For the 30th anniversary of "MACROSS 7" - "Uta Basara" Yoshiki Fukuyama and lyricist K.INOJO talk about the hot basara! Doubt Men feat MACROSS 7" LIVE & CD release commemorative interview

Macross 7" will celebrate its 30th anniversary in October 2024. Lyricist and music producer K. INOJO wrote the lyrics for the opening theme "SEVENTH MOON" and many other songs in Fire Bomber's repertoire, and in effect, played a role in shaping the character and emotions of the main character, Hot Air Basara. His techno unit, Doubtmen, will hold a live concert on December 14, 2023, as a prelude to the 30th anniversary, featuring Yoshiki Fukuyama, aka "Uta Basara," who was in charge of Basara's vocals. They are also planning to release an album "Doubtmen feat MACROSS 7" containing those songs at the beginning of the year.

We invited K.INOJO and Yoshiki Fukuyama, two key figures in the project, to talk about the birth of the "MACROSS 7" songs and their thoughts on the live and CD release in the form of a conversation.

⇒ Please click here to read the interview!
Present】MACROSS 7's famous songs will be revived! The "Live Doubtmen! ～Five winners will be selected by drawing to participate in the "Live Doubtmen!

Basara's character was nurtured by the music!

─ When did the two of you first meet, when was your first contact?

Fukuyama: Our first encounter was working on "Macross 7". It was probably at Victor Studio in Jingumae. There was a meeting of all the people involved in the project in a room that looked like a conference room, and that was the first time I met not only INOJO, but also Shoji Kawamori and Director Amino Tetsuro.

K.INOJO Was that right?　I thought we met in the studio and the recording process started right away.

FUKUYAMA No, the recording process did indeed start in a big hurry. We were supposed to start broadcasting in October, but it was already August at that point, and we were in a very tight schedule. We recorded six songs in the first two days. I had listened to the demo tapes that the composer had made, but I had not yet heard the finished arrangements, and I had not yet seen the lyrics. That day, I met the lyrics and the finished arrangement for the first time in the studio, and I was laughing and breaking out in a cold sweat, thinking, "Wow, the key is pretty high! That's how we met (laughs).

K.INOJO I also received only a demo tape and was told to hurry up and write the lyrics anyway! I was told, "Just hurry up and write the lyrics! Demo tapes sometimes contain only one chorus, so I had no choice but to write the lyrics without knowing the feel of the second or third verse. I would go straight to the studio, listen to the finished arrangement that finally arrived that day, and somehow formulate the lyrics on the spot.

Yoshiki Fukuyama

─ So it was quite a rush job, or rather, a battlefield. ......

Fukuyama: INOJO, myself, and music producer Shiro Sasaki (then a producer at Victor Entertainment Inc. We were all thinking, "It was supposed to be half of two choruses, but the orchestra came in with three choruses. Add a lyric here! or "This word would be better in verse 3 than verse 2," or "Basara wouldn't use this kind of ending," etc. We cut and pasted the words together in heated discussions, and finally INOJO would clean up.

K.INOJO That was terrible (laughs). (laughs) But there was a strong sense of togetherness as we worked together to create the music. Nowadays, we often order lyrics, songs, and arrangements from several people, who are chosen by audition and combined to complete the work (......). At the time of "Macross 7," the 70's and 80's style of music making was still the mainstream. At the time of "Macross 7," the 70's and 80's style of music production was still the mainstream, and many times the music was just thrown at you with the confidence that "I'll leave this part to you. So, I remember being able to make music comfortably with a sense of responsibility (tension) like, "If I skip this part, it will be the end of this program. ......

Fukuyama: Yes, we were discussing and making the program onsite. So, I think it was the world of the lyrics that INOJO put together that formed the basis of the way of thinking, tone of voice, and behavior of the man named Hot Air Basara. Of course, it was a collaborative work with the animation staff and Nobutoshi Kanna, who did the voice of Basara, but it was INOJO who explored Basara's inner world, transformed it into words, and put it into a form that could be understood by everyone.

