GRANRODEO releases "TRASH CANDY," the theme song for "Bungo Stray Dogs" OP.

Entering their 11th year, GRANRODEO has released their first single "TRASH CANDY," the opening theme song for the TV anime "Bungo Stray Dogs. In the artist photo, KISHOW (Noriaki Taniyama, vocalist) and e-ZUKA (Masaaki Iizuka, guitarist) are carrying a red circle for some reason. Was this an indication of GRANRODEO's direction as a unit?

I wanted the song to make people think, "Oh, that's how it's going to be! I wanted the song to make people think, "That's how it's going to be!

─ Your new single "TRASH CANDY" is the OP theme song for "Bungo Stray Dogs. What did you think about first when creating the song?

As the first single of 2016 and the first single of e-ZUKA GRANRODEO's 11th year since its formation, I wanted to make people think, "Oh, so that's how it's going to be! I wanted to make people think, "That's how it's going to be! We have been doing theme songs for "Kuroko no Basketball" for a long time, and there have been many refreshing songs, and the two new songs on the best album "Decade of Gr" released last year were easy to listen to, so we decided to go with a more intense song, not as a reaction to that.

I had the impression that the songs were rhythmically hooky and heavy.

e-ZUKA It is full of hooks. I intentionally made it unnatural, or rather, it is a technical song. I decided from the beginning to use synths for the intro, and overall, I tried to make the song sound like "Stray Dogs" (= stray dogs), and to make it sound like a rough and tumble tune.

It has a roughness to it, and I felt it was the perfect sound for the battle action of "Stray Dogs.

e-ZUKA When I saw "TRASH CANDY" attached to the video for the first time in the second PV of the anime, I thought it was a song that fit the world of the work.

KISHOW My impression is that it is a simple song with few notes. Because of that, I thought the impression would change considerably depending on how the song was sung. The tune was fast and sharp, so I sang it in such a way that it was hard to understand what was being said; you had to look at the lyric card to hear what I was saying. It's a style of singing that I prefer.

─ ─ The lyrics written by KISHOW are also abstract, and if we can't hear the lyrics, we want to listen to the song with the lyric cards even more.

KISHOW That is my goal. We wanted people who were curious about what the song was about after watching the anime to pick up the CD (laughs).

─ I see (laughs). (laughs) When you were writing the lyrics, I assume you came into contact with material from the original work and the anime. What was your impression of the work "Bungo Stray Dogs"?

KISHOW The conception is interesting. I also thought it was a very conceptual work with a lot to aim for. The characters with the names of great writers and their individual characters tickle the hearts of young girls, and the setting of a secret detective agency and battles with different powers intrigues the hearts of boys. I thought this would be a big seller (laughs).

─ ─ The original work is a popular work, isn't it?

KISHOW: That's why, when I first started writing the lyrics, I wondered if people would be pleased if I sprinkled in quotes from the works of the literary giants who appear in the series, but I decided against it because it would be a little too obvious (laughs). (Laughs) In the end, the lyrics ended up being the usual GRANRODEO style.

I think that even the great writers had a lot of middle age problems.

───KISHOW, you play Nakaya Nakahara in the film. What kind of image do you have of Nakaya?

KISHOW I have the image that there are many manga artists and musicians who are ardent fans of Nakaya. Actually, some people think that I am a Nakaya fan, too, because the song "SUGAR" is on GRANRODEO's 9th single, and there is a lyric in the song, "Mae osho Nakahara Nakaya-sama, my sorrow is like a stain.

─ ─ Nakaya Nakahara's different ability in "Bungo Stray Dogs" is also "My sadness is like I've become dirty.

KISHOW It is the most famous part. I wrote the lyrics, and since Nakaya and I are both from Yamaguchi Prefecture, he would say to me, "I'm glad you got to play Nakaya. Some of my fans say, "He is your favorite poet, isn't he?" But I tell them, "No, no, I really don't like him that much. But I appreciate the fact that they read so much into it, so I want to say, "Oh, yes, I'm glad you remember me.

─ ─ Deep reading is the best part of being a fan (laughs). What I found interesting about the lyrics, which you can only hear in the full size version, was the inclusion of the word "stray cat. So it's not "stray dog.

KISHOW I was actually confused about that part. I was trying to decide between "stray dog" and "stray cat. I was torn between staying true to the work, or daring to be off-kilter and show a bit of a quirky side. In the end, after recording both, I decided on "Stray Cat" because of the connection between the lyrics and the sound. Now I'm thinking, maybe I should have included the "stray dog" version in about one out of every 100 copies (laughs). It was like winning a rare character.

─ ─ Hahahaha (laughs). How about using different versions for different live performances?

KISHOW That might be interesting. Like, "Did you come as a 'stray dog' today? (laughs).

─ ─ Another part of the lyrics that caught my ear was the word "chuunibyou" (chuunibyou). I wondered if they were going to include such a word.

KISHOW I put it in just for fun. I think that even great writers had a lot of chuuni-sickness.

─ ─ It's just that there was no such word at that time, but chuuni-sickness refers to the worries and embarrassments of youth.

KISHOW Yes, yes. If the so-called "chunibyou-ji" feeling disappeared, life would not be interesting. It would be boring to live a cynical life with a knowing look on your face, wouldn't it?　That's what I'm trying to say.