The three of them, Tatsuya Hirakawa, had already accumulated a lot of songs when they were active in the underground music circle as abnormals.
During the band's hiatus and then regrouping as zard, they never stopped creating.
With so many songs in reserve, it is more than enough to make an official album.
The production team led by Shinichi Iwahashi will work with the band members to select songs suitable for inclusion in the same album from dozens of demos.
After that, Sachiko Kamaiike, who was assigned as the lyricist, was responsible for writing lyrics for the song, while the band members arranged the music.
Preparing the music is the first step. There are still many problems that need to be solved before officially entering the recording studio.
Whether it's the recording studio work that started right after signing the contract, or the subsequent staycation in Karuizawa, it's all part of the preparation before the official start.
The important feature of the band is that they have the ability to create and produce independently.
Therefore, the band members have more say in the band's style than ordinary singers, and have greater autonomy in the production of songs. They can decide the lyrics on the day they enter the recording studio, change the lyrics during the recording, and overturn the already completed songs.
With a good arrangement, anything can happen.
A band that can operate healthily is a complete production team. With the ability to change, there is the confidence to change.
Because of this characteristic of the band, orthodox bands put independent production first.
Although there is no hard and fast rule that requires a band to never sing lyrics and music provided by others, many bands will collaborate with outside parties.
However, this freedom has a prerequisite. It is based on the premise that the band itself has complete production capabilities and a fixed style.
If a band relies on outside songwriters and arrangers, that kind of band will be regarded as a "show band".
Of course, even a "performance band" relies on external production in the early stage, but if it can complete the transformation through learning in the later stage, it will transform beautifully.
I am not afraid of having a low starting point and poor ability when I debut, but I am afraid of being content with the status quo all the time.
…
The recording equipment was gradually delivered to Watanabe Mayumi's villa in Karuizawa, where everything was ready and just waiting for the band and staff to move in.
Tatsuya Hirakawa and the other three musicians are very familiar with each other, but they are politely unfamiliar with Sachiko Kamaichi.
However, this kind of politeness and unfamiliarity comes from the fact that they have just met each other. In actual working together, the three musicians in the band have a good impression of the new lead singer.
From Haruko Akamatsu to Sachiko Kamaiike, the two lead singers in the band were all outstanding beauties. However, beauty is a bonus in the band, not a deciding factor. If you want to gain a firm foothold in the band and gain the recognition of your teammates, you must
It still depends on strength and brains.
Kamai Sachiko is a person who is serious and down-to-earth in work, has a good personality, is not squeamish at all, and has the appearance of an athlete.
Although she is an outstanding beauty, when discussing work with her, her down-to-earth and steady attitude makes people put her beauty in a secondary position and focus on her thoughts and opinions.
Even though she is a layperson who has become a monk, she still has a lot to learn. During meetings, she dares to put forward even unrealistic lay opinions and boldly asks questions about things she does not understand. Such a generous character cannot be underestimated.
.
The three musicians in the band all had a profound feeling of "finding the right person" when faced with such a new lead singer. Once they recognized her in their hearts, they were willing to work with her, and they were willing to work with her in order to make the band's integrity and harmony more harmonious.
Make tacit understanding to improve and work hard.
And one of the great benefits of Kamai Sachiko being the lyricist was also reflected at this time.
For a complete song, lyrics, music and arrangement are indispensable. The composition and arrangement are given to the band, and the lyrics are given to Kamaike Sachiko. The lyrics must fit the music, and the words and music must also recognize each other. Therefore, the four people
Maintain adequate communication.
The band cannot be without any one person. As long as this is established, this complete production team can continue to operate healthily.
"Healthy operation", as long as this can be achieved, is enough.
The relationship between the band members is like this. Don't deliberately pursue any close friendship.
A friend-style band that has been together since the beginning and decided to form a team because of their good relationship, or a guardian-and-ward-style band like Miwa-chan.
In most bands, as long as the members can have a decent relationship with each other and can work together, it's good enough. There's no need to make friends. It doesn't matter what they do outside of work.
…
On Monday of the new week, the band members, together with the staff, set off for Karuizawa.
