INDEX
Expressing the Essence of Albums and Music
-The first full-length album “Underlight & Aftertime” features re-recorded songs such as “111511” and “mizu ni naru,” as well as “Purgatory,” which has a heavy sound. I felt that it is a piece that shows the path that the band has taken since its formation and the path that it will take in the future. How do you feel the completion of your first full-length album?
Kawai: I feel that it is not the culmination of three years of work.
Togashi: We wanted to start many new things.
Kawai: I wanted to break away from categorization as EMO or indie rock. We were conscious of how close we were to music.
-What do you mean by “getting closer to music”?
Kawai: It’s very difficult, but I wanted to express the impression that “this is the album, this is the music,” not about real EMO or hardcore. We thought it would be good for the three of us to keep talking about whether we were having fun or not.
-You have been consistent in your approach to creating what you want to create. Is there anything that you feel has changed from the previous albums?
Togashi: I have more time to work on each song. Before, I didn’t understand the balance between the guitar and the song when it was pointed out to me. This time, I think that by giving myself time to think about why something was pointed out, I was able to see the whole picture rather than just the individual instruments or songs.
Robert: This may be connected to what you just said, but in this production, I felt that drums are an instrument that tends to sound unconsciously. While they make a sound just by hitting the stick, I had to think about why I was making that sound. I felt that playing unconsciously truncates a lot of things, so I tried to be aware of my surroundings because of the simplicity of the instrument.
Kawai: For example, “Whale” originally had a catchier melody. The melody itself was very good, but I didn’t feel it was interesting as a song, so I thought it would be better to play it as a narrative. So we decided to cut out the song, and the song was completed, and I think we grew as a band.
