A sound that quietly envelopes you, and a melody that seeps into your very soul. It's easy to drown within the pleasure of such an elegant sound. That's what one will think when touched by the music of Garnet Crow. Over the course of four months, we conducted personal interviews with the individual members of Garnet Crow, finding out each of their feelings towards the band and their roles within the band. Keyboardist Azuki Nana, who is in charge of writing the lyrics, is our guest for this month's third installment.

  • You have taken on the writing of lyrics, not only for Garnet Crow, but also the likes of WAG and Soul Crusaders, to name a few. Does that mean that you have a basic interest in "words?"

    AZUKI Nana: I started writing lyrics because I wanted to make music, but I really love just writing, in itself. This isn't an overstatement, but I had written stories back in elementary school. I really loved books. But, you can't buy many with the allowance of an elementary school student, right? On top of that, I lived in the country, where the library closed early and was very far away. Since I couldn't go to the library all the time, I started writing my own stories, to give myself something to read. All the while, thinking "How lame." (laughs) Anyway, I'd just write little scribbles.

  • Like tales or poems?

    AZUKI: Poems... writing poetry is kind of uncool. (laughs) I'd just jot down whatever came to mind. Don't women often open up their daily planner and write about what happened on that particular day? Like, "Today, I went someplace, with somebody, and had lots of fun." It's the same basic feeling. But I don't have a daily planner. I don't really like thinking about what I've done after the fact... it's like looking backward. Instead, I always carry around a notepad, and I write all sorts of things that I think of there.

  • So when you write like that, is the mode different from when you write lyrics?

    AZUKI: Depending on the voice of the person singing for me, it can be completely different. But with Garnet Crow, I can write however I feel like... I'm not really paying attention to things like A-verse, B-verse, or chorus. Or like "I want people to listen to this in this particular season~" But those don't mean all that much, and they're just sitting in this small corner of my mind. With Garnet Crow, everything's pulled along by Yuri-ppe's (the nick-name of Garnet Crow vocalist, Nakamura Yuri) voice, so I don't really even have to think about it. Though there are voices that I like, guess I really love the quality of Yuri-ppe's voice. It's a voice I can get stuck on, or if I just let myself trust in it without really thinking about anything, then somewhere, I'd find stimulus.

  • In other words, you write differently when it comes to Garnet Crow's lyrics as when it's for someone else?

    AZUKI: Absolutely. Though I'm always writing from a neutral position, I never create images from the melodies that Yuri-ppe writes. Her voice just gives me images by itself. I guess that's the difference. In addition, though I can do as I please with Garnet, when it comes to other artists, there are times when I think "Well, since they're going on this route, and I'm only along for the ride, I can't take them off of that," so what's in my head only comes out in a drip. With Yuri-ppe, I just let it all come out. (laughs)

  • Is there anything you focus on when writing lyrics? Like paying special attention to the sound of the words?

    AZUKI: Since the thing I focus on most is "writing naturally," the sound of the words, or matching the melody, or the splitting of lines... I think that the most important thing is how everything's being structured. Because those are the rules. But when you play sports, you're not always worrying about every little rule, right? If you can't follow those like second-nature, you can't play, so I always try to be in a state of mind where I can act without purposely thinking about those things, and just focus on writing naturally. Besides, if you don't do it like that, it's no fun writing.

  • Among the lyrics you've written for Garnet Crow, there are several, like "Kimi no Uchi ni Tsuku made Zutto Hashitte Iku" ("I'll Keep Running Until I Reach Your Home"), "Futari no Rocket" ("Our Rocket"), and "Sen-ijou no Kotoba wo Narabetemo..." ("Even Lining Up a Thousand Words..."), where the title alone has impact, and they're just these totally unique worlds that evoke images and scenes. Is that something drawn out from Nakamura-san's voice?

    AZUKI: Yes. I just had so much fun with "Sen-ijou no Kotoba wo Narabetemo..." Listening to Yuri-ppe's melody, one or two seconds later, those words just came out, and when I wrote them down, it was like "all done!" (laughs)

  • Did the image "Cutting my hair at the park" immediately come to you?

    AZUKI: Yes. It was that kind of image. Since I was just writing off the top of my head, when the key suddenly changed, my mood also suddenly changes, to a point where even I don't know how it will all end. And if, in the end, I'm just kind of like "Hmmm....," then it'll be kind of stuck with that same "Hmmm...." feeling, too. So when I look at what I've written, I think "Wow..." (laughs) That's what makes it fresh! And sometimes, I'm like "This isn't me! I don't know this person!" (laughs).

  • There are times when your choice of words has great impact, like "flying"'s "I fall, flapping my wings." Are those drawn out naturally, as well?

    AZUKI: I'm really not thinking about anything. In a good sense, it's because it's a voice that allows me to create without thinking. That's why, I'm not thinking "I'm gonna write!" It's more like, "I want to write." In the case of Garnet, it's the thing I'm most conscious of and least concerned about. It's really quite easy. When I write for other artists, it's like leaving the house... in the sense that you have to take a shower, change your clothes. But with Garnet, it's like just lazing around inside my own home. (laughs)

  • Lastly, I'd planned to ask you "What kind of lyrics do you want to write for Garnet Crow from here on," but since you had said that you always leave that up to Nakamura-san, I guess you have no such thoughts.

    AZUKI: Furui-san's (Furui Hirohito, who handles keyboards and arrangement) sound has changed, and Okamoto-san's (guitarist, Okamoto Hitoshi) contributions are different now, and Yuri-ppe, being Yuri-ppe, just thinks about what kind of melody she wants to create. So, more than "I want to do this," it's more like "I'm looking forward to it." I myself am looking forward to "What we're going to do from here on."