INDEX
How cero Has Enhanced Their Music Through Live Performances
I don’t think there’s any other band that changes their arrangements as much as cero does in live performances.
Takagi：“We three tend to get bored quickly, so we keep changing the arrangements,” I often say in interviews. Recently, I’ve started to think that our support members might be a bit restless too [laughs]. They come up with ideas with us, so it’s become even less clear who’s driving the arrangements in the live setting. That’s why we felt it was important to capture this moment as a cohesive piece.
Arauchi： Since we changed to our current lineup in the latter half of 2016, I’d say we’re in a period of maturation. From around 2020, I’ve felt a strong sense that things are really coming together. The reduced number of live performances due to the pandemic has made each one feel more special, and our support members are approaching their roles with a renewed freshness. So, we’re both mature and fresh, and in a really great state.
I think many people are curious about what kind of communication underpins cero’s live performances.
Takagi： Even when trying to make eye contact with the support members during a live performance, it often doesn’t happen at all [laughs]. Everyone is dancing or spinning around [laughs].
Arauchi: Mii-chan gets so into the performance that sometimes they don’t look over here either [laughs].
Takagi: They might be drumming away while shouting “Aaaaaah!” [laughs].
Arauchi： Well, we rehearse a lot, so it still works out.
Takagi： For music like ours, it’s common to use manipulators or in-ear monitors to listen to a click track, but we tend to shy away from those methods [laughs]. It’s not that we have a strong belief against it, but we’ve been doing things manually until now, and somehow we’ve ended up being a unique case.
It’s not that we reject using click tracks or syncing tracks for live performances, but there is a certain poetic quality that has been preserved because cero has continued to perform live without them.
Takagi： That’s true. Even something as simple as the sound of the snare drum is different every time. Differences like that accumulate across the stage, and I think this creates a larger flow within cero’s live performances. That’s a relatively important aspect.
