After appearing on the TV Tokyo “dream audition variety program” Asayan, Suzuki Ami made her debut in 1998 at the age of 15 with the Komuro Tetsuya-produced single “love the island.” Having transferred record labels in 2005 and celebrated her 26th birthday in February, she released her new single “ONE” on the second of this month, marking the tenth anniversary of her debut and continuing her streak of Nakata Yasutaka (capsule) productions that began with “FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER.”
When I spoke with you prior to the release of your last album DOLCE before, you said of your future plans that you “felt like they’d stand on their own even without attaching the ‘join’ label,” and now this single “ONE” with Nakata Yasutaka (capsule) has turned out just as you said. That’s right. My “join” project was originally about borrowing the strength of various creators (laughs), and by putting both our names on the release, it was also like a form of “self-discovery” for me personally. But now this kind of club music and electro house stands up perfectly on its own, and I just genuinely like it (laughs), so I thought I’d like to pursue it as a part of that.
Does it feel like your “join” series has come to an end? Do you think maybe you’ll do it again sometime in the future? “Join” the way I used it last time started from my insecurity, but next time it’ll take on a different form. I think maybe I’ll use the name “join” even for my collaborations.
You’ve found the music you really enjoy doing, the reason you began the “join” project all along. Yes.
You “joined” a variety of artists and creators for DOLCE, but you mentioned that, among them, Nakata-san had the most peculiar style of working. I think that could’ve been partly because that was your first time working together, but did you feel like the production process went more smoothly for both of you this time compared to then? At this point, it just feels normal to me (laughs), but I also think this is the best environment for me to make music in, because Nakata-san himself doesn’t have any particular mold that things have to fit into. He really just puts over 100% of his energy into consistently making what he thinks is cool. I don’t have any stipulations on what has to be this or that way either, so I just hope for both of us to show the best of our ability and make something cool.
Did he talk to you at all before you started working in the studio? We’d already talked about definitely wanting to work together again since I did “FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER” with him, so it took around a year after that point. But there was no particular conversation where I said, “I’m going to release a single within this timeframe, so let’s do it like this.” When we’d meet at club events and things like that, we’d talk about what he wanted to work on with me.
Last time, you told me that Nakata-san’s demos didn’t have any lyrics set in place until you got into the studio. What about this time? No, it was really mostly simultaneous. There was no real chance for me to hear the songs in advance — it was more like I’d come into the studio, listen to the track and then record it (laughs).
How long did the process actually take? It takes almost no time at all to lay down the vocals. I only really sing once or twice, so truthfully, it isn’t much (laughs). For his method, the mixing after that took a lot of time.
Are you still there with him working the entire time he mixes? Yes. Of course I’d want to hear the finished track!
On the topic of other artists produced by Nakata-san, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Perfume since last year and also MEG more recently, but in Perfume’s case, almost everything regarding their songs is left up to Nakata-san, whereas MEG is the opposite and writes almost all of her lyrics herself. That being said, I feel like you don’t fit neatly into either one of those categories. The lyrics of this new single “ONE” were written by Nakata-san, but they really evoke the essence of Suzuki Ami. Has he ever made any request of you? No, we really don’t deliberately talk about anything like that. But sometimes I listen back and notice things I’ve said before, so he really keeps an ear out for words I use, and those get inputted into his head (laughs). When it turns into something like this, all the words I’ve said over the course of a year end up in the lyrics, so I think, “This guy hasn’t really just been making small talk all along, has he?” (laughs) That made me realize that he’s definitely a producer.
Phrases like “I love your smile” and “I love music and this world, I’m always chasing after the next thing” really seem like you. They really do. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but Nakata-san constantly says things to me like, “You really are pretty into music. You seem like you’re having fun with it.” (laughs) When he says that, it makes me wonder, “Is that different from other people somehow?” Or “Do I really smile that much?” (laughs) I feel like Nakata-san is putting those things he noticed about me into my songs and lyrics.
I sense that your sound is a bit closer to capsule — it’s different and more aggressive than Perfume or MEG, including the effects on your vocals and the overall balance between your voice and the instruments. Is this something you’ve ever talked to him about? I just tell him “Anything goes!” Nakata-san knows better than I do, and I don’t understand as much about things like that. We’re ultimately producing the tracks with the aim of them having a certain vibe in the club, so when he explains something to me in those terms, I just think “Oh, you’re right” and arrive at his same conclusion. I think nothing will change if you don’t break out of the existing mold, and I learn a lot from that. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with going completely off the path of pop music, and I don’t mind how much the lyrics just repeat the same thing over and over either (laughs). None of that bothers me personally at all.
Where the average person would slam the brakes and aim for something inoffensive for the sake of public appeal, you seem to recognize that speeding up only makes it cooler, and that really comes across musically. That’s true. What made me feel Nakata-san’s integrity the most was that I could ask him to produce my songs however he liked and he actually came out with his best work that way.
It seems that on MEG-san’s album, Nakata-san even decided the track order in advance, so her director had no room to interject. (laughs)
Continuing on from “FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER,” your cover art and music video for this single were very sexy and exciting. How did you settle on that concept? For the cover art, we’d decided to use LED lights earliest of all. We wanted to give it kind of a concert feel, or more like a club atmosphere than a concert — but even then, not really like a club. I thought I’d like to express the vibe of a “club that’s almost like a concert” through the music video. The basic idea was to have the cover and the music video be connected, shooting both at the same time and then selecting the best cuts. We just had fun using the LEDs all the way to their limit.
What about the outfits? The outfits started from my own mental picture. I wanted them to sparkle, but how, and using what material? Like sequins, or a more satiny sparkle? But nothing really beats sequins in the end. We decided the outfits through discussions like that.
Was it you or Nakata-san who chose the title “ONE”? “ONE” was just “ONE,” I guess… (laughs) I left it up to him.
What is your “ONE” most important thing you can’t lose to anyone else? That’s a good question. What I truly feel most grateful for is that I’m a really positive person, so I can live and work in a way that completely satisfies myself without worrying about other people. That’s something I can say with a lot of confidence.
You welcomed the tenth anniversary of your debut this year, but I felt that you’ve really matured from an “idol” to an “artist” over this past decade. Putting it this way might be rude, but idols are ultimately manufactured puppets, and yet, with your strong fixation on the details in each of your works, I feel like your own opinions and assertive attitude have come more to the foreground. Do you sense that you’ve started to feel a greater desire to express yourself creatively? I think so. Just like you said, when I started out, I really had no choice but to get through what I was given to do, and it took all my energy to stay on top of that. I didn’t even know how my songs were made and put out on CD, so I wasn’t in any position to speak my mind about it. It really took everything I had just to keep up with it all. But as I learned more, I felt a greater and greater sense of responsibility towards my work for my fans and other people who’d be affected by it. I started to feel responsible for my satisfaction with the work I put out into the world, and I shaped up about that to some extent.