【Interview】BAND-MAID on the Feelings From Their US Tour They Want to Share

February 22nd saw BAND-MAID release a new song, entitled "Memorable." This was, of course, the ballad that made waves when they unveiled it at their January 9th OKYUJI (concert) at Tokyo Garden Theater.

Coming at the start of their 10th anniversary year, BAND-MAID's new song release marks the launch of a brand-new blitzkrieg. After all, their long-awaited nationwide tour will kick off March 23rd, with a video release coming in April, an extension of their United States tour to start in May, and more Japanese dates in November including a climactic closing show at Yokohama Arena. Bandmembers MIKU Kobato (guitar & vocals), SAIKI (vocals) and KANAMI (guitar) sat down for this online interview before their roller coaster event schedule starts ramping up, to discuss their new song, the imagery of its music video, what they have in store for the tours, and much more.

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──First things first - please tell us all about the new song, "Memorable." You debuted it January 9th at the Tokyo Garden Theater, but the composition got its start last year during your U.S. tour when KANAMI-san created the original draft the song grew out of, right?

KANAMI: Right! We wanted to come up with a song while we were on tour, even if it was just the first chorus of one, to give us something new to talk about. It made us so happy that in the course of playing all these shows we got to travel and see so many of our masters and princesses (their nicknames for their fans) again, and that there were no restraints on talking, singing or cheering out loud, and looking all the smiling faces made us want to create a song like this one. We eventually decided we wanted a warm ballad to fill our listeners' hearts with happiness, since that was what the U.S. tour was giving us. We also felt it was about time for us to try our hand at a ballad song. Of course, when we returned home from the tour, we wanted to spread those warm feelings to our Japanese masters and princesses too, and those emotions went into the creation of the song as well... While we were on tour, I played the first version of the song for SAIKI, with a little embarrassment.

──With embarrassment?

KANAMI: Yes. I had her listen to me sing it while I played the guitar accompaniment during a tour stop, after which I said "here's a melody I came up with; what do you think?"... It was embarrassing to me [laughs].
SAIKI: It made me feel that warm feeling she mentioned the first time I heard it. We were several OKYUJI into the tour, and all of us in the band were feeling it, like "now THIS is what an OKYUJI should be!", and when she played the hook part for me, it made me recall that feeling, and all kinds of nostalgic memories... It was such a perfect combining of the emotions that we shared. So even though she only had the hook at that point, I thought "this is really awesome!", so that's what I told her. KANAMI's kindness really came through it, and the melody especially was so good that I was excited to see how the song would turn out.

──Did you feel that it was about time for the band to do a genuine ballad, SAIKI-san?

SAIKI: Yes, I did want to do that. We'd discussed a lot that next up we wanted to do a mellow song that would reach the hearts of our masters and princesses. When I heard this song, I thought how perfectly it felt like just what we wanted.

MIKU Kobato: We'd had meetings where it was mentioned that there was demand for us to do a song like that, on top of which we don't really have many songs that you could call ballads, so I thought it would be nice to add this one, po. This was right at the time of our U.S. tour, and KANAMI said she wanted to write a song about the time we spent on that tour, and hearing that had me convinced it would result in a great song, po.

──What makes a song a ballad is a matter of personal opinion, to a large degree. The information that was released called it "a medium-tempo number with an acoustic touch" - notably, the word "ballad" was never used. There was a little bit of a sense that coming right out and saying "here's our ballad" was not something that BAND-MAID wanted to do.

MIKU Kobato: We didn't really pay any attention to that, but we have done other songs that were ballads in our opinion, but our masters and princesses or our staff didn't agree. There's a pretty big gap between what a ballad is in our view versus our listeners' view, so it was a conscious decision not to call it a ballad, po. Whether each person who hears it considers it a ballad or doesn't is something we leave up to their own interpretation, and in that sense, we didn't want to go around saying "this is a ballad" or "this is not a ballad," that's all, po.

SAIKI: Yeah. It's not something we really focused on.

MIKU Kobato: We considered "Daydreaming" to be a ballad at first, you know, po?

SAIKI: It is a ballad, though.



──I think so, too [laughs].

SAIKI: You see what I mean [laughs]. But everyone interprets things like that differently. It impressed on me what a tricky thing a ballad can be [laughs].
KANAMI: I did envision the song as a ballad when I wrote it. I'll be glad if listeners acknowledge it, that we've finally got a ballad after so long.
MIKU Kobato: When we released "about Us", there were some people who said "BAND-MAID finally did a ballad", po.

SAIKI: Didn't someone say to you "you've finally entered adulthood" back then?

MIKU Kobato: I think you're right, po! [laughs]



──In our last interview, when you were reflecting on your U.S. tour, KANAMI-san, you said that it was your goal to be able to say "our growth during the tour that allowed us to create songs like this."

KANAMI: Whoa, did I really say that? [laughs] It's true, though.

SAIKI: We have grown a lot, haven't we?

KANAMI: We sure have [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: Hahaha! I think we might be having words put in our mouths, po.

KANAMI: But really, not only was the U.S. tour our first in quite a while, but it was a big one, and we were returning to our roots but also drawing on all of our growth and experience, so coming home from that and creating this song made us feel like the band had really come alive, in my opinion.

