On February 26 2020, PINK CRES. announced their second single and major debut.

Their new song “Roulette” is an electro swing beat combining retro dance music and the modern sounds of 2020 to create its own retro futuristic genre. “Egoistic” is a 70s melody with a present day twist, rewritten into city bop. With this new releasing traversing different eras of sound, PINK CRES. once again packs a diversity of characters into their songs.

We spoke to the girls about “Roulette”, a song that they’re starting afresh with through the music video and lyrics that allowed them to express their desire to live as their own unique selves.


Marking our Major Debut Together with the Second Single Release
ルーレット発売同時にメジャーデビューを迎えて

– Congratulations on your second single “Roulette” and major debut!! First of all, please tell us how you feel about achieving these two accomplishments at the same time.

PINK_CRES.hikaru_kobayashi
Hikaru Kobayashi:
It’s our second single as well as our major debut, and although we’ve released singles and albums up till now this major debut is an opportunity for us to experience an entirely new state of mind unlike before. “Roulette” is incredibly fast-paced, a song that feels like a sprint. It’s a cool song so I hope that vigor will connect us to the next step.

PINK_CRES.yuka_nihei
Yu-ka Nihei:
When the staff told us we’d be making our major debut I was glad we were finally clear about our status between indie and major, although it did feel a little surreal, like “…are we major?” In reality during our release events around different places the fans would congratulate us on finally making our major debut, and it gradually sunk in that “that’s right, we’re major now” together with the feelings of responsibility. It led to the urge to get it together and work harder, and that’s what I felt when I listened to this new song that represents PINK CRES.’s character so well. From the retro feeling to the different colors of dresses in the music video to the variety of tastes, it captured it all well along with the different roles from rap (Hikaru) to the chorus (Natsuyaki) to the A-melody Nihei). I want listeners to pay attention to those.

PINK_CRES.miyabi_natsuyaki
Miyabi Natsuyaki:
Heading the news it was a very nostalgic feeling for me and I was honestly surprised I heard our group would get a major debut. I felt the need to switch gears and have a different mindset from my time in Hello! Project and change in accordance with PINK CRES.’s major debut. Most of all, I had a lot of excitement thinking about that.

– “Roulette” packs a lot into its song, dance and fashion, and I was overwhelmed when I experienced a live for the first time. It really showed me that this was PINK CRES.!

Natsuyaki: I hadn’t expected this to become the main song. I thought we would be continuing the mood of “Tokyo Confusion” before this, where the taste was a little more jumbled up with the Tokyo city feel. This time we go all out with dresses in the music video and the feeling is completely different so it feels like we’ve come to yet another tangent. It felt strange to be going on this new route.

– Were there particular circumstances that led to “Roulette” becoming the main song?

Natsuyaki: I don’t know the specific details, but simply put I think the huge gap between the coupling song “Egoistic” and “Roulette” is interesting. I’ve always thought that when putting out a CD the coupling song was a continuation of the story in the main song and more or less resembled it, but here the taste is completely different. It gives you the feeling like “oh, it’s different”, but it’s enjoyable because it’s PINK CRES.

– There’s a lot of individual character and taste packed into each of the different versions of CD jackets.

Natsuyaki: That’s right, there were three sets of outfits and I never thought we could have so many patterns across the CD jackets. The photo also looks like a roulette so that was interesting.

– The regular A, B and C version also features additional genres from trip hop to city bop to alternative, so were the music videos also trying to capture the different atmospheres and lyrics of the songs?

Natsuyaki: Different stories were created according to the lyrics, and made in a little bit of a film-style with a storyline. Before the making of the music video we got together with the director and actors to talk about it and we loved their vision, so I’m really glad we got to see those lyrics being manifested so well. During the Hello!Project days the singer was often the face of the song so there wasn’t much chance for a storyline to take center stage, but I thought it was fun how now we can change the scene regardless of the singing.

Exploring the Retro Universe of the Music Video
ミュージックビデオのレトロな世界観

Contributor Wanted!!

– The music video in the limited first edition has a very retro vibe; is that what everybody is into?

All: We do love it.

Nihei: The world of roulette and casinos and all that was drawn in this world was completely new to me, so it was my first time experience that kind of retro vibe. I felt like I had found another genre I loved.

– It was lovely how much attention was paid to detail in creating the vintage feeling in these scenes like with the old CRT monitor.

Kobayashi: Even with makeup, we got to do hairstyles we’d never done before to match these clothes. Miya-chan gave us advice and got us to try out different clothes that I’d never have worn myself, so it was fun coordinating with this old-fashioned atmosphere.

