Alice Nine: “If I can’t do this then I have no talent. There was power in this song that made me able to
write lyrics that possess such
graciousness”
This is Alice Nine, who are going
to celebrate the 9th anniversary
of their major debut in 2013. To
mark the beginning of the band’s
anniversary year, they released
the first of their 3 consecutive
months single-releases [Daybreak]; a song that can be said to consolidate their foundation as a rock band; a song
that reflects the good feeling that
Alice Nine has achieved so far.
We enquired Alice Nine about their current state—the band that has just completed their newest
masterpiece, [Daybreak], a song
overflowing with confidence in
addition to its refined sound-
making. Furthermore, BARKS
asked 9 keywords to unravel Alice
Nine’s plan to release singles in 3
consecutive months. This first
part consists these 3 keywords:
[Character], [Formation], and
[Band’s name]; the members gave
their honest answers of the untold stories about the time
they were formed. So please check this out.
◆ “To put it simply, I thought
we’d aim to become an awesome
band, just like the bands that
influenced us.” (Saga)
— This year Alice Nine moved into a new recording company, and at the same time you are also
celebrating your 9th anniversary.
You’re rushing into your 9th
Anniversary Year’s commemoration. In terms of the
members’ relationship, what has
changed now compared to how it
was in the past?
Shou (Vo) : Are you saying, when
we get into a fight or something
like that? We’re completely fine
with each other.
Tora (G) : There’s no reason to be
in a fight.
Shou: A few moments ago, we
were even talking about going out
for drinks today after this
interview is over. (Everyone
laughs)
Tora: Our mood is like a bunch of students’.
Shou: Because the conversations
that happened between us in the
dressing room and other places up to this moment were still in
junior high school level. (lol)
— Although the relationship
between the members hasn’t
changed, I think that the band’s
sound has gone through lots of
changes after all these years. In
particular, [GEMINI] and [“9”], the
productions that have set up a
solid basis for Alice Nine as a
“rock band”. If those albums were
never made, I wonder if you
would manage to create the
fashionable and refreshing sound
that this single, [Daybreak], was
full of.
Shou: Thanks to Saga (B) who had
exerted himself as the main
composer ever since [VANDALIZE], the members’ sense of music expanded. Up to that moment, I suppose I have always thought that we were a band, but for the 5 of us to face forward with the belief that we’re a “rock band” in its true meaning, we hardened our consciousness by creating [GEMINI] and [“9”]. Furthermore, I think we had become accustomed to being one in a higher level. If we have never made those records, I don’t think we would be able to possess this confidence and to put forth something that has such power like [Daybreak].
Saga: In our case, although we’ve
solidified our visual appearance
and our course of activities, there
were also times when we pushed
ahead without having the essential foundation that a band
was supposed to have in terms of
music. We started out as a session band, and once we went through that phase, without knowing what kind of music standard this band would have, we went on and created songs. So, in each single, each person had a different comprehension of Alice Nine’s image. Once we laid down our foundation and the singles changed one by one, no matter what kind of song we created, it felt like, “This is the kind of sound we can make at the moment”. That’s why, in terms of the band’s foundation, with the thought of wanting to build a band with a firm footing, we gradually forged ourselves starting from around
[VANDALIZE].
— Do you mean that this
premonition was clear in your mind?
Saga: To put it simply, I thought
we’d aim to become an awesome
band, just like the bands that
influenced us.
Shou: When are you planning to
reach that goal?
All members: “Now, right!!” (all
bursts into laughter)
◆ “To give you an example, this
time we’re eating Genovese in a
rather fashionable Italian
restaurant. And next, it’s a gaudy
tonkotsu ramen restaurant
(lol).” (Shou)
Saga: [Daybreak] was created on
top of the band’s foundation, but
if we had come out with this song
without a foundation, it would
have sounded different. [Daybreak] is a poppish, catchy
track, but since we’ve established
our foundation as a rock band, I
think it came out as a cool song.
Since we’ve created the basis of a
rock band, and because we were at the end of [“9”], I think we
should add new colors from now
on.