K.INOJO Of course I had received setting materials and scenarios, but they didn't say what Basara was thinking and doing, or what he wanted to do ...... in Fire Bomber. But that's what you need to do to create a "song written by Basara". So creating the idea of Basara, that was the most important job.

Fukuyama: Although you played a mute role, it was mostly "in the songs" that you revealed your inner self, wasn't it? Even Kami-chan (Kanna Nobutoshi) was complaining at the time, "Basara sings a lot and doesn't have many lines" (laughs).

K.INOJO Once production got underway, the animation team and the music team didn't have frequent meetings, so they worked separately, but they somehow developed a common image of what Basara was like. We didn't have any meetings. We didn't even have a meeting. It was an interesting process.

K.INOJO

─ Were you good at the type of lyrics that depict the character's worldview in the lyrics?

K.INOJO: I had worked on a number of image albums for Minami Ozaki's manga works (such as "ZEKAI-1989"), so I was used to it, and it was the type of work that I could get into. However, at that time in the music industry, work related to manga and anime was looked down upon, and it was a time when people made fun of us, saying things like, "Oh, INOJO has finally gotten into anime ......." I didn't care about that at all. I didn't mind that at all, and when I heard that "Macross 7" was a rock band anime, I was all "Oh, I'll do it! I was really excited to do it. I wrote the lyrics for "Seventh Moon," which would later become the opening theme, and gave them to the band, and they asked me to write the other songs as well. So "Seventh Moon" was the only song that was not yet in the Basara world. I was trying to make it a little cooler, and it was very much pulled into the world of FENCE OF DEFENSE, the band I was working with at the time.

K.INOJO So "SEVENTH MOON" was not originally written as a theme song?

K.INOJO At least when I wrote the lyrics, I wasn't told it was going to be the theme song. As I just mentioned, "SEVENTH MOON" is the only vocal song of Fukuyama's for "Macross 7" that is different. It doesn't reflect the world of Basara yet; in short, it hasn't fully become part of Fire Bomber's repertoire. Now that I think about it, perhaps that is why the director and staff saw through those subtle differences and chose it as the theme song.

Fukuyama: Oh, really?　I had never heard of it before either! That reminds me, "SEVENTH MOON" was not included in the "6 songs in 2 days" session. A short time later, Shiro Sasaki said to me, "Sorry, I forgot to record the theme song. Come here right away! I went to the studio in Shinjuku around midnight. I said, "Sorry, I haven't listened to the song yet. ......," and Mr. Sasaki sang it for me right then and there (laughs). (Laughs.) When we finally finished recording the song, we recorded a scat version of it, like "Toot-Toot-Toot. And since it was the theme song, we had to record a TV size version as well, so it took us until the morning and we were exhausted (laughs). That's why "Seventh Moon" was the last song we recorded during the first recording process.

K.INOJO On the contrary, I don't know how it happened. It was the middle of the night, so I wasn't there (laughs).

K.INOJO: Did you really feel like you wanted to sit down and work on it more carefully?

Fukuyama: The first few songs from the first session were all done in such a flurry, and at the time, I certainly felt that I wanted to take more time to write them. But looking back on it now, I think the songs were made possible because of that momentum and tension. The way the song is sung in a high key is very Basara-esque. Now I think that the tension of that first recording session was the deciding factor for the rest of the Hot Air Basara.

K.INOJO When we were recording "REMEMBER 16," Mr. Sasaki and I were in the adjustment room and said, "Fukuyama-kun, the key seems tight. (I don't have time to fix it.)" and "Eh, ......, I think it's OK, don't you? I remember talking like that (laughs).

Fukuyama: That's terrible, thinking it was someone else's problem. I did the backing chorus for "REMEMBER 16" by myself, but I couldn't reach the high notes, so I called up the members of my own band, HUMMING BIRD, on short notice to help me. There was an office near the studio where the members were working on copying the fan club newsletter (laughs).

K.INOJO But I am glad that the first song we recorded sold well. Recording songs costs a lot of money, and it's not easy to record additional songs. But it's an anime about a band, so if we only sang the same songs throughout the show, there was no way we would be popular as a band (laughs).

