at night and at dawn?
Fuma: That’s right. We always look at the streets before us and thought we might find something interesting there. I wrote these lyrics based largely on the impressions we got. And so you could say this set of lyrics is the product of our fantasy *laughs* Still, the feelings associated with our departure from Kabukicho are drawn from what we’ve really experienced.
Q: I can understand how Kabukicho is always a mysterious place in popular imagination, and it’s exciting for that reason.
Fuma: At first we thought Kabukicho would be a crazy place at night. But when we reached at 4am in the morning, we felt that everything was calm. Although that might also be because we were all exhausted from the travelling *laughs* We thought it was interesting how the streets of Kabukicho had a certain kind of doubleness. Likewise, while the melody of “Kabukicho Butterfly” is pretty, the riffs are relatively heavy. A song like this can’t possibly have lyrics like “Everyone, let’s live life to the fullest!” As I played in my mind with this notion of duality, I thought we could also harness the image of Kabukicho in a similar way.
Keiya: When I first saw the song title, I thought “what the hell is this?!” *laughs* However this is exactly what I had in mind actually, with the duality of the lyrics coinciding nicely with the “splendor and pain” of the composition. Without adding anything superfluous to the song, we decided to let the lyrics bring out the intended atmosphere. We think the song can express the doubleness we want.
Q: Especially in its chorus, the song resonates really deeply.
Keiya: The recording was challenging though. Usually I’m able to sing in the full-blooded rock style, but the chorus here is punctuated with a number of slash chords that softened the feel, and if I’d tried to be forceful in the vocals it became all too much. So I went along with the flow of the song. We did the recording for “RIVER” before this song, and at that time Fuma advised me to sing in a softer way. After recording “Kabukicho butterfly” with a slightly modified style of vocals, it struck me that I had never done a song on such a scale.
Q: So it’s not a song that you can do simply by putting all your emotions into it?
Keiya: That’s right. I had to look at the lyrics, and think carefully about where I can pause, breathe, enter with a lighter touch, enter more heavily; otherwise the song wouldn’t convey what we want. The idea that we can move our audience simply by deciding on a worldview, getting into the mood and start singing—that’s something I can’t agree with as a singer. There are details and nuances in this song that we can only do justice to after thinking through them.
[Page 2]
Q: How was the guitar recording for “Kabukicho Butterfly”?
GAK: I tried to incorporate some of my own take into the song while staying faithful to Keiya's original demo recording. Also, we changed the amp midway through production. We finally replaced our old one with Fractal Audio’s Axe-FX II, something we’ve wanted since around 3 years ago. Until then we've been using an amp simulator, but Axe-FX II had a different dimension. As the results were even better than we expected, we used it for the recording just 2 days after we purchased it. At that time we still weren’t very sure about some of its functions *laughs*
Q: By the way, what amp simulator were you using?
GAK: ENGL. Actually I had finished recording the guitar for this song using that model. But other than the B-melo [i.e. the 2nd verse of the song] I re-recorded everything again. For the B-melo I only wanted to change its feel a little, so I did some editing on the previous take.
Q: Even though you dropped the tuning quite a bit, we can still hear the guitar clearly.
GAK: Yes, I used Drop-B tuning but it’s still clear. I paid quite a lot of attention to that as well as the equalizer settings. I think I managed to do that pretty well.
Fuma: For the bass I just went all out as I wanted to give a strong drive to the song *laughs* Our song has a strong melody so I had to make sure it doesn’t distract from that. I also ensured this is a part I can play while being wild at the same time so I decided to make the bass simple while strong enough to carry the song.
Q: Let's talk about the B-side “RIVER” (from the A-type).
Fuma: Originally there was this demo GAK made around 3 years ago that we had put aside for a while. At that time we felt that we couldn’t really make use of it. But we do regularly take a look at what we can salvage from our old materials; when we revisited this demo we felt that this song’s really cool. After tweaking its melody and arrangement, we built it up to the song we have now. It has changed so much I think we could even say it’s now a different song?
