A9
Ginga no OtoBack to Our Roots
After a year of silence, A9 restarted their activities.
In this one year, I think they came to face 'the music called A9' even more.
While looking for A9 sounds which they explore by themselves,
and with the message woven in the lyrics written by the vocalist, Show,
they have become a presence that a lot of people yearn for even more.
With 'ginga no oto' as a proof, they had made a comeback.
The proof of the new A9.
Q: After a year of silence, on August 23rd you gave a one-man live performance at Toyosu Pit. At present, how do you feel?
Show: In our live performance on August 23rd at Toyosu Pit, I could really feel that the audience had been waiting for us. I could feel that they were celebrating our restart, and it made me really happy. In this one year, while doing our individual activities, we also thought about various things, and we felt happy that all of us gathered again to stand together on the same stage. It was a really emotional moment. It was a live performance where we felt more than usual. Or more like, we could feel more feelings from everyone than usual, and we're really grateful for that. I think it's a live performance when the feelings overwhelmed the sounds. Since Toyosu Pit is a flat venue, the audience felt like a sea of people, and it felt like diving into the sea, we felt like we've come back home.
Saga: Like Show had said, it was a live performance where we could really feel that our fans had been waiting for us. In this one year, I've been receiving even longer fan letters than usual, and even though I understood it well, when I saw everyone there and performed our music, and saw that people had been waiting for us that much, I wanted to respond to those feelings even more. I was moved when everyone sang 'subete e' together in the end. Everyone's voices echoed throughout the venue. And I was moved, like, so this is how much power a voice could have.
Tora: Saga-kun was the one creating the setlist, and he inserted a solo zone for all of us in the middle, so I feel that we delivered a more substantial live performance. Somehow, rather than continuing from last year, it felt like we showed a new A9. Somehow, I feel that it was a performance of a brand new us.
Hiroto: I was simply happy. Even though now is an era when everything changes so quickly, I'm grateful that so many people were still waiting for us. Since we decided that we would definitely come back, we thought of using this one year to lay a new foundation, and we weren't scared of stopping our activities, and we would've still performed wholeheartedly even if the curtains dropped and there was only 1 person in the audience. But in actuality, when the curtains dropped I saw so many people there, and I'm really grateful for it. (the fact that) we were able to give that live performance has given us a boost in confidence. It was a live performance where we got the confidence, like this is where everything starts. In this 1 year, even though individually we also gave live performances and stuffs, I believe that there are experience that we wouldn't have earned unless all 5 of us went on the same stage, and I could really feel that this is what I'm supposed to do, this is where I'm meant to be. But as expected, I still have some regret in having a blank year, so I feel both satisfied and frustrated. But, I think that's also why we're able to decide on our next goals.
Nao: I think, there wasn't anyone who waited for that day more than I did! That's just how happy I was. Being able to give a live performance is actually not an obvious thing, and I was moved. We will also go on a tour, but if I'm not with this band, I won't have the chance to go to other places. Doing things together with the 5 of us, as well as the existence of our fans, these are the things that I wouldn't have been able to experience if A9 wasn't there. I think that I have my current life only because of the band. And once again I reflected on my life. It's a precious home. It's a place where I can feel that people really love me.
Q: What was your concept in making 'ginga no oto'?
Saga: This time, rather than trying something new, we went back to our roots. It's like, we came back to, "So what is A9?" And that was also the reason we chose not to use producer. Apart from the SE and the orchestra part in the ballad, we didn't use synths at all. We really treasure the members' 'handmade' feeling, and the lyrics tell about our real current situation. The lyric of the first song, 'Phoenix', has this feel of wanting to give everyone a relief. And that's why, we used phoenix, which is a symbol of resurrection as a motif for this song. Sound-wise, we also include the blending of Japanese and Western style, which is also one aspect of our roots. Regarding the title, I think you can also understand from 'ginga no oto' (sound of galaxy); we chose words that give the feeling of 'shining'.
Q: You also incorporated simple 'Japanese style' in your earlier works, but in this mini album, I feel that you've blended it inA9 way. So while you went back to the original A9 sound, at the same time it's also unique.
Saga: That's right. Our changing the composer credit from the individuals to the band also reflects that change. Rather than making a settled, cool music, we showed our honest sounds, or like, a single sound which was made using the sense of all 5 of us. It feels like, when we utilised that, this kind of sound came out. By having all 5 of us taking parts in the song making, once again I felt that we naturally distribute roles. For example, if I get the intro part, I'm the type to dig down into it, and then I'd get satisfied with it, and leave the rest to Tora (laughs).
Tora: Now that I think about it, in this mini album I set a lot of the songs (laughs). 3, 4 songs I think, like 'doukeshi', 'Spiegel', 'ryuuseigun'.
Show: Ahahahaha. A setter composer (laughs).
Saga: Aa, this is a good role distribution!
Hiroto: But it's true that Tora-shi is good at creating stories, like in 'shunkashuutou'
Saga: I see. So Tora-shi likes to create stories, no wonder he's good at setting the songs!
