[Translation] NEWS Live Tour 2013 - Pamphlet (Part 2)
Koyama Keiichiro
This year will be our 10th anniversary, we who inherited NEWS after all this time want to add a lot of new ways to give a good show of ourselves, that's why I'm really glad that we chose the title "NEWS" for this album. We knew about the tour alongside with the album, we produced it keeping this in mind, I think that fans will enjoy the concerts more if they listen carefully to the whole album. The main theme this time is "NEWS from now on". There are many songs that sound very fresh because they're different from what we've done in the past, like for example "Dance in the dark". It's very danceable from the intro. We had a lot of dance songs before but I think this is an upgrade, it's an enjoyable cool song to dance. When I heard the demo the first time I was immediately so excited (laughs). It's a powerful song. After the recording I listened to it with our voices and I fell in love with it once again. It's a song that shows the new adult face of NEWS. How we'll dance and perform it on stage will be a real highlight of the concerts. In the album we also inserted "Full Swing". As you know, it was a coupling song of the single "Chankapaana" but we performed it in the previous tour and fan event so the song grew up a lot and turned to be a very important piece for all of us. That's why we absolutely wanted it in the album, we put it in the end because it's a perfect closure that wraps it all together. I'm sure that many people still feel like crying listening to it but now that it's at the end of the album I think its impression will change a little. It will make fans smile and send a positive message. It's like it is a new song now. I'd be happy if fans will understand this change. Another song that will become a support for fans in a different way is "CRY". It's a song we can sing because of who we are, it's a kind encouragement song. I hope everybody will like it, that's why we inserted it in the regular edition, please listen to it! About my solo song, this time I wrote the lyrics! It's another broken-heart love song, but it's got rhythm and I will dancing it a little during the lives. The lyrics link the image of a "beautiful rain" to "tears", it took me long time to write it properly. I did it seriously because I wanted it to be a little more adult. I'm still not too good at singing but I wanted to challenge myself the most I can, I hope I will be able to convey all my efforts to everybody. I always think that I want to give to fans what will make them happy, that's why during all the recording I always work with all my heart, no matter how much time it takes. This time I studied a lot the "expression of the voice". I want to be expressive and match my voice with the melody, so I sang carefully in a very detailed way. At the same time we thought a lot about which members' voice matched best each part, we discussed between us and with the staff a lot. We always work cherishing the fans more than anything else, we never feel lost about this. When we're uncertain we think about what will make the fans happier and this makes the decisions easier to take. I think this shows the strength of our love for fans.
Tegoshi Yuuya
This time we titled the new album "NEWS" first of all because we never did it before, then we didn't do it with a negative purpose to deny the past, but somehow the previous NEWS didn't feel like the official NEWS. We experience many things and we finally reached the ultimate shape. Our determination says that from now on we'll always be there in four, no matter what happens, we won't look back at the past anymore, we won't stand still. I want everybody to understand the title in this way. I think that fans don't feel the shadow of old NEWS anymore as well as us. Moreover this will be our 10th anniversary so I'm very glad we called the album like that to make it a memorial and new starting point. This album contains many different songs, its variety is very rich, at the same time it's completely summery because of the tour that will follow it. An impactful song is "Koi Matsuri". It was produced by my request for a song to have a lot of fun all together during the lives. I wanted something very exciting that we could sing with fans and the result song matched my fantasy well. No, it was better than what I imagined, I was so happy! Who listened to it will understand, this one song contains a lot of different characters. It's a little ballad, there's a rap part, it gets higher then slow again...it's amazing. I already feel excited imagining to perform it live! I'm sure it will be an important song inside the concerts so let's have fun all together with it! Then "CRY" is a very meaningful song. The lyrics match a lot my way of thinking. People are allowed to cry when they feel like it. And when they're angry they can be angry and complain, when they're happy everybody should laugh with all their hearts! If you don't express your feelings properly you only get stressed, right? This will affect your work and it will be bad for yourself and who's around you. I want stressed people to listen to that song to let out all the negative feelings. I think they'll feel better and they'll be able to start walking forward again. About my solo song, the previous time I produced it completely by myself, this time I didn't feel like it so I decided a theme and a mood and asked to other pro musicians. This time I'm only a vocalist. I personally think that my voice suits love songs, it matches more the sad, heartbroken ones over the happy ones though (laughs). I wanted to talk about love from a point of view I never used before, it turned out to be a good song. Of course each one of our solo songs expresses the members' personality, I hope everybody will listen and enjoy those songs. The song of this album are more adult and fashionable...I think it's a big power up from what we produced in the past. If we analyze the album for its maturity and passion I think it satisfied at the maximum both this aspects, it's a great, beautiful work. It shows how much NEWS has grown up. I also hope everybody will enjoy the special DVD. NEWS now really spend a lot of time together, we're all very free and we do what we want (laughs). Our hobbies are very different so we taught a lot to each other and we had a great and fresh time, it gave us new inputs too. The only thing in which I want to take my revenge is futsal though...! (laughs) I'm sure you will enjoy seeing the real ourselves!
