Influenced by Hiroyuki Sawano, member of NoWorld, a growing VTuber / lyricist / vocalist NoiR.
—Now, for those who have come to know “NoWorld” through “Cyberpunk 2077,” could you tell us about your usual activities?[
NoiR:
My name is NoiR, I am the lyricist, composer and vocalist of NoWorld, I am a VTuber and an artist.
I usually make music and perform live playing piano and singing on YouTube and the Chinese video platform BiliBili. As a composer, I work on orders and submit to open competitions as mentioned earlier.
—With the other two members of NoWorld, you also provide music to VTubers belonging to “Nijisanji” right?
NoiR:
Yes, I hope to have opportunities and connections to collaborate with various people in music and other activities. Basically, my main focus is on my activities as an artist, but recently I have also been working to connect with the people around us.
—NoiR’s usual activities seem to be diverse, including singing with piano, songwriting, and vocals. How did you come to your current style?
NoiR:
The driving force behind my music is my desire to encourage those who, like myself in the past, have dreams but are conflicted and unable to move forward.
However, I have a sense of inferiority to my image of an “ideal artist” and even after starting NoWorld, I couldn’t step into singing for a long time.
But now I have come to think that by challenging myself to sing and showing my growth, it might encourage someone. That is how I came to my current style.
—I personally feel that NoWorld’s music has an aesthetic that is in the vein of recent anime songs. I wonder if you are influenced by the culture of anime and video games.
NoiR:
I was largely influenced by Hiroyuki Sawano, who has been working on background music for animes. I am particularly fond of the music for “Aldnoah.Zero” and “Re:CREATORS,” and I am probably inspired by them in my work.
—Speaking of Hiroyuki Sawano’s music, I personally have an image of his work to have an impressive style that dramatically enhances the work, such as the soundtrack for “Gundam Unicorn.”
NoiR:
Some Hiroyuki Sawano’s tracks are often called “the BGM that promises victory,” and when it is played during an anime scene, it has a power that moves the viewer’s heart. I respect his technique of using music to enhance the power of the animation.
Music arrangement with NoWorld “being virtual” in mind, says Yassun.
Yassn:
My name is Yassun and I am the arranger for NoWorld. In NoWorld, I am in charge of arrangements, some compositions, and engineering such as mixing and mastering.
—I’m afraid this is a rudimentary question, but is the process of arrangement related to the selection of tones and the creation of melodies?
Yassun:
Basically, the composer is in charge of the process of creating the melody, simple chord progression, and other aspects of the tune. The process I am in charge of as the arranger of NoWord involves implementing drums, bass, guitar, synths, piano, and other elements to create the details of the music.
—What do you keep in mind when the three of you work together to produce music as NoWorld?
Yassun:
Basically the three of us discuss and decide on the final direction of the music we would make, but based on the idea of a “virtual singer,” I often create in the direction of heavy use of synthesizers. I also try to arrange the music with the members’ interests and strengths in mind, such as taking advantage of NoiR’s piano, which she is good at, and respecting Mr. Sawano, as NoiR mentioned.
I am involved in productions other than NoWorld but not as a member. So as a member of NoWorld I hope to add color to the works.
—The fact that NoWorld has Yassun, who specializes in arranging and composing music, as a member of the group also shows NoWorld’s commitment to working as an artist.
Yassun:
What I want to do is to “make good music that will remain in someone’s memory,” and for that, I put a lot of effort into arrangements etc. So I joined because I felt that NoWorld seemed to be a good fit for what I wanted to do. And another reason I joined was simply because I thought that what they’re trying to do is interesting.
Rooted in the impact of VTuber “Tsugu Hatoha.” NoWorld’s music career began with the possibilities Haizumi saw in VTubers.
Haizumi:
I am Haizumi, the manager of NoWorld and in charge of editing videos and other materials. Basically, I mainly work behind the scenes as a support guy, and my main activity is to assemble the world view of NoWorld and think about its direction.
—As for “worldbuilding,” it seems to me that this is one of the points that NoWorld places particular emphasis on in its activities.
Haizumi:
Our music is based on the story of NoWorld. In the story, NoWorld reads the thoughts and emotions of people who touched the world of NoWorld and shows them a (distorted) ideal answer. The final aim of this idea is to give an opportunity to think again and find their own answers. In addition, I believe that there are many things in the world that “exist but not many people are aware of,” so I often incorporate motifs related to the “unconsciousness” and “unawareness” in society in the creation of NoWorld’s works.
However, I think the emphasis is solely on the three of us sharing our thoughts and working together on the production.
—On a related note, I would like to know how NoWorld was founded.
Haizumi:
I was the one who asked NoiR and Yassun to start this project.
