[trans] Nell: 20081230 Elle Trend Explorer
We do sometimes wonder what would have become of us if we didn't have music. There were hard times and very difficult [tasks]. At those times, if we didn't make music, we could have wandered without end. In that moment, we could rise up again while doing music. Our attitudes toward music changed a lot then. Music keeps me from breaking, so that I won't be damaged as a human being, I think it helps me find meaning in life.
(This quote alone encompasses why I love Nell as much as I do.)
Please DO NOT repost this anywhere.
Link back to this page instead. (:
Thank you!
Comments are very appreciated.
Enjoy!
Nell are walking through life's memories. They're seeking their heart in the images of their past. By capturing that heart, they create their music. Nell's music is a black and white film you see through sound.
Nell, Walking Through Life's Memories
Shin Kiju: I heard you're different from your music. That you're cheerful people.
Nell: Not to the point of being cheerful. We're not depressed people.
Shin: The emotion Nell's music presents is a grey colour. That hue doesn't fade but has a strong toxic quality.
Nell: We think our music calms the heart. There's music that shuts the ears at first listen. Nell's music, the more you listen to it, the more you know it and the newer it becomes.
Shin: Nell remarkably have many mania fans. And the members each have many fans. There's music you listen to only in fleeting moments. Nell's music is sensitive and repetitive and toxic. Once you fall in, you just endlessly repeat.
Nell: The impressive thing is, some fans say that, while listening to an album from three years ago, they feel a newness. We don't think there can only be one feeling to music. However, there's a lot of music that draws out only one emotion. We want to create music that makes people feel as though they're becoming closer to their emotions. That's why we intentionally try never to make tangible references to our lyrics during interviews. We want the listener to interpret and feel our music subjectively.
Park Eunseong: Really?
Nell: A band's music has to be like that. There can be many key elements hidden in music. That sound, one day, suddenly reaches you.
Shin: Then, listeners have to be active. Nell's music creates core fans [fans to the core], but it can be difficult music for listeners who are used to being given the basics or who are used to being spoon-fed.
Nell: That could be Nell's music's strength and weakness. Instead of making music you can easily listen to, we have a style that makes listening to music more active. That's a weakness because, these days, people don't sit and listen to music. People need music they can play while driving or shopping at the department store or having a conversation at a coffee shop. It becomes used as background music for Cyworld and cell phones. It's used as a means of accompaniment to other tasks. In that aspect, Nell's music isn't of much use. It can be almost too much just to turn on.
Shin: To compete in an era that consumes background music as music, and, also, to make an album with a defined shape -- could there be any meaning in that?
Nell: We think there is nothing that's [extra] about a world that can only consume music for an hour or two. Then, we'd have to have to make music like a book that makes you want to read it after reading only one or two pages.
Park: You said that Nell's music can't be background music. But, I think that Nell's music, more than others, is very [evocative]. You could say it makes you imagine certain scenery.
Nell: When we're recording, we consider what we call "visualization" very important. When we're recording or in the latter parts of production, there are images that come to mind. There are many poetic things. We fix the sound to be able to express those thoughts. So we think that ... There are many intentional parts, too.
Shin: What image do you think of first and start composing?
Nell: There's a vague feeling that comes to mind when first composing a song. [Directors] can release that in an image. We think that musicians release what they feel about the image in their head through music. Basically, we're hoping that the people listening will be able to feel our image through music. Whether in the process of creating a sound, even while mixing, we pay careful attention to that.
Shin: What about lyrics? Through lyrics, you can expand on the image more tangibly. But Nell's music isn't very explanatory.
Nell: We don't think music is a medium to deliver the truth objectively like the news, and neither is it a medium to tell a story. Music has its own ability to deliver. In Nell's case, we deliver emotions we draw out. It's an incredible feeling to think that listeners are seeing the same image. That's truly a pleasure.
Shin: Mutual understanding is a pleasure to any artist who faces the public. How is it? In Japan, healing music was popular. When people listen to Nell's music, they receive consolation or their soul gains rest -- do you care about such things?
Nell: It's not exclusively healing music, but we think each member has a [standard]. However, we wonder if it isn't that Nell's music is fundamentally meant to comfort ourselves. It might seem selfish, but I make music to make myself happy. However, it would also be nice if those who listen to Nell's music could also be comforted. If we can be a friend when they're lonely. However, the very first to be comforted are ourselves.
Shin: Do musicians have to be selfish?
Nell: We do sometimes wonder what would have become of us if we didn't have music. There were hard times and very difficult [tasks]. At those times, if we didn't make music, we could have wandered without end. In that moment, we could rise up again while doing music. Our attitudes toward music changed a lot then. Music keeps me from breaking, so that I won't be damaged as a human being, I think it helps me find meaning in life.
