10.05.16 You&J No.20
Now, turing back to [You&Jin], a future that can be gazed upon.
Akanishi Jin's solo live in LA has been decided. This is all because of [You&Jin] back in February. This means, [You&Jin] is not only towards fans that knows Akanishi, but a possibility for it to be applied in a brand new place. As an entertainer, going back to the solo concert and showing my present self, definitely preparing for a start of the June LA performances, says Akanishi.
First, start from inspecting Nissay Theatre
- Is it safe to say, [You&Jin] is something that Akanishi-san reflected 100% of what you wanted to do at that moment?
"Ya... My favourite music, or should I say, the songs I want to sing. In saying (about it being 100%), I've always wanted more time to prepare"
- Please tell us how that stage was created. For example, did you first have the songs you want to sing, then planned the rest from there. Or, did you first thought of the balances between songs and dances.
"The songs (I want to sing) and the composition were planned at the same time. Rather than deciding the songs in the beginning, it's more like the composition was planned while I wrote the songs I like. That was done easily."
- What first came to mind when you heard "You can have a solo performance under the name Akanishi Jin"?
"What should I do (laugh)"
- (laugh) then, what's the next thing that came to mind? At the time when a chance has come, there are people that immediately has images of their favourite foreign artists' concert in mind, and those that, although themselves haven't done this before, they've decided the contents that way.
"First of all, I didn't want a musical. Using that place at that time, I thought it has to be a concert. In thinking that way, I started writing songs"
- Although I'm just imagining, you've had the idea of using Nissay Theatre as a club right from the beginning.
"For that, I really had a lot going on at the same time, choosing something as the base and "I'll start from here" kind of thing didn't really happen. About the place, it just started to come together as I was writing the songs"
- Let me ask a bit more about the place. The walls of Nissay Theatre has got a quite unique curve. For that, the sound was great, and the whole place gave a very soft feeling. Although I don't think it gave the exact same image with Akanishi-san's favourite music, as a result, not just on the stage but the whole audience were all drawn into this "Akanishi Jin's world". I'm really curious of how you came up with that.
"(When the plan first started), I went to visit the place for the first time. Then, I realized that the shape of the walls were really different, and started from there to think of how to get the audiences (to join this [You&Jin] world), and that's how this got started"
- Then the lighting must have been a very important part of this, how did you communicate with the staff? Did you let them listen to the songs you wrote and tried to get through your world views?
"Hmm, I haven't let them listen to my music beforehand. For the numerous times we've met, I was getting through the idea of "if you could do this then I would be very pleased" kind of thing"
- So in the end, did it turn out to be something from Akanishi-san's image?
"Um! It was great. The lighting was above my expectations"
The challenge this time is step-up for the next
- About the songs, the new songs were arranged quite a lot. The old songs would be caught on right when the intro started since everyone would knew already, but the new songs has got their "search time" before it was caught on. Anything you were worried about?
"There wasn't any. Since it's just simple things. Though about that, I thought about how to let them enjoy the visual part as well, the music has got what I'm keened on so it was not a problem. In reality, even if you don't know a song, there's still times when you just go with the flow right. So I thought that's not a problem at all"
- Then you're keen on the visual part of the new songs?
"Maa, the songs were. There are collaborations as well so I planned on all kinds of different things to be enjoyed"
- Did Akanishi-kun yourself enjoy different things as well?
"Hai, that's right"
- The wide range of music, has it been developed from other works? For example LANDS, it was a different experience from KAT-TUN or Akanishi Jin alone. Is there any difference in writing songs before and after the work?
"Iya, it's totally different. Could there be any influences, no"
- Because LANDS was about rock?
"That's right. Although I really enjoyed that as well, what I wanted to do (as a solo artist) would be hip-hop"
- Are you satisfied for [You&Jin] as a hip-hop live?
"...in some sense. I wasn't completely satisfied"
- And why?
"About the details. About the music, I still wanted more time on that"
- Please describe it in a bit more details.
"Like adding certain notes, the balance of songs could be more strict"
- How about the dance and screen images?
"There are still things I want to do"
- But the dance, you practiced a lot right?
"Iya, surprisingly the music took up a lot of time, and there wasn't much dance rehearsals at all. The images as well, I could have fixed so many things"
- For complete satisfaction, it would probably take infinite time whatever you do...
"Um, it'll never end. So for this time, I'll use it as a step-up for my next performance"
Concentrating on the June America performances right now
- Although it'll never be able to get full marks, it must have been something big for Akanishi-san at that time to perform [You&Jin] right.
"It was big"
- Since there are the America performances, you have some free time, what do you want to change about the composition?
"I have no choice but to change it"
- Is it like what you have just said, to fix those things that you're not pleased with?
"That's right. The things before and after would probably be different"
- What are the things before and after?
"To me, I want to have an album before the America performances. If it's possible within the short time frame. If it did become true, there are things that I have to fix, and new songs I have to add. Also, since it's in America, and the place is a club, even if I sing Japanese they wouldn't understand. Since it's Japan, there are a lot of audiences that have watched the movie ([BANDAGE]) so there was no problem singing that. Lots of things like that I have to fix."
- MC is definitely in English then.
"That's a part of the composition. There wasn't a MC this time either"
- What are you going to do about the music? Band?
"I have to consider about that too. Since most of the time I'll be concentrated, saying that I don't really need a band, maa, I don't"
- If there is no band, then the stage is only left with Akanishi-san and...
"Dancers. They'll be people from oversea"
- In Nissay Theatre there were loads of time, but in the club, there's really no time for long performances right.
"The length hasn't been decided yet. That's probably the case though. Hurry and run through everything"
- Although it's still early in asking, have you thought of what to do when you come back to Japan? Of course, the America performances are definitely not a goal, but rather challenges that might get greater and greater, the things Akanishi-san wants to do will probably increase as well, is there any clear destinations you want to achieve?
"Iya, that's not the case. Anyways I will concentrate towards June, then I'll still be there. If that doesn't finish, I wouldn't think of anything else yet"