violetchain 912 Posted June 21, 2015 Not my interview, I just translated from here: http://2youmag.com/2youmag_old/interview/2014/no40/noa.html My Japanese sucks, so I marked anything that might be way off with a *. -- A band that has performed at festivals like FUJI ROCK, COMIN’ KOBE, SSMC and embarked on large-scale tours, Osaka’s NOA is certainly a young, first-rate band that has shown growth and one that THE NINTH APOLLO can be proud of, and now they’ve released a four-track single that could be called their defining work “3days of April / Sekai no owari to yoake mae”. This is their first release in a year, and it clearly presents the two pillars of the band: the melodic punk with English lyrics from Nishiura Shunsuke and Japanese rock from Tsumoto Aki, which coexist in this work. We hope you can appreciate this release; four songs packed with the essence of the current NOA. Q: This is your first release in a year, what were you up to during that time? Aki: We were playing a lot of concerts. The year went by in the blink of an eye. Nishiura: Before we noticed, 2013 was over. (laughs) Q: Your previous release “picture diary” was your first to feature Japanese lyrics. What were the reactions to that like? Aki: I think it went over pretty well. I was a little nervous about that though. (laughs) Nishiura: It was a spontaneous decision to start using Japanese lyrics. Aki just said that he wanted to try singing in Japanese. I think Aki has given NOA an even greater range of possibilities by doing that. Q: So NOA has two pillars now, Aki-kun singing in Japanese and Nishiura-kun singing in English? Aki: It’s not something we were aiming for, this is more a result of us each just making music we like. We want to do different things. But I’m starting to think that that’s a good thing. We don’t want to be a band that people get tired of listening to, so we’re not going to fight the urge to do different things. Q: So, is it safe to say that instead of a starting the band with a clear genre or theme in mind, NOA was formed by the members bringing together the types of music they liked? Aki: We did start this band with a plan, but it was never really like “Let’s do this kind of music”. Nishiura: Even now, I don’t think we’ve really decided on one particular genre. Q: Of course. When did you start working on this new single? Nishiura: Sometime around last summer. Aki: Right after we finished our “picture diary” tour, we started thinking about the next move. We’d decided that we were going to make a single next, but since we were doing too many lives we didn’t really get a chance to work on it until the tour was over. Q: On this single you can really see the different colours of the band - the melodic punk side and the guitar rock side - coexisting. Aki: Yes, I guess it came out that way. Nishiura: Yes, but we didn’t really have a concept in mind. It feels more like Aki and I both just did what we wanted and it came out this way. Q: Aki-kun and Nishiura-kun’s songs clearly have a different colour, but the way that NOA can contain both of them is interesting, isn’t it? Aki: I’m happy you feel that way. I started wanting to try to make music in Japanese, so this single is half Japanese, but I think it really reflects the current NOA well. Q: So, how do you approach each other’s music? Aki: How do we…? Nishiura: We don’t really interfere with each other’s work. I guess you could say that we respect the creator’s intention. Aki: Yeah, we don’t interfere with each other. Nishiura: Aki’s songs are Aki’s songs. It’s the same with mine. Aki: Regardless of whose song we use, if the three of us play it, it becomes NOA. Q; So maybe it’s like the way The Beatles worked? Like how even if each member would bring in songs that were completely different, they would bring them into existence together? Aki: That, that’s cool, isn’t it? (laughs) From now on, we’re going to describe ourselves like that. (laughs) Q: In your mind, what kind of band is NOA? Aki: We’re by no means a cheerful band, we’re not really a band will get people in high spirits or make them smile, but I want NOA to be a band that respects the individual feelings of people who listen to our music, and one that helps people see things in a deeper light.* Q: So, let’s come back to this again, what kind of work is this single to you? Aki: Since I think it’s natural to think that our most recent work is the best, naturally, this new single is our best yet. Nishiura: Personally, I think that this work is an important foothold for our next step. I think it’s easy to see where the band is headed by listening to it. Q: Does the band have a specific outlook? Aki: I can’t really pinpoint one. We’ll do what we like to do, and then I want a variety of other people to give us their impressions.* Nishiura: NOA has two pillars, but I think it’s when those two pillars finally meet somewhere that we’ll really be able to see where we’re headed. Q: I really feel that you can see your individual colours clearly in this work. I’m excited to see how those two colours will mix. Nishiura: Since they’re so clearly divided on this single, we’re also excited to see how we can bring them together. Q: Lastly, please leave a message for your listeners. Yuu: I want people to listen to this single during their everyday lives. It’s not really for special times, so if people listen to it during their daily routine I’d be happy.* Nishiura: There are different ways of listening to it depending on the person, so I’d be really happy if a lot of different people listened to it. Aki: I don't think there's any point in saying “Listen to it this way!”, I’d be happy if everyone listened to it freely. Please give it a try. -- 3days of April 世界の終わりと夜明け前 / Sekai no owari to yoake mae http://www.indiesmusic.com/musicvideo/video.asp?id=12295 1 beni reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