──In addition to your experiences on tour and memories of past activities, you must want to make your tenth anniversary year an unforgettable one. The title of the new song being "Memorable" makes that nuance quite clear.

MIKU Kobato: That's right, po. The tune was conceived of the tune during the U.S. tour, so wanting to fill the lyrics with our emotions after returning to the United States at last and seeing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic starting to lessen, and with all the things we felt and experienced on the tour, was a driving force. In that sense, we wanted the song to bring back memories of each individual OKYUJI whenever you listen to it, po. With memory, and scenes as they remain in the memory, being a theme we were focusing on the song, we came across a word with a similar meaning to the word "memory," which was "Memorable." It was a word I'd used before when I talked to the audience onstage, po. We wanted the lyrics to include our own words, things we'd actually said before, po. I thought that it might let our masters and princesses say "oh, that word that Kobato said one time is part of this song," or "come to think of it, she did say that when I saw her," po.


──So you said something like "let's make this a memorable day" during your onstage monologues?

MIKU Kobato: That I did, po, that I did, po.

──I found it interesting that the word you chose was not "unforgettable," but "memorable." They both broadly mean something that will not be forgotten, but I think "memorable" carries a stronger nuance of something that it will remain in your memory.

MIKU Kobato: That's right, po. We chose it because it had a more gentle nuance to it. We had an interpreter with us all throughout the U.S. tour, whom I consulted with when I was figuring out what to say on stage, po. At one point, I asked how I could say "we want to make this a day you'll never forget" in a way that was as warm and gentle as possible, so that interpreter suggested this word as a possibility. I really liked the comfortable way it fell on the ear, and so we decided to use it for the song, po.

──Kobato-san and SAIKI-san, you wrote the lyrics. Did you both come up with words you wanted to use while keeping that theme in mind?

MIKU Kobato: With the majority of the lyrics, I'd write them all down, then give them to SAIKI, and she'd insert words she wanted to include, or share ideas about parts she'd like to change, and we'd repeat this over the course of a few drafts, po. It had been a while since we collaborated in that fashion. The two of us each worked individually on "Unleash!!!!!" before, but with "Memorable" we went back to working on it jointly the way we did in the early days, po.

SAIKI: There were quite a few parts in the lyrics that I wanted to word differently. Kobato's original version was more difficult, or maybe I'd say it lent itself to more different interpretations, but I suggested it would be better to narrow the focus by using more immediately understandable words, so we changed it along those lines.

──So with this song, rather than having multiple different interpretations possible, you wanted to clearly convey the same things in the same way?

SAIKI: That's right. Returning to the U.S. after 3 years away was hugely memorable in itself. We'd all been through the experience of the pandemic, and it was possible to hold live vocal performances again in the United States, which was a big part of it... It was a real shock to realize how happy these things we'd taken for granted before could make us feel. I wanted lyrics that would let all the people who came to see us each night remember the experience, so I focused on that in the lyrics.

──I remember that after you played this song as your last number at the Garden Theater, SAIKI-san said "Thank you."

SAIKI: Ha ha ha! Yes, I did. But I really felt so wonderful then. I was on the verge of tears. I was very aware of how extraordinary it all was. I wanted to absolutely savor that moment... I looked out and saw the same thing on the faces of so many people in the house [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: A lot of the masters and princesses were tearing up too, and the sight of everyone being so clearly moved had the same effect on us, so we were right there with them, po.

SAIKI: I'm the type to concentrate hard on the song while I'm singing, to fully enter the world that song creates, but when I sang "Memorable," I was really aware of all the people watching me, so it was a reaction to that, I feel. I really wanted to brand all those faces in my memory forever, so I looked straight back at them throughout the song.

KANAMI: Before we played the song at the Garden Theater, we were a little worried, saying "I wonder if they'll like it?" Whenever we debut a new song, especially during a broadcast (online OKYUJI), we feel nervous, wondering if it will be well-received, if people will enjoy it. But seeing them with tears welling up in their eyes, we thought "oh, it looks like it's really reaching them," and that made us happy.

MIKU Kobato: I play acoustic guitar on this song, po...

SAIKI: It's been a while since you did, huh?

MIKU Kobato: It has been a while, po. I hadn't played acoustic at an OKYUJI for some time, so seeing me pick up the acoustic guitar was enough to make the masters and princesses go "Ooh!" and a murmur of excitement to start. I didn't talk or pause between the preceding song and this one, so it was quiet, and being so aware of every sound made by the crowd made me freak out a little when I played the first note, po [laughs]. "Oh my gosh, can I do this? All of a sudden everyone's looking straight at me, po!" [laughs]

SAIKI: Kobato's shoulders were super stiff [laughs].

MIKU Kobato: I stiffened up from nervousness, po [laughs]. But once I went for it and started playing, since it's a midtempo song and I was playing acoustic, I was able to look more closely at the faces of all the masters and princesses. During other songs, I thrash around so much that I don't get a chance to look closely at the audience, po. This song allowed me to do that, and though of course I'd concentrate on the reaction closely for a new song, I think I achieved the message of "these are the feelings that took us to U.S. and back again" that hoped to share, po.

──So it's a song that lets you and the audience meet eye to eye and share those emotions as you perform. It sounds like "Memorable" will go on to become that kind of number.

MIKU Kobato: Yes, I think so, po. Although that's true of our other songs too, I think "Memorable" especially will be like that, po.

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