(Laughs) - The music was created in the middle of the show, when a common understanding of Basara was established.

─ ─The music for "Macross 7" was all "actual music" that existed in the play, such as songs by Fire Bomber and other artists and the state in which they were played from a boom box, and it was also a novel method to not produce so-called "accompaniment music".

Fukuyama: Yes! Since we didn't produce any dramatic accompaniment, we could use that budget for vocal music as well! I thought I was going to use ......, but it was not so easy. At first I was also told that after each single and the first mini-album "MUSIC SELECTION FROM GALAXY NETWORK CHART" (released on January 21, 1995), that would be the end of it.

K.INOJO If that had happened, Fire Bomber would have ended without even releasing its first album (laughs).

Fukuyama: I had recorded six of my songs and about four of Chie Kaziura's milieu vocal songs in the early sessions, so the full album = Fire Bomber's first album "LET'S FIRE! (released on June 7, 1995). I am really glad we were able to release it (laughs).

K.INOJO But maybe we were a little late in starting the follow-up songs because we were waiting to see what would happen after that based on the sales of the first mini-album. SECOND FIRE!" (released on October 21, 1995) was released right after the show ended.

Fukuyama: But in the meantime, various CDs were actually released. There was a cover of Lynn Minmay by Satoshi Sakurai ("Mylene Jenius sings Lynn Minmay" / released on May 3, 1995), and a live CD at Nippon Seinenkan ("LIVE FIRE!!!" / released on August 23, 1995). /(released on August 23, 1995), and a live recording of the Nippon Seinenkan concert ("LIVE FIRE!!!").

K.INOJO I was a little surprised that your first full-length album was a Lynn Minmay cover. I thought, "What? It's not one of our songs? (laughs).

─ ─ Wasn't it also a secret for quite a long time that Mr. Fukuyama was in charge of the vocal part of Hot Air Basara?

Fukuyama: That's right. The event at the Nippon Seinenkan that you just mentioned (the live "LET'S FIRE!!!") was held on May 21, 1995. / held on May 21, 1995), I appeared in front of fans for the first time with Chie Kaziura. It was a secret until seven months after the program started. By the way, it is still a "secret!　Try searching for "Yoshiki Fukuyama" in karaoke. The songs from "Macross 7" are all under the name "Fire Bomber," so you won't get any hits at all. After "Macross F", it's "Sheryl Nome starring May'n", right?　Chie's second ending theme "...but Baby! is under the name Chie Kaziura, but I've kept it a secret for a long time (laughs).

Laughs──Did you make the many new songs that appear after the middle of the story differently from the early songs?

Fukuyama: That's right. I felt like I was on the right track and had more time to spare. Above all, by that time, I was already thinking, "Basara is like this, right? or "This is how Basara would sing," and so on.

K.INOJO We are a rock band, and at first I wrote some lyrics that were a bit sexy and overlapped with Basara's past love experiences, but there were times when Mr. Sasaki and I debated whether or not we should talk about Basara's past love stories. (laugh). Through this process, I was able to see the direction I needed to go, and I was able to choose words without hesitation, such as "Basara would never do something like this" or "This is not the way to say it. Basara's image as a human being had been formed between myself, Mr. Fukuyama, and Mr. Sasaki.

Fukuyama: It's actually a pretty heavy war story, but Basara sings love songs all the time, which is foolish, and yet there are almost no romantic elements in Basara. (Laughs.) It's a "Macross" story, you know? (Laughs) I think this strange balance, revolving around Basara, is what makes "Macross 7" uniquely appealing. It is possible to have Basara rush to the battlefield in a fire valkyrie and sing an anti-war song with all her might, isn't it? But if we had said even one word of "No war! even a single word, that's not Basara anymore. I think the most important thing about "Macross 7" is that it is a straight love song.

K.INOJO: Anyway, "Listen to my song! That's what it's all about, isn't it? There is no "listen to my song and do me a favor. It's too straightforward, and there's no social aspect to it. But that's the charm of Basara (laughs). I also wrote a song called "SPIRAL ANSWER," which is a bit of a downer, in which Basara reveals a bit of his inner conflict, but it was almost never used (laughs).

