Note: Since the Tofu Records website has been "under construction" since March of 2007 I'm posting their "Official Splurge Interview" as a courtesy until (hopefully) they get back up and running. We all hope Tofu Records will return soon to provide us with the latest J-pop music.

Q: Your new album, released in the US on July 25th, is called 'Splurge'. How did you come up with that title?

Y: The biggest reason was that we thought it was an all around extravagant album. We thought it was extravagant in a few ways. Everyone we wanted to work with agreed to write songs for us so we were able to work with all of them, and we spent a year making it. We didn't want to name it gorgeous because then it would come across like we were gorgeous and we didn't want that. We wanted to get across the idea that it wasn't us, but the people around us and the environment we were in that was extravagant, and that's how we chose 'Splurge'.

Q: Did you begin recording with the idea that this would be a 10 th anniversary album?

A/Y: No.

A: In the beginning, we just thought of it as a normal album, like, we should probably release an album soon. And we wanted to release it in 2005, but all the people we wanted to work with are very busy people, so it all took time. By the time we'd arranged everything, it was 2006. So it turned out that the album would be coming out just in time for our 10th anniversary, and that's when we started thinking of it as a 10 th anniversary album.

Q: Had you always