poppochan | [190510] SPICE (e+): Interview with Again

Hearing from “Again”, who overcame uncertainty and is heading towards a new stage together with the music he loves

(Original article)

Again, who is carrying out activities as part of vocal group mono palette., announced that he will be holding his one man live 『Rhodd』on August 18 at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM.

Today, he appears on SPICE not as mono palette.’s leader, but as individual singer Again. He spoke to us extensively, returning to 6 years in the past when he began uploading videos, to his announcement at the end of last year about his vocal polyps surgery, to his “hiatus” and “revival” and current status, as well as looking forward to his upcoming one man live.

──You started uploading videos in 2013, but what made you decide to try uploading your own singing to the internet?

Originally, I wasn’t familiar with the Internet at all. But I liked singing since a long time back, and I often went to sing with friends at karaoke and the like. Because of that, I was asked by a friend of mine who was uploading game playthroughs to niconico, “If you like singing, why not try uploading to niconico?”, but I went “What’s niconico…?” (lol)

──So it was like that in the beginning.

Yes. So my friend taught me about niconico, and I checked out various things on it, but for the first year or so I didn’t upload. But during that time, there was this streaming app named “Nicolson”. Using that, I did streams normally, I would sing to music from my speakers. My listeners asked me, “What if you upload to niconicodouga?”. Because of that, the reason why I started uploading is because of the encouragement from my friend and listeners.

──But after you were asked “What if you upload?”, did you think of trying it out immediately?

Nope, originally I found the internet to be scary (lol). I had heard of nothing but bad things about the Internet, like home addresses being exposed, so at first I found video uploading terrifying. Even so, I spent that first year only doing streams, and with that experience, I learnt that the internet is not that scary of a place. So I felt, maybe I can try uploading. At first I was scared, but gradually my curiousity grew stronger than the fear.

──It seems that you’ve always liked singing since long ago, but what kind of music did you like?

Since I was young, I would sing together with my parents in the car, but honestly, the ones that I looked up to, the ones that I was influenced by, were from Johnny’s. Whether in the convenience store or in the family restaurants, when I heard NEWS’ songs being played on cable broadcast, I thought Tegoshi (Yuya)-kun’s singing was super good. From there, I started exploring and looking around, and watched various kinds of stages and got influenced.

──Did you listen to songs from other idols too?

While it wasn’t to the extent of me fervently stanning them, I had a friend who liked AKB48, so in order to match conversation topics with them, I followed their activities somewhat (lol). At my friend’s invitation I would go to places like their Akihabara theatre, and bought unofficial stickers from small-time toy and candy stores to stick on plain pencil boxes (lol).

── You’re the type who thinks, "I must be able to talk about this!" and learns about various things, huh.

Up till now, it seems I’ve always been like that, but that’s because I want to get into the loop and have no other choice. Because I’m the type who goes “I want to get in on that!” when there are things that my friends find fun.

──Rather than being the heart of a group, you’re the kind who makes your way into it?

Nope, since a long time ago there’ve been many instances where I become the center of a group and set things into motion. For example, starting topics like going on trips together with everyone, being entrusted with handling various plans and such, even among my utaite friends, when it comes to doing lives, I’m the one who pushes them forward. It is so for monopare (mono palette.) too.

── Because Again’s the leader, even while you’re the centre of this ring, you want to enter circles elsewhere huh.

Yup (lol). I guess it’s being very greedy. Because I have too many interests and can’t focus on just one, there are times when I go “Stop meddling with so many things!” too (lol).

──Again’s uploading quite a wide range of music, but is there any particular music that really hits the mark and makes you go “I really like this kind of music!”? For example, songs with a certain kind of feeling that catch you.

Lately I’ve been really liking country rock, band music and the like, so so I’m listening to such artistes a lot, and I feel like singing those songs too. Also, among utaite, I really like Amatsuki-san, and so I often get to sing his songs. But as for “I like this kind of music, so I’ll sing”, not everything is firmly set in stone. That’s why, basically, it’s the sense that I sing whatever songs that I am interested in.

──Again will be continuing to carry out activities from now on, but at the end of last year, you announced that you would be halting activities for a polyps surgery. Was your condition bad previously?