Originally, I had been focusing on “doing what I want to do,” and one of the “things I want to do” was expressing myself. When I was thinking about what medium to use to express myself, I was surprised to see a VTuber named “Tsugu Hatoha.”
Haizumi:
Until that time, I as a viewer was limited to a “gazing at her on the other side of the screen” relationship, but when I saw the possibility of characters “recognizing me beyond dimensions,” I became excited about the existence of VTubers.
Later, I met NoiR and Yassun, and the three of us were able to share the same “what we wanted to do” and began working as NoWorld based on the aforementioned concept.
—Could you tell us the reason why the encounter with VTubers resulted in your activities as a “virtual music group”?
Haizumi:
Since I could not decide about the medium of expression when “doing creative activities” by myself, I decided to express the world of NoWorld that I wanted to depict through “the medium of music” by meeting NoiR and Yassun who want to do music.
In the end, the people in my life who intersected with me and shared my purpose were people that are “there for music” and that was a big reason why.
Appeared twice at official events of BiliBili, China’s leading video platform.
—NoWorld also posts videos on “BiliBili,” a major distribution platform in China, and has become so popular that merchandise is sold by Animate in China. We would like to know why you started posting videos on “BiliBili.”
NoiR:
While we were streaming in Japan as NoWorld, we were approached by a listener in China who said, “We would love to have your streams in BiliBili as well.”
After all, as for myself, I would like to deliver my works to a wider audience, so I decided to start answering the enthusiasm of Chinese listeners, even though I was unfamiliar with it, and started my activities on “BiliBili.”
When I actually started my activities in Bilibili, I was very surprised to find that so many more people were watching me than I had expected.
—As a result, they have appeared at the large official “BiliBili” events “BiliBili Macro Link-VR2020” and “BiliBili World 2021”, which shows that they are really getting a lot of attention in China.
NoR:
Anyway, as for me, I felt that it was a very gratifying experience for me to participate in such a big event.
Also, when I appeared at “BiliBili World,” I was able to actually “see” everyone in the audience. Which made me realize that so many people are supporting our activities.
When I discussed about our live streams with Mr. Haizumi, the key phrase “the feeling of a live performance on the street” came up and that idea came to me easily.
—When you say, “the feeling of a live performance on the street,” what do you mean?
NoiR:
When you stream as a virtual music group, you don’t get to see your listeners in person, right? But being able to see the concert venue, I was overwhelmed by the fact that listeners who are not usually in front of me were actually present and experiencing the music with their body.
As my image of everyone listening to our music became more solidified, we realized firsthand that we must not only improve our techniques, but more than that, we must create music that people can feel on their own skin and that moves them.
So I think my experience at “BiliBili World” was particularly positive for my future activities.
【お知らせ】
— NoiR｜NoWorld@作詞作曲 (@No_iR88) July 9, 2021
7/10 JST 13:30〜
中国で開催されるBiliBili Worldという
大きなイベントに出演させて頂きます
とても豪華な出演者の方々と
共演させていただけることになって
本当に嬉しいです
配信でも見れるから
時間が合う方は見に来てね
🍮開催場所https://t.co/1UoLpT3NX1#NoWorld #BW2021 pic.twitter.com/y7hRFDu7jQ
—I believe that more and more people are getting to know NoWorld through various activities such as appearing at events for BiliBili. Finally, could you give a message to those who became interested in NoWorld through “Phantom Liberty”?
Haizumi:
I am still a newcomer to “Cyberpunk 2077,” but I would like to enjoy “Phantom Liberty” with you all. I would be happy if our music can add more color to the gameplay, even if it’s just a little tiny bit. Please listen to our song “Do or Die” if you think it’s cool.
NoiR:
I really came to love “Cyberpunk 2077” through this competition, and I created “Do or Die” with the game world in mind. I hope everyone will like it too.
Yassun:
Well, this is difficult because almost everything that I wanted to say has already been said by the two.
—To think of it, being the third person to answer the same question, might have been a difficult challenge lol.
Yassun:
If “Cyberpunk 2077” is the start of your interest in our group, I would be happy if you could listen to some of our other works on YouTube or elsewhere. As a final closing statement, that was a little advertising.
All:
(Laughs.)
—Thank you very much for your time today!
Two of the 14 songs on Growl FM are by Japanese artists.
It is interesting to note that both Haru Nemuri and NoWorld, the singer-songwriters whose songs will be included in the album, are artists whose popularity has been ignited more in the West and China than in Japan.
Glowl FM was a competition in which songs are selected from a list of WAV data, not by artist recognition, and this lineup may be the result of the “state of the art game Cyberpunk 2077” seeking the “latest music”.
The expansion pack for “Cyberpunk 2077,” entitled “Phantom Liberty,” will be released on September 26 and will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Come and see for yourself how “Do or Die” resonates with the game.
