This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.

lynch. Interview: “This Live Performance Holds an Incredibly Important Position in Our 20-Year History”

On April 22, lynch. will be releasing a new video work.

The lengthy title reads: ‘lynch. 20TH ANNIVERSARY XX FINAL ACT “ALL THIS WE’LL GIVE YOU” 25.12.28 TOKYO GARDEN THEATER’—and as it indicates, this release captures their year-end performance at Tokyo Garden Theater, which marked the culmination of various 20th anniversary activities that continued throughout the previous year. This was their first-ever show at the venue.

The two-disc set contains the live performance on one disc, while the other features a documentary including interviews. It’s not only a chance to experience that memorable day from multiple angles, but the work also has the quality of allowing listeners to reassess lynch.’s history up to this point while imagining their future. For this feature, we sat down with all five band members ahead of the release.

Q: First off, I’d like to hear how you’re all remembering that live performance now.

Hatsuki (Vo): The DISC-2 interview was actually conducted a few days before the live show. During it, I said something like, “If nothing goes wrong, we should pull it off without getting nervous.” But in reality, we did get nervous, and even as things were going well, we had that CO2 accident and all that—so things didn’t proceed exactly as planned. I kind of realized, “Yeah, that’s just how it is.” Life doesn’t always go smoothly, you know? (laughs) Of course it was a good live, and it became an amazing day, but achieving a perfect 100 is pretty difficult.

Q: There’s no way to completely avoid accidents anyway.

Hatsuki: That’s right. But I came away feeling that even though it’s challenging, that’s just how it goes—you move forward by overcoming those kinds of things.

Q: How was it for you, Yusuke? In the pre-live interview, you mentioned something like, “The key will be whether we can produce the kind of quality sound befitting that venue.”

Yusuke (G): When I heard the recording data from the actual live performance, including the recording quality itself, I felt like we’d gotten close to what I was aiming for. The performance itself wasn’t perfect, but I think we reached about 70-80% of where I wanted to be, so I’m glad we managed to get there.

Q: So you’re also glad the live could be turned into this release?

Yusuke: Yeah. Though it would’ve been even better without that CO2 incident (laughs). But aside from that, I think it went well.

Akira (Dr): Well, what happened already happened, so there’s no point dwelling on it, but to be honest, I did feel a bit unsettled about that accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, and there were various reasons—compatibility with the venue’s electrical system and things like that. But it showed us one more thing that lynch. needs to solve going forward, so I’ll take that as a positive.

Q: So it comes down to “better safe than sorry,” right?

Akira: Yeah. But I realized we need to be careful not just about the performance itself, but about those other aspects too. Of course, aside from that issue, I think it was a really good live.

Akinori (B): What really stands out in my memory is the sense of relief and accomplishment I felt after the live ended—something I’d never quite experienced before. After all, it was the culmination of the 20th anniversary project, which all five of us had thrown ourselves into over the course of a year. So while the accident means I can’t exactly say “everything went smoothly” (laughs), I had a really strong sense that we’d given it everything we had.

Q: Is that sense of accomplishment why you shaved your beard? (Note: Akinori shaved during the interval between the main set and the encore)

Akinori: Oh, that was just a spur-of-the-moment thing (laughs).

Q: And you, Reo?

Reo (G): As the 20th anniversary project started and each ACT progressed, I felt like we were accelerating more and more. Going through that momentum and eventually reaching the final of the entire project at a large venue like Tokyo Garden Theater—I approached that day with the tension that brings, along with a sense of accomplishment from finally getting here. When we actually performed, I also realized I want to do shows in even bigger venues. At the same time as feeling gratitude for being able to mark a milestone at Garden Theater, I also saw what comes next—a new goal and vision. In that sense, I think this became a really important live show in our 20-year history. I hope that when we look back on it later, we can see it as a really important turning point.

Q: You’ve had commemorative lives at various milestone moments before, but this time especially, with the retake release and the subsequent tour, the consciousness of “we really need to make this a major milestone” must have been even stronger.

Reo: That’s definitely true. I felt that throughout the whole year. When we were doing lives at venues all around the country, I didn’t want anyone thinking, “Huh? Nothing’s changed since they formed—and not in a good way.” We wanted people to think, “They’ve become a really good band. I’m glad I’ve been supporting them for 20 years.” That’s the mindset we had traveling around the country, and that’s the consciousness I held throughout the year. The Garden Theater live was the culmination of all that, so I felt it even more strongly.

Q: What did you feel about the Garden Theater venue itself?

