SCANDAL's interview - Understanding best album 『SCANDAL』
Vol.01 - Walking together with the fans

――Last year you played many lives until the end of the year. Were you able to take it easy at the beginning of this year?
RINA:「Yes. We were able to relax a bit by taking around one week off.」

――We've heard that the members always keep in touch with each other even on days off. What about this time?
RINA:「We surprisingly didn't this year.」
MAMI:「RINA did go overseas. But, MAMI×TOMO frequently kept in touch. We decided to go to FUJI-Q HIGHLAND together.」
TOMOMI:「That time was the most vacant it's been. We also went last year, so it's now a customary thing for us.」

――How about HARUNA?
HARUNA:「I went back to my parents' house. I stayed there for a long time and thought we wouldn't go anywhere, but we went to Todaiji Temple in Nara.」
RINA:「Nara is where my parents' house is. So, I'm happy that HARUNA went to Nara on vacation.」

――You each refreshed in your own ways. Your first release in 2017 will be your best album 『SCANDAL』 in commemoration of your tenth anniversary. You had the fans choose the songs; why did you decide on that?
RINA:「When we first started talking about this best album, we weren't sure how we should choose the songs on it. Since we have over 100 songs, it would be pretty difficult to decide on them. So, when we thought about these past ten years, we thought of how we had been walking together with our fans for these ten years. That's why we wanted to find out their favorite songs and decided to go with fan voting.」

――What are your impressions on the 34 chosen songs?
MAMI:「We understand them. It was rather like a ranking of popular live songs, but we realized that even though we play them live. Rather, it's because we tend to include them in the set lists (laughs). The audience too loves songs that we think are fun to perform. That ended up as the result, so that makes us very happy.」

――Were there any songs you were surprised made it in?
HARUNA:「As for B-side songs, it's surprising that ones from all kinds of eras were included in. Rather, we're happy about that. Also, "SCANDAL IN THE HOUSE" is a song we don't perform on--it's all electronic music--but I don't think we probably would have included it if we had chosen the songs ourselves.」
TOMOMI:「The songs are centered on ones we play live, but it makes me happy that a slower song like "Bitter Chocolate" was selected. It feels like we're loved from various orientations.」

――The order of the songs are also unique. It's not in release order--it's shuffled up.
RINA:「That's right. The four of us went into a conference room and sorted the songs on iTunes. We were thinking about it with a DJ-like feeling (laughs). It was fun, wasn't it?」
HARUNA:「Yeah, it was really exciting (laughs).」
TOMOMI:「It felt really similar to when we're making live set lists, didn't it?」
MAMI:「We want you to listen to both discs exactly the same. So, when we sorted them on iTunes, we tried to balance them out by pairing up songs on each disc.」

――Incidentally, how long did that take you to do?
HARUNA:「How long do you guys think?」
TOMOMI:「Maybe 2 hours?」
RINA:「It didn't take that long.」
MAMI:「It felt like an instant because we had so much fun doing it.」

――Are there any songs that have particularly left deep impressions on you?
TOMOMI:「If SCANDAL was a country, then "SCANDAL BABY," the most voted-for song, would be our national anthem. It was originally the first song on out first album (『BEST★SCANDAL』) and is also not a single. We didn't think that it would be this popular after all these years. It's the song that gets everyone excited the most at lives, but when we were writing it, it was like a representation of our intentions at that time..... But, it's a song that we've been continuing to play all this time and one that we have really strong feelings for.」
RINA:「At times we play "SCANDAL BABY" as background music as the audience is exiting after our shows. They sing the full chorus as they're leaving.」
MAMI:「It's still a live show up until then.」
RINA:「It is. When we saw that, we thought of how it's truly become a wonderful song. We're now at the point that we can play it at festivals and can say that it's one song that represents us.」

――So, what songs do you think were turning points for the band?
RINA:「"Shunkan Sentimental" and "Shoujo S" were both anime-related songs, so I think those are songs that got many people to learn about us. Rather, it was their first image of us. As for recent songs, "Take Me Out" has a sound that gets people excited. We've gotten great reactions from people who go to rock festivals. That makes us really happy. It's kind of like a song that filled us with courage.」

