Interview with SCANDAL

This September, SCANDAL will be embarking on their YELLOW tour in Europe, which will take them to The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, France, Spain and the UK. Before going on their tour, the band speaks to JaME about their 10th anniversary, latest single and more.

Hello SCANDAL! You're celebrating your 10th anniversary as a band this year. What does this mean to you?

HARUNA: We didn't think we could continue as a band for such a long time, so we're so happy. We feel very fulfilled now.

Please share with us some of SCANDAL's most memorable moments from the start of your career till now.

TOMOMI: Our very first concert at Osaka-jo Hall in 2013. It was our dream to perform there because we did many street lives in the park nearby from the time we formed the band.

What kind of changes have you seen in your bandmates over the years?

MAMI: The big difference is we now do the songwriting by ourselves. When we started to do so, we thought it was the moment that we could become a real band because our encounter was in some ways "artificial"¹.

^{1: MAMI describes their encounter as "artificial" because the band was not formed spontaneously. A teacher of their music and dance school proposed the idea of learning the instruments to them and then they formed SCANDAL.}

HARUNA, you told us that learning English was your New Year's resolution in our interview with you last year. Have you made any progress?

HARUNA: Little by little. I regret I hadn't learned more when I was student.

Many of SCANDAL's songs are uplifting and upbeat. Please tell us where you get this positivity from.

RINA: I think it's because we are encouraging and positive. Of course we sometimes feel sad and disappointed, but we want to give off positive energies, and that naturally became our policy.

Which song of yours would you recommend to someone who is feeing down? Why?

MAMI: Image. This song is about the feeling of being able to restart anytime we want. We, too, are encouraged by this song.

What have you been doing recently to improve your music skills? Any new techniques you've learnt?

TOMOMI: We practice everyday. We're now interested in doing acoustic sets or improvisations that we haven't tried before in concerts.

You'll be releasing a new single titled Take Me Out on July 27th. Why did you choose Take Me Out as its title? Is there any particular place you'd like someone to take you out to?

RINA: We want you, the audience, to imagine the meaning of the song, but this song also carries the same idea of being able to restart anytime and go anywhere. We hope it's not necessary to stick to only one thing.

Did anything interesting or funny happen during the recording of Take Me Out? If so, please tell us about it.

MAMI: There was another additional intro for this song, but we thought there would be a best one, so we experimented with many ideas to complete the song.

You'll be holding your SCANDAL 10th ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL (2006-2016) on August 21st in Osaka. What can fans expect to see at the festival?

HARUNA: In addition to us holding our concert, there'll be a concert of our copy bands on another stage, bars, photo session booth for SNS, etc. The whole venue will be an entertainment space.

You'll be embarking on the European leg of your YELLOW tour in September. What runs through your mind when you think of it?

MAMI: We'll prepare the best set list from YELLOW as well as from old and new songs. After a short interval from our tour in Japan and in Asia, there'll be the countries we've never visited.

Which city are you looking forward to visiting the most on your European tour? Why?

RINA: We can't choose only one city. But the music and the culture transmitted from London have influenced our country so much. And in London there are audiences influenced by our music. We're really happy about that.

Do you listen to any local artists from the countries you'll be visiting?

TOMOMI: Yes, of course. Not only music but also fashion and lifestyle. This is not limited to the artists, but also passers-by and interviewers, etc ... We bought the album of the band Café Tacuba in Mexico. There are many things and people who influenced us.

What is one item that you absolutely must pack in your luggage when you go on tour? (excluding passports)

RINA: Goodies for relaxing in the hotel room, such as candles and aromatherapy items.

What is the first thing you'd like to do once you return to Japan after your European tour?

RINA: Get a good sleep at home. Wherever we go, there's no place like home where we can relax the most.

What are your short-term and long-term goals for the future?

MAMI: To continue as a band with the four of us for as long as possible. To accomplish that, we have to try other methods. We need more changes and progress, so we expect to be inspired by the people we meet and the cities we visit during the tour.

To conclude our interview, please leave a message for our readers.

HARUNA: We're very happy to be back in London so soon. Our show will be different from the last one, so come and see our second show in London.

JaME would like to thank SCANDAL and B7Klan for this interview opportunity.