JAM Project released two singles at the same time!

JAM Project released two singles simultaneously on April 24, 2019. One is "Tread on the Tiger's Tail," the opening theme song for the game "Super Robot Taisen T," and the other is "Silence of Apostles," the opening theme song for the second season of the TV anime "One Pan Man. I took the opportunity to speak with the members of JAM Project, Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endo, Hiroshi Kitadani, Masami Okui, and Yoshiki Fukuyama, all of whom are members of JAM Project, when they were all present!

We recorded 4-language versions of the new "Sparobo" song!

─ ─ This time, two singles were released at the same time, and they are the 69th and 70th JAM Project singles, right?

KITADANI: Seriously?　That's amazing.

Kageyama: You've released that many.

Okui My brother, that's amazing (laughs).

Kageyama: Why am I the only one (laughs)? We had written songs for two different contents, and since they were about to be released close to each other, we thought it would leave a lasting impression on everyone if we released them together anyway. So we decided to release two singles at the same time.

Okui We gave the impression that we were doing our job (laughs).

Kageyama: "Super Robot Taisen" and "One Pan Man" are two works that fall into the main category of the current JAM Project, so we put a lot of effort into recording them, and I think the fans will be pleased with the result.

I thought it was a very flashy release, as only JAM Project can do. Moreover, all of the songs on the album have different tunes, and are very satisfying to listen to. First is "Tread on the Tiger's Tail," the opening theme song for the game "Super Robot Wars T." The title is "Tread on the Tiger's Tail. The title means "tread on the tiger's tail.

Kageyama: It was originally from a proposal by producer Terada (Takanobu Terada, game producer for the "Super Robot Taisen" series). I thought it was cool and used it in the song. In this game, a group of elite Super Robots are active. So, the song is meant to say, "Anyone who tries to mess with us is going to get hurt.

─ ─ I felt that "Tread on the Tiger's Tail" was on the high road of robot songs, both in terms of lyrics and sound.

Kageyama: It has a Showa-esque feel to it, and was well received by the members.

Okui That melody was mainly written by Hikardo, wasn't it?

Kageyama: Yes. The melody was co-written by me and another Brazilian, Hikardo Cruz, but the catchy part of the chorus was written by Hikardo. Originally, Hikardo and I each wrote a song and submitted it, and then the music producer Inoue (Shunji Inoue) said, "Why don't you take the best parts and make a joint work? That is a common pattern in JAM. Since the creators are different, melodies with different senses are mixed in one song, giving it a fresh impression. Sometimes the three of us even co-compose together.


─ You mentioned that the melody has a Showa-era feel, and I felt the same impression in the lyrics. You wrote the lyrics, didn't you, Kageyama?

Kageyama: I was also conscious of the feeling of yesteryear in the lyrics. Nowadays, no one uses onomatopoeia like "zugan, zugan, zugan, zugan" (laughs).

KITADANI: Calling out the title "Super Robot!" again and again is very much like an anime song from the past, and it has a royal road feel to it, but it also has a modern feel to it.

Okui: "Tread on the Tiger's Tail" is not only in Japanese, but also in English, Korean, and Chinese versions, and they are included on the CD. Kageyama: That's right.

Kageyama: That's right. I had each language translated, but "Zgaan, zgaan, zgaan, zgaan" could have been left as is, but they translated it all (laughs).

Okui In Korean, it was "kapaan.

Fukuyama: In English, it was "bang bang bang. It was very difficult to record the song because there were different versions in different languages. We first recorded the Japanese version and then sang the song in the three languages. I thought it would be quick because we had already sung the song once, but it took a long time. But it took a long time. Moreover, it became more and more difficult to sing in English, Korean, and Chinese. It was difficult to get the pronunciation supervised and match it up so that it would sound cool.

Kageyama: There are many sounds that do not exist in Japanese, especially in Chinese.

Okui But a Chinese fan of yours tweeted that he was happy to hear the full-size version, when he thought it would only be included in game size.

Endo: That's right. Since the last "Super Robot Taisen X," the game has been released in Asian countries, and we were asked to make the theme song easy to understand. Tread on the Tiger's Tail" is very catchy, and I wrote it with the hope that fans all over the world would remember and sing it.

Okui: It was difficult to sing in each language, but singing this song was a lot of fun. I also like the Showa-esque taste of the song, and I could see the excitement of the live performance as the audience sang along with the song wherever we went. I have already performed it once at a live concert in Japan, and I can't wait to sing it in other countries as well.