Masuda Takahisa
We were pretty lost deciding the title of this album but when the idea of calling it "NEWS" came out we all agreed to it instantly (laughs). The word NEWS has four letters so it suits the number of the members, it has the meaning of NORTH, EAST, WEST, SOUTH, it's perfect because right now we're trying to go in all the possible directions. Moreover I also wanted to highlight NEWS more than before, it was the right moment to do it. The contents of the album are very NEWS-like, they express what kind of group we are, the title is perfect also because of this. The recording started along with the rehearsals of my theater show, the production took long time. We got properly ready for it, I think we created something really good. The first piece "Compass" is an overture, I asked the staff to create something that could introduce and link with the second song "WORLD QUEST" and talking together they agreed with my idea, they asked me to create the title and the image for this piece. The compass symbol express the four directions, I wish we will be able to follow all the possible routes, from Tokyo to the whole Japan, including also the whole world. I wanted to express this will to everybody and I wanted to say that NEWS from now on will go on like this. This is what the title and the symbol mean to me, it also suits the album's title. I made a wish that this album will be a guide and a support for all our fans. The people who always support us are a guide for us, I'll be happy if we'll be able to keep this mutual relationship. The songs are all amazing, one very impactful may be "Dance in the dark". We had many cool dance songs before but maybe this one is the coolest one. It was created by our request for a danceable song for the concerts, I was so happy to hear the result. I'm already very excited to find out how its performance will look like during the tour. I'm sure it'll be a great piece. This time we also included a bonus track called "CRY", that's a wonderful song. The lyrics talk about tears of frustration, I'm sure people who will listen to it will understand that feeling and we will be there not to tell them "do your best!" but that "it's all alright", it's a gentle encouragement song. I like that the song is titled "CRY" but it says "you will surely smile". The choice of the words and expressions is amazing, I love it. Regarding my solo song, this time I expressly wanted dance music. My solo songs have always been danceable, I wanted to go on like that. Many people think I should sing a ballad and tried to suggest me other genres, of course one day I would like to do it too, but for now I cannot think to a change of direction (laughs). I love dance music, I always feel like dancing with all my heart during lives. I still don't know how I will perform this one so look forward to it. Of course I look forward myself to this tour and the reactions it'll get, we're getting ready for it so have fun!
Kato Shigeaki
Usually it should be the first album to be titled with the group's name, but since somehow we didn't do it yet and this is our first album as a 4-members group, we thought that this was the right time and we decided to call the album "NEWS". With it we wanted to express our strong will to go on this way, I think it's a good title. Honestly I don't think the contents of the album are consistent, there are a lot of songs of different genre, it cannot be explained with a simple phrase or labeled. I think this makes the album interesting, it's meaningful to sing so many different songs. I hope it'll be enjoyable to hear how we challenged different genres and it will surprise you. We moved in many directions, from the cute to the cool, it's really exciting, I'm sure people will enjoy all our charm! Anyway it'll be released on summer and followed by a tour, it's natural that those are the main themes of the album. There are many straight songs that will be big fun to perform live, many lyrics talk about summer, love and encounters. Moreover there are more adult songs that NEWS can sing thanks to what we are now, it's life-sized, I think it can be very different in taste from our previous works, it's an album that expresses our growth. I wish the fans who will come to the lives will listen to it a lot. During the recording some unexpected mechanic trouble happened, it was hard but honestly it was also funny (laughs). We discussed a lot all together trying to fix things, I don't think it was all bad. This time I was very fastidious and detailed, probably more than ever, about my solo song. The recording went pretty smoothly but the arrangement was very complicated, I went to the house of the artist to settle the balance with the chorus parts, we discussed a lot about tiny details, it was a maniacal, otaku-like work (laughs). Well, I don't mind if people who listen to it will think "Kato always plays around with his solo songs" (laughs). Even though this song can be called as "bedtime music", it doesn't really talk about sleeping, it symbolizes that feeling when you go to bed but cannot sleep and you feel like floating, I think I've been able to create an unique world. I love to write lyrics, I wish I will be able to do it again in this way. I still don't know how to perform it live, I think I will be quite picky and detailed about it again so please look forward to it. Besides our solo songs, many pieces of this album were produced by pro musicians, there are sides based on NEWS, others were we try to hide ourselves, it was very interesting for us, I think we were able to properly express what we wanted to do. I'll be also happy if you'll enjoy the special DVD. I brought everybody out to fish, it seems they liked it and I hope I made them understand what's fun in it. I hope everybody will enjoy watching our good atmosphere and relationship when we're together playing around.
