EXILE RESPECT Series Latest Work "Michiji": The Vivid Scenery TAKAHIRO Was Determined to Convey
This interview was originally published in Japanese on thefirsttimes.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
EXILE TAKAHIRO Interview
EXILE TAKAHIRO has released “Michi” (The Path), the latest installment in the “EXILE RESPECT” series, which sees him cover EXILE songs as a solo artist. “Michi,” now established as a new standard graduation song, left a deep impression on TAKAHIRO when he was just beginning his professional career shortly after joining EXILE. He reflects on how, through his time with “Team EXILE,” he has experienced meetings and departures, and how this important song has been nurtured together with fans at live shows.
CONTENTS
- “Michi” is like my “entrance song”
- A struggle because it’s such a precious song. The landscape that led to the decision to release it
- Rather than being reborn, updating it. Chewing on the lyrics of “Michi” now, after time has passed
- Song links
“Michi” Is Like My “Entrance Song”
Q: EXILE released their 23rd single “Michi” on February 14, 2007. That means it came out just after TAKAHIRO won the “EXILE VOCAL BATTLE AUDITION 2006 ~ASIAN DREAM~” and joined EXILE as a new vocalist in September 2006. I was struck by how quick that was.
TAKAHIRO: “Michi” was released just six months after I joined EXILE. We did the recording about one or two months after I joined, so I was still completely lost, recording desperately. And since it was the first proper ballad I’d sing as a member, I was nothing but nervous. Everything I experienced back then was new, so I was still floating—the “Michi” MV shoot was really difficult.
Q: What mindset did you have going into the MV shoot back then?
TAKAHIRO: At that time, I was such a huge fan of EXILE that I hadn’t quite shaken off my fanboy mentality, you know? One of the appeals is seeing this cool, somewhat rowdy EXILE singing a tender ballad thinking of someone special. So it felt surreal to be participating in that. I was nervous but also a bit starstruck. But once the actual shoot started, I didn’t even know what scene I was shooting, and I’d never done lip-syncing before, so I had no idea what expression or gaze to use while singing. I was just desperate. When the new year came and “Michi” was released, and I sang it throughout my first EXILE tour—EXILE LIVE TOUR 2007 EXILE EVOLUTION—I finally felt like I’d accomplished something.
Q: Did singing “Michi” in front of fans at your first live tour give you confidence?
TAKAHIRO: At the Nippon Budokan venue where my joining EXILE was announced, I felt joy and happiness, but honestly, I didn’t really feel like I had the EXILE name yet. When I made it through my first tour safely, I felt like I could finally give myself a little credit. The warm applause from fans at each venue touched my heart, and there were times I couldn’t sing because I was so moved. “Michi” is like an “entrance song” for me—it’s a song I hold very dear.
A Struggle Because It’s Such a Precious Song. The Landscape That Led to the Decision to Release It
Q: How did you come to release this “Michi” that you hold so dear?
TAKAHIRO: I’ve long had a strong feeling that I wanted to deliver “Michi” as the TAKAHIRO I am now, with all my experience. Since it’s a ballad with themes of graduation and departure, it’s become an important song that has stayed in the hearts of so many people. But over the past few years, with the pandemic, students couldn’t have graduation ceremonies, and even when they could, parents weren’t allowed to attend—facing all these constraints, I wondered: should I really release “Michi,” which was created with themes of graduation and departure? I questioned whether it was right to release a song that has become precious to so many fans in such circumstances. I don’t want people to feel sad listening to this song. So I decided to carefully consider the timing and find the very best moment.
Q: What made you decide to release it at this particular time?
TAKAHIRO: As I carefully considered when to announce it, I started thinking that in life, new encounters and departures aren’t only in spring—March and April or the season of spring itself. Spring is certainly the season of new beginnings, but beyond students, there are things like retirement, kids growing up, marriage, new jobs, career changes—people experience countless encounters and departures throughout their lives. And when we performed “Michi” at EXILE LIVE TOUR 2022 “POWER OF WISH,” I was able to reconfirm how wonderful “Michi” truly is. That might have been the biggest factor. I realized the song’s expression changes depending on the time, and its meaning changes too. When I sang “Michi” at this dome tour and connected with the fans and members there… thinking of Keiji (Keiji Kuroki, who retired as a performer after this dome tour and left the entertainment industry on October 31, 2022), my feelings in that moment, the scenery I saw from the stage—while those were still vivid, I wanted to deliver “Michi.” So I suddenly decided to release it.
Q: I felt like many people were deeply moved by how the lyrics of “Michi” overlapped with Keiji’s retirement.
TAKAHIRO: I felt the same way. Every performance, every time I sang “Michi,” my tear ducts were in danger. I swear, Keiji was always in my line of sight—it wasn’t intentional, but it felt like it (laughs). Seeing Keiji was really dangerous, so I kept my tears in check by looking at Mendy next to me instead.
Q: So you yourself added another big layer of meaning to “Michi.”
