J!-ENT interviews LiN CLOVER
Transcription
J!-ENT interviews LiN CLOVER
A J ! - E N T S P E C I A L F E AT U R E LiN CLOVER BY MICHELLE TYMON, DENNIS A. AMITH & MISTY CREECH P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y L i n C L O V E R a n d D AV I D C I R O N E / J a p a n F i l e s . c o m , A N G E L O D E L O S R E Y E S , MICH ELLE T YMON AND JAMES & IAN FERGUSON LiN CLOVER OFFICIAL WEBSITE: w w w. l i n c l o v e r - w e b . n e t J!-ENT W LiN CLOVER (from L-R): Ren (Bass), YuRI (Vocals) and Nao (guitar). Photo by LiN CLOVER. elcome to the music of the trio known as LiN CLOVER. The band consists of guitarist Nao, bassist Ren and lead vocalist YuRi. Both Ren and Nao were former musicians of former Malice Mizer vocalist GACKT , as Ren was a member of the band GacktJOB and Nao, a supporting musician for GACKT. In 2002, at an AXIA audition, both musicians met YuRi after hearing her award-winning song “Nijindasuki”, the three came together and formed the band LiN CLOVER. They played their premiere live performance in the autumn 2002 and released their debut sold-out single two weeks later. In 2005, they released the album “strain gauge” and the EP “nut” and had an extensive tour of Japan the same year. In 2007, LiN CLOVER was nominated for Best Rock Band for the Shojo Beat Music Awards. Their music is very different from anything else you’d hear from Japan, which could add to their appeal. Their music is almost mysterious, and YuRi’s vocals are almost haunting yet en- 2 chanting, making the best way to describe their music as ambient rock. In April, LiN CLOVER performed in the Washington and California which included a performance in front of 3,000 people at the Seattle anime convention Sakura-Con. Before their concert performance, J!-ENT’s Michelle Tymon had the opportunity to interview Nao, Ren and YuRI. J!-ENT: Let’s start off with a few easy questions to get to know about you before we get into your music. How did you come up with the band name “LiN CLOVER”? YuRi: The name “LiN CLOVER” is actually the name of a girl that we had created. It’s not the lucky clover but a person’s name. J!-ENT: When you were younger, was it your dream to be in music or did you dream of becoming something else? YuRi: Ah, I see. How about we all answer? Ren: Other than music? (Pause) There isn’t anything. YuRi: You always wanted to be in music? I had also been playing the piano ever since I was little, so music has always been special to me. At first, I wanted to become a piano player, but then singing became more fun to me and when I was in high school, I started taking singing classes/lessons. Nao: I wanted to be a preschool/kindergarten teacher. I really love kids. J!-ENT: Were you aware that many Americans or people outside of Japan listen to Japanese music? Nao: I knew that anime was very big in places other than Japan, but I wasn’t aware that even the music was pretty popular. J!-ENT: If we were to look into your MP3 or CD player right now, who would we find you listening to at this moment? Nao: Radiohead. YuRi: For me, it would be MEW. Ren: Nirvana. J!-ENT: Who inspired you as a singer or a musician? Was there anyone that you looked up to? YuRi: I’ll start. For me it would be Bob MAY 07 | J!-ENT LiN CLOVER’s Ren (Bass) performing at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Dave Cirone / JapanFiles.com Dylan. Nao: Mogwai. Ren: Marcus Miller, the bassist. J!-ENT: A question for Ren and Nao: What was your first instrument that got you hooked as a musician? Nao: Before I started playing the guitar, I played the bass. There aren’t as many strings, so it looked a little easier so I played the bass. Ren: The bass. J!-ENT: This question for YuRi. You’ve performed at many gigs in Japan but if you have had one performance that you will always remember, what performance was that and why? YuRi: During every show, I don’t think of any particular show being like the greatest and after every show, I think about all of the things that went wrong here and there. But afterwards the more I think about it, I realize how great each show was, so I can’t pick just one show but it was a dream of mine to come to America and perform so I think that the show we had right before we left for America went really well because of all the energy that surrounded it. J!-ENT | MAY 07 J!