[English] world's end girlfriend × KASHIWA Daisuke interview dialogue (Part 2) | BLOOM -Blooming hope by music-

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FREEZINE editorial department (hereinafter, FREEZINE): OK, the second part of this piece will be questions from your fans.
The first question, "The music you both make is full of influence to me because there are various genres of music and I think no matter what kind of arrangement, you both always value melodies and harmonies, and work passionately to make emotional expressions. What role do you think melodies and harmonies play in your music?
Especially weg, you said “melodies should be easy for anyone and not easy to be influenced by the times and trends” before in a magazine interview. Is there any change your thoughts and feelings about melody or harmony throughout your career as a musician?”

world's end girlfriend (hereinafter, weg): I think tones and rhythm patterns are easily influenced by the times. I want to keep the melody and harmony simple and straightforward in my music. I think most musicians tend to avoid clich chord progressions and prefer to use complicated harmonies. But I am against such feelings and stick to making melody that music wants to go. Maybe my music sounds complicated with a lot of different sounds, but I think it's basically very simple. When I compose, I don’t think about melody, harmony and bass, etc separately. The boundaries between them are vague. All sounds including drums can be melody, or can be one as the whole. When those are combined, even if the sound deviates from the so-called Western music theory, I chose the sound that each part wants to play.

LAST WALTZ | world's end girlfriend | Virgin Babylon Records

FREEZINE: What is the role of melody in weg's music?

weg: It is also emotional expression and storytelling. I think it is because the balance of information processing performance of the human brain and the amount of information that the melody?are matched. However, the melody does not exist?itself. It?can be possible to express various expressions depending on the sounds, tones, and various elements around it.

FREEZINE: Thank you. Now I would like to ask Mr. KASHIWA the same thing.

Daisuke KASHIWA (hereinafter, KASHIWA) : I don't attach much importance to melody. In pop music and so-called songs, the melody is important because it's easy to hear the voice, but in an instrument, you can make as many passages as you want. Even it’s OK without the main melody. There are noisy parts, beat-lead parts and of course melody-lead parts. I think the melody doesn't have to be at front all the time.

FREEZINE: Thank you. Next one is a philosophical question. "As music is a very time centered medium, do you have any specific insights into the nature of time and what happens moment to moment?"

weg: I think there is a time axis for each individual in each life, music also has a time axis for each song, and when listening to music, the time axis of the human and the time axis of the music influence each other. ?For example, if you throw 100 pebbles on the surface of the water, 100 ripples will spread, and the size of the ripples will differ depending on the size of the stones, and ripples will be affected each other and change. For me, time is not just about going on one line, it’s a thing spreading in a circle, affected and changing.

FREEZINE: How about Mr. KASHIWA about “time”?

KASHIWA: Maybe I'm off the question, but I recently felt something about the word "time." Often I say, this moment is the youngest time in my life, and this moment is right now.

FREEZINE: That's right.

KASHIWA: Also “this moment" is the most experienced time in one’s life. So, thinking positively, "this moment" in the concept of time is the youngest and most experienced in my time. That's why it's not too late, and makes me want to challenge every moment I come up with. When I started DTM, it was relatively slow. But?I took a plunge to start it and paved the way. So, I want to live the moment and keep challenging myself.

FREEZINE: Thank you. I recall a little when I heard that music is time. There are various art works such as music, films, and paintings etc. You can see paintings whenever you want to, but not music and movies. The viewer must face to a screen, for example it runs 20 minutes, and faced to face each other the whole 20 minutes. What do you think about this?

KASHIWA: I heard it’s popular to skip-watch films these days. I also heard, on the music subscription, people tend to skip if there is no hook at the beginning. So, there is an atmosphere that the creators have to match that movement. The reason I wrote a 52-minute song this time is also the resistance to such thought in this era. I got a comment from an overseas listener, "this recalls to me the way how I used to listen to old vinyl." I believe there are experiences that you can get only when you are taking time. Even a novel or movie which has a moving ending, you can’t get moved only watching or reading the ending. All stories, foreshadowing, time flow, and emotional movements are parts of moving people. There are always things that you can’t get without spending time.

weg: It’s understandable. There is so much entertainment these?days. There is a lot to digest and people watch videos at 1.5x speed. I understand those feelings as I do the same when I watch lots of episodic dramas on Netflix. But I think it's stupid to be desperate to consume tons of information. Detours, hassle, and wasted time are important.

