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"her" Magazine Vol. 2
Their voyage so far and what's ahead
One year has flown by since their big departure
Their voyage so far and what's ahead
One year has flown by since the establishment of their private label "her." Embarking on a new voyage, SCANDAL has enjoyed doing things their own way. Scenery has come into view through their many experiences together with their fans. Additionally, they have completed their album Kiss from the darkness, which will guide them on the path ahead. No matter where they go, they want to continue riding with pride as members of this ship.
―It's been one year since "her" was founded. What's it like looking back on things now?
HARUNA: It went by so fast. In 2018 it felt like things had really come to standstill, so it feels like a lot of things have started for us. We toured, played festivals, and then recorded in the studio.
RINA: It feels like we've broken free. It's the same with songwriting, and we feel it even when being interviewed. In a sense, we're speaking to everyone about what's truly on our minds rather than being selective of the words we use. It also feels like we're more accepted. Of course, we've been allowed to do what we want to, but we also feel that we have more new members of our family who have discovered a place where it's okay for us to make outrageous music, and who thinks of ways on how to spread it. We're very happy to be able to take on music with these new feelings.
TOMOMI: Even small things make us happy.
RINA: Yes. Mentally, it's the best to be able to able to newly do something that's a given (laughs).
MAMI: We're very grateful because the environment around us is like if we had purchased a new house and made a mess inside of it, it'll be super clean when we get back! It's the same as before! It's kind of like that (laughs). We're so much freer than before. It feels like we've been able to relocate where SCANDAL belongs. I don't think it's clear what genre we belong to since we haven't belonged to any in a long time. If you look at J-Pop or bands as a whole, we had no choice but to affirm our place for ourselves. I wouldn't say we were confident in this, but we went with "her" since we had no other choices. However, this past year seemed like that was the right choice. We want to take care of this house that we bought and built, including the soil (laughs).
RINA: We'll live our entire lives here (laughs).
HARUNA: For me, I was surprised because I didn't expect that starting "her" would really affect me mentally. After all, we just launched our own label. Apart from that, nothing has changed in the last 10 years, and even though we just launched our label I was able to discover a new side of me. I'm very happy that I can now make my own decisions. This year has been a lot of fun, and it essentially changed my life. Above all, this really made me think of how awesome SCANDAL is (laughs).
―All of your fans are also very pleased with this departure.
TOMOMI: That makes us happy.
MAMI: If I was a listener and someone told me to start my own label, I think I'd start from, "What's a label all about anyway?" Speaking for myself. If you don't like an artist all that deeply, you don't care where a CD is being released from. However, we have fans that understand that. That makes us very happy. When we think of how our fans really understand SCANDAL, we again feel grateful for the love we're shown.
―SCANDAL = "her." "her" = SCANDAL. I think you'll be even more recognized this year.
RINA: We want things to take root so that'll happen. After we launched "her," there have been quite a few people on Instagram posting pictures of our CDs and using the "#her" hashtag. That high level of awareness is pretty awesome. As they're songs born from the "her" mentality, we feel that the fans sympathize with that as well. It's very encouraging and motivates us. They understand things to that extent.
TOMOMI: This of course applies to our fans, but we also very much care about our staff involved with "her" and our good friends. We love them so much. They always come out to our live shows and tell us, "That was so great!" They also always bring us snacks (laughs).
RINA: They're our refreshments (laughs).
TOMOMI: It sounds very trivial to put it into words, but those small considerations shown to us as we're working have an influence on everything.
RINA: Yeah. That's right.
TOMOMI: That's why we feel we've gotten so much healthier after starting "her." When we go, "How's this?!", they go, "That's it!", which makes us feel like we're moving forward. I really like the relationship we have now.
RINA: I don't remember being told "No, you can't do that" after starting "her" (laughs). I have no memories of being denied for anything. We're creating things in a really great atmosphere, so we hope we can go around the world feeling this way.
―Your world tour starts on March 7, 2020.
RINA: We're playing at halls in Japan, which makes it easy for families to attend. We'd also like to have many newcomers see us for the first time.
HARUNA: We'll be going to my hometown of Konan as well. I never thought I'd be coming back home as part of a band who's playing at a venue I'd gone to so many times as a kid (laughs).
MAMI: The MC's probably going to be long (laughs).
HARUNA: Seriously (laughs). We'll also be heading overseas starting at the end of May.
TOMOMI: Ah, the last show of my 20s will be in Singapore (laughs)! Recently we've never failed to tour in Asia each time we release an album.
HARUNA: But this tour is going to be a long one. I think they'll be announced by the time this interview gets read, but there'll be quite a few more dates after Asia.
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