Fukuyama: Director Amino also ordered a song about such "troubles. But in the end, it was not used much.

K.INOJO Well, we are not the kind of people who would listen to the order, and it would not be completed immediately. Fukuyama also brought his own songs. Try Again," for example (laughs).

(laughs). Fukuyama: I did bring my own songs. But it didn't play in the main program, and I thought, "What the heck? I was thinking, "What's going on?" But then they used it in the final episode in a cool way, so I guess they thought it was one of the best songs.

K.INOJO Maybe the director just forgot about it.

FUKUYAMA That's terrible! (laughs)

K.INOJO: Did you meet and work directly with the sound staff, such as the composer and arranger, in the studio?

K.INOJO No, we were working in a separate team from the composers and arrangers, so we rarely had a chance to meet with them. That is why most of the songs in "Macross 7" were created in a "song-first" style (the composer first creates the melody, and then the lyricist applies the lyrics to the melody). That is why Mr. Tong was so important. Under the supervision of Mr. Shiro Sasaki, Mr. Toshiaki Hayashi (director of the music production company "Flowers Land" / former drummer of Shigeru Suzuki's band "Huckleback") was in charge of directing the musical and sound aspects of the project. Mr. Hayashi was also in charge of arranging lyrics, music composition, arrangements, singers, and performing musicians.

Fukuyama: To put it another way, the work on Chie Kaziura's "Milene" was also being done by a separate team. That is why Mr. Hayashi's presence was so important in organizing everything. The Basara team, consisting of myself and INOJO, received the complete orchestra that Mr. Hayashi had ordered from the sound team and had arranged and recorded, and then we finished the lyrics and added vocals. So you were in control of the entire process. The worldview of Basara may have been created by me, INOJO, and Mr. Sasaki, but it was Mr. Sasaki and Mr. Hayashi who created how to express it vocally and how it should be expressed in the Fire Bomber sound. It was Mr. Sasaki and Mr. Hayashi who created how to express the vocals and how to shape them within the sound of Fire Bomber. or "Make it a little more forceful! He was very strict in his vocal instruction to me.

To convey FireBomber to a new generation

───This time, youare starting a project to cover songs from "Macross 7"just before the 30th anniversary the following year.

K.INOJO: I have always been behind the scenes writing lyrics and producing, but last year I formed a techno unit called "Doubtmen" with Aoki Tsunekazu, and started to take a more active role. We feature various artists and idols in the front, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to feature "Macross 7," so I immediately contacted Mr. Fukuyama and he agreed. The timing was right around the time of the 30th anniversary. Of course, I had permission from Mr. Sasaki of Flying Dog and BIG WEST, the company that oversees the "Macross" rights.

Fukuyama: In a sense, both INOJO and I have had our lives changed by "Macross 7. Both the program and the music were a hit, and thanks to that, you have been able to continue your activities as a musician.

K.INOJO Yes. So my honest motive is to celebrate the 30th anniversary with the fans of that time, and to return the favor. However, in the past events looking back on "Macross 7," the main method was to have a live performance that reproduced the band sound of Fire Bomber, or to have Mr. Fukuyama sing unplugged in a quiet way. However, the quality of "Macross 7" songs in general is very high, so I had been thinking for some time that it would be possible to develop the songs in a variety of ways. That's when I decided to use the methodology of my unit, "Doubtmen," to create a variety of techno arrangements.

─ So the method that Doubtmen has developed of featuring various artists in each song is also used in this album "Doubtmen feat MACROSS 7", is that right?

K.INOJO That's right. It is not a reunion album that recreates performances or a reunion, but rather, if we were going to make a new album, we wanted to explore the development of the next era. That is why I wanted to take the plunge and entrust the front line to a new generation, and to multiple talents. However, I felt that this alone might not be enough for the fans, so I asked the real "Uta Basara" to appear as well.

Fukuyama: It was the first time for me to sing with techno, so I was a little nervous (laughs).

