:: 4 March 2013
From Bigbang
D-LITE STYLE
Bigbang’s D-LITE has finally debuted in Japan with his highly anticipated solo
album on the 27th of February! To celebrate his solo debut career we have
started a short installment for D-LITE! Other than the album, we will also be
talking about the importance of the song lyrics and how close it is to D-LITE’s
character!
Vol.1 There is uneasiness and stress for my first solo! The suggestion V.I.
gave me was also…..
Oricon Style (OS): For your solo album “D’scover”, you have collated the
precious J-pop cover albums. There’s not only male singers songs like Saito
Kazuyoshi’s “Singer’s Ballad” and Sukima Switch “Powerful Boy” but also female
singers like Ikimono-gakari’s “Joyful”, not only are there solo songs but also
songs from groups… you have collated so many colourful music, how did you
select it?
D-LITE: From the list of 100 recommended songs, I did try singing all of it,
but in the end I still selected songs that I really wanted to sing purely.
Firstly, I listened to the audio version to understand the impression of the
original song, then I will search for videos to observe the singer’s message
and mood, then I will see if anybody else did a cover of that song and I will
search it out and listen to it… if time permits. I have experienced everything
related to the songs, from audio to video to covers. If at any point of time, I
feel that there is a different feeling from me, the singer’s posture or we do
not have the same view, I will then think that is a song that cannot be
covered. Feeling the colors of the person, then what do I do with my own
colors? I will think this way. Now that I have the chance to do a cover, I have
to add my colors in properly if not I will be disappointing the listeners. I
really considered many factors in this area, I listened too many times for the
songs till it would be bad if I continued listening (laugh). I wanted to guide
my own colors out and I did a lot of effort for it, however I am so satisfied
because I have a piece of work that I am happy with.
OS: Any stress or uneasiness for your first solo?
D-LITE: Yes. To be honest, there’s a lot at the start. Am I able to sing out my
feelings well with Japanese? I think singing and expressing its feelings is the
most important thing, however I noticed that my Japanese pronunciation sounded
unnatural, and I had to add in my own feelings too… so I was thinking of many
things while recording. Also, Bigbang’s world tour was happening at the same
time as well, so my mind became a mess (laugh), it was really tough. However,
during the recording, I constantly hear people around me telling me that it is
very good so all the uneasiness that I carried with me disappeared naturally.
OS: What is the difference recording as Bigbang’s D-LITE and solo artist
D-LITE?
D-LITE: With Bigbang, because it will not be my voice from the start till end
of the song, so I have to listen to how the member before me sang it, how he
used his voice and what atmosphere was it in, to let the switching of voices be
smooth, I have to consider tweaking my voice tone etc. However, for my solo
album, each song contains my stories, so from the start till the end, I had to
ask myself constantly what I am trying to express, and I have to sing together
with my thoughts of how to present it and how I want to present it constantly
in my mind. That is the biggest difference.
OS: For the production of this album, you stayed in Japan for quite a long
period last year.
D-LITE: Actually I was already in Japan secretly for a few months since July.
OS: Since it’s during July, it means you will have met V.I. for his Japan
activities.
D-LITE: Yes, I was there when V.I. had his Japanese programs to appear on but
V.I. was really~~busy at that time. Although I was staying in a room beside
V.I, however V.I had to travel to Osaka and many other places, so in the end, I
could only see him once or twice in the two months I was there. Although we do
send text, talk on the phone occasionally and report about our situation now, he
was unable to accompany me at all…. It was really lonely (laugh)
OS: Did V.I san or any of the other members give you any advice or suggestions
for your solo album?
D-LITE: Because I was shy so I did not ask the members myself, but V.I will
come up to me on his own and ask “How is this song”, “I think it’s not bad”, “I
think this song suits you”, and he recommended a lot of Japanese songs that he
knew to me.
OS: So, what was the song V.I recommended?
D-LITE: Ahhh… That…. That is……
OS: Maybe it wasn’t recorded.
D-LITE: Ah~ Yes (wry smile). Ah yes! MISIA san’s “Missing You Now” was a song
that was already decided but it is a song that V.I recommended as well!
