Sometimes, just having that guy in the studio can change the sound, even if he's not doing anything.
-Did you write any songs since Sachimos went on hiatus?
YONCE:Yes, I did. However, there were restrictions on live performances during the time of the Corona Disaster, and I felt that now was not the time for me to do anything publicly, so I was the only artist of my generation who debuted around the same time who was not doing anything. But of course I had time to play around with instruments at home. The first EP, "2000JPY," was mostly songs I wrote around that time, and I had the band members mess around with them, trying to break them down from their original form. So, when I think about it now, I feel like it was a reflection of the current state of the world and a bit dark.
-Did you have a feeling that you wanted to form some kind of band someday?
YONCE:No, at that time I hadn't decided whether or not I would do music like this, like telling a story, and I was happy to do it alone at home. It was like excreting, and I felt bad if I didn't do it, so I was making it.
-As is the case with the songs on the current album, "Chance," the lyrics, music composition, and arrangements are always credited to the band Hediguns, rather than to individuals.
Yusuke:I don't want to be too conscious of the boundary between composing and arranging. I think even thinking of a single bass line is an act of composition, and I want everyone to create with more freedom of thought, so that's how it came to be.
Honmura:I agree. It's actually very difficult to separate them.
Yusuke:More to the point, even if you don't do anything, just having that guy in the studio can change the sound.
-That's a cool episode. A band, indeed.
Ouchi:That's right. You may have noticed that we are a band (laughs).
-(laughs). But when I listen to the Hedigans, I really think, "I knew a band was good.
YONCE:Yes, I think that is what we are doing as well.
-Do the members have similar musical tastes?
Yusuke:I think it's incredibly close. That's huge, right?
Honmura:I think it is a good balance that we all like the same things at the root, but what we want to do is slightly different from each other. Even when things seem to get scattered around, they are all rooted in the same thing, so I get the sense that they are all neatly organized.
YONCE:Yes, I agree. It's also great that each of us can go in the direction we want to go and still come back in the end, and I'm interested in what the other members have touched. There are a lot of things I can learn about, and that's what I enjoy.
-For example, is there an artist whose name often comes up?
Yusuke:Basically, we all have in common that we like old rock music.
Honmura:To be specific, the names that came up a lot during production were The Who, The Clash, The Beatles, etc.? Of course, there are many more.
Shoji:I have the feeling that I am interested in what we have created together. Maybe I'm a Hedigans fan (laughs). There are things that we like in common, but I don't feel like I have to draw closer to them.
Yusuke:I agree. I feel like the songs have the atmosphere of everyone talking about their favorite music and getting excited about it.
Ouchi:In the room next to the studio, there is a place where we all gather to smoke and eat together. There, we watch YouTube together and have a lot of fun.
Shoji:I think Neil Young was probably the first thing I listened to most often during production.
YONCE:Indeed it is. I like that kind of nourishing music.
Ouchi:It has the feel of just a band, in a good way. It's like a band made up of villagers A and B, without any decoration.
Honmura:Rather than the sound side, I think I may have been influenced by the more in-depth aspects, such as stance, relationships, and why they came up with these ideas.
