violetchain 912 Posted October 11, 2015 Again, not my interview. I just translated it from Japanese. Here's the original article: http://2youmag.com/2youmag_old/interview/2014/no38/ever.html -- A three-piece band with a unique point of view located squarely in the middle of Nagoya’s melodic punk scene, EVERLONG will release their first full-length album “Plant Worm”. Calling their music “poppy, simple and catchy”, they’re experiencing a big surge in popularity nationwide. We hope that you can see how they have progressed since their previous release “Lovers”. Q: So you’re finally releasing a full album. Mituhiro: Yeah, we were finally able to do it. This time composing songs was really hard. “Lovers” was a song we just came up with while we were having fun, but this is the first time we actually had to think about making an album while we were writing. But we really honed the core of our sound with this album, so I have confidence in it. Q: “Lovers” was released only a year after you formed the band, but what were the reactions like? Mituhiro: People we didn’t know started coming to our lives. I was really shocked by that at first. Yuta: I’d be sitting at the merch table, and a variety of audience members would come up and say “I listened to your CD” or “I watched your PV”. For people to say that they were listening to our music , and that they liked it, that was a huge change after the CD was released. Mituhiro: So I’m really happy that now we can release a full album like this. Q: Do you have a concept for the album? Mituhiro: It’s “memories”. We made the album thinking of our single “Orange” as its centre, and we were trying to make a release packed with various memories and overflowing with vitality. Q: What does the title “Plant Worm” mean? Yuta: The name is a reference to “caterpillar fungus” (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), a fungus that parasitizes bugs. Mituhiro: I read a lot of books, and one mentioned the “caterpillar fungus”. In the winter, it parasitizes a bug, then the bug dies and it absorbs its life force and becomes a mushroom, and it almost seems like it can grow into a plant or person too. I thought, “Wow, this thing is just full of vitality”, and I wanted to name the album “touchuukasou” (“caterpillar fungus”). Yuta: I thought the part about changing from a bug to a plant with the seasons was a good link to how we’ve changed. That’s what the title means. Q: Yes, I felt the change you’ve undergone in the song “Orange”. In particular, I felt like the way you wrote the lyrics was a little different. Mituhiro: I want to be able to say things without being afraid of misunderstandings, but otherwise I don’t really know whether we’re a band that writes English lyrics, or if we’re a type “A” band or type “B”. I want to establish our originality, so people can say “This is like EVERLONG”. I think that came to fruition with “Orange”. With this album, coming up with “Orange” was really important. Q: Speaking of originality, I think it really came out with a bang in the sense your Japanese lyrics have. Mituhiro: I’m happy to hear that. Q: I’ve also never heard a melodic punk band use the word “shiyashanse” in their lyrics. (laughs) Mituhiro: Ahahaha. Yuta: That’s because we actually started writing the song “Gunjou tansan” by thinking that we wanted to use the word “shiyashanse”. (laughs) Mituhiro: I think that word has a good feeling to it. When I had “shiyashanse”, the hook and melody just suddenly came to me. I also played around with a lot of other words in that song, so it’s a really special song for me. I think it’s kind of like what would happen if we made “Orange” more fun. On this album, I guess maybe what we’ve done is take different approaches to the world view we had in “Orange”. Q: Is there a song you’re particularly attached to in terms of guitar playing? Yuta: “MAYOICOM” started from a guitar riff, but since I was able to do what I wanted with it, I’m happy with that song. Mituhiro: "Venus" is good too. Yuta: Yeah. With this album, I think I was able to achieve what I wanted to with each song. Mituhiro: Well, in any case, the guitar on this album is cool. Q: In track 8, “K.I.M”, are you singing about Kimu-kun*? (Note: *Their drummer’s name is Kimu) Yuta: It’s totally about Kimu. (laughs) Mituhiro: I wonder if it’s okay to talk about this? (laughs) Kimu: It’s fine. (laughs) Mituhiro: We’re all classmates, but this time, only Kimu had to repeat a year. (they all roar with laughter) Yuta: It’s a “Please give me one more chance” song. Kimu: It’s “One more time, one more chance”.**(they all roar with laughter) (Note: **This is a line from the song, and it’s in English in the lyrics. Yuta paraphrases it in Japanese, and Kimu quotes it directly in English) Yuta: It’s a message song to his family. (they all roar with laughter) Mituhiro: Yeah, this became the most real song on the album. (laughs) Q: So emo. (laughs) This new album also has “Smile” on it, so it seems like a bit of a summary of the band’s history so far. Yuta: Yeah. “Smile” has some of the very first music we made in it, and since it was released on a limited CD I’m happy we were able to put it on the album. After all, I definitely want people outside of that area to be able to listen to it. Q: I’m sure that after listening to this album people will be surprised by how much you’ve grown in such a short period of time. Mituhiro: Thank you. I talked to the members about this as well, but I really feel like our sound has been refined because there are so many other bands from the same generation around us. Q: How do you see the rise of the Nagoya melodic punk scene? Mituhiro: I never really wanted to become a “Nagoya melocore band”, but because I wanted EVERLONG to get established, we joined TRUST RECORDS, but I don’t really pay any special attention to the scene. Q: I see. Maybe that comes out in your music as well. Like it doesn’t really seem to belong to anywhere. Mituhiro: I want to make a band that’s unique. For example, we recently played a live with MINAMI NiNE, and they’re really one of a kind. I want us to become a band like that. Q: When I heard you play a song with “shiyashanse” in the lyrics, I started to feel that way about EVERLONG. Mituhiro: Ahahaha. Yuta: That’s because when we put it in the we were saying “There probably aren’t that many bands that will write ‘shiyashanse’ in their lyrics” to each other. (laughs) Mituhiro: On our previous mini-album when I wrote the line “hamigaki shi-nagara MOONIN MOONIN”*** for the song “Tomorrow”, people told me it was lame. But since that sort of thing leaves an impression on people, I decided to look at it as a positive. (Note: ***Something like “While I’m brushing my teeth, moaning moaning”) Q: Once again, what kind of album would you say “Plant Worm” is? Kimu: I think it’s album unlike anything we’ve done before and one where we’ve taken on new challenges. I think we’ll be able to take a new step forward. Yuta: I think in our previous work we had collected a lot of influences from other bands and they came out a lot, but this time I think little by little we’re beginning to move away from that and EVERLONG’s true essence is starting to present itself. Mituhiro: Yeah, EVERLONG is finally becoming EVERLONG. This is an album where we really put a lot of effort into honing the essence of the band, and I’m confident that when people hold it in their hands they’ll be able to say “They’ve finally become EVERLONG”. Yuta: You’re really set on that, aren’t you? (laughs) Q: That sounded a little too cool, so to finish up, Kimu-kun, why don’t you leave a message for your parents? (laughs) Mituhiro: Wahahaha. Kimu: Dad, mom, thanks for always being so kind. I’m going to keep doing my best at college for a little longer, so please give me a chance. (they all roar with laughter) EVERLONG: Mituhiro (vocal and bass), Kimu (drums and chorus), Yuta (vocal and guitar) Website: http://everlong-nagoya.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
