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 vol.182 interview with AN CAFE
translated by: Noriko 'Non-Non' Takeuchi

↓p40

As this is the first album since you changed members, may I ask takuya and yu-ki about their impressions first?

yu-ki: Well I was really conscious that we were making an album while doing the recording. Even though recording was divided into about 3-4 times in the period of six months, it wasn’t any different from a single recording for me, so I felt that I could do it the same way as always.

takuya: I struggled with a lot of things. As we decided to make an album, I brought several songs so when we gathered our songs for the first time, there were songs like “We can’t use them at all. Get rid of it.”.(laugh) When enough songs were finally collected we discussed what kind of songs were lacking, and yu-ki and I were asked to make a certain type of song each. So we brought in songs that fit their descriptions, and they were chosen.

yu-ki: It wasn’t a song that just came out of me, I made the song thinking about An Cafe. However, after almost all the songs were determined, and we needed a few more, I could see what was needed so it came out rather smoothly.

kanon, and teruki, did you have rough images about how you wanted to make this album from the beginning?

teruki: I started to make songs soon after Bou left, but before the new members were determined. Then the new members were decided upon, and I thought about “What timing would be better this time?”. Bou, also made good songs which matched An Cafe, and I thought I wanted yu-ki and takuya to write the type of songs which kanon and I couldn’t write, so I was going to put their songs into this album. But I didn’t know what kind of songs they would make, and what’s more, kanon was in slump saying “I can’t make songs these days….”, so I worked very hard, as much as I could!

miku: Yes, yes. teruki was working really hard to make songs!

teruki: See. I worked quite hard to make those songs. When I gave the demo to staff to listen to them, they said “teruki, you are really working hard on this….”(laugh)

Among your demo songs, which songs were put in this album?

teruki: They are [pierce] and [Aijou cycling]. The first reason why we put them is that they match An Cafe. We want to clearly show our wide range in our album, so I worked hard challenging myself in various areas. Until then, songs which I made were quite similar, but this time I tried to stay conscious of keeping a good range, listening to various music and making songs. Because of that I am really satisfied with this album. I think that this album is quite An Cafe, quite different to our other work, displays the individuality of our new members and is really of good quality.

How about you, kanon?

kanon: Well, when you make an album you can put lots into it, so I really tried to put lots into it. I did not really think as much as teruki, just did what I felt like. You know, I got over my slump. (laugh) What I did in this album was [Baby King] and that came to me just through playing the keyboard.

It’s good, the keyboard of [Baby King].

yu-ki: It’s hard to move my fingers as it is so fast.(laugh) In the middle there is kind of a keyboard solo, so that was pretty nervous for me. But overall I think that the song is a good accent in the album.

When I listened to this album, I really found that the individuality of each writer was in the music. I felt the song made by yu-ki with all the technical keyboard sounds was impressive and melodious, and was one which only a keyboardist could have made. takuya’s hard rock song in which the guitar riffs are great, was the one that could only have been made by a guitarist, and teruki’s songs are very him, but I also felt that you challenged new things this time just as you said, and I felt wide range in kanon’s [Baby King] as a new song of An Cafe which was achieved by yu-ki joining the group. 

kanon: Yeah, I think you are right there. If I used synchronization, I don’t think that I could have made the groove of real keyboards.

And about the lyrics, I really felt the character of miku in them. The lyrics having many words almost like a tongue twister are also very characteristic.

miku: Yes, yes, yes. If this song wasn’t in the album I don’t think that it would be same.

And I think kanon’s song is great, really showing off An Cafe in it’s crumpled way. So I wanted to write something that would match it. I really like tongue twisters. It was really fun making the lyrics. My way of writing the lyrics is to emphasize the parts that I want to, so in choosing the title I chose words from the song itself.

teruki: In that way I think that the title of this album really suits the music that we put on it!

miku: ‘Goku (=To gain the top)’ and ‘tamashii(=soul)’ becomes ‘Gokutama’. 『Gokutama ROCK CAFE』! The album is very much overall rock, and when I think about what An Cafe rock is and bringing our music to foreign fans, I thought about using Japanese characters in the name. (laugh) “Gokutama” is very good, don’t you think so? I think this word represents this album very well. So I wanted to show “Our rock is this.”, and I made this title. In this album, you can listen to rather grown- up An Cafe rock. It’s not just cheerful but also has a grown- up feeling to it.

teruki: The biggest thing was yu-ki and teruki joining us, I think. We became very rock. takuya is a guitarist who makes a heavy sound. And yu-ki plays piano instead of what we used to do, using computer sounds, so we have become very rock.

