Girl Pop July 2000

MAGIC

There�s one more season we know of. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter- not the obvious seasons, which pass by before we even realize it, but that which the very indication of it�s coming makes our hearts race.
And our hearts race now with that speed. Now, it�s finally begun again. Our precious, beloved fifth season- the wonderful season called MAX�s tour.

I�m assuming that rehearsal went pretty well this year....
REINA: Hmm...that�s right. We didn�t really get into a panic or anything this year. We had a long time for rehearsal, so we felt pretty relaxed.
Because last year was quite something. When I asked you how things were going about 2 weeks before your tour began all four of you said �No well.'You were more down than I�d ever seen MAX....it suprised me.
MINA: We said stuff like �We just can�t calm down.'(laugh)
REINA: Because everyday, our hearts were racing, saying �Ack, We have to hurry! It�s almost time for it to start!'

But, when I saw you all again a few days after that,you all had bright and sunny faces and I thought �MAX really is amazing.'But this year, I�ve had the chance to see you several times during rehearsal, and you seem your normal selves, as if you�ve got time to spare.
NANA: Yeah, well, we�ve had to change a lot of things, so in that respect it�s been hard.
LINA: Well, even the decision whether to do our new song or not changes a lot, you know? And in the first stages of rehearsal we hadn�t decided on our new song yet, so even if we wanted to put it in, we didn�t know where it should go. So in the beginning we decided to start without thinking about our new single, and just work on the foundation, and change it from there.
REINA: Then, we decided on the flow of the songs pretty quickly, but after that we modified it quite a bit.
NANA: The flow of the first half changed completely. It was hard to change things which I�d worked out the rhythm of, but when I saw it all on video, I thought �I�m glad we changed it.'It�s not bad before that happens, but I guess it is better when you can think that.

And, doing things like that all over from the beginning, it must seem endless.
REINA: Exactly. (laugh) And, even though the details were all fine, since we�re performing on large stages this time, there were parts that we just couldn�t completely visualize in the rehearsal studio. So we made 2-3 versions, and had parts we decided on the stairs of the Genepro and stuff.
MINA: Also, this tour focuses on songs from our best album �MAXIMUM COLLECTION' so it�s sort of like all our singles one after the other. So it was a big question for us how to make songs that everyone knows and has seens hundreds of times new and fresh. We tried addinf and taking away dance moves, and completely changing the order of songs, ect. We all tried to sday every tiny thing that worried us or caught our attention, and then changing in gradually from there.

So even though you had ample time, you really had thick and full work.But in that time period you even did the simple work
REINA: We did! (laugh)

Lately, I wondered if you�d do salsa. Earlier, you told me that in the 8x4 commercial you went to Thai and danced salsa, so I wondered if your next single would be salsa gearing up for summer, but I was completely wrong.
MAX: Oh....(laugh)

So, about your new single �MAGIC' What experiences did you go through that made you chose this song?
LINA: We got to participate in choosing the songs again this time as well.
NANA: And, we really wanted to write the lyrics ourselves again, but since we were in the middle of our rehearsals for our tour, we could only focus on that....we�re still not very skillful at that yet. So we chose the songs, and decided to tell someone the image we wanted the lyrics to have and leave it to them.
LINA: But choosing the song was still hard. We had to choose out of dozens of songs.
REINA: And we did it twice two. The first time we thought �Let�s look a little bit more.�E so we began gathering songs again, and we ended up having to choose from around 50 songs. (laugh)

So what you needed to choose from increased.
REINA: Right. So the staff and us had all sorts of papers to check things off of, and while we listened, we�d check off songs we thought were good, and write our impressions of them down, and things. And then we�d listen again to the songs everyone felt something from, and after doing that many times this was the song we came up with.

You always do things so democratically. But it seems like it would be hard with 50 songs and so many different people to choose one song all together.
NANA: But you know, in the end, MAX and the staff all decided simulaneously �This is the one!�E so the selection went very smoothly.
LINA: Since it was in the middle of our concert rehearsal, everyone�s feelings we geared towards concerts, so it felt like we naturally picked a song with a feeling similar to how we feel during our concerts. And, since MAX had never done a single with a concert feeling like this one, on that hand we wanted to do it too.
MINA: We�d been thinking for a while that we wanted to do a song with a lot of vigor. Since we�re always really pumped during our concert season, rather than a cool, set song that would lower that, we wanted to do a song where we could let out the power of our concerts on TV as well. Because we love concerts more than anything, and those are palces full of energy, we want to communicate that to everyone through the screen.