Shin: Because there are many people who live without finding that meaning.
Nell: Making music is like a blessing.
Shin: How much of Nell is in Nell's music? Whether it's love or hurt or personal experiences, are you the type to bring in lots of emotion? Some abandon themselves constantly to the very bottom for creativity.
Nell: I think it's like always finding something in oneself. I think it's definitely easier to do music during hard or unpleasant times instead of during periods of comfort and stability. It's not like that for all projects, but, whether it's office people or family or friends, when I'm occupied with them, I lose concentration. I need something that lets me focus on my emotions. I think that helps at the song-writing stage. During the latter half of production, emotional stability is better. I can sympathize with the saying to drive yourself to the very end for creativity.
Shin: Isn't music a blessing and a burden?
Nell: I think a slump finds me every so often. A slump comes about every four to five months. This could be a personality problem. I'm the type to push myself, you see. Because I'm not a genius. I'm the type to throw everything I have into a musical environment and remove small parts. And I work everyday. And, so, a slump finds me periodically.
Park: Periodically?
Nell: Not only when we release an album but also before we release an album or after, because we're always making music, these things can come upon us more often than on other people.
Shin: Are you anxious about anything right now?
Nell: We're anxious we won't be able to eat dinner. We're anxious about the economy. If the economy's bad, culture dies, too.
Shin: As captured in Nell's music, is there anyone who's anxious about love?
Nell: If we're anxious, then we think it'll be really hard. Love is something you have then don't have or don't have then have. We're all twenty-nine now. We know it'll repeat itself. We don't think we have significant worries.
Shin: You're so optimistic about love, yet how do you write your lyrics or make your music?!
Nell: We think that's different. Breaking up is always hard. However, struggling and being anxious seem like two different things. It's sad when things that were there are no longer there. We're not anxious, though.
Park: I think this new album's title, "THE TRACE," is the word that suits Nell the best. Would it be safe to say that Nell always seems to be leaning not on the future but on the past?
Nell: Instead of leaning ... it's more like we're always living in the past. Even as we're talking now, if one second passes, it becomes the past. We're here because there is that kind of past. This album came out with a DVD that captures our moments then. We're now at the end of our twenties at twenty-nine. We've never directly watched any of our performing selves from our twenties. We've recorded for a long time as the band Nell. We made it so we could remember ourselves.
Shin: Remembering the past seems to be the emotion that penetrates Nell's music.
Nell: Because life is the past.
Shin: I can see why Nell are Nell. But did Jodie Foster ever call?
Nell: Ah, right, we never gave her our number.
source: Elle Korea
translation: jjoongie @ lj.
(This quote alone encompasses why I love Nell as much as I do.)
Please DO NOT repost this anywhere.
Link back to this page instead. (:
Thank you!
Comments are very appreciated.
Enjoy!
Nell are walking through life's memories. They're seeking their heart in the images of their past. By capturing that heart, they create their music. Nell's music is a black and white film you see through sound.
Nell, Walking Through Life's Memories
Shin Kiju: I heard you're different from your music. That you're cheerful people.
Nell: Not to the point of being cheerful. We're not depressed people.
Shin: The emotion Nell's music presents is a grey colour. That hue doesn't fade but has a strong toxic quality.
Nell: We think our music calms the heart. There's music that shuts the ears at first listen. Nell's music, the more you listen to it, the more you know it and the newer it becomes.
Shin: Nell remarkably have many mania fans. And the members each have many fans. There's music you listen to only in fleeting moments. Nell's music is sensitive and repetitive and toxic. Once you fall in, you just endlessly repeat.
Nell: The impressive thing is, some fans say that, while listening to an album from three years ago, they feel a newness. We don't think there can only be one feeling to music. However, there's a lot of music that draws out only one emotion. We want to create music that makes people feel as though they're becoming closer to their emotions. That's why we intentionally try never to make tangible references to our lyrics during interviews. We want the listener to interpret and feel our music subjectively.
Park Eunseong: Really?
Nell: A band's music has to be like that. There can be many key elements hidden in music. That sound, one day, suddenly reaches you.
Shin: Then, listeners have to be active. Nell's music creates core fans [fans to the core], but it can be difficult music for listeners who are used to being given the basics or who are used to being spoon-fed.
Nell: That could be Nell's music's strength and weakness. Instead of making music you can easily listen to, we have a style that makes listening to music more active. That's a weakness because, these days, people don't sit and listen to music. People need music they can play while driving or shopping at the department store or having a conversation at a coffee shop. It becomes used as background music for Cyworld and cell phones. It's used as a means of accompaniment to other tasks. In that aspect, Nell's music isn't of much use. It can be almost too much just to turn on.
Shin: To compete in an era that consumes background music as music, and, also, to make an album with a defined shape -- could there be any meaning in that?
