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Puffy AmiYumi Power
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The Cartoon Girls Are All Grown Up
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by Megan Bates |
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As the creators of the Teen Titans theme song and the subjects of a show on Cartoon Network, pop duo Puffy AmiYumi holds the affection of the younger set, to be sure. But the band members (known as Ami and Yumi) have gone from being practically kids themselves when they began making music together ten years ago, to globe trotting and trendsetting musicians with a sophisticated style. Their new album, Honeycreeper, features the work of a diverse and talented group of collaborators and includes songs with definite grown-up appeal. SB chatted with Puffy about their new album, their rise to fame, and what's next.
Shojo Beat: The songs on Honeycreeper are so diverse—what were some of your inspirations for the album?
AMI: We were very lucky that the artists and producers we really like and hoped to work with wrote songs for us. So the unique personality of each of them was the inspiration for the album. We enjoyed being absorbed in the world of each song.
YUMI: Like Ami said, we wanted to work with artists that we really like, rather than have an overall concept of an album and working around it. We were also conscious about performing those songs live (when creating the album) so we worked on arrangements, etc. with that in mind.
SB: You collaborated with a lot of well-known rockers on that CD. Can you tell us any interesting stories about the recording of the album or about some of your collaborators?
A: It's been so long since we last worked with Yousui Inoue and Tamio Okuda, so working with them again brought me back to the time when we recorded together [Inoue wrote the lyrics and Okuda the music for Puffy AmiYumi's debut single "Asia No Junshin"—Editor]. Another memorable thing about the recording of the album is that the male artists and producers we worked with are handsome, so our female staff—and us, too, of course—got really hyped up!
Y: Working with Yousui-san and Okuda-san again was very memorable. Singing a song that they created for us for the first time in 10 years made me very happy, and it was reminiscent of the days when we just started out as Puffy.
SB: Are there any new projects planned for when you finish touring in support of Honeycreeper?
A: I'm hoping to relax and take it easy for a while, but we'll finish up our Japan tour after the North American tour and then go back to recording studio.
SB: Was it strange for you to be portrayed as animated characters on a TV show for so long?
A: I'm simply very happy that the anime became widely known and it introduced our music to broader audience.
Y: Anything that leads people to be interested in the band and our music, I appreciate!
SB: Where are some of your favorite places to go in America (i.e. clothing stores, concert halls, cities, or anything else)?
A: I like visiting local supermarkets.
Y: Los Angeles is one of my favorite cities in America.
SB: If you could swap one physical or personality trait with each other, what would it be?
A: I wish I had Yumi's beautiful straight hair.
Y: Ami's drawing skill—she's a great artist.
SB: You've stayed engaging and exciting far longer than most J-pop bands. What do you think is the key to your popularity and success?
Y: We try to keep positive attitude and have fun with whatever we do. I think that's the key to staying around for as long as we have.
SB: What are some of your favorite movie, anime or manga titles lately?
A: My favorite manga is Houkago Hokenshitsu [published in the US by Go! Comi, under the title After School Nightmare—Editor].
Y: I like the anime movie Toki wo Kakeru Shojo [The Girl Who Leapt Through Time].
SB: Would you share some words of advice to girls who are looking to break into the music industry?
Y: If you have passion about something, take action and keep at it. Good luck!
images courtesy Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
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