[ Kodoku Hospital] made by takuya, is a very different heavy rock.

takuya: I think that I was really affected by the music that I listen to when I made this song. I like Metallica and other heavy metal, but I also like western hard rock such as Mr. BIG.

teruki: I think that through miku’s guidance it has a visual kei taste about it.

takuya: Yes. (laugh)

teruki: I requested [ Kodoku Hospital] because we needed a song which was wild instead of [Gangu].

miku:  Yes. I thought that it would be good to have at least one wild song in the album. An Cafe have had several songs like that before haven’t we? But this time I requested a song that was wild, one you can dance to. The song that takuya brought was really cool, I think that it is a song that will really be a strong point for the band in time to come. So I thought that I would write lyrics that would really stay with you after you listen to it. When I thought about what I would write I remembered all the letters we get from Cafekkos and the stuff they write in them. There are a lot of loners out there so I thought that we would write something for them.

yu-ki: In this song I did not really put in any piano sounds unless they were really needed.

teruki: When we were recording the album we discussed that. We talked about whether all ten songs needed piano. We thought it better to use piano just were we wanted to leave more of an impression on people. This song was recorded towards the end of recording, and other songs had a lot of piano in them so we decided to reduce the amount of piano in this song.

In the first part of [NYAPPY in the world 3] and [Day break], [Baby King], there is a lot of keyboard isn’t there?

teruki: I think so. I made [NYAPPY in the world 3] concentrating around that. After we began making the album we talked about what songs we don’t have. And we decided to make something that matches An Cafe, something cheerful, something that shows that we can play instruments.

I see. Let’s return our talk to [ Kodoku Hospital]. kanon, tell me about [ Kodoku Hospital].

kanon: Well, the first time after we played it all together our reaction was ‘Wow! That’s a tough song!’.  But that, I think, was a good thing. It was a good feeling. We didn’t have to change the key or make the sound any thicker than what it was, so I was kind of happy about that too. We got it right first off, it was really fun.

miku: I really think so too. I like this song so much that when I came here today, I listened to this song over and over again.(laugh)

[Day break] made by yu-ki is also high quality!

teruki: It’s very much like yu-ki; easygoing.

Yes. It’s very technical. A lot of care has been taken in choosing the sound and finding a good groove. The arrangement is also very cool.

yu-ki: I started to think about the main melodies, then thought of A and B melodies. I consulted with various people about the arrangement, and then shaped what I wanted to do. It was really hard.(sigh)

kanon, you play a lot of bass in the 4^th, and 5^th songs, right?

kanon: Yes. I think that it feels good. It is very difficult to play that fast without killing the song. I just played it as I felt it. I don’t think I would be able to put it down on paper if I was asked to. (laugh) I think that my bass is the glue that keeps the rhythms and the melodies together.

miku: It was also hard to write the lyrics. I got it done just in time, and at first I thought that some of the lyrics did not match the song, but in the end I thought that it worked well. But it is hard to sing because it is slow. I think that it is one of the harder songs in the album.

takuya: I think that this song was the hardest for me. The bouncy guitar sounds are fun to play though, when I play my body always ends up like this….  (laugh)

teruki: So you look up toward the ceiling...(laugh)

takuya: Yes, yes, yes.(laugh) It’s an adult feeling like we are on the same wavelength.(laugh)

teruki: When I play drums, to keep pace and make the groove this of this kind of slow songs makes me feel good. It’s performance, but not forced. When I recorded it, I felt very good. I like the connection between the lyrics and the music.

