oricon style 11/9 – kinki kids (the reason for our inexperience)

[atrandum]

Scanned & Translated by DesTi.
Thank you to amnosxmatsujun for your help!
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The Reason For Our Inexperience
Returning to the Point of Origin of their 12th Year CD Debut!
     This year KinKi Kids welcomed their 12th year since their CD debut. They releaed a new single "Swan Song" after such a long time. What of this title with a rather deep meaning and their mental states? We hone in on the reasons for their inexperience and evanescence that KinKi Kids brings about.

~Interview Domoto Koichi~
"In a way, this is what the two of us are good at. We don't have to be conscious about anything and it would turn out this way naturally."

I: Interviewer
K: Koichi

==After making one cycle, we return to our point of origin as KinKi Kids==

I: First, could you tell me your impression of "Swan Song," Koichi-san?
K: More than an 'impression,' this single has elements of "returning to the point of origin." During production, we chose this song from among a number of demo songs but when I heard this song, I felt that it could go either directions depending on the lyrics. For example, even if we gave it cheerful lyrics, it would finish as a song with a sprinting feel and tempo. So if we wanted to give it lyrics having to do with returning to the point of origin there then, we talked about asking Matsumoto Takashi-san to write the lyrics.
I: Matsumoto Takashi-san did work on the lyrics to your debut song, "Garasu no Shounen" after all.
K: From how powerful the lyrics were, sorrow, inexperience, loneliness, and such were all mixed up and so it became quite a KinKi Kids-like song. Except apparently Matsumoto-san worried quite a bit when he worked on [Swan Song]. He kept hesitating about what to write and had to go somewhere. Um...where did he go...?
I: (Laughs). Not a lake? There are images of that in the lyrics.
K: It's pretty easy to conjure up that image with these lyrics, isn't it? The title is amazing, too. When I first heard of it, I thought "A hakuchou!?" (1) but when I carefully asked him about the meaning, I thought it was quite deep. Essentially, it is about death agony. The swan is said to cry the most beautifully right before it dies.
I: From this title, the scene of a lover parting becomes even more vivid. Include the lyrics and music composition, the concept becomes even more clear.
K: That's right. This time Yoshida Ken-san (member of Domoto Brothers Band, he is a bassist that represents Japan/producer), also kindly helped us in producing this. Ken-san has always been with us on our TV show and our concerts; I think he is the one who looks over us one step behind us. That's why he can give us accurate advice about things we cannot see.
I: Like it's important that you need to have a point of view from an outsider.
K: It's our 12th year (since CD debut), so by the Chinese zodiac, it's exactly one cycle, right? (2) We fumbled quite a bit wondering what song we should release in this kind of timing but because we had Ken-san's help, the direction we wanted to progress in was clearer than any time before this. The two of us plus the staff - all of our feelings were together and collected, too.
I: With the "returning to the point of origin" theme, do you think there was something about "how should your two voices tell the story"?
K: Hmm...I wasn't really conscious about that in the song though. I just tried to portray it as best I could; that hasn't changed [with any song]. The recording of the song proceeded normally, too....... Also, even when dividing the song, we left the work quite a bit to Ken-san. Because the song was divided in pretty detailed pieces, at first I thought "How can we do this?"
I: There are lines where the two of you sing one part of a phrase after one another, too.
K: The "tanoshikunai noni~" (Although it’s not fun~) part? But when I listened to what we actually sang, I understood why. Like "Ah, I see."
I: I felt that your two voices joined together more than usual with this song. There were moments as though your voices were very close to one another.
K: Hmm...I wasn't really conscious about that though. But probably. Our two voices have completely different qualities but even people close to us have felt that way.

