original interview here
♪ Recording for「BOLT」
Q1. What were your impressions when you first listened to the instrumental version and read the lyrics?
Uchida Yuuma：“If Impish Crow and RUBIA Leopard collaborate on a title, it’s going to pack quite the punch,” is all I could think of.
Furukawa-san was first to come out of the recording booth, and he left me to bask in RUBIA Leopard’s overwhelming essence still lingering in the room. I didn’t know how to handle myself…! (lol)
At its core, this song’s “vibe” is still filled to the brim with Impish Crow’s style structure, sprinkled with a little more provocative nuance on top.
Perhaps it’s just me and what this duet entails, but I feel like we managed to combine our energies and translated this crazy power to our voice!
Furukawa Makoto：Impish Crow, RUBIA Leopard and HOUND ROAR differ in style and artistic direction, yet this song was far from clashing with Akane’s image: I was struck by how easily his voice flowed with the lyrics, as if they were his own. One could really feel how much thought Toki put into understanding Akane’s artistry, and wrote something that would cater to both…
All in all, I’m glad that we managed to come as one and the fusion of our styles was a success. We once again poured our all into delivering a song we would be proud of—the sheer power we pack into our voices are only homage to the quality of these songs.
Q2. What was it like in the recording booth? Tell us what you were most conscious about, and what we should look forward to.
Uchida Yuuma：Furukawa-san was taking a more aggressive approach, so as Tsugumi I had to bring in some of that “youthful impetus” to match his musical intention.
Our recording sessions felt like a friendly competition, battling with our vocal power over who would outdo the other—and I wasn’t going to let Akane overwhelm me! Singing with him was fulfilling and incredibly entertaining.
Furukawa Makoto：When I sing as Akane, I try to put myself in his shoes. However, this song is nothing like RUBIA Leopard’s usual concepts so I had to revise my approach to the melody. A welcome breath of fresh air to my ways, if you ask me.
This title was built with a simpler structure at its core, thus allowing the composition to welcome an array of intricately layered harmonies—it is rightfully thanks to its elementary pattern that we could play around with its sonic depth, and create a more edifying experience for the listener.
Though RUBIA Leopard’s concepts are coarser, more “devil-may-care,” I was truly transported by Impish Crow’s uplifting sounds and spirit. It was a joy to sing with them.