Fools Mate - Search for the Beginning*

interviewer and issue: unknown, pg 134-135

Last time we came to the set of your PV [Still Doll] and then got to see the final product; it really came out well, didn't it?
Kanon: Thank you. For me, this was the first time I've ever shot a video, so there were things I wasn't sure how to handle, but thanks to Manasama et all I think the film managed to capture the atmosphere of the song perfectly.

There was also the recording and so on, and I'm sure that since the new year began you've been rather busy?
Kanon: Not necessarily. When I was going to school there were tests, all sorts of things, so...(laughs)

That's right. You were a student up till this Spring after all (laughs)
Kanon: Yes. Right now I'm focusing on music, so when compared to that, more than being busy I feel that every day is fulfilling, and it's a lot of fun.

Well then, can you start off by telling us how you met Mana?
Kanon: I think it was about a half a year ago that we first met. He became my producer, and the staff brought me to a live, and that was the first time I saw him. It was right at Christmas.

That was the Dix Infernal event, right? Had you been interested in Rock Bands at all before then?
Kanon: Umm...I'd been out of touch with that stuff. I'm sorry.

No, no, not at all! You don't need to apologize here. You'd been listening to classical since you were 3 and playing to cello, and so it seems natural anyhow.
Kanon: From about the time I was in elementary school I started to listen to JPOP as well as classical, and with that I took an interest in singing. But I don't know much about bands....when I first saw Manasama...it was rather much of a shock.

At that time I imagine Mana was androgenous and elegant, and I wonder if you didn't feel any discomfort at seeing that too?
Kanon: No, not at all. Even though I was seing a live, he'd managed to create a perfect world so all I was able to feel was, innocently, that "it was beautiful." When I spoke with him directly, I got the impression that he was a very kind person.

And, before we talk about you as the artist Kanon Wakeshima, I think it;s very important to talk about your cello as well. This time you were playing your cello very beautifullt in the song, but to you, what is the cello?
Kanon: The thing that is closest to me. For as long as I can remember it had always been escribed to me, and so it feels like it's only natural that it would be with me now as well.

In the beginning you started it at your parent's suggestion, but when did you first realize that you liked the cello for yourself?
Kanon: Perhaps that's just recently.

I wasn't expecting you to say that.

Kanon: Really, the cello and who I, myself, am are too closely interwoven, so of course at times I'm bothered by it. But at the same time, there's no way I could imagine life without it. Every once in a while my cello will break or the like, and I get so, so uncomfortable; there's nothing I can do. But I only just recently came to realize that it's something I really can't lose.

In your case, you express the song while playing your cello. It seems that Mana [felt a new future] in your style, but how did you come upon that technique?
Kanon: When I first started making my own songs, that was when it become necessary for me to add chords as an accompaniment melody. I wasn't very good at the keyboard, so when I made a demo tape, I would add the cello as back-up since I'd been playing it for so long. When doing that I began to think that maybe I could sing while playing it, and that's how I ended up accompanying myself on the cello.

You make use of that uniquely rare style in "Still Doll", but when you first received the song from Mana, what kind of image did you get?
Kanon: It was like...like I'd gotten lost in a castle....I was listening to it, and that's the sense I got. It also had a classical aire to it, naturally.

You write your own lyrics, but how did you match the words to the song?
Kanon: It's an extremely atmospheric song and I wanted to write lyrics that would convey that to the utmost. I started by first listening to the song over and over again. And these are the lyrics I wrote while gathering my own words, to show what I was trying to express the song.

And the "atashi" you say here, is that supposed to be you yourself?
Kanon: I suppose it's more like the main character of a tale. The main character is an innocent young girl, and she has a doll that is very dear to her. This is when she is talking to her doll, and it's a tale that painted that kind of scene.

When you start to sing this song, what kind of expression do you put into the song?
Kanon: One of emptiness and sadness. I was thinking of how much I'd like tobring that out. But it doesn't mean that it's a terribly sad song. I sang it so I could convey the kind of sad feeling that's hard to explain.

MORE COMING EVENTUALLY (hopefully soon)

Gosh it must be nice to feel satisfied with your life (laughs)
Well, best of luck to Kanon! and...
PEOPLE STOP PLAGAIRIZING MY TRANSLATIONS PLEASE. Tis all~

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original lyrics copyright Kanon Wakeshima. Translation copyright Faith 2008.
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