GAK: When I first made that I didn’t think of it as a complete song but I recorded it anyway after it came to my mind. I wouldn’t have minded even if it had been rejected, but since Fuma gave it a great melody I wanted to try arranging it. While this was initially my song, because of the different melody I was able to look at it from an entirely different perspective, and “RIVER” became a song totally unlike the original. I also have more experience now than before, and I think I can now finally express in music what I had then wanted to do.
Fuma: When I heard this 3 years ago, I thought “the chord progression in the chorus has a rock feel, but it may also be suited to a more pop-oriented direction.” However at that time the melody was really heavy and it was difficult to get away from that dominant impression. When we revisited it again we were able to look at it again in a new light, and I thought it’s definitely possible to put a great melody to this. After some thought we came up with the chorus, and soon after, the other parts of the song. After that I wrote its lyrics.
Keiya: It’s hard to believe that the lyrics of “RIVER” were written by the same person who wrote the lyrics of “Kabukicho Butterfly” *laughs*
Fuma: *laughs* Since Purple Stone is a band that centers on Keiya’s vocals we have a lot of rock songs, but we also wanted to try something different. “RIVER” could become a really grand track if it had the right lyrics--and so conceptually I tried make it epic. As I was wondering about the theme of the lyrics, I thought of the rivers near the places I’d lived. I cast my mind back to the times when I was in high school and wrote the lyrics.
Q: So you’re depicting life by using rivers as a metaphor?
Fuma: Well, rivers continue flowing onward regardless of rocks and other obstacles they encounter. I liken that to how we should accept people into our lives. While these lyrics are based on what I felt in high school, I don’t think I would have been able to write such lyrics at that time. Because I disliked people back then. I hated noise so I always escaped to the river and did stuff like… playing the trumpet on the river bank *laughs*
Keiya: I see. You live in your own world huh? *laughs*
Fuma: Nah, it’s because at that time there was a ska punk band I knew. I thought it would be cool if I can play the trumpet *laughs*
Keiya: Oh? That’s really cool though.
Fuma: I know right? During the evening I would be playing the trumpet by the river and thinking to myself, “Wow, this is awesome. I’m really cool.” *laughs* But I gave up after learning how to play do-re-mi-so-fa-la-ti-do. *laughs*
GAK: Any videos of that?
Fuma: No! Even if there are I won’t show them to anyone *laughs*
Keiya: *laughs* When I heard the new demo for this song I said “let’s make this into a single.” It’s also because when I’m concentrating on writing one song, the 2 of them are usually on to some other work. So I felt that we should finish the lyrics for this song and have it prepared first. I also like the sound of water—when I was a kid I always sit by the riverbank; and when I was told this song is called “RIVER,” I thought it was written for me *laughs* I wanted to sing it the moment I heard it! The lyrics are positive and it became a song that was so close to me emotionally, there were even times I felt lonely after I was done recording it.
Q: That’s because many parts of the song personally relate with you?
Keiya: Just like in the lyrics, when I was young I’d go sit by the river whenever I’m unhappy. On my way home in the evening I’d catch the smell of dinner drifting from the houses nearby. This song is like a throwback to my past, and it’s nostalgic for me. When I was recording the vocals for “RIVER” it hit me emotionally. And I think it was the part that goes “no matter where to, let us go, river” in the last chorus where I felt like tearing up *laughs* That was how I gave life to this song. Like I mentioned when we were talking about “Kabukicho Butterfly” it’s important to give thought to the nuances of the lyrics, but I also want to deliver the vocals in a natural way.
GAK: For this song: other than the chorus, the guitar arrangement always centers on one main chord. It’s something quite atypical for Purple Stone, but I like a somewhat blunt approach like this. I admire nu metal bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, and I thought to incorporate some of that into our songs.
Fuma: As for the bass of “RIVER,” I stay away from anything that’s disruptive or superfluous. Basically that’s my style. My bass carries the song with simple phrases.
Q: I had the impression that the meandering bass lines of the song created a river-like feel for the song.
