----The song ‘chAngE’ has an electric guitar in it, right?
“The electric guitar was a new challenge to me. I never played it before, and I had never performed with it in front of people. Whenever I make a new song I think: ‘I want to include some sort of surprise’. So this time I thought, ‘I want to make a rock song that’s fast-paced and works well at live performances’ and at that time the sound of an electric guitar rang through my head. I wanted to use the linear sound of the electric guitar.”
----You sing with a spirit of wanting to change and move forward without placing any limitations of yourself. Is this something you, miwa-san, always feel?
“It is. I don’t want to be stuck in a box. There are times when people look at me and think ‘she’s like this’, but if I start thinking ‘I am like this’, then I won’t be able to move forward from that spot. I feel that if I don’t wish to move forward, I will become shallow and weak. I think it’s important to have some kind of action in your life.”
---Have you had this way of thinking since you were a child?
“Maybe. I was full of curiosity. If friends told me, ‘I feel you’re like this’, I would immediately answer, ‘but I also have sides that are like this and like that’ (laughs).”
----(Laughs) In the lyrics you use phrases like ‘motto hizumasete yo’ and ‘motto haurasete yo’. The words ‘hizumi’ and ‘hauru’ are often used by people who play an instrument. I felt those words really fit you, miwa-san.
“It’s a song with an electric guitar, so I wanted to use words that are special to electric guitars in the lyrics.”
----The kanji for ‘hizumi’ is usually read as ‘yugami’, so I think there are a lot of guitar players who will feel a sense of affinity to the lyrics because they get to read it as ‘hizumi’.
“I see (laughs). In daily life it is indeed often read as ‘yugami’, isn’t it? This time, while I was creating the song, I wrote the lyrics at the same time. Up until now I’ve often first created the song and afterwards written the lyrics to it. I think that in this song I could convey the power of the sound in the lyrics as well.”
----Also, I got the impression that, in the lyrics, this wish is also included: ‘I might be separated from somebody because of my changes, but I hope we can meet again in the future’.
“Actually, I wrote this song about two months before my debut. I thought ‘I want to start moving towards the music I want to make’, but I realized that my friends might not have started to move towards their own definite dreams. I wrote the lyrics with this in mind. At that time I felt that the amount of times that I could see my friends was declining. To change is a positive thing, but it also makes you carry a sense of loneliness. But those friends will also surely someday start to move towards something and start to change. That’s why I wanted this song to focus on the hope that lies in the future.”
----Come to think of it… The ‘A’ and ‘E’ in ‘chAngE’ also seem to have some sort of special meaning hidden in them.
“The ‘A’ stands for acoustic guitar and the ‘E’ stands for electric guitar (laughs). When I wrote ‘change’ the normal way I realized, ‘acoustic and electric is included in it!’ Because this connected with the theme of the song and my change from acoustic to electric guitar, I was really happy when I discovered this (laughs).”
----(Laughs) The b-sides are also good. First of all, ‘you can do it!’ has a country, rock sound to it.
“It’s a song I made for my little sister when she was taking exams. I was a senior high school student at that time. I sang about the things I was too embarrassed to say to her. I remember she was moved when she heard it and said ‘I’ll try my hardest!’. I like artists like Sheryl Crow and Taylor Swift so I’m happy I could finally give it the country arrangement that had always wanted to give it. It has a fun chorus that everyone can sing along to when I perform it live.”
----You might have written this song because your little sister was having a hard time even though she was trying her best. You’re a great sister to support her by creating a song like that.
“No, no, now I feel embarrassed (laughs).”
----Has your little sister already listened to this new version?
“She has. It made her happy. She probably never thought it would be featured on a CD (laughs). I hope that this way it can become a song that will encourage everyone.”
---The song ‘amayadori’ has an acoustic tune that pierces the heart.
“I wrote this song when I was in my 3rd year of senior high. Though I’ve only released it now, it still has the vocals of that time. I kept them because they have a nuance in them that I currently can’t put across. That take has a nuance of instability in it. That’s probably because I sang it while feelings the feelings I had at the time I wrote the song. I was distressed at that time. I was doing the same thing every day and I felt I couldn’t move forward. At that time I had exams and I was unable to meet up with my friends. I felt I was the only one suffering like this and felt trapped. When I was taking shelter from the rain, I saw several people walking at an extremely fast pace. I suddenly thought, ‘I wonder if I am also walking too fast in such a way?’ I felt the important of standing still at times. I started to re-examine myself. I’ve included these thoughts in ‘amayadori’.”
----To me, it’s a really good song that vividly shows the process of becoming more positive. You were pretty good for only a 3rd year student.
“I was delicate at that time (laughs).”
---(Laughs) If you could meet the miwa of that time and tell her ‘that take will someday be featured on a CD’, she’d be surprised, right?
“I would think ‘What!?’ (laughs).”
----This single has turned into another excellent work. What kind of things do you want to do in the future?
“I hope I will be able to release all kinds of songs in the future. I want to do all kinds of things, such as a song with a relaxed tempo or a gentle tune. I also want to continue to work hard on my live performances. I’ll be happy if everyone can see me once. I also want everyone to please listen to chAngE live.”
