▶My (attempted) scan. From Fool's Mate No. 163 May 1995.◀

▶ (laughs) So the four of you did it together just that one time?

G: That's right. After that, there was an event in Maebashi on February 13, and I had a session with people from other bands at that time.

▶ Did you ever think it would just be the four of you performing?

Y: After all, these five people are Kneuklid Romance, and I didn't want to make the audience feel like we were only performing with four people from now on. I didn't know that Kenichi would heal so quickly, so it was just once in Niigata...

▶ Kenichi, are you fully recovered?

K: Yeah, I'm totally fine now. Since I caused trouble to the people around me, our fans, and the other members, I felt like repaying the debt at the next concert.

▶ I've heard that each of you wrote a lot of songs while he was resting...

J: ... It's a pop song again.

▶ While working on Puzzle, Juna said, "It's not quite there yet".

J: Yeah, I've created something that I'm satisfied with.

▶ And Tatsuya?

T: I haven't announced it to the members yet, but I'm working on it little by little. I have a horizontal style in mind. I was watching the Pink Panther on TV, and I thought the theme song was interesting. I don't know if it would be accepted because it's such a different direction, but I would like to create songs that would make people think, "It would be interesting if there was something like that in our band".

K: My mind's also full of new ideas. Even if it is completely different from my previous works, I hope it's a good thing... But lately, I haven't had any interest in forcing myself to create something that doesn't exist. Now, I wish I could turn everything I'm naturally feeling in real time into a doll...

▶ Yukino, what about the lyrics?

Y: "Puzzle" had a lot of things in the past. That was a feeling of rarity, but now it feels more real-time? " I wonder if Puzzle's theme of "a sense of self-liberation slipping through" will become stronger. More human-like...

▶ Vivid?

Y: Yeah, vivid. It's not that I've been trying to sound innocent up until now, but there's parts of Love Song that feel quite feminine. But when I stared at myself, I said, "I'm a man"... There's dirtier parts, and some parts that everyone doesn't know, and I want to show more of that.

▶ Have you had a change of heart?

Y: Quite a bit of one.

▶ So, I know you've all had a lot of things on your mind during this period, but what was last year like for the band?

Y: Releasing an album, there was also songwriting, recording, and the tour that went with it. We'd been working seriously as a band up until then, but I think last year was a particularly fulfilling year.

▶ Last year was also the year when all of the current members got together.

Y: Yes. It's hard to believe that there were only four of us just a year ago.

▶ Juna, you said at the beginning that you couldn't express yourself to the other members yet?

J: I'm trying to get it out. You'll have to ask around to find out if it's out or not (laughs).

K: I think there's a lot of them out there (everyone laughs).

J: Yeah, that's right (laughs).

K: There isn't any division of roles among the five of us, but I feel like he's been able to fulfill his role. Regarding the music, when I listen to the new songs, I think, "oh, that's a Juna song." Since it's a song I can't write, I thought "Good!" It's kind of like that.

▶ Last year, Tatsuya wrote a song, right?

T: Yes. I didn't write any songs with the previous members, so I feel like I've grown a little bit.

G: There were a lot of things we experienced for the first time, so it was a good step, and appearing at the Shibuko "MISSION" event was a great experience as well. With some reflection, I think we now know how to proceed in the future.

▶ It seems like the band evolved very quickly last year. Were there times where it was disorienting?

G: There were. The moment I tried to think about one thing, I already had to move onto the next...

K: Even regarding live performances, when things weren't going well, I feel like we were fooling ourselves with our groove and momentum. It seemed like the fans were really spoiling us...

Y: Not because the show is good, but because it's Kneuklid Romance, and because we're on a roll, it gets people excited.

G: Last year, Fool's Mate gave us the opportunity to release a CD , which put us in a good position, but honestly, we felt that we hadn't reached that level yet... If we can create such a good situation again this year, I think we can put the band in an even better state.

▶ Have you been able to see a lot of things since last year?

Y: Yes. There's many opinions based on last year.

J: Last year, I was in such a hurry that I couldn't grasp my own bass, but this year I think I'll be able to take my time on my own bass and have a good show.

K: Last year, there were a lot of ideas in my head, but this year I'm going to do it naturally.

T: I want to do something interesting this year.

G: I think we can definitely achieve good results with that. Rather than going with the current scene, we plan to create our own scene, so please look forward to it.

▶ After a fulfilling year, do you think the core of the band is starting to emerge?

K: Yes. I feel like rather than being a band that just creates songs, we want to become a band that can create an atmosphere. Live music involves interactions with the fans, but there's also an atmosphere that's unique to live houses, isn't there? I think that's very important. So far, our live shows have been familiar, but from now on, we want you to see a different side of us as well.

▶ So, your upcoming activities are....

G: We have a circuit tour in April.

T: One or two days in Tokyo, and we'll visit five more places.

G: By the way, the live event in Kochi is an event for a magazine called "efje", and we have a lot of fun things planned. Please look forward to it.

Y: During this period, I found various parts of myself which are reflected in the lyrics, and I think that the framework for the world of Kneuklid Romance has expanded greatly, so I think that the fans can enjoy it and get excited. From now on, we'll attack with quality over quantity, so just wait and see!

Notes

I can't find a single thing on "efje" anywhere so god only knows what that was about.