INDEX
What Fuels cero’s “Inner Exhilaration”
I heard that while the mix of “Live O Rec” was led by Hashimoto, there was quite a bit of back-and-forth with Arauchi regarding the sound. Did Hashimoto also take the lead on the track selection?
Hashimoto： To make “Live O Rec” more in line with “e o,” we removed songs with different styles from those we performed at LIQUIDROOM. However, tracks like “Elephant Ghost” and “My Lost City” are intense but have a cold sound, so we included them.
That might be what can be called “e o”-like. The mode that people are currently enjoying could fit the subtly nuanced feelings post-COVID, where it’s music that’s “energetic but doesn’t make you feel unconditionally energetic.”
Arauchi： Speaking of fitting with the times, I remembered that when we were making “Nemesis” before “e o,” we initially had an idea to make it more gospel-like. However, we avoided that because it would have been too close to gospel culture. Instead, we wanted to create something that felt familiar and not too distant from ourselves. That sense of proximity might be present in “e o.”
Which song was the first to reveal this direction for the live album?
Takagi： “Nemesis” was the first song.
Arauchi： Regarding the direction, I had a clear vision in my mind. I initially mixed “Nemesis” and “Hitode no umi” myself as a test. It wasn’t just any mix; I used techniques close to track making, such as incorporating sounds that weren’t originally present.
After sending the resulting tracks to everyone for feedback, I asked Hashimoto (his nickname) to finalize the mix. Since Hashimoto was handling the work, it became “Hashimoto Tsubasa’s sound,” but from there, various directions emerged and we continued to rethink and adjust through that process.
Hashimoto： It’s remarkable how things can end up being completely different without even realizing it.
Takagi： Initially, we thought it might be okay with just a few tracks, like 5 or 8 songs. But by the time we were working with Arapi (Arakawa’s nickname) and Hashimoto, we had already accumulated around 11 tracks. Given that, we decided it was better to go for a full album rather than discarding some tracks.
So, there was clearly a lot of enjoyment in making changes and tweaks. In a sense, this process was more of a re-edit than a mix.
Arauchi： That’s right. The idea was to create studio-quality recordings using live material. In my initial mix, I had cut out all the audience cheers.
As a result, there is still a fair amount of audience cheer left.
Arauchi: We had to cut and paste to make it work. Some parts would have sounded unnatural without it.
Takagi: Exactly. We even brought in cheers from different scenes.