KASHIWA: That's right. If you just ask for the result, life is dull. After all, the process and the journey are also part of the story and in all of them will be a deep emotion. I think even if it seems like a waste of time, it's necessary.

weg: Well, I think it's kind of violent to let others experience your expression. It's like taking their time and shaking their emotions and thoughts.

FREEZINE: Next question. "I would like to ask you about the relationship between sound and vision. Do you think that the relationship between sound and movie products has changed because of COVID-19? Since the first time I saw weg gig performance, about 15 years ago, weg values not only sound but?the visual, I think. Your livestream was also very particular about the visual and presentation of bool movie production. On the other hand, Mr. KASHIWA is focusing only on the sound. I would like to ask you both if the relationship between sound and video have changed from before thorough the COVID-19? "

KASHIWA: Originally, I think music doesn't need video. Since vision is the strongest of the five senses, consciousness effects by vision as the presence of image. And I also feel that you cannot enjoy music by itself purely. It is a common theme of my "program music" series, I want every listener who hear my tracks to imagine their own world.?It?would be great that my tracks become the soundtrack of their stories.

program music III | KASHIWA Daisuke | Virgin Babylon Records

weg: Basically, I think audio source (singles and albums), music videos, gigs, and live streaming are completely different expressions and work in different ways. Each expression has its own characteristics and environment, those communicable information are also different and by multiplying it with the imagination of each individual listener.
To go beyond that imagination of the listener, I combine images and performance with my music. Non sound elements helps to lead listeners to the direction of the world that I want to tell, also bring listeners to the extraordinary by increasing sensory stimulation. Did corona change the relationship between sound and movie products? I think the relationship between gig performances and listeners has changed. Gigs and online live streaming are different things. Even if you play a gig in a way that was previously considered great and just put it online streaming, naturally the?communication power and strength are lost as an expression. Not just a sound, movie production, lighting, sound system, everything need to be arranged for online steaming. Also visual information is very important.
I think it's a waste not to do expressions and play with it in a way that we can only do in this current situation and environment. This is a changing era, it’s a very rare moment in human history.

FREEZINE: Thank you. Next, Mr.KASHIWA, could you choose one question?

KASHIWA: The question is “what do you like about "mizuirono_inu".Well, some might think picking up this is like a stealth marketing. But basically I like them and want to support. The first thing I felt was it's a musical. It's more like playing a play on stage than playing instruments. The sound is loser and graceless, but it expresses the moment when it turns into hope. My view of art has the theme of "a ray of light in the darkness," and I really like the expression that makes me feel hope from such despair. I felt the same thing at the root of "mizuirono_inu". It's real and stick in my heart. I ask weg to invite them to the event he organized, so I would like to ask what weg thinks.

weg: How to say, I think people who saw "mizuirono_inu"'s music video "room" can understand, I think there are many more people who can understand that feeling than expected. There are many people who are doing that type of expression, but there a much fewer bands that can do it as a great musical work. Normally most people try to express that area, it comes out too fuzzy or too radical, and the important deep-seated sadness has disappeared. But "mizuirono_inu" expresses the deep-seated sadness and passion whilst doing light hearted things. One of their weaknesses is that the band hasn’t completed yet by just themselves. But combine with Mr,KASHIWA’s mix support, their strength of the expression is increased. Well, even so, it's great that they can take shape that level.

KASHIWA: That's why they’re fun like watching manga more than music itself, and their lyrics is venomous but it doesn’t make listeners uncomfortable. It because of their good taste of choice of words and that’s the point that they’re very good at. But last part is serious. Very rare expression I think.

weg: hmmm… very rare? I don't think it's rare. There are a lot of people who try to express that kind of feeling, but can't do it very well. Because they’re surrounded by too many genres and styles, and become too comical. What I find interesting about "mizuirono_inu" is that they can make that feeling in an emotional way, dirty, beautiful, and grace-less. I think there are many people who will understand that kind of feeling, so I think "mizuirono_inu" should pursue their way for those people so that they can reach them.

KASHIWA: I think it's the lyrics. There is a unique charm in choosing words, and that is the point that caught me the most, personally.

FREEZINE: Thank you. Finally, what is the theme of your next album?

weg: *********** and *************. For the first time properly face to ***************** .

KASHIWA: I have decided theme or should say concept, but it's still a secret. I think It will probably still be a while before… What about your plan,weg?

weg: Scheduled for the end of the year.

KASHIWA: Really? Maybe I shall schedule the same time.

FREEZINE: I would like to ask you more and more, but due to time, this is the end. Thank you very much.

weg: It was great. Thank you.

KASHIWA: Thank you.