Shinichi Iwahashi is busy with official duties here in Tokyo. Although he is a producer, it is impossible for him to spend time with the band in Karuizawa every day. As the producer representative when he is not present, this time there are staff from the production team accompanying him.
This staff member will record the band's work progress and report to Shinichi Iwahashi.
Of course, he didn't just leave the matter to others. Every one or two days, Shinichi Iwahashi would go to Karuizawa to check on the progress, hold a meeting with the members to discuss, make some suggestions and find faults, etc.
, lest they let themselves go.
It's also a new Monday on Monday. The band members and staff set out early in the morning, while Shinichi Iwahashi sat in the conference room of the record company to start the meeting at the beginning of the week.
After the record company was established and the band Paradise entered a stage of stable operation, Iwahashi Shinichi stopped attending the Monday summary meeting and only attended the subsequent discussion meeting.
After the meeting at the record company, Iwahashi Shinichi returned to his office, and the clerk conveyed to him that Watanabe Manyumi had called.
Iwahashi Shinichi looked at the time and called back.
After Watanabe Manyumi answered the phone, Iwahashi Shinichi told her, "I just finished a meeting here."
Watanabe Manyumi on the other side of the phone replied something similar, "When I called you, I had just finished the meeting."
Receiving such a reply made him laugh.
"What's the matter?" Iwahashi Shinichi asked her.
"I have something to discuss with you." Watanabe Wan Yumi said, "Originally, it was a matter on the agency side. Didn't we set up an actor training class before? Inamura Izumi and Mizuno Asami both received acting training as the first batch of students.
"
"Oh." Iwahashi Shinichi listened.
When it came to matters involving the firm, he had no intention of asking. However, since Watanabe Manyumi took the initiative to tell him about the firm, then the conversation would definitely turn to matters related to his interests.
This is a tacit understanding accumulated through long-term cooperation.
"Asami Mizuno is currently working as a magazine model. After that, we are going to accept roles in TV series for her... Her development path has been planned and she has an exclusive agent in charge." Watanabe Wan Yumi came in the same way.
"Then there's Izumi Inamura. Actors have to hone their skills in small roles. This order is correct. However," she changed her subject, "I have taken a fancy to one and want to buy the film adaptation rights and let her play the female role.
main character."
"What?" Iwahashi Shinichi was really surprised.
"Since you want to make a movie, the movie also has a theme song, a promotional song, and so on. Shinichi-kun has always emphasized the role of 'publicity' in the past. I thought that Zard's music could be used as the theme song of the movie."
Watanabe Mayumi kept talking, and the topic turned around to the band again.
Although Zard's manager is not at U-Miz, she is at the Star Office, but she is the largest shareholder of the record company. If the band can become popular, it will be a dream for Watanabe Manyumi.
Now, when I plan to make a movie, I also first think about how to utilize resources.
...That's right.
However, Shinichi Iwahashi was more surprised than anything else when it came to Watanabe Manyumi, who praised her for making Inamura Izumi's movie. In contrast, she put aside her mention of having zard sing the theme song of the movie.
.
After a while, he finished digesting Watanabe Wan Yumi's thoughts, and then he started to ask: "What is it?"
As a result, Watanabe Manyumi gave up and asked, "Do you have time later? It's a bit troublesome to talk on the phone. Can we meet in person and talk about it in detail?"
Shinichi Iwahashi flipped through his itinerary, "I'll go to the office in Kawasaki later, and I'll go to Shinano Town in the afternoon. In the evening..." After a pause, "It shouldn't be inconvenient to talk while eating, right?
"
After hearing this, Watanabe Manyumi smiled and said, "It's very suitable for chatting while eating."
She said this, making Iwahashi Shinichi a little curious.
The two agreed on a time and place to meet. After putting down the phone, Shinichi Iwahashi sat there and pondered for a while, wondering what kind of medicine Watanabe Mayumi was selling in her gourd.
Apart from anything else, given the current miserable state of the Japanese film market, making movies is indeed a high-risk, low-return affair. Watanabe Manyumi must be more aware of this than Iwahashi Shinichi.
Even though he knew this, he still did it, which made Shinichi Iwahashi confused.
