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All about Anfang, Part 1

“Every song in this album sounds like a centerpiece, so it’s very satisfying to listen to.”

Your first full album, Anfang, has finally been completed. When this band was first formed, your future activities hadn’t been decided and you performed uncertain if an album was ever going to be announced. Now that the album has become a reality, how do you feel?

Aiba: It feels like we’ve made “a compilation of the present Roselia”. That’s because this album includes live footage from our first one-man live last June, “Roselia 1st Live 「Rosenlied」”, and the following “Roselia 2nd Live 「Zeit」” in Makuhari Messe Event Hall.

Endou: Honestly, I think we went into the first live doing our best thinking “let’s just try to get something together in time somehow”. Our sound, performance skill, and coordination as a band during our 2nd live three months later was clearly much improved. Looking back at it now rationally, there’s a huge difference there, isn’t there?

Akesaka: Yeah, the smiles on our face during the 1st live were clearly forced (laughs).

Sakuragawa: Our smiles were part of the performance too. Then in the three months until the 2nd live, we worked ourselves to the bone. We practiced a ton, right?

Endou: Yeah, seriously. Actually, the amount we practiced before the 2nd live for Ariake was also pretty staggering. After our first live on June 30th in Shibuya duo MUSIC EXCHANGE, we had the second showing a month later on July 29th at the Ariake Coliseum. We had to build upon what we learned during the 1st live.

Akesaka: And then it was decided we were going to perform in Saitama Super Arena for Anisama after that.

Sakuragawa: We were suddenly faced with an audience of 30,000…

Akesaka: Big things just kept coming one after the other.

Aiba: That was a very dense three months for us.

You had a training camp as a band as well. That footage was played during the 2nd live while you were changing outfits. It was a variety show-styled video called “Don’t break character for 24 hours”.

Kudou: While it did look like a variety show, we actually practiced pretty seriously.

Sakuragawa: Yup. That’s why the songs we completed during the training camp like Determination Symphony contain a lot of our feelings. We revealed this song for the first time during the 2nd live, so our fans that came to Makuhari Messe reacted like “Oh, a new song!”

Endou: When we first revealed it, we didn’t say “This is a new song,” and just started playing. That’s why a lot of the audience seemed to be surprised like “Wait, what’s happening!?”

Anfang is comprised of all these songs you feel so strongly about, and it begins with a new song.

Endou: Every song in Anfang feels like it’s a “main character”.

Aiba: Yeah. The two new songs give off that “main” feeling just as much as all the other songs.

Sakuragawa: Although we of course feel strongly about the two new songs, we’ve been playing all these songs continuously for a long time now. Before I was in a band, I had the idea that we would just keep playing more and more new songs during lives. After I became a performer, I played older songs more and more, so my feelings about those songs gradually became stronger.

Endou: Above everything else, to have an album in such a short time… right? Our debut single (BLACK SHOUT) came out last April. When the five of us got together, we never imagined that there would be so many Roselia songs in a year before we had an album.

Akesaka: Right. Also, it’s amazing how we feel like “We’ve already gained this much experience, so we’ll be fine no matter what happens!” with regards to the 5th live on May 13th.

Sakuragawa: Right? We’ve stopped feeling nervous or scared about lives. After this one year, I’ve started thinking “If I’m with these five people, it’ll go well.”

Endou: We really released new singles at an amazing pace, but within those singles we also had songs that went in new directions like ーHEROIC ADVENTー or Kiseki. All these songs with different directions, released as we were solidifying Roselia’s image as a band, are gathered into this one album. Every song in this album sounds like a centerpiece, so it’s very satisfying to listen to.

Aiba: And I think there’s no imbalance. For every person that tells us BLACK SHOUT is their favorite song, there’s someone who likes Hidamari Rhodonite… It’s really all over the place. It’s true that BLACK SHOUT is Roselia’s debut song and a song that represents us. But when we ask fans “What song do you like?”, everyone’s preferences are split. It’s like how Endou-san said that this is a compilation of songs that are all centerpieces, and we’ll keep on releasing more songs like this. That’s why… It’s a bit strange to say this before the album is released, but I’m excited to keep on updating all of our fans’ favorites.

The first time you all stood on a stage as Roselia was last year on February 5th, when you appeared as the secret act in Poppin’ Party’s live at the TOKYO DOME CITY HALL. You played your first original song, BLACK SHOUT, then. After all this time… Although it’s only been a year so far, has the way you approached this song changed with all the times you’ve played it?