==The voices and personalities of KinKi Kids are both minor! (3)==

I: This single, plus its coupling songs, has really become a product that strongly shows the appeal of your two voices and all that is KinKi Kids.
K: We didn't really have a theme running throughout but there may have been a strong want to not compromise and put in good songs. There are many pat terns to the melodies but it's like, each of the songs aren't that different from one another. I feel that it has turned into a single where its entirety makes you feel one single color throughout.
I: "Shinku no Hana" (Coupling song only on Limited Edition) was arranged by Yoshida Ken-san right? It has a really exotic feel to it but it matched your two voices well, too.
K: Simply put, I like it. Once the chorus starts, it feels really good. The A melody and B melody rise up steadily and once the chorus starts, it really goes boom, I think? Once you think that, you can feel it being restrained. Once you feel the stress at that point, it becomes pleasant. When I make my own songs, I try to make an easy to understand chorus but this song has a sudden major line running through the minor parts, I suppose that's what being thirty years old is all about.
I: Hasn't this single once again made you feel how good KinKi Kids is once more, Koichi-san?
K: Even I don't understand what people mean when they tell me "how KinKi Kids is good" (laughs). I just think that the staff and Ken-san bring about those qualities for us. "Swan Song," in a way, is what the two of us are good at. We don't have to be conscious about anything and it would turn out this way naturally.
I: It really has an atmosphere if pain, loneliness, and grief.
K: Yeah. Well, KinKi Kids is gloomy (laughs). We've said it many times but both of our voices are minor. Among our songs, I don't think there are that many that carry a strong message. If I had to choose one, I'd say that many of our songs represent one world and invite you to that world.
I: "Swan Song" is exactly like that, isn't it? It immerses you fully in the scenery of parting.
K: That's right. On the contrary, it actually takes more effort to sing a cheerful song. Well, that's why, I'm this kind of person. My personality and my way of thinking are all minor (laughs).
I: Your personality is a minor chord (laughs). By the way, there's one more thing I'd like to ask you about the lyrics. In "Swan Song" there's a phrase "enkyori ren'ai" (long distance relationship) right?
K: Yes. 
I: If you were to be in a long distance relationship, Koichi-san...
K: I knew it, I knew I'd be ask that question but...I don't know.
I: Pardon my rudeness (laughs). But, if you had that opportunity?
K: I~wonder~? I've never been in one and I don't think there would ever be any circumstances when that would happen in the first place. I don't think I'd meet anyone out in the country. I don't even mean people in the city (laughs).

Translator’s Notes:
(1) 'Hakuchou' is the Japanese word for 'swan.' Since the song title, Swan Song, is in English but Koichi says the word 'swan' in Japanese here, I kept the Japanese.
(2) The Chinese zodiac composes of 12 animals, each representing one year and is hence, 12 years per cycle.
(3) "Minor" here refers to the musical key

~Interview Domoto Tsuyoshi~
"How we're similar but different is mysterious. That's what's interesting about this genre called KinKi Kids."

I: Interviewer
T: Tsuyoshi

==What is the image of ephemeral, inexperienced young boys that our two voices call forth?==
I: First off, could I ask you about the process of how these songs were chosen?
T: At the beginning, there was "Swan Song" and another song as a candidate. That was a song that sounded like "Jounetsu" and everyone began to say that it was the better choice. But I didn't feel like it had anything new to it, and it didn't have the ephemeral, inexperienced, pure feeling; so it didn't really grab me. Moreover, I thought that it would be better if there was more of a gorgeous and erotic feeling to it so when they asked "What do you think, Tsuyoshi?" I honestly answered that I thought "Swan Song" was better. I always live trusting my instincts so I would nominate the one that I genuinely thought was better. I had confidence that it would feel good to sing this song. And then as we were discussing a number of things, we began leaning towards "Swan Song" in the end. At that point, we started talking about getting Matsumoto Takashi-san to write the lyrics.
I: Why ask Matsumoto-san, who worked on your debut song, "Garasu no Shounen"?
T: Like, the inexperience, the transience, the loneliness and the type of embarrasses that's almost cheesy. We trusted that he would choose words that were very characteristic of KinKi Kids.
I: What did you think when you read the finished lyrics?
T: I felt that for the genre of KinKi Kids, it had the flavor of Matsumoto Takashi calculated into it. Matsumoto-san really knows us in every which way.
I: Did you request for the lyrics to have these kinds of messages? For example, like asking for the lyrics to be an adult version of "Garasu no Shounen"?
T: We didn't request anything at all. Matsumoto-san is the type to write intuitively, too. He told us that he was inspire and wrote it. Up until now, whenever I don't have time, too, I would find time to get inspired and purposefully try to find places where I would be inspired. Words really aren't something that you can simply write down. In Matsumoto-san's words, from my intuition, I always feel like he's guiding [the listeners] to some sort of awareness of one's calling. He's not just writing words full of high-sounding ideas and he's not consciously thinking that these are the lyrics for an idol group so when I sing [his lyrics], I am able to sing it with care.
I: The lyrics about a long distance relationship, right?
T: Right. How the line "tsudzukeru no wa muri ka?" (Is it impossible to continue this?) goes into the chorus, is really like Matsumoto-san. He said that [the lyrics] had an image of Northern Europe but I think he really is the type of person to lean on God when writing about the gaps that develop between a person's involvement with another person. There are probably thousands of lyrics in the world that are about long distance relationships but the way he magnifies on the truly trifling open seams at the heart of the matter is new and nostalgic at the same time. But we just call it loneliness. To have this genre, this brand, this idol called KinKi kids sing that kind of song is quite a befitting approach I think.
I: Beginning from "Garasu no Shounen" to your previous single, "Yakusoku," you have many songs about unrequited love.
T: We probably have that kind of atmosphere about us. Drama producers often tell me that, too. That "Domoto Tsuyoshi is not good with women anyhow and should play roles where he cries and runs around."
I: You do run a lot in your dramas (laughs).
T: It's really hard to run when haven't gotten much sleep so I actually don't like it very much (laughs). They said that it matches me. That's why, when I look at this genre called KinKi Kids and I want to write lyrics from my inspirations, those parts are being picked out. Rather than saying, "I like you, I love you," feeling the fear and unhappiness of being separated from one another or while looking at the ocean, feeling a lingering affection to someone who has gone away... We have many images of young boys or young men like that. It's not like we offer to sing songs like that but I think our two voices call that forth.

