Interview with Mai Fuchigami on "Love Summer!

Mai Fuchigami, who has steadily built up her career as a voice actress, is releasing her third single "Love Summer! The song's exhilarating, summery feel was inspired by the season's atmosphere and her longing for "rear satisfaction. We asked her to elaborate on her current mode and what motivates her to create.

I like the atmosphere that brightens up the people around me.


─ ─ What I felt when I listened to "Love Summer! The other day, you said on Twitter that you were yearning for a more conscious life. Is that the mode you are in now, Mr. Fuchigami?


Mai Fuchigami (Fuchigami ) That's right (laughs). The term "conscious type" is a bit of a derogatory term nowadays, but I go out of my way to visit the hottest bakeries and tapioca drink shops to keep up with the latest trends and fashions for my Instagram posts. I myself am more of an indoor person, so I admire people who can take action like that. That's why I thought I'd try to be a bit of a conscious female celebrity. But I can't become one!

─ ─ In an interview after you started your career as an artist, you told us about going to cafes and writing lyrics.

Fuchigami: Yes, I do feel that my private life has expanded. In terms of energy and lightness of footwork, I think I have become much more active than in the past. I am naturally in such a mode, and I think it is better to have various experiences in expressing lyrics as a job. As a voice actor, I have more opportunities to be in the public eye, but my exposure has increased even more as an artist, so I feel that I have become more conscious of beauty, wanting to be beautiful myself and to be seen as cute.

─ ─ Is there anything you are doing to achieve this?

Fuchigami: I started reading fashion magazines. I buy the same set of clothes as the models (laughs). They are not that expensive. It's not directly related to my artist activities, but I think it's a good thing that I've become more aware of that aspect as well.

─ ─ The new single "Love Summer!

Fuchigami: Yes. Of the four seasons, I like it the best. I'm not very active, so I don't often get that image (laughs). It's not that I myself go to festivals, to the beach, or to beer gardens, but I like the atmosphere of such events that brighten up the people around me.

─ This time, the single is not a theme song for a movie.

Fuchigami: We talked about releasing a single in the summer, and since it was still hot in the latter half of August, we decided on these three songs as "summer songs. At our first meeting, we talked about writing songs that could be listened to on a road trip, but since I don't drive myself, I couldn't really understand that kind of situation (laugh). (Laughs) So we decided to put the driving aside for the time being, and let's think about it after listening to the songs. Then, Tomohiro Nakazuchi, the composer, decided to make a "towel song," which I had been wanting to make for a long time. The melody was a nice mix of the exhilarating feeling of driving and the rhythmic feel of a live concert where you can get excited while everyone is waving their towels around.


─ ─ It is precisely because of your solo live performances that you have come to think that it is good to have a towel song in the set list from a production standpoint.

Fuchigami That's right. Until now, the song "Tropical Girl" was a song that everyone sang, danced to, and called and responded to, but it was positioned as an encore song. I think this is a song that can be incorporated into the main program and be enjoyed by sweating it out.

─ How did you come up with the theme for the lyrics?

Fuchigami: When I received the song, I had fragmentary images of summer in my mind. I wrote a daytime version of ......... with colored balls floating in a night pool, a girl holding onto a large flamingo float, and the lights illuminating it in a slightly bewitching way (laughs). The sun was shining and it was bright and pleasant. The sun is shining, the weather is bright and pleasant, the water is shining, the colorful colored balls, and the drinks are a bit glamorous ....... I mixed those as words while making it into a story. As long as I was allowed to write the lyrics, I wrote the song as my own, even if the main character is not the same as the lyrics - I projected myself and created a story and character by incorporating my usual thoughts, language, and habits. I wrote a story and a character.

─ What kind of words would you say are typical Fuchigami-san's language?

Fuchigami: "It always rains on important days" (laughs).

(laughs) ─ Is this a story about your experience as a rainy woman (laughs)?

Fuchigami Yes, that's right (laughs). Also, number 2, "I can't get used to sunglasses I'm not used to," is also a real-life experience: I bought a pair of expensive sunglasses about two years ago, but I only used them a few times and they are still sitting in a drawer (laughs). (Laughs.) Going back to the first part of my story, I feel like I'm writing a protagonist who yearns to be a conscious girl or a "paripi" (Parisian), but can't quite become one.

─ ─ I imagine that because you wrote the lyrics yourself, it must have been easy for you as a performer to put nuances into the song in some parts.

Fuchigami: Yes. I had a lot of fun expressing that. Especially in the second verse, there was a lot of playing around, so rather than simply singing beautifully, I sang it as if I was having fun performing the play. The interaction with the staff was also fun because it gave me a strong sense of creating something. For example, the chorus "Love Summer" was a place I created on my own, thinking it would be nice to have a call-and-response.

─ ─ I think that kind of positive attitude came out of your accumulated experience as an artist.

Fuchigami That is true. Even in the lyrics, I was not daring to do anything special, but they came out honestly. It has only been a year and a half, but I feel that my various experiences have come in handy.

─ ─ I remember that when you started your career as an artist, you said that you wanted to keep your own pace so as not to disrupt your activities as a voice actor. That seems to be having a positive influence on your current work.

Fuchigami That's right. I think it has influenced both my work as a voice actor and my private life. I think I have become more active due to the influence of my artistic activities, which has brightened my own life. I think I have changed from the way I talk a lot at recording sessions, to going out to eat afterwards, and so on.

Recommended Articles