――When you announce new songs, are you interested in the reactions of your listeners?
RINA:「Yes. It's because if we didn't put anything out, then we wouldn't know them. We believe in ourselves and make songs, but each time we write a new song, it's very important to know we're heading into the correct challenge. We don't want to make songs to protect ourselves, so we plan to do different kinds of attacks. Therefore, we won't know the reactions unless our songs are listened to...... So, it makes it very happy when we're given positive reactions when we put out a new song.」
MAMI:「How can I put it...the times our confidence turns into convictions are the moments we put out a CD. We couldn't play lives if we didn't have anyone listening to us, and neither could be get those kinds of reactions. That's why we truly want everyone to listen to our music, including this best album.」

――How do you feel as the release date is drawing near?
MAMI:「We can't wait!」

(To be continued)

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Arigato for the transation ^^

Thanks for the translation

Thank you Jade!  I really enjoyed this!

SCANDAL's interview - Understanding best album 『SCANDAL』
Vol.02 - From a culmination to a new start

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The growth trajectory seen in the songs on their best album, their 47 prefecture tour, and their goals for 2017? Here is Vol.2 of the interview with SCANDAL who have run nonstop through their ten years and are flapping their wings towards the next ten years.



――There are two new songs on this new release. 「FREEDOM FIGHTERS」 on disc 1 is a rock tune that makes you feel a positive strength.
RINA:「We began writing this song from the lyrics. We wanted to make a cool, killer tune where it could be like we're asserting our freedom. 2016 was the year we lived the most freely; we had very strong feelings of how we only live once, so we need to do the things we love to do..... Various things from time to time--like, how Trump was elected in the US presidential election--I feel like a lot had changed in a year. We selected all kinds of things ourselves and entered an era where we had to choose things for ourselves. That's exactly why we want a "Live freely! We'll get our victory!" song to be conveyed to middle and high school students as well who currently listen to our songs.」

――It's an impressionable time for middle and high school students, isn't it?
RINA:「That's right. It's a time when many troubles happen. Like, "Which path should I choose for the future?", or "Should I just live as my parents say?" Or, there are some children who can not express what they truly love. But, we wanted to say that you don't need to endure it, and that it's okay to live the way you want to. I turned that into lyrics while MAMI wrote the melody.」
MAMI:「The melody didn't really come to mind after receiving the lyrics; it came to me piece by piece. It was such a weird, new feeling. Since the word "march" was in the lyrics, I thought, "Okay, maybe I'll go with this rhythm." With that, it went smoothly from there.」
RINA:「In regards to the lyrics, I had the image of the song as a video before writing it. The four of us were marching around a city with people following behind us. I wanted to make it a sharp, bad, self-confident song.」
MAMI:「For the accompaning sound, the members shared a common view of making it a powerful rock tune so I went for a bit of a rough sound. The noise and melody can be regarded as a part of the rendition style. I made it while strumming a heavily distorted guitar. As a result, it has become a song that gives us power as well as to those listening to it.」

――When it comes to songs that can't lose out to its performances, singing also seems to be hard thing to do.
HARUNA:「That's right (laughs). The sound too is very SCANDAL-like--rather, it's a song packed with many of our talents. I felt like I wanted to sing a strong song and not get bogged down by that, and I want everyone to look forward to our future songs even more. It's also a song we challenged ourselves with to send out a new song in order to properly convey our feelings of "Not only is this a culmination of the past ten years, it's also our new start."」

――The other new song is 「HELLO」 on disc 2. This also features lyrics by RINA and music by MAMI.
MAMI:「We felt that we were able to make a true, standard J-Pop song. This song was finished at the same time as when we wrote 5-6 winter songs about a year ago. 〈HELLO〉 is the only one that differs slightly among the many bright, pop-like songs. It's a song that'll warm you up and have you think, "We might only have right now."」
RINA:「We wanted it to be heard at the right timing. This album arrives in stores on Valentine's Day, so we thought this was the perfect timing and put it in the tracklisting.」