==Because our love and our earnestness is unchanging...I might stir up the issue of "breaking up"!?==

I: In your new song, the lines you sing are broken up pretty detailed.
T: In the original demo tape, the temporary singer sang the song alone but I felt like that was ignoring Matsumoto-san's words. If you're not aware of the timing of the phrases and don't sing the words exactly, you'll slip into the next melody. So we talked about crossing the lines [in half].
I: When you listen to the lines you sang solo and in unison, do you feel that there's a chance in the quality of your voices?
T: When we sing in unison, a sort of inexperience and youngness come out a little. When we sing in unison then go solo, there's a momentary calculation but our voices are similar yet mysteriously different in some parts. That's what's interesting about this genre called KinKi Kids; our personalities are like that, too. We're not really similar but in the end, we are similar.
I: It's a song about a long distance relationship but ever since your debut, your distance and relationship with one another hasn't changed?
T: The way I handle and see my surroundings change arbitrarily but we ourselves have changed. Looking from a distance, people may think that the two of us are difficult or are on bad terms but the love we have built up for KinKi Kids will never run out.
I: Since the title of your new song had somewhat of a deep meaning to it, I was a little worried.
T: The word "Swan Song" also has the meaning of "the most beautiful cry of a dying bird," doesn't it? It also has the meaning of a will and various other things so if I was the one announcing that "KinKi Kids will disband with this song," it would be highly appropriate. But I can also say that because it's something I will never ever do. At any rate, my ambition for this music called KinKi Kids has not changed ever since we debuted. I am always carrying love, straightforwardness, and earnestness with me. Those things are sometimes obscured or dirtied by certain circumstances but if they are obscured, I would become desperate and carry them out to places where the sunlight is; if they are dirtied, I would become desperate and clean away the dirt. Even then, what I always carry with me, gripping them in my hands are a purity, an inexperience and youth that KinKi Kids cannot survive without. Even if I've turned 30 years old, that hasn't changed and I don't think it would change from now on either.

~Questions from ORISUTA readers to KinKi Kids!~

--KOICHI DOMOTO--

Q: When you are singing together, in what moment does it feel good?
K: The moment it feels good....? Well, I'm sure it happens sometimes.
I: Once during your concert, when you were singing an acapella version of "Ai no Katamari," you couldn't hear the key but you still harmonized together splendidly.
K: I wish (laughs).

Q: After turning 30, have there been any moments when you thought, "Man, this guy's old"?
K: Nope. Turning 30 years old from 29 isn't that big of a change. Tsuyoshi hasn't changed at all really. I my case, I feel that I have more physical power than I ever had in my early twenties.

Q: In an episode of Shin Domoto Kyoudai, you said that you would not want to date yourself, so how about your partner?
K: I wouldn't like that (laughs).