Hatsuki: I thought it was bigger than I imagined. That kind of wide, spacious view—there’s not many other venues quite like it. There are venues with a similar atmosphere, but Garden Theater is particularly large in capacity. And of course we performed comfortably there. But honestly, I really wanted to sell it out completely (laughs). We really wanted to fill even the top floor. That’s one of the things we want to achieve next.

Yusuke: It’s definitely a large venue, but I didn’t feel like the distance was overwhelming, which I found a bit strange actually.

Q: The front row is quite close to the stage, isn’t it? At large venues, there’s often a big gap there.

Akira: That’s exactly what I felt right when the live started. “The front row people are so close!” I thought. But when I looked further back, there was this wall of people extending far back. That was pretty unique. Also, unlike typical large venues, there wasn’t that weird acoustic quirk you sometimes get, so it was really easy to perform. I didn’t feel any difficulty performing during the live at all.

Akinori: It was easy to perform, the audience was close, we could see everything, and it felt great. Plus, that size of venue represents a natural extension for lynch.—it didn’t feel like an impossible capacity to sell out. It was a really rewarding venue to perform at.

Q: So basically, it wasn’t unrealistically huge—it’s big, but right-sized for lynch. as you are now.

Reo: Right. Though I will say, aside from special occasions like this, there’s definitely a desire that’s emerged to be able to consistently do shows of that scale. It was such a great venue. But, as Hatsuki mentioned, the fact that we couldn’t completely sell it out is something we need to acknowledge. I’d like us to become a band that can do that kind of live show as naturally as anything else.

Q: So not as something exceptional, but as part of your routine.

Hatsuki: Right. I think that’s the perfect answer (laughs).

Q: Actually, watching this live footage, the first thing you notice is the beautiful image quality and excellent sound. Were there things you discovered anew when checking the footage?

Hatsuki: No, not really. Watching it, I was just like, “Yeah, that’s how it was” (laughs). There wasn’t anything I was dissatisfied with either… so yeah, I guess it really was an acoustically excellent venue. There was no difference between what we experienced there in real-time and how it came out. When the live performance sound itself was murky and unclear, you’d notice a difference, but that wasn’t the case at all. It turned out pretty much how we envisioned it.

Q: What about the documentary section? Isn’t it actually kind of annoying having cameras following you around during technical rehearsals and all day on the live date?

Hatsuki: Not at all—it actually felt cool, like we were a super popular band (laughs). Like a dome-level artist or something. “I used to watch stuff like this and dream about it,” you know?

Q: Like having déjà vu while seeing yourself in a familiar documentary format.

Hatsuki: Exactly. Plus the image quality was so beautiful, so watching it was actually fun.

Q: I handled the interview segments for the footage too, but even though I was speaking with each person individually, everything connected so smoothly. You weren’t all saying identical things, but everyone was pointing in the same direction, which was really interesting to observe.

Akinori: The only time we really watch our own interview footage in detail is during these kinds of checks, but yeah, I definitely felt that. There was a situation where all of us needed to face the same direction, given the flow from last year. We were all heading toward the same point. We also spent a lot of time together as a band, so maybe that showed up in the footage.

Q: This time, there’s also going to be a special theatrical screening before the official release. That was something you all wanted, right?

Hatsuki: Yeah. We used to do this pretty regularly, but it got harder during the pandemic and we haven’t done it much since. We’ve had a bit of a break from releasing live video works entirely, so being able to do a screening event like this again is exciting. I really do think watching it on a movie theater screen versus at home on a monitor or TV is a completely different experience.

Q: Plus there will be stage greetings. I’ll be hosting those—what should we talk about?

Hatsuki: Hmm… can we talk about the album yet? We can say a fair amount at this point actually.

Q: Really? You made that declaration on stage at Garden Theater—”We’re making something incredible”—so where are you at with it now?

Hatsuki: Where are we, like, percentage-wise? Maybe 40%?

Reo: No, wait—the instrumental tracking is done, so we’re probably at 60%. We’re actually starting guitar reamp sessions tomorrow, and once we get through that, the instrumental will be complete.

Hatsuki: But I still have to do all the vocals, and we haven’t written a single lyric yet. So from my perspective, it might only be 30%.

Q: Obviously you can’t be too specific at this stage, but what’s your general sense of what kind of album it’s shaping up to be?

Hatsuki: In some ways, it’s shaping up to be something really conceptual. It’s not like we were aiming for that from the start—it’s just how it’s naturally turning out. Rather than being a balanced, model-student kind of album, it’s looking like it’ll be something pretty one-of-a-kind and idiosyncratic.

