"Faky starts in the true sense as 5 members find confidence and look towards the future"
Next Generation Girls Union Faky will release the single "half-moon" on February 26th. After Anna announced her graduation in December 2018, former Def Will member Hina and Taki from the Philippines, who is extremely popular with teens, joined Faky to create a new 5 member system in their 3rd season.
(*When they say 3rd season, they most likely mean 3rd Generation)
Last year, they released a dance trilogy with the theme of Girl Power under the new system. They also performed at allot of live events to strengthen their unity. The first release of 2020 "half-moon" includes the feelings that Hina expressed on the AbemaTV show "Don't Be Fooled By The Moon And The Wolf". This medium number that Lil' Fang put Hina's feelings into, adds a whole new dimension that's different from the previous Faky. In this interview, we listened to the members talk about the changes to group under the new system, their feelings about "half-moon", and asked the 5 of them about their enthusiasm for future activities.
(*Since it's a big part behind the creation of half-moon, I looked into Hina's reality show. It started airing on March 30th. If I understand it correctly, it's a documentary style dating program where a group of high school aged girls who want to fall in love and go on a series of dates with members from the male team. However, one of the men is a wolf, who is acting and trying to stir things up. The goal is for the girls to discover who is the wolf. It was inspired by the Mafia game which is also known as Werewolf in different parts of the world.
Since it started airing, Hina's Instagram followers have been increasing rapidly. As of April 9th, she has almost 450k! The show seems to appeal to not only female, but male viewers as well. Hina opened up a YouTube Channel on April 9th, and as of the 13th, her first video has almost 1M views!!!)
"I want to show Girl Power naturally"
--One year has passed since you started the 5 member system. How does it feel to change from 4 members?
Mikako: Going from 4 to 5 is a really big deal. Would you say painting power? Of course, I feel like the power balance is bigger now.
(*"Painting power" refers to a newer term that's kind of vague. It came from discussions in 2ch threads among people who were interested in painting and manga. It can be interpreted to mean "artistic power/drawing power". I don't completely understand it myself, but this is the basic idea. It can be applied in different ways, but I'm not completely sure how Mikako's using it. She could just mean that the group has leveled up and is more dynamic)
Akina: Because the two of them (Hina and Taki) were born and raised in different places, we have a new essence which I felt was a plus. I think it's become fresh and easy to understand.
Lil' Fang: When we were 4 members, it felt like everyone was laid back. You might say we were all different from each other. However, when we became 5, it showed us a something like a new way of life. I wanted us to get a little bit stronger, and now that we've gotten closer with each other, I think it's gotten better. Also, now that we have 5 members, there's a desire to show Girl Power naturally in our 3rd season.
(*I'm not sure what Lil' Fang meant in the first two sentences. I get the sense that she was saying when they were 4, the members weren't that close yet. Now that they've become 5, they're a more tight nit group)
--One year has passed since Taki and Hina joined. How do you two feel now?
Taki: When I was about 15, I met the members of Faky and listened to their music. At that time, I never thought I would ever be a member. After working over the past year, I feel like I made a good choice. Now that all the puzzle pieces have been put together, I'm confident that I didn't make a mistake in joining.
--Do you engage in any activities that are different from the image you convey?
Taki: Before joining, I thought everyone was so serious. In reality, they weren't serious at all (laughs). At the beginning of our activities, I felt like I didn't talk at all before live performances, and that's not me at all (laughs).
Lil' Fang: I saw it that way too (laughs).
--That's a little understandable. How about you Hina?
Hina: Before joining Faky, I belonged to a different group under the same office, but Faky was always around so I was always watching them and thought they were a cool group. I had allot of pressure and anxiety about joining.
Hina: I wondered if fans would accept me as a new member. However, over the past year, we've performed live in various places and released the single trilogy, and I feel like I've received allot of support. Over time, I feel like I've gained confidence as a member of Faky.
--I've heard that the dancing was also very difficult.
Hina: It was. There were two skill checks before joining and I did a month of strength training. The training was very difficult because everything was controlled, from the time I got up in the morning to the distance of the run. After one more skill check, I finally passed.
--Has everyone trained like that?
Lil' Fang: The timing was different for each of us. Now, we've leveled up and manage ourselves. During our 1st season, I trained 6 hrs. a day, 6 days a week.
Mikako: 6 hrs. is short. Normally, it was 8 - 10 hrs.
Taki: I couldn't dance at all and wanted to get better, so I went to the Dance Studio in Shibuya and had lessons from 11am until 11:30 at night. By the end of the day I would be crying, but thanks to that, in one year I was able to raise my skill.
"Feelings about 'half-moon' draw near"
--Well, "half-moon" has been released, and it's been said that Lil' Fang used Hina's thoughts to write the lyrics, so can you talk about the circumstances surrounding that?
Lil' Fang: It was unlikely that a member would appear in a love reality show during in the 7 years that Faky's been active. Everyone felt that something unknown would happen, so I thought it would be meaningless to Faky if it wasn't expressed through music. After Hina's appearance, I thought "why don't we make a song about her feelings?". I consulted with Akina during the time I was writing the lyrics.
--Did Hina give a list to Lil' Fang?
Hina: That's right. I always keep a diary. It's very big with a nice scroll style width, and sometimes I write about how I feel.
--From heavy to light. Lil' Fang, how did you feel reading Hina's personal thoughts?
