|
roxfan
|
 |
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2005, 04:10:46 » |
|
Interview with Origa, AnimeGuide 2005/10
A=AnimeGuide, O=Origa
Interviewer: Zakhar Kabatsky
Photos: Artyom Tashkin
Translated by roxfan
A: That was a great beginning!
O: Thanks! Honestly, I didn't expect so much attention. You see, it was planned as a little local performance with the band "2+1", but it turned out as a full-scale concert.
A: So, you came back to your hometown Novosibirsk as a guest. You saw a little bit of your homeland. Did it change?
O: Of course, it did. I haven't been in Russia for two years, and have been visiting each year before. I felt a huge leap. For example, in Novosibirsk you can now pay with a credit card in common shops. The standard of living really went up. I'm thinking, "Wow!" (laughs). When I walk by the street, I hear music from everywhere. First time I felt the change around two years ago. This time there weren't that much changes, everything is going its normal course.
A: You were born in Russia and are living in Japan for quite some time already. Where are the people better, kinder?
O: Everywhere there are both bad and good, kind and evil, honest and dishonest people. I've been lucky to meet mostly honest people. I don't feel that somewhere there are better or worse people. In Russia there are Russians, in Japan - Japanese. Each one has their own mentality, their own principles... Maybe I'm just a flexible person.
A: Your name became known to many anime fans after the release of Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex where you performed the theme song...
O: Actually, I didn't know that the overseas version was released with my song. When it had been airing in Japan, there were talks that overseas - at least US - version will use another song. Americans didn't like something in the opening, my song didn't fit there, so they decided to remake the opening to fit their tastes. I was thinking that series will spread to Europe and Russia in the US version. Does it really use my song?
A: Well, for now we only have the Japanese version, so... And are you glad that you're listened to mostly by the fans of Japanese entertainment? Or you would like to see a more diverse audience?
O: I'm happy that I have any fans in Russia at all. I was rather shocked by that. And if it's anime and not just my songs - is it bad? Now I have a hope that I can make my own debut even in Russia.
A: What’s your attiture regading anime?
O: Normal. Around five years ago I didn't care about anime or manga. I had some prejudice about the Japanese, thought that they're so... conservative. But now I've seen some recent series, saw a lot of fresh ideas, that's attractive for the young people. Also, they started to benefit a lot from the music in anime, found many advantages, got rid of disadvantages. I really like how anime stands in the world. I watched carefully only those series that I worked on (laughs). Of course, I liked them all! Maybe my fans will be surprised, but much more than Stand Alone Complex I like my last work, Fantastic Children. It has a very profound and beautiful plot, and the characters are also really interesting. I think you will like it. It is now airing and being released in Japan, probably not a long time will pass before it will get here.
A: You've been working with many famous composers, including Yoko Kanno. With whom did you like to work the most?
O: Yes, I have many interesting collaborations, including for anime. I liked very much to work with the composer Akira Senju. He's pretty famous, he often writes for commercials, movies, TV series and also anime. We worked together on the soundtrack for a full-length anime that didn't sell as well as we hoped (laughs). [She's speaking about Princess Arete by Studio 4C]
Kanno is a wholly separate story. For start, we're very close friends. She even says that writes all music for me. First plays the melody in her head with my voice and then lays down on the music and sings, copying me (laughs). It's not necessarily gets written for me, she has a lot of other singers, but still. It all began with my debut album which was released in Tokyo in 1994. Kanno, then a beginner piano player, played all piano parts on it. And in the next three albums she played piano as well. We're friends for a long time. By the way, recently she invited me to take part in one of her projects and said (well, maybe it was just a compliment) that my work has prompted her to use some ethnic motifs in her compositions. That's how she became the Kanno we know now. She's actually a jazz piano player, and it's really pleasing that I've influenced her like that.
A: I can feel you're good friends. That non-existing language that you both use - it first appeared in Kanno's soundtrack for Macross Plus, right?
O: There's a whole story about that cryptic language. We're very alike in this. One time, around ten years ago, she asked me how I write music. I explained that first I devise the music and then sing it in that made-up language. That had probably attracted her and many of her songs, if you know, are in some odd language.
A: It's almost like some military secrets! And what Japanese popular music do you like yourself?
O: There's a lot of interesting artists now. For a long time now I like Kubota Koshinobu [Toshinobu?], a quite remarkable boy. From the new once there's Cristal Kay, pretty interesting and promising girl. Then there is a new trend called reggaeton, reggae with some Brazilian elements. From their artists, there is a Korean girl with unusual name, PushOn. I've been thinking for quite long that it's a name of a group. From the old artists I like Oda Kazumasu, he's a real talent, you can compare him to our Gradsky. He can sing all and anything, such a timbre of his voice. I'm even compared to him quite often, they say we have something in common.
A: Japanese language is quite difficult for Russian ears, it often gets confused with Korean and Chinese. Why do Japanese like Russian singing so much?
O: Slavic languages, including Russian, are very exotic to them: neither Oriental nor American. In the Soviet Union period they've been really separated from us even though they are so close. So this "silence" has influenced their interest to us. Though often even now, if you ask young people "Where is Russia?" - they don't know. Now the Russian language, Russian music has come to the surface and people got interested. We, Russians, has filled that void, became something they lacked. And I was incredibly lucky to get there just when that interest has begun. Like my song, "Polyushko pole" which is like my business card now. Someone proposed to use a remake of a classic Russian song in a TV series, and who else would sing it? Actually, the Japanese themselves thing that Russian folk songs are consonant with Japanese ones. Pentatonism, it's almost the same in both Russia and Japan.
A: Do you plan to work more for anime or want to try something else?
O: If there are contracts, I will never refuse animation work. Producers do not always allow me to work for anime, they only approve those that they feel are profitable and useful for my image. But I really like to work with animation. So, I think I will develop that direction further.
A: So you've performed in your homeland. Can we hope for a concert tour in other Russian cities?
O: It's obvious that I'm interesting for many in Russia and not to use that interest would be just silly. I will most probably have another concert in Novosibirsk next year. We'll see how it turns out. Now we know what to stake on (laughs).
A: Thank you very much, and see you next year!
O: Thank you!
|
