[Interview] SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS' jazz creates a dangerous atmosphere in the TV anime "BEM!

SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS, who play cutting-edge jazz and are active worldwide, are in charge of the music for the TV anime "BEM," and their soundtrack album "OUTSIDE," filled with a variety of songs from groove-filled club jazz to moody, orthodox jazz, was released on August 28, 2019. The soundtrack album "OUTSIDE" was released on August 28, 2019.
How did they approach the world of "BEM"?　We asked the President (Agitator) and Tab Zombie (Trumpet) to speak on behalf of the band!

I have always wanted to do music for "Yokai" anime!

TM: SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS has worked on animated films before, hasn't it?

Tab Zombie I wrote a song called "Paraiso" for the opening theme of "Michiko and Hatchin. The director, Sayo Yamamoto, picked us to do it. Basically, we like anime, so we were very happy.

─ " Michiko and Hatchin" is a TV animation that was broadcast from 2008 to the following year.

President "Michiko and Hatchin" seems to be a popular anime overseas as well, and we still get reactions from fans in various countries. So it seemed like a recent thing, but it was already a long time ago.

Tabuzombie I always wanted to be involved with animation, and I was aiming for the opening of "Gegege no Kitaro" (laughs). Then I got a job for another yokai thing. I'm glad I was able to do a yokai thing.

─ ─ How did you come to be in charge of the music for "BEM"?

Tab Zombie: Again, thankfully, we were assigned to do the music for SOIL.

President According to what I heard, the director of FlyingDog saw the proposal for "BEM" and felt that "SOIL was the only choice for the music for this work," so he approached the animation production side.


Tab Zombie Thank goodness (laughs).

─ This is not the first time you have worked on a soundtrack for a visual work, is it?

President: I have worked on several soundtracks. For animation, I did the film version of FROGMAN's "Sugai-kun to Kazokuishi," the WOWOW period drama "Futagashira," and the terrestrial drama "Hello, Mouse.

Tab Zombie So, the soundtrack is a little bit of a stretch (laughs).

President: No, it's difficult, the soundtrack (laughs). We've done a number of productions, and we've gradually accumulated a lot of know-how.

─ ─ How did you start working on the soundtrack for "BEM"?

President: First of all, there was an explanation of the work: it was a remake of the "Humanoid Monster Bem" of yesteryear, and the image of the story's setting was New York. I was surprised. But I thought it would be interesting to make music in that setting.

Tab Zombie Moreover, I was told that the image was not of present-day New York, but of the 80s. In other words, it was a time when there was a slightly more dangerous aroma than now.

President Some of the songs have beats that remind me of hip-hop roots, but that was inspired by the atmosphere of the piece.

Tab Zombie But sound-wise, it doesn't just have an 80's vibe, it also has a current jazz feel and even more futuristic imagery.

President Musically, I think the soundtrack is rather current. The source of the image was New York in the 80s, and from there we created the music based on our interpretation.

─ ─ Specifically, you created the music according to the musical menu created by the sound director, right?

President: Yes, that's right. We would receive a written order for a song that we wanted to put on such and such a scene. We also received samples of songs that were similar to SOIL's past songs, or other artists' songs, and so on. We interpreted those orders in our own way, and submitted the sample to the soundtrack. We interpreted those orders in our own way, and submitted the soundtrack.


Most of the songs are 3 to 4 minutes long, so they are not just short songs for a scene, but they are songs in their own right.

Tab Zombie That was the order. We wanted the songs to have a beginning, middle, and end, and to be complete as a song.

President I think it was important to show various developments within a single song in order to match the scene. The result is a soundtrack CD that can be listened to as a so-called jazz album.

─ Who was in charge of composing the music?

President: All of our members can compose music. So, each member chose what he or she wanted to compose from the menu. In some cases, two members would write songs from the same menu, but in such cases, one would be chosen and the other would be assigned to another similar menu.

Tab Zombie For example, the president would make a track and ask me to play the trumpet in this image, and then I would add the notes on top of it. I would make all the tracks except for "Viano," and then have the pianist improvise on the tracks he hears for the first time in the studio booth, without letting him hear them beforehand.


President: We have a genius pianist.

─ For example, when you play the trumpet or flute, do you not have sheet music prepared and play according to that?

Tab Zombie: There is no sheet music. If you are the president, you listen to a track that the president has made, and when you think, "Oh, I have an idea," you immediately go into the booth and play it. If I don't catch the moment I have an idea, it becomes a different phrase.

The president would then say, "Take care of the rest," and we would brush up on the music (laughs).

Tab Zombie: In many cases, the drums and bass were decided in advance, and the trumpet, piano, and saxophone (melody) were created from my imagination, developing the song improvisationally. Basically, the other members played according to the instructions of the person who had written the song.

───Are all of the instruments you just mentioned used?

Tab Zombie: Then there is the flute. I played it.

President The saxophone was played by a supporting member, Mr. Kurisan (Ken Kurihara). Some of the songs use not only live sound but also typed beats.