Fuma: I’m glad you could feel that way. Actually I hadn't even considered that *laughs* I’m always direct and honest with my bass-playing. I think a lot when I compose songs or write lyrics, but that’s not the case when I’m playing the bass.
Keiya: As long as it sounds good right?
Fuma: Yup. It’s good enough for me to know that I’ll get a good sound with a certain root and groove. I’m not that particular with the phrasing.
[Page 3]
Q: “PARADISE DANCE” (from B-type) is a heavy track with electronic elements.
GAK: I wanted something closer to EDM, which is different from our usual sound. This was also something I did around 3 years ago. I brushed up on the original melody and arrangement, and we distributed a demo version of the revised song at our label’s live. As it was a live-distributed CD there were people who wanted to listen but couldn’t get a copy, so we re-recorded it with a slightly different arrangement.
Keiya: We also changed the lyrics. I wrote the lyrics for the version on our live-distributed CD, but we wanted something different for the song this time, so I asked Fuma if he had any ideas. There were portions where we edited the lyrics, and other parts where entire sections have been re-written. In other words the final lyrics are co-written by Fuma and I. This is a nice song to dance to and ultimately we want everyone to get wild together, but I also didn’t want people to look at this and think, “oh it’s a party song! yay!” So, “What does it mean to be made to be manipulated?”—that’s also the theme of this song. [*Short note: Here, Keiya is playing on the two verbs “odoru” (“to dance”) and “odorasu” (“to manipulate”), which share the homophonic causative-passive verb “odorasareru” that means either “to be made to dance” or “to be manipulated”]
Q: That’s profound.
Keiya: With a lot of things that happen in the world, we don’t really know what’s the truth and what isn’t. Even when we feel that there’s something wrong, the moment an influential person says “this is correct” we’re compelled to think in a certain way. At the same time it doesn’t mean that we think it’s appropriate to rise against that in a violent manner. This is a dilemma inhabited by a lot of people, and it’s a paradox that we have to accept and live with. Are we being manipulated and played with?—that’s what's at stake in the lyrics.
GAK: I was particular when it came to the guitar. As a heavy song that makes use of down-tuning, I thought the sound of a humbucking pickup would be suitable. However because this song’s riffs require a coil tap, I played it with a single-coil. To make sure the bass is pronounced, I sought to cut off the unnecessary low frequencies. After some experimenting, the guitar lines became more distinct and no longer clashes with the synthesizer. I definitely learned something from this process. I can get a solid sound for the riffs by using a single-coil, while for the chorus I can create a heavier sound with the humbucking pickup.
Fuma: This song was written for lives in mind, so that’s the atmosphere we tried to gear it towards. Keiya has been quite philosophical about the lyrics, but actually when we play it lives we just all get high, so… *laughs* Although, since we already have the bass lines of the synthesizer and the guitar in the mix, if the bass is too strong it might oversaturate the low frequency range. So for this song I had to restrain myself with the bass *laughs*
Keiya: I also tried to create a party ambience when recording the vocals for this song. For this kind of songs the lyrics might be a little difficult to follow, and I had to switch around some of the word positions in the lyrics.
Q: I see.
Keiya: I recorded the vocals for this song at my place, and I did it at night. I had turned off all the lights to create a party mood with the spotlight shining on myself. When I listened to the recording the next morning, it was awful *laughs* That wouldn’t do. So I waited until an afternoon when the weather was nice, opened all the windows, and did a re-recording. I thought it would be nice to have a band mic, so I held a condenser microphone in my hands *laughs*
Q: Now that it's possible to do recordings at your own place, it seems things have become really different *laughs* Anyway, it has been only 4 months since your last release “Kaitenmokuba” but you’ve already come up with another single everyone can’t wait to listen to.
Fuma: We also thought hard about the artwork for this release. The cover art of the A-type was generated by mixing up all 3 of our faces. The CD image is another version of the “face” in the cover art. So there are actually 3 versions altogether: the cover art, A-type CD image, and B-type CD image. We did this because we wanted our fans who buy our CDs to enjoy not just our songs. The PV is also interesting, so I hope they can enjoy everything we’ve put out.