K.INOJO When I first played you the demo, you were surprised.

Fukuyama: "Wow, this is how it's supposed to be! That's right, of course I was surprised. I can't change the way I sing as Basara so much, so it's interesting that the orchestra has changed so much, creating a gap. Thank you very much for giving me such a modern taste (laughs).

─ ─ Anime song cover albums are so popular that a boom occurs every few years, and at the end of the '90s, techno arrangements of anime songs were mass-produced due to the boom of parapara and "sound games," but even then, Mr. Fukuyama did not sing a techno cover of the "Macross 7" song.You didn't sing a techno cover of the "Macross 7" song, did you?

Fukuyama: No, I didn't. This is the first time. This is the first time. I am always late to the boom (laughs). (laughs) Somewhere in me, there is a feeling of not wanting to do something that is trendy or that everyone else is doing. However, this time is the 30th anniversary of "Macross 7," and above all, 2024 is said to be the year of the birth of Hot Air Basara. I have been talking with Mr. INOJO about doing something that will be talked about from various directions, and I also want to reach the younger generation who got to know "Macross" through "F" and "Δ".

K.INOJO: I'm sure there are some fans who may wonder "Why aren't all the songs on this CD by Mr. Fukuyama? But I think this kind of boldness is important to ensure that the music of "Macross 7" is passed on to future generations. Technology and recording techniques for music have changed dramatically over the past 30 years, and we are considering various ways of developing the sound that reflect this evolution. For example, the vocals are the same take, but the orchestra is completely different, or the same arrangement is sung by multiple vocalists. So, we are planning to hold a live concert on December 14, "LIVE Doubtmen! ～Live for the pre-launch of CD ALBUM "Doubtmen feat MACROSS 7"" was not held at a hall or a live house, but at a club in Shibuya, where the sound could be experienced with explosions and heavy bass.

Fukuyama I think this will be the first time for me to sing without a guitar at a "MACROSS 7" live performance (laughs).

K.INOJO Since we dared to seal off the guitar for this sound, it would certainly be strange for Fukuyama to appear on stage with a guitar. How about singing with a headset without even holding a microphone?　A great new basara (laughs).

Fukuyama: Isn't that too new?　That's too new (laughs).

K.INOJO Oh, on one song, "Angel Voice," I asked Tomotaka Imamichi, guitarist for the Barbie Boys, to join and play guitar to the fullest. I made it an instrumental to feature his solo.

─ ─ Doesn't the visual style of Tomotaka Imamichi from the Barbie Boys days, with those small round glasses slightly lowered, look a lot like Basara's live style?

K.INOJO That's right!　When I showed him the material I had prepared and said, "The next song I'm going to ask you to sing is an anime song like this one (......)," he said, "Oh, I used to use glasses like that a lot.　He said, "I used to use glasses like these a lot." He sent me a picture of the Basara glasses he still has. Maybe he used it as a reference when he was designing the characters. I'll ask Kawamori-san next time.

Fukuyama: Also, it's amazing that Hiroko Kasahara, the songstress from the OVA "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II -LOVERS AGAIN-" (1992) participated. She is my immediate senior in terms of Macross (laugh), but I have been working with her for a long time at the "Super Robot Soul" live event, and we have duetted on a number of "Macross 7" songs together, so we are actually not far apart.

K.INOJO I wanted to see the unexpectedness and chemical reaction. It is interesting that various people are connected by mysterious connections, and that is a kind of proof of the 30 years that have passed.

───Then, could you tell us again about your enthusiasm for this live performance and CD release?

K.INOJO I think that the bottomless positive thinking of Atmosphere Basara and the songs of Fire Bomber, even though they are 30 years old, are very relevant and necessary in this day and age. If we continue to convey this way of thinking and feeling without giving up, there are sure to be people out there who will be saved. I want to spread this to people who do not know Fire Bomber, people who were not born in 1994. I would like to use this live performance and CD as a start.

