I was fortunate enough to be able to do an interview with the band. Here's the link, hope you enjoy. (this is probably not the right area of the site to post this, so someone please move if that is so!).

http://jrock247.com/2018/08/scandal-interview-2018/

Loved the questions especially on the songwriting and guitar playing aspects.

This is a very interesting interview and in addition I discovered a new website to follow the J-rock news!

Good job.

I loved that you asked questions about the creative process, especially how Mami approaches her solos and Tomomi with her bass lines.  I feel they get asked the same questions over and over, and after all these years I don't recall Mami ever being asked about soloing.  So thank you.

I especially like the translation into English.  It actually reads as if they spoke in English, which I'm sure they didn't. 

Did you submit any questions to them that they did not answer?  If not, are there any more you wished you could have asked in hindsight?

You did an interview with the band, great job! It's been mentioned by everyone else but I also feel it true that you did a great job by having questions about their process of song making in detail. I haven't really seen other interviews with the band which includes such question.

Thank you for the kind words above, and I see that SCANDAL have reposted it on their Facebook page, that was nice. I had to adhere to certain guidelines but tried to ask questons I hadn't seen elsewhere. There were some other questions that didn't get used.

"Songs like “Oh! No!” or “Konya wa Pizza Party” convey the band’s sense of humor. Is humor something that has helped the group get along with each other for the past twelve years?"

"How do you keep older fan favorites like “Doll” or “Space Ranger” fresh for yourselves these days?"

"Are there any subject areas you’d like to explore more in song like social causes or current events?"

"Earlier albums had more outside contributors. At this point, do you mostly produce yourselves in the studio?"

mbowie4321 wrote:
"Earlier albums had more outside contributors. At this point, do you mostly produce yourselves in the studio?"

If you you ever get the chance to interview them again, it would be interesting to find out if they have ever thought, or do they have plans, to re-imagine any of their older songs that were arranged and composed by outside contributors, so that the older tunes can be updated to their current sound, style and performance levels.

mbowie4321 wrote:
"How do you keep older fan favorites like “Doll” or “Space Ranger” fresh for yourselves these days?"

Hmmm. Maybe they don't? Maybe they dread playing them?! Come to think of it, when was the last time they played "Space Ranger" live? I was disappointed that it wasn't included in their 10th anniversary set list. Every live version I've heard of that song rips the studio cut to shreds.

Shame they didn't answer all your questions but, hey, you've still gotta be happy!

@Haruna's Ears

This is a problem for every group though, you want to play your new stuff but loads of fans only want to hear your old stuff.

Haruna's Ears wrote:Come to think of it, when was the last time they played "Space Ranger" live?

For me, just over 2 months ago at their gig in Hong Kong.

@Haruna'sEars

"Space Ranger" has been in the current set list for the HONEY tour, and Haruna has said she loves doing "DOLL" because it was their first single and it's special to them. I think they are just giving the song a rest so they can fit it the whole HONEY album in a set.  

Personally I would like for them to bring back songs that never seemed to have a chance being played live like "Scandal Nanka Buttobase."  Based on their live DVD at Budokan I got the impression they only just danced to the studio track and didn't actually perform this on tour when it was in the set.

Haruna's Ears wrote:Hmmm. Maybe they don't? Maybe they dread playing them?

I doubt they'd ever answer this, but I'd be really curious to know what songs they really just don't like playing or make them nervous or whatever. Sometimes I feel like it's kind of obvious if they're not into a song, but you never really know. And some songs I'm sure are really hard to play live. A few of their songs are definitely simplified (as far as chords and arrangement) vs. what's on the album.

Some bands do answer that question, but usually not until they've been around a super-long time. Radiohead famously *hates* "Creep", one of their biggest songs. Led Zeppelin hates playing "Stairway to Heaven" (or at least Robert Plant does). Madonna said at one point that she wouldn't sing "Like a Virgin" again unless somebody paid her $30 million (but then she did, later).

I have a feeling Scandal would be more diplomatic at this point, but maybe someday they'll tell us.

They seem to actually like most of their old famous songs, though. I feel like the songs they *never* play after the initial album tour are probably the candidates for ones they don't actually want to play. Songs that get edged out of the set list over a long period of time are probably just songs that had to be axed to fit new stuff in... especially if they rotate those songs back in later. But something's gotta go or they're going to end up playing 9 hour shows.

Well obviously after all these years they have far too many songs to fit into one concert but yes I am sure they have their favourites and not so favourites.

spacecadet wrote:But something's gotta go or they're going to end up playing 9 hour shows.

If the band has no real "dislike" for their less performed songs, as a band with a wealth of material from a 10(ish)-year career, they should then adopt the different deep cuts for different venues in their tour. Yes, this means removing the "we have to be fair to all the new fans in different cities" pattern of set lists, but for the hard core fans (which SCANDAL should have) it will be a real delight anticipating what song will they play next, especially for the fans going to multiple venues.

But at the rate SCANDAL have been playing the same songs in their set for an entire tour (moving the same songs about in a different order doesn't count lol)... I can only dream for that to happen.

Re: Space Ranger

Good to know! I was just going off their filmed concerts. I don't recall seeing it since maybe the 2015 Xmas show.

I wish they would pick out at least one older song that they haven't played lately for these N.A. shows since for some of us it will (probably) be our only time to see Scandal. I would be in (scandal) heaven if they dusted off HI HI HI or Kangerou.

3mania wrote:I wish they would pick out at least one older song that they haven't played lately for these N.A. shows

I kinda have a feeling that will happen. They never seem to want to duplicate set lists from one tour to the next, and this is a new tour. So it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them brush off something that hasn't been played for a while. Especially something they think western audiences might be likely to know. It might not be "Hi hi hi" or "Kangerou" but possibly one or two of their anime songs.

On their last US/Mexico tour they did seem to play mostly newer songs. But they did actually play "Kagerou" on one or two dates.