SCANDAL's documentary film will be released. The reason for recording that scene in question / Interview
■Single『Sisters』 & Film 『SCANDAL“Documentary film「HELLO WORLD」”』 Interview
「A world tour where we could really be true to ourselves」
『SCANDAL “Documentary film「HELLO WORLD」”』, which covers 10 performances in 8 countries from SCANDAL's first world tour, has been completed. This work that will be in theaters nationwide from 10/17 is a road movie about not just simply delivering the lives that they held overseas, but also about showing the true colors of these 4 girls who are playing as a band called SCANDAL in the country of Japan. Why did these girls decide on being recorded overseas where stress would accumulate even at the best of times, and on their first world tour too? We asked about the feelings that were put into their new song 「Sisters」 that was born via this world tour, and also about their song 「Chiisana Honoo」 that plays during the ending of the film.
I thought of how bad I am at expressing emotions (laughs)
――Your documentary film 『SCANDAL “Documentary film「HELLO WORLD」”』 that covers 10 performances in 8 countries will finally be out. Are there quite a few times you were surprised and thought, 「Even this is in it!」, or thought "Why did we decide on having cameras in the first place?"?
RINA: The 4 of us decided to make it into a film. This was our first time touring overseas on a world tour, but we've been going overseas annually to play lives since our indie days. We had strong feelings of not wanting to let things break after we finally have a fixed beat of activities in Japan after doing this every year, and also thoughts of how we must go because there are audiences. We wanted to properly find out 「Why are playing lives overseas?」. We found out while we had the cameras on us because we wanted the moment that we found out to be recorded. At any rate, we asked for cameras to always be around us.
――How was watching what was actually completed?
HARUNA: It's close to being the first time watching ourselves objectively like this. We released a bonus DVD about our Asia tour in the past, but because we could imagine what the final product would be like, we shot it with feelings of including and showing funny parts as well. But this time it was very natural. Since the manner in which we normally live our lives was recorded, we saw a different us than how we normally experience things. It was a very strange sensation.
TOMOMI: There are many things that I think and feel on a regular basis, and I had plans to say those things normally, but I surprisingly did not say them. I thought of how bad I am at expressing emotions (laughs). I'm sure I was talking to just myself in my head. Even though I should be absorbing lots of things, I'm not able to verbalize them. 「Why can't I convey these feelings!」 was my first impression of it.
――Well, then about adding on a second audio channel that's live at the movie theaters? (laughs)
TOMOMI: I almost want to do that (laughs).
MAMI: You can't concentrate at all (laughs). Incidentally, there many scenes where I thought of how I wished I had been filmed more. Cameras were always around us, but there are parts where I thought, 「It'd be better to not say this in front of the camera」, and I unconsciously avoided the camera. That's why, when I watched it again, I thought, 「If that scene had those words in it, more would have been conveyed.」 I really thought that must face the camera more and talk to it of my own accord.
――There's a scene when a problem arose in Mexico, correct?
MAMI: That's right. It's become very fragmented, but there was more to that before and after it. But, I avoided the camera during that scene.
HARUNA: We were worried until the last minute about whether or not we should use it. I think a scene like that will be a strong stimulus for those watching it as well as us. We were present as it was being edited, and if we were to include that scene then we would have to properly resolve things. It was necessary for the 4 of us discuss it further, so we talked about many things, like how SCANDAL will play music from here on and how we'll face each other. In order to not repeat that again, we decided to properly resolve things and leave them behind in the film. If we hadn't shot a film like this, there could have been a lot of things that we didn't perceive.
――But, it's also a scene that conveys that the band is progressing in this way. The way of showing live clips as the main focus with off-shots also included makes it a film that's the complete opposite. The content can attract even those watching who don't know about SCANDAL because your daily lives are properly recorded.
RINA: Yes. It's not that we want to make a film where you can see footage from our overseas lives; there are lives amidst our everyday life. We wanted to show that it's one part of our everyday life.
HARUNA: Having people purely enjoy this as a band's road movie would be the best.
――Are there scenes that were shelved that you didn't want to be?
RINA: There are quite a few. For example, there's a good scene in which we're having a lively conversation in a dressing room, but it might have been too much for this documentary. It was put on the 「Another Story」 special clip on our (single that was released in September) 『Sisters』 Limited Edition.
