ayumi hamasaki Exclusive Interview! [English] - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
· Ayu's Official Site · Ayu's twitter · Ayu's YouTube · masa's translations · Misa-chan's translations ·


Go Back   Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai > Ayumi Hamasaki Forums > Ayu Celebrity News

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 20th May 2015, 08:13 AM
Aderianu's Avatar
Aderianu Aderianu is offline
Love song H-Initiate
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: RUSSIA
Posts: 17,843
ayumi hamasaki Exclusive Interview! [English]

2015.05.20

Exclusive Interview! Ayumi Hamasaki speaks from her heart about “running away from the past” and “looking forward to the future.”

April 8th, ayumi hamasaki released her 16th album, “A ONE”.
17 Years since her debut as a songstress, this album is her ‘back to basics’ album!
On April 11th-12th starting at Saitama Super Arena, Ayu embarked on an 11-location, 22-performance, large-scale Japan tour.
Here she shares her recent feelings regarding her gruelling schedule making the new album and preparing for the tour.
Ayu opens up in an unprecedented way!
Only in 109 News!

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Your Countdown Live concert got rave reviews and at last, the Japan tour has begun!

I’ve been looking forward to it!

ayu: This tour, “Midnight Circus” inherits the title of the Countdown Live concert, but its contents are not exactly the same.
The Countdown Live acts as a preliminary announcement and the real tour is where the story actually begins.
In other words, its like a prologue and concluding episode.
There’s a lot to look forward to!




You’ve really taken it to the next level haven`t you?

ayu: Of course! The overall running time is just over 3 hours.

That’s amazing! On April 8th, the new album “ A ONE “was released. Can we expect lots of new songs in the set list?

ayu: Absolutely! Packed full of them.
I invite you to check out the album before going seeing the concert for maximum enjoyment.




Photos from『ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2014-2015 A Cirque de Minuit 〜

Actually, I have already listened to it! It is a very ayumi hamasaki-esque album isn’t it.
Heart-rending rock ballads, lyrics that envelop you with warmth but leave a tinge of wistfulness… Were there any particular experiences you had that inspired these songs?

ayu: While I was living overseas, I guess I realized that I really craved the subtleties and detail of the Japanese language.
That feeling of “I want to express it in Japanese” built up inside me and I started to write lyric after lyric.
Being able to express what I wanted to say by immersing myself in the music-making process was a joy.
There were also songs that were written after the Countdown Live concert.
I feel like the concert was something of a “re-emergence” for me, and naturally the songs that followed reflect upon this feeling.
To be perfectly honest…
It wasn’t that I purposely sought out to make an album that sounded like the old me, it just happened.


When you refer to those songs, do you mean songs like “Out of control” and “Last minute?

ayu: Those two songs are Mr. Yukumi’s songs, and his songs are always easy to sing.
Recording sessions of Mr. Yukumi’s songs are always fast-paced.
However, if you were to talk about a song that illustrates that feeling of rekindling my old self, that would be “ Last minute.”
I realized after writing it that this was the same “me” that wrote “MY STORY”.




At the listening party for the new album and tour there were fans in tears.
It was like this was the Ayu they had missed; that they had been pining for.
What does the album's title, “A ONE”, mean?

ayu: The word “one" implies starting from scratch, uniqueness, a sense of self, and at the moment what I would call my best.
This is what I eventually arrived at. All those aspects are there.
This album is the result of a long process of whittling down from a much wider selection of songs I wrote. The cream of the crop, if you like!


It was there in the trilogy “Zutto…” “Walk” and “Last minute”
you put out at the end of last year, but with this album there really
is a sense that this is the “Ayu” you have decided to be going forward,
with all the difficulties that entails. In that way it has a very similar
air to past albums like “Secret” and “MY STORY."

ayu: That might be the case. I thought that “me” was gone, but actually she’s still here, for better or worse!
I felt like I had outgrown songs like “secret”, that I had moved onwards and upwards… but that isn’t the case at all.
Making this album showed me that I am still the “me” who can sing “secret” – even “A song for xx”.
I thought that perhaps both I – and everyone for whom songs like “A song ~” touched a chord – had changed, but I realized that the fundamental idea that people are born and die alone is still there inside me.
Perhaps other people will realize something similar about themselves when they listen to this album… that they are still the same person they were, and that that’s not a bad thing.
Having accepted that maybe that’s just who we are in this life, perhaps we can all move forward.