— So, [Daybreak] is the first step
in the production with these new
colors attached.
Saga: That’s right. The title itself
has the meaning of “Dawn”.
Shou: There were around 10
songs to pick from back then, but
everyone from the producer, staff, and members agreed to
work on this song. Personally I
think that in the opening feel in
the hook’s melody should be the
main point of the positive feeling.
The original song was a bit more
punk-ish, wasn’t it?
Tora: That’s right.
Shou: The arrangement changed
180°.
— You applied some elaborate
audio in the process, in a rather
UK-taste.
Hiroto (G) : This time Hiraide
(Satoru)-san acted as the producer. Together, we managed to work on something with incredible depth. As a result, we have this sound. The level of this song’s arrangement felt really creative, right?
Shou: The way the producer did
everything all the way to the track-down, I think we need to thank Hiraide-san for the sensitivity that runs through every nook of the sound.
Saga: That’s why, down to the
final form of the sound’s image, we went to work while keeping in
mind the gap that we could find
between each sound.
Nao (Dr) : Hiraide-san was a
drummer himself, so my work
was pretty hard. He kept an eye
on me until the final stage, and in
addition, he also did his own
tuning on the drums during
recording.
— And the result is this cool audio that is finely calculated to
the last detail, and then on top of
that, Shou-san’s singing gave it a
hot contrast. The lyrics touched
me deeply.
Shou: Up to this point, there has
been a pressure to write particularly good lyrics for the
singles, so I read lots of books
and watched lots of movies, and
then took notes from them. When
I listened to the sound of this song, I thought that I had no choice but to face my inner self, so I couldn’t use only the words
that were already there in my
head. If I can’t do this then I have no talent. There was power in this song that made me able to write lyrics that possess such graciousness. As a result, it turned into a song that does not
only depict the members of Alice
Nine, but also describes our
current situation.
— The music video is also in a
scale beyond everything you’ve
done up until now. Your thoughts
about that greatly powerful video?
Shou: It was shot in a desert-like
place in Shizuoka. We went just
before dawn.
Tora: The set was absolutely not
made-up.
Shou: We shot the video in below
freezing temperature, -5°, with
the wind blowing violently, and
we were only wearing spring
clothes.
Hiroto: But you can’t see how it
really was from the video.
Shou: Knowing that, I think people who see Saga during the last part where everyone was walking together would notice and say, “Ah… I understand.” (lol)
Saga: In my heart I was like, “… I
give up… this is impossible.” I had
zero willpower.
Shou: He kept saying over and
over again, “Why did you give it
‘Daybreak’ as a title” (lol).
— Next, please tell us a bit about
the coupling song, [Himitsu]. This
is kind of like Alice’s style of hiphop. It is more than anything
a stylish song.
Saga: Even though we’ve been
thoroughly talking about our
foundation as a rock band up to
this point, this time we strayed
far away from rock. It’s because
I’ve been listening to nothing but
clean songs with un-distorted
guitar sounds (lol). This song was
made with the mood of wanting
to become a more stylish band. I
wrote it also with the wish to see
a new atmosphere in our live
performance.
— This hiphop-like orientation, I
think it’s something really
interesting.
Saga: Although, there’s no
foundation of a band at all in this
side.
Nao: It will take me 3 years to
contribute to its reinforcement
(lol).
— What sort of Alice Nine will you deliver next month?
Shou: To give you an example, this time we’re eating Genovese in
a rather fashionable Italian
restaurant. And next, it’s a gaudy
tonkotsu ramen restaurant! (lol)
Hiroto: Moreover it’s “Iekei” ramen restaurant.
Nao : The noodles are hardening
(lol).
— Continuing, I think now I want
to get to know Alice Nine, starting
from the first part of the 9
keywords of “3 Consecutive Months Alice Nine’s 9th
Anniversary Special Project”.
◆ No. 1 [Character]
— In the morning when you wake
up, you find that you suddenly
have turned into Shou-san. What
will you do?
