Zy 37: Nightmare

Nightmare succeeded in their first Budokan live on September 16th, 2007. They played their new single Konoha, which was released on October 3rd, and they’ll also release DIRTY, which is the opening theme for the anime Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro. RUKA wrote DIRTY using a totally new approach and Mebius no Yūutsu, the sequal to Dasei Boogie, was written by SAKITO. Even now, the members are not satisfied and are still looking to evolve into something new!


RUKA, did you write lyrics and compose the song DIRTY on the basis of the story and the world view of Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro?

RUKA: No, not really. I heard that this song may be used as some kind of tie in, but it hadn't been determined yet. When I was in the middle of making it I found out that it would be used, so I didn't think that much about Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro when making it.

Why did you create such a strange composition in which the tempo suddenly changes during the main melodies?

RUKA: Because I put two songs together. Like new song A and new song B, new song A had an upbeat tempo, while new song B was the tempo of the main melody. When SAKITO made a song in which the tempo changed, it made me think about how he did it. Recently I figured it out, and I tried to do it this time.

You said "how he made it", which means how to use the software when you compose songs on a personal computer?

RUKA: Yes. I didn't know about that.

Why didn't you ask SAKITO?

RUKA: I couldn't.

Why?

RUKA: To ask him is easy. It's simple.

Oh I see. That's very manly.(laugh)

SAKITO: But the software is different. So.

RUKA: I used Windows at the time. SAKITO used Mac, so we were basically different. So I didn't understand how to do it, but this time I was able to understand how to use it.

I'll ask the other four members. What did you think when RUKA brought you the demo of DIRTY?

SAKITO: I thought it was like RUKA.

Didn't you think "What on earth is this?"

SAKITO: No. I think like him. So I thought "RUKA has finally made it to this level!?"

What? You look down on him like that? (laugh)

SAKITO: I don't look down, but these days I think RUKA and I don't make songs all that differently in comparison to before, so I think we have become closer as a band.

Is it a good thing?

SAKITO: I think so. I think it's better that we all look in one direction.

RUKA: As I said in an interview, when we make our songs we have to put some tricks in them. SAKITO felt that too, and I thought he was the same as me.

SAKITO: I really want to get the members into the song when we gather and listen to our demos for the first time. Because we have been working together for a long time it is great when someone brings something new in and amazes everyone. You know like, "What? It changes like that?!". I think that it stimulates the band.

Honestly speaking, is it difficult to bring just simple songs in for everyone to listen to?

RUKA: Yeah totally!

Oh, I'm sorry.(laugh) We had the idea that RUKA and SAKITO made very different songs.

SAKITO: Ah, well that's changed now.

It's not good!(laugh)

RUKA: I think we have become better.

I see!

HITSUGI: I thought it was cool that RUKA made songs like that too!

You also look down on him. (laugh)

RUKA: I'm at the bottom alright. (laugh)

HITSUGI: Oh, no! I didn't mean that! But I just thought "What a tune!". And we could see that it was made by RUKA in the main melodies.

Ni~ya: We hadn't had such a song on the A sides of our singles until then, so I felt we could break the "norm" that existed.

The "norm"?

Ni~ya: Until now, we had both A melodies and B melodies, and the tempo was rather fast. In comparison to that, it seemed like we were doing something we shouldn't do this time.

Well, the impression of the song would be totally different depending on which part was used on TV.

Ni~ya: Yes. We released Konoha before this and I like to be contrastive. I think we have exceeded fan expectations.

YOMI: I only thought it was very RUKA.

So you didn't think "What's this!?"

YOMI: No. As the tempo changed, I actually thought "What happened!?". When we recorded the song I thought it would be difficult, and actually it was.(laugh) I thought it would also be hard at our lives, like I couldn't start singing the song if I didn't listen to the high-hat.

Ni~ya: It was also difficult for me during recording. I thought about what and how to put in phrases because it's not interesting to play common phrases calmly, so I tried to put outstanding phrases in where I could. I didn't want to finish the outro simply, just as it was, and I wanted to create a tense mood, so I put such phrases in on purpose. But rather than phrases, it was more difficult to make sounds and finger pick, etc. This song is dropped by six tones so it is very difficult to play clearly as the sound tends to break up. I thought about it a lot and then came up with what you can hear in the recording.

HITSUGI: The tune was rather easy for me to play, so I enjoyed playing it. As you know, the guitar riffs in the intro and interlude really stand out. So I wanted to make them crisp and clear. I tried not to raise the low sounds very much and used different sounds than I usually do. So it was kind of fun.


For the rest of the interview, please refer to Zy 37.

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