TAIPEI, CHINA - NOVEMBER 11: Singers Ohno Satoshi, Matsumoto Jun, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari and ... [+]
VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES
Last year, Japanese pop-rock band ARASHI shocked the world when the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) named the group’s greatest hits compilation 5x20 All the Best! 1999–2019 the bestselling title in the world of 2019, beating out popular releases by the likes of Taylor Swift, BTS and Lady Gaga.
With that win in their rearview mirror, ARASHI has put their foot to the gas once again, as they’ve spent much of 2020 working on music and giving fans catchy new tunes like just-released single “IN THE SUMMER,” which feels like the perfect seasonal smash.
The group is working overtime before they go on a well-earned hiatus, and I had the pleasure of speaking to two members about their surprising domination last year, their new music and what made them decide to step away after decades in the spotlight.
Note: The musicians who spoke did so in Japanese, which were translated into English via a translator. They have been edited only for clarity.
Recommended For You
BTS, Arashi, Ateez And WayV: Notable Moves On This Week’s World Songs Chart
CBS Orders Dance Competition ‘Come Dance With Me’
Fantasia 2020: ‘The Dark And The Wicked’ Is A Great, Frightening Dive Into Evil’s Sovereign Territory
Hugh McIntyre: I was really excited to find out not too long ago that your greatest hits album was the bestselling title in the world last year. What did it feel like when you got that information?
From Refugee To U.S. Citizen: A Former Lost Girl Looks Back
Show Me The Equal Money
Graduating During A Pandemic
UNICEF USA BRANDVOICE | Paid Program
Grads of Life BRANDVOICE | Paid Program
Civic Nation BRANDVOICE | Paid Program
Jun Matsumoto: I was incredibly surprised and really, really happy. As you probably know, the album was originally intended just for Japan. The fact that not only Japanese people, but people around the world were able to enjoy it, that meant a lot to us. It made me really happy that so many different people were able to enjoy the songs we're releasing now.
McIntyre: ARASHI has been together for 20 years now. What does the band do to stay creative and to make something fresh and new?
Sho Sakurai: The thing that really keeps us going is the fact that we’re able to create new things each and every year. Pretty much for the past 20 years, every single year we’ve released an album and we’ve always held a concert. And so the fact that we’re able to keep that regularity of creativity helps keep us going.
McIntyre: Music is a notoriously difficult industry and even some of the biggest successes can disappear or fall out of popularity. So why do you think you have been able to stay so popular for so long?
Sakurai: Tied to the last question, every year the fact that we’re able to do something new really keeps everything fresh and inspired. Not only for us, but for our fans. But in addition to that, every single of the five members also has a lot of their own individual pursuits via television, scripted dramas, variety shows and movies.
We’re involved in news shows and other programs like that. It really gives a sense of variety that we’re able to touch a lot of different fans and provide all of them with different forms of entertainment. That really helps keep things fresh and relevant even as trends change and also keeps us on the pulse of what's good, what's hot, and what would be able to then feed back into our continuing work.
McIntyre: ARASHI is already one of the bestselling and most popular groups in Japan. You’re so popular all around Asia. Do you have any plans or any desire to increase promotion and reach new fans all around the world, possibly even in the United States?
Matsumoto: Yes, we definitely want to expand beyond where we’ve been and it's part of an ongoing spirit of next and new challenges that's really started since the end of last year. We opened our first digital channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, et cetera. That was part of the whole spirit of wanting to take on something brand new things we have never been able to do before. [We want to ] meet new and interesting people that we’ve never met before and have experiences that, despite our popularity, we haven't yet had the chance to experience.
Because we’ve been around for 20 years, this is also really exciting for us because seeking a lot of these things we’ve never done before, it almost feels like we’re returning to when we debuted. There's the sense of something fresh, getting a chance to kind of start from scratch. It's something that is really important and very exciting to us.
McIntyre: The song you recently released, “IN THE SUMMER,” I was listening to it just before this and it's so catchy. It's perfect for right now. Tell me a bit about the new single.
Sakurai: So the song “IN THE SUMMER” was produced by Rami Yacoub, who we met last year when we were in Los Angeles. What we really like about him and his style is that not only has he worked with a number of amazing people in the American music scene, but he personally is very knowledgeable and very invested in the music of Japan and in how to bring Japanese music to life and the style that works well for Japanese audiences and obviously Japanese singers as well. He was able to create a song that could really be cross-culture, a song that could appeal to Americans but would also be good for a Japanese boy band.
McIntyre: ARASHI is planning on going on hiatus soon. What's the thinking behind that plan? Why did you decide this?
(The two musicians took a long pause before answering)
Sakurai: As you could tell from the long pause, how to answer that question is something we’ve struggled with. Basically the simple answer is that each and every member has their own lives and own pursuits that they also have interest in beyond, obviously, the pursuits as entertainers. What we do with our own lives...it’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time. That was really the impetus behind the division.
Ultimately, because we gave ourselves a sense of a deadline, in order to really focus on these new challenges, that helped us put a lot of impetus on the end to really be able to do something new before taking a chance to refresh ourselves.
McIntyre: Is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans?
Matsumoto: In this incredibly difficult time for so many, one of the biggest things that is keeping us going is that we really want to do something for all the fans out there, and for new people who might be interested in ARASHI as well. With people staying home and dealing with really hard times, the chance to be able to shed a little bit of light with music and performances is something that is really important to us. We want to try to contribute to people getting better as quickly as possible.
Sakurai: Because the deadline has been set before we go on this hiatus, we want to push ourselves to take on something new and do something that can expand our reach to as many people as possible. I'm looking forward to what can be done within the next couple of months and the new challenges that lay ahead.
的 SNS 更新 . . .
內容包括 . . .
2020年 9月 2日 ( 水 )
@arashi5official「 twitter 」