-ENT: Let’s talk about your music. If you had to describe your music, how would you explain it to our readers who are learning about you for the very first time? YuRi: For first-time listeners... it’s a little hard but we try to make the melody rather catchy but we also pay attention to the guitar sound itself.... but I guess it’s like guitar rock. Er… I don’t know how to describe it exactly. Nao: It’s pop, yet hard and there’s an emphasis on the lyrics. The lyrics are in Japanese and even though the sound is heavy, we try to make it so that the words are being carried by the music itself. We know that people may not be able to understand it if it’s all in Japanese, but we feel that the Japanese language is very important to us and try our best not to incorporate English lyrics into our music. And with that, if the fans who don’t know Japanese later take the time to try to translate/understand our lyrics, that means a lot to us and makes us very happy. J!-ENT: Your music is available on japanfiles.com and many people are discover- ing your music. Are you guys interested in promoting your music internationally or is the goal right now focused on Japan for now? YuRi: Of course not just Japan, but we would love for people all over the world to listen to our music if they are interested. Up until now, we didn’t have a chance to go anywhere else but Japan but now with the help of JapanFiles.com, I’m very happy that people outside of Japan is able to listen to our music. J!-ENT: In 2002 and 2003 you released your first CD single “energy/blind me” and your second CD single “mouse/ freakshow”. I noticed that these songs are sold out and have not been featured in your albums. Will we ever see these songs on a future album? Nao: For now, we don’t have plans for re-releasing those songs. However, if there is enough of a request for people to want to hear those songs again, we might rerecord those songs with the sound that we have now as a whole. J!-ENT: Let’s talk about your first selftitled mini-album from 2004 titled “LiN CLOVER”. How was the experience of 3 LiN CLOVER’s YuRi performing at Sakura-Con 2007 in Seatttle, Washington. Photo by David Cirone / JapanFiles.com the creation of this album lyrically and musically for you? YuRi: I write most of the lyrics for our songs usually and at the time, it seemed that there weren’t any songs out there that were in the grey zone, somewhere in between black and white, meaning the in between, the place where things aren’t completely clear. So I wanted to make songs that expressed that feeling. I wanted to write about the area between the feelings of “happiness” and “sadness”. Nao: Musically it’s basically the same. YuRi: It’s basically the same thing musically but, since the melody is where the lyrics are, we try to make sure that the music itself is not so strong that it kills/ blurs out the lyrics. Nao: So for us who play the instruments, if chords were major it’d be major 7th and for minor, it’d be minor 9th. It’s on purpose, and we know it’s not normal and we sort of want to make it sort of subtle and mysterious. J!-ENT: In that album, each song had a very different musical style to it. 4 “Rinkaiten” was very rock and guitar driven, “Too Beautiful” had a mellow style and “CROW” which sounded very mainstream rock. Was the decision to make each song so different from each other for an experimental reason or do you like to experiment with different musical styles in general? YuRi: When we were making that album, we were trying to tell a story, but we also wanted to focus on human emotions so at first, we started off very strong and aggressive but then, we would remember something else and cheer up so we would incorporate that into the music. Among those songs, there are songs we wrote with that in mind but we also put in songs from the past that we thought would fit that theme. J!-ENT: In 2005, you released your album “strain gauge”. How was the experience of putting together this album musically and lyrically? YuRi: With “strain gauge”, the album prior to it had a pretty hard message, so for this album, we wanted to go a little softer and concentrate on human emo- tions such as love. Putting in soft/kind feelings and mixing in a few nostalgic feelings, so the music ended up being a little poppy. J!-ENT: I want to talk about the song “Miracle” from “strain gauge”. I really enjoyed the chord progressions and arrangement of that song. It’s my favorite song from the album and I was wondering if you could/can tell us the story behind the making of that song. YuRi: “Miracle” is one of my personal favorites as well, so hearing that you like it makes me very happy. Thank you very much. For the song, we didn’t want to go for the usual “verse A, verse B, then the chorus” pattern and we actually wanted to go with something totally unexpected that would surprise the listener. So, if the listeners really did feel that way, it would make us very happy. In music, I think it’s best to have both the feeling of “I was expecting this” and also the slight feeling of betrayal when something unexpected happens. So in this case we went for the slight feeling of betrayal. J!-ENT: Last summer, you released the MAY 07 | J!