I thought [Ｓ☆Ｂ☆Ｙ] made by kanon suits An Cafe, as it’s a bright driving song.

kanon: This song was like, after several songs were determined, we needed a kind of a punkish song, so I made something that would fit that need.

miku: I wrote these lyrics for people who are bullied. As they look at these lyrics, I hope that they find some answers somehow. The meaning of “Stand by you” is “I’m standing close to you.”. I wrote thinking about that.

teruki: I think that this song is really An Cafe too. And it’s the tune of An Cafe at around 『Shikisai Moment』. I thought it fun to do it now. I think in this album you can feel this An Cafe, a grown-up An Cafe, and a rock An Cafe, so please listen to it!

↓ｐ45 miku

motive power【Ryuusei Rocket】

What is your motive power, miku?

It’s Cafekko! Really! I am serious! I am not just saying that! Cafekko and our band. I’m always thinking about our band.

teruki: No, no, n, no~, he’s always thinking about breasts! PaiPai!

Don’t say that~.(laugh) Don’t write that! I’m afraid people take it serious!

Well, I suppose that PaiPai is the source of romanticism…

You are right. PaiPai is a man’s source for romanticism……No! Stop it!(laugh) My motive power is the band!

Do you mean lives?

Well, I like lives best. Today is the shooting as our band, but it’s not fun for me because there is no audience in front of me. I enjoy in lives! Even in my private time, I always think about the band. I like clothes as you know. Whenever I buy clothes, I think about Cafekko. Like if they like this kind of clothes.

Like if you put on these clothes they would be happy?

Yes yes.

You mean you choose your clothes as you are miku of An Cafe?

Yes. Honestly speaking, I don’t change so much between my private life and miku of An Cafe.

So you enjoy doing lives the best, miku.

Yes. I enjoy lives best. Basically I like singing, but recording is lonely, and it’s different from singing in lives somehow. Even if I sing my favorite songs I’m still lonely, and I gradually become irritated and tired.

That is also part of the job.

Yeah I know, all part of the job.(laugh)I shouldn’t say that!(laugh) I think the best part I like about my job is doing lives!

I【Ｓ☆Ｂ☆Ｙ】

[Ｓ☆Ｂ☆Ｙ] sounds like mustard~.

What!?

What is the name of the company that makes mustard and wasabi(=Japanese horseradish)?

Ah…..it’s S&B. It’s a little bit different I think.

Well, that’s OK.(laugh) Recently, I’m trying to be serious for the band. We had a tour last year. That tour was quite good for me and I thought “Ah, I’m doing well these days.”. With my live performance, I thought “I’m cool.”.(laugh) You might think it strange that I have the audacity to say that, but I am a great vocalist. However, there was an event on December 31^st in which MUCC and Plastic Tree appeared with us, and I couldn’t stand out from them at all. I thought “huh!?” and looked at myself again. I thought “I’m like a frog stuck in a well…..” Until then, we worked hard just by ourselves, and didn’t look around us at other groups. I didn’t realize because I looked at myself from a small point of view, but when I broadened my horizons I thought that I was terrible. It was just around this time when I had my birthday, we also had the C.C. Lemmon Hall concert and we put in dancers and I had to teach them the choreography looking at the DVD of the Hibiya Yagai Dai Ongakudou Concert. I was pretty cool then. Then I thought “Huh? Was I so cool? I am going backwards.”. I was really convinced that I had it all together until December 31^st . But I was really beaten on December 31^st.

Plastic Tree and MUCC are of a totally different color, so they aren’t comparable are they?

Even so, I was so bad. Even if the genre is different, we can make the audience run high at any time. You know I thought that if I’m not the vocalist of An Cafe then… But then I thought I should be a vocalist who really lifts the audience and creates the mood! It was a sudden wake up call for me, I knew that that could not do those kinds of lives soon, but I decided to do all that I could until the last live on the 12^th. On my birthday, I got Madonna’s DVD from the CEO of our office. I was told to watch it without skipping anything. What was in it were images from her live concerts from all over the world. I watched and learnt. The comments that Madonna made were also very useful for me. I used to think that just to enjoy a live concert is enough, but after watching that DVD I realized that more is needed, live concerts are a show after all. Up until recently, I used to play games and relax before lives, but I now know that I was wrong to do so. Even Madonna, who has all that experience, gets really nervous before a live concert. She said that she concentrates a lot before her performances. She said to think of the audience as just a light shining, as light inflicts no pain or suffering. Light also has the power to push people I think. So it is a plus. So if you imagine the audience to be light, then everything is on your side. I was impressed by that idea.

