[MORE December 2014] Ninomiya Kazunari’s IT
Kazunari Ninomiya
Born on June 17, 1983 from Tokyo. Arashi’s 13th album. “The Digitalian” is currently on sale. It’s been decided that Fuji TV will air it’s 55th year anniversary special drama, “Murder on the Orient Express” on New Year. When he had his first interview with this magazine series six years ago, the first thing Nino asked was, “Until when will this continue?”. When that story is brought up, he says, “I remember that. Because I didn’t know how to continue on if I couldn’t see the end. Now I don’t think about anything anymore (laughs).”
~
In a small bar in the city, there is an old upright piano. On the keyboard, his fingers are skillfully gliding and playing a song I’ve never heard of. They are in the middle of producing their new ablum, “The Digitalian”, so it might be a new song. The melody is soft and in some parts, fleeting. In order to perform and compose music with instruments, starting with the guitar when he was 15 years old, he learned the piano and drums by self-study.
“When it comes to playing, I like guitar the most. When I’m at home, there’s also times when I play the piano, but it’s mostly when I practice my solo song just before a concert. But I do listen to piano songs often. I look up and collect not classical music, but anime and Vocaloid songs that have been redone into piano versions on the internet and such, and listen to those. When I come home, as always, I would play video games while drinking beer, but even in that time, I would turn off the game’s sounds, and listen to piano versions of anime songs as background music (laughs). It’s interesting how even lively anime songs give an impression that’s totally different from the original song when turned into a piano version. The one I was playing awhile ago, actually, is a super maniac anime song (laughs). Originally, the song had beeping sounds, but when I took just the melody and tried playing it on the piano, I thought it was beautiful.”
Upon saying that, he lets me listen to both the anime song’s original version and the piano version on his own laptop. All the while, he happily gives a passionate speech about that difference. His taste in music naturally changed together with his age and career.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t listen to music at all, but when I entered this world, I began to ordinarily listen to artists like GLAY and Mr. Children, who where popular with my generation. In the first half of my twenties, there was a lot of band music. Also, for the sake of my job, as much as possible I listened to the hit songs and the newest songs. However, nowadays, I don’t search for or listen to popular bands or hit music.”
When asked about the reason for this change, he says, “Maybe it’s because now I’m more interested in arranging music rather than creating melodies”.
“Nowadays, I’m making music. But it’s not just creating a melody, the problem is creating a good catchy melody. If I use my own experience and intuition, first of all a melody is born. Now, I will think about how I will arrange that melody. Trying out various sounds, instruments, and tempos is fun. That’s why when I listen to music, my ears are also drawn to the arrangement.”
Whether it’s music, dramas, or movies, it’s not always the case that the original has high value. With excellent arrangements and cover songs, it’s an era where revival works are also gaining popularity.
“Values when it comes to music, along with the era, is diversifying more and more. For the listener, a piece of work’s value isn’t limited to how high the quality is. There’s also people who prefer music that’s being played on the internet, rather than music that is assessed artistically. There’s also people who buy CDs and want special bonus features, rather than good songs or performances. I think it’s fine like that. For example, even if I had ten billion yen right now, I don’t think I would buy a Picasso painting. Because for me, I don’t understand the value of that (laughs). It would be nice if the people who grieve and say, “Music from the old days was better”, would listen to music from the old days. That’s all there is. Because music doesn’t die (laughs). Every year, new things and ways of thinking are added, especially since values are also divided, I want my own choices to increase too.”
The listener is free to choose and enjoy himself as he pleases. However, on the other hand, the part of him that is a creator wants to hold onto his own mindset, of course.
“No matter what situation, I want to be particular with the quality. Whether it’s music, dramas, or movies, or variety shows, creating something from zero is amazing. I respect everyone who does that as a profession. However, raising something because you created it is difficult, isn’t it? Especially a drama series. Even if an amazing story is made, it doesn’t mean that it will surely turn into a good drama. I think it depends on how it is taken care of. In the case of variety shows, having a high power output is also essential, but in the end, for shows that have been raised into long-running programs, the motivation of the viewers is incredible. Like “Shoten” and “The Tetsuwan Dash”. Isn’t there a lot of people who watch those shows on Sunday and go to work in high spirits from Monday? I think it’s amazing how even if the times change, you can make people happy with “something that’s there, without change”.
This magazine series has continued without change for a whole 6 years too. You’ve finished the 72nd photoshoot and interview.
“Congratulations…… I think!? But I’ve also been allowed to do a regular show for twelve years as if nothing has changed. For some reason, I don’t get overwhelmed by transition of times (laughs). I am thankful for the things I can continue doing without thinking and without changing.”
~END~
It’s my first time hearing that Nino can play the drums too. Can we have him do that during a concert too? :))) I’m kind of not surprised that he listens to Vocaloid, though. He’s an otaku after all. Haha!
As a listener, I’m happy he brought up how important music arrangement is. By no means am I a music critic, but I like noticing small details in a song and appreciate the work put into making intricate music. If you’re anything like that, I recommend going through listening-storm. Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated for a while now, but it's worth going through! :)
NOTE:
♪ I am still learning Japanese, and English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have made. Corrections and constructive criticism are very much welcome!
♪ If you wish to re-translate this article, please read this post. Thank you!