Zy 40: Nightmare - Invite you to a "killer show"

Nightmare released their new album, Killer Show on May 21st. Zy has analyzed the meaning of the title and asked, in detail, about its creation, which seems to have been a difficult process for the band. With this new album under their belts, they were also asked about what kind of live concerts can be expected on their tour starting in June.



Now (at the beginning of April), how far along are you with the recording of Killer Show?

Yomi: We have one more song left to do.

So, Ruka, Ni~Ya, Hitsugi and Sakito already finished the recording, right?

Hitsugi: Yes.

Ruka: But we have not finished the vocals and harmonies yet.

Ni~Ya: That's to say, we haven't done the chorus yet.

Could you tell us, in a few words, what kind of album it will be?

Ruka: It's very hard, the hardest album so far, I think. I learned drop tuning (tuning in which only the 6th string is dropped). There are low pitched songs in western music, right? But I'm talking like an amateur. (laugh)

Please go ahead. (laugh)

Ruka: I thought, "How can they make such a low sound!?" We usually drop half a note (semitone) so that our sound is quite low, but we learned drop tuning during our last tour. Then we started doing it and made DIRTY.

Do you mean that it started from an enjoyment of western music?

Ruka: Yes. There are low sounds that vibrate in your stomach and we felt like we had done too many melodious songs.

As I listened to the new finished songs, I actually thought that they were quite melodious.

Ruka: I think that if they weren't melodious they would not be us, Nightmare. As you know, young bands are quite active recently so we, old men, have to work hard now.

Old men? I wouldn't say that. (laugh)

Ruka: We are not great looking and not so friendly, so we have to be something else. Or at least, we have to do something useful.

So you learned drop tuning and blew a new wind into Nightmare?

Ruka: Yes, I think so. We would rather be cool old men, than useless old men.

Eight years have passed since Nightmare formed, right? Besides Ruka, do the other four members also think of yourselves as old?

Ni~Ya: I think that we are.

Ruka: You should see our faces when we are relaxing after a long day of work.

What do you look like? (laugh)

Ni~Ya: We have known each other since we were teenagers so when I look at the members, one by one, I think, "He has changed from before." That means I have also changed.

Do you mean that you have become softer as you've gotten older?

Ni~Ya: I think so. Hitsugi used to fight a lot before. (laugh)

Hitsugi: No, I didn't! (laugh)

Yomi: He used to be terrible. (laugh)

Was he like a jack knife? (laugh)

Yomi: Yes. If you touched him, you would be cut into pieces. (laugh)

Hitsugi: No way, I was never like that! (laugh)

Ni~Ya: But Yomi hasn't changed.

Hitsugi: Yes, he has changed.

Ruka: His speed has increased.

Yomi: My way of thinking hasn't changed since I was a teenager, but my actions are much more those of an older guy. I think it's OK to just go out wearing a track suit.

That is not really an old man, but more an old woman. (laugh)

Hitsugi: I'm not going to make things up, but I feel like I'm quite old when I find myself able to judge things calmly.

That's not so bad, no?

Hitsugi: It's not bad to be able to judge calmly, which means I can distinguish the difference between things properly. But when I can't do that, I act without really thinking. I find it better to cool down first and think things over.

So you wanted to regain your previous momentum in Killer Show, right?

Hitsugi: Yes.