【Interview】Miku (An Cafe) × Seek (Psycho le Cému) ~club Zy. web~ #1

(Clique aqui para versão em Português-BR) 

Record of dialogue in interview format recorded on the live show "Seek's Fish Dance Hour" presented by Seek (Psycho le Cému/MIMIZUQ). This time, Miku (Vocalist of An Cafe) was invited. It's a conversation between two people who have been close to each other since the beginning of An Cafe's career. It will be delivered in 2 parts.

Interview: 村上孝之 (Takayuki Murakami)

Read the Original Japanese ver: www.club-zy.com/contents/546642

-How long have you known each other?

 Seek: The first time our bands played together was around 2005 when ISABELLE sponsored... I don't know if you remember this, but I think it was when we toured together at an event.

 Miku: Nostalgic! "We were in a position to participate in the event." I remember being very close to ISABELLE's Sho(vo) on that tour. We even showered together (laughs).

 Seek: That's right (laughs). Of course, I knew from before that An Cafe was a band that belonged to LOOP ASH, and I was able to see their performances live, so my impression was very strong. When I toured with them, I felt that they had a lot of momentum and that the crowd was steadily increasing.

 Miku: At that time, we were on a good path. I had seen Psycho le Cému on TV and just liked their music, I quickly became a fan. I liked them so much, I ended up feeling like I should talk to them.

 When I met everyone from Psycho le Cému, it felt like I was meeting celebrities, and I felt like they were people from a different world than mine, so I did everything I could to get to know Sho. After that, in 2006, when Psycho le Cému took a hiatus from live at Nakano Sunplaza, I went to see them and realized they were a really great band. Even after the encore ended, the audience continued to sing.

 Seek: That was amazing.

 Miku: It was amazing. So I cried. Therefore, Psycho le Cému is deified in my mind. It's not a lie, I still sing Psycho le Cému songs at karaoke.

 Seek: You said that at the recent “OUR CANVAS” (OSAKA MUSE 35th Anniversary Live Event) (laughs). Since we started the band, we've grown up in an environment where we're juniors. So when I was on tour in 2005, I had no idea how to interact with new bandomen. Looking back now, we should have talked more to other bands, but we weren't used to this kind of thing, so I remember feeling "I wonder?..." even in the dressing room. That must have made the atmosphere a little unapproachable. I'm sorry about that.

 Miku: No, it was really an honor to be able to walk with you.

 Seek: No no. Psycho le Cému went on hiatus from the Nakano Sunplaza show we mentioned earlier, and after that we started a new band called Mix Speaker's, Inc., which originally belonged to LOOP ASH, like SCISSOR and Kamikaze Shonen. I was able to develop an affinity with all the members of An Cafe. Furthermore, at that time, we were also serviced by Sony's indie label U-PROJECT, which An Cafe belonged to.

 Miku: At that time, U-PROJECT had almost nothing relevant besides An Cafe, and you were already loved. When Mix Speaker's, Inc. came in and was put under the same manager as us, it sounded like a threat. So I was a little hostile at first (laughs).

 Seek: Really?

 Miku: Yes (laughs). Somehow the manager's passion was clearly different. I was told things like, "Mix Speaker's, Inc. will be performing live here next time", and I was like, "Oh, who cares...".

 Seek: This is a little surprising. This person was a manager, or something like a director in terms of work, and he was the type who even got involved in the production process. I have the impression that that person's collaboration with An Cafe was really strong. Because of that person's power, we thought at the time that it would be like the expansive power of An Cafe, and I don't think we were very interested in that (laughs).

 Miku: Is that right?

 Seek: Yes. Of course, he gave us a lot of ideas, and we did a lot of things together, but for example, when AYA-kun became a composer, AYA-kun had a very strong feeling of 'I want to do this!' '. I'm that kind of person, so I wasn't very good at doing things with other people. That's why I thought it would be difficult for the director to do that. Besides, we have a habit of moving forward on our own, like, "If you can't come to a meeting, I'll go alone" (laughs). "It's decided. I'll just send you the matter." That's part of the reason we got the impression he was attached to An Cafe.

 Miku: That's right. He said that we were very different from each other (laughs).

――An Cafe and Mix Speaker's, Inc. were very close, and were rivals in a good way. I would like to ask each of you about your recent activities. First of all, An Cafe performed for the first time in years at the <“OUR CANVAS” OSAKA MUSE 35th SPECIAL Anniversary> which we mentioned earlier.

 Miku: It's true!

 Seek: This concert was like the 35th anniversary of OSAKA MUSE.

 Miku: Really, yes. An Cafe is approaching its 20th anniversary, and while the members aren't on bad terms with each other, it's not like they're in a relationship where they want to talk about everything they see on their minds. The members are more excited about their private life than the band, but when it comes to the band, they go into work mode. While I was thinking, “It's our 20th anniversary, what should we do?”, I was told that OSAKA MUSE would be doing a 35th anniversary concert, and I thought it was a good start.

But when OSAKA MUSE's appearance was decided, I still couldn't say anything about An Cafe's 20th anniversary (laughs). For now, "let's play a single day"... something like that (laughs). As we rehearsed in the studio, the staff member helped me out and asked everyone, "What are you doing for the 20th anniversary?" The answers were, "If everyone wants to do it, I want to do it" (laughs). So the OSAKA MUSE event was a great opportunity.

 Seek: Have you always been embarrassed when it comes to your band? "Is it getting more and more like this year after year?"

 Miku: That's the part I'm not good at. I'm terrible at telling members what I want to do. Intuitively, I want to do something like this, and when I tell my manager about it, he says, "That's good!" For example, there is the word "NYAPPY". Even if I say I want to make the word NYAPPY popular, I feel like "What is this?" I always have the desire to try something new, and I have all kinds of ideas, but they're just inspirations, so I don't know if they're persuasive. When I told everyone what I wanted to do, I always got a weird atmosphere, I wasn't good at talking to the members, so I told my manager everything. I've been doing this for a long time, so it's kind of embarrassing to talk about the band with the members.

 ――Singers and musicians have slightly different ways of thinking, and it seems like there are many singers who make overtures that make musicians think, “Huh?” However, singers often have interesting ideas, so I hope they're not afraid to come up with ideas.

 Miku: But I don't want the members to get hurt because of it. In our band, there are people who agree with our opinions and people who don't, the atmosphere gets a little dark.

 Seek: Did the members change with you? When I was young, I would say something that came to my mind by intuition, but no one understood, I feel like I can do whatever I want. Is that more or less?

 Miku: They haven't. There's always a door, and when I see that kind of figure, my heart flutters.

 Seek: I feel that if everyone talks about Miku's ideas and puts them together, something interesting will come out of it.

 Miku: I want to please everyone. I don't like harsh words being thrown at me. I want to get along with everyone.

~ continue (comming soon) ~

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