Start Your Journey! Vol.5 「バンドの魅力」| SCANDAL

Translation & Subtitles: thoseguiltyeyes | scandal-heaven.com

Hello, I'm SCANDAL's vocalist HARUNA.

I'm bassist TOMOMI.

I'm guitarist MAMI.

I'm drummer RINA.

For "Start Your Journey!", so far we've brought you videos for those who want to start playing guitar and bass.

-RINA is also making an appearance in this one.
-Thanks for having me.

All of us in SCANDAL will be bringing you today's video.

Since we're all here,

this video will be about the appeal of bands.

Well, once you start playing an instrument,

the best part is practicing together with all of your instruments.

It's the most fun.

So, we'll also be talking a little about ourselves too.

Our band was formed 15 years ago.

Do you remember the first time all of us went to the studio 15 years ago?

-Do you remember?
-Or rather, do you remember the first time we played music?

We're a bit of a special case.

We came together at a dance training school,

There weren't any soundproof rooms in the school.

We borrowed a room that was designated as a DJ booth.

At first I was playing electric drums and you guys all had your own instruments.

I think the first time we played together was in that room.

-It didn't feel like we were playing explosive sounds at first.
-That's true.

When we went into the studio and started playing,

we didn't know how to use amps either.

We set all of the volumes at 12.

We did.

That's because we thought it'd be good for a band to make super powerful sounds.

It felt good the first time we made really powerful sounds.

For sure.

The instruments were so loud that they were drowning out the mics.

-It also took forever to set things up.
-It did.

At the time, there was a whiteboard in the studio,

and I think we started off by writing the name of the band on it.

We did do that!

Things like that were a lot of fun.

-Like, "Ah, we're a band."
-It really set in.

It didn't matter if we weren't good at playing loud sounds--

it was like we had what we needed to be a cool band.

-It made us happy, at any rate.
-Yeah.

We talked a little about it when we were introducing what a guitar is,

but you're only taking in things when you're starting out,

so you don't feel like you can't do things.

-You don't know about them.
-Yeah.

For us it was like, "If we can just play one song from start to finish, we've basically got it."

That alone felt like a sense of accomplishment, which was awesome.

-I think it's very important to feel that way.
-It is.

It's like we could keep going because of that.

Like, "Instruments are so cool and so much fun!"

It's really motivating to see your band members working hard.

Getting to that point is one of the great things about being a band.

There continue to be many videos like these released online,

so there are also a lot of environments in which you can practice solo.

But since you're working this hard in the first place, we'd like you to try putting together a band if possible.

Over the past four volumes,

we've introduced all kinds of guitars and basses.

We can't introduce any drums since Fender doesn't make drums,

but we do have a song that RINA plays guitar on.

Yes.

-You like guitars, don't you?
-I love them!

We have a song called "Oyasumi" that I wrote the lyrics and music for,

and which I also do lead vocals on.

It's a song that we only play during very special times.

So, I basically only practice guitar when we put that song in a setlist.

But I love the guitar,

and I love watching guitarists when I attend concerts.

I really like the guitar.

-You've always said that.
-I have.

They're just so cool, and you do admire what you can't do.

To put it simply, it's so cool when powerful sounds are played.

It feels like you go numb when you hear it.

What made you want to play the guitar for "Oyasumi"?

When the song was made,

I was to be the one to sing it and would have more of a spotlight on me,

so to follow through with that, the four of us would play stringed instruments--

We talked about how it'd be interesting to have a song where the four of us would stand at the front of the stage.

I didn't know if I could do it since I never played the guitar before,

but I thought I should try it since the opportunity came along.

Completing that song was a big factor.

We've only played it a handful of times live,

so when RINA comes out from her drum set,

the audience is like, "Ah, maybe they'll play that song."

This song has that excitement to it,

and it's also a special song.

-There are a lot of guitars behind us today.
-It's awesome.

-RINA, which guitar do you like?
-I can choose one?
-Yes.

The guitar that I own is also a Telecaster.

I really like the colors of these two behind me.

They're very cute and retro.

-They're cool.
-Right? I like these two in particular.

Appearance is very important when choosing which guitar to go with.

-It is important since you don't know anything at first.
-You're not knowledgeable sound-wise at all at first,

so it's completely fine to start off being like,

"This looks cool and I really like it."

That's what we've been saying in these videos.

Sounds good.

I'm holding one of the guitars I chose earlier.

-It's cute.
-Right? It really is.

-It looks a bit retro.
-If you look closely...

Yeah, it looks a little different.

-It has a nice luster.
-Does it have a pearl finish on the back?

Yeah, I think it might have some pearl in it.

-It's pretty.
-It also has binding on it.

So cute.

I like it.

Since the four of us are here,

let's play some music.

-Sounds good.
-So...

There's only one thing to do when a band gets together.

But since we don't have a drum set today,

we've brought a cahon along instead.

It's perfect to play in an acoustic setting.

We've been playing acoustic arrangements at recent concerts too,

so today we'll be performing with that same kind of atmosphere.

The four of us will be playing our song "eternal."

First, what's the rhythm on the cajon like?

It's a simple 8-beat.

-Is it okay to try it out?
-Yeah.

That's basically what it is.

And as for the bass...

Just like the cajon...

That's what it's like.

And I play simple chords.

Those are the chords I play.

And on top of that...

I do single note arpeggios.

That's what I'll play.

All of those make up the song,

so all four of us will be playing those together.

Since this is the last volume, I'll add vocals to make it special.

This is "eternal."

♪ Emitting a dazzling light ♪

♪ A shower of love pours down ♪

♪ Please, set your heart free ♪

♪ Reach for a gentle world ♪

That was "eternal."

That was an acoustic arrangement of it.

How was it?

I hope you can feel the delight of overlapping band sounds within a short period of time.

In this series we did videos featuring two guitars, and one guitar and one bass,

but when rhythm is involved, it gives it a completely different feel.

I hope this conveyed how fun it is to be a band.

How was it?

MAMI made the first appearance.

It really was informative for us too, being people who learned how to play the guitar from scratch,

and getting the band together in this video gives this series a feeling of closure.

It was a lot of fun.

TOMO talked about the bass in detail.

For us as well, there are things that you understand by putting them into words again.

There are a lot of those.

It was also refreshing to look back on Fender's history.

and since we don't usually talk about these things more than once,

this was fun to do.

So, please look back on these videos and find some like-minded friends.

Find a bassist, guitarist, and drummer and play some music together as a band.

That's all for "Start Your Journey!"

This has been SCANDAL's vocalist HARUNA, bassist TOMOMI, guitarist MAMI, and drummer RINA.

Bye bye!

See you later!