What’s new?
Keiichiro Koyama
Right now NEWS are working self-producing almost everything. We're not a group that simply follows the staff's orders. We suggest and express all our opinions and we directly make decisions, every day we introduce to the staff what kind of group we want to be. Because of this of course, we need to have exact opinions and we must find an agreement between us. That's why now meeting all together to discuss about work became obvious, it's not something that is proposed by somebody, it just happens naturally. It was the same for the shooting of this pamphlet. The album is almost ready and we're planning all the details of the tour, when we have some free time we all meet casually, after the shooting we keep being together talking all the time (laughs). Our relationship is really ordinary.
Somehow all of this became obvious for us, but I think no other group is determinate like us. Maybe it's simply because of the age, but now we're all real adults. The group is still young but we shared a lot of hard time, our minds matured and we completely trust and support each other. This reflects on our work.
When we produce something there's always an answer we see since the beginning: "We want to make our fans happy". Sometimes our opinions are very different, but our goal is the same so we never feel lost, it's in our nature. We never decide following our egos. If the things we do can make everybody happy that is NEWS' happiness too. This will never change.
Tegoshi Yuuya
I feel that the lives of last year decided the direction that new NEWS should follow. I'm sure that the fans understood that too, our path towards the future is perfectly aligned. This is a change in a good meaning.
Something that will never change is our personal pace. NEWS never try to do something desperately, everything must be done naturally. We don't try our best to look excited, when we're together it's just so much fun, our smiles are real, we play prank to each other by nature (laughs). We spend a lot of time all together, we don't really feel the need to pay much attention, even if sometimes maybe we should.
The MCs are the same, it's boring if we restraint ourselves trying to be considerate. We don't care if we don't look cool, we think it's always better to show our real selves. The lives last year were exactly like that.
Lately I'm thinking that maybe it was destiny to make us be in four. In our 10 years of history many things happened, in the end the fate decided that we should go as with a 4-members group. Right now I can't see anything else but this NEWS. We won't drag the past with us anymore. For me NEWS, my solo activities and Tegomass are all my home. Independent buildings all painted in different colors, there's no other way. For example, when I work in variety shows as Tegoshi Yuuya I cannot depend upon NEWS. Anyway those three buildings are somehow connected to each other, inside of them live people who are important as my own family, NEWS are the place where I can always come back home.
Masuda Takahisa
When we had the lives last year we still didn't think to NEWS as a 4-members group as something completely sure. We were also still a little lost on what and how we should be. Right now it's all natural and sure. Besides this I don't think there's anything else that particularly changed, right? Well, now we have many new ways to express ourselves when doing concerts or producing releases, we also grew up of course, but I think that basically we didn't change much. There's no need to be desperate to change. Our biggest weapon is our wonderful relationship with all our fans. Last year we've been left in four, we were so happy to see that there were still fans supporting us. Fans experienced a lot of suffering with us, many people felt hurt too, but still they're supporting us, I'm so thankful for their strength and kindness. I want to cherish this relationship forever.
My work in NEWS and my solo activities have always been parted inside my head. This time I had to pass from a theatre show to the preparations for NEWS tour so I had to consciously divide my mood. Usually though I don't have to think so much, because they are completely different activities that require a different way of work. When I improve thanks to my solo work I can use it working with the group, I'd be glad if people around me notice this. I don't know how much I can improve but I try my best to grow up every day and to work hard on each thing I have to do in my career.
Kato Shigeaki
If I had to say what changed in NEWS in the last year I'd say that it's the bond between members, now it's stronger like that between real friends. We still don't express it by words but after what happened last year and that famous dramatic live we worked a lot together, we all feel that our connection is tighter than ever. Besides that, basically we're all ourselves as always, our style didn't change much probably. It was a progress not a change.
The weapon of NEWS is that we're like children. I think it's easy to understand watching our DVD documentary, we're all very innocent and free. Another weapon could be the fact that we don't have any particular rule about how NEWS should be. It was clear to see during the production of the album and tour, when we're not sure we are just like "let's try to do this" or "let's see how it turns out like that", we're very flexible, everybody express their opinions and we challenge many different things. The genres of work we do individually are very different, everybody can bring what they learnt in the group, we have a lot of possibilities and this is our strength too. If the fans enjoy our flexibility, childishness and brightness I'm already happy. I think it's great that we're able to bring out all this without trying too hard, these are sides I want to keep cherishing.
I don't want to sound trite but NEWS to me are my family. Sometimes we come back, sometimes we welcome the others home, it's a place where we feel at home and at the same time it's a place from where we can start a new travel.
I'm back from my vacation and here it is the second part of the pamphlet translation, keep waiting for the third and last one ^^