Team Syachihoko x Radio Fish - Natalie Interview Part 3

*I finally remembered to translate the title of the Interview.

"Team Syachihoko and Radio Fish will overthrow Da Pump!

Heating up with a killer tune for the mid-summer."

"Please Remember to Sing Along"

--A Blu-ray of the MV and Making of are included on the limited edition of Burning Festival. Based on everyone's reactions, it felt like you had fun doing it.

Nakata: The lighting was so hot when shooting the video, it was like being in the desert. The set was also a bit difficult. Syachi thought they were making the video on a budget.

Nao: No, no! That's not it!

Fishboy: Yes, that's exactly how it was (laughs).

--How long did you prepare before shooting?

Nakata: We danced together about once or twice, didn't we?

Fishboy: Prior to shooting the MV, we ran through the choreo for the Sabi section 1 time. Syachi learned it properly on the day of the shoot. They're more skilled than the Radiofish members, so we had to practice allot during the breaks (laughs).

Honoka: It's a fun dance, so we had no trouble mastering it.

--You do the performance with such a pleasant feeling, that fans of both groups couldn't  help but join in.

Nakata: Syachi saw the video at their Release Event for Burning Festival, and they were really excited to see it. I wanted to do a live performance for Syachi's fans as soon as possible. To be honest, I really wanted to do a live together as well as a release event. However, in the Summer, various events overlapped.

--At the Jump Music Festival at Yokahama Arena in July, the two groups performed Burning Festival together.

Nakata: It got a good response despite being the first live performance. I enjoyed it allot myself. Ikoma Rina (formerly Nogizaka46) watched the stage and said I had a look on my face she'd never seen before (laughs). I guess I was having so much fun, it must have shown on my face.

Fishboy: The song has tension right from the start, and it's a composition that rises steadily. By the time the 2nd chorus comes in, we reach a perfect trance state. I hope everyone listening dances along. It's quite transcendent.

Nakata: I think everyone who hears it is surprised the Rap comes in so early, but I added parts that you can clap along with. "oh, yes!" or "get down!". If you say those words while dancing, you can enter the trance along with us. Because the song has these parts inserted, by all means, remember to sing along with us.

"We wont give up the second half of the year"

--Speaking of songs that are gaining momentum with this kind of fan participation, Da Pump's "USA" is a good example.

Nakata: Yes. We won't lose. I also said "Perfect Human" wouldn't lose to Piko Taro. It's a wonderful feeling and is absolutely important. The first half of the year belonged to USA, but I want it to be said that the second half belongs to Burning Festival. We will get it. From this point on, Da Pump will be out rivals. We're good friends with Da Pump, so we were happy when USA became a hit, but this is a different story. My feeling is like this "We won't give up the second half of the year. Don't screw with us, Da Pump!".

(*In the last sentence, Nakata uses "Fuzakenna" (don't screw with me). It's a phrase that originated in the Kansai region, and is heard often in Anime, so Nakata's just joking around)

Nao: ...

(*I'm not sure exactly how to phrase it, but Nao says something like "We're going to ride". I take it that she means Syachi is ready to join with Radio Fish to take on Da Pump)

Nakata: It's going to cost me saying that, isn't it?

--The Coupling Song "Taiyo Kami/Shin" (Sun God), follows the worship system, right?

Nakata: Koma2Kaz (Komatsu Kazuya - who also writes under the pseudonym KAZ) and JUVENILE composed the music, and SHINGO and SHiN wrote the lyrics. Komatsu did the arrangement for "USA". After heating things up with Burning Festival, you can cool down with Taiyo Kami. They complement each other really well, so please listen to them together.

(*Komatsu is a legend. He's written for just about everyone)

--The 2 songs make a set. That's so great.

Nao: This collaboration was really allot of fun. I want to do it again.

Nakata: I think we've already become friends. If the schedule is okay, and you offer the invitation, then I will jump at the chance. I want to do allot of lives together, but that's a dream. For now, we will join with Syachi and battle with Da Pump over the second half of the year with all our power.

