It's kind of interesting the way you gradually grow indifferent to a band's name if you've been listening to pop music for long enough. I mean, after a lifetime of seeing "Toad the Wet Sprocket," "Hootie and the Blowfish," or "Bump of Chicken," you just start to naturally assume that bands will pick stupid names simply because stupid names tend to stick more deeply into consumer consciousness. In a way that mirrors many of their traits, the band Garnet Crow also bucked the popular trend when they settled down to choose a band name, instead choosing a name based on sensitivity to magery. On the one hand, a garnet is a precious gem, and the implication is of something shiny and beautiful. A Crow, on the other hand, implies something more dark and sinister, a bird whose literary usage has often been to represent misfortune or unhappiness. This could easily be seen as a metaphor for the music produced by the group. At first listen, the melody lines are representative of the stereotypical foundations of pop: flowing, catchy, and pleasing to the ear. By contrast, the content of the lyrics tends to be heavier, more introspective and thoughtful than what is typically found in the narrow bubble-gum world that is J-Pop.
Garnet Crow is made up of four members: Nakamura Yuri (vocals & composition), Azuki Nana (keyboards & lyrics), Furui Hirohito (keyboards & arrangement), and Okamoto Hitoshi (guitar). They first met while doing some studio work in 1999 for Osaka-based record label, GIZA Records, and immediately hit it off. Not long after, they decided to form their own band, eventually signing with the independent label Tent House and releasing their debut CD, "first kaleidscope ~kimi no uchi ni tsuku made zutto hashitte yuku~." The six-track mini-album earned the group critical acclaim in its limited distribution, and they were quickly snapped up by GIZA and signed to a major recording contract. The group made their official major debut in March 29, 2000, with the simultaneous release of two singles. "Mysterious Eyes" was already receiving heavy air-time as the opening theme song to the hit NTV anime series, "Meitantei Konan," while "Kimi no Uchi ni Tsuku made Zutto Hashitte Yuku" was a remastered version of the title track to their indies album.
Less than two months later, on May 17, the group released their third single, "Futari no Rocket," with their fourth, "Sen-ijou no Kotoba wo Narabetemo..." following on September 27. Despite the fact that the next two singles, "Natsu no Maboroshi" (released October 25) and "flying" (released November 19) received lucrative tie ups as the ending theme to "Konan" and the theme song to the PlayStation software "Tales of Eternia," the band was still flying well under the radar as their first year in the majors drew to a close. Part of this had to do with the fact that Garnet Crow, like many other artists on the GIZA label, preferred to stay at home and concentrate on making music, rather than taking part in the endless series of television appearances and promotional tours that make up the bulk of the schedules for most popular musicians. Still, the band admitted that they were pleasantly surprised when their first major album, "First Soundscope ~Mizu no nai Hareta Umi e~" (released January 31, 2001) made a Top 10 Oricon debut and enjoyed solid sales and favorable reviews.
Though the group had earned the respect of a small but loyal base of fans, they had yet to enjoy anything akin to mainstream success. The three singles they released in 2001 to follow up their album, "Last love song" (released May 9), "call my name" (released August 8), and "Timeless Sleep" (released November 21) all failed to crack the Oricon Top 10 in their first week of release. This was all to change in March of 2002. With Garnet Crow about to start on their third year in the majors, their tenth single, "Yume mita ato de," was once again selected to be the ending theme to "Konan," and the group also scheduled a rare appearance on TV Asahi's "Music Station" to promote the song. The combination was an instant success, and "Yume mita ato de" debuted the next week at #6 on the Oricon weekly sales charts. Just over a month later, Garnet Crow released their second LP, "Sparkle ~Sujigakidoori no Sky Blue~." The album landed at #4 in its first week in release and helped cement the band's reputation among J-Pop fans for consistently releasing high quality material.
The majority of the group dynamic occurs between lead vocalist Nakamura Yuri, and keyboardist Azuki Nana, and it is usually these two alone who contribute to magazine interviews focusing on the group. In what could almost be seen as a symbiotic partnership, Nakamura will typically start the music making process by coming up with a melody base for the song. From there, Azuki takes the demo tape and affixes her own unique brand of lyrics to the music. In interviews, Azuki is always quick to point out that the reason she felt compelled to join Garnet Crow was because she fell in love with Yurippe's voice ("Yurippe" being Azuki's pet name for Nakamura), and she writes almost instinctively, relying purely on the qualities of Yurippe's voice to guide her way. One listen to the music of Garnet Crow and it is hard to fault Azuki for feeling that way. While most female vocalists in J-Pop tend towards having reedy, high-pitched voices, Nakamura Yuri's voice is pleasantly deep and sonorous, naturally melodic, and with a touch of nasality. This haunting, bluesy timbre of her voice brings to mind comparisons to Celtic pop star Enya, or perhaps the late Karen Carpenter.
As a lyricist, Azuki is one of the most inventive in the business. A lover of words from a young age – Azuki once mentioned in an interview that she grew up in countryside, far away from the nearest library, and got into writing while in elementary school just to give herself something to read – she is known for having a wide variety of sources to draw from when coming up with the lyrics to her songs. Even her titles she chooses for songs tend to possess originality and impact. In terms of content, philosophical questions pertaining to the deeper nature of concepts like love, life, and happiness are commonplace in the lyrical world of Azuki Nana. In fact, she seems to be a bit cynical towards the typical "waiting for Prince Charming to come and save the world with love" approach to pop writing as a whole. She professes that she enjoys playing with her lyrics, finding ways to hide fatalistic imagery in seemingly innocuous lines, in such a way that it will not be noticed by the casual listener. In addition to her work with Garnet Crow, Azuki also has written lyrics for other GIZA artists, and has released a photo-anthology book, entitled "80,0."
Once that is done, band member Furui Hirohito takes the song and sets the musical arrangement. The average Garnet Crow song will usually feature chords played on piano, with chiming arpeggios on the acoustic guitar, all backed up by a light rhythm section. This scaled back and simplistic sound, coupled with the warm and organic qualities of Nakamura Yuri's voice, has usually landed the group the label of being a neo-folk group, though such pigeon-holing hardly does them justice. As their group name should be a testament to, Garnet Crow embodies so much more than any simplistic label can convey.