Interview] New song "Impulse" with dramatic vocals. Mashiro Ayano is still cool!

Following her previous song "starry," Mashiro Ayano sings the theme song for the TV anime "Gran Crest Senki. She says 2018 will be a year of change, and in July, she will start a 3-city, 6-show live circuit called "PARAISO". We look forward to her performance with her powerful new song "Impulse"!
This interview took place on April 23, her birthday. The day before, she had successfully held her solo live at EX THEATER ROPPONGI. So, we started the interview by talking about the live performance.

It was the most liberating live performance I have ever attended.

─ ─ Happy birthday to you.

Ayano: Thank you very much. I would like to grow as an artist as well, as I have become an adult.

───On your birthday Eve, you performed a one-man show at EX THEATER ROPPONGI. It was a great turnout.

Ayano: I was happy to see everyone's excitement. It was my first solo live performance in about six months, so I had a lot of challenges and things I wanted to do. I aimed to be steady without being too greedy. The audience had prepared for the songs, and I think the sense of unity was one of the best I have ever felt at a live concert. They sang along with us a lot.

Mashiro-san was very dynamic and seemed to be having a lot of fun. I had the impression that they were performing using the entire stage.

Ayano: Thanks in part to good mental control this time, I think this was the best live performance so far in which I was able to release myself. In the beginning of the concert, I often sing so hard in a tense atmosphere that I don't remember anything when the show is over, but that is a waste. I listened to and sang the songs on the set list many times to make them fit into my daily life, and the physical training also helped me gain confidence, so I was able to face the show with a calmer mind than usual.


─ I think the band members and I were in sync with each other, and the stage was very stable.

Ayano: Each member of the Mashiro Band did what they could do, and I was able to entrust the performance to them with peace of mind. Some parts went well, and some parts became issues for the next live performance, so we will all work hard again for the "PARAISO" in the summer.

─ ─ The live circuit "PARAISO" will start in July.

Ayano: All three venues are 2-days, so I want to do my best, including adjusting my condition, and make the live a good one.

─ ─ After overcoming yesterday's concert, it seems like you have another mountain to climb right away, doesn't it?

Ayano Yes. But, having successfully completed the one-man live concert, I ate ramen yesterday, which I had been refraining from for a long time. I thought, "Now I can start working hard again tomorrow" (laughs).

─ ─ So it was ramen as a reward.

Ayano: Yes (laughs).

─ ─ Yesterday at the live performance, you also sang the new single "Impulse".

Ayano: Yesterday was the first time we performed it. Many of the audience knew the song because it had already been aired as the ending theme for the second half of the TV anime "Gran Crest Senki," but I think the band's intense performance made the sound resonate directly in their bodies, giving them a new appreciation of the song's passionate power. I think they were able to feel the passion of this song once again.

─ What did you pay attention to in the vocals?

Ayano: The first chorus was sung calmly and the chorus builds up, which is dramatic in itself, but from the second chorus to the chorus at the end, it became more and more uplifting. I think we were able to mix in some fakes and sing the song as if it were a true impulse. It was a good performance as a starting point for this song.