-ENT LiN CLOVER’s Nao performing at Sakura-Con 2007 in Seatttle, Washington. Photo by David Cirone / JapanFiles.com CD single “nut” and I really enjoy the song “Risou Decibel” a lot. With the release of this CD single, being together for several years, what has been the biggest difference recording music now versus recording music when you first began? Nao: Well I think any band or artists grow and change when working together. We also have changed, and are continuing to change as we go along so there is no end and basically there is no “perfect”. We keep changing so the fact that we sound completely different in “nut” compared to our first album was very much expected. So as a result, we can tell ourselves that the feel of the lyrics and the music have changed. J!-ENT: Now performing at different live house events throughout Tokyo, J!-ENT | MAY 07 what has been your most favorite memory performing live and has there been any embarrassing moments ever on stage? YuRi: I can’t remember exactly when it was, but there was one particular show where all 3 of us members fought right before we were supposed to perform. So, when we all went out on stage pretty mad, while I was singing for some reason it ended up being a great performance. That was actually one of the most fun times I ever had on stage. Nao: Well, as for technical/mechanical troubles, that’s always. YuRi: (laughing) J!-ENT: Let’s get to learn more about you outside of music. When you are not performing or working on music, what do you enjoy doing in your free time? YuRi: I watch movies all the time. So, I usually go to the movie theater or rent DVDs. I really enjoy watching movies at the movie theater where I can sit and watch movies in the dark. Ren: The same. I rent videos, DVDs… AV’s (adult videos). Everyone: (laughing) Nao: I like to draw pictures or go fishing. J!-ENT: You’re here in Seattle and you will be going to California to perform soon but has there been any kind of food that you wanted to try while here in America? YuRi: Nao and I have been wanting to try the American McDonalds Big Mac. Nao: Also, we’d like to try lobster. 5 LiN CLOVER’ promotional photo (From L-R: Ren, YuRi and Nao). Photo by LiN CLOVER. J!-ENT: In every interview, we have a word play. We give you one word, you give us your definition of those words: a. LOVE YuRi: Family. Nao: Guilt. Ren: Sex. Everyone: (laughing) Nao: Let’s just go with that. b. SUCCESS Ren: (makes a spraying sound) “Success”(note: Success is a name of a kind of hair product in Japan) YuRi: Something I’m always going after. Nao: A gateway. Ren: Success? Succsex? Everyone: (laughing) Ren: Motivation. 6 c. HAPPINESS YuRi: If you believe that you are happy, you can be happy at anytime. Nao: Children. Ren: When you fall in love with someone. d. SEX Everyone: (laughing) YuRi: Honestly, it’s not something I think that much about. Nao: Duty. YuRi: It’s your duty? (laughing) Ren: Sex… sex… S&M Everyone: (laughing) e. MONEY YuRi: It changes people. Nao: It’s a tool. Ren: Money… collateral/rewards J!-ENT: If you had one word to describe LiN CLOVER, what word would that be and why? YuRi: If it was just one word… music. It is unexplainable with just one word. Is that an okay answer? J!-ENT: You have many fans in the US. What final words would you like to leave with them? YuRi: We want everyone to come hear our music, but we also want them to love music itself. It’s fine if they listen to other music as well; basically I just want them to love music as a whole. How about everyone else? Nao: We all agree. MAY 07 | J!-ENT J!-ENT CONCERT REPORT: LiN CLOVER By Michelle Tymon Photography by Michelle Tymon and James Ferguson In my four years attending Sakura-Con, this was one of the most amazing concerts to date. When one listens to LiN CLOVER’s music just by CD or mp3, you may get a very mellow feeling but seeing them perform live was a completely different experience. Overall, I would classify their music as mellow, ambient rock with an edge however, that might not be what everyone else hears because LiN CLOVER’s music is so unique and diverse that it can sound completely different to various people. With a completely packed concert hall at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, LiN CLOVER rocked the house. It’s amazing when you can see the band and the audience interact with each other and feed off each other’s energy. Despite the fact that many of their songs are on the mellow side, the last thing they were live was boring. YuRi, Ren and Nao along with their support drummer Yuki, brought every single song they performed to life. Perhaps it was just because they felt the excitement and energy from the crowd, but this really was a high energy show from start to finish. J!-ENT | MAY 07 7 J!-ENT CONCERT REPORT: LiN CLOVER J!