--Are you aiming to participate in NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen?

Nakata: Of course. I want to cause an explosion and make it a reality.

Nao & Haruna: Yes!

Honoka: We'll all do our best!

https://natalie.mu/music/pp/syachihoko-radiofish/page/3

Team Syachihoko x Radio Fish - Natalie Interview Part 2

"The longest is [Oh Yeah!]"

--"Burning Festival" is an energetic, up-beat tune. Why did you use a song like this for the collaboration?

Nakata: It's being released as a Summer Single. Since we're collaborating with Syachi, who have high temperature fans, then it needs to have a fast tempo, so I thought this song would be a good choice. Our songs are based on EDM, but EDM has a cold feeling. This time, I wanted to deliver a hot feeling, so I incorporated wind instruments to convey the hot weather. I asked Fishboy and his friend, Miyata "Lefty" Ryo-kun, to compose the song. Miyata-kun also composed Radio Fish's "Golden Age" and "Make Ya Groove".

(*Miyata must be a big deal. He's got 43k followers on Twitter)

Fishboy: For this collaboration, 5 people will be added to the stage, so I hope that everyone's dancing will be good. From the phrase "Everyone dances" I thought of Rockabilly, so I decided to mix Electro and Rockabilly. Originally, scratching was included (*On the recording, I assume) so it had a street feeling. However, Nakata didn't think it felt hot enough, so we added wind instruments and incorporated Jazz elements.

Nakata: We also changed the content of the lyrics. They were originally in the same vein as "Perfect Human" which everyone says is the "Nakata worship system".

(*It might be better to use "System of Worship". I think this is just a fancy way of referring to Nakata's philosophy towards composing)

Nao: Worship system!? That's a bit strange, isn't it (laughs). By the way, what other systems are there besides that?

Nakata: In my opinion, you either "worship the system" or "don't worship the system". Fish wrote lyrics that worshiped the system, so the content reflected his reverance of his older brother, and didn't have many surprises. He's a really nice little Brother (laughs). I didn't want a song with those kind of lyrics, so I proposed that we make it more like "Dancing naked in the middle of the desert". At that time, "Burning Festival" became the title of the song, and I requested the rap sections from Fish.

Haruna: These brotherly interactions are really amazing (laughs).

Nakata: Sure, but this time it's a collaboration with Team Syachihoko, so I want to convey a different feeling. I had high expectations for this collab, and I wanted to make something really good. The first attempt wasn't bad, but I wanted something that had more of a feeling of an "Explosion of Summer". I requested lyrics from Fish that fit better with the title of "Burning Festival", and he immediately came up with the rap sections. Shingo has a serious male character, so his rhyming style is straight forward. It's similar to boxing. He delivers a 1, 2, 3 Punch when he writes lyrics. But since Fish likes English music, he uses two different traits when writing lyrics. His raps will be stylish and cool, but the sung vocals will be serious.

Haruna: That's difficult, isn't it? It was hard for me even though I'm usually in charge of the Rap parts in Syachi songs.

Nao: We don't sing much in English. Only "Yeah" or things like that, so it was difficult.

Honoka: (laughs). Of course, the English parts of Syachi's songs are written in Katakana, like "Enjoy Life".

Nakata: Don't you sing many long English words?

Haruna: "Oh Yeah!" is about the longest (laughs).

Nakata: Really? (laughs). Even so, all of you learned quickly and sang properly. The foundation of our group is built on Shingo's style of rapping and singing. However, Syachi sing together as 5 people, which I don't think is well balanced. I usually just let the members in Skill Master handle the rap. So, I decided to mix Shingo and Honoka together and put them in charge of the Sabi (*low vocal tones). I was in charge of the line division, so I was worried the member's voices might not fit together.

Haruna: It was perfect! During the recording, Nakata was really kind while giving us direction on how to add intonation. Nakata produced everything but his own part. I thought he was amazing.

