SCANDAL; 10th ANNIVERSARY BOOK ‘SCANDAL Pia’ - HARUNA Solo Interview
From now till 21st Aug, I’ll be posting SCANDAL’s solo interviews everyday, one member per day! Do look forward to them!
―― Today, it’s a long interview to look back on SCANDAL’s 10 years.
Yes. It’s been long.
―― So 10 years has been long, is it? (laughs)
In terms of bodily sensation, it feels short, but when you look back, it’s been long. We were formed during our emotional teenage period, then going into our 20s, and then the later half of our 20s. First and foremost, to turn this age and still be continuing with the band, it was unimaginable back in those times.
―― When the band was formed and with it moving forward, were you so absorbed that it felt like you were put in a dream-like situation?
That’s right. At the start when I was going to the vocal and dance school, I had zero instrument lessons before, and there weren’t anyone around me that played instruments either. That’s why, when the school teacher told me, 'Try playing a musical instrument’, it didn’t feel like reality. Since I was young, I looked up to the entertainment industry and went to school (for this) too. Just right at that time, I was in the 3rd year of high school, troubled about what I should do afterwards, like should I follow my dreams or further my studies. It wasn’t the singer path that I’d envisioned for myself, but I thought I’d follow my intuition onto this road.
―― During the time when you thought you’ll give instruments and the band a shot, have you already decided upon an instrument as well?
At the start, aside from these 4, I also asked about it with many other people. For me, it was like, 'Won’t you perhaps try the guitar out for a bit?’, so I picked the guitar without hesistation, but there were also others who were on the keyboard too. I firstly went for an instrument that I felt I could play and that I could become good at, was how it then felt.
―― When you started on the guitar, were there any bands that you referred to?
At that time, it was JUDY AND MARY, I suppose. But, when I saw the score, it was really difficult. So afterwards, when the 4 of us were wondering what to try playing, we copied Nakashima Mika’s 'GLAMOROUS SKY’, and Sadistic Mica Band’s 'Time Machine ni Onegai’, as sung by Kimura Kaela.
―― Do you still remember the feeling of when you first entered a studio?
During that time, I didn’t even know the way to use an amp. I would even go, 'Where should this be connected to?!’, in order to have my voice come out from the speakers from the mic. For a 2-hour studio session, we probably spent an hour setting up (laughs). However, it felt like an after-school activity, so it was fun.
―― HARUNA-san is 2 years older than the other 3 (members) right?
MAMI and TOMO are 2 years younger than me, and RINA, 3 years.
―― In your teens, I believe that this age gap would seem huge. Did you feel like you had to pull this along yourself?
I think I felt that I had to get myelf together, since I’m the older sister. But rather than being a self-motivated leader, I probably only know more due to my being older (laughs). There was somewhat such a gap then.
―― There was a moment that lifted the weight off your chest eh (laughs)
RINA was already enrolled in the school, but she only started a little before our formation, on our formation day that is 21st August. The day that we heard, 'A new girl named RINA will be joining in, and you’ll be doing the band together okay’ was the first time we all met in person, and that would be our day of formation.
―― To form a band with members that you’ve just met and whom are touching an instrument for the first time, did you feel uneasy, like how this was all going to turn out?
I knew that we’re all going to be poor, but it wasn’t like I was that unconfident. Surely it’ll be a long way before we get good, but I didn’t either. Since I’ll think, we did it!, so long we could last the way from RINA’s drum counts to the end of a song. Every single day was filled with a sense of fulfillment (laughs). From our formation day on 21st August till our Summer holidays ends, for around 2 weeks, we were constantly undergoing training camps.
―― And then in October 2008, you all debuted with the single release, 'DOLL’. Since your debut, have there been years that you personally felt change, in terms of your mental state?
That’s right…I’ve had quite a period that I was troubled. It was between the 2nd album, 'TEMPTATION BOX’ (2010) and the 3rd album, 'BABY ACTION’ (2011). The things that I weren’t able to grasp in regards to singing have increased. I’ve liked to sing since I was young, and I’ve never had to be troubled over my own singing. Thus, during recording sessions, which I listened in on over and over again, I became even more lost, like, 'How should I sing this even?’ That dragged on for quite a bit.
―― Starting from thinking about “singing”, you pulled ahead with i