OS: So the song that V.I san recommended is included in the album. In the
album, are there any songs that you feel is rather difficult?
D-LITE: All are difficult (laugh). Especially the song that V.I san recommended
“Missing You Now” and Hata Motohiro san’s “Love”, both are songs that are
especially hard for me. Before recording I was really afraid of these two
songs. Then I kept thinking, why was the impact so huge, also, MISIA san sang
very nicely! Actually, this sentence should be told to all the original singers
of the songs (wry smile). Everybody really can sing!
OS: That is true. But this has also proved that songs like this can only be
sung by D-LITE with its forceful voice.
D-LITE: No, I still have a long way to go… Actually, this will become
stressful; however, I kept thinking that I cannot spoil the original strong
impression of the songs, so I stopped listening to MISIA’s version, I listened
to purely the melody and to let the impression in my heart increase. I think in
that way is how I can truly present my own “Missing You Now”.
OS: You performed in a TV show with JUJU san and sang “Like Overflowing With
Kindness”.
D-LITE: Yes. At the start I was really nervous, but JUJU san is a good singer,
as long as I look into her eyes, I am able to sing out comfortably. Also,
usually when I sing this song I will have a very happy mood. When I first started
listening to it, I felt the cold winter and warm summers crossing path with
each other. I think this song suits the season that is about to arrive. JUJU
san’s singing is really awesome, and also because it is a female song, there
was a problem with the key. During verse A I sang really happily but when I
reached the chorus, it suddenly turned high-pitch so it was tough (wry smile).
Also, speaking about difficulty, for this song there are a lot of lyrics
containing the word “tsu”, it is when I get a headache because of my
pronunciation. However, the content of the lyrics is really interesting.
Especially the part where it says “Located in an area with absolutely no
change, even the most important thing seems to be invisible everyday”, what is
this song trying to send its message, if I do not use my own way to explain it,
I will not be able to sing it, that is why I spend much time on each song.
Although it is not my original song, but whatever I sing, will be my story, my
message, so if I do not understand the content of the lyrics, I can never be
able to sing it.
OS: I can see how sincere you are towards music and it relates to your upright
personality. Having so many meaningful songs in an album called “D’scover”,
what do you mean about the title?
D-LITE: I combined D-LITE’s “D” and “Discover” together, I thought of it
myself. After completing this work, I again noticed the beauty and difficulty
of Japanese songs, there are many new discoveries, and it being my solo album,
my new charm, different colors and when I sing, I realized there are many
changes in me as well… Many new discoveries in myself.
OS: Bigbang fans will definitely like this album, but this piece of work this
time is a good chance to let non-fans of Bigbang yet fans of J-pop to know about
the singer D-LITE.
D-LITE: My song, although I don’t think it is up to standard yet, but by adding
colors in the songs that I like…. It is listening to the original and new
colors together, and people will realize the difference in it. If they are able
to feel this, that is my greatest happiness. The common theme for all songs is
“warmth”. It’s as though being in a mother’s womb, it should be that warm yet
memorable feeling.. I want to emphasize on that point. When listening to the
original songs, I feel warmth, colors, passion, messages, if I can convey these
via my album I will be very happy. I do not have enough ability yet, nor do I
have much experience, so I did many research, most importantly is to remember
in my heart “singing sincerely”. If I don’t think about anything and just sing
sincerely, it could be the best, but at the same time of singing sincerely, I
must also add my own thinking and measure in, to be able to maintain and sing
this way is my dream, and it is also the biggest problem… However, as long as I
face the songs “sincerely”, my voice will also come out naturally, that is what
I believe. To fans who have liked me for very long, they might already expect
that I will be having an album like this, but for people who are unclear, for people
who have strong impression with Bigbang, I guess they will be shocked. Also,
how will the J-pop fans react, that is making me very nervous. But all in all,
as long as everybody can feel my sincere singing in this album I will be very
happy.
Source: Oricon Style
Translated by: nakedae@SMILE HOLIC www.dsholic.com
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