ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Japanese pop star LiSA about her new concert film Live is Smile Always -Lander-. LiSA discussed her approach to creating themes for anime, how she chose her tour setlist, and how special her show at the Tokyo Garden Theater was. It will play in selected theaters on August 17, 18 and 21.
“Global J-pop sensation LiSA will transport fans to the final stop of her LiVE SMiLE ALWAYS -LANDER tour at the Tokyo Garden Theater in an epic never-before-seen concert film. The tour included LiSA’s sixth original album “LANDER”, which includes the haunting ballad “homura”, the theme song from Demon Slayer no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train. LiSA brings her unique ideas and emotions, high energy and powerful vocals to the sold-out crowd, where she becomes one with each fan as their voices and souls join, amplified by the band’s backing. Now North American audiences can experience LiSA’s never-changing charm and incredibly passionate performance in a cinematic event that will transport viewers into a new future,” the synopsis reads.
Tyler Treese: This particular recording was done at the Tokyo Garden Theater, which just looks great on film. What made SMiLE ALWAYS -LANDER- the perfect venue for LiSA LiVE?
LiSA (via translator Kanoa Sugimoto): Yes. So this was actually the last live they had in Tokyo. So they thought by showing this live, it would show the last sign of their entire tour that they had. It also had the largest capacity. So it was a nice cherry on top of their tour period, which made it great for the movie as well.
It’s a great performance and your popularity in North America continues to grow year after year. This is out in the theater here, which is so exciting. How have you seen your art truly resonate globally without having to change or sing in English?
It’s absolutely amazing. For me personally, I have never listened to or tried to learn an entire song or album in another language. So it means so much to me, and I’m absolutely grateful for this opportunity and all the love I’ve received.
A moment that stood out in LiSA LiVE is SMiLE ALWAYS -LANDER- was late in the movie when you go into the crowd, sing along with them and make memories for the fans that will last a lifetime. You can see the feeling afterwards on you. How special is it to make that connection with them and be surrounded by your fans physically?
So, the Lander Tour in particular, was the first tour that was done after the lockdown and after what happened with the pandemic. So I couldn’t see my fans or perform live all this time. So all that buildup kind of came out, and hearing everyone sing together and their love and their voices gave me this new charged energy and leveled me up in my career as well.
You have a lot of fun with your band during the concert. Everyone has their little moments to shine, which I really enjoyed. Pablo even steals a few scenes. How do you just give them the spotlight throughout the show?
So it was very important to me to portray this style of concert with a live band. Um, because of the passion and the power through the instruments, through the live playing, um, it resonates with the audience and the fans and also, it gives that vibe when they perform, that raw energy that comes out. So it was very important for them to get the limelight, in that sense, to play the instruments they love.
One aspect I really liked, there are a lot of big outfit changes during the concert. Can you talk about that process?
My songs have so many different layers and expressions per verse and per song. So it’s very important for me to portray that visually as well through my costumes and my costume changes. So to match the emotion behind each song is a very, very important aspect for me when I do a concert. Also, it’s important to spend as much time as possible on stage. So instead of going completely offstage and doing a whole change to kind of incorporate the change of clothes into the scene is also something that I’m very particular about.
The director is Nobb Sueyoshi. What was it like working with him on this concert film?
Nobb-san is very, very good at depicting sounds in visuals. So when he was thinking about and planning this film in general, everything came from sound, with the common denominator being sound. So using the sound as a base and then building the visuals on top. It’s almost like when you’re watching the movie, you’re in concert right there next to them. So that was a great artistic value that he brought to the film, and it was great for me to see that as well.
Some of your music has been linked to some great anime shows and movies in the past. It really creates a great relationship because people love the anime and then they love your music. It’s great to see them combine and complement each other so well. How do you feel that your songs are also connected to all this great art?
So when I’m making songs or writing songs for an animation, I always start by reading and studying the original works. It’s very important for me to match, to make my own sound with the energy of the animation or the film I’m making it for. So being able to harmonize my art with anime art is very important, and it all starts with reading and studying the original works.
For this concert film, this is the first time many fans will see songs performed by Lander. How do you decide what the cut does for the tour since you have to balance it with some of your older songs as well?
When I write or design my songs, I usually start with the title. So this Lander title, I really wanted to channel the space theme. So I wanted to incorporate old and new songs and the audience and anyone listening to lose track of time and just be present in this atmosphere of space. So that was the basic idea of how I chose my songs and for Lander as well.
One aspect that has always struck me about your music is that you don’t easily fit into one genre. Can you talk to your musical curiosity?
So I love all kinds of music. I get inspiration from new songs, old songs and especially movies, whether it’s Japanese, Western, Korean, French, I really like movies and I like watching them. I like to feel inspired in the sense of, “Oh, I want to do a song just for this part,” or feel connected to the film in a musical sense.
Demon Slayer has become a phenomenon around the world and we see two songs related to it played in the film. What was the biggest reward of being associated with this series and doing two great songs in conjunction with it?
Through Demon Slayer I was able to touch the hearts of so many people and fans overseas. Seeing them sing together and feeling excited when the song comes on and the fact that it’s playing in their favorite anime makes me happy too. Seeing them happy makes me happy, and seeing that it has touched so many people also brings it full circle.
I’m also very excited about the future and making people happy moving forward.
Thanks to LiSA for discussing her new concert film. The tickets are now available.