(*When the Interviewer says "from heavy to light", I think they mean the tone of Hina's response after Lil' Fangs more serious one)
Lil' Fang: She seems like a girl who struggles with her thoughts and takes allot of detours. However, I think her detours increase because she has allot of experiences. I thought, let's do our best not to let Hina surpass me when she's my age.
--Is there any member who's close to Hina's thoughts?
Lil' Fang: I might be the closest, so I was effected by many places in her diary.
--Mikako, how did you feel about the lyrics when you read them?
Mikako: I guess I felt like I'm the opposite of Hina's personality and didn't think I could put myself into the lyrics. I was troubled and listened to the song allot while thinking about the answer. I wanted to express it by drawing on my own life. Over the 25 years of my life, I haven't focused much on romance, and I don't think that was a good choice. I talked with Lil', got some tips and decided "I'll sing and focus on life". At live performances, I sing to express my thoughts about the path I've take during my life.
Akina: I'm different from Mikako. Of course, life is important to me, but when it comes to romance, I get really tense. even though it can be painful, I'm happy to sing lyrics about our expectations for the future.
Taki: At the time of the recording, I told Lil' and Mikako "I need help because I don't understand Japanese". I still can't read Japanese words, so I read it in Romanji. From there, I wrote out the lyrics and was able to understand the feelings behind them. I felt like it was a song that could be sung with various themes instead of one topic. I think the lyrics convey different emotions every time you listen to them.
Lil' Fang: The gist of the song may change depending on what words the listener picks up.
--Hina, when you saw the lyrics, was there a phrase that resonated with you the most?
Hina: I thought the lyrics were captured so accurately that it's difficult to choose a number 1. When we were working on this song, I never thought I could write in this way. The balance between the emotions was perfect so anyone who listens could empathize with it.
--The sense of balance was good in the parts where you entrusted your thoughts, right? Now, regarding the sound, it shows us a different side of Faky than in the past. What did you think when you first heard the music?
Mikako: It was a different from what we've done before, so I was looking forward to what would happen when the five of us rode this sound. At the same time, it was even more fun to think that a brand new Faky would be delivered to the world again.
Akina: It's unusual for a song to stand on it's own and convey a message without choreography. I feel like there's a closer connection to the audience when singing a song like this.
Taki: It's the first time I've experienced this. When I was standing on stage and singing, I felt like I couldn't see anyone (in the group). However, when the Sabi (low Japanese vocal tones) comes in at the conclusion, I suddenly realized that everyone was around and it was a strange sensation.
Lil'Fang: I totally get that! There's an image of passing each other when the formation changes. We're close, but it's like passing someone in the street, and finally, you meet them face to face. I got that kind of sense when I realized that the 5 of us were there.
--Hina, are you conscious that you're singing about yourself?
Hina: It was so difficult when I saw the lyrics for the first time because the lyrics were so honest. If I thought too much about myself while singing it, then it would have been a mess. However, now the struggles and suffering from when I was writing take shape, so I thought it would be better to sing with the feelings from that time.
"I am confident that this is Faky from now on"
-- Is the title of the song "half-moon" taken from the Moon in "Don't Be Fooled By The Moon and the Wolf".
Lil' Fang: In the end, I couldn't change it. Looking at the notes Hina gave me and her role on "Don't Be Fooled By The Moon And Wolf", along with her difficulties being in Faky, it was hard to convey both. However everyone has that emotion, but the contrast with Hina's is getting stronger and I think it's getting harder to reconcile them both. I feel like there are few people who can separate the two, so in the song I wanted to convey that "It's natural for there to be two". So instead of a full moon, I decided on a half moon.
(*This was hard to translate, but if I didn't make it clear, I think Lil' Fang is saying that there are two sides to Hina, who she is in private and who she is in Faky, and she has difficulty reconciling that fact)
-- Yes, we all have both Yin and Yang. Can you tell us if you have any favorite lyrics or a phrase from the song.
Mikako: I liked the lyrics "I walk while holding my heartache, I own my life". When I read this line, it really struck a chord. There are also words that come in quickly like "leaf". I wonder if it represents my current feelings, so I felt like that part was particularly important.
Akina: For me it's the beginning of the Sabi "half-moon the other side of me". I sang in unison with 5 people for the first time and I think you can feel the strength of it. This is a key point for me, so I hope you pay attention to it.
Taki: I love the entire chorus. It's a hook that appears in the world of the song quickly, so I like it.
Hina: If you're watching the TV Show, I wonder if you can picture these scenes while listening to the lyrics. However, even if you're not watching the show, I think you can still feel something and understand the various meanings of "half-moon".
-- On the contrary, After listening to the song, I thought watching the show would give you a different insight.
Hina: It's an idea I haven't had before, so I'd love to hear your impressions.
-- In conclusion, can you tell us about Faky's prospects.
Lil' Fang: The 5 of us came together about a year and a half ago, and there have been some twists and turn until we took this form. Sometimes we had to start over from square one, but with the power that each of us had, sometimes we'd start from 100. Mikako was also talking about this, but it feels like the power balance of the 5 of us has finally arrived. Our breathing is in sync and I think it took us a year and half to gain the self-confidence to feel like, from now on, this is Faky.
As the culmination of this, on May 31st at Shibuya duo Music Exchange, we'll be holding our One Man Live "Faky One Man Live, New Age". From that point on, I think that Faky will really start as a 5 member group. The time for training is over. From here, it will be a challenge of our abilities to convey what fees like Faky now and I would be happy if you come to our lives!