Fukuyama: Some years ago, there was an NHK program called "The All Macross Grand Poll" (2019). With "Macross Delta" exploding in popularity, I thought it was a terrible project - ...... - but I was a bit moved when "Kakkaku Love Heart" came in third in the song category. It made me realize that there are people who continue to listen to the song, and that a song from "Macross 7" could become such an existence was a happy miscalculation that I had never thought of at the time. That is why I would like to continue to expand my audience and show them that "I'm still singing! I would like to show that I am still singing.

K.INOJO If you think about who is closest to Basara among the people involved in "Macross," it would have to be Kawamori-san, right?

Fukuyama: Yes!　The way he continues to make Valkyries out of toy blocks, travels the world as a backpacker, and is as straight forward as a child, he is exactly like Kawamori-san.

K.INOJO Whenever I go to see a "Macross" concert, Mr. Kawamori is always not sitting in the related parties' seats. When I wondered where he had gone (......), he would jump into the enthusiastic general audience seats and become one with the audience. He was also observing the reactions of the audience.

Fukuyama: Also, as a personal wish, anyway, I hope to have a male junior one day!　I'm really counting on you, "Macross" staff, Mr. Kawamori!

─ ─ Thank you very much for your time today.

(Reporting and writing by Ryozo Fuwa)

Ryozo Fuwa

Born in 1968. He is a music writer and researches commercial music such as TV theme songs, animation songs, special effects songs, theatrical accompaniments, and commercial music, as well as planning, composing, and explaining DVDs, CDs, and other packaged products, and interviewing musicians.

CD Information

CD ALBUM "DOUT MEN feat MACROSS 7

Release date: Scheduled for January 1, 2024
Price: 4,000 yen (tax included)
Price: 4,000 yen (tax included) ・Total of 14 songs in digipak with 16-page booklet

＜Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
Violon: Miko
PLANET DANCE
Vocal: Yoshiki Fukuyama/Hiroko Kasahara
3．HOLY LONELY LIGHT
Vocal:Masked Girl
4．REMEMBER 16
Vocal:Yoshiki Fukuyama
5．WILD LIFE
Vocal:Chiyono Ide
6．HOSHIKUZU HIGHWAY
Vocal:Usagi Mimikku!
7. virgin story
Vocal:Yoshiki Fukuyama/Chiyono Ide
8. bullet soul
Vocal:K.INOJO / Chiyono Ide
9. seventh moon
Vocal:MASK OF GODDESS
10. HEART & SOUL
Vocal:yucat
REMEMBER 16 (Duet ver.)
Vocal:Yoshiki Fukuyama/Mikiya Masamune
Chorus:SPECIA:RIDE / Rin Nanakuma
12. assault love heart
Vocal:Mikiya Masamune Violon:Miko Chorus:Usagi Mimikku!
13. light the light
Vocal:Maoseri with Masked Girls
14．ANGEL VOICE
Guitar:Tomotaka IMASA Imamichi

Event Information

LIVE Doubtmen!
~CD ALBUM "Doubtmen feat MACROSS 7" pre-launch live~!
Macross 7's masterpieces revived for the first time in 30 years with heavy bass/explosive sound!

Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023 Doors open 18:30 Concert begins 19:30

Venue: Shibuya "R LOUNGE

Tosen Udagawa-cho Bldg. 6F, 4-7 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0042, Japan

Ticket prices:
Ticket prices: "The Fastest in the Galaxy! With Forgotten Energy" and "Only One Live in the Universe".
New full album CD (4,000 yen) + commentary book by K.INOJO (500 yen) + special ticket with spirituality 7,777 yen (tax included) + 1drink (800 yen)

<Performances
Doubtmen (K.INOJO/Yokazu Aoki)

<Special Guest> Yoshiki Fukuyama, Hiroshi Kasahara
Yoshiki Fukuyama, Hiroko Kasahara, Chiyono Ide

＜Guest>
Miko(violin), Usagi Mimikku! ...and more

DJ: Eiichi Kawai

<Reservations
■Ticket Pay
#
*Only one type of ticket is available. The number of tickets that can be applied for at one time is 1-4.
*There will be no distribution for this show.