…
Anyway, the answer would be revealed in the evening. He couldn't think of a clue, so he simply didn't think about it. He packed up, left the record company, and went to the office in Kawasaki to deal with the work there.
The office in Kawasaki will not expire until the end of the year, and the search for a new house has already begun. It is still entrusted to Terahashi of Kanzaki Real Estate. During this period, Shinichi Iwahashi has to continue to run in both directions, which is very troublesome.
It's interesting to say that when I chose Kawasaki as my company's address, I didn't think much of it. However, once I made the plan to change the location, I started to feel that it was hard to move from the city to the suburbs.
People are really monsters.
When he arrived at Kawasaki, the clerk brought him the accumulated letters. Inside, Shinichi Iwahashi saw a letter from Akina Nakamori.
If you check the postmark, there is no doubt that it was sent after the meeting that night.
Opening the letter, it contained the "Tasting Thoughts Card" he had included with the record before.
Seeing this piece of paper, Shinichi Iwahashi remembered the night when he sent her home, when she said that she had to answer the questionnaire seriously since she had received it.
On the piece of paper in her hand that she was sending back, she also confirmed that it was serious and filled it with her freehand handwriting.
Iwahashi Shinichi carefully read the thoughts she wrote. On the one hand, he felt the seriousness in her personality. On the other hand, from her thoughts, he also sincerely realized her unique vision in music as a singer.
In addition to the shopping street children's impressions of the food tasting, the letter was still full of Nakamori Akina's wild and unbridled thoughts as before, which fit well with her freewheeling handwriting.
She wrote that she had been following Band Tenkuni, and from Band Tenkuni she wrote about the band Shinichi Iwahashi was producing.
Iwahashi Shinichi looked at what she had written about the band, and remembered that night, Nakamori Akina stretched out her hand to him and gave him a high-five.
After Iwahashi Shinichi patted her palm, Nakamori Akina said nothing more and said good night to him, then got out of the car and walked into the apartment.
…
There are many ways to celebrate, and high-fiving is a way that only he and Akina Nakamori can understand.
Iwahashi Shinichi imagined that when she learned in the letter that he had opened a record company, she might have been thinking about when to meet and celebrate with him like this.
Imagine that she unexpectedly met Okada Yukiko that night and had dinner together. From the meeting to the way he sent her home, she kept thinking about finding the right opportunity, but she delayed it until the moment she got off the car.
Taopusida waited for the opportunity with the idea of celebrating, and then extended his palm.
Shinichi Iwahashi thought from the bottom of his heart that Akina Nakamori was quite cute.
However, when thinking about the way to celebrate, he suddenly remembered that they were also celebrating the establishment of the record company. The way to celebrate with Akina Nakamori was to high-five, and the way to celebrate with Watanabe Manyumi was to shake hands.
Nakamori Akina playfully extended her palm, and Watanabe Mayumi remained restrained at all times.
In the evening, what topic did Watanabe Wan Yumi want to talk about, what she wanted to shoot, how she planned to shoot it, and what she planned to do? Shinichi Iwahashi thought of the previous phone call again.
Once you hold that hand, you have to keep the same pace with Watanabe Manyumi.
Iwahashi Shinichi retracted his thoughts, put aside these questions that could only wait for Watanabe Wanyumi's answers, and focused his attention on the letter paper again.
At the end of the letter, Nakamori Akina wrote the address of her apartment.
Iwahashi Shinichi took out his itinerary and copied this string of addresses. After that, he put Nakamori Akina's letter into an envelope and put it aside to deal with the work at hand first.
After finishing all the backlog of work, I can finally have some free time.
At this time, Iwahashi Shinichi took the letter over again and read it again. Then, he found the letter paper, picked up the pen, and wrote a reply to Nakamori Akina.
After writing the letter, he compared the copied address and filled in a new mailing address on the envelope.
Just as he was about to fold the letter and put it in the envelope, he remembered that there was something he had not done yet. He picked up the pen again and wrote the address of his apartment in the letter.
Then, he put the letter into the envelope again.
…
On this day, Iwahashi Shinichi was busy. At night, he finally got away from work and went to the restaurant he had made an appointment on time.
