ANTIQUE CAFÉ ARTICLE FROM SHOXX (NOVEMBER 2006)



Now, why don’t we try looking back at “Gaya de Nyappi” calmly?

TERUKI: Looking at the video again recently, I really think I was freaking out.

MIKU: Well, your face was really stiff.

TERUKI: I was trying to do it calmly so I wouldn’t be carried away by the emotions of the situation, but my heart rate was so fast that all the songs sounded slow.

MIKU: I was tense at the time too, but I was no match for the sheer number of concert-goers.

That live concert was a good opportunity to get Antique Café’s name out to more people, so there was the pressure of telling those who never come to concerts that AnCafe is a good band. My body wouldn’t do what I told it to.

KANON: I couldn’t hear much over the screaming.

MIKU: Canon-san isn’t that popular.

ALL: (laughing)

TERAKI: Anyway, next is Bou-kun.

BOU: What?! It’s done? (laugh)

KANON: You know how it is. I’m normally all twitching and totally uncool. I was hoping I would pull it off without freaking out this time, so I had a little peek, and my twitching might have been gone, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at the audience.

You were focused on the music.

KANON: Yes.

TERUKI: Oh, I was happy because our sound had gotten cleaner.

BOU: The cheering was crazy when we started out with “Iitomo Seinen-tai”. They got so excited I went nuts.

TERUKI: Yeah, yeah.

Bou-kun in particular seemed to be going off on a tangent.

BOU: Did I ever! My on-off switch was busted.

TERUKI: There’s no such thing as pressure to him.

After all, he has a lot of rebound.

BOU: (scream) Is that what it was?!

That was quite a rock-full concert.

MIKU: Oh, I put out rock-ness too. The outdoor thing effectively worked out.

The “Smile Ichiban Onna” you demo’ed there left an impression along with the blue skies.

TERUKI: We haven’t demo’ed a new song before its release since “Tekesuta Kousen.”

It’s our theory to perform a song in concert when the basic sound is there.

MIKU: The audience doesn’t know what kind of rhythm to expect, so we try to think of how we can entertain them best,

and we really racked our brains out. But everyone is so happy to be able to hear it before its release.

TERUKI: Which means it all depends on the strength of the performance.

Sound-wise, it’s a 90’s dance tune, right?

TERUKI: For sure.

MIKU: We think that An Café is becoming more established as Dance Rock.

Because Four-beat Dance Rock has increased.

MIKU: “Tekesuta Kousen” was the one to become the nucleus of An-Café-likeness the best from last year’s trilogy, and next “Maple Gunman” was born, and when “Bonds ~Kizuna~” was done, we thought “This is it alright!”

TERUKI: We’ve been talking about making it into another style this time around, a “Uchikomi-Kei” ever since “Bonds ~Kizuna~.” I’ve left the dance up to Canon-san the entire time, so I thought I’d tryi to make it myself.

CANON: Teru Dance.

Teruki’s cheerful songs are starting to become tamer.

TERUKI: You’re right. Last year at this time, there still wasn’t a single cheerful song in the bunch. (laugh)

MIKU: The Canon Dance has an attacking melody, while the Teru Dance has a catchy melody.

Incidentally, what about the Bou Dance?

TERUKI: It’s “half.”

Oh, so it’s a “baggy” style. (laugh)

TERUKI: The Bou Dance goes One, Two, Bang! You can hear the Bang! in the Three month release series.

If that’s the case, what kind of base did Canon-kun lay down for the Teru Dance?

CANON: At first I left it to what felt good and plodded along (a four-beat rhythm), but I felt that was too static, so I tried shortening the phrases a little. A feel-good melody for a feel-good rhythm. And I tried singing along a little myself.

TE