-ENT CONCERT REPORT: LiN CLOVER J!-ENT CONCERT REPORT: LiN CLOVER The crowd definitely enjoyed the show from start to finish and LiN CLOVER definitely made quite a few fans in Seattle, at least 3,500 of them because that’s how many were there to see them in concert. They started off with the song “Rinkaiten” which was an excellent choice to start the set with because it builds into such an energetic song and they instantly got the crowd going. Next they jumped into the song “miracle” which starts off being pretty fast and then gets slower and then speeds back up; it is a complicated and intriguing song with how they wrote it both lyrically and musically and they definitely had the crowd’s attention. They followed “miracle” with “Empty” which along with “miracle”, is one of my favorite songs and is another high energy song and has a very pretty and catchy chorus. Next was “risou decibel” and is a slightly slower song where they all got to showcase their creative lyric and song creating talents. Next was the song “Iron Will” and it is a very beautiful song that starts off very mellow and bursts with energy during the chorus. Right after came “shuon no tokei” and it was probably one of the most memorable songs 10 MAY 07 | J!-ENT J!-ENT CONCERT REPORT: LiN CLOVER because it had one of the most interesting openings and the overall song is probably a completely new experience to the audience. At the end, they also performed two new songs, “saidai no BGM” and “balance modulator” and by then, the ground was literally shaking from the excited fans jumping up and down and getting into the music. During the whole show, we could see that YuRi felt every word she sang and both Ren and Nao rocked out while getting the attention from both the female and male fans with their talent and charisma. Fans screaming out “Aishiteru!!” could be heard quite a few times throughout the whole set. In the middle of their set, YuRi took the time to thank the audience for coming out to see them and even spoke a little bit of English which the fans once again shouted out random Japanese words in return such as “kawaii!!”, “daijyobu!!”, and once again, “aishiteru!!”. I felt honored that I got to be at their concert and I seriously felt that it was not only one of the best concerts I have attended at Sakura-Con, but also one of the best concerts I have ever attended in my life. I personally hope along with many, many others that LiN CLOVER will come back to Seattle again. J!-ENT | MAY 07 11 C O M I N G S O O N T O J ! - E N T. . . GLAY J!-ENT A J ! - E N T P I C T O R I A L F E AT U R E LiN CLOVER 4.11.07 - SLIMS • SAN FRANCISCO, CA PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELO DELOS REYES J!-ENT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELO DELOS REYES 14 MAY 07 | J!-ENT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELO DELOS REYES J!-ENT | MAY 07 15 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELO DELOS REYES 16 MAY 07 | J!-ENT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGELO DELOS REYES J!-ENT | MAY 07 17 worldgroove J!-ENT A J!-ENT MUSIC REVIEW LiN CLOVER LiN CLOVER www.JapanFiles.com Duration: 26:35 RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2004 Album is available for purchase through: www.japanfiles.com For more information visit their official site: http://www.linclover-web.net 01. Rinkaiten 02. Mizu no bi-dama 03. Too Beautiful 04. 102.8MB 05. Crow 06. Iron Will 07. Wheel 08. Missing Link As the debut EP for the trio LiN CLOVER; YuRi (vocals), Nao (guitar) and Ren (bass), this album serves as a great introduction to the band. It displays their blend of beautiful lyrics, electronic tones, heavy guitars and dynamic bass perfectly. The first song, “Rinkaiten”, helps set the mood for the entire album, showcasing each member’s talent. It’s reminiscent of early 1990’s rock, raw and unprocessed. The sound captures the band’s aptitude and amazing blending skills from the progressive guitar to the bass rhythms and of course YuRi’s powerful vocal work. “Mizu no bi-dama”, while featuring some light electronic work in the beginning and end, is still ever much the rock song. Though seemly an easy going tune, Nao’s heavy guitar work adds some drama to YuRi’s voice, fading during the more calm moments only to suddenly reappear for emphasis. All the while Ren’s bass adds a perfect backdrop to the entire song, maintaining a steady rhythm with the vocals, accentuating them almost as a backup singer would. “Too Beautiful” focuses on YuRi’s voice, highlighting her at times raspy yet soothing sound. Acoustic guitars help give the song a very calm and serene tone, lulling the listener into a dream like state of mind. “102.8MB “ serves more as an ending to “Too Beautiful”, than it does as a separate song. It