Nakata: I guess I'll just make the appropriate Producer face (laughs). But I really didn't know during recording how it would turn out. When we finished, everyone listened to it and thought it had a fun and lively feeling like Orange Range's "Locolotion". The dynamic of alternating male and female vocals is really wonderful. All my Producer's luck was used up on this.

Nao: I sang very frantically, so I was worried about whether it would be okay.

Nakata: I was very satisfied. I think it turned out as a really nice song thanks to everyone.

"Even Elementary School Students can do Nakata's dance"

--The choreography of Burning Festival is very unique.

Fishboy: Show-hey handled the choreography for the Sabi part. However, for the Bridge at the end of the Sabi, I thought it needed something grand, so I entrusted that to Nakata. That's where that pose came from (laughs).

Nakata: The members of Radio Fish and Syachi watched me dancing on my own for about 1 hr. I never studied dance, so I think even Elementary School students can do my movements. It's the same approach I took when making Oriental Radio's "Martial Story" routine. In the middle of a performance, a reaction usually comes out like "is this really dancing?". When I collaborated with w-inds, I did the same thing for them, but that feeling didn't come out at all, and I was getting impatient. When I danced for Syachi, that feeling came out easily and I thought "I'm saved this time...".

(*This paragraph was a little difficult to understand. This sounds almost like performance art. Nakata must do his dance routine in front of everyone and wait until they finally start laughing because it's so ridiculous. I guess w-inds missed the point entirely. Nakata's a really eccentric guy, lol)

Nao: Nakata was really funny that time (laughs).

Haruna: Nakata is usually funny, but that whole display was really hilarious. Radio Fish weren't laughing because they're used to it, but all the Syachi members were laughing uncontrollably.

Fishboy: Even though I entrusted it to him, it's a bit irritating to have so many people standing around watching like that. I don't even care to watch professional dancers sweat for that long (laughs).

Nakata: Wow, you've suffered (laughs).

--How was it for the Syachi members to dance to Radio Fish's choreography?

Honoka: Radio Fish came up with allot of movements that were easy for us to understand. It was a really fresh and cool dance. Haruna's really good at dancing, so we felt like cool dancers.

(*I'm not sure if Honoka meant that the other members felt as cool as Haruna because they were performing that kind of choreo)

Haruna: Originally, it had a Hip Hop and Jazz vibe. I've done allot of dances, but this is one of the most fun. There's allot of steps, particularly in the A Melody. I really wanted to do something like this, and after 7 yrs. of activities in Syachi, I finally did.

Nakata: Shingo and I don't dance that part, so it was impressive to see the Syachi members learned it so quickly.

Nao: With the exception of Haruna, it was difficult for us!

Fishboy: Even so, I thought you really did understand it quickly.

https://natalie.mu/music/pp/syachihoko-radiofish/page/2

A few additional notes. It's interesting to hear Fishboy make some jokes at Nakata's expense. Since Nakata is his older brother and senior, it's interesting that they can joke around like they do. I'm not an expert on the social dynamics of Japan, but maybe family members are more informal with each other in social settings than, say, co-workers.

It doesn't come across in the Translation, but I picked on how the Syachi members drop the honorifics when referring to each other. For example, they refer to Haruna as "Haru" instead of Haru-chan. Not using honorifics is a sign you are really close with someone. I guess it's natural for members who've known each other for so long, but this isn't common in every group. Some people get around this by using their nickname instead.

I've noticed the Syachi members kind of contradict themselves throughout Interview. One member will say how easy something was for them, but then another one will talk about how difficult it was. I almost wonder if it's a battle between politeness. Like they're trying to praise Radio Fish by saying they kept the movements simple to make it easier for the Syachi members to learn, but at the same time, it's also really difficult because it's such a great dance. Double the praise, I guess, lol.

Team Syachihoko x Radio Fish - Natalie Interview Part 1

"The common feature is the catchy choreography"

--It seems that this collaboration was realized with an offer from Team Syachihoko. The offer came after Syachi and Radio Fish collaborated for the "#Sotsu Ome! 2018" Live at Zepp Diver City Tokyo in March.

