Translation & Subtitles: thoseguiltyeyes | scandal-heaven.com ⠀ Hello! RINA here.
I'm in Fukuoka right now.
We just came here at the end of April for our tour, ⠀ (Thanks to everyone who came to our tour!)
and I'm really happy I get to come back again so soon at the start of May.
I love Fukuoka no matter how many times I come here.
I flew in in the morning.
Today, I'm not here for a concert--
our new single is out on May 10,
which we're releasing physical CDs of,
and since we're making CDs in this streaming era, ⠀ (Releasing CDs is now a special, huge event)
each of the band members are going around to different areas,
doing promo on radio and TV programs.
It feels like forever since we last did this. I'm really happy.
And right now I'm recording for a lot of radio programs,
doing a live broadcast soon,
and recording for TV programs.
And at the end of the day, I have a signing event.
We'd thought we'd do our first signing events. ⠀ (Thanks to everyone who came♡ It was fun!)
They're being held at Tower Records branches.
That's how my schedule is today.
It's so nice and fun when it feels fresh.
Each of have a staff member going around with us,
and the staffer with me...
We have an imprint label called "her,"
and my staffer is a very young man nicknamed Manatee.
This is our first time traveling together.
He's so adorable.
My...
Yes?
Thanks.
I'm filming a YouTube video. ⠀ (Manatee appears)
Wow.
You're certainly a hardworker.
I'm filming. Thank you so much!
Ah, a hot drink. That makes me happy.
I was just talking about you.
This is our first time traveling together.
I'm saying that it's interesting.
What is this? The first time...
It's pretty interesting.
-It feels way too fresh. -That's true.
-What did you buy-- -How long have you been with SCANDAL now?
-It's been a year. -Yeah. -May.
-We first met then. -Yeah.
-It feels like it's been longer than that. -Really?
We got close really fast.
So cute.
Thanks.
Thanks for all of this.
This is funny.
Thank you.
-I appreciate it. -All of you can eat it tomorrow. ⠀ (They bought a lot of Kyushu-only snacks)
Those look like ones the members would like.
-Are those only sold in Kyushu? -I think.
-The "her" imprint label. -That's right.
-Does it feel like you're part of "her"? -It does. -Really?
It felt like I was when I was interviewed.
I'm really happy to hear that.
I first joined as part of Colourful [Records] and Victor [Entertaiment].
Not as part of "her."
-Manatee's generation-- -What does "her" actually mean? -"her"?
At first, we also had no idea what direction to go in.
We had no idea what to name [the imprint label].
But what we had treasured during those previous 10 years
definitely had to have been being an all-girl band.
It started from that thought.
We thought that going with a word that made you think of women just by hearing it would be good.
That's all we needed to decide on it.
Also, it'd look cute in text form.
You sometimes hear of all-girl bands being looked down upon.
We're not angry about that at all.
It wouldn't be surprising, given that you value and have that as your identity.
I totally get both stances.
There's been a big increase in all-girl bands.
Yeah, ones in their first year of high school.
All of a sudden there were a lot.
-There are a lot of younger girls. -Right? There are.
It's a lot of fun.
It was sad when there was a dip in all-girl bands.
It's getting good again. It's getting exciting.
It really is hard to continue being an all-girl band.
That fleetingness is also cool somehow.
-It is nice. -There's nothing fleeting about SCANDAL now, is there?
Wait, this is embarrassing!
This is embarrassing.
I mean, you're celebrating your 17th anniversary.
-You've been in the band for half of your life...? -More than that.
-I've been in it since my 15th birthday. -That's awesome.
I was invited to join when I was 14, decided to do it,
and the day the four of us decided to go ahead with it
just happened to be my birthday.
Wow.
August 21 this year is when they have their anniversary concert,
-but it's also RINA's birthday. -That's right.
-Do you not like that? -No, it's not like that.
I think of it more as our formation day.
-That's awesome. -We age together.
-In what sense... -Yeah, there's lots to celebrate then.
There's always an event on her birthday.
I end my birthday feeling anxious.
When the band first formed,
were you to be the drummer from the start? Or...
The vacant position was the drums,
but I was fine with any position.
When I met the other three,
I thought, "I really want to do this with them!"
So it's like the members took priority [over what position I'd be doing].
Any similar bands?
Including changes...
When you compare the band from then until now, it's totally different.
You've been gradually changing.
-It's interesting. -It really is.
But you still totally perform songs from back then.
You guys didn't start after reaching a certain level of maturity--
you've been doing this long before [you became adults],
so there's quite a huge difference from other groups.
There really is.
It's because we started from not knowing how to do anything.
Pretty much anything.
You're still totally incomplete as a human being when you're a middle schooler.
That's true.
-Adolescence was the band as it were. -For real.
14 years old, huh...
I have a little sister who's currently a first-year high schooler.
-Right now? -Yes.
There are a total of 5 kids in my family.
-You're the oldest? -Yes.
