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SCANDAL and their deep connection to pop culture
We feel that to defy a pop sound means that we're not accomplishing our purpose
From the moment it seemed so, we came to think that pop might be our greatest weapon
SCANDAL is sparking an all-girl band whirlwind not only in Japan, of course, but around the world. Sublimating sexiness and cuteness in their own pop-sense way, they fascinate many fans regardless of borders, genders, or age. What are these girls' feelings towards pop culture that had troubled them for a long time?
―Are you conscious of having a pop sound when making music?
RINA:「We are. But, our intentions aren't that "We want to put out a pop sound." I think our intentions are more like, "When the four of us create sounds, it becomes pop."」
―Isn't that awesome?
RINA:「But it was a long period of time when that had been complex for us...」
TOMOMI:「When the band first formed, I was shocked when I read Kenji Ohtsuki's autobiographical novel 『Gummy Chocolate Pineapple』. The protagonist is someone who was neither flashy nor plain in school. However, he thought popular music wasn't cool; he was well-versed in core music, B-movies, and so-called subculture; and felt that he was different from those around them. It's a story about forming a band and having baseless confidence that it'll be able to succeed in the music business. When I read that, I thought that I wasn't on the protagonist's side. I wasn't someone who liked subcultures, and I thought he was being stupid. Also, subcultures seemed overwhelmingly cool. After that, SCANDAL started up and thoughts of "I want us to be a band that doesn't have a standard path!" struck me.」
―I see.
MAMI:「At that time we chose to do MMA-match-like joint shows with bands such as The50kaitenz and Midori. They were cool, we looked up to them, and we were happy. But, that meant that we were also aware we couldn't play that kind of music...」
HARUNA:「We would lose if we used subculture as a weapon and fought a band that had a strong subculture. It turned out that we could fight with our brightest weapon. It took us a long time to realize that we were the ones who denied ourselves, and those twisted kinds of thoughts were the worst. We want to accomplish that completely now.」
TOMOMI:「We had been seeing ourselves obliquely all that time (laughs). It took us a while to notice how cool taking a standard path is.」
RINA:「We feel that to defy a pop sound means that we're not accomplishing our purpose. From the moment it seemed so, we came to think that pop might be our greatest weapon. That's exactly why we're confident we can take on anything. So, we might be aware of pop culture going against pop culture. Everyone wants the moon. But that's what personality means, right?」
―So, right now, your greatest weapon is if the four of you produce sounds, you're able to bring forth pop sounds.
RINA:「Yes. If you analyze pop, you'll see that it contains subcultures. If something prominent is appealing, we should analyze pop. I like Sofia Coppola's movies, especially 「Lost In Translation」. This movie takes place in Tokyo. This Tokyo shot by Americans looks like a city of subcultures. This flashy way of how it's shown seems strangely faded, and it seems that the fun and an exported coolness of Tokyo viewed from overseas were not noticed by the locals. I feel that that's understandable for us too. Elements of subcultures and pop are felt overseas, including pop that feels complex, and I hope that they're amused by that mixture.」
―You've completed your new album 『HONEY』 where SCANDAL's pop-side and cuteness is brought out.
HARUNA: 「With our previous album 『YELLOW 』 where we wrote all lyrics and music, we again came to know the delight in music production. We also finished a complete prefecture tour and an overseas tour. Something was missing from that, and we wanted to increase our number of pop songs that express our appeal even more. It's a big thing for us to be able to release this album this year, the tenth anniversary of our major label debut.」
MAMI:「It's a piece of work we got to pack with everything we wanted to do. Elements not in this album were able to be captured in previous songs. It turned into an album where each of the dots connected at just the right timing. The ones that were completed last are the first two songs, 「Platform Syndrome」 and 「OVER」. They were "We want hard-hitting songs!" ones.」
―TOMOMI wrote the lyrics for 「Mado wo Aketara」.
TOMOMI:「This song is the oldest one. It's a song I wrote on a night where it felt like my feelings―rather, my soul, was floating away. Negoto's Mizuki Masuda did the arrangement; I had it dyed with her color.」
RINA:「We wanted it to be an album where our listeners would have excited feelings of anticipation, like "SCANDAL is still going hard!" It's our tenth year of being a major label band, but we too still want to be excited and were particular about conveying an easy-to-understand tempo and tone.」
―「Midnight City」 is also a cool song.
RINA:「When MAMI made this song at home is exactly when we talked about how "We're truly a pop band, aren't we?" (laughs). We were like, "Okay, we'll shake free from songs we can write because we're pop!" For example, other bands might be opposed to putting the word "ichigo" (strawberry) into their lyrics (laughs). This song started from putting "ichigo" into the lyrics.」
―I was also surprised by HARUNA's range of expression in these songs.
HARUNA:「I felt the most comfortable singing than I ever have with this album. I approached 「Platform Syndrome」, 「Short Short」, and 「Electric Girl」 all differently, but I was really confident that I could have fun with these three songs in my own way. I was able to feel the moment I soared beyond my limits. I've been able to enjoy singing in this new way for these past year or two. I want our listeners too to keep being excited about themselves.」
wrote:I'm more curious to hear OH no, electric girl, and Short short, Scandal doesn't shy away from keeping us on our toes and guessing. 