Q: Is there something you always do before singing?
K: Not really.......Ah, but I would do a "neck stretch." It's a way to wake up your voice quickly, so there is that. I wouldn't voice anything outloud but I would like, move my vocal chords.

Q: What do you carry to a concert or a recording session?
K: Hmmm, nothing really. During tours, I would carry around my laptop. And also a change of clothes (laugh). My use for a laptop? Well, there are a lot of things.

Q: Are there any plans to show a picture of Koichi-kun, Tsuyoshi-kun, Kenshiro-kun, Pan-chan together?
K: There aren't! Pan and Kenshiro haven't met. I haven't seen him, Kenshiro, myself for about 10 years.

Q: Where was the last place you took Pan-chan to?
K: Dressing room at Yokohama Arena. Usually, I don't feel like I really take her anywhere though. But when I have to go out of the city for work, my parents would take care of her. In that case, the two of them, the dog my parents are keeping and Pan, would be taken......it's weird to say "the two of them" (laughs) (1). Apparently they go to some kind of dog kindergarten-like place.
(1) The Japanese word used here, "futari" could also mean a pair. Since Koichi used it here to describe his parent's dog and Pan-chan, it could sound like the two of them are mating.

Q: Would you like to do a national tour again?
K: Yeah, if the offer arises, I would be happy too.

Q: When you were watching F1 at Suzuka Circuit for the first time, what left the greatest impression on you?
K: Well, probably running in the official cars. It felt good.

Q: What did you most recently laughed the most about?
K: Hm~mm..... I wonder? When I was young, it was already amusing for me to just say "poop." There aren't that many amusing things. I don't have many explosive laughters but I'm living happily (laughs).
I: In a Shin Domoto Kyoudai episode you were taping before this, you recalled Tsuyoshi-san saying something and ended up laughing. What was it that he said?
K: Bear? Well that, even now when I remember it, it's still amusing (1).
(1) This SDK episode was aired on 2009.08.02 and had Tegomasu as guests.

--TSUYOSHI DOMOTO--

Q: When you are singing together, in what moment does it feel good?
T: Hm~mm.... I've never really thought about it that deeply but when one of us sings the main melody or the harmonizing part, I think it feels good.

Q: After turning 30, have there been any moments when you thought, "Man, this guy's old"?
T: I don't really think about that kind of things. Rather, we spend all too much time together so during our days off, we're always inside the house so we don't really see each other that often. Ever since we stopped being students, I felt that somewhat after a short time had passed but I haven't really seen that we've become adults in another time.

Q: In an episode of Shin Domoto Kyoudai, you said that you would not want to date yourself, so how about your partner?
T: I don't know about his private life at all so I can't really say but..... I wonder, as far as I know, I would not want to date him (laughs). You know, I think he would date an older woman. He has the purity like a boy about him but he has many difficult points also. So someone who could take care of him like an older sister would a younger brother and shower him with love would be good for him but I can't really imagine any of that.

Q: Is there something you always do before singing?
T: I would make an effort to not eat anything. If I sing with a full stomach, the punch in the song would be lost so I think it's better if I sing with my stomach as empty as possible.

Q: What do you carry to a concert or a recording session?
T: There are a lot of times when we would have a talk show or some work when we would have to use our throats a lot and then have a recording session the next day. During those times, my tonsils would swell and I would end up singing in falsetto. That's why I would always carry around an aroma oil that would relax my throat specifically.

Q: Are there any plans to show a picture of Koichi-kun, Tsuyoshi-kun, Kenshiro-kun, Pan-chan together?
T: I've already decided to now show Kenshiro to the media anymore so unfortunately, there won't be any shot of the four of us.

Q: Please tell us your first impressions of Pan-chan.
T: She would play with anyone and was really fond of people. Also, she's super small.

Q: Do you prepare the little accessories you wear during live performances?
T: I go and buy them myself. I want to choose my own accessories. There is one unique one that I have with me which my mother gave to me as a birthday present though.

Q: I heard you're no longer eating meat, do you not want to eat meat at all?
T: Not at this point.
I: Have there been any changes?
T: I feel that I have more power to leap into singing. My voice can stretch longer and I've been able to sing without using unnecessary muscles. I've been able to start singing in a very simple way. My production staff have told me that I can now sing in a lower tone. Knowing these benefits now, I don't think I can easily revert back.

Scanned & Translated by DesTi.
DO NOT POST ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION.

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