Excite: When you were asked to compose the NHK Vancouver Olympics broadcasting theme song, what kind of piece did you want to create as L’Arc~en~Ciel?
hyde: I hoped it will become a well-known song. Not exactly ‘well-known’, but rather if people would listen to it and think “This is a good song~.” To tell you the truth, the temporary title for this song was “Osanpo [=A walk]” (laughs). It was a relaxed song. And then, it turned into a more Olympic-like song, with a slightly faster tempo.
Excite: Did yukihiro-kun take leadership, as drummer, to set the tempo?
yukihiro: Yes!
hyde: (laughs)
ken: That’s right, that’s right (laughs).
tetsuya: That’s right (laughs).
hyde: He started saying “I won’t do it unless the BPM is at least 200.”
yukihiro: (laughs).
Excite: This song’s tempo fits well.
yukihiro: Yeah, although I think it’s a hard tempo.
hyde: He wanted to try it for that reason. He said, “overcoming this obstacle will give us something in common with Olympic athletes” (laughs). And that “we have to create these links.” And he got mad at us, asking if we’re really trying (laughs). Once we got the tempo, the song became much better. After that, we did some arranging and re-examined the composition to fit the tempo better.
Excite: It’s nice how you begin with the bridge.
hyde: That was from ken-san’s desire to create a touching opening; he said “I won’t do it unless it’s touching” (laughs).
Excite: Did he really say that? (laughs)
hyde: No, he didn’t say it that strongly. But I think he was saying so in his heart. At first, the song just began with the intro, but ken-san said he wanted to start with the bridge. I thought it meant “the drama of the Olympics has already begun” so I said, “then, let’s do it that way.”
Excite: ken-san, was he correct about that point?
ken: Yes. Originally, the song began with the guitar’s arpegio, but I suggested that it’d be better if the vocals came first.
Excite: But in terms of guitar, the solo and obbligato [i.e. riff] won’t be for a while.
ken: For a while (laughs). Yes, it’s not until about 5 minutes into the song.
Excite: The electric guitar’s first note is just as important as the touching opening. Especially with this development.
ken: Yes. With the electric guitar entering the world of drums, bass, acoustic guitar, vocals, and strings, the song’s atmosphere changes. When I thought about when it would be best [for the electric guitar to enter], it turned out to be 5 minutes later (laughs).
hyde: Having that 5 minute wait, the guitar cries (laughs).
ken: After the song’s tempo was decided, I got an idea of the timbre, so it all worked out nicely.
hyde: The song’s value rose the moment ken-san’s guitar entered.
Excite: On a different note, the bridge’s bass part is very interesting. It’s a ballad, but if you listen to the bass, it’s going crazy.
tetsuya: The melody is ballad-like, but the bass is driving around. With L’Arc~en~Ciel, there are quite a lot of ballad songs where the bass is constantly in motion. If we took the normal slow approach, it’d become monotonous. It wouldn’t be L’Arc~en~Ciel.
hyde: I can’t come up with bass phrases like that. I think it’s amazing.
Excite: (laughs). As for drums, the drumming is softer than usual. What did you do in terms of drumming?
yukihiro: I hoped it would turn out gentle. I imagined a figure skater the whole time I was drumming. Like when a skater glides on the ice. I imagined that kind of atmosphere while I was drumming. I wanted it to be elegant.
Excite: And what kind of image did you have while writing the lyrics?
hyde: I didn’t want to limit it to the Olympics and wanted to broaden the meaning to anyone who is striving toward a goal and growing up in the process. With competitions and stage performances, I think the scene where someone is working really hard just before he or she steps on stage creates the emotional movement. I wanted the lyrics to reflect that. I listened to the previous Olympic theme songs and noticed a lot of them are about after the competition. For example, something like “the goal is the next beginning.” This time, what I wanted to sing was the part before it. I wanted to focus on the point that there isn’t just one person, but also many people who support that person, so I wrote it in third person to make people realize that more naturally. I think, once you step on stage, you should enjoy it for all of the effort you’ve put into preparing for it. Well, not that I’m a coach or anything (laughs). I’d like to say “Congrats” for making it this far. That was the foundation for this song.
Excite: What did the other members think after hearing the lyrics?
tetsuya: It made me want to see the Olympics. The Olympics can move you pretty easily, you know? So, I hoped the song will multiply that emotional movement. I could already imagine it and knew the song would match. I thought it would match the scene where an athlete receives a gold medal, a playback of an event, or anything.
yukihiro: I thought the English just before the bridge was good. I thought it was wonderful how it transitioned into the bridge with
ken: I thought it was a gentle song and it made me feel warm. After the oboe solo, it’s still gentle, but I also thought it pushes your back a little and thought “Ahh, this is good.” I think the lyrics are what they are because of the parts before it, so that might be why I thought so. It’s not just a “ganbare!” Hearing just now that hyde-kun was writing it like so, I thought, ‘ah, I see’.
Excite: Do you have any memories about the winter Olympics?
yukihiro: I can’t really watch it.
Excite: You prefer doing it?
yukihiro: No, no (laughs). I get really nervous when I watch it. You know how they fall, like during figure skating. But they should have been able to do it during practice. So I think “Ahh.”
hyde: I know what you mean.
yukihiro: So I just check the results (laughs). I’ll wonder how it’ll go, but I get really nervous, so I barely watch it (laughs). But, with “BLESS” I imagined figure skating, so I would like to see and hear someone skating to it. I’d like someone like Arakawa Shizuka-san to skate to “BLESS.” It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just skate beautifully. I’d like to see her do the Ina Bauer to “BLESS” (laughs).
Excite: And what about the strings version of “BLESS”?
hyde: It’s a bit relaxed. I wanted there to be another song without vocals that you could calmly listen to after “BLESS.”
ken: If you compare it to the one with the vocals and band, I think the strings version allows you to use your imagination more. If you listen to both of them, even with the tempo difference, I think it retains the song’s atmosphere.
Excite: Then, with the third song “ROUTE 666 -2010-” the world changes completely.
ken: Well, yeah, it does change (laughs).
hyde: It makes you think, “Ehhhh.”
tetsuya: Like it spoils [the whole mood] (laughs).
hyde: Like [everything before it] didn’t exist.
ken: I’ve never been this surprised before (laughs).
Excite: The difference is huge.
hyde: It’s completely opposite. We’re saying “BLESS” but then change to <666~>.
tetsuya: You know how you want to enjoy the reverberations of “BLESS” more (laughs).
hyde: So we did aim to make the break in between the songs longer.
tetsuya: We really thought about the length.
ken: We made the break longer than usual, but for people who want to enjoy the reverberation longer, it’s probably better to press the pause button.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
[L'Arc] Interview with Excite Music
Interview with Excite Music
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