So you changed your idea about live concerts.

Yes. That’s why I could do the Osaka live concert well after that.

Sakura(=cherry)【Cherry saku yuuki!!】

What comes to mind when you hear the words cherry blossoms and spring?

I would say changing schools.

Did you change schools?

I transferred regularly between schools because we moved a lot. I was born in Nagasaki, and grew up in Tachikawa. I grew up in Tachikawa, and moved to Musashino, then to Setagaya. I moved several times, but I didn’t like the move when I was the 3^rd grade in my elementary school the most.

It is the time when you make many friends.

Yes. So I cried often in my 3^rd grade. I remember when I found out that we were going to move I got really sad at morning assembly when we sang the school song. And after we moved I found it difficult to fit in with the new class. No, that is not right; I fitted in very quickly. You know the new kid is always popular for some reason. I remember that there were three new kids that year; my father is a policeman and so were the other kids’ dads. You know, maybe that is why I turned out the way I did…. Nah… nothing to do with it hey…anyway… the girls in our class decided to rank how cool we were. I was 2^nd place. I will always remember that. The 1^st place went to a boy called Imai-kun. (laugh)

You still remember his name?

Yes. Because I was so frustrated at being rated number two.(laugh) As I was a child and we lived in the same policeman’s housing area, so I considered him a rival somehow.(laugh) It was sad. I remember those feelings clearly even now.(laugh)

↓ｐ46 takuya

love【NYAPPY in the world3~DREAM&LOVE ver.〜】

When did you feel love recently?

I felt love….Uhn, let me see. Since I came to Tokyo…..it was March, so how long has it been? About 7 months or 8 months?

You have already been here that long!? Almost half a year.

Yes. But I can’t stay home so much because of tours and I just come back home to sleep, but my parents are thinking about me a lot. They contact me often and sometimes they come to see me, and bring me various things. So I thank my parents, and I feel love for them. When I lived in my parents home, I always stay with them, so I didn’t feel that grateful, but now I’m living far from them, so I realized their importance to me.

You learn more when you are away from home.

I think so. Since I was a high school student, I was shy to walk with my parents, and didn’t talk with them at all, but when they come here now, we go to eat together, and I want to eat hand-made dishes that they make since living apart from them. Until now it was just the usual so it did not mean that much but now it is different.

It’s natural. What is your favorite dish that your parents make?

Now I want to eat Okonomiyaki which my father makes. It’s a really normal Okonomiyaki, but you can’t buy that taste in any store, I call it my ‘father’s taste’. My father works quite diligently to make different dishes, and to fix things around the house, he often brings me shelves and things that he makes.

So you feel his love!

Yes. And it’s made very well. Like I can sell it.(laugh)

Are you good with your hands, takuya?

No, terrible. (laugh) I don’t take after him like that. He is really good at everything, can deal with machines and is good at electronic stuff too, but I’m not good at them at all.

But you play guitar, don’t you?

Yes. But that’s different. I don’t understand machines at all.(laugh)

I【Baby King】

What are you doing these days?

I don’t do anything. I have lots of free time.(laugh)

Do you have a little bit of time to stay at home?

Yes. I clean and do other things, but mostly I play the guitar. I think that I will go home to my parents’ house one of these days, and I am interested in photographs these days. Not taking them, but more the scenery in them.

Not humans but the scenery?

Yes. The scenery. I haven’t been many places yet, but I have been to various places on tour, and seen lots of scenery, been impressed and thought that I wanted to record them somehow. We will be going overseas too so…

Do you play games, takuya?

I don’t play games at all. I read books a lot these days.

Which book did you read recently?

