[Arashi] Beautiful World - Talking about ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World (1/2)
Here is the first of three parts to Arashi's group talk from their Beautiful World pamphlet! They talked about the title origins, goofed around, pointed out how early Jun had been thinking about this tour, food, goofed around some more, and began talking about their solos.
Beautiful World - Q&As
Ohno | Sho | Aiba | Nino | Jun
Beautiful World - Talking about ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World
Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Bonus shots
NOTE: All words printed in English in the original text will be denoted in italics so you can have a better understanding of some of their cracks later on!
Beautiful World - Talking about ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World (1/2)
Talking about
ARASHI LIVE TOUR
Beautiful World
--It's time for the tour pamphlet custom: the all-member group talk!
Sakurai: Er, so what are we talking about again? "Magical Song"?
Aiba: Eh...!?
Matsumoto: Then let's get on with it, shall we ask what you sang in it?
Sakurai: A whole year later (laugh). What were you singing when you did that "He~y!" thing, anyway?
Aiba: It was "Yeah!"! ...you knew that, right? I thought you did.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
--Now now, let's start with the thoughts and meanings behind "Beautiful World", the title for this album.
Matsumoto: There were all sorts of title suggestions, since it was after the disaster that the discussions began... On top of taking that into account in a 'what can we do right now?' sense, we were also thinking about our concerts and the album that was to coincide with them. The title might seem a bit pretentious or overly pretty, but... we were tossing around things like "Beautiful world would be nice" and "Doesn't the world seem like it changes before your eyes whenever you look closely at it?", so it includes something like that as well as a sense of aspiration... All of us decided unanimously on "Beautiful World".
Sakurai: When we were boiling down all the suggestions for the album title, we backtracked at one point: "Our 'Boku no Miteiru Fuukei' title from last year had a very strong message to it too, so what do you think about a title that links to it?" And then, though I'm not sure why, the words "Beautiful World" surfaced, and everyone was like "That's a good one!". Then it evolved into "What happens if this becomes our tour title?", "'Beautiful World' tour.", "'Beautiful' world tour?", "World tour!?" (laugh).
Ninomiya: Yep. Then "It's final!!", remember?.
Sakurai: Yes (laugh). 'Then we can even call it a "World tour", can't we?', something like that.
Aiba: Yeah, if we can just cut out the "Beautiful" bit...
Other four: It'll become a "world tour"!!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: Well, it includes those sorts of antics too... no, it doesn't include that!! It doesn't include that, but we did digress like that too! --is what we're trying to say (laugh).
Ninomiya: It's definitely... not a world tour.
Sakurai: Nope (laugh)! But we'd like everyone to get that sort of vibe from it.
Ninomiya: Middle of the night vibes? (※ That meeting took place very late at night)
Sakurai: Midnight Vibes!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
--What sort of direction were you aiming for in terms of album content this time around?
Matsumoto: Actually, there was a title suggestion of "Stand Up" that was actually one of the candidates for our album title up until the very end. How should I put this... It might have started after our 10th anniversary, but our 11th year and this 12th year carried with them a sense of heading into new territory. We wondered how we could express that feeling of aiming for the next stage. Including things about the (concert) set-up, and an awareness of what we can do at this point in time... Actually, I was already starting to think about how "I want to do something like this" in the middle of last year's tour. I'd take some of those reference videos and watch them at the concert venues with the other members and staff together, and talk about how "it'd be interesting like that" and so on. Even during our Fukuoka (previous tour's final date) closing party, I was talking to people about it, like "So about the next (tour's) set-up..." I think that's connected somehow to how we were able to find the direction to take with this album from the very beginning, and show people a new genre that we have never done before with the electro elements and so forth.
--During your last tour and closing party... so in other words, you started thinking about this extremely early on, then.
Matsumoto: Yeah, it was pretty early. Even in Osaka (October 2010), I was watching footage on the computer with our staff in the dressing room... (suddenly, Matsujun notices Nino staring intently at him) Eh...?
--What's the matter?
Ninomiya: Well... I couldn't help thinking "This person (=Matsujun) is seriously amazing" at the closing party in Fukuoka. Like, "Eh, he's already talking about the next tour!?".
Matsumoto: In the middle of wrapping up one tour (laugh).
Sakurai: Yeah, it was kind of an incredible sight.