HARUNA: As expected, a scene where we play Shiritori for 20 minutes couldn't make it in to the film (laughs).
TOMOMI: I want everyone to see it (laughs).
RINA: But, because we played a live like that after that talk and that kind of atmosphere after the live is linked together, I think it's interesting when you try comparing them.
「Chiisana Honoo」 becoming like a newly written song for the film is strange
――『Sisters』's B-side song is 「LIFE IS A JOURNEY」. When I listened to it after watching the film, I felt closer to the song.
HARUNA: Yes, that's right. As we were touring, we again realized that there's a lot of freedom when it comes to playing music. Thinking that there are no right or wrong answers while being able to tour was a very big thing for us. That's why we were able to write both 「Stamp!」 and 「Sisters」. The melodies are different, but both of them are on our axis. It's like the lyrics were transfered from our old days, but I feel that they're conveyed as being more positive and relaxed.
――The lyrics were penned by RINA.
RINA: I'm currently on a European movie kick, and I particularly like the work 『Daisies』. The fashion is very lovely. If you look at the historical background, you'll see that it was released in 1966 in the middle of the Cold War. It was very powerful to see girls living freely in that era. By living freely, girls were making a counterattack. We're freer now compared to those days, and even though choices and privileges are being given out, we cannot completely take advantage of them. I think that's a waste. I made those feelings of wanting to live life freely and more as I like into a song, and I'd like everyone to listen to it.
MAMI: CNN* interviewed us in the US and they asked, "Amidst the EDM that's sweeping across the world, how do rock bands like SCANDAL continue to fight on?" But, we don't intend to fight; rather, we also like EDM. We're people who originally listened to dance music and danced ourselves. This song embodies that answer. 「Sisters」 is a mix of a dance sound and a band sound. It's a song that represents dance music, a part of our roots, once more as a band and as we currently are. I'm very glad that we were able to present it in this way, in this form.
――Was 「LIFE IS A JOURNEY」 from that same timeframe?
TOMOMI: I had gotten up to just a bit before the midway point on the demo, but it didn't have a chorus and was left neglected for a bit. We embarked on our world tour and the words 「LIFE IS A JOURNEY」 came to mind, so I thought, "This is it." It's a song that was made mostly by playing around. Because everyone worked out the arrangement while we were in the studio, it turned into a song where you can enjoy a vividness--or rather a bare side to us.
――These are two songs have a common ground about living life your way and have a life force to them. 「Chiisana Honoo」, the song that will be played during film's ending, also has an attitude about facing life.
RINA: We wrote this song at the end of last year. After we started the band, I've thought about how we live and then someday we die. But, that's my way of living. If you think that you will die one day at times you're lost or worried, do your best, climb over obstacles, do what you want, and ultimately live while making choices like those. It's a song where we were able to say that. We wrote it wanting to be able to sing a strong, gentle song, as if wanting to to properly save people who are lost or are stumbling along.
――Even though it was made at the same time as your album 『HELLO WORLD』, why wasn't this song included in it?
RINA: 「HELLO WORLD」, in some ways, is an album with tremendous feeling of life. Moreover, it's filled with songs about people living without thinking about living. Is it because there are too many differences in a protagonist's way of life? If this film didn't exist, it might have been put to sleep on a computer. Still, it's a song where we had strong feelings of wanting to make it into a song.
――By listening to this song at the end of the film, it felt like a 「.」 [period] was properly placed for this journey.
HARUNA: That's right!
RINA: [「Chiisana Honoo」] becoming like a newly written song for the film is strange. I again felt that this was a tour where we could really be true to ourselves.
MAMI: Yes. Of course we'd like many people to see it. We'd like people who've never heard of SCANDAL, and people who don't usually listen to this kind of music to see it as well. We simply want this to be enjoyed.
TOMOMI: Please watch it!
http://www.excite.co.jp/News/emusic/20150929/E1443513913118.html
*Note: Again, CNN itself never interviewed them. The person was simply a user on CNN iReport, which anyone can join, and they falsely claimed to 'work' for CNN. The band really needs to know that!