Tora: It's not like that (laughs).
Nao: It sounds good when you say it like setting the songs, but he's only wiping your butts* (backing you up) isn't he? (laughs)
Tora: You can also say that (laughs). Because it's quite difficult to connect the song parts (laughs). Like, for 'freesia no saku basho', in the middle we were like, let's give up this song. Seeing that I was like, no no no, we've worked hard this far to make this song, it's such a waste! So in the end, I was the one putting it together.
Saga: True, true (laughs). But, I feel a lot of potentials in the songs that the 5 of us made. Even though it's not planned, distribution of roles just came to us naturally. For example, in the song 'juudan', when Show-kun brought the demo tape it was a pop-ish and catchy song, but in the end it turned into a rock song.
Show: It's Saga-kun's role to cleverly transform my demo songs.
Saga: Things went very smoothly for this mini album. It's like we had a really good flow.
Hiroto: Regarding the guitar, I thought about the things that we had in the past but not there now, and the things that we didn't have but we do now. It's like, once again we connected with everything that we had made in these 10 years, and we've been showing the best things out of the trials and errors that we've had. Now that we went independent, I think that we're more unified now, both in terms of music and our feelings, and that got reflected in the songs.
Q: Rather than mellow songs that are easy to understand, I can feel the coolness that this band is aiming at, and I can also feel the song melody and unique notes that Show-kun made. I think that it particularly stands out in the song 'doukeshi'.
Show: That's true. It has a lot of subtleties, like it's a mellow song, but not one where I can just sing smoothly. Rather than singing with the nuance, unexpectedly it became a melody where I sang properly according to the musical notes. And I think that it's also something that shows my personality. In this sense, this mini album is something in which our personalities come out even more clearly. I feel that itt's like a level up from our first album 'zekkeishoku'. And that's why, I hope you will be able to feel A9 more in this mini album.
Translated by Val. Original scans from Fantasy A9.
Q: You also incorporated simple 'Japanese style' in your earlier works, but in this mini album, I feel that you've blended it inA9 way. So while you went back to the original A9 sound, at the same time it's also unique.
Saga: That's right. Our changing the composer credit from the individuals to the band also reflects that change. Rather than making a settled, cool music, we showed our honest sounds, or like, a single sound which was made using the sense of all 5 of us. It feels like, when we utilised that, this kind of sound came out. By having all 5 of us taking parts in the song making, once again I felt that we naturally distribute roles. For example, if I get the intro part, I'm the type to dig down into it, and then I'd get satisfied with it, and leave the rest to Tora (laughs).
Tora: Now that I think about it, in this mini album I set a lot of the songs (laughs). 3, 4 songs I think, like 'doukeshi', 'Spiegel', 'ryuuseigun'.
Show: Ahahahaha. A setter composer (laughs).
Saga: Aa, this is a good role distribution!
Hiroto: But it's true that Tora-shi is good at creating stories, like in 'shunkashuutou'
Saga: I see. So Tora-shi likes to create stories, no wonder he's good at setting the songs!
Tora: It's not like that (laughs).
Nao: It sounds good when you say it like setting the songs, but he's only wiping your butts* (backing you up) isn't he? (laughs)
Tora: You can also say that (laughs). Because it's quite difficult to connect the song parts (laughs). Like, for 'freesia no saku basho', in the middle we were like, let's give up this song. Seeing that I was like, no no no, we've worked hard this far to make this song, it's such a waste! So in the end, I was the one putting it together.
Saga: True, true (laughs). But, I feel a lot of potentials in the songs that the 5 of us made. Even though it's not planned, distribution of roles just came to us naturally. For example, in the song 'juudan', when Show-kun brought the demo tape it was a pop-ish and catchy song, but in the end it turned into a rock song.
Show: It's Saga-kun's role to cleverly transform my demo songs.
Saga: Things went very smoothly for this mini album. It's like we had a really good flow.
Hiroto: Regarding the guitar, I thought about the things that we had in the past but not there now, and the things that we didn't have but we do now. It's like, once again we connected with everything that we had made in these 10 years, and we've been showing the best things out of the trials and errors that we've had. Now that we went independent, I think that we're more unified now, both in terms of music and our feelings, and that got reflected in the songs.
Q: Rather than mellow songs that are easy to understand, I can feel the coolness that this band is aiming at, and I can also feel the song melody and unique notes that Show-kun made. I think that it particularly stands out in the song 'doukeshi'.
Show: That's true. It has a lot of subtleties, like it's a mellow song, but not one where I can just sing smoothly. Rather than singing with the nuance, unexpectedly it became a melody where I sang properly according to the musical notes. And I think that it's also something that shows my personality. In this sense, this mini album is something in which our personalities come out even more clearly. I feel that itt's like a level up from our first album 'zekkeishoku'. And that's why, I hope you will be able to feel A9 more in this mini album.
Translated by Val. Original scans from Fantasy A9.
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