Ninomiya: Exactly. There were all these conversations going on with people saying "This and this happened..." or "Everyone worked hard this time around!"... and he was the only one talking about the next one.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: And there were tons of staff members participating since it was a closing party, so it took place in a hotel ballroom with a size we've never seen before, with a buffet on a scale that's never been seen before... it was extremely extravagant. There, we were sitting in a small huddle in one of the corners. After an hour and a half or so, Matsujun started talking about the next tour, and called out to the staff. Even the staff members who were beckoned over were like "Ah... eh? Are we already talking about the next one!?" (laugh). It was early, honestly really early.
Ninomiya: Really early! I mean, I pretty much... stayed away from that table (laugh).
Sakurai: The gratin at the buffet was all gone, so I was thinking 'I hope it comes out soon~' (laugh). It was super tasty, that gratin!
Ninomiya: That really was super tasty (laugh).
Ohno: I was eating salmon the whole time!
Matsumoto: Er... we're talking about that instead!?
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Aiba: I didn't go back to that table either, just circled around the buffet table the entire time. Trying everything out!
Sakurai: Right? I mean, we've never had something like that before.
Aiba: And I had nowhere to sit either, so I could only eat while walking.
Ninomiya: That's right, we had no seats. So we basically ate while standing.
Sakurai: Yes, yes. Once we got up from the seats that were designated for us, the staff that Matsujun had called over would sit in them, and it turned into the "Matsumoto Table". When we got our food and came back, it was like "Huh? We don't have a spot anymore" (laugh). That was new.
--What was Oh-chan doing at the time?
Ohno: Well, I didn't really get to eat any... salmon, that is.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Ohno: (tries his hardest to explain) When they put out the plates of salmon... the staff and stuff would start gathering around it...
Ninomiya: That salmon was popular, after all.
Ohno: So I would go, "Go on, go on" to the staff.
Sakurai: You distributed it to everyone, didn't you?
Ohno: Right. And then it was all gone... It was all gone, but I thought, well I didn't get to eat any. So I asked the person in charge, "Do you have any salmon?"
Ninomiya: And then he said "We'll bring some out right now"?
Ohno: Yeah. And then when he brought them out... everyone kinda gathered all around again and took it all.
Matsumoto: It was pretty popular, huh.
Aiba: So you were in charge of the salmon.
Ohno: But then I thought, 'I want to eat this soon too!'.
Ninomiya: It was the second time that you didn't get to eat any after all. Better eat it soon.
Ohno: So... it was actually pretty tough for me in my own way.
Sakurai: Because of salmon...
Matsumoto: "Tough for me in my own way"...
Ninomiya: So you were waging a battle with the salmon slipping away!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Matsumoto: Anyway, it basically just means that there was a "next" stemming from the time of that closing party in Fukuoka.
--I see. I'm looking forward to it! And now, I'd like you to tell us if there are particular solo songs worth noting this year, much like the way you lauded the "Aiba solo" in last year's pamphlet talk.
Sakurai: Well~ wouldn't that definitely be Matsujun's solo?
Matsumoto: For real? You're bringing it up here? (laugh)
Sakurai: We were lodging together a while ago, right? At Yamanakako.
--What was the lodging for?
Sakurai: Well... it was loosely termed as a "training camp". Don't ask me what sort of "training" it was!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Aiba: Roughly just "training", wasn't it?
Sakurai: As in, 'let's strengthen something!'.
Ninomiya: I hope they can feel it there too!
Sakurai: The vibes?
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: Then, during that training camp, we got an order from Matsujun: "I want you guys to participate in the rapping part of (my) solo." So we said, "Let's do it let's do it!".
Aiba: All of us, right? We did it there.
Sakurai: Right. That's why, even though it's Matsujun's solo, er... it's got an all-member vibe?
Ninomiya: That's true. In an excessive sort of way?
Matsumoto: And Sho-san was on his vibes kick too. Um... there was the sound of ice clinking in a glass after the rap, and then the sound of my voice too.
Sakurai: Like a sort of sigh... right?
Matsumoto: Right. Like a sigh. Then, Sho-san got carried away... it seemed he had the urge to say "Peace!" at the end no matter what.
Sakurai: Once the rap ended, I couldn't help saying "Peace!" for some reason.
Ninomiya: Those were the vibes. You couldn't help it.
Matsumoto: So every single time, he would end up overlapping a bit with that part where my voice comes in...
Sakurai: I started covering my mouth with my hand towards the end, so that I wouldn't say "Peace!" (laugh).
Aiba: You did! (laugh)
Matsumoto: That was why I wasn't sure which one they were going to use during TD (※ Track down, a term used for the winding down of a song's production process)... I couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy.