Tora: If my face becomes like
this… I’m going to a group date.
Saga: Without any hesitation, I’m
going to pick up girls.
Nao: First of all, I’m going to go
outside, and then I want to sing
out loud with all my might among
the pleasant weather.
Hiroto: I want to sing a song for
someone!
— What if you’ve turned into
Hiroto-san?
Shou: I guess I want to play guitar for someone!
Tora: First of all, I’m going to a group date (lol).
Saga: I’d like to try and make a
move towards the girls who are
fawning over Hiroto in front of him during a live.
Nao: I’m going to steal that guy’s
precious little pet dog, Mogu.
— If you’ve turned into Tora-san?
Shou: If I turn into Tora… group
date? (lol)
Saga: Definitely a group date, right.
Nao: I’ll go back to sleep because I think it must be a dream (lol). And then I’ll take a look inside
my pants. (everyone bursts into
roar of laughter)
Hiroto: Since he’s good at talking, I want to give that a try.
— If you’ve turned into Saga-san?
Shou: Even though he wants to
wear normal clothes, I’d like to
dress Saga’s slender body with
Western-styled ladies’ clothes.
Tora: If I turned into Saga, there
are a number of things but… of
course it’s group date! (lol)
Nao: First I’d like to check the
balance in his bank account (lol).
Hiroto: I’d like to try to see
forward with one eye closed. I
think that, because Saga-kun’s
nose is high, the world that he
sees is different from what I see
(lol).
— If you’ve turned into Nao-san?
Shou: I can eat stuff that I myself
can’t eat, like crab and lamb meat, I’m going to eat those foods and then tell you about the taste.
Tora: Group date? I don’t think
Nao-san has the group date kind of feeling (lol). I think Nao-san can get deeply emotional, so first and foremost I’d like to find out Nao-san’s mode of life.
Saga: Nao-san is… his body is
extremely sensitive! Because that’s not a part of myself, I’d like to do something to make the best use of it! (lol)
Hiroto: For sure, Nao-san’s
sensitivity worries me (lol). Nao-
san’s greatness that can’t be
experienced even for a day… it’s
impossible to answer that!!
◆ No. 2 [Formation]
— As of now, we’re going to talk
about the untold story of Alice
Nine’s formation.
Tora: There was another guitarist
before Hiroto!!
Shou: It started with these guys
(Nao and Saga) and these guys
(Shou and Tora) gathering up to
form a band.
Saga: In the beginning there were
the 3 of us, and then we teamed
up with these guys (Shou and Tora).
Shou: And then the 5 of us went
into the studio, but…
Saga: Everyone felt somewhat
uncomfortable. Toward that
guitarist. The guy himself felt it. He must have read it in the
atmosphere among us.
Tora: He said, “Why not me?”
Nao: And then he faded out on
his own initiative.
◆ No. 3 [Band’s Name]
— And then from now on, we’re
going to talk about the band’s
name, Alice Nine, and its true
origins.
Shou: All the members except
Nao-san had a talk in a restaurant
in Shinjuku to decide the band’s
name. We couldn’t come up with
any name that’s satisfactory. And
then Saga-kun said something like, “Anita-san sounds nice” (lol).
Saga: And then there’s KORN.
Although there’s already a band
named that.
Tora: We used the inverted R
from KORN because I thought it
was cool.
Saga: We were horrible, huh (wry
smile).
Shou: There were a lot of theories as to how Alice Nine was chosen as the band’s name, but back then I was so into reading a novel by Nagano Mayumi-san titled “Shounen Alice”. And I also liked a fashion brand called NUMBER(N)INE. The other members that were present back
then also thought that 9 was a cool, rock-ish number, so then we combined ‘Alice’ and ‘9’. We
decided on it with a “what about
using this for now?” kind of feeling. And to Nao-san who
couldn’t attend the gathering back then, we gave him a notice to check this name that we had looked over on the net. I think
until today, this is the first time
I’ve ever talked about the origins
of the band’s name.
Cr: akinojou@Tumblr
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