I read 『Genya』recently. I like Keigo Higashino. I happened to read the book of Keigo Higashino, which was very interesting, then I read his books one after another. I think I read all of his books. However, my biggest interest is now photographs. Now I have time, so I think I’ll go to Big Camera(laugh), and will buy one.

I bought a single-lens reflex a long time ago, and the scenery seems different through the lens.

Yes, I think there a different viewpoint that can be found through a camera. It may inspire me to write songs too. And I see movies often. I watch a lot of horror these days. (laugh)

Ho….horror? That is a little unexpected.(laugh)

Yes. I really like scary things, well, mysterious things anyway.... I watch normal drama too. What I saw and thought was really interesting was 『Uchuusensou』and the 2^nd movie version of 『TRICK』in which Yukie Nakama appears. It was so funny!

I don’t know well. But I’m longing to be more tasteful.

Tasteful takuya?

A tasteful adult.(laugh)

For example?

For example, grow my whiskers and look a little wilder. I’d love to look like that.

That is want you want to be like?

Um, how can I explain it, I want to be cool.  I want to be …..

You mean sexy.

Yes!

I’m sure An Cafe doesn’t have anyone who is that type in the band.(laugh) Um~, wild takuya……takuya with a mustache……

Ahahaha. What do you think?(laugh) But I want to be a sexy adult someday.

It’s hard to imagine that in An Cafe now, but I’m looking forward to seeing how you change from now on.

I’ll work hard.(laugh)

↓p49 kanon

promise【Day break】

Promise~.

Have you ever had a promise which you couldn’t keep?

Promises…... I never keep them.

You are so bad.(laugh)

Ah, no, no, no, no.(laugh) Well, maybe yes. I just don’t really listen…

You don’t listen?

I listen to someone and then answer, make a promise, but soon forget about it, and I say things like “Did I really say that?”.(laugh)

That’s awful.(laugh) Do you have any stories about broken promises?

Before, when I seeing this girl, I broke promises often…(laugh) Especially when we had arranged to meet. (laugh)

kanon, now isn’t the time to appeal how bad you are! Say better things about yourself, kanon!(laugh)

Well, I live as I like so if I don’t want to go somewhere I don’t. .(laugh)

Hah……a girl who dates you will have to be patient.(laugh)

Yes.(laugh)

pierce【pierce】

I don’t have any piercings except this one here. None in my ears, see? I think it that it is good just to keep this one..

So it is just one focal point!

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

That thing that looks like a devils tail, you have had that since you got the pierce?

No, when I pierced it, I had a clear stud. It was hard to see so it was not really noticed by people. I think that I go my first piercing when I was in 2^nd grade of high school. I go the clear stud so my teachers would not notice. I will never forget when I pierced it. It was after I took a bath, I think. I didn’t feel much pain, but a lip has something like a membrane inside. I couldn’t pierce that part easily, so my hands shook.

Didn’t you use a piercing machine to do it?

I used a safety pin. I put on a mask from the next day to hide it. I didn’t have any swelling, but a little bit pain.(laugh)

Is it annoying when you kiss?

It’s annoying.(laugh) The angle is…..

Ah, the angle is.(laugh)

So I change the angle. But the angle is delicate…..

Hey! Don’t say that!?(laugh)

I【pierce】

Please talk about you. How you are these days?

These days, I…..I feel like I’m becoming more childish as I grow up.

What mentally?

Yes. I’m not patient, and I do what I want to do. So yes.

So you feel like you are a degenerate?

Yes. I haven’t been absorbed in games for a long time.

You do it, too, kanon?

I do Monster Hunter.(laugh)

Almost all of band men do it recently.

I know that.(laugh) I can be like a child.

Don’t you have anything else that’s fun?

I like drinking.

When you are drunk, do you change?

I become talkative if there are people there to talk to.(laugh) I either talk or sleep.(laugh) And I really like going out after I drink alcohol. When I go out, I become like “Uwah~!”, and I can laugh for at even tiny things.(laugh)

Ahahaha. Has your thinking changed from before?

Um~, my thinking~.

You became older in the whole scheme of things after takuya and yu-ki joined.