It was bad since a long time ago. When I started uploading videos, I was in my first year of high school, but in the beginning of fall of my second year, my vocal cords got inflamed. Even though I recovered, vocalising continued to be difficult. But as I was growing taller during that time, I thought it was because of puberty and let it be. After that, around the end of last year’s summer tour, I couldn’t produce any sound. I thought it was strange, and when I went to a different hospital from the one that I usually went to, they told me “Polyps have formed”. When I told them about the situation from my second year of high school, they said, “I wonder if at that time they had formed small, and now they have grown big.”

──When you were diagnosed with polyps, what was your mental state?

I was shocked. Finally getting an explanation for the cause that had puzzled me for so long, there was happiness, but I was told that I would have to do surgery. The word “surgery” was super terrifying. What effects would it have? What if it failed? Things like that.

──The relief at finally understanding the cause of your discomfort, mixed together with the worry of what would happen after this…

That’s right. Then I did the surgery on 15 January this year.

──Were you nervous?

Extremely. It was also the first time in my life that I was entering an operating theatre, so up until I was given the anaesthesia, I was really nervous. But then they told me “We’re giving you the anaesthesia~” and I got the jab, and when I woke up it was already over (lol).

──Ah, it was like that huh (lol). But depending on the person, the voice might change after polyps surgery. What about Again?

I feel like it hasn’t changed that much. Even though there are parts I don’t really know, like whether it’s become better or not, or whether it’s getting easier to sing. But up until now, due to the polyps, I was always breathing in a strange way. I think that’s gone now. Anyway, there’s no big changes, but it feels like in the small ways, things have changed.

──Are you undergoing rehabilitation now?

Yes. I started in February. My voicing became bad, so now I have a voice trainer, and I’m building up from scratch.

──Up until now, I believe you’ve never formally had singing lessons, so how is it like learning from an actual trainer?

“Oh my, music is so difficult……!” (lol). Up till now, I’ve only been singing for fun, and it felt that as long as it’s fun, it’s fine, but now that I’m learning, there’s actually lots of things that I have to do, or things I should take into consideration, it’s bursting with challenges (lol).

──Even though you feel it’s hard, singing is still fun?

It’s fun. In the month after my surgery, for that short while I completely couldn’t sing, and I was told to not talk for a week or so too. Singing is my favourite thing in the world. I like doing lives, I like uploading “utattemita”, I like going to karaoke too. Every day, there was singing in some form. So in that period of time when I couldn’t carry out my favourite activities, I was anxious, and there were times that I got angry, but when I could use my voice again, I was happy.

──When you announced that you would be undergoing surgery, I believe there were many words of encouragement, but were there any that left an impression?

When I announced my hiatus, there were quite a fair amount of responses. All kinds of listeners, including people whom I had never seen replies from before, were telling me “Do your best”, and I was struck by how so many people were actually watching out for me too. My friends told me “Let’s sing together again”, and that made me really want to come back quickly. I was really happy to receive such feelings.

──Also, the other day at『i-STAR FESTIVAL』, mono palette. was performing, and it seemed that Again was watching the three members carrying out the live. How was it?

I was very very anxious. If it was as usual, I would be running the show, I would be there to jibe at them when they brought out their childish antics…it would be like that, but there was nobody there to pick up after them (lol).

──The one keeping them in line was absent……. (lol)

Yes (lol). Furthermore, the splitting of parts in the songs changed too, and the three of them were also uncertain if they could deliver something different from what we had done up to then. Because they told me as much, I was wondering if they would be alright as I watched them. But they really delivered the feeling of a stage created by the three of them. They also performed the song “Ojama Mushi” which I often sing at lives, but everyone in the audience was waving their penlights in red, my image colour, it was like they were singing with the feeling of “Again, do your best!”, and I was really moved.

──You must’ve been very very happy.

I was. Even though I wasn’t on stage, the audience area turned bright red. It made me want to come back quickly.

──It was encouraging, right. By the way, “Singing is my favourite thing in the world”, but what else besides music do you like?

I wonder… things like surprises, maybe. I like surprising people and making them happy. “If I do this thing, I wonder if they'll make that kind of face." While thinking so, I do it. That’s what I like.

