Nanamori & Riinu Interview ~The bond with SutoPuri listeners which SutoPuri cherishes~
The original interview article can be found here. This is an interview with Nanamori and Riinu for STPR's 2nd full album, "Strawberry Next" promotion. I will be translating all the members interview for the "Strawberry Next" promotion. Disclaimer: I'm still a novice translator, hence my translation is not 100% accurate.
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—It's been six months since you've released the previous album, 'Strawberry Love' and it was a full album with 16 songs. In addition to posting videos every day, some of the members must have been busy with their solo album. However, when did you start recording the album?
Nanamori: Some of the songs were recorded around August 2019 but most of the songs were recorded from late September to October.
—Wasn't it difficult to adjust and coordinate the schedule?
Nanamori: The recording schedule wasn't that tight after the MetLife Dome Live in September. However, I was impatient on the creative side. Root-kun and I are in charge of making music and concept. I asked Root-kun to compose a few songs that I had in mind while I asked the director and composers to compose the rest of the songs.
—This album also conveys the all-out effort and happiness of STPR, doesn't it?
Nanamori: We always decide on a concept for each album. Our first mini album, 'Strawberry Start' was our first CD. So, it was full of STPR style and it was packed of songs with our usual image of us as a group and duo pairs. Love was the theme for our first full album, 'Strawberry Love'. We sang K-pop songs and slightly more difficult band songs that we've never sung before. We thought of showing our attitude to keep challenging ourselves other than just saying "I love you" or "Thank you" might be a way to show our love. Our new album 'Strawberry Next', as the title suggested, "Next" means as the next step and retains the style of the past but also includes new challenges such as rap song, a ninja song, and stylish jazz song. It's an album with half with STPR style and new challenges.
Riinu: There is a song that I personally recommend, 'Revolution Eve' written by HoneyWorks, which I liked from the title. It's a song that expresses our feelings before the revolution and our desire to "work harder and make our listeners happy". This album is filled with songs that express our feelings of working hard as a group, and 'Revolution Eve' contains the lyrics "We are the challengers" and I think we were able to fill this song with the feelings of the six of us.
Nanamori: When HoneyWorks' Gom-san, Riinu and I had dinner together, we talked about the activities that we wanted to do in the future and why we wanted to do them. Then, the song became just like that. The song turned out so well that you'd think we wrote it. We didn't ask for any revisions at all.
—I know that it's important to decide which song as the first song and set the song order. However, did you plan to make this song the last song in the beginning?
Nanamori: I was the one who came up with the setlist. The first song, 'Strawberry☆Planet' is filled with our thoughts as much as 'Revolution Eve'. Thus, I had a really hard time deciding which song to use. However, we started this album with the concept of continuing to challenge ourselves and we wanted to end it with a song that is filled with our thoughts, so I chose 'Revolution Eve' as our last song.
—When I heard 'Strawberry☆Planet' and the second song, 'Glitzy Galaxy', I got the impression from the start that STPR is doing their best from the beginning. Both songs were produced by Nayutalien, who is familiar with STPR songs. How did you proceed with the production?
Nanamori: When I met with Nayutalien once, I told him that I wanted to work like this as STPR and I wanted to challenge myself. We didn't make any minor changes to the songs as the song was made in response to our thoughts. This song is full of our thoughts for the listeners that you'd think that we wrote it too (laughs). Nayutalien have written many songs with an image of the universe and it's good that he wrote a songs which combines the elements of the elements of our "Strawberry" concept with the universe. I think it's nice that it also connected to 'Glitzy Galaxy'. My image of the universe is the destination of our efforts. I think it's a mixture of the nuances of working hard and continuing to fly to see a new landscape. Both HoneyWorks and Nayutalien wrote us songs because they know us very well.
—It's a pretty danceable song that is going to be pretty exciting for live performance, which part of the songs do you think the listeners will like?
Nanamori: I think it's the part where you call out to the audience, isn't it?
—'Next Stage!!' is your attempt at rapping. It seems to be a quite exciting and uplifting as a self-introduction song at live performance!
Nanamori: Root-kun wrote the song and I wrote the lyrics. I think it's okay to change the lyrics for the live performance.
Riinu: I heard we were going to do a rap song, so I was looking forward seeing what it was going to be like and I didn't expect it to be so cute... (laughs)
Nanamori: By the way, it's because Riinu-kun's lyrics aren't considered as rap (laughs). However, I think this song will definitely make you happy in live performance.
Riinu: Each member's character comes out really well and I'm sure the listeners will love it!
—Was it difficult to rap?
Riinu: No, not really...
Nanamori: It only took about five minutes. I was there for the recording, but Root-kun gave me the OK sign right away and it was over in an instant.
Riinu: Hahaha (laughs)
—Was there anyone who was struggling with the rap?
Riinu: Satomi-kun!