continues the calming tones used in “Too Beautiful”, though touching more on ethereal electronic sounds then acoustic rock tones. YuRi’s haunting voice helps add to the atmosphere of the song, creating a notable 18 < A LUCKY 3 LEAF CLOVER Lin CLOVER’s debut puts them on the indie charts. yet mysterious track. Bringing the band back into a more rock sound is “Crow”. While more melodious than the other tracks it still embodies the same awe inspiring riffs and chords that were featured aspects of them. Continuing in this style is “Iron Will”. Though darker then “Crow” it still showcases the same melodic chord work and vocals as the previous track, making it both pleasant and heavy simultaneously. “Wheel” brings a different feel than the others. A soothing electronic sound takes you into a world of surreal wonder, with the percussion echoing the sound of a heartbeat. YuRi’s voice takes on a raspy quality similar to that of Anna Tsuchiya during her Spin Aqua days, which becomes more prominent with the sudden burst of guitars in the chorus. The final song “Missing Link” ends the album on an interesting note. It features what sounds like LiN CLOVER’s song being played in the middle of a busy area with people chattering away and continuing on with their lives as though they are oblivious to the song. Just past the midway point the background noise is temporarily lost, as though the people have suddenly vanished and you’re left with an eerie recording of only the band. Just as suddenly as the sound of daily life was lost it suddenly returns. A seemly perfect semblance for the album it’s self, as the listener temporarily becomes absorbed into the music and then just as quickly returned to their daily life. — MISTY CREECH MAY 07 | J!-ENT worldgroove J!-ENT A J!-ENT MUSIC REVIEW LiN CLOVER strain gauge www.JapanFiles.com Duration: 31:16 RELEASE DATE: August 16, 2005 Album is available for purchase through: www.japanfiles.com For more information visit their official site: http://www.linclover-web.net 01. Miracle 02. It 03. Empty 04. Misleading Shore 05. Shuon no Tokei 06. Higanbana wa mama 07. Never “Strain gauge” is Japanese indie rock band LiN CLOVER’s 2nd album. Their rock style from their self titled debut continues in this release though with more emphasis on electronic tones and melodies. While the main aspect of the music is still their incredible blend of the instruments, the melodies come across as more stabile and flowing then they had previously. The electronic atmosphere is stronger on “strain gauge” then before, though it never over shadows the rock tone. While there’s not as much diversity in their sound as before, the songs still capture the mysterious aura that the previous album had. “Miracle” starts off with a smooth electronic tone and reverbing guitars before it glides into a solid rock sound while bass creates a steady pulse throughout the song. This is a good example of LiN CLOVER’s ability to mesh contrasting rhythms together into a coherent melody. “It” follows the same development as the previous track; starting off slow with subtle guitar reverb before evolving into a stronger rock tune. The bass line follows so closely to the guitar that at times it’s difficult to pick it out. Though this is an interesting change to what was heard in their previous songs. “Empty” seems to hold the more noticeable rhythms from both the bass and guitar. J!-ENT | MAY 07 < The Next Phase of Dark Rock LiN CLOVER’s latest release dives into more otherworldly sounds. Both stand out yet play well off of each other. YuRi’s voice is almost sweet in this track while maintaining the strong sound her fans adore. The next three tracks “Misleading Shore”, “Shuon no Tokei” and “Higanbana wa Mama” continue in the same manner. A soft haunting melody flows within the songs while a dominant rock sound drives the refrains. YuRi’s vocals are powerful yet feminine, a striking yet enjoyable contrast to the music behind it. One of the noticeable aspects of this album is the seemingly lost raspy quality YuRi’s voice once had; instead, taking on a more haunting sound. This is more apparent in their final track “Never” where, at times, YuRi’s vocals seem to almost merge with the music. LiN CLOVER’s music is an excellent example of what can be created when artists can successfully bring multiple contrasting backgrounds and abilities together. That skill continues to shine with this album, making it a wonderful addition to any LiN CLOVER fan’s collection. Additionally I believe this would be a great sound for someone who wishes to experience something more than just the same everyday guitars. The band’s experimentation with sound and technique sets them apart from what is currently heard on the radio. — MISTY CREECH 19 worldgroove J!