Credit : http://cnbluestorm.com/
[Special interview by tracing their history from indie days to major debut]
CNBLUE is 4-member rock band that had experienced musical ‘knight-errantry (musha shugyo)’ in Japanese music scene since 2009.
They’ve made the long-awaited major debut in Japan and now they’ll tell us about their feelings and enthusiasms for their future.
“The music” and “Gyudon” kept us going.
-You held last indie live concert at Yokohama Arena.
When you were doing the musical knight-errantry in Japan, and performed the fist street live, there were only a few audiences…
YongHwa: “It’s true.”
JungShin: “When I was in Korea, I expected to eat Sushi every day in Japan. But in the reality….”
JongHyun: “Gyudon, every day (laugh). It was tasty, but we were always hungry”
YongHwa: “Sometimes, our mothers sent us side dishes from Korea, but they often went bad…”
JongHyun: “Because we weren’t at home that often as we were away for live performances and practices. So they went bad quite easily.”
MinHyuk: “It was really sad….”
YongHwa: “But! We had the music, so we were alright.”
JongHyun: “We performed on streets or at clubs and practiced in studio on other days.”
JungShin: “It was really fun as we could play our instruments all the time!”
MinHyuk: “We often performed at Shinjuku station, Shibuya station and Yoyogi Park.”
YongHwa: “I felt great when we performed at Yoyogi Park on Sundays as if we were performing at open-air concerts. The street live performances were hard as we got told off by the police.”
MinHyuk: “Well, we got scorched by guys with pompadour hair at Yoyogi Park….”
YongHwa: “Ah!! They scorched us with very scary faces and said ‘This is our place’. ….”
JungShin: “Our old day’s memory~ (laugh).”
YongHwa: “We had the music, so we were able to keep going. I was so happy that Japanese music was around me as I grew up listening to it since I was small.”
JongHyun: “There are so many songs that were originally Japanese songs and re-made in Korea. “Tears” of X Japan, “Yuki no Hana” of Mika Nakshima, etc.”
-What did you learn/get from living in Japan?
JongHyun: “Each audience who come to see our live performances is very precious. And also we create live concerts together with our audiences. I learned that from our street live performances.”
-You debuted after gaining various experiences. Do you think the environment changed?
JongHyun: “We don’t have to worry about what to eat (laugh).”
JungShin: “We can travel by car!”
MinHyuk: “When we lived in Japan, I travelled by trains with a large drum set on carrier cart. They were so heavy… But I think the pile of experiences of those live performances at small clubs is our motive power! ”
-The Japan major debut single “In My Head” ranked # 3 in Oricon Daily Chart.
It was written and composed by YongHwa, right?
YongHwa: “Yes. I put the message that ‘Let’s take out all of the negative thoughts in our head and let’s go with positive mind’.”
MinHyuk: “The intense tune is impressive and it’s great!”
JungShin: “I originally like this kind of rock style. I’m really pleased that we could make Japan major debut with the number that was composed by our member!”
-What is the goal for your musical activities in Japan?
JungShin: “The live concert at Tokyo Dome!”
YongHwa: “The live concerts on roof-top of Tokyo Tower or Sky Tree!”
JungShin: “Sounds good~”
MinHyuk: “Shall we get fly a relay helicopter?”
YongHwa: “Ha ha (laugh). What attracts people as a band is the live performance. So that’s where we belong to. It’d be nice if we carry on the live performance in many years time.”
JongHyun: “When we are grandfathers (laugh). And then, I would like Japanese people to say ‘CNBLUE is my favourite band’, like B’z or Mr. Children.”
MinHyuk: “I’ll do my best to be recognised when anyone listens to our music and say ‘it’s CNBLUE’.”
JongHyun: “Since I was at junior high school, I’ve always listened to the Japanese music like BUMP OF CHIKEN and flumpool. Actually, I like Japanese dramas like ‘Pride’ as well.”
JungShin: “I think I’m the one who brought up with listening to Japanese music the most. My father majored in Japanese at university, my father always sang Japanese Enka (Japanese popular ballads) when we went to Karaoke.”
YongHwa: “I liked Japanese music, dramas and films since I was small, so I used to watch them. I was into drama called “GTO” that was very interesting and I even bought OST when I was at junior high school.”
MinHyuk: “When I was at high school, I used to listen to FreeTEMPO and DAISHI DANCE a lot. I watch films recently to study Japanese. When I watched “Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru”, I cried a lot.”
No comments:
Post a Comment