What is it like to sing as "Haruka Yamazaki"? Interview with Haruka Yamazaki on the occasion of the release of her debut single "Zensen tomodachi

Haruka Yamazaki, who has appeared in many productions, events, and live performances as a voice actress, made her long-awaited solo debut on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 with her first single "Zenzen Tomodachi.

The title track is the ending theme for the popular TV anime "Magical Girl Site". The song spins the thoughts of the girls with her powerful and sad voice. The coupling song "Friday Bambi" is a supportive song with a different gentle voice from the title song.

We interviewed Ms. Yamazaki, who is about to make her solo debut. She spoke frankly about her thoughts on her debut as an artist, her feelings about the song, and behind-the-scenes stories about the recording and music video recording.

I never thought I would make my debut as an artist.

--Congratulations on your solo debut! First of all, please tell us how you felt when you first heard about your solo debut.

Yamazaki I was really surprised. I was 100% surprised, or rather, I didn't really feel it that day. I didn't really feel it on that day. After I received the music, and as I started working with ...... to shoot the artist photos and music videos, I gradually began to feel it. That was the first time I felt happy and wanted to do something like this. Until then, I felt like it was something else.

--You released a CD as Luka Suirenji in "Heaven is a Place on Earth", your debut as a voice actress.

Yamazaki: I didn't have any desire to sing as Haruka Yamazaki at that time.

--After that, when your fellow voice actors around you made their debut as artists, did you ever think that you might want to do it someday?

Yamazaki: I never thought about it.

I grew up thinking that artists and voice actors are two different things. When I was a student who was actively involved in otaku activities, there were many voice actors who did not show their faces, so I thought "voice actors are voice actors and artists are artists. Ever since the stage when I set out to become a voice actor, I never overlapped myself with artists. My teacher, Chinatsu Sakamoto, had also appeared on TV a few times, but she basically never showed her face.

--So, I think you were not only surprised but also perplexed. How did your feelings change?

Yamazaki: The big event was the NBC Fes (NBCUniversal ANIME x MUSIC FESTIVAL). I was so happy to hear the cheers of the audience when I said "I am making my solo debut" in front of them. That was the biggest turning point for me.

Before that, I was happy, but I couldn't help but wonder, "Will people accept me? I was mainly thinking, "There might not be a demand for me to do this. However, I was very happy to hear the cheers of "Go for it! I was cheered by the audience, which gave me courage.

--Please tell us about your roots as an artist and what kind of songs you originally grew up listening to.

Yamazaki: I grew up surrounded by Disney songs. The songs that cheered me up were those by Dreams Come True. I can't tell you how many times I listened to them, especially "Dondemo de Dondemo". When I was in my teens, I felt uplifted by "No matter how many times" when I was feeling down and helpless. I also listened to rock music such as Acid Black Cherry and sang karaoke to songs sung by MISIA and Yuna Ito.

As an otaku, I also liked anime songs, especially those by Jump, so songs with male vocals and a sense of speed, so-called "friendship, effort, and victory" songs were also on my playlist. I also listened to Vocaloid songs.

--You are always good at imitating voices, but were you the type to imitate and sing karaoke as well?

Yamazaki Yes, 100% of the time. If it was a Disney song, I would imitate the character and sing it, or I would imitate someone with a strong accent like Miyuki Nakajima, or I would imitate whoever's song I was singing. （I would imitate anyone's song, even if it was a mechanical sound, like Kagamine Len (Vocaloid) (laughs).

Pursuing a singing style as Haruka Yamazaki

--Let me ask you about your debut single. First of all, please tell us about the title track "Zensen tomodachi".

Yamazaki: The lyrics of "Zensentomodachi" are in line with "Magical Girl Site," and I felt that the first verse describes the feelings of the main character's best friend, Rono, and the second verse describes the feelings of the main character, Aya. Therefore, I put my emotions into the song by putting myself into the feelings of the main characters. However, although the main anime has a dark image, I wanted the ending to have a sense of hope and salvation. I sang the chorus in a way that would lead the audience toward the light.

--What was your impression of the melody?

Yamazaki I really like the tone of the song, and I could sing the chorus just by listening to it once.

--Until now, you have sung about the feelings of specific characters in character songs, but was it difficult to sing about the work as a whole?

Yamazaki: It wasn't difficult in the sense of whether it was a character song or a song about the work as a whole, but it was difficult to sing "as Haruka Yamazaki. ...... I didn't know what my own singing would be like. （I usually sing as an impersonator, and in my work I sing as a character, so I have never sung as Haruka Yamazaki, even in my private life. When I was asked to sing freely as Haruka Yamazaki, I had a hard time because I didn't know which tension and which notes to use.

--So, you explored how to sing as Haruka Yamazaki while recording the song?

Yamazaki Yes, that's right. I couldn't figure it out, so I tried to be okay with how I was directed. I've always been the type of person who doesn't make things up as I go along, and just goes with my gut (laughs).

(laughs) Of course, I practiced the song as a song. Then I would just try it out and say, "I can sing this way," or "I can sing this way," or "Which way is me? Which one is me? We discussed the "Magical Girl Sight" style and whether it would be too different from the "Haruka Yamazaki as seen by a third party. If it was too different, it would lose its persuasive power. In this way, I was able to find the right balance between what I felt suited my own personality and what I thought "this is how Haruka Yamazaki is.

--Yamazaki: In the process, were there any parts of yourself that you realized you were like this again?