– Were the outfits in this music video also selected and produced by Natsuyaki-san?

Natsuyaki: This time there was a stylist and someone in charge of production, so I got to be involved in the discussions about the image of the videos and the tastes for each girl.

– It seems like it’s gone from a sheer, delicate cuteness to a sharp and tight image.

Nihei: During the outfit fittings there were members who had a drastic shift in outfits, so starting with Miya-chan we planned the outfits to detail from the smallest parts to the sleeves to the shape of the shoes until we gathered the invididual traits of the members.

– Even during lives there’s a lot of attention paid to detail right down to the accessories worn, so the music videos had yet another fresh feeling.

Natsuyaki: During lives there was always theme we go with, so this time with the distinct retro theme I felt a huge gap with what PINK CRES. always did. Furthermore seeing Hikaru rap and spread her legs in that dress felt a little funny and it was amusing to me in a good way.

– I had that exactly feeling! I couldn’t tear my eyes away in anticipation of what was to come next.
Well then, could you tell us what was the most impressionable scene in the music video for you?

Nihei: I didn’t appear for more than a single moment here, but there was scene towards the end that shows a chase between us and the mafia where we’re in black suits and it’s a really quick scene. We rented a live venue to film that and the cameraman had to move around a lot between two spots, so I love the speed of that part. It’s a slight feeling of luxury from such a short moment, but the members looked really cool with our expressions! That’s a scene that I love and made a big impression on me despite being so short.

EPCE7582_JK

Natsuyaki: I also really love that scene, and it gave me a sense of fulfillment. There was a lot of expression shown that wasn’t choreographed, and I think the cameraman really outdid himself. He ran around lots so the scene doesn’t just belong to us but the efforts of the staff. The dance scenes also had a huge chandelier above so that even a single scene was incredibly gorgeous and made you go “wow”! There are many scenes like that where the small props and backgrounds were lovely, so I hope viewers can look out for those.

Kobayashi: I often go in private to that live house we filmed at to watch lives in reality, so it was very fresh for me to see how we used all these corners and backgrounds and seeing that retro vibe come alive. There was a scene in the music video where we play trump, and we used that particular spot just to film the trump scene, but it was perfectly done and I saw how it all came together from there. I really enjoyed seeing the footage once, and the completed version once more.

– There was a scene that caught my attention, but did all of you perform the magic tricks yourself?

Natsuyaki: We did…we tried…

All: We did! Haha

Natsuyaki: That’s right. We were taught that trick and practiced it, but in the end it was difficult to master that sleight of hand after all.

Nihei: The scene where we spread out the chips with our fingers, that’s one scene where you can enjoy the fruits of the members’ labor.

Natsuyaki: I did that part where I lined the chips up, but I couldn’t fool anyone with how off the mark I was.

Nihei: The staff were unusually more hyped up than usual and they were filming us even before the actual filming began, and from where we were we could hear them going “whoaaa” and “wooow”.

Natsuyaki: It really was amazing, huh. I had fun just watching it.

The Evolution of Hikaru Kobayashi’s Rap
小林ひかるのラップの進化

– Just hearing about it is enough to make me see how fun it must have been on set. Also, I noticed that Hikaru-chan’s rap in “Roulette” was sleeker and sexier than usual, and you also did the lyrics for the song in the regular C version. Have you grown in your mindset towards rap, or changed in any way?

Kobayashi: The tempo in “Roulette” is fast and the rap parts are even faster, but even then I paid a lot of attention to rhythm. Till now PINK CRES. has down a lot of hip hop songs with many intense rapping parts, but with this song we wanted to have a more mature tone so I had lessons with a rap teacher for the first time. That gave me a lot of self confidence and I believe I could produce a different feeling than usual.

– The “GIRLS PRIDE” rap in the regular A version is also incredibly cool.

Nihei: We ourselves were surprised at how strong Hikaru came on the rap, especially in the beginning where she jumps in with “Yeah, We are P・I・N・K & C・R・E・S Ah ah Let’s go !!”. At lives she just smashes it.

Being Ourselves as an Artist
アーティストとして自分らしく生きること

– The contrast between Kobayashi-san who stands out with rap, and Natsuyaki-san and Nihei-san really works in creating a harmony in the song that’s so moving. The world that the three of you create through songs, and the destiny you reach for yourselves leaves the impression of living freely with the strength of your souls. In this day and age where there’s an overload of information, how do you protect yourself to ensure you can continue living the way you are?