Yes, it should have been like that.(smile)

Should have but not right? (laugh)

Yes.(laugh) I feel like I haven’t changed at all since I was a junior high school student. I watch various people, and I listen to other’s actions and opinions, but I don’t take them on board, for myself.  (laugh)

That means you have become smarter?

Maybe. When I was a student, how can I say, I rather wanted to be bad. I felt like it’s not cool to work hard for something.

You didn’t want to show yourself being too worked up over anything.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. But Recently when I heard my friends say the same thing I told him “That is not cool at all?”. I said “I don’t think working hard is bad.”. Now I know people are impressed to see people working hard.

By the way, your junior: Kyu of Angelic Cafi also said the same thing when he had an interview with Giga flare of Sendai Kamotsu.

Yes. As I become older, I become impressed by such simple things. I can be very honest. To be totally absorbed in something such as a hobby, I think is almost a kind of love in way. 

You also said that before.

Yes. People who are absorbed in something are in the peak of their lives. I think Otaku people are so pure.(laugh) But Otaku people I think are shy and couldn’t be honest about their interests around high school age. Then they work hard like this now.(laugh)

When do you feel you can be childish most, kanon?

When I do Monster Hunter.(laugh) Well, the lines are rough, and I would be like “Oraoraora”,  I think that happens to everyone in Monster Hunter. (laugh)

I see. Well, everyone is like that. I have had an experience where this guy was on the phone yelling “Don’t stuff me around!” and I thought he was fighting with someone but it was just a game.(laugh)

See.(laugh) It’s a magic. Usually we don’t fight with someone thoroughly like that.(laugh)

Maybe.(laugh) Then please give us a message from you like “We made a new album!”.

Yes. We made an album. We really make you listen to our melodies in every song, and we do many interesting things in the later half, so it’s like “We keep blowing the horn insistently.”!(laugh) Ah, I say this phrase put in the lyrics of [pierce]! So, as you listen to the album the second and third time I promise you that you will find various things one after another, so please listen to it!

↓p50 yu-ki

I【Kodou Hospital】

It’s not usual pride, but I have pride in what I don’t do. That is, I am never violent towards women.

Do you feel women are weaker than men, so you have to protect them?

Yes. On the contrary, I’m the type to uses violence against men when who I can’t stand. For example, if I have a girlfriend and she says “I was molested today.”, I would be almost like I’ll beat him up.(laugh) I used to do aikido (=a Japanese art of self-defense derived from judo) and Karate before. Ah, I did aikido because I couldn’t concentrate on anything and I wanted to train my spirit, and I started karate to beat off those kinds of guys.(laugh)

But you can’t use the skills, right?

Right. When we get a black belt, to beat someone up is a crime. It’s regarded to be the same as a weapon. But if we don’t get a black belt, we are just normal people, so when I was told to have an exam to get black belt, I stopped just before a black belt because I was afraid I couldn’t use my skills when needed.

crush【KAKUSEI HEROISM ~THE HERO WITHOUT A ''NAME''】

What are you absorbed in most now, yu-ki?

Games you find in a game center.(laugh)

miku: Hey, hey, hey? teruki talked so seriously before, but you are talking like that, yu-ki?

But I like coin games now.(laugh)

miku: Why don’t you say, it’s the band,(laugh)

All: burst out laughing.

Of course. That’s it too(laugh), but I thought that I have to say more private things.(laugh) However, I like piano after all. I want to play one day. Well I started when I was 3-4 years old, so playing piano is so natural for me. And I used to play euphonium and tuba until 5^th-6^th grade of my elementary school to 3^rd grade of my high school. But they were too loud to play at home.(laugh)

Did you like piano when you were a child?

I don’t remember so much, but I took lessons of called ‘3 year-old-land’ in YAMAHA, and there was a stuffed animal of chick there.(laugh) I really liked it.(laugh)

Ahahaha. You worked hard playing piano to see the chick.(laugh)

Maybe I’m like that ~.(laugh)

Around when did you become to like piano on your own?

When I was a junior high school student. Until then I didn’t play seriously.(laugh) From around junior high school age, I went to my teacher’s house to take a personal lesson, and I brought my favorite popular songs and played them, so it was very fun. Piano is the one which I’m absorbed in after all.

pride【Kodoku Hospital】

How are you these days? Did you catch a cold during the end-of year and new–year, yu-ki?

