2012/10/25＊Takuro
「Alright! Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete」
Our 4th single “Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete” was released yesterday. It came in at 6th on the Oricon Daily Charts. To those who bought it, those who listened to it and those who are going to going to get theirs soon, thank you very much.
It seems the first press limited edition with the band score is well-liked. If you know a band guy who didn’t manage to buy one, please lend yours to them. I (and probably the other three, too) feel that band scores are something you ought to be lending and borrowing. That’s how I practiced playing guitar. I wonder if they have any at libraries?
Tomorrow we’re appearing on Music Station. A live performance on a live broadcast!! Definitely do watch it, everyone!!
2012/10/18＊Takuro
「Well comeback」
Long time no talk. How have you all been? Though our new single hasn’t even been released yet, we continue writing new songs (it feels like I’ve been saying this all year) and that keeps us busy every day. I know making excuses isn’t very manly, but when I’m putting all my effort into writing lyrics and composing, that doesn’t leave me with much energy to do anything else. That in turn then leads to me putting off writing for the blog.
Since our new single is finally released next week, it’s suddenly becoming noisy around us. We’re making three TV appearances (two of them have already been recorded and will air next weekend, and then we’re doing a live performance on a live broadcast on that show — check out our website for more info), so it’s like we’re getting back into promotion at the pace of three steps forward, two steps back. (laughs)
We’ll be getting on stage for the first time in a while this week at lessthan Riot, so we’re busy with the rehearsals for that. Then after that we have the school campus festival with THE BAWDIES, and after that the EAST COAST TOUR, so it’s really not “sudden” at all, this noisiness. Let’s have fun with all of that, shall we not!
With that, ladies and gentlemen, here is the limited edition first pressing of Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete that comes with the scorebook! Even for the you who’s going “but I’m not a band guy!“, just get ahold of the CD — I guarantee you that it has impact. This is what you’ll find lined up on the store shelves next week. This sort of stuff is rare, so first you ought to just go hold it in your hands! Whether you buy it or not is something you may decide later! Though it’d of course be better if you did. (laughs)
2012/09/08＊Takuro
「It’s 9mm Day tomorrow」
Good evening everyone. Tomorrow is finally the 9mm Day of the year. Two shows, the one at noon being just for women while the one in the evening is just for men!¹ Just what is going to happen?!
This is the first time for 9mm to be doing this kind of thing. An unknown world. I suppose some of you who are coming might be wondering what to expect. To those people I would say to think of it like how the men’s and women’s sections at public bath houses are usually separate. Come to Shimokitazawa tomorrow expecting to enter into a sort of strange onsen. 9mm are the clerks, so there’s no need to feel embarrassed. Just, please refrain from loitering around wearing only a towel. Be careful about that and have fun.
PS. I’ve heard that our new song will be broadcasted live on Nico Nico. But! I have no idea how you tune in to watch, so please look into that yourselves. (laughs)
¹ Find setlists for both shows in the comments.
2012/08/28＊Takuro
「La.mama today and tomorrow」
Well, I was there just to watch today though. mudy and HERE were playing. I was only able to catch the last song from HERE so once we got there, the venue was already all fired up. (laughs)
You’d think mudy are at a turning point right now, but everyone was looking pretty relaxed and they put on a really refreshing show. Those MC’s, too… mmm, I do feel that Kiriyama’s irreplaceable. Still, I suppose “life goes on” no matter what. For 9mm, we have three shows this week. Four for me because I’m making a guest appearance for Hatsukoi no Arashi. To start off, I’ll be looking forward to playing La.mama again for the first time in a while.
Also, tomorrow is the official release date for MTV Unplugged. And the scorebook for Movement goes on sale, too! We really kept all you kids waiting! Taking a year to release this, we were worried we must’ve really caused all your learning-by-the-ear abilities to develop (which isn’t a bad thing), but with this you’ll have no problem! We don’t mind if you just split up the cash among the guys in your band to buy it! We hope you have fun with it.
Finally, the DVD is completely a limited edition kind of thing. Thus, in order to not feel troubled later on when you start wanting it, I recommend getting it as soon as possible. (laughs)
2012/08/26＊Takuro
「Pre-production」
Or pre-pro for short. To explain it briefly, it basically means a rehearsal recording. You record something as a test, trying out this and that. It’s like training for the actual recording session so it’ll progress smoothly and you don’t put in too much unnecessary stuff (or alternatively, so you can put in more unnecessary stuff.)