Sakurai: Honestly, if they were to use mine... it would be a pretty big problem.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
(Trying this LJ-Like thing out to see what it's like... feel free to click!)
Beautiful World - Q&As
Ohno | Sho | Aiba | Nino | Jun
Beautiful World - Talking about ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World
Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Bonus shots
NOTE: All words printed in English in the original text will be denoted in italics so you can have a better understanding of some of their cracks later on!
Beautiful World - Talking about ARASHI LIVE TOUR Beautiful World (1/2)
Talking about
ARASHI LIVE TOUR
Beautiful World
--It's time for the tour pamphlet custom: the all-member group talk!
Sakurai: Er, so what are we talking about again? "Magical Song"?
Aiba: Eh...!?
Matsumoto: Then let's get on with it, shall we ask what you sang in it?
Sakurai: A whole year later (laugh). What were you singing when you did that "He~y!" thing, anyway?
Aiba: It was "Yeah!"! ...you knew that, right? I thought you did.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
--Now now, let's start with the thoughts and meanings behind "Beautiful World", the title for this album.
Matsumoto: There were all sorts of title suggestions, since it was after the disaster that the discussions began... On top of taking that into account in a 'what can we do right now?' sense, we were also thinking about our concerts and the album that was to coincide with them. The title might seem a bit pretentious or overly pretty, but... we were tossing around things like "Beautiful world would be nice" and "Doesn't the world seem like it changes before your eyes whenever you look closely at it?", so it includes something like that as well as a sense of aspiration... All of us decided unanimously on "Beautiful World".
Sakurai: When we were boiling down all the suggestions for the album title, we backtracked at one point: "Our 'Boku no Miteiru Fuukei' title from last year had a very strong message to it too, so what do you think about a title that links to it?" And then, though I'm not sure why, the words "Beautiful World" surfaced, and everyone was like "That's a good one!". Then it evolved into "What happens if this becomes our tour title?", "'Beautiful World' tour.", "'Beautiful' world tour?", "World tour!?" (laugh).
Ninomiya: Yep. Then "It's final!!", remember?.
Sakurai: Yes (laugh). 'Then we can even call it a "World tour", can't we?', something like that.
Aiba: Yeah, if we can just cut out the "Beautiful" bit...
Other four: It'll become a "world tour"!!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: Well, it includes those sorts of antics too... no, it doesn't include that!! It doesn't include that, but we did digress like that too! --is what we're trying to say (laugh).
Ninomiya: It's definitely... not a world tour.
Sakurai: Nope (laugh)! But we'd like everyone to get that sort of vibe from it.
Ninomiya: Middle of the night vibes? (※ That meeting took place very late at night)
Sakurai: Midnight Vibes!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
--What sort of direction were you aiming for in terms of album content this time around?
Matsumoto: Actually, there was a title suggestion of "Stand Up" that was actually one of the candidates for our album title up until the very end. How should I put this... It might have started after our 10th anniversary, but our 11th year and this 12th year carried with them a sense of heading into new territory. We wondered how we could express that feeling of aiming for the next stage. Including things about the (concert) set-up, and an awareness of what we can do at this point in time... Actually, I was already starting to think about how "I want to do something like this" in the middle of last year's tour. I'd take some of those reference videos and watch them at the concert venues with the other members and staff together, and talk about how "it'd be interesting like that" and so on. Even during our Fukuoka (previous tour's final date) closing party, I was talking to people about it, like "So about the next (tour's) set-up..." I think that's connected somehow to how we were able to find the direction to take with this album from the very beginning, and show people a new genre that we have never done before with the electro elements and so forth.
--During your last tour and closing party... so in other words, you started thinking about this extremely early on, then.
Matsumoto: Yeah, it was pretty early. Even in Osaka (October 2010), I was watching footage on the computer with our staff in the dressing room... (suddenly, Matsujun notices Nino staring intently at him) Eh...?
--What's the matter?
Ninomiya: Well... I couldn't help thinking "This person (=Matsujun) is seriously amazing" at the closing party in Fukuoka. Like, "Eh, he's already talking about the next tour!?".
Matsumoto: In the middle of wrapping up one tour (laugh).
Sakurai: Yeah, it was kind of an incredible sight.
Ninomiya: Exactly. There were all these conversations going on with people saying "This and this happened..." or "Everyone worked hard this time around!"... and he was the only one talking about the next one.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: And there were tons of staff members participating since it was a closing party, so it took place in a hotel ballroom with a size we've never seen before, with a buffet on a scale that's never been seen before... it was extremely extravagant. There, we were sitting in a small huddle in one of the corners. After an hour and a half or so, Matsujun started talking about the next tour, and called out to the staff. Even the staff members who were beckoned over were like "Ah... eh? Are we already talking about the next one!?" (laugh). It was early, honestly really early.