When I first heard it, I could really imagine MAX in concert.
REINA: That�s what we were aiming for.
MINA: When we asked Sasamoto-san (the song writer, also a member of their tour) �You wrote this imagining while our concert, didn�t you?' He replied, �That�s right.'The way it was when we first go it, the instrumental section was really long. �You meant for the member introductions to go here, didn�t you?'�Exactly.'......We knew as soon as we heard it. (laugh)

So, at your concert it would have a place like �SO REAL'
MINA: Yep, yep. Only, �SO REAL' is a fun song where everyone can play around, and this one is fun but powerful. We really wanted that to come out strongly. It had fun, and energy and a kind of �Wow!' So we had our same dancers from our concerts with us on TV.

So, as you said before, for the lyrics this time, you decided to tell someone the kinds of things you wanted and leave it to them.
REINA: Right. But the the lyrics had a pattern too. Rather than asking someone to do it, we we gave out the order to many different people and then chose the lyrics we liked best, so it was very interesting. Even though the theme was always the same, everyone had a different way of dealing with it.

And so these are th elyrics you chose out of all the different takes on your theme. They really are positive lyrics, where the member�s feelings are gotten across directly.
NANA: Aren�t they?(laugh) They sort of seem like an extension of �Never gonna stop it'..But we said �This is how we feel at the moment, so these are best.�If we tried to change the lyrics they wouldn�t be our true feelings any more.
MINA: Right. But the coupling songs are also really good...I mean, they really are the kinds of songs MAX likes. (laugh)
REINA: We like them so much that if we hadn�t been thinking about our concert, we would have wanted to make one of them the title track.
NANA: Both of the two songs are really good. �UNFORGETABLE' is exhilerating and refreshing, and in contrast �whispers' is romantic and adult...
LINA: It almost gives me chills....(she cracks up) But we really put a lot of love into all three songs this time as well.

You feel so satisfied with all of them that you would have made any of them the title track. Now, you�ll perform MAGIC at your concert even before it�s release, right?
NANA: Right. And we perform it pretty suddenly too. (laugh) We put it so early in the song order that it sort of feels like �Huh? They put it here?'
MINA: This year�s tour is a lot of fun! There�s a couple things like �Wow, MAX did it!' (laugh) Because there are a lot of things we�re trying for the first time this year....But like we said before, this is a tour revolving around our best album, so we don�t ony have things that are completely new, we also have a lot of things where we tried to make things that already had a set way into something new. So I think that internally, it�s becoming really important to imporve on everything as much as we can.
NANA: Right. I guess you could say we want to improve and advance ourselves. Rather than the songs being arranged and growing, we want to show people �If ourselves of now released this old songs, this is how they�d be.'We want to bring everyting up a step and show everyone our current Best.
REINA: So, I think you�ll be able to see many different types of MAX through that. Just like the tour title, �No boundly'says, in many different meanings �There are no walls'....it�s becoming free like that. And also, the places we�re performing in our so big, but we all become one.
LINA: Right. We want to be able to have a session with the audiance, whether you�re watching, listening or singing. There�s a lot in our repetiore, and a feeling of speed, so we want everyone to have so much fun they get caught up in that speed, and forget about time...

Lastly, when do you all feel �I believe in my MAGIC'?
MAX: Oh....That�s a good question....(they think for awhile)
LINA: When I�m depressed or something, and someone says something bad about me, an amazing power comes to me. Since it�s so mortifying. I get really passionate about making htme eat their words.
NANA: I envision many out comes of different things, but somewhere I�m looking forward to something more than that.....maybe that�s it...unknown possibilities. But you know, magic definately happens at our concerts. I can feel it awakening inside me.
LINA: Oh, it is there at concerts! When power comes to you, your whole body grows hot. Like you can�t bear it any more. At times like that I feel a new self comeing out. I�d like to grow by our concerts, and I think that really do grow.
REINA: Concerts really do have the most magic. You discover so many things at concerts, and a lot of power comes to you. The magic that happens at concerts isn�t something you can put into words, but you really can feel it yourself the moment it�s happening.
MINA: I think I feel that in myself as I�m making a concert, from myself as I stand on the stage. Because it�s the things I find and notice at concerts that makes myself at concerts the way I am. Also that�s the place where you can feel �MAX�s magic' most, at concerts. And it�ll be there this time too! We�re overflowing with magic! (laugh)