SCANDAL, Creating the Theme Song for a Pokémon Movie; 「We truly wish to make music that can become power for someone」

■The parts that touch your heart have nothing to do with whether you're a child or an adult
■We created easily-understood lyrics with words with power in them


──Was your 19th single 「Yoake no Ryuuseigun」 written as the theme song for the movie 「Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction 」?

TOMOMI: I wrote the lyrics with no theme in particular after we had the conversation about us doing the movie's theme song. Since we had gotten to read the script, I wrote the lyrics with a feeling of it being a continuation to the movie.

──TOMOMI, what did you have in mind in terms of writing the lyrics?

TOMOMI: Because it's a work that will be seen by a wide range of generations, from the children going to see the summer's 『Pokémon』 movie to the generation of those parents, I decided on words that could be instantly understood by anyone listening. I saw the first generation movie, 『Mewtwo Strikes Back』 (released in 1998), and it was the first movie that I had seen at a movie theater. The theme song at the end moved me enough that I can still remember the impact it had on me. I couldn't comprehend the subject of the lyrics because I was still young, but I felt that they honestly were good. Since the parts that touch your heart have nothing to do with whether you're a child or an adult, I created easily-understood lyrics with words with power in them.

──Did you often watch 『Pokémon』 when you were children?

MAMI: I was so hooked!

RINA: 『Mewtwo Strikes Back』 was also the first movie I had seen in my life, and those memories are still vivid in my mind. Since it was originally my favorite game, just it being turned into a movie on the big screen really got me excited.

HARUNA: Being tasked with the theme song for the new movie had me feeling again how wonderful of a work 『Pokémon』 is. It's not that many people continue to love it for a long time; it's that it's a work that can cross over generations, which is a rare thing. I'll be turning 26 years old this year, and it's not a strange thing for people to already have children by this age. Since our generation can be called the first generation of Pokémon, those of us who become parents watch it together with their children, connecting the generations even further.

──Was there any pressure or a sense of responsibility as it would be a work that would reach the ears of many people such as SCANDAL fans and Pokemon fans for the first time?

RINA: We feel a responsibility. More than because it's a theme song for 『Pokémon』, we've always felt that we needed to send out a message such as the feeling of being saved by one phrase, or the courage to advance on a different path. It's because I believe that and because I play music. When I thought of how the age range of people who will listen to this song will be extensive this time and that there will be people who learn of SCANDAL for the first time, I felt that this could definitely make you sit up straight.

──The lyrics are positive, but the melody itself is sad.

TOMOMI: I wrote the lyrics based on the melody. Writing sad lyrics to a sad melody would also be okay, but venturing that writing something positive would be good as well.

──As a result, you could feel even more compelling lyrics. You have your performances at Osaka-Jo Hall and 2 days at Yokohama Arena, the theme song for a 『Pokémon』 movie, etc. SCANDAL's field of activities keeps expanding.

RINA: That's exactly why I think that we must make sure to do what we want to convey. We've continued the band for 7 years, and we're so grateful about people talking about how we're the first girl band in 23 years to play two days at Yokohama Arena. However, it's not that we're playing these lives in order to leave a record of them behind; personally, we must do it in order to not be mistaken.

──It doesn't seem like SCANDAL would have that kind of misunderstanding (laughs).

RINA: Well, for better or for worse, we're all serious (laughs). It's because all of us seriously want to continue to do music that can become power for someone. Within the lyrics to 「Yoake no Ryuuseigun」 that TOMOMI wrote are words like "Under the same sky" and "You're not alone." Those words might have been sung hundreds or thousands of times by now, but, simply because we're performing right now, I believe that there definitely are people that it resonates in and saves them. It makes me happy that we can sing such messages right now at this point in time. It's not lip service; it's a message that we want to sing and tell right now.

──Seiji Kameda served as producer for this work. The "band sounds you want" that's known as SCANDAL's passion from your previous work 「Departure」 didn't become pressure for Mr. Kameda, did it? (laughs)

MAMI: Hehehe (laughs). The band sound this time too that we wanted to construct didn't change. But, since this is a theme song for a movie, we wanted to make something appropriate. Therefore we kept in mind how to make a sound in which the center of gravity is placed in the song.

──The band ensemble that takes advantage of the gaps in the sound is impressive, but the distortion of the guitars is being supressed.

MAMI: Yes. First, we considerably reduced the distortion. Instead, I freely use my effector board and make all kinds of sounds. Electronic-like sounds are expressed by guitar. As a result, it turned into a sparkly sound, and the guitar and the music became more melodious.

TOMOMI: Rather than having it heard like a rock-like band sound this time, we made the bass sound to be closer to the melody in order for the song to stand up. In the intro it's in unison with the drums--we're in unison one way or another (laughs).

──The feeling of hitting during the chorus's staccato phrase feels good.

TOMOMI: That part is revolutionary, right～. There's no way it's that pop-like (laughs).

MAMI: It felt like it's skipping (laughs).