──For example, is there any media that you like, like manga or anime?

I don’t read manga, don’t watch anime, and don’t play games either. I have no interests to the extent that when I’m asked “What’s your hobby?”, even I think “I wonder what...”. Anyway, I have no idea what I like (bitter laugh).

──But I totally get what you mean.

You do? When someone asks “So, what are you living for?”, you end up thinking “Oh no, I wonder what I’m living for…”.

──Yes yes. I’m surely doing something (lol).

Right! I’ve doing something, but in actual fact I have no interests.

──When you’re at home, what do you often do?

…...Sleep, I guess (lol). And when I’m doing “utattemita”, I record and do streams. If you ask me “What do you like?”, I can’t think of anything besides listening to music and singing songs. Ah, but I like clothes. Surfing the net, thinking “Ah, that’s good”... I guess.

──In that case, the period of time where you couldn’t sing must have been awful…….

It was. It wasn’t just being unable to sing, I couldn’t stream either, so all the things that I wanted to do, the things that I found fun, I couldn’t do them at all. But because of that, I thought I should try to start something new, and bought a guitar. Then, I had planned to buy an acoustic guitar, but a classical one got delivered instead (bitter laugh). It would have been good to just use it for practice, but people who played the guitar told me, “Acoustic and classical guitars are totally different things, so it’s probably better if you buy a replacement and practice.” ...Buying a replacement is so troublesome…… (lol). But looking ahead to my next one-man, I’m thinking I should practice a little bit. Though I don’t know how it’ll turn out (lol).

──Have you thought about trying to write your own songs?

Yes. Though it’s just been a thought and a mere feeling (lol), naturally, I think it’d be good if I could write a song. But for the time being, I’m thinking it’d be good if I could write one song within this year.

──Oh!

I’m thinking… thinking… thinking…

──Aren’t you repeating yourself a lot, and in a small voice nonetheless (lol)

No, it’s not a guarantee (lol).

──Ahahaha (lol). Also, you mentioned it a bit earlier, but you’ve decided to hold your one man live 『Rhodd』 on August 18 at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM. What kind of live do you want it to be?

Up to now, all my one-man lives were organised by myself. Deciding the venue, contacting the band, drawing up the setlist, all that was done within the limits of my own ability, but this time I’m making a stage with the help of many other parties. Therefore, things that I can’t do myself, places I can’t reach with just my own hands, I want to show that in the stage somehow, I want it to be the grandest live up to now.

──Also, this time your one-man has a two-show system, will the contents be very different?

They’re totally different performances. The first show will be a band set, which will be an indicator of what I will be doing from now, something that draw attention to “These are the kind of things I want to do”, I think. The second show will be a DJ set, drawing the distance (to my listeners) slightly closer, and I’m thinking of doing entertaining things too. I like YouTubers….. Ah! I have a hobby! I like watching YouTube!!

──So you do (lol).

There are lots of channels that I’m subscribed to, and I watch them frequently, but I think it’d be nice if I could try making videos like those of YouTubers’, and do fun things too. That’s why, I think it’d be good if the first show can have the feeling of “Cool Again”, and the second show is that of “Fun Again”. Therefore, I’d be glad if people attended both shows (lol).

──Because they’re totally different, right. So, starting from this one-man live, what kinds of activities would you like to do from here on out?

Earlier, for my first post-comeback work, I uploaded the song that Natsushiro Takaaki-san wrote for me, “Again”, but I’ve received various songs from different creators, and I think I’d like to upload them once every two months or so. So other than doing covers of other people’s creations, I’d like to send out my own original songs as well.

──Do you have any goals like “I want to be able to do that”?

Things like wanting to do a nationwide tour, trying to do an odottemita at one of my performances, there are such things, but if I set such big goals, I think it’ll become a feeling like “Ah, it’s over…” so up until now I’ve never specifically decided on any. Also, since I’m interested in various things, I’d like to try this, next time I want to try that, and step by step I’ll level up, that’s what I want to do.

──Coverage; reporting: Yamaguchi Tetsuo | Photography: Takahiro Kikuchi