The following interview is from the February (2003) issue of "J-Groove Magazine."

Garnet Crow
Letter to You

--First, I'd like to ask for your frank opinion on how your first live concert tour went.

Nakamura Yuri: It was fun. I was a lot more comfortable singing in front of people than I'd thought I'd be. I was really afraid, because I didn't know what kind of people there would be in the crowd. I was worried that I might be facing a panel of judges, but that turned out not to be the case. On top of that, since the reactions of the audience was completely different from location to location, it was really fascinating, and also fun. Although I came out at the start feeling really nervous, because we were so warmly received by the fans, I gradually grew more at ease. Even if I made a mistake, I'd hear someone encouraging me, which made me very happy.

--So the fans eased your tension.

Nakamura: Yes, yes.

--But in your case, you got to participate in the "HOTROD BEACH PARTY" and sing in front of people, so was this experience any different?

Nakamura: Yes, it was. In "HOTROD," my time was shorter. Also, I would come out with a lot of energy, then just like that I'd say my thanks and withdraw, so I never had time to get a feel for the reaction of the audience or the condition of the stage. Conversely, with these concerts, I really felt deeply what it's like to be on stage live. At any rate, it was a lot more friendly than I'd imagined. How to put it... it was like everyone was watching over us. I guess watching like a parent would. (laughs) That's how it felt to me... So even though there was some nervousness, singing in front of people, there wasn't any odd tension or pressure of any sort. So as the concerts progressed, I guess I was able to relieve some tension, or else sing more comfortably.

--Towards the ending of the Osaka concert, I could just feel how much fun you were having singing, and I watched it with a smile. (laughs)

Nakamura: Really? (laughs)

--It's pretty addictive, isn't it?

Nakamura: Somehow, yes. (laughs) It's a lot better to see the faces of your listeners, directly. There were the eyes of the people listening attentively, and seeing such enjoyment in their eyes put me at ease. I felt how nice it was to be able to see people's faces.

--How was it for you, AZUKI-san?

AZUKI Nana: I felt as if I was in the audience. I enjoyed watching the arena, watching the stage, watching the moniters... (laughs)

--In a sense, you were kind of detatched.

AZUKI: No, not exactly detatched, but it felt as if I'd come to watch. I was really watching Yuri-ppe sing.

--So in a sense, you enjoyed all of it.

AZUKI: Yes, it was quite enjoyable.

Nakamura: And here I was, feeling all frantic. (laughs)

--Ha ha ha. And at the end of the concert, the sound of "Crystal Gauge" flooded into the arena. The feeling in this song of expanding into infinity was very nice.

Nakamura: Very clear. I created the melody and sang, paying special attention to the sound. I want people to feel the rhythm of the words and the sound. I created the melody so that there would be no need to force the lyrics, or the meter, or create a murky sound. And I sang so that I could clearly sound that reverberation, that echo, and also worked the chorus to that end. That's why the connection between everything is so comfortable, and the song from beginning to end is so smoothly connected.

--It feels as if that crystalline feeling stretches out for quite some distance. I think that gives it a universal feel. But it's not something crisp, but rather like a drop of water... or maybe a particle; like something like that just floating in the air. Though I'm speaking in mere abstractions. (laughs)

AZUKI: I felt the same way when I heard the demo tape. The sound of the melody was so clean, and her voice was so bright. So I wrote the lyrics from the world view I received listening to the demo.

--What did you think, Nakamura-san, about those lyrics?

Nakamura: I thought I should sing clearly, like a shaft of light shining out from a forest. That, adding in warmth. Sort of like I was happy, or that I could see something resembling hope. So I tried to sing without showing any overwhelming darkness. With the image that hearing the song would make someone feel happy, or filled with hope. A song that someone could hum to themselves as they skip along. That's the link to the brightness, or the clearness.

--After all, the first words to the song are "The sun through the green leaves."

AZUKI: Like something beautiful. (laughs)

--And after that, when the song goes "Closing my eyes, can I feel the togetherness of everything?," I actually close my eyes and...