Sakuragawa: Right. For me, BLACK SHOUT was the result of half a year of practice for a drummer with zero experience. From there, in the 1st live it became a sort of self-introduction, like “This is Roselia,” and now I feel like I’ve matured alongside this song. That’s why we keep adding more difficult phrases to it for lives. I hope all our songs can be like this.

Kudou: BLACK SHOUT definitely takes me backs to the basics the most, like how it takes me back to a time when we were just single-mindedly practicing. It’s the song that represents us and the song that has taught us a lot of important lessons.

Akesaka: To me, BLACK SHOUT was like a rehabilitation song for piano. I hadn’t played the piano for 13 years before that, so at first, we kept the number of different tones low to make it easier. We made it a bit harder after that, but it’s still the song that I feel the most comfortable playing. It’s sunk in to me so it’s fun to play, and I can face forward and look at our fans’ faces while I play. …Or so I thought, then I messed up the opening phrase this February at Huis Ten Bosch (laughs). That’s why I thought “Oh no, it’s obvious how I haven’t been taking you seriously recently. Sorry,” and had to properly take up BLACK SHOUT again.

Sakuragawa: Those things happen, don’t they? (Laughs)

Akesaka: If I had to make a comparison, it feels like “neglecting the boyfriend you’ve been going out with for years”. (Laughs)

Endou: The song I struggled with the most in the beginning was BLACK SHOUT. The tempo is fast and there’s a solo slapping phrase, so I had to practice it a lot.

And in the beginning, you played BLACK SHOUT entirely fingerstyle, right?

Endou: I did. It’s 185 bpm, so my fingers couldn’t keep up at all at first and I really struggled. When I started getting used to it, I started practicing using a pick and tried switching to that for Anisama last year. But there’s a slap solo, so I spent a long time practicing holding the pick with my mouth then going back to playing with the pick right after the solo.

Aiba: That was super cool!

Endou: I pulled it off pretty well, didn’t I? (Laughs) I practiced until I thought I could do it live, then switched to doing it that way. So… if I had to make a comparison like Akeshan, something like “a boyfriend that dug himself out of a rut”? (Laughs) It’s our oldest song, but it’s really interesting because I can play it in new ways.

Kudou: Yeah. I’ve also been able to add on lots of new things to it because I’m used to playing it. We’re adding guitar solos and stuff to the intro now too.

Aiba: I do a pose during BLACK SHOUT where I show my pinky, so I’m pretty happy that started being called the “Roselia pose”. I stick out all my fingers first, then I start bending them in order starting from my thumb. It actually has a meaning to it…

Akesaka: What!?

Sakuragawa: I didn’t know!

Aiba: I sing “kachitore” (win), so I’m imagining holding what I want to win in my hands during that part. Like hopes or dreams.

Endou: I see. You’re putting those wishes into your own hands and keeping them there.

Kudou: Like each of your fingers has a different wish in it?

Sakuragawa: “Money”, “peace of mind”, “security” …or something?

Akesaka: It was such a greedy pose!? (Laughs) If that’s the case, I’d like all the fans that come to our lives to imagine it every time. “Today’s index finger is ‘my own car’, maybe?” (Laughs)

Kudou: “Today’s ring finger is ‘my own home’ for sure!” or something (laughs).

Aiba: Yeah… Only the Aiba then would know (laughs).

Sakuragawa: At this rate, people who are reading this interview are going to think “This song is full of a ton of worldly thoughts.” (Laughs)

Aiba: No, at most these are just my personal thoughts. Minato Yukina thinks about nothing but “reaching the top”.

That’s right. She formed the band taking on her father’s dreams.

Aiba: Yeah.

I think one of Roselia’s charms is also how your characters’ personalities show within your performances. But even though your characters weren’t supposed to smile on stage during your first live, didn’t you naturally flash a few smiles anyway? Just that really conveys how much you enjoy being on stage and in a band.

Endou: The song that brings up those feelings the most might be BLACK SHOUT. It was also the first live footage of Roselia that was released.

Akesaka: It was also the first song to get a PV. BLACK SHOUT was the beginning of Roselia in both 2D and 3D.

Kudou: There’s a part where everyone sings one after another too. It’s the song that signals Roselia’s beginnings.

Thanks to @Lowish__ for sharing the scans with me and suggesting the translation! This is continued in part 2 here.

Part 2 sneak peeks!



