Shutter Doll release Interview
Translator Comment
I needed some practice, I had some time, so boom baby.
The beginning and end of Shutter Doll are connected through instrumental tracks, and it’s exactly like DJ play, y'know.
wowaka: I’ve never heard that one before. Though now that you say, I could hear it like that. It’s just that I wasn’t aiming for a “DJ” feeling when I wrote it.
When did you write these songs?
wowaka: Immediately after Mono-chrono Entrance. From the rhythm to the melody, I felt like they were a whole new type compared to everything prior, since when I showed the songs to the band. There, everyone told me they liked it.
Do you guys remember when wowaka first showed you the songs?
shinoda: I remember. I was the first to react, after all. We’ve had good songs before but, “This is so wowaka-ish” was always what I thought. With Shutter Doll, I was like “This is insane!”. All in all the melody was cool.
Yumao: The tempo is more relaxed than before, and to me, the melody was molded in perfectly. Whenever I’m shown a new song, I always keep the question of “Which drum set will match” at the top of my head as I listen, but with these songs, an image quickly erupted. The matching gear quickly appeared in my brain. I picked shallow toms, and I usually use old-school cymbals but, I felt that something more sparkly would fit this time. Instead of “pull”, I thought I should “push” the drums.
The fact that you quickly decided on an image, means it’s that good of a song, huh. But wait, you have so many drum sets that you need to pick one?
Yumao: Yes. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve accumulated quite a lot of instruments (lol).
Forgive me for asking(lol). How did it go for you, ygarshy? You’re always slapping those difficult bass phrases onto our faces so, does the going ever get tough?
ygarshy: For me, I don’t get stressed in the face of craftsmanship.
Oh, how hard-boiled (lol)!
ygarshy: Naw, I’m fine, as long as I’m using technique(lol). As for what bass to play, the image did quickly erupt. Up until now, I often had a theme of “How hard should I strike the bass” for the chorus. Though with Shutter Doll, It was the opposite, I hardly struck it. There was no need to.
“Strike it”?
ygarshy: Like, in the same way you strike something, you’re sort of pushing your way through(lol). But with these songs I locked my strength away, and from the start I decided that I should play as though my fingers were flowing along. I think this was definitely all because the melody was so good,
It’s a melody who’s paint drys in your ears isn’t it.
wowaka: I also did write some few songs after Shutter Doll, but they all just sounded like they drifted over from the spring of the river. The songs that made the cut are definitely the strongest, it’s like they’re holding onto a solid object. Once we recorded those songs, it was there when the idea of a booklet being pulled along by their strength came to us. We had never done that sort of approach yet, I thought that maybe it makes listeners happy when there’s a booklet along with their favorite band’s CD. I wanted Hitorie to give that good too.
These songs emit great power, eh. Did your previous release, Mono-chrono Entrance have this much of an impact?
wowaka: Mono-chrono Entrance had opened up areas inside of me personally. Until then, the way I made songs was often by trying to shove words deep into elaborate riffs. That was because I wanted to express a difficulty in breathing and a sense of urgency. As for the writing procedure of Mono-chrono Entrance, while leaving my roots planted, I practiced how to break myself away from them. It was like the road to writing straight songs opened up. I think that was where I grew. And Shutter Doll was made in that sense
Did you think to add the instrumental tracks after you wrote the song Shutter Doll?
wowaka: Well once the idea of a booklet was there, I wanted songs that could expand the world of that visual. During our “Talkie Dance and Red Shoes” tour, we took an idea that the 3 of our band members came up with and would add intros to the beginning of songs. When we did that the audience would get stimulated. For if you a fresh intro, the whole way you listen to the song changes. After those experiences, we decided to write an instrumental track together from stage one. I want to broaden the music fans in our audience, and this could also help with getting listeners to understand our band at a deeper level.
ygarshy: Yeah, the instrumental tracks feed you a similar sensation to a live.
shinoda: Also at the end of the first track, finder, there’s this phrase that gets your mind prepared to hear the Shutter Doll guitar riff.
wowaka: In the end, finder and even the third track, Film/looP are instrumental tracks that I had entrusted to the 3 band members. The reason I was able to do that may actually be because of my experiences in the Mono-chrono Entrance.
shinoda: Even so, polishing up the instrumental phrases took quite a long time but..
ygrashy: I was totally fine with it but..
There goes the hard-boiled again(lol)!
wowaka: We’ve done Shutter Doll at lives countless times already and, it’s fun.
Well, you sing normally and switch to falsetto throughout so, is the singing hard?
wowaka: No no, rather because I get to take my voice up and up, it’s great fun.
shinoda: I’m always thinking “Let’s do something odd” when we do a live but, with this song I don’t consider any unnecessary thoughts, and work to satisfy my performance, I think.
Yumao: It gets the audience dancing! For me, it’s a more loose song than anything before, so when it’s included in the set-list, I worry that there’s a part that I’m still not used to yet and….
ygarshy: It’s great fun to me~!
Yumao: You’re just saying drivel now!
Everybody laughs baby
Where did the lyrics to Shutter Doll evoke from?
wowaka: Right now, I’m really getting into taking photos. The thing with photos is that, the more you take, the more “Yourself” is unraveled. That feeling is what’s enjoyable. I bring the activity of “taking” into myself, and spit it all out onto a photo. With music I’m spitting myself into sounds and words. From cameras to humans, I thought about the concept of how the way we input to then spit out is similar when I wrote the lyrics. Though, It ended with the conclusion that humans and cameras are in fact different but. By doing such investigations my melodies and words are resulted, giving the band’s music something to symphonize with, and letting us become Hitore. This was all reflected onto the lyrics, and with that a Shutter Doll was reconstructed once more.
You were flexible when writing it, huh.
wowaka: I feel that we’re evolving here in real time. Though it is partially from natural movement, we’re naturally trying to do new things and do new songs. This band is in a place different from ever before. This is a new experience. I wonder if it’s from these times that something good is born. I have confidence that we can make this into a good product.