Koda Kumi was interviewd by modelpress to talk about the release of re(CORD), her digital singles, re(LIVE) and many more subjects. You can find the full interview in Japanese on modelpress website here: https://mdpr.jp/interview/detail/1894119

I tried to translate the interview in English for non-japanese speakers, please see below the 1st part! I am not bilingual in Japanese, so there might be a few mistakes. If you spot them and want to rectify something, feel free to do so in the comment section! Thank you!

.
.
.
Just before the 20th anniversary, "Now I’ve come to consider myself cool"

Kumi Koda (37), an artist who releases a new album “re (CORD)” on her birthday on November 13th, responded to the model press interview. What is she thinking about now that she will celebrate her 20th anniversary on December 6th this year?
Kumi Koda looks back on her commitment to “re” and “re (LIVE)”

― “KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2019-re (LIVE)-”, with the final performance on October 25th, is an improved live performance of both “Black Cherry” and “JAPONESQUE”concerts. However, I felt a commitment to “re”.

Koda: I must continue to update myself and challenge myself. But I don't think it's a good idea to forget my past and be born again. I am always able to update my music, but that's because I have a foundation. I felt like that, with “re” re-doing the previous live tours this year, with the theme of constantly updating the past and updating it.

-It will soon be the 20th anniversary of your debut, but in the 19th year you were particular about your "update".

Koda: That's right. I wanted to do something new when the 20th anniversary began, so I wanted to respect my past before the 20th anniversary. Maybe because of this, it was a big challenge this year. For example, we re-made a tour in the hall that used to be a big arena. And how to make what was considered to be perfect, 100/100, in the past? If this is 30 out of 100, you can start over, but I originally thought it was 100/100, the best of myself, so it's really hard to make it better. However, instead of exceeding the past, the past is respected and expressed as it is, but it is evolved with a different manner. For example, during “Sayonara no Mukou gawa”in “KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2013 ~ JAPONESQUE ~”, I was just lifted in the air in a yellow dress, but this time the “plus” makes it look like a movie/video (projection mapping on the dress). This is the this year’s addition.
-Although it is hard, I am surprised that the idea comes out.

Koda: There are productions that can only be done in the hall, not in the arena. During "hands", the production used some mist, but in the arena you can’t see this kind of production at all. I thought about that.
― That's amazing ...

Koda: But I was honestly thinking what would happen.

― Were you anxious?

Koda: I was very anxious. All the fans will comment on the instagram saying, “I’ve see so many times the DVD, so I will go to relive!.” Then, of course, the production was good, and the original song was good, with songs that could be altered and still be good, and those who couldn’t be altered, in the end the balance was exquisite.

― I thought it would be impossible for Black Cherry to come out of the water, so I was impressed that it was reproduced!

Koda: My “king of live” (her best concert) was “Black Cherry”, so if I had to remake it, I said that I would definitely appear in the water. I got the approval from the hall two days before I made the announcement about the tour. If I had not got it, I would have probably gone for “Kingdom” instead of “Black Cherry”.

- So it was like that.

Koda: I think it was a challenge, including that performance under water. And it would regrettable if people would have said that “Kuu-chan was better at that time, and the visuals also…” After all, as you get older, there are always places where you get better or worse, so you go to Pilates, use more scenes to dance with heels than usual, and push yourself, including voice training. Because there are 2 performances a day, I have been doing live for a total of about 5 hours per day. It was three consecutive days, so I was most worried about my physical strength and voice, as it is an unprecedented effort.


Koda Kumi's first single release in 12 years
-The songs included in the album released this time were released as singles from July to October, but it reminded me of the 12-week continuous single release 12 years ago.

Koda: At that time, we shot a music video for every song, so in comparison it wasn't hard at all this time (laughs). When I usually make a CD, I write lyrics, record, mix and master it. There are about 5 processes for one song, but when MV comes in, we put together costumes, rehearsals and shooting on top of that. I edited from there, so compared to 12 years ago, it was almost a single song per week (laughs)

-I think all the fans were surprised.

