simple style -オヒルノオト-

This week, we'll be welcoming wonderful artists every day at 12 o'clock for a Christmas edition with live performances, quizzes, and presents. Today, Monday, we're delighted to have Lamp. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you very much.

Can I start by hearing from each of you?

Of course.

I am the recently-appointed leader of the group. I'm Taiyo Someya.

I'm the vocalist. My name is Nagai.

I'm Kaori Sakakibara, the vocalist.

Thank you very much. Today, we have the three members of Lamp in the studio with us. Lamp was formed in 2000, and has released 7 albums and an instrumental collection so far. They're a group that has been well-received by music enthusiasts for their delicate and high-quality melodies and sounds. Last year, they started their own label, Botanical House. You released with KIDSAREDEAD on there, and when he appeared on simple style the other day, Someya, you came as well.

Yes, that's right. I went inside the studio, but I left without saying a word. laughs

I've already met Someya once, as he watched over KIDSAREDEAD like a father. laughs Thank you very much for coming today. You know, we always have a program called "Today's Frame" at the opening of 12 o'clock. Earlier, I introduced one of mine, Maiko Itai's, but since this is the Christmas edition, I'd like to ask you to show us one of yours. Why did you bring this one?

I chose it.

I see, I'd like to ask you about the title of the photo. Can we call it "Yusuke Nagai's 2015"?

That photo...

This one!

..."A Fun Tour". laughs

Was it really fun? laughs This photo is on the show's website and on Twitter. It looks like it was a great time.

Despite my voice, it actually was really fun.

I was a bit surprised at the tone for a moment too. I see, it was a fun tour. Where was this?

This is Fukuoka, we did a tour with KIDSAREDEAD. This was the first time we've done this kind of tour in Japan.

That’s true, you guys typically go to very specific places.

So, we all traveled together. After the show, we had dinner together, just like any other band would do. It was our first time doing that, and it was really enjoyable.

Great, wasn't it?

It was all people who I enjoy together, so it was fun.

I hope you can see Nagai's big smile. Thank you very much. That's all for one frame of Nagai, one frame of Lamp. Now, I would like to ask the members of Lamp to perform a live studio show for us as the first part of our special. May I ask you to standby?

I'm getting nervous! laughs

I'm already looking forward to it! Can you tell me a bit about the setup of today's performance?

I, Someya, will play electric guitar, Nagai will sing vocals and play acoustic guitar, Sakakibara will sing vocals and play the synthesizer depending on the song. She'll also play percussion, instruments like the shaker.

In your normal live performances, you often have support players, right?

We almost never perform with only the three of us.

So it's quite rare. Yes, please enjoy it. What's the first song that you're going to play?

We'll perform the song "Yume Utsutsu", which is the only song that we've recorded that was done by just the three of us. All of our other songs have other people contributing in them, but I think this one was us alone.

So today we can hear it as it was recorded. simple style Christmas edition, by Lamp—live.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I think one of the lyrics of the song is "light blue afternoon", which is this time of the day. When I listened to it, I felt like throwing everything away and dozing off. laughs

It's a good feeling. laughs

So, today, we have a Christmas edition of simple style with the three members of Lamp. This portion of the show is called "Lunch Notes", where we ask our guests what they'd like to share for the listeners to take note of. Kaori, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Sure.

Let's hear it.

Today, I'd like to tell you about an exhibit.

Information on an exhibit?

It's at the Yayoi Museum, in Yanaka.

Yes—in Yanaka, Tokyo.

It's a museum for well-known artists. There's a permanent exhibit, where there's currently a special showcase of original drawings by my favourite manga artist, Ako Mutsu.

How long will it be on display for at the museum?

Until the 25th of December, Christmas Day.

"Ako Mutsu" (陸奥 A子) is written as "Riku" (陸) and "Oku" (奥), am I right? I'm of that generation, but it was quite a while ago.

Yes, in the 70's and 80's, she did a series in “Ribon”, or what was it then? It was a kind of otome manga, and I heard that it took the world by storm. When I was in elementary school, at the back of the Ribon mascot comics, there was a thing where various artists were being introduced with a showcase of their work.

There was.

That's right. At the time I was reading it, it wasn't being serialised, so I didn't know about it, but there was a list, like a back number on there.

It was published as a book, or rather, it was a partial book.

There's a section with about six of Ako Mutsu's titles in it, and they're really tiny, about three centimetres across. I really love the titles there, they're all very nice.

What are some of them, for example?

For example, "Sukoshi Dake Kataomoi" and "Kinou Mita Yume". There was also one called "Tameiki No Yukue". I love that title so much.

It's on the Lamp album "Yume".

I used it.

The “Yukue”?

I really loved it when I read it, it's like poetry. There's something very sentimental about it that appeals to my emotions.

Wow. Ako Mutsu, again, for those of you who are listening to this now, hearing it in real time, but the “A” is the (Latin) letter “A”, right?

The fact that she's called "Ako" with the character “A” is mysterious, and I thought it was nice.