GAK: For me personally, this is a song that allowed me to take a good look at what my guitar can do. I was able to get good results from some of my experimentation, and that will be useful for the future. Even though we've just finished the current single, I can’t wait to start recording for our next release.
Keiya: All 3 songs in this single are tracks that we think exemplify us. While it’s usually the case that B-sides are thought of as inferior songs, this time we felt that this release is good enough to be thought of as a triple A-side. These are songs all 3 of us came up with collectively and this collaborative effort left a deep impression on us. If you listen carefully, you might even be able to tell that this melody is Fuma’s, the arrangement is GAK’s, this word here is Keiya’s, and so on. This is the product of the chemistry between the members of Purple Stone, and that’s really what we want our fans to savor. Please play all 3 songs on repeat till you drop! *laughs*
歌舞伎町バタフライ 妖しい羽根 見せてヒラヒラ 綺麗な君を
Kabukichou batafurai ayashii hane misete hirahira kirei na kimi wo 捕まえたいけど 追いかけてたい 夢見続ける 歌舞伎町バタフライ
Tsukamaetai kedo oikaketetai yume mitsuzukeru kabukichou batafurai
愛されている どんな人にも 女神のような微笑みで
Aisareteiru donna hito ni mo megami no you na hohoemi de 胸は高鳴る 淡い期待が チラついて仕方ない
Mune wa takanaru awai kitai ga chiratsuite shikata nai
悪い噂 気にも留めない 凛とした 君の生き方
Warui uwasa ki ni mo todomenai rin to shita kimi no ikikata 誰も触れない 欲望と色気の中で 今宵ユラユラユラ
Dare mo sawarenai yokubou to iroke no naka de koyoi yura yura yura
歌舞伎町バタフライ 煌めいて 理性と裏腹 手を伸ばして
Kabukichou batafurai kirameite risei to urahara te wo nobashite 壊れないように 抱き締めたい ひとつになれたなら
Kowarenai you ni dakishimetai hitotsu ni nareta nara 歌舞伎町バタフライ 舞い散ってく 君の鱗粉に またやられて
Kabukichou batafurai maichitteku kimi no rinpun ni mata yararete 半分も正気じゃ ないのかもね 魅せられ続け 狂い咲くバタフライ
Hanbun mo shouki ja nai no ka mo ne miseraretsuzuke kuruisaku batafurai
小さい時に 聴いてた歌が 少し違って聴こえてる
Chiisai toki ni kiiteta uta ga sukoshi chigatte kikoeteru あの日みたいな 弾む鼓動を 忘れたくないな
Ano hi mitai na hazumu shoudou wo wasuretakunai na
回りきった 時計の針 帰らない 人ゴミに紛れて
Mawarikitta tokei no hari kaeranai hitogomi ni magirete 朝を迎えに 艶めいていく 気持ちハラハラハラ
Asa wo mukae ni tsuyameiteiku kimochi hara hara hara
歌舞伎町バタフライ 恋焦がれ ココロ逆らえず 流れ流され
Kabukichou batafurai koi kogare kokoro sakaraezu nagare nagasare いびつな愛も 純粋にみえる 魔法にかかってるよ
Ibitsu na ai mo junsui ni mieru mahou ni kakatteru yo 歌舞伎町バタフライ 色取り取り 照明に照らされ 微笑む君を
Kabukichou batafurai irotoridori shoumei ni terasare hohoemu kimi wo 見てるだけで 刺激が強くて 痺れてフラフラ 溶け合うバタフライ
Miteru dake de shigeki ga tsuyokute shibirete furafura tokeau batafurai
羽根を休める 花咲かすよ 僕の中に 一輪の花を
Hane wo yasumete hana sakasu yo boku no naka ni ichirin no hana wo 甘い蜜が溢れている 君だけが知ってる場所
Amai mitsu ga afureteiru kimi dake ga shitteru basho
歌舞伎町バタフライ 妖しい羽根 見せてヒラヒラ 綺麗な君を
Kabukichou batafurai ayashii hane misete hirahira kirei na kimi wo 捕まえたいけど 追いかけてたい 夢見続ける 歌舞伎町バタフライ
Tsukamaetai kedo oikaketetai yume mitsuzukeru kabukichou batafurai 華麗に舞う 歌舞伎町バタフライ
Karei ni mau kabukichou batafurai
黄昏てゆく空 一日が終わる