My sister, who is I think the fourth sibling overall,
is a first-year high schooler.
We debuted when I was a second-year high schooler,
so when I think about how many years have passed...
-You see her as your own kid. -Yeah, I do.
And it makes me think of how amazing mothers are.
You need to have a lot of courage to say "Go ahead!" to your kid
who's suddenly moving to Tokyo at that age.
Mothers are amazing.
-You were also suddenly employed. -That's true.
That really is true. And I've never had a part-time job, either.
-Are you the only one in the band to not have had one? -TOMOMI as well.
-You started a career in music around the age that you'd work part time. -Yeah.
That's impressive.
But now that's one thing that I wish I had experienced.
-You've never had a part-time job in secret? -No.
I have a lot of respect for those in all kinds of occupations.
I don't think I could do any of that.
We talked about this a little earlier,
that my convos with friends have changed
in regards troubles they have now and what they're thinking about.
Like buying a house,
where they should live in the future,
having kids.
What they worry about keeps changing,
but the only thing I ever worry about is music.
-That's true. -That's wonderful, though.
Your friends are probably jealous of that.
They tell me that I always have a dream I want to come true.
Everyone's dreams and values differ.
-If you have kids, you need to put them before your own dreams. -Yeah.
I have two daughters,
and if they wanted a guitar, I'd be like, "Yes!"
or a keyboard, or anything that I liked,
or something related to my job,
I'd give it to them in a heartbeat.
But they'd never keep it up.
-It makes you happy when they show an interest. -Yeah, you want them to have an interest.
That's nice. That's fun.
There's a luxury of having both:
It's a luxury to be able to focus on your own life
and spend all the time you want on things you want to do.
I think a life like ours is very luxurious.
I'm sure it's tough, but I'm sure it's also fun
when people's lives change as they start families.
SCANDAL debuted when you guys were still students--kids--and now you're adults.
I don't know what's next for you guys,
but it seems like you guys would still be a band even if you started families.
I think it's really impressive when people can do that.
There are still phases like that, too.
Those close to you guys might think you guys should time it right.
But like, that's totally...
For example, if we decided to have kids and it ends up being around the same time,
the band might temporarily take a break that could last for a few years.
If that seems doable,
it'd be great if we could keep our energy and stamina that we have right now.
That's what I'm worried about.
Hopefully we can do that,
and go back to our current peak.
Well, each generation has their own approach to things,
and you might do another approach different to what's being done now.
-That's what veterans do, after all. -True.
Everyone's so awesome, seriously.
Might as well do what you can then.
Don't know, though.
At some point, you might do band activities without all of the members.
That's something that's the least likely to happen.
That's inconceivable.
We can't do anything if the four of us aren't doing it together.
-That's why SCANDAL's truly an interesting band. -It is.
It's like, "What'll happen in the future?"
Yeah.
-There's no other choice but to turn our lives into music. -Yeah. That's awesome.
It's all uncharted territory after we set the Guinness World Record.
It's like, "What'll happen?" ⠀ (It'll be like an experiment after August 21st this year)
It'll be hard to find out how to do that.
-It's like, is it doable or not? -Yeah.
(17 years of our activities are being meticulously inspected)
Who is the current record holder?
Well, no one has petitioned Guinness about it before,
so there's no official record for it.
We'll be establishing the record.
SCANDAL will be creating the category.
-Are periods of hiatus included in this? -Yes.
That is included.
-You guys have never done that. -Yeah.
No member changes, either.
There aren't any other [bands like that].
This would usually be impossible.
I think it's impressive even for bands to be together for 5 or 6 years.
It seems like they'd be strict about what a "hiatus" would be.
But SCANDAL has never stopped their activities even once.
We're endlessly on tour.
You do always tour every year.
It tends to be common for veteran artists only release things every 2-3 years.
They also don't tour because they don't release anything.
I kind of admire that too, though.
Like, "Wow, it's been three years? They're so cool!"
When we established "her,"
we talked about how it'd be good to release an album in three years or so.
But we've released quite a bit since then!
We're coming out with a lot of them. ⠀ (We have 10 albums out right now)
We've always done things at a rookie artist's pace.
-I'll go check on things. -Okay.
It's something to be grateful for.
I really like the two albums that SCANDAL has released under "her."
You've always said that.
I am with Victor, after all.
That's part of it, of course.
But it is impressive.
You've always said that at meetings.
It makes me happy.
I also really like our recent songs.
All of the things people say about them are interesting.
It's like, "They're still saying things like that?"
I think there's a whole different level of progress for those who understand [our songs].
This tour really was amazing.
It affirmed how connected we are.
It feels like we as fellow humans, and our hearts, had grown closer together.
I'm glad that you guys show your emotions upfront.
I felt like crying on opening day of the tour.
-I cried on the first day. -It was awesome--you cried?!
I'm off.
-That happens often. -You cry often?
-Yeah. -I see.
That makes me happy to hear.