On Break After 10 Years & Best-Of Collection
Wagakki Band shocked followers earlier this yr when it introduced that the group can be occurring hiatus indefinitely after Dec. 31, 2024. The eight-member band has solid out a singular area in J-pop music by its distinctive ensemble together with conventional Japanese devices and that includes the distinctive singing type of frontwoman Yuko Suzuhana. After a decade of having fun with good success each in its house nation and overseas, the group has summed up its profession to date in a best-of assortment, referred to as ALL TIME BEST ALBUM THANKS – Yasou no Oto -.
Wagakki Band members Suzuhana, Beni Ninagawa (Tsugaru-shamisen), Kurona (wadaiko, Japanese drums), Machiya (guitar & vocals), and Wasabi (drums) sat down with Billboard Japan and spoke candidly about why they selected to take a break on their anniversary yr, and the method of manufacturing the 18-track best hits album that additionally contains re-recorded variations of acquainted hits and two new songs.
The announcement that the band can be taking a break indefinitely took me abruptly when it got here out in January. Could you inform us the way you got here to that call?
Yuko Suzuhana: We shaped Wagakki Band and made our debut in lower than a yr and spent a particularly busy ten years since. But on the time we first received began, all of the members every had their very own bands or have been doing solo work. Wagakki Band all of the sudden attracted a number of consideration, so we stopped the whole lot else we’d been doing till then and poured the whole lot into this venture. We’d been discussing for over a yr about the way it could be a good suggestion to cease the band in the interim and deal with our particular person actions.
Beni Ninagawa: We figured we’d do our greatest till the top of our tenth yr, then after that, we wanted a while to replicate on ourselves and additional enhance our abilities. It’s a optimistic resolution that can permit us to get collectively once more after we’ve improved and make even higher music.
Suzuhana: The band wasn’t going downhill, so the timing of the announcement may need come as a shock for some, however we stated the hiatus can be indefinite just because we haven’t set a time restrict. This information is being inaccurately reported, particularly exterior of Japan, that we’re disbanding and I’ve obtained many inquiries from abroad.
Listening to this best hits album, I used to be touched by the way it traces the historical past of your previous ten years in a really dramatic method.
Machiya: We didn’t need to make a best-of album that simply lined up our well-known hits. Since it’s the tenth anniversary of our debut, we determined to re-record a few of our early releases and make the gathering right into a retrospective of the ten years we’ve spent with our followers. It’s a fairly conceptual construction that means that you can hint our historical past by listening to the songs in launch order.
Ninagawa: What’s extra, the sooner songs that we re-recorded have a very completely different sound high quality in comparison with the unique recordings, in order that’s one thing for our followers to get pleasure from.
Wasabi: In explicit, the unique model of “Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari” sounds fairly mild. There are components the place we should always have made extra stable, nevertheless it’s a fast-paced track and we weren’t in a position to categorical that on the time. But because of the issues we’ve cultivated over the previous decade, we’ve lastly been in a position to give it form, and I feel you’ll be able to really feel the burden of our ten years within the sound.
After listening to the re-recorded model, I used to be struck by the magnitude of the wadaiko’s presence.
Kurona: Rock music might be made with only a guitar, bass and drums, so conventional Japanese devices aren’t actually obligatory. But on this band, they will’t simply be discreetly included; they need to turn out to be indispensable and the sounds needs to be there as a result of they’re obligatory. There have been no precedents earlier than Wagakki Band and we’re nonetheless the one ones that do that… We’re nonetheless within the technique of trial and error.
The tracks (*10*) and “Senbonzakura (Re-Recording)” have been launched digitally forward of the album. My phrases and calls haven’t modified in any respect since (the unique), however perhaps as a result of the way in which we recorded has modified, I’ve had individuals inform me that they suppose I’ve added extra wadaiko phrases and calls. In that sense, I really feel that my trials and the outcomes of find out how to make Japanese devices sound richer, together with the importance of my very own presence, are expressed in these re-recorded variations.
“GIFT” is a optimistic up-tempo new track credited to Yuko.
Suzuhana: I imagined what I’d be like, what sort of melody I’d prefer to be singing on the finish of our tenth anniversary earlier than the break. I got here up with a optimistic, vibrant melody and tempo in a day or so, and wrote it on the piano. I named it “Gift” as a result of this band was a present to me. My life modified utterly because of this band, and naturally I hope that the music we eight members created may also be a present to our followers. So this track is about how the existence of Wagakki Band has modified all of our lives for the higher.
Ninagawa: Everything we need to convey is packed into this track, isn’t it?
Machiya: If you take heed to this track after studying this interview, you would possibly have the ability to see that our hiatus is a bit completely different from what those that interpreted it as a unfavourable transfer thought it will be.
The different new track, “Yasou Emaki,” is credited to Wagakki Band.
Machiya: What’s completely different about this best-of album from earlier ones is that we requested our followers which songs they wished included. We made the choice primarily based primarily on the highest solutions from the survey, however these songs are to be anticipated, proper? Among the highest 100, there have been numerous tracks within the midrange that didn’t make the reduce. We wished to satisfy the expectations of our followers who voted for such songs, so we began engaged on this new observe with the thought of mashing them up as a lot as attainable. I used to be the one who did all of the precise work, however we made it collectively in that it samples phrases that all of us made, so we put it out beneath the title Wagakki Band for the primary time.
I’ve forgotten what number of I ended up utilizing, however I took samples of over 80 songs. I exported all of the melodies and chords in the identical key, after which spent about two weeks extracting the phrases from them.
You’ll be touring from November to December with this album and wrapping up your decade of music in the interim. Can your followers anticipate the tour to be a festivity?
Kurona: We know that our followers have purchased tickets with some disappointment and feeling of loss about our break within the nook of their minds, so we need to guarantee that the exhibits will outlast these emotions for so long as attainable. We need individuals who have been feeling right down to go house with a brighter outlook, saying issues like, “I had a great time” and “I’m glad I came today.” To that finish, we’ll placed on a good cooler present than ever earlier than.
“ALL TIME BEST ALBUM THANKS – Yasou no Oto -” is streaming now https://wgb.lnk.to/thanks_digital. Click right here for info on tickets to “WAGAKKIBAND Japan Tour 2024 THANKS-YASO NO OTO-” Tokyo present on Dec. 10 for abroad residents https://wagakkiband.com/contents/857663.
—This interview by Tomokazu Nishibiro first appeared on Billboard Japan