Tasogareteyuku sora ichinichi ga owaru 何か不安な時には いつもこの場所に来る
Nanika fuan na toki ni wa itsumo kono basho ni kuru
廻り廻ってく時代 見えなくなってく未来 雨に濡れる日もある
Mawari mawatteku jidai mienakunatteku mirai ame ni nureru hi mo aru 誰かに頼ってたい そんな自分は嫌い でも君と生きたい
Dareka ni tayottetai sonna jibun wa kirai demo kimi to ikitai
あの河のように 流れるように river river It's my way
Ano kawa no you ni nagareru you ni river river It's my way この身を任せ 何処までも行こう river river river
Kono mi wo makase doko made mo ikou river river river
君は痛みを知ってるから 優しく出来るんだね
Kimi wa itami wo shitteru kara yasashiku dekirunda ne いつか僕もそれを知って 一つの流れになれたら
Itsuka boku mo sore wo shitte hitotsu no nagare ni naretara
どれくらい信じてる 尋ねることはしない わざとらしいこの世界で
Dore kurai shinjiteru tazuneru koto wa shi nai waza to rashii kono sekai de 何度迷ってもまた 立ち上がれたのは 君がいてくれたから
Nando mayottemo mata tachiagareta no wa kimi ga itekureta kara
深さを見せず ただ微笑んで river river like you
Fukasa wo misezu tada hohoende river river like you 君の中なら 沈むとしても いいや river river
Kimi no naka nara shizumu to shitemo ii ya river river
やがて来る未来で 終わりを迎えるなら 君はどんな風がいい
Yagate kuru mirai de owari wo mukaeru nara kimi wa donna fuu ga ii 小さな椅子で二人 寄り添い微笑みながら 静かに待ちたい
Chiisa na isu de futari yorisoi hohoemi nagara shizuka ni machitai
あの河のように 流れるように river river It's my way
Ano kawa no you ni nagareru you ni river river It's my way この身を任せ 何処までも行こう river river river
Kono mi wo makase doko made mo ikou river river river
深さを見せず ただ微笑んで river river like you
Fukasa wo misezu tada hohoende river river like you 君の中へと 飲み込まれてたい river river river
Kimi no naka e to nomikomaretetai river river river
Isshiki here Been stalking/reading this website since last week so why not create an account ? So to the MH community , nice to meet you
Been listening to vkei songs for the past 2 years - kinda short but that's because i didnt discover it early Can't play any instruments so I would love to be able to play the electric guitar
My favorite vkei bands are : ( in alphabetical order/ not a full list cause there's MOREEE )
Isshiki here Been stalking/reading this website since last week so why not create an account ? So to the MH community , nice to meet you
Been listening to vkei songs for the past 2 years - kinda short but that's because i didnt discover it early Can't play any instruments so I would love to be able to play the electric guitar
My favorite vkei bands are : ( in alphabetical order/ not a full list cause there's MOREEE )
Isshiki here Been stalking/reading this website since last week so why not create an account ? So to the MH community , nice to meet you
Been listening to vkei songs for the past 2 years - kinda short but that's because i didnt discover it early Can't play any instruments so I would love to be able to play the electric guitar
My favorite vkei bands are : ( in alphabetical order/ not a full list cause there's MOREEE )
isshikiii reacted to hiroki in Purple Stone new maxi single "パニックパニック！(panic panic!)" release
isshikiii got a reaction from CAT5 in oh hello hello
isshikiii got a reaction from paradoxal in oh hello hello