Nakamura: And think "yes, yes, I see it." (laughs)

--There's also the feeling that you could just melt into that space.

Nakamura: Like you could enter right into the song.

--It's just that I felt a message in those lyrics.

AZUKI: Was there? I wonder... You know, when I listened to the demo tape, I thought "Well, let's start by reading some Tezuka Osamu." So I did. I thought the song made perfect background music for it. (laughs)

--Which works did you read?

AZUKI: "Buddha," and "Hi no Tori" ("Firebird"). I forgot whether it was genes or souls, but they were just scattered throughout space. It wasn't particularly difficult, but neither was there hope. You could say it was a very flat world. I just couldn't get that world out of my mind. Of course, we're talking about the view of the world from "Buddha." But, "Hi no Tori" was made by the same person, and I think the two of them shared some things in common.

--But why did you make the connection to Tezuka Osamu's works?

AZUKI: Actually, the scenes were already decided. Like I had said earlier, I had already imagined the scene with genes or souls floating through space, and without thinking, I wondered what volume it came from, and started searching.

--So the scenes were the first things to come to you?

AZUKI: Right.

--And that scene gave rise to the spacial structure, with the humans as sentient beings?

AZUKI: Nice! (laughs) I think it might be an image of what sentient beings actually are. I think it's a matter of receptiveness. A matter of acceptance.

--And that's something crystal and bright?

AZUKI: Yes. When acceptance and openness are mixed, the result is a feeling of clear serenity. And the feel of the voice, and the melody line, and the arrangement all pointed towards Tezuka Osamu's world. And in Mr. Tezuka Osamu's works, don't the animals greet each other with words we don't understand? In the lyrics, there are parts where english words are just kind of lined up casually. Like "ti" or "Rah" could hold the meanings of "Hello," or "Good morning." And the Japanese syllabary "RA" could be read as "Rah" or "la," with different meanings. That too comes from the image of that world.

--I see. So it's a sense of happiness, where all sentient beings are accepted, including animals.

AZUKI: Yeah. But, no matter what, in this world there is a sense of happiness that can be gained by abandoning hope. I guess you could call it a flat feeling at a cellular level. Like how, in nature, in the middle of the sunlight filtering through the trees, there are cells rejoicing. They're freed. That type of feeling.

--So the feeling of happiness that Nakamura-san had talked about, and the world view presented in those lyrics, blend together to create an unspeakable sense of deepness. Moreover, precisely because Nakamura-san sings those lyrics so freely and easily, it all comes to life.

AZUKI: I think it's a voice of song that really seems to sing within that dimension.

--So that image was contained within Nakamura-san's melody.

Nakamura: It was? (laughs)

AZUKI: Isn't it because that's the way Yuri-ppe is? (laughs)

Nakamura: Cells being happy? (laughs) A song that can contain such an image... that must really be something.

AZUKI: Ha ha ha.

--Once, Nakamura-san had mentioned that even when she's singing happily, there's darkness somewhere in her. In this song, I think that it's very, very faint.

AZUKI: But I think it's because she holds that bit of darkness that she can put out such a feeling of brightness. She's not just a crystal voice.

--I see. That might be true. Moving on to the coupling song, "Crier Girl & Crier Boy ~ ice cold sky," I think it flows nicely from the title track.

Nakamura: Like after that, you feel like hearing something heavy. (laughs) I created it because I felt like singing a sad song that would tug at your heart if you hear it during the winter.

--But, in a sense, isn't this song connected to the title track?

AZUKI: The airiness, and the coldness might be similar. It's not a crystalline coolness, but rather a comfortable crisp winter coolness. It does make them feel connected. This song has many concrete images, that makes it seem a bit like a recollection. "This year, when it snows, let's play with fireworks," that kind of feeling. (laughs) And, as for "Crystal Gauge," let's all listen to it while reading Tezuka Osamu! (laughs) *

TEXT: Murata Keiko, PHOTO: Kyo Hiromi; translated by Ryu