Yamazaki: I realized once again that I like to lead. When I was a student, I was a group leader and student council member, and I would rather be told "I'll follow you" than "I want to protect you. So if someone said, "I'll follow you" or "I'll support you," with the intention of having fun with Haruka Yamazaki, I would say, "Yeah, yeah! Let's go! I'm going to have fun with Haruka Yamazaki.

--Yamazaki: Is there a phrase in particular you like in the lyrics?

Yamazaki Well, I feel that they are connected throughout the song, so I can't really pick out any particular phrase and say "here". If I had to say so, I would say that the chorus of the second verse is not a figurative expression but an honest and raw feeling, but I would like people to listen to the whole song through.

For example, the last part of the first verse is "I want to live. I think it's good because we don't know whether we are going to live or die in the anime, but unless you say "I will live" at the end of the second verse, there is no hope for us. There is a difference between "I want to live" and "I will live.

--I agree with you. The melody and structure are not straightforward, and I want people to listen to the whole song.

Yamazaki That's right, the first and second numbers are completely different, so I want people to listen to them in their entirety.

The first time to shoot a music video was nerve-wracking!

--I heard that this was your first time shooting a music video. How did you feel about it?

Yamazaki: I had a vague idea that it would take a long time, but I didn't realize how long it would take, and how hard it would be. I was told that it would be better if the filming could be done in one day.

But more than that, I was so ...... nervous that I was tense all the time (laughs).

(laughs) -- So you were nervous even though you had experienced a variety of workplaces.

Yamazaki I was about 100 times more nervous than singing in front of tens of thousands of people. There is a huge difference.

--What is the difference?　You are used to having a camera pointed at you.

Yamazaki It depends on whether the audience is in front of you or not. At live shows, there are cameras for live viewing, and you can imagine that people are watching the show in a movie theater. But when you shoot a music video, there is no one watching it right now. It's different from a radio recording, and I felt like ...... the audience was, well, ....... I didn't know how to create a feeling.

I was too nervous to dance with all the cameras rolling while the staff looked on. It was different from an audition. The kind of nervousness I felt was similar to that of a class visit (laughs). I'm not usually nervous, but for the first time I was really nervous.

--Yamazaki: Were you nervous about all of it, from the close-up shots to the lip-syncing and other close-up shots?

Yamazaki: I was nervous about everything. I was also nervous about shooting in front of the projection mapping.

--So you didn't composite the projection mapping afterwards, but actually did it?

Yamazaki Yes, the projection mapping of the music video was created on the set. All the lights were exactly as in the music video, and there was Bamiri standing there (laughs). (Laughs.) "That's where I'm going, isn't it? Do I have to dance there? And I was like, "I have to dance there? I felt like I was going to be left behind in that place, so I was really scared.

--I was really scared because I felt like I was being left behind in that place.

Yamazaki The dancers were the only thing that saved me (laughs). But I was so nervous during a one-person shot that I stepped on my skirt and tore it.

--I was so nervous that I stepped on my skirt and tore it.

Yamazaki The shooting location was so spacious and crowded that I was so nervous that I was afraid to leave the waiting room. I was so nervous that I was afraid to leave the waiting room. I was so nervous that I got used to the space after talking with the director over a hot drink.

--The music video also includes a dance shot version. You have danced in other productions, but how was it this time?

Yamazaki: Actually, it was the first time for me to dance fully with both hands. When I hold the microphone, I don't move my left hand, so I realized once again how difficult it is to dance all the way through. Also, I was too nervous to dance at all. I was told to use only the good parts, but even so, it was difficult to say things like, "I did a good job with my face (facial expressions) earlier, but I made so many mistakes in the dance (......).

--Have you seen the completed video yet?

Yamazaki: I did. I was surprised at how it turned out. When we were filming, we shot some footage that we didn't know what it would be used for. For example, there was only projection mapping, or a song was playing but I didn't sing, or I used about 5 seconds to slowly look back at the scene. When I saw the finished video, I thought, "It's slowing down! I see what you mean!" It was like trying to answer the same question (laughs).

--(laughs) - that experience will lead you to the next stage, won't it?

Yamazaki: That's right. It gave me an idea of what I wanted to do next. If I was filming for this purpose, I could have left the eyes alone and looked back, or I could have made a scene where I relaxed a bit instead of just singing. I feel that I could have done many things.

--Yamazaki: So you were nervous because there was no audience, but it was different when you performed at AnimeJapan 2018, wasn't it?

Yamazaki: It's really easier to sing when there is an audience, whereas in a music video I would be like, "How should I be feeling when I sing now? In a music video, I'm like, "How should I be feeling when I sing? In a live performance, I can see how the audience is feeling, so I can sing accordingly, but I've been doing that all my life, so shooting music videos was difficult.

The stage at AnimeJapan was a place where I could feel the audience saying, "I'm seeing Haruka Yamazaki (as an artist) for the first time, what will it be like? I was really excited to see what it would be like to see Haruka Yamazaki (as an artist) for the first time. I was like, "Yes, I'm Haruka Yamazaki! Here is the song. Please listen to it! It was easy to sing the song with that feeling, and when I made mistakes, I didn't get as upset as when I shot the music video (laughs). But when I made mistakes during the music video shooting, I would say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I made a mistake, I'm sorry! (laughs).

(laughs) -- No, it's okay to make mistakes when shooting music videos, though.

Yamazaki That's what I was told (laughs). (laughs) I guess it's in my nature. I simply get more excited when there is an audience.