Yes. I felt like I was dying until the moment the live started.(smile)

I was going to let you know how much you have developed seeing you on January 5^th, but you weren’t there, yu-ki. I heard you were not in a good condition.

Yes, it was. I had very bad time. The event on 31^st was also quite hard, so I was dying just before the live.

But you didn’t show that at all on stage. So you were great. I saw you on the stage on that day and thought that you had become an icon of An Cafe. In the very good meaning, I felt your presence of you, as An Cafe=yu-ki. The sounds of your songs are widened by adding keyboard, too. There were also many girls who put on yu-ki’s cospre.

Ah~, I felt sorry for them honestly.(laugh) because they were girls.(laugh)

Ahahaha. But girls of yu-ki cos looked pop and quite cute.(laugh) How about the recent you? Do you have anything that has changed from before? When you were a junior high school or high school student, you tried to show yourself as cool, but now you try to think of the band more important than yourself, yu-ki.

Yes. But I didn’t care about how I showed myself when I was a junior high school student.~. I think I cared about it from around high school age. I didn’t care at all when I was a junior high school student. I didn’t want to be in favor with girls, either.

Heh~. What did you do when you were a junior high school student?

When I was the1^st grade, I played basketball, and in the 2^nd to 3^rd grade, I played in the brass band. Besides, I rather enjoy playing with my friends. It was from high school age when my sense of beauty became improved.(laugh)

Your sense of beauty improved.(laugh)

It was awesome in high school.(laugh)

What kind of high school student were you?

At first, I fastened buttons tightly, my hair was black, I was serious, and I read [ET] alone in my class room during the break(laugh), but as I experienced school events, my friends increased gradually. There were more girls, and boys didn’t change classes in my high school. So my class was very friendly, probably the friendliest in that school’s history. Then I made more friends, talked with girls, and raised my sense of beauty, such as dying my hair, what should I say……

You became sexually aware.

Yes.(laugh) Then I put on accessories, didn’t tuck my shirt into my pants, gelled my hair up, and looked completely bad.(laugh)

You awakened to your own style.(laugh)

Yes.(laugh)

kanon said his feeling became childish day by day recently(laugh), how about yu-ki? Are you getting childish?

Maybe so. And my sense of beauty is decreasing gradually.(laugh)

You already!? That’s way too early!(laugh)

No, no, no, no, no, how do I explain it? A sense of beauty…..well, I’m like I don’t care!

Heh~. Why? Because you have a place where you can let steam off, which is on stage? Like having an on and off switch.

I don’t think so.(laugh) I’m generally always the same, and I’m not connected to a sense of beauty, I think.(laugh) I’m not interested in brands. Because they are expensive and I can’t help thinking why people would buy the same things? I rather like to arrange a cheap bag individually. For example, I put on a key holder. It’s more fun and no other one has the same thing.

Do you coordinate your stage costume too, yu-ki?

No, I don’t do that. A stylist takes care of everything. That style is original, and I leave it completely. Well, it’s the only difference of me on stage from real me.

I see. Then are you getting better?

Yes! I’m all right now!

↓p53 teruki

friend【Aijou cycling zzzv】

When I say the word ‘friends’ what do you think of?

Friends means, of course, An Cafe. They include not only members, but also staff and Cafekko. Various things happened last year.(smile) kanon and miku said “Let’s play together.” and the staff around me worked so hard for us. Everyone worked very hard not to kill An Cafe, and such thoughts made us achieve tours last summer and winter. I really thank them for that again now. Both takuya and yu-ki have good natures, so I really think it was very good for these 5 members. And in the tour I drank sake with staff, manager, PA, lighting staff and talked with them about various things, and I realized they worked hard for An Cafe. For them, it might be just their job and it might not be special at all, but the ones who are shone in the light and cheered for while on stage are us, 5 members, right? I feel bad that they gave so much of themselves for us. With the sound and stage effects, they thought about things so much more than us. I was so encouraged. I really trust them.