Nihei: I’ve loved idols since I was young. I admired Maki Goto, Morning Musume and K-Pop idols, but I also always wanted to be able to be cool and show that side just like that. I wanted to become someone who could to that, but when I actually tried it the real me and the ideal me were so different. Since I’d lived a normal life until I was 20 years old, I wondered how I could stay true to myself. I realized that the female fans gave me the closest perspective to myself, and I was able to perform with conviction. I get to participate in radio broadcasts and I love talking so there’s an image of making my words sound cool, but I think it’s really about enjoying together with the fans. I feel close to the fans and I love to dance, so I feel motivated to work hard to hype everyone up at lives. That’s part of expressing myself.

Kobayashi: “My individuality”…that’s difficult. I’m turning 25, and in my 25 years of living I’ve met a lot of people and been motivated by a lot of people, from before entering the entertainment industry to after. In this industry I began rap, singing, and dance, and I learn good things as well as different ways of thinking from mine. In this life where I’ve met many different kinds of people, I’ve come to love myself as I am and I don’t want to lose that. Now I love rap and enjoy it and I want to firmly hold onto the thoughts and opinions of those people who feel the same way as I do even if they may be a little different from me.

Natsuyaki: I’m not sure whether this is good or bad, but I don’t create an image whether it’s in front of the fans, or the members or the staff. I don’t have a switch inside me so I just want to show my true self whether it’s seen as good or bad. In Hello! Project I grew up seeing girls who were incredibly good at switching in between selves, but ultimately I knew I was different. Because of that difference I could be unique without having to create a persona and just be myself. I could say what I was thinking and act the way I wanted. In Hello! Project we had to keep our hair black among other regulations, so I dyed my hair light and tried to express my own personality through fashion and makeup. That’s never changed even now. I show what I like through Instagram and the like, and I think that’s living my true self.

Listening to that, I’m sure many fans and girls feel naturally close to PINK CRES. and look up to you by being able to relate to you positively. Regardless of age, I’m sure from now on many will continue to love you.

Recommending Foods From the Journey Across the Country with Tower Records
全国タワーレコードリリースイベント中に食べたオススメの食べ物

– Right now you’re in the middle of going around Tower Records stores around the country for release events. There are many readers from abroad reading this interview – do you have any recommendations of places you’ve enjoyed thus far, or food recommendations for foreign visitors coming to Japan?

Natsuyaki: I ate Jingisukan in Hokkaido recently, but that was super delicious. I’m a meat lover, and Jingisukan is great for girls who are conscious about their diet so I love it. It may come across as a strong-smelling dish after eating meat in Tokyo, and there’s a common image of it being not so delicious, but when I ate it in Hokkaido itself it wasn’t one bit smelly. It was easy to eat and inexpensive and so delicious. I believe there’re many people overseas who don’t eat meat and there are different preferences, but I do want people to be brave and try it. It’s great.

Nihei: Food…I ate this for the first time recently too, but I ate a croissant called Mikazuki at the Fukuoka airport and it was incredible flaky with lots of volume inside. I’d never eaten such a delicious croissant before.

Kobayashi: I had udon in Fukuoka, and even though I’ve liked udon from before I had a friend in Fukuoka who told me apart from their famous foods like mentaiko or innard hot pot, udon is also very famous. It was super soft udon.

Nihei: It’s a noodle that looks like sanuki udon, and in a good way it doesn’t have any firmness.

Kobayashi: I also heard about a famous “Yari Udon” with a mild sauce topped with fried burdock and wanted to eat it someday, so I had it at the airport! It has the gentle taste of Japan, so I think foreign visitors would enjoy it easily too.

Natsuyaki: We always end up eating at the airport because we move around a lot.

Nihei: Lots of information from the airport! But since people go there lots it’s important!

PINK CRES. posts a lot of delicious local delicacies on social media, so check it out!

View this post on Instagram

#揚げもみじ饅頭 🍁  スタッフの方から"ぜひ食べてみて♡" っと激推しだったので朝イチに食べてみました‼︎  お味は #チーズ #あんこ #カスタードクリーム #チョコレート その他にもたくさんあって、悩んだ結果🤔💭 今回はチーズ🧀&あんこを食べました♡  これ…鬼ウマ❤️ 教えてくれたスタッフさんに感謝でしかない❣️❣️  広島に行った際に、ぜひ食べてみて〜🍁  本日のpinkリリイベ情報💗 【日時】 2020年2月22日(土) 18:00~ミニライブスタート【集合時間 17:45】 ミニライブの観覧は無料です。(予約購入対象者の優先入場エリア有) ※尚、特典会は上記ミニライブ終了後、実施致します。 (特典会参加には特典券必要🎟✨)  【会場】 タワーレコード広島店店内イベントスペース 住所:広島県広島市中区新天地2-1 広島パルコ新館9F アクセス:八丁堀下車、福屋百貨店脇の商店街を直進、パルコ本館隣り、新館9階、徒歩5分 お待ちしてます🥰  #広島 #広島名物  #揚げもみじ饅頭  #pinkcres. #リリイベ #タワレコ #2ndシングル #ルーレット

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Message to the fans
ファンのみなさんへ

– Lastly, as PINK CRES. rises to a crescendo with this new song and major debut, please give a message to the fans.