I guess that’s another aspect of “ONE”.

ayu: I realized during rehearsals for the Countdown live that I had been running away.
I think I said to you before when I started dividing my time between Japan and overseas how I wanted to keep my private life and work separate?
It makes me laugh to even say it now! Like that was ever going to be an option…
I tried to run away but I couldn’t, not really. And do you know what? Eventually I realized I didn’t even want to.
It’s not about where I am or who I’m with: I am still me, and this is still my life. So I decided to stop running away.
The Countdown Live concert came from having made peace with that.
That was when a lot of things became clear, and I rediscovered a certain intuitiveness and confidence.


I guess one could say that life is a series of such cycles, of confusion and rediscovery,
taking us all forward. Welcome back, ayu!

ayu: Yes! Yes! I thought that myself! “Welcome back, ayu!” Haha.
I think people who are close to me figured out a while ago that I had been running away.
I’m sure my fans could see it too!


[laughs] If that’s so, what would you say to them?

ayu: I would say “I’m back!” as if nothing had happened. Oh, and perhaps “Sorry”. (Smiles)

So, following on from the Countdown Live is this a new “ayu” that we will be seeing on tour?

ayu: Yes! It’s all there in the setlist and on the stage; everything I want to say.
Come on down and enjoy the show!

Interviewer/Takako Tsuriya
http://109news.jp/event/20150520/25872/?detail


Last edited by Aderianu; 20th May 2015 at 08:16 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 20th May 2015, 08:56 AM
ayu_ready?'s Avatar
ayu_ready? ayu_ready? is offline
Replace Initiate
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Russia
Posts: 7,297
she's good this year.

thank you!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 20th May 2015, 09:55 AM
Surreal17's Avatar
Surreal17 Surreal17 is offline
Dolls Initiate
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,544
Isn't this interview very similar to the April one? Or is the same?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 20th May 2015, 09:58 AM
Aderianu's Avatar
Aderianu Aderianu is offline
Love song H-Initiate
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: RUSSIA
Posts: 17,843
Quote:
Originally Posted by Surreal17 View Post
Isn't this interview very similar to the April one? Or is the same?
it's the same, but officially translated
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 20th May 2015, 11:05 AM
Surreal17's Avatar
Surreal17 Surreal17 is offline
Dolls Initiate
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,544
Ohhh, thanks for the clarification
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 20th May 2015, 11:15 AM
Uknow!'s Avatar
Uknow! Uknow! is offline
Far away Initiate
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spain.
Posts: 1,359
Quote:
That’s amazing! On April 8th, the new album “ A ONE “was released. Can we expect lots of new songs in the set list?

ayu: Absolutely! Packed full of them.
__________________



Hey, the reason of this smile and the meaning of this word can't be understood
Because I don't even want to make them understood
— until that Day...

Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 20th May 2015, 11:44 AM
Surreal17's Avatar
Surreal17 Surreal17 is offline
Dolls Initiate
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,544
))))
Maybe in the final
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 20th May 2015, 01:24 PM
Pieces_of_SEVEN's Avatar
Pieces_of_SEVEN Pieces_of_SEVEN is offline
Rock'n'Roll Circus Initiate
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 17,285
Love this, thanks for sharing!
__________________

教えてよねぇあなたならこの時代をどう生きる
Ayu Concerts I've Attended:
Arena Tour 2013: A BEST LIVE
Arena Tour 2015: Cirque de Minuit
Arena Tour 2016: MADE IN JAPAN

You can find me on the gram: https://www.instagram.com/b_utifulfighter/
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 20th May 2015, 01:46 PM
Ryusei's Avatar
Ryusei Ryusei is offline
ayu-mi-x II Initiate
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,200
somehow reading this was inspirational
__________________


tumblr

Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 20th May 2015, 02:16 PM
Delirium-Zer0's Avatar
Delirium-Zer0 Delirium-Zer0 is offline
Replace Initiate
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth
Posts: 7,289
I just wanna give Ayu the biggest hug. hahaha
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 20th May 2015, 03:44 PM
oaristos's Avatar
oaristos oaristos is offline
Daybreak Guardian

 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 2,858
Thank you for sharing! Interesting interview
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
a one, interview

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:57 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.