Nanamori: Satomi-kun and Colon-kun took about an hour and half. It was a moment that messed up our schedule (laughs). Jel is good at rapping, so it was over in a few minutes.
Riinu: I've been watching Root-kun and Nanamori-kun struggling with a lot of things which makes it the strongest and coolest song I've ever heard. Oh, Colon-kun isn't that cool...
All: Hahaha (laughs).
—'Shinobi Love' is Jel-san and Nanamori-san's duo song. How did you write this song?
Nanamori: I was wondering if this activity was close to training and we did a lot of live performances in 2019, but we all decided before the tour started that we were going to stop neglecting our online activities just because the live performance started. You can take a break if you compromise and it doesn't mean that anyone will be mad at you if you stop streaming. But in the midst of it all, I thought that achieving my goals would be similar to training, so I asked the band to write a song with that image crossed over to Shinobi. It turned out to be an exciting and uplifting song for live performance and it also includes my feeling of "I'm gonna do it!" so it's particularly a memorable song.
—I can't imagine that this song is filled with Nanamori-san's strong feelings. The song which was made by Nayutalien, 'Youkai Watch' is Root-san and Riinu-san's duo song, right?
Riinu: It's the opening song for 'Youkai Watch 4++' (Nintendo Switch/Playstation 4 game). When the song was delivered, the youkai were melted and I was like "This is how it's going to be!" (laughs). It's a refreshing love song about someone, so I was excited to sing it. The song was easy to hum along to and the chorus was stuck in my head, so I kept on humming the song after I sang it. Nayutalien was present at the recording, hence we were able to work together on the song.
—Who did you want reach out when singing the song?
Riinu: Definitely, the listeners. I talked with Root-kun about singing cutely and energetically so that it could cheer everyone up.
—'Youkai Watch' following with 'Frivolity Boy', there's a lot of playfulness in the title.
Nanamori: Among all the STPR members, Colon-kun is the most "party people". He loves to drink alcohol and go out with his friends at night. So I asked rerulili-san to write a song with Colon-kun's image in mind.
Riinu: Hahaha (laughs).
Nanamori: He was able to make this song by telling him that Colon-kun is a flirtatious and horrible man, and I thought "As expected, rerulili-san!". I told Colon-kun, "I requested to make a perfect song for Colon-chan!" and he was looking forward to it. After it was completed, Colon-kun said "Was this the image you had (of me) in mind?!" (laughs). But, he sang it happily in the end.
—It seems that the man who appears in this song, I think the listeners are going to like and dislike it (laughs).
Nanamori: Listeners who like Colon-kun might want to be told. The impact of the lyrics is so strong that when a girl hears it, I think there is a moment when she thinks "Hmm?". But I feel that the song has an exquisite goodness. I think this applies to Satomi-kun too.
Riinu: Indeed. The lyrics is a bit inviting feel to them... and seems they've done it~ (laughs).
Nanamori: No, they've done it~ (laughs).
—(laughs). Did you have any requests to change the lyrics in the middle of the song?
Nanamori: Not at all! It turns out to fit in very well.
Riinu: It was already groovy to begin with.
—The tenth song 'Pierrot in My Mind' and the eleventh song 'Let the Love of 1・2・3 Bloom' are divided into two groups which are adult group (Satomi, Jel, Nanamori) and traffic light group (Root, Colon, Riinu). Did you have some kind of contrast in mind between adult group with dark mood song and traffic light group with extremely cute song?
Nanamori: I don't differentiate between the two. I've never sung in this kind of genres before but when I read the lyrics, I was like "I get it" and I could relate to it. The song has a mature vibe of the three of us, the adult group.
Riinu: 'Let the Love of 1・2・3 Bloom' is a realistic song about love without being pretentious which I thought is similar to us. Root-kun thought about the conversation. During the recording, Root-kun encouraged me by saying "Riinu, you can do better!" and I feel like the three of us made it while trying to do our best. It feels like a love song for students, so I feel like a student again (laughs). I'm hoping that the listeners who are still students will be able to relate to this song and looking forward to their reactions.
—I can't wait to see the reaction from the listeners for 'Dream of Light'.
Nanamori: I wasn't expect the last song to be like this and I was shocked when I heard this song. But I decided to go as it is.
Riinu: It's a bit of a twist.
Nanamori: I thought it had a message that not all things are happy and that what you see is not everything.
—In 'Frivolity Boy', the lyrics "when it comes to girls, one that’s a little stupid are better". In this song, the "you" who is a bit stupid looks lovable. It makes you feel a bit of duality in men, isn't it?
Nanamori: Both songs were written by rerulili-san, weren't they? It was difficult to record 'Dream of Light'. We needed to go over the nuances of the song, so we got together and practiced for about three hours before recording.
—Is this song (Dream of Light) also a song delivered for the listeners?
