SCANDAL meets Disney

──What was it like becoming Disney villains?

RINA: It was so much fun because this was the first time I totally became a character and did a shoot as well.

HARUNA: It kind of feels a bit like a dream of mine came true.

RINA: That's right. Wearing these outfits that were made for us, putting on lavish makeup, and doing a shoot makes me think how glad I am to be a girl.

TOMOMI: Many of our outfits recently have been close to what we wear casually, so I'm very happy that I was able to experience something like this.

MAMI: It's not cosplay quality. It's much more than that (laughs).

RINA: It's already a piece of work!! Getting pros together is amazing (laughs)

──Please tell us about your love for Disney.

RINA: When I was in kindergarten I had a bookcase filled with Disney books and its origins--Grimm Fairy Tales--and read the books in it many times. I've also watched Disney movies many times, so I've loved Disney for a very long time.

HARUNA: I too have loved Disney movies for a long time, and it feels like they're a part of my life. Disney movies were how I started loving musicals and songs.

──What about you, TOMOMI?

TOMOMI: When I was in nursery school, the yearly theater recitals were Disney plays. That's why Disney has been very close to me ever since I was little.

──What about you, MAMI?

MAMI: The members recommended Disney movies to me and I now watch them. Also, we've gone to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea together. I've grown to love Disney, thanks to the members.

Wanting to go to Tokyo Disney Sea during Halloween Time dressed up

──Do the 4 of you go to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea often?

HARUNA: We do. The 4 of us went to Tokyo Disneyland this year too during a break on our tour.

──Do you have any favorite attractions?

HARUNA: I love Haunted Mansion. Last year, my mom and I rode Haunted Mansion when it had the Nightmare Before Christmas layover.

RINA: Ah, that's only for a limited time. The members, record label employees, and office employees once charted a bus to go to Tokyo Disneyland, which was when it was Halloween time. We didn't get to go on many rides since we had the After 6 Passport, but the inside of the park was lit up darkly and had an awesome Halloween atmosphere to it.

──Only Tokyo Disneyland has let visitors enter the park dressed up during Halloween Time until now, but it looks like they'll also be establishing days when you can go dressed up to Tokyo Disney Sea as well.

HARUNA: So, that means that the main characters at Tokyo Disney Sea's Halloween will be Disney villains?

RINA: That's right. It looks like the theme is that Disney villains were invited to the Halloween party by Mickey and friends.

──You know a lot about it (laughs).

RINA: Hehehe (laughs). I'm really looking forward to it now. I want to go.

HARUNA: It's been a long time coming. I want to go dressed in my Disney villain costume.

──Incidentally, who would you like to dress up as?

HARUNA: Captain Hook would be nice!

TOMOMI: Captain Hook for me as well! He has a cute personality.

MAMI: When I saw HARUNA, I thought Maleficent would be nice. I want to grow wings (laughs).

RINA: My favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid, so it's definitely Ursula for me. When I was in kindergarten I thought, "Why is Ursula tormenting Ariel so much?" and I really hated her. I dislike octopus because of her, and I'm not able to eat it (laughs). But turning into Ursula made me like her just a little bit.

New song 「Stamp!」 interview

Wanting to send girl bands as Japanese culture to the world

──Your world tour 「SCANDAL WORLD TOUR 2015『HELLO WORLD』」 that started from January of this year ended with a performance in Hong Kong at the end of May. Please tell us your impressions of your world tour finishing on which you carried along your latest album 「HELLO WORLD」.

HARUNA: It wasn't just fun; it became a tour on which we came back carrying what is really important to us. We had been recognized by our overseas audiences as "a band that sings anime theme songs" or "a band that performs wearing school uniforms," but this time it was different and really felt like they came out after learning about our music.

──Does that mean that the audiences' reactions were different?

HARUNA: That's right. Our set list this time focused on our album songs, and everyone was properly singing the album songs together with us. I got the impression that they really enjoyed not only the songs that were anime theme songs, but our new songs as well. I was very happy that it feels like our music is being properly transmitted to the world.

RINA: Just like what HARUNA said earlier, people had come to our lives on the premise of seeing us as "a band that sings anime theme songs" or "a band that performs wearing school uniforms." However, on this world tour, we felt like we had to play lives overseas with the same feelings as how we play them in Japan.

──Why is that?

RINA: I think Japan is seen as having a strong anime and idol image overseas. The truth is that girl bands are only gaining steam in Japan.

──You definitely get the impression that there are very few girl bands overseas when compared to all-male bands.

HARUNA: Girl groups overseas consist of more dance units who dance to EDM than bands.

RINA: That's why SCANDAL is in a position to take the lead and transmit girl bands as Japanese culture.

「Stamp!」, connected to the world tour and the arena tour

──Your tour has ended, and you'll be releasing your new single 「Stamp!」 on July 22nd. The title track written by MAMI is a great song that's very simple and has a familiar sound.

RINA: Our single at this timing originally had a image of wanting to do something simple and easy-to-understand.

──When were these ideas born?

HARUNA: I think when the world tour had just started?

MAMI: Yeah. Since we decided that we would release a single after the overseas tour was over, I wanted to make a song that included the atmosphere born on tour and something that felt free. When it was complete, it did turn into a song that's just like that.

──There are no performance scenes in this music video. It's a video that captures SCANDAL being natural throughout the entire thing.

RINA: We produced this MV with an image of finishing up our world tour. We went to shoot in Guam for 3 days and 2 nights, which happened pretty fast. We would hold meetings while eating dinner at night, get makeup done from 3 am, and shot outdoor scenes while the sun was rising. MAMI drove the car during the driving scenes.

MAMI: It was my first time driving in a convertible as well as driving a left-hand drive car. My heart was really pounding. Also, a lot of the drivers passing by would talk to me.

TOMOMI: It seems like foreigners view Japanese people as being very young, like, 「A kid's driving!」. I was surprised at how it almost felt like that (laughs).

──You'll be starting tour at the end of this year after 「Stamp!」 is out. Will it differ from the plans you had for the world tour?

RINA: When we completed 「HELLO WORLD」, we wanted to go on 2 tours in support of 1 album and have it be seen from different places and different viewpoints. We gave our arena tour the title 「PERFECT WORLD」, and we'd like to be able to play lives that will be appropriate for that name.

──I see. It's looking like it'll be fun for those who also went to the world tour.

RINA: The songs on 「HELLO WORLD」 will be the center, but we'll also be debuting new songs as well, so please look forward to them.