Interview] "Hoshiai no Sora" Original Soundtrack Fully Demonstrates Jizue's Characteristics

The soundtrack for the TV anime "Hoshiai no Sora" currently being broadcast was created by "jizue," an instrumental band based in Kyoto that performs widely in Japan and abroad. The band, who had always wanted to work in the visual arts, came across "Hoshiai no Sora" by chance.
The band's technical, yet comfortable music perfectly matches the world of "Hoshiai no Sora," a film that explores the emotions of junior high school students while depicting the adolescent life of a soft tennis club. Kie talked to them about the soundtrack CD, which will be released on December 25, 2019.

We were given an environment in which we could freely express our jizue style.

─ ─ jizue is a band with a long career, isn't it?

Inoue: Originally, we were a singing band, and it has been 13 years since we started playing instrumental music with our current formation.

───Why did you decide to start an instrumental band?

Inoue: The three male members, including the drummer who has now left the band, were childhood friends from elementary school. We had been playing in a singing band for a long time, but somewhere along the line we felt we had reached our limits and decided to do something cool with just instruments. We decided we needed a piano player, and Kie (Katagi), who I knew as a drummer, joined us.

Katagi: I have always played classical, jazz, and pop music on my own, and jizue was the first time I joined a band. Since it is an instrumental band, I can play the piano with all my might, and I really enjoy how the power of the instrument grows as it overlaps with the other instruments.

─ Instrumental bands have the image of being very talented, and as a genre, haven't they been gaining momentum in recent years?

Inoue I don't know if the genre is on the rise or not, but there have been many cool instrumental bands since we started out, and I think the genre is more recognized these days than it used to be.

Katagi: There are more and more instrumental bands at regular rock festivals, and customers who have learned about this genre through the soundtracks of TV dramas are now gathering at live concerts.

─ ─ So it was under these circumstances that jizue also began to work on music for video works. How did you come to be in charge of the accompaniment for "Hoshiai no Sora"?

Inoue We found out later that the director of the record company happened to hear our song "march of monkey. So he looked up the name of the band and recommended us to the people involved in the animation.

Katagi: We had done commercial music before, but this was our first theatrical accompaniment job, so we were very happy.

Inoue: I thought that we had finally gotten a job as a theatrical accompanist. I was happy, but at the same time I didn't know how to make it (laughs). (Laughs) At our first meeting, I was relieved when Director Akane said he wanted us to create a song that was unique to jizue without being overly conscious of the world of the anime.

───What was your first impression of Director Akane?

Inoue: He didn't give us any detailed orders, such as asking us to include this kind of sound or use this kind of melody, but rather let us create freely. I was surprised when he asked us to create more than 40 short songs of one or two minutes. I didn't realize how much music was required to accompany an animated film.

─ I think the specific songs were ordered through the music menu.

Katagi: Yes, we received a menu. The menu included the emotions we wanted the music to express, as well as the length and tempo of the music, which was a new way to order music.

─ ─ Who composed the music?

Inoue: I was the main composer. all the members of jizue can write songs, but I felt that we needed to create a sense of unity as a theatrical accompaniment, so I thought we needed someone to take the initiative. I asked Kie to write the piano piece, and then I assigned it to the other members.