Kobayashi: “Roulette” carries a lot of nuances in the retro theme, and layers a lot of sounds mixed together in detail byNA.ZU.NAwho writes the songs. After talking to her, I heard the song more times by myself and noticed all the different sounds and small discoveries. Since the three of our voices are there, I think you can distinguish between each one. I have the strong desire to deliver many kinds of songs to our fans too. Everyone in PINK CRES. loves lives, so I want to enjoy it lots together with everyone. Thank you for your support!

Nihei: “Roulette” is a song that packs lots of force in it, even in the lyrics, that it makes you feel like you’re about to launch. There’s so much vigor in it that it’s the perfect song for getting your fighting spirit up. Even for me as I continue on this journey with PINK CRES., I’ll probably find myself listening to “Roulette” when I want to motivate myself. I hope everyone listens to “Roulette” in their everyday lives in the same way.

As for the fans, PINK CRES. has been able to tour around different places and meet many people for the fierst time, especially for me and Hikaru. Our group name and the members ourselves make an impact in many ways, and I want to continue doing that while working hard with singing and dancing with all my strength. Be it in performance or social media I’m always putting myself out there and I want to continue chasing after all these days.

Natsuyaki: The retro theme is the biggest impression of this song “Roulette”, but if you listen to it it actually has some rock in there. I think it’s interesting to discover that edgy side of the song. With all these jacket photos we took, the taste feels similar to a musical. But once you watch it there’s vigorous dancing and we show our legs from below our dresses too because of all the dancing in heels. There’re a lot of feminine movements and so we’re able to pull it off in our dresses. There really are many parts you can discover as you go along, so you might find more and more scenes that you like. The music video this time is like watching a movie with many changing scenes so you’ll never get bored. It’s also up on YouTube for everyone who hasn’t seen it yet. We want to use our social media power to get PINK CRES.’s existence even more widespread.
Our release events this time are held in spaces with close distance, and we’ve never held this many before. Here we can get close and talk with fans, so I really treasure this opportunity with Tower Record. Through that I want more fans to come to our lives even if it’s just a few people. It’d be great if our activities could get them to think we’re cute and ask questions about us.

Upon opening PINK CRES.’s homepage, I was greeted with a big picture of them in their “Roulette” outfits. The three girls, who are becoming social media icons, aren’t just about being cool. They have a soft side that brings across the feminine qualities that balances them out. When performing a cool dance during a live they dance in cute sheer outfits so you can enjoy that gap between their cool beauty.
Thank you for your time today!


LIVE TOUR announced!

March 20, OSAKA MUSE (Osaka)
March 22, ell FITS ALL (Aichi)
April 5, Akabane ReNY alpha (Tokyo)

Until March 14 at all Tower Records stores
PINK CRES.”Roulette” Release Event with mini live / special perks!

Details here.


PINK CRES.
PINKCRES.20200226_01
With Miyabi Natsuyaki at the center, the dance and vocal group also consists of Hikaru Kobayashi and Yu-ka Nihei who passed by audition. Their aim is to be a fashionable girls group that not only men but also women will fall in love at first sight, and give lessons every day.


Related Links:

PINK CRES.
PINK CRES. Official Site: http://www.pinkcres.com/
PINK CRES. Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinkcres_staff
PINK CRES. Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinkcres_staff/

MIYABI NATSUYAKI / 夏焼雅
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/miyaaa0825pink
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miyaaa0825/

HIKARU KOBAYASHI / 小林ひかる
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/hikaru_pinkcres
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hikaru_pinkcres0419/

YU-KA NIHEI / 二瓶有加
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/niheiyu_ka1020
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niheeeey.pink1020/


Buy Item

Roulette / PINK CRES.
Roulette / PINK CRES.
Roulette / PINK CRES.
Roulette / PINK CRES.

Dance Vocal Unit PINK CRES. LIVE TOUR 2019 ~CONFUSION~Report in Japan

【TOKYO GIRLS’ GUIDEBOOK VOL.2】SUMMER SHINJUKU WALKING WITH PINK CRES. HIKARU KOBAYASHI & YU-KA NIHEI

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