Q: You mean conceptual in the sense of musically cohesive, not necessarily narrative-driven?

Hatsuki: Right. The songs have kind of ended up clustering around the same target, so to speak. We do have experimental songs and pieces aiming for something expansive, but…

Reo: Yeah. But the direction is crystal clear. When people hear the finished product, I think our intention—”this is the approach we’re taking”—will come across very distinctly.

Akinori: It’s seriously cool (laughs).

Yusuke: But there’s still time, and we’re still in the process of looking for things we can do, things we can try… so I’d say I’m at about 40% myself, personally.

Akira: There are still songs whose full form isn’t clear, so even though I’m involved, I have this sense of anticipation about how they’ll turn out. My own work is already done, so now I’m just waiting.

Q: I’m really looking forward to it. When watching the Garden Theater show, I felt that even though some of these songs were written at quite different periods, there wasn’t any obvious time lag or jarring shift in style. So thinking about lynch. after all these years—what do you think has changed and what has stayed the same about your music?

Hatsuki: That’s tough to answer. If I’m just talking about the early to middle period, I’d say what hasn’t changed is probably that desire to create cool songs with immediate impact—songs with that explosive feel from the start. That’s something we’ve been after the whole time, and I think we still are. What has changed is the precision with which we execute that. We’ve honed the tricks, the placement of sounds, whatever—basically all the tools to make something cool sound even cooler. There are definitely other changes too, but it’s hard to articulate… This might not be the most accurate way to put it, but when I think back to the era of songs like “GALLOWS,” “AVANTGARDE,” or “D.A.R.K.,” I really feel our youth back then. But if I call that a change, it sounds like we’re old now, which I hate (laughs).

Q: It’s maturation, not aging.

Hatsuki: I’m not really fond of that word either (laughs). But the thing is, even when we do high-energy songs now, there’s a lot more thought and care going into it than there was back then.

Q: Right—and you mentioned before that when you retook some of those indie-era songs, you found yourself wondering, “How was I able to sing like that back then?”

Hatsuki: Yeah. The fact that I can’t produce those same kinds of sounds anymore—that’s just straightforward “aging” (laughs). My voice doesn’t come out the same way. We were probably reckless back then.

Reo: But on the flip side, you have so much more experience now. Ten, fifteen years ago, we didn’t have the knowledge or experience, so we had to just do what we could do. In other words, we had fewer options back then. So we never looked back—and that directness was definitely part of our charm. But now we have experience from activities outside of lynch., so we have more options to choose from, and we need time to think things through. Sure, more choices mean more things to worry about, but I think that’s where our credibility comes from now.

Q: It’s kind of like a pitcher who used to only throw fastballs, having mastered all kinds of breaking pitches, now chooses to go with a fastball for strategic reasons?

Reo: Exactly. So I think the weight of each individual sound and word has changed. Hatsuki says he doesn’t have anything he wants to convey, but actually, listening from beside him, I think those are words that were chosen from among multiple options.

Q: The credibility that comes from having multiple options and consciously choosing definitely increases the impact, and I’d say there are also layers of effort involved in aspects we never hear. That elevates the resolution of the music itself.

Yusuke: I’m not the type to overthink details, so it’s hard to explain, but yeah, as we’ve built our history and gotten to perform in bigger venues, our awareness of what works in spaces like Budokan or Garden Theater—how to use that space—has definitely shifted. So now we can think, “Maybe we could pull off this kind of song, this kind of expansive feel?” We can throw breaking pitches now, and we’re aware of that. So yeah, I definitely feel these changes.

Q: Like, when you’re conceptualizing a song meant to create a shared experience with the audience, the venue you’re imagining—whether it’s a live house or an arena—completely changes the atmosphere and scale of the song itself.

Akira: Right. And after twenty years, with all the changes we’ve gone through, the quality of that fastball we’ve been throwing all along has changed too. Even if what we’re doing hasn’t fundamentally changed from the start, the quality and precision keep improving.

Akinori: This might be a bit of a tangent, but until about ten years ago, the music and band scene was cycling through new styles and techniques at breakneck speed, and there was a lot of experimentation with incorporating those things. But lately, I think there are more bands focusing on deepening their own trusted style. Rather than chasing newness, there’s more of a focus on confronting yourselves and asking, “Is this really necessary for us?”

**Q: Just as the year-end live captured in this video was a summary of the 20th anniversary arc, the next album should demonstrate how lynch. moves forward based on everything that’s come before. And

Read the original Japanese interview on barks.jp