the hatch『333』Interview – Chaos Crystallized into Pop

Last Updated on 2025-12-23 by a-indie

Behind the Scenes of『333』Production

Why the Release Was Delayed

－Maririn: On the day of the one-man show in March, there was an advance release of “Tohmei,” and you said “We’re releasing an album” at that live show. I think you said “around May” at that time.

Midori Yamada: (Laughs). We had the JUSTISE event in May and were too busy, so “impossible” (laughs).

－Maririn: So it became an October release, and when I looked back at the press release, it only said about how many songs would be included, so I wondered if even the title and what to include wasn’t decided until right before.

Midori Yamada: We didn’t share details with our manager either. This time I did all the mixing myself, until the very deadline… I really wet the bed. I couldn’t sleep, pulling all-nighters three or four times in one week mixing, and I wet the bed (laughs).

Kento Yamazaki: It was really about four days before the release deadline, right? After saying “we can release it,” we adjusted all the press releases. But in the end, I think it was good.

Midori Yamada: There are various reasons the release was delayed, but while I was mixing and recording vocals myself, I kept finding parts I wanted to change. While editing, time passed before I knew it. I’m recording most of the vocals at home, and unlike previous albums that had a large-scale pop feeling, this time I wanted to sing in a more intimate way. That wasn’t fitting, so I thought I needed to add more detailed chorus work. I started creating chorus work around summer and re-recorded things. That’s why it took time.

Soichiro Anzai: From when we first started recording in August last year, it changed quite a bit. We recorded in various places and remixed. When we were recording in August, it became something completely different from the image, but the result turned out really good.

Kento Yamazaki: For sound creation too, everyone shared their imagined data with Midori during recording, trying out “I’m thinking of playing it like this” in the studio. That’s what we recorded last year. But when you ask how we’re playing now, the tension when we recorded versus until release is completely different. But if we’re going to leave it as one audio recording, that’s fine. Anyway, being able to leave it as a work, as the third album in that form, was really good.

Midori Yamada: Well, but everyone was exasperated at the end when I was finalizing this (laughs). They only said “sounds good” (laughs).

Ryoken Miyazaki: Actually, it was because it was good.

Midori Yamada: Since I only got “sounds good,” I thought “is this really okay?” and took it back home to keep editing. Then I’d send it again and get told “sounds good” (laughs). I was constantly in self-dialogue.

Kento Yamazaki: I told Midori, but it became an album with good airflow, so it was really good. I genuinely thought it was good, and I never said anything carelessly about my impressions (laughs). I fully understand my impatient personality (laughs).

Midori Yamada: But if Zakiyama hadn’t said that, I don’t think we could have released it in October. By the way, even today after waking up, I was mixing the 3rd album for CD until now. This release was for streaming, so Apple Music and Spotify apply compressed mastering, so I made it with that in mind. I finished one round today, so I feel relieved.