TAKAHIRO: That’s true for me, but I think for everyone who’s listened to “Michi” until now, we were able to add another precious shared memory. As I mentioned, during this dome tour, I reconfirmed that “Michi” isn’t just a song for spring—graduation and entrance season—but a good song to listen to any time of year. So I’d be really happy if “Michi,” which fans have continued to listen to at live shows, and this “EXILE RESPECT” series cover, will be nurtured further in everyone’s hearts from here on.
Rather Than Being Reborn, Updating It
Q: In this recording, what parts did you feel had changed as you accumulated career and age, and what parts did you consciously keep the same as the original?
TAKAHIRO: I wanted to preserve the goodness and excellence of the original, including in the arrangement, so I was conscious about not making it too new. Rather than being reborn, it’s more like updating it. But since it’s a song I’ve always sung together with ATSUSHI, and it’s a song that’s continued to grow and evolve through live performances, in this cover I made sure to pay full homage to ATSUSHI’s way of singing too. That was a really important point for me.
Q: What kind of feedback did you get from ATSUSHI?
TAKAHIRO: He said, “You did all my recent homages too, didn’t you?” and was really pleased. So it’s an homage with the man himself’s blessing (laughs).
Q: Fifteen years have passed since the original “Michi” was released, and with this cover, I imagine there are younger people hearing it for the first time.
TAKAHIRO: I’ve gotten really happy feedback like “Michi” really is an amazing song.” That’s exactly why I want to convey this song’s greatness to the younger generation born around when “Michi” was released. And I hope this becomes a chance for “Michi” to transcend generations and become a topic of conversation between parents and children. It’s been 16 years since I joined EXILE, but I’ve realized that the songs we’ve released shine based on what I do with them. There are things only I as EXILE’s vocalist can do, and the “EXILE RESPECT” series is one of them, so I want to continue with it. And because I have the experience of having done all this, there are definitely things I can sing that I couldn’t before. I’m starting to feel like I can hold my head up a bit as a vocalist. Just as I admired EXILE and pursued this path, I hope that by becoming a vocalist I can be proud of, I can connect to someone else’s dreams too.
Chewing on the Lyrics of “Michi” Now, After Time Has Passed
Q: The lyrics of “Michi” contain the words “love and kindness.” Because you’ve been singing it all these years, and because you’ve gotten older, has the meaning and weight of these words changed for you?
TAKAHIRO: Compared to now, back when I was desperately trying to sing, I don’t think I fully understood the context of what the lyrics were trying to convey or the feelings embedded in them. But as I accumulated experience as an artist and as a person, I began to really chew on the feelings in the lyrics and break them down further within myself. But then I found myself getting so into the lyrics that I’d get overwhelmed and couldn’t sing. Because of that experience, I now intentionally sing with the feeling that I’m singing everyone’s life story. Especially at live shows, it’s closer to the feeling that I’m singing the thoughts of all the people in the venue.
Q: Following up on that, with the phrase “let’s walk slowly / down this path that leads to the future”—what kind of “future” does TAKAHIRO want to reach?
TAKAHIRO: When I joined EXILE, I was the youngest, but before I knew it, I had a lot of juniors, and when we do live shows at LDH events, sometimes I find myself in a position like a “leader.” People live among other people, so naturally your position changes, but I feel like I haven’t changed much from back when I was the youngest (laughs). This is just my personality, but I’m not the type to have a clear vision of where I want to be in ten years. If it wasn’t what I pictured, I’d panic, right? Since we live in an age where nobody knows what will happen, I think the future is built on what you do now. So I try to value each present moment but not settle for who I am now, and think about how I can turn everything into something positive. With that in mind, the way I interpret “let’s walk slowly” now is: rather than picturing a clear future vision, setting a goal there, and rushing ahead, to reach that goal I need to live fully in the present moment now. If I properly stack one thing upon another, I might reach even higher than the future I imagined. As a vocalist, I still have so much I want to challenge myself with, and I want to make our fans even happier. As long as that desire is my core foundation, I won’t waver. Within me there’s a sense of “EXILE for everyone,” and I want to meet fans’ expectations, I want to make them happy, and I want to enjoy it myself. I’ll never forget my gratitude, and I’ll carry EXILE forward in my own way, as myself.
INTERVIEW & TEXT BY Yasue Matsuura
Song Links
Released November 22, 2022 Digital Single “Michi”
Profile
EXILE TAKAHIRO / Born December 8, 1984. Vocalist of EXILE. EXILE is celebrating their 21st anniversary, and in December 2022 will hold dome performances for EXILE LIVE TOUR 2022 “POWER OF WISH” ~Christmas Special~. Beyond group activities, as a solo artist he tours the 47 prefectures of Japan with his fan club tour “TAKAHIRO Michi no Eki,” releasing the “EXILE RESPECT” series where he self-covers EXILE songs with new arrangements. The latest single from this series, “Michi,” the subject of this interview, is currently available for streaming.
EXILE OFFICIAL SITE https://www.exile.jp/