Nanamori: I think the "you" in the songs wasn't for the listeners. The "me" who likes the fluffy "you" is not us either. It's like having the listeners watching a story.
Riinu: I got emotional when I sang it, but when we heard the finished song, we all got chills.
Nanamori: And I'm the one singing the last part of the song. I consulted with the director and asked him who among the members could sing this part darkly... That would be me, isn't it? So that's why I'm in charge for this part (laughs).
—I think a lot of people listen to music nowadays with their phone in the pocket. It seems like people don't have the opportunity to read the lyrics carefully anymore, do you ever feel the power of lyrics?
Nanamori: In our case, there are people who we want to communicate with and we're aim the songs to those people. With 'Pierrot in My Mind', I thought the song might have a little bit of the relationship between us and the listeners. I thought it would be nice if the meaning reaches out to the listeners.
Riinu: Whether it's a song that pushes the listener forward or a love song, I'd be happy if the song remind them of us and the listeners when they hear it. When I read the feedback on Twitter, I'm happy to know the it got through them.
—Do you take negative opinions positively?
Nanamori: Live broadcasts are really fun and have a different appeal compared to videos and TV. I think the reason why more and more young people prefer YouTube over TV is because there's a sense of authenticity and closeness. It feels real and I think it's what the viewers are looking for when YouTubers think, shoot and edits where they can clear their throat and deliver without cutting the subtle atmosphere. When you watch TV, tweets and post are made in real time but live broadcasts unfold many times faster than that. Although it's fun, there's a downside to that where what you say may come across differently from what you intended to say. There are advantages and disadvantage but live broadcasts are still the most fun out of all.
—As an influencer, what is the most important to you?
Nanamori: You just have to keep sending out messages. The bigger the scale, the more criticism you get, the less you can say about what you're really thinking and you start to think it's better not to. But we don't want to be like that. There are many pros and cons, but we want to keep sending our messages in the midst of all the controversy.
—The live performance at Nagoya Dome in March will be a place where you will be able to perform to your fullest potential. Do you already have a structure in mind?
Nanamori: Now that we've finally got the songs together, we're going to work on the setlist and stage. We're trying to create a production which shows listeners that they've learned about us through live broadcasts and videos. We're hoping to create a production that only we can do. We don't show our faces in our regular video posts, but we do show our faces at our live performance. Hence, we're hoping to create those kind of mash-up videos and develop them into a kind of movie.
—You usually send out messages to the people on the other side of the computer screen, but what do you think when you actually see the audience at the live performance?
Nanamori: Our main activities are live broadcasts and sharing videos and we know that we have hundred thousands of listeners on the other side of the screen. However, when I saw it live in front of my eyes, I realized how many people are out there. Regardless of age and gender, from Hokkaido, Fukuoka to Kanto, I felt a renewed sense of joy and responsibility for having so many people come to our live performance and I felt like I had to work harder.
—What does the view look like from the stage?
Riinu: The lights are so beautiful and I can see quite a bit more of everyone's expressions that what ours listeners may think. It makes me happy to see them joyfully waving their penlights in the air.
Nanamori: There's a sense of togetherness too.
—The use of real photographs on the album cover shows that STPR has moved on to the next level.
Nanamori: This is the first time we've had a live action photo used for the jacket but recently, we've been getting more and more opportunities to have costumes prepared for us to shoot in. It's a bit awkward and I feel like I'd better off with jersey (laughs). We don't really want to show our faces, but when we saw that we received a lot of requests from our listeners, we thought, "Well, if it makes them happy" and that's how we ended up using live action.
—After all, you have a history of putting the listeners first.
Nanamori: Our music was also released for free for the first 3 years. At first I thought "how about getting money from the listeners to listen to music, which is less than 20% of what we do?". We got a lot of requests from our listeners and it was made into a CD, so everything we do seems to be in response to our listeners' wishes.
—Now that you've reached the point where all you have to do is show your face, does that mean you'll be able to do that one day if you're flooded with requests from listeners to show your face?
Nanamori: If that's what everyone wants!
Riinu: Hmmm... (laughs).
Nanamori: I think there's a lot of advantages to not having our faces shown. I think it's possible for anime characters and virtual YouTubers to change voice actors, but with us, it's impossible because a change in voice means that you're not the same person anymore. We're real people in the live performance but we're characters in the internet, so we want to develop a lot of activities which we can do because we're able to go back and forth between 2 and 3 dimensions. In order to make that happen, I think it might be better not to show our faces, so I'm looking for ways to do that.
Riinu: Either way, I still want to do my best to make our listeners happy in the future.
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*Note: The Nagoya Dome live performance (Strawberry Memory Vol.Next!!) on March 2020 was cancelled because of Covid-19.
To support STPR, you can stream 'Strawberry Next' album via Spotify/Apple Music or buy the physical album in CDJapan. You can also read the lyrics translations by Maro on this site.
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