Ken:
Maybe some others might think that we are too over/exaggerating, but we
really practice (dancing) more than 6 hours a day
its true! And when we
reach a totally different environment, there's nothing we can do. If we
are going to spend out time just talking about what kind of music or dance
we are going to do, we might as well make use of the time to improve our
skills (in dancing).
Issa:
I was very glad that I can come to Tokyo, but I was only 17 then, in such
an environment whereby I can't even tell where's the north, south, east,
west are, its really tough for me to get used to it. However, I glad I wasn't
alone.
Yukinari: Yah! As long as all
4 of us are together, I'll be happy! And especially when we are able to
ride the train (the Japanese public transport, MRT), which Okinawa doesn't
have, I'm thrilled!
Ken: There
are a lot of shops and fast food joints we can't find in Okinawa. I even
tried different shops and gave comparisons in which are better. *Smile*
Issa: at that time, after 6hours
of dance practice, we even went to the KTV, really got a lotsa energy! *Smile*
1997
On 11th June, they released their 1st single [Feelin] Good -It's PARADISE-],
1st October, they released their 2nd single [Love Is The Final Liberty].
Issa: We started to attend the
'J-POP NIGHT' held in velfarre monthly, and slowly we got to know our way
of performing and our dance styles too.
Shinobu: At that time, we were having
the feelings, thinking that we are only performing for people who attended
this event, but when we attended an event organize by Tower Records, a lot
of fans gathered to see us.
Ken: in
the past, we used to see fans fainting in foreign artists' concert, but
never did we expect the same thing to happen in our concerts. It was only
that time, when I feel that I am a performer.
Yukinari: That was the 1st time
when I feel that I really entered showbiz.
Ken: Hm!
And, that year was the 1st time when we met Mr. Akio Tagashi, what we have
today all begins with that. This is very important. And I think it' all
because of Mr. Akio Tagashi, because we had work with him that keep us going,
maintain our foundation.
Issa: At that time, no matter
whether its [Feelin'~] or [Love is~], we had put in our heart and souls
to sing, we didn't make use of any props or image, we only sing the most
original, true version.
Shinobu: The beginning of the song [Love
is~] was actually drum rolls, but during our concerts, it begins with 'DO
I DO'. When we 1st released this single, we had wanted it to start with
that too. Hence, this song let me realized that with different beats and
style, the feel of a song can actually be so wide.
Ken: I
only feel that the rhythm is so fast that it easily wins our confidence
in our dancing, this can be consider our 1st time when we really hit the
wall. ---(Should be met with some difficulties)
Yukinari: we attended a lot of
big functions/events in summer, and at the same time, we also participated
in TV shows. We even shoot a commercial using [Love is~], can be consider
the most exciting and challenging year for trying out new things.
1998
18th February, [Stay Together] was released/ 22nd April, [Gokigendaze!
~Nothing But Something~] was released/ 24th June [Rhapsody in Blue]/ 23rd
July, they released their 1st album [EXPRESSION]/ 21st October [Around the
World]/ then they held their 1st concert [EXPRESSION], including 12 places
but 13 performances. They were awarded the 31st anniversary of Japan Music
Award (not sure of name), and they were also invited
to perform in NHK Red-White Contest.
Issa: This year, we released
a lot of singles, and at the same time, we let more people know about our
styles. We even held our 1st concert; really feel that we are getting close
to what we wanted to do.
Ken: In
the past, we did ask for BETCHIN' harmony, we did try using our own voices
during concerts, in this period, we rediscover our own voices and this makes
us more confident.
Shinobu: I didn't expect [Stay~] to
be out last song for o\the concert, and never did I expect that we had to
sing without music. Whenever we went for a TV show, we would always practice
before recording, it was really nervous.
Issa: However, we managed to
remix the funky feel for m.c.A.T's [Gokigendaze~]. It not just suits our
ages, but also a good time to let people understand that Da Pump does exist.
Yukinari: [Gokigendaze~] is our
opening song for expression and [Stay~] is our ending song for the concert,
I was really surprise by the arrangement and this left me a very deep impression.
Ken: [Rhapsody~]
is fantastic and is a very (straight-forward) lively song. At 1st, I was
still worried that this song might not suit us, as it was far too straight
and lively, hence, I wasn't having much confident.
Issa: We even keep playing the
song at the beach. And after that, we released a completely different style
of music, [Around~]. From here, the meaning of the lyrics are said to be
manlier. It must be due to our thinking that we are able to express what
we think and wished for, and at the same time, we treasured what we have.
Ken: Along
the year, as we had tried many different styles of music, I came to know
that by composing, the good or bad of a song can be manipulated. This allows
every song to have a good turn.
Shinobu: When we were invited to perform
in the Red-White Contest, it makes me feel that we finally had something
to account to out parents.
Ken: I
feel the same for Okinawa as well. There's this 'From Okinawa! We did it!'
feeling.
Yukinari: Yes, Yes, Yes! That
performance is a good end for that year, it's also a way to say thanks to
all our staff.
1999
10th March, [Joyful] was released/ 9th June [Crazy Beat Goes On!]/ 28th
July, the 2nd album [Higher and Higher!] was released/ 20th October [We
can't stop the music!]
Issa: from the 1st album, the
song [Crazy Rain] is the 1st time we write the lyrics together with m.c.A.T,
but after that the hope of putting my own thinking into every song got stronger.
Hence, every song does have my own style, and also strengthen the thought
of what I'm trying to express.