So while it sounds like I’m this huge professional when I go “yeah, we were doing pre-production today“, that’s really all it is. Just showing off.
So yeah, we were doing pre-production yesterday and today. We went through about four songs. We’re not out of the woods yet, but they’re all sounding cool. There’s no single yet and even the MTV Unplugged show is only released next week, but the band keeps pressing on.
2012/08/24＊Takuro
「That’s quite enough already」
…is what I think as the cicadas still keep on singing. Does it bother you guys, too? Aren’t you beginning to feel that enough is enough?
Right after the last post, our upcoming single got announced. With a full four songs included, please do look forward to it. They’re songs we’ve been doing live this summer.
Just the other day at Liquid we played the title song “Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete” as well as the song “Scream For The Future”. This one’s quite an intense, short tune and quite 9mm-like. There’s a part in the lyrics that goes “a love song of the future～” and as people who were at the venue know, during the encore there was a certain happening which that piece of lyric corresponded with, so I thought that was a pretty nice song selection on our part. (laughs) Well, it was thanks to that happening that everyone forgot the lyrics to the song though. (laughs) You never know what’s going to happen live. Makes it fun, right?
Finally, congratulations again to Ebisu LIQUIDROOM for their 8th anniversary. We definitely want to play again with my name is… and Mariko Goto.
9mm will be busy with songwriting tomorrow.
2012/08/09＊Takuro
「I have a premonition」
Following our campus festival tour with THE BAWDIES, the EAST COAST TOUR 2012 (this one’s just us) has also been announced. Guys, don’t you just feel like there’s going to be some further announcement from 9mm? Because I do. It feels like it might be about something that’s happening in the fall. What on earth could it be? Let’s look forward to it.
By the way, the cicadas have now started singing in Tokyo as well.
2012/08/03＊Takuro
「On-air on Ust」
We’re in Hitachinaka for tomorrow’s ROCK IN JAPAN. They’re airing the MTV Unplugged thing on Ust right now, so check that out. From this week onwards it’s going to be a weekly thing and this week it’s just me featured on it. Anyway, go and check it out!
2012/07/10＊Takuro
「NO NUKES!!」
We appeared at NO NUKES, from which you can see live and off-shot pictures on our website.
I guess it’d be good to talk a bit more about that. We were there not to hold a speech, but to do a show — just the fact that we appeared at the event is a declaration in itself. I could see everyone way out in the back watching us perform. Thank you to everyone who was there to see us.
Like I said in the MC there, just the fact that we oppose this isn’t enough. That doesn’t solve the problem. What I mean is, I want to make it so that at some point the phrase “NO NUKES” itself will no longer be necessary.
I’m trying to imagine the day when this event is a festival where we only have to enjoy the music, after the real era of “NO NUKES” has arrived in our country. What kinds of bands will be there? What kind of expressions will the audience have on their faces? And how many more people must see the bands performing there until that day?
I wrote how 9mm is the youngest band among the lineup, at the good age of 28-29… and what I want to say is, I want this band to be as cool as possible. That’s it. It’s not just about nuclear power plants. It’s about what we take from the previous generations, determining the things that we mustn’t pass on and somehow putting a stop to it with our generation. What do you want to give to those who come after us? What do you think? I’m asking you, the people from the same generation as myself.
I’m going to crack my knuckles and get back to writing lyrics. I can’t tell you the details, but we have a recording session next week. I’ll talk about that at a later date.
2012/07/07＊Takuro
「The night before NO NUKES 2012」
Kyoto Daisakusen. The rain kept getting more and more intense as we got to the venue but once it was our turn to go on stage, you could feel the sunlight starting to shine through the clouds. By the time BOMB FACTORY went on, it was clear weather. So although eventually it got to be the pleasantly hot Kyoto just as we’d pictured it, we had to reluctantly leave the venue as we had to commute onwards. I’m sure it remained just as hot afterwards. We hope the whole two days is a big success.
We’ll be appearing at NO NUKES 2012 tomorrow. I wonder what kind of a day it’ll turn out to be. For those of you worrying over us being the only youngsters performing there, try to enjoy it without any worries. I’m just glad that there’s a band from our generation included in the lineup. I’ll see you at the venue.