Ninomiya: Really early! I mean, I pretty much... stayed away from that table (laugh).
Sakurai: The gratin at the buffet was all gone, so I was thinking 'I hope it comes out soon~' (laugh). It was super tasty, that gratin!
Ninomiya: That really was super tasty (laugh).
Ohno: I was eating salmon the whole time!
Matsumoto: Er... we're talking about that instead!?
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Aiba: I didn't go back to that table either, just circled around the buffet table the entire time. Trying everything out!
Sakurai: Right? I mean, we've never had something like that before.
Aiba: And I had nowhere to sit either, so I could only eat while walking.
Ninomiya: That's right, we had no seats. So we basically ate while standing.
Sakurai: Yes, yes. Once we got up from the seats that were designated for us, the staff that Matsujun had called over would sit in them, and it turned into the "Matsumoto Table". When we got our food and came back, it was like "Huh? We don't have a spot anymore" (laugh). That was new.
--What was Oh-chan doing at the time?
Ohno: Well, I didn't really get to eat any... salmon, that is.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Ohno: (tries his hardest to explain) When they put out the plates of salmon... the staff and stuff would start gathering around it...
Ninomiya: That salmon was popular, after all.
Ohno: So I would go, "Go on, go on" to the staff.
Sakurai: You distributed it to everyone, didn't you?
Ohno: Right. And then it was all gone... It was all gone, but I thought, well I didn't get to eat any. So I asked the person in charge, "Do you have any salmon?"
Ninomiya: And then he said "We'll bring some out right now"?
Ohno: Yeah. And then when he brought them out... everyone kinda gathered all around again and took it all.
Matsumoto: It was pretty popular, huh.
Aiba: So you were in charge of the salmon.
Ohno: But then I thought, 'I want to eat this soon too!'.
Ninomiya: It was the second time that you didn't get to eat any after all. Better eat it soon.
Ohno: So... it was actually pretty tough for me in my own way.
Sakurai: Because of salmon...
Matsumoto: "Tough for me in my own way"...
Ninomiya: So you were waging a battle with the salmon slipping away!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Matsumoto: Anyway, it basically just means that there was a "next" stemming from the time of that closing party in Fukuoka.
--I see. I'm looking forward to it! And now, I'd like you to tell us if there are particular solo songs worth noting this year, much like the way you lauded the "Aiba solo" in last year's pamphlet talk.
Sakurai: Well~ wouldn't that definitely be Matsujun's solo?
Matsumoto: For real? You're bringing it up here? (laugh)
Sakurai: We were lodging together a while ago, right? At Yamanakako.
--What was the lodging for?
Sakurai: Well... it was loosely termed as a "training camp". Don't ask me what sort of "training" it was!
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Aiba: Roughly just "training", wasn't it?
Sakurai: As in, 'let's strengthen something!'.
Ninomiya: I hope they can feel it there too!
Sakurai: The vibes?
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
Sakurai: Then, during that training camp, we got an order from Matsujun: "I want you guys to participate in the rapping part of (my) solo." So we said, "Let's do it let's do it!".
Aiba: All of us, right? We did it there.
Sakurai: Right. That's why, even though it's Matsujun's solo, er... it's got an all-member vibe?
Ninomiya: That's true. In an excessive sort of way?
Matsumoto: And Sho-san was on his vibes kick too. Um... there was the sound of ice clinking in a glass after the rap, and then the sound of my voice too.
Sakurai: Like a sort of sigh... right?
Matsumoto: Right. Like a sigh. Then, Sho-san got carried away... it seemed he had the urge to say "Peace!" at the end no matter what.
Sakurai: Once the rap ended, I couldn't help saying "Peace!" for some reason.
Ninomiya: Those were the vibes. You couldn't help it.
Matsumoto: So every single time, he would end up overlapping a bit with that part where my voice comes in...
Sakurai: I started covering my mouth with my hand towards the end, so that I wouldn't say "Peace!" (laugh).
Aiba: You did! (laugh)
Matsumoto: That was why I wasn't sure which one they were going to use during TD (※ Track down, a term used for the winding down of a song's production process)... I couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy.
Sakurai: Honestly, if they were to use mine... it would be a pretty big problem.
Everyone: (bursts into laughter)
(Trying this LJ-Like thing out to see what it's like... feel free to click!)