Ken: For
[Cray Beat~], Mr. Akio Tagashi ask me what do I think of the rhythm, although
I said 'Fantastic', but to me it was actually a piece of music without a
dance rhythm. I was quite bothered by this for quite a long time, can say
that I went through a hard time; hence I really had a deep impression of
this song. *Smile*
Yukinari: From the trial singing
to the improving state now, I was really touched to the extend that it was
something that can't be imagined. This song also makes me feel that composing
is really interesting!
Issa: The shooting of this music
video took place in a futuristic scene; this allows us to challenge a new
world.
Ken: We added in POP ROCK dance steps for [We can't~],
as it is not as fanciful as ROCK DANCE, it was tough throughout, but through
this style of expressing, we created a smooth dance steps in pop music.
Shinobu:
I was glad that everybody felt that raising our hands while singing was
a manly act.
Issa: Taking part in the movie
[DREAMMAKER] makes this whole year very busy. It was really tire when we
1st start acting. While recording, we still have to act, and at the same
time, we have to find time to rehearse out concert, there was 1 time where
we are worried that our health can't take it. But throughout the filming,
we are able to study our role, and experienced what we never had in real
life, we even speak certain lines, which we would never say in real life.
To something similar and different to myself, I feel that this is a brand
new way to observe myself, a very nice experience. Acting may be tough,
but it's a totally different taste, so if I have the chance, I would like
to give it a try again.
Ken: Besides
this, we still have big events like releasing our album and our concert.
And releasing so many singles, this is a very fruitful year. (This line
I'm not very sure)
2000
9th February released [I Wonder
]/ 17th May {Com On! Be My Girl!]/ 19th
July 3rd album [BEAT BALL]/ 27the September [If
]
Issa: Straight away after New
Year, we continued our [Higher and Higher] concert, and also our 1st Okinawa
concert performance, and 2 weeks later, we still had to prepare for [DA
PUMP LIVE 2000]!
Ken: From the beginning of this concept,
all of us participated in it whole-heartedly; it feels as though from the
design of to the arrangement of the songs all came from ourselves.
Issa: Because in [Higher and
Higher] concert, we already felt tired about it halfway through, hence,
even much thinking doesn't help at all.
Yukinari: Because the contents
of the concert will become our habit, that's why in [LIVE 2000], there was
quite a long time I almost made mistakes.
Issa: When the concert ended,
[I Wonder] was released, I felt very relaxed when I sang this song! I had
wanted to express a gentle atmosphere. And because of this song, I had Yukinari
to sing with me; hence I felt I had a totally new move to our music.
Ken: This song had quite a westernized
feel; we felt a bit surprise when we 1st sing it. However, the final product
of this song does come out solid enough. On the other hand, [Com'om~'] feels
lively and active.
Shinobu: The most happy thing about
this song is that, by just listening to the rhythm and beat, you would already
had the energy to sing it.
Ken: Looking
at a different angle, it feels that we are back at the beginning. This is
just like, "I can't forget the feel of the past", and it keeps us dancing
non-stop. *Smile*
Yukinari: Ever since [I Wonder
],
there's a total change of 180-degree turn. We added in the upper feel of
New Jack Swing, which makes me feel very comfortable.
Ken: We
purposely used pure HIP-POP dance steps, which nobody had used before, and
after that, we even released a completely westernized style, [If
], that
was really a very exciting year.
Issa:
Yeah! The success of [BEAT BALL] concert and the hope of our future add
more confidence in us. Really hope that more people get to see that concert,
and also hope that we are able to hold the concert in different places.
Ken: At night, we would go to the club
or live house near our concert performing area to interact and practice
with the dancers and band. As we always wish that we were able to put up
the rehearsing onto stage, hence we came up with and idea and to what we
expected, it was perfect! Really hope to held that concert for a few more
times, because when it ended, we were disappointed.
Issa:
What we meant wasn't just adding more shows but really hoped that more people
are able to see the beat and quality of that concert.
Conclusion of the 5 years
Shinobu: This [Da Best~] album had expressed
our style, allows others to see our growth in music, and also the combination
of our concert and other factors. It feels that after releasing 3 albums,
it's quite a lot, but on the other hand, it feels that it isn't enough.
Coming up, we hope to add in our own music, music that we composed, and
there are still a lot of things we would like to take up and try.
Ken: The happiest things are that as
more and more concerts are coming up, the things that we control and can
be done are expanding. At the same time, we the bond between us and the
band and dancers who had accompany us throughout are getting stronger. Things
are working out between every one of us easily. I hope to bring this bond
up onto the stage. From now on, I hope to bring up the harmony band and
Da Pump's dance steps.
Yukinari: Thinking back, the
most shocking thing to me is Mr. Akio Tagashi imagination. I think its because
he don't wanna lose out to his expectations of us, that's why he kept working
so hard. Now on, we hope to work with our own determination and the support
of our company and working crew.
Issa: this 5 years
frankly speaking,
I was living under. (Don't understand that) Every
time, all I did is something I felt interesting. But looking back, I came
to realize that I really had done quite a lot of new things. At 1st, it
only looks as though we are only 4 friends grouping together, but from working
while dancing to now, 5 years just passed. Hopefully after much hard work,
it'll be 10 years, and we do try more new things, and do what we are satisfied
with. Even when it doesn't look so perfect in other people's eyes, as long
as we find it interesting, we hope to do it forever, creating the world
with our own hands. I think this is what performing is!
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