What do you think of manga? Do you two read them as well?

I read those comics too, sometimes. I like the old comics.

Which writers?

I like Shigeru Mizuki, Daijiro Moroboshi, Yoshiharu Tsuge.

Refined taste.

I also like the manga of Seiichi Hayashi.

You also like Hazuki Oji, right?

Yes.

Oh, and you too, Nagai?

Well, I was also influenced by Someya-senpai.

"Senpai"? laughs

Because they both like manga very much. What I particularly like is the world of Yoshiharu Tsuge. When I was a university student, I borrowed a copy and read it, and at the time—I think there are all sorts of different types of manga, but there's the kind that's more like art, and then there's the kind where Yoshiharu Tsuge himself appears. I like it because it's really interesting, and the images of Japan that appear in it, which we don't have much of now, are really something. It's like the image of Japan from the 70's. Maybe it's something like "Waiting for the Wind" from Happy End. I'm really attracted to that kind of image of Japan that doesn't exist anymore. When we were forming the band—how should I put it...?

When we got together, we only read manga.

Is that so?

In the beginning.

In the beginning?

Yes.

So you all chose what you wanted to read?

We'd come to my house and pick from what I had, and we'd read the entire time, without practicing. We'd end up just having dinner. laughs

So that's how Lamp started. laughs

Of what we saw in what we read, there was quite a bit of the type of worldview that we felt together. We would try to get that atmosphere in the pictures we take of the band. So we'd go to the countryside in Japan and look for that kind of atmosphere and go to different places and take pictures. There's something about that.

So that world is quite an inspiration for you all, isn't it? They've just named their favorite comic writers, did you get the memo? We've got a quiz for you today as part of the simple style Christmas edition. This one is called "All At Once". The three of you are looking a bit puzzled. Please take part in the quiz. The rules are quite simple. I'm going to ask the three of you to answer the questions I'm going to give you—but at the same time. I'm going to ask you to say a few words. Should we go with Kaori?

Yes, Kaori.

I would like you listeners to answer what Kaori said previously. We'll send a Christmas card signed by Lamp to three of the winners. I'll also put my name on the card. Since we're talking about manga, the question is to name your favorite manga artist. The full name is a bit long, so just the first name.

All right.

I'm going to call out to you, so please answer together at the same time. It would be nice if you spoke a little louder than now.

Right.

Thank you very much. So, the first name of your favourite manga artist, ready, together!

Shigeru—Yoshiharu—Ako. laughs

Even if all three of you say it at the same time, this volume is—this is the atmosphere of Lamp—but can you say it once more? laughs

I'm sorry, I forgot. laughs

I'm sure they’ve all got the idea, but just in case, we’ll go one more time. Together—

Shigeru—Yoshiharu—Ako. laughs

I was quite loud. laughs

Yes, quite. laughs

I could only hear Someya’s voice. laughs

Someya’s answer is quite prominent, but, what did Kaori answer? Please send me your answer through email.

People will say that Someya was a nuisance. laughs

We will give away signed Christmas cards to three people who answer correctly. We'd like to play a song from Lamp's CD for this the simple style Christmas edition. What song would you like to play, Someya?

It's a song from our latest album "Yume" called "A Toshi No Aki".

That was Lamp, and "A Toshi No Aki". How about the quiz “All At Once", did you understand it? We've already received some answers. There are some people who've answered correctly—please answer with what Kaori said. Before that, we had the three of them talk about their favourite manga artists. We'd like to have your answers in within the next 45 minutes. Please send them via the show's website, the names of Lamp’s favourite manga artists. We're still waiting for your answers! Today we're joined by Lamp for the simple style Christmas edition. Stay tuned for part two of our special live show with Lamp, who'll be performing two of their new songs live in the studio. Thank you very much. Can I say that these are both new songs?

Yes, they're new songs. They're not available on CD or released yet.

Okay, when you're ready.

Yes, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for playing two pieces for us. The first one was "At the Night Party" and the second was "Fantasy". Nagai, your voice was so gentle.

Thank you very much. I'm flattered.

And Kaori's voice was very pure.

Thank you very much.

I'm using this delay effect, so it was thanks to it. laughs

Thank you for sharing such insight. laughs

It’s like it’s flowing.

It made me feel good, it really drew me in. What do you call this thing that you were ringing, Kaori? Is it a bell? Does it have a name?

It’s a bell! laughs

When the bell comes in, it's perfect for this time of the year.

It's like a reindeer.

Today, we received a lot of emails related to cleaning. One inquirer, "Milk Market", asked me what to do about the fact that her room is always dirty, even though she cleaned it in November because she didn't want it to be a mess at the end of the year. I’m not the right person to ask, but overall that seems fine. You've done it, that's all that matters. I hope you can look forward to the New Year proudly, and with a little bit of cleaning up. Thank you very much for all of your messages. We hope you've enjoyed simple style with Lamp. So, simple style - Midday Report -, with your host Maiko Itai. Ciao, ciao!