Nell: We think there is nothing that's [extra] about a world that can only consume music for an hour or two. Then, we'd have to have to make music like a book that makes you want to read it after reading only one or two pages.
Park: You said that Nell's music can't be background music. But, I think that Nell's music, more than others, is very [evocative]. You could say it makes you imagine certain scenery.
Nell: When we're recording, we consider what we call "visualization" very important. When we're recording or in the latter parts of production, there are images that come to mind. There are many poetic things. We fix the sound to be able to express those thoughts. So we think that ... There are many intentional parts, too.
Shin: What image do you think of first and start composing?
Nell: There's a vague feeling that comes to mind when first composing a song. [Directors] can release that in an image. We think that musicians release what they feel about the image in their head through music. Basically, we're hoping that the people listening will be able to feel our image through music. Whether in the process of creating a sound, even while mixing, we pay careful attention to that.
Shin: What about lyrics? Through lyrics, you can expand on the image more tangibly. But Nell's music isn't very explanatory.
Nell: We don't think music is a medium to deliver the truth objectively like the news, and neither is it a medium to tell a story. Music has its own ability to deliver. In Nell's case, we deliver emotions we draw out. It's an incredible feeling to think that listeners are seeing the same image. That's truly a pleasure.
Shin: Mutual understanding is a pleasure to any artist who faces the public. How is it? In Japan, healing music was popular. When people listen to Nell's music, they receive consolation or their soul gains rest -- do you care about such things?
Nell: It's not exclusively healing music, but we think each member has a [standard]. However, we wonder if it isn't that Nell's music is fundamentally meant to comfort ourselves. It might seem selfish, but I make music to make myself happy. However, it would also be nice if those who listen to Nell's music could also be comforted. If we can be a friend when they're lonely. However, the very first to be comforted are ourselves.
Shin: Do musicians have to be selfish?
Nell: We do sometimes wonder what would have become of us if we didn't have music. There were hard times and very difficult [tasks]. At those times, if we didn't make music, we could have wandered without end. In that moment, we could rise up again while doing music. Our attitudes toward music changed a lot then. Music keeps me from breaking, so that I won't be damaged as a human being, I think it helps me find meaning in life.
Shin: Because there are many people who live without finding that meaning.
Nell: Making music is like a blessing.
Shin: How much of Nell is in Nell's music? Whether it's love or hurt or personal experiences, are you the type to bring in lots of emotion? Some abandon themselves constantly to the very bottom for creativity.
Nell: I think it's like always finding something in oneself. I think it's definitely easier to do music during hard or unpleasant times instead of during periods of comfort and stability. It's not like that for all projects, but, whether it's office people or family or friends, when I'm occupied with them, I lose concentration. I need something that lets me focus on my emotions. I think that helps at the song-writing stage. During the latter half of production, emotional stability is better. I can sympathize with the saying to drive yourself to the very end for creativity.
Shin: Isn't music a blessing and a burden?
Nell: I think a slump finds me every so often. A slump comes about every four to five months. This could be a personality problem. I'm the type to push myself, you see. Because I'm not a genius. I'm the type to throw everything I have into a musical environment and remove small parts. And I work everyday. And, so, a slump finds me periodically.
Park: Periodically?
Nell: Not only when we release an album but also before we release an album or after, because we're always making music, these things can come upon us more often than on other people.
Shin: Are you anxious about anything right now?
Nell: We're anxious we won't be able to eat dinner. We're anxious about the economy. If the economy's bad, culture dies, too.
Shin: As captured in Nell's music, is there anyone who's anxious about love?
Nell: If we're anxious, then we think it'll be really hard. Love is something you have then don't have or don't have then have. We're all twenty-nine now. We know it'll repeat itself. We don't think we have significant worries.
Shin: You're so optimistic about love, yet how do you write your lyrics or make your music?!
Nell: We think that's different. Breaking up is always hard. However, struggling and being anxious seem like two different things. It's sad when things that were there are no longer there. We're not anxious, though.
Park: I think this new album's title, "THE TRACE," is the word that suits Nell the best. Would it be safe to say that Nell always seems to be leaning not on the future but on the past?
Nell: Instead of leaning ... it's more like we're always living in the past. Even as we're talking now, if one second passes, it becomes the past. We're here because there is that kind of past. This album came out with a DVD that captures our moments then. We're now at the end of our twenties at twenty-nine. We've never directly watched any of our performing selves from our twenties. We've recorded for a long time as the band Nell. We made it so we could remember ourselves.
Shin: Remembering the past seems to be the emotion that penetrates Nell's music.
Nell: Because life is the past.
Shin: I can see why Nell are Nell. But did Jodie Foster ever call?
Nell: Ah, right, we never gave her our number.
source: Elle Korea
translation: jjoongie @ lj.