-ENT LiN CLOVER nut Beehive Records/JapanFiles.com Duration: 16:28 Album is available for purchase through: www.japanfiles.com For more information visit their official site: http://www.linclover-web.net LiN CLOVER’s 4th single “nut” is a nice return to their self titled album, consisting of songs filled with strong powerful chords and diverse melodies. The first song “Kaiiyu to Magician no Machi” seems almost empty of an electronic atmosphere with the exception of a faint trace in the background. “Taiyo no Kazu” is a lovely slow song with more focus on Ren’s bass skills in the beginning. His prominent sound enriches the melody while YuRi captivates with her emotional vocals. After a slight pause the song picks back up, led this time by Nao’s guitar, giving it a more powerful feel then it previously had. The final track, a re-recording of “Risou Deshiberu” brings back the bands progressive rock sound; building upon the emotion invoking tones that were prominent through the entire single. This is a must buy single for fans who love the bands more prominent rock sound. — MISTY C R E E C H A J!-ENT MUSIC REVIEW worldgroove J!-ENT A J!-ENT MUSIC REVIEW LiN CLOVER slumber JapanFiles.com Catalog #: N/A Duration: 47 minutes RELEASE DATE: April 2007 Album is available for purchase through: www.japanfiles.com For more information visit their official site: http://www.linclover-web.net 1. Empty 2. it 3. miracle 4. higanbana wa mama 5. misleading shore 6. shuon no tokei 7. risou decibel 8. taiyou no kazu 9. kaijuu to magician no machi 10. never LiN CLOVER’s CD release, “slumber” is a great compilation of their songs from their previous EP releases “nut” and “strain gauge”. Their music overall has a very unique sound to it and it might be a completely different experience for every listener that is listening to their albums. “slumber” contained a lot of my favorite songs from the previous albums and I think it is a great way for their American fans that are just learning about them, to get a feel for their music. The first track is “Empty” and is a high energy song that offers the listeners a taste of the uniqueness of their music. The second track is called “it” and the music is almost haunting and the vocals in the song sound very monotone until the chorus where YuRi’s voice explodes with emotion. Next is the third track called “miracle” which is a very memorable song and one of my favorites because of how unpredictable it is. The fourth track, “higanbana wa mama” has a very catchy melody and fun lyrics and I find myself unconsciously swaying or bobbing my head when I listen to this song. The next track is called “misleading shore” and overall it is a very mellow track and for some reason actually does make me think that I’m standing on a seashore listening to the waves; it is a very calming song. The sixth track is called “shuon no tokei” and is one of their most unique and fun songs that builds in intensity as the song goes on and is also probably one of the first J!-ENT | MAY 07 < A Very Unique Listening Experience A compilation of awesome music from LiN CLOVER’s previous EP’s for the first time available in the US songs I think of when I think of LiN CLOVER’s performance at Sakura-Con. Their seventh track is “risou decibel” and I enjoyed the vocal harmonies and arrangements in this song. Musically it is very involving. The next track called “taiyou no kazu”, a very calming and mellow song that gets very frenetic and interesting from beginning to end. The ninth track is called “kaijuu to magician no machi” and is probably the most interesting track title on this album and just like the song title, it is full of wonder; YuRi’s voice in this song reminds me slightly of the singer Sakamoto Maaya. The last song on the well-diversed compilation album is called “never” and once again has that slightly haunting feel to it. I believe that LiN CLOVER’s music is an experience that grows every single time you listen to their songs. I hear something new and I feel something different every time I listen to every one of their songs. I know that first-time listeners of their music might not know what to think of their music because it is so unique, but I personally feel that it gets better every single time that I listen to it. Some listeners might instantly connect with LiN CLOVER’s music but for those who don’t, I hope they give them at least one more listen because if you just sit and embrace their music, you’ll discover how amazing this band truly is. I think this is a great collection of songs that will attract many fans to more of their music that is available on JapanFiles.com and will help them create an even bigger fan base not only in America but all around the world. — MICHELLE TYMON 21 CO M I N G SO ON TO J!-ENT ANNA TSUCHIYA