Koda: I think it's interesting that the times have changed. When I went back to the last single, I went back to the “NEVER ENOUGH” one two years ago and a fan club-only single. No single has been released for two years. I was also surprised, and I was an artist who was very particular about releases, so I didn't care so much. I thought that now this new era was finally coming.

― In the first place, why did you decide to release 9 consecutive singles this time?

Koda: I wanted everyone to listen to the songs in advance at events such as “a-nation” in summer, and do the “call and response” to it. The tour started from there, so I thought about the music that could be used on the tour.


Koda Kumi, “again” whose MV is a tribute to “Ai no Uta” and “you”
― Among them, “again” was very stained.

Koda: Even if I usually listen to various genres of music, I think this one is very cool. Again has a very “japanese” melody, which also sounds very “Koda Kumi”, so I definitely wanted to include this song.

― The music video for “again” seems to be a tribute to “Ai no uta” and “you”.

Koda: “you” is a song from 14 years ago, but 14 years have passed, so I thought I wanted to do something like “again”. I wondered what should I do if I can’t reproduce it, but I thought I should be able to. Looking through the screen during the shooting, I thought that I was seeing myself from “ai no uta” time.
― That power to stay the same as before, without changing at all, is amazing.

Koda: Thank you very much. From that time on, I thought it would be okay because the image quality was very good and the technology was improved (laughs)

-A masterpiece like Koda-san was born!

Koda: I don't think I can live without singing this famous song, so I would like to sing and nurture it live. But it's difficult to sing (laughs). In recording, I wanted to feel more emotionally, and I thought that my voice was not healthy today, so I had to record it three times, but I ended up choosing the first recording I did.


Kumi Koda, Hiromi Go "GOLDFINGER '99" for the first time cover
― On the other hand, I thought that “GOLDFINGER 2019” was a very exciting song for Koda-san.

Koda: I had a hard time! I thought it was impossible (laughs). If you first lose the impressive brass sound of the original song, it's no good. It's difficult to get past “Hiromi-san” while leaving such an impressive phrase (laughs). However, I thought that the impression would be different just being a female singer singing this song, but I put a break in the middle with a dance part and made various combinations. I was worried about what would happen, but I was relieved because it was really exciting at the live.

― I was surprised that Hiromi Go's “GOLDFINGER '99” was revived.

Koda: Kumi Koda seems to be the first to cover “GOLDFINGER '99” . I actually heard that he refused for about 20 years.
- Really! ?

Koda: I sent a passionate email. I ’m also celebrating the 20th anniversary of this song. Then I got OK and I couldn't believe it at first.


Kumi Koda was improving her constitution
― Was it difficult to record along with the tour?

Koda: I also went to voice training and tried not to crush my throat. A voice that I wasn't satisfied with came out and my manager told me that it wasn't the usual Kumi-san. I did an unprecedented effort to do Pilates.

― How was your meal?

Koda: This time I worked hard and improved my constitution. When my husband is on a carbohydrate off diet, he didn’t even eat carrots and tomatoes because there is a lot of sugar in it. But you can drink beer once a week as a cheat day. Thanks to that body fat was steadily reducing. Looking at that figure, I didn't want to accumulate stress and I was afraid of rebound, so I removed rice, but I usually eat meat, fish, and deep-fried food, so that I don't need rice. However, when I want to eat rice, I eat it, so it is basically a diet that reduces sugar (low carbo).

-Did you lose weight?

Koda: The weight remains the same as before, but I increased muscle mass and reduced body fat. That alone changed the shape of the abdominal muscles. I don't feel like exercising sometime ... (laughs)

-You’re still able to keep it!

Koda: In the house, when washing and cleaning, I drink fat burning supplements and move. I drink it when the rehearsal begins, but I get quite sweaty. So I think the metabolism was not good.