INDEX
The Confidence That Comes with Age: “It’s Going to Be Alright“
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE is your first album created after entering your thirties. Do you think this stage of life has influenced how the band’s identity as a “place” has become clearer?
Motomura: Definitely. For example, Sunai made a spreadsheet to track the progress of the songs. He worked at a regular company after university, so he brings a level of professional skill that someone like me, a completely unfiltered band guy, finds impressive—like, “Wow, you can actually do that!” [laughs]. That shows how our age and accumulated experience are shaping the band. When we were younger, we were too caught up in the moment to approach making an album as a proper, organized project.
Uchimura, how do you feel your age is reflected in the band’s work?
Uchimura: Lately, I find myself thinking, “It’ll all work out!” [laughs]
Motomura: [laughs].
Uchimura: “It’ll work out, so it’s all fine!”
Motomura: That’s true. This time, Itaru really took a broad, big-picture approach.
Uchimura: I might have been a bit irresponsible [laughs]. Like, “I can’t write the songs, but the others will handle it, so I’ll focus on the lyrics.” Getting older seems to have made me more optimistic. Is that a bad thing?
Motomura: Not at all. I think it’s a good thing.
Uchimura: Of course, it only works because everyone is there. I think, “If it’s Yuransen, it’ll be fine.” Learning to step back and take a broader view is something you probably appreciate more with age. You realize, “We’ve gotten through things before, so we’ll manage now too.” Icchan [Satofumi Ito / Key] once said, “As long as the band is at 100% when we’re all together, it’s fine. Divided among five people, that’s only 20% each, so it’s okay.”l right.
Motomura: Really? That’s what he said? Sunai and Ito have definitely improved their teamwork. And they can even make spreadsheets [laughs].
Being in a mindset of “It’ll work out” seems like a healthy mental state. But with age and experience, I imagine it’s also easier to imagine problems before they happen.
Uchimura: True. But hearing Icchan’s advice and seeing how Sunai approaches production makes me think, “Ah, this is how we get through it.” You gradually learn the ways to make things work.
Motomura: To give a concrete example, if I’m feeling unwell and can’t make it to a recording session, in the past I would have forced myself to go. But now, I can honestly say, “Please let me take the day off.” I think that’s how the meaning of “it’ll work out” expands as you get older.