(*Sotsu Ome was the free event held in the Spring for High School Students who were about to graduate. Turning 18 was also a theme)

Honoka: That's right. I had allot of fun singing Radio Fish songs at that time, and thought we could work on something together and made the offer. Thank you for accepting our offer, and for writing the songs. We're really glad.

Nakata (Radio Fish): Not at all. We're the ones who are thankful. We originally started as an Owarai Combination called Oriental Radio. Later, we invited Skill-Master to join, so the number of dancers increased by 4, and it started to feel like a real group. We've collaborated with various Artists, but they feel more like Family members. I'm glad that Syachi has become part of our Family. 

 
(*Owarai Combination refers to the Comedy Duos, sometimes Trios, that Japan is well known for, especially in Osaka. Skill-Master was a dance group that consisted of FISHBOY, Show-hey, SHiN, and RIHITO who all joined and formed Radio Fish. Fishboy is also NAKATA's younger brother. I believe both groups are still active separately even while promoting as Radio Fish)

Nao: Thank you for bringing us into the Family!

Nakata: Ho-chan (Honoka) is on a TV Show in Tokyo, and another Syachi member is starting a TV Show in Nagoya, so we got to know each other a little, and of course the "#Sotsu Ome!" Live event was allot of fun. We've done various collaborations, but Syachi is the first time with a Female Idol group. However, I think there might be some antipathy from fans for doing it.

Nao: There was nothing like that at all.

Fishboy: I thought that Syachi and Radio Fish shared the same kind of catchy choreography. I'm sure this collaboration went well.

Honoka: We thought the same thing. The catchy choreography is easy for our fans to dance along with, so I wonder if fans of both groups with be able to dance together in unity.

Nakata: Yes, I thought the simplicity would fit well with the aesthetic.

Haruna: Thank you very much. After that collaboration (*Sotsu Ome!), I had the chance to interact with fans, and everyone said they enjoyed it. On top of that, I'm proud of the photos I took with Nakata (laughs). I was glad that everyone was happy, so I think it's good that we were able to release a Single together.

"Musical Juniors"

--Fishboy, did you know about Syachi before this?

Fishboy: As a matter of fact, a friend of mine is their Choreographer, so I've seen it often.

--Oh, of course. What was your impression of the girls?

Fishboy: It looked like they were doing whatever idols do (laughs). However, their balance was marvelous, and I thought they were proper Idols.

Honoka: Really? There are times when we can't believe we're still Idols.

Nakata: Of course. The character of each Syachi member stood out, and they showed a cheerful image of an Idol. Also, everyone in the group can sing well. I guess it's because they have various types of songs...As a matter of fact, I myself have provided songs for Kawatami Enon (A member of several bands including "indigo la End", "Gesu no Kiwami Otome", and "Ichikori"). My personal favorite of his is Shampoo Heart (*Shampoo Heart is the title track from an early Single by Syachi that was composed by Kawatami).

(*This paragraph was a little confusing. I wasn't sure if Nakata was saying that he's written songs for Kawatami. He specifically used the word "Provided" which is a little vague. It was kind of a round about way of giving an example of a song he liked. I may have to get some help with this)

Nao: What! Really? I'm so glad!

Nakata: In terms of music genre, we (Radio Fish) are Juniors. We have allot of respect for Syachi and are using this collaboration to study various things. We started our musical activities from the Comedy scene, and have learned through trial and error. They can sing and dance properly, and have an amusing way of speaking. They're really professional.

Nao: No, no...Radio Fish is a really popular group. They've been on Kouhaku Uta Gassen.

Honoka: Yes, yes. When Syachi and Radio Fish decided to collaborate, all our College friends were envious, as well as the Dancers we know.

Haruna: I had a corner at my High School's Sports Festival for dancing, and I had students dancing to "Perfect Human" by Radio Fish. I had one of our Teachers play the role of Nakata (laughs). When this collaboration was decided, I thought "This is amazing! I'm going to brag to all my friends".

Nakata: That's great to hear.

Fishboy: That makes me happy.

https://natalie.mu/music/pp/syachihoko-radiofish