――Are there any other songs that you have in stock?
RINA:「There aren't. We want this to be heard right away.」
MAMI:「Although we make many songs, we only have two choices: to do them or not to do them.」
RINA:「We made our record label cry (laughs).」

――You will be going on your first 47 prefecture tour in the spring in support of this work, which is both a culmination and a new start. On your European tour last year there were many countries you went to for the first time. How was that?
TOMOMI:「For our European tour we were on a bus with beds, and when a live would end, we would go back on the bus and head to the next country, so our team feeling has improved quite a bit. It was our first time going to every place except for Paris; London; and Germany, and while we were in Japan we couldn't imagine what Poland would be like at all. Like, "Are there actually people who listen to us there?" But when we went, there were so many girls there! Kind of like that (laughs). It moved us to know that there are this many people on the continent of Europe who know about us.」
MAMI:「The food in Poland was really delicious. Knowing that we had fans in a country we went to for the first time made the food delicious and the city very enjoyable. It was a tour that made us feel like we want to go again.」

――Are there prefectures in Japan that you'll be going to for the first time?
MAMI:「The prefectures we haven't yet done a solo live in are Gifu, Kochi, Miyazaki, and Saga. These four prefectures were quite difficult to incorporate into our tours so far, so we can dominate the entire country by touring during this opportunity (laughs).」

――Will you be basing the content of the live on this work?
HARUNA:「That's right. So, we'll be heading out with a standard set list. We want you to know more about us and fall in love even more, so we want first timers to feel free and come out to it.」
RINA:「We'll be deciding on the set list soon, but there are 36 songs on this best album alone. Since we can't perform all of them, we want to have the set lists change daily. Season-wise it's during the time that spring will turn into summer, so we'll be changing the songs we can do a little at a time. It'd be great to have them reflect the audience or how we're feeling that day and make a different live each time.」

――You have momentum to run through this year all at once. Do you have personal goals for 2017?
TOMOMI:「Ever since moving to Tokyo I've been moving every time my lease is up, but since I renewed my lease for the first time last year, I hope to be able to have a change of attitude and remodel my rooms......is what I've always been saying (laughs). I haven't started yet.」
MAMI:「Buy wallpaper? Buy that? Buy this? You don't buy them even when you ask us (laughs).」
TOMOMI:「I've gotten consultations and many suggestions. I can't decide. I'll decide just on wallpaper in February.」
MAMI:「Wouldn't it be better to do it earlier (laughs)?」
TOMOMI:「I will decide as soon as possible (laughs).」

――How about HARUNA?
HARUNA:「Hm......this year for sure I won't be shy and learn more about places.」
RINA:「You've been saying that for the past ten years (laughs).」
HARUNA:「So I'll do it this year for sure! Is what I'm thinking (laughs). The same type of people tend to live in the same places. But seriously, this year I'll go out to all kinds of places.」

――How about MAMI?
MAMI:「I've been wanting to create more of a homey environment recently. When I thought, "What's missing in this current environment?", I thought that I was missing a carpet (laughs). So, I bought a Persian-style carpet (laughs). I'll try to lay stuff out, so maybe I'll make a decision that something's missing after that. I want to gradually increase my equipment and put together an environment that's even just a little better.」

――How about RINA?
RINA:「Since last year I've been continuing to watch 100 movies, but I began to watch 『The Walking Dead』 from around October...... I spent time on that and stopped at around 80 movies. So, this year I want to check off watching 100 movies.」

――For SCANDAL, first up is your tour.
RINA:「That's right. After that, we want to make a ton of songs. We'll make sure to stock up on songs (laughs).」
MAMI:「I hope we can do it (laughs).」
RINA:「I wonder (laughs). But, we want to do our best.」

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Thanks for this post and the translation. Gotta laugh when Rina said they made their record label cry...hopefully they can stock up on songs after the tour and bring out a new album...in the time being, I will follow the huge tour throughout Japan

It's fun enough to  read the interviews, and I didn't expected that Rina would choose "walking dead" as the film that she wanted to watch

but there's something that I wanna see from their answers......like planning to make the South East Asia tour's destination, especially Indonesia .clap.