So you are thankful to the people who support you behind the scenes.

Yes. They also advised us about what we should care about, even when it’s hard for us to say it among band members, but I really thank for them for doing so. And it’s more than just a job to them, I think. I am very thankful for them thinking about us so much.

tear【Orange Dream】

That’s the live we did in Sendai on December 8^th. We did our live in Sendai on the day of my birthday. After about 2 years since I joined An Cafe, we did one-man live in Nagoya on the day of my birthday, and we continued doing in-store appearances on my birthdays since then. Then this time my birthday and the Sendai live were on the same day. It had been 7 years since I had my birthday in Sendai! So last time it was when I was 20 years old. So I could help getting emotional, I cried. There is a SNS named Nyappy-ken (Nyappy prefecture), in which there are messages that “Your birthday will be coming soon.” around in the middle of November and I knew Caffekko were preparing for something for it. They were collecting words and messages from all over the country, and made them into one book. I didn’t know what they were doing, but I knew they were doing something, so I was very happy. Now I’m doing lives, but when I was 21^st or 22^nd years old, I did a part-time job, and came back home alone, so I didn’t think anything special about my birthday, and it was unexpected for it be celebrated by people more and more these years. I haven’t changed especially, I’m very happy to have people celebrate my birthday!

I【Orange Dream】

How are you recently?

Not recently, but in 2007, I changed in various ways over the course of a year, and then eventually returned to the same place. But I think that my feeling changed in someway. Especially from around the time when we did a one-man live concert in WEST (Shibuya O-WEST), An Cafe was getting bigger as a band, and things were turning into a shambles. Like we did a free live in Yoyogi, and then we played in Shibuya koukaidou.

But many fans came and saw you, so it wasn’t really a shambles, was it? I didn’t feel that you overfilled the venues.

Yeah maybe. We played with all those people watching it was really fun. Then we climbed up to the top, then bou left the band, so honestly speaking I felt like my feeling was going up but suddenly everything broke(smile), and I wanted to keep going up of course, but we met problems that concerned other things than just the band. It was about members’ feelings. Honestly speaking, even when takuya and yu-ki joined, their careers were different from us, so we couldn’t become one like a body as our worries and problems were far different to one another. So it was hard. However these two guys were so nice, and got along well with us, and helped us a lot. As we looked back, we worked very hard in the later half of last year, so I don’t think An Cafe has been able to go that next step yet. I feel like we are still struggling together as 5, moving ahead step by step.

I think that’s fine. If you were perfect, that would be the end of everything.

Maybe so. Recently, I really thank the members and stuff around me. These days I think more about others. Now I’ll talk about my family.(laugh) I have my older sister, and younger brother, and all three of us live in my parents’ home. My father and mother used to live in Sendai. Recently, my father was transferred to Aomori with work. So now everyone in my family lives separately. Sometimes, we talk about how our mother is alone and what we can do for her. Everyday, I talk with my sister by telephone, and tell her we would be better to do this, but my opinion is generally irrelevant to her. (laugh) Usually boys of junior high school age or high school age won’t talk with their parents. I moved out of my parents’ home at 20 years of age. Usually people around 22-23 can make a better relationship with their parents, as my sister did. I didn’t have much time, so I don’t understand the characters of my family very well, I think, but my sister knows them well. She says “Well, I think they feel like this.”, or “Please don’t say that kind of thing.”, but I already said that….(smile) So I was thinking about a lot last year. Well, I haven’t really changed that much, Teruki Nagata still doesn’t understand other’s feelings.(smile) I really hate myself sometimes..

But you recognize it so it is a good think don’t you think so?

Yes…..As I started the band I started to think about other’s feelings, but I can’t still understand them.(smile) I tried to work very hard to fix that last year, but I gave up.(laugh) I still don’t know now. I really feel like I’m a dropout. I can’t do anything else except music, so I have to be recognized there by people around me. I play drums, and I can make songs for An Cafe somehow. Even if you think I’m a lonely guy, I want to be recognized by my works; my best point is now the energy that is in my efforts, I think. From now on I think that I will try harder to understand others. .