Max Matsuura's blog entry about Ayu - "Meeting ayu"

[Kazeyomi]

Thanks Max. You let us discover a great artist as Ayu
What a nice message ^^

thanks for sharing & translation guys

[taskinillusion]

How very interesting! I always feel like there's so much more to their relationship than they'll ever let on about... like we'll never actually know exactly what kind of relationship they have or how extensive it is... like they're purposely leaving a lot out and it makes it all the more mysterious.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

Max has a Facebook!? Anyone have the link?

A 16 year old girl and a 31 year old man hanging out as friends for no reason in particular and in no relation to the entertainment business, sounds kinda sketchy, you have to admit that TH. I'm not saying they were in that sort of relationship, or that Ayu was doing enjo kousai or anything, but it sounds weird.

Hello Project girls being with staff members who are of course adults is one thing, and spending your free time with girls half your age and who are minors is another.

Regardless, it's how we got Ayu.

[truehappiness]

A 16 year old girl and a 31 year old man hanging out as friends for no reason in particular and in no relation to the entertainment business, sounds kinda sketchy, you have to admit that TH.

I'm curious about the friend who worked at velfarre that introduced them to each other or whatever. How old were they? Were they introduced to Ayu from a friend or via her idol stuff? Who knows, haha.

I just don't think it's all that strange considering she was at velfarre at the time. It's not like only teens go there.

[Misa-chan]

It's amazing how he went from feeling so superior "Even though I was still a nobody, I felt like I was in a position to judge (her singing)" to totally supportive....

[Spartayu]

We hereby, as an official fan of Ms Hamasaki Ayumi, must sincerely thanks Mr Max Matsuura for not giving up as well as making efforts for her fame. Without him, there will never be a successful and well respected Ms Hamasaki.

Those information can be read from wikipedia as well.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Misa-chan

It's amazing how he went from feeling so superior "Even though I was still a nobody, I felt like I was in a position to judge (her singing)" to totally supportive....

Well, when you first meet someone, you sort of determine if they're superior or inferior? In time though, that changes as you work with/get to know that person, I think.

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by taskinillusion

How very interesting! I always feel like there's so much more to their relationship than they'll ever let on about... like we'll never actually know exactly what kind of relationship they have or how extensive it is... like they're purposely leaving a lot out and it makes it all the more mysterious.

^ Agreed.

Their relationship to me, has always seemed more than just business. I mean, why did they keep in contact over all that time between Max meeting Ayu and her recording her debut single? Why would a middle aged business man and school aged girl just... "hang out" at kareoke clubs? They are definitely hiding something, and we'll never know what it might be! It doesn't have to be what some of us are thinking it was.. but they have some sort of special connection. And its probably why Ayu is where she is today.

Maybe Max was the father-figure Ayu never had?

[k21sh3n]

I'm a bit confused about the timeline.. so when was Ayu released the Nothing from Nothing single?? when she's still a model? or did she join avex right after Nothing from Nothing.. it seems that they (avex) never mentioned that part of Ayu's life

[alternarist]

why is he telling us all these suddenly? haha =x

[Kazeyomi]

Originally Posted by k21sh3n

I'm a bit confused about the timeline.. so when was Ayu released the Nothing from Nothing single?? when she's still a model? or did she join avex right after Nothing from Nothing.. it seems that they (avex) never mentioned that part of Ayu's life

Ayu released Nothing from Nothing during 1995 but with Columbia Records Japan, a different record label.
Was her first attempt to be a singer, I guess.

[crea_spain]

Originally Posted by alternarist

why is he telling us all these suddenly? haha =x

Haha thats a good point!

[truehappiness]

He's telling us because people have been asking him on ameblo and Twitter.

[erika_ayu]

haha i think he is talking about this because Ayu has been so busy so this is like a filler?? XP

[millie47]

sniff sniff... that was a cool story telling from max... i really felt it.. it's different from just the often told "max just heard ayu singing in a karaoke blah blah blah"...
and boo at the people who told max that ayu's not gonna succeed..bet they wanna take back what they said now...hmph

[truehappiness]

It's sort of weird looking back at this 10 years later with the knowledge of their relationship now. But at least it's straight from max in this case and we can kind of fill in blanks.

[Aderianu]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

“poker face” was decided as the debut song. At the time of her debut, over 10 demo songs and up to her 4th single were already decided.

So it's possible that A Song for was really ayu's first song

[Katsuyuki012]

Wasn't FRIEND the first song Ayu wrote (if we exclude LIMIT)? It definitely was the first one she recorded but I'm not 100% sure if it's the first one she wrote.

Originally Posted by ayu

This is the coupling song for my debut song, “poker face”. Oh, my god, it’s so embarrassing I can’t (Laugh) contain myself (Laugh). When you listen to the album from the beginning, you can tell how different my voice is on this track. But I didn’t want to re-sing it for the album. I mean, we recorded this song even before “poker face”, so it literally was my first time doing any of this, and I really tried so hard to sing that I was nearly bursting the blood vessels in my throat. So every time I listen to this track, I remember myself back then and get all choked up and nostalgic and go “Ohh, so cute!”

But according to ASFXX's liner notes, ASFXX was the first song she did when they started working on the album itself. They started working on the album in September, so I guess it wasn't her first song, especially since she struggled with its lyrics.

Originally Posted by ayu

When we were making the album, this was the first track we produced. I always start off with lyrics by coming up with them in my head, and then writing them down after they’re perfectly ready. But with this song, even though I had the lyrics in my head, I couldn’t write. When I put them into words, it just became too real, and it took a long time for me to finally make that step.

Spoiler:

"Translated by the amazing evolusean, with the original provided by nmskalmn", posted on AHS by truehappiness

[MKAyu]

The way Max wrote her here makes their portrayal in the M drama even more clearly fake. Ayu is so full of confidence and knows what she wants (it actually reminds me of her awful aidoru video when she was 15 or so. At the end, the director asks her what actress she wants to be like. She replies there isn't one--instead, she wants to be someone that others aim to be like).

And while Max believes in her and promotes her, he doesn't pretend he knew she was going to succeed. I like this. It feels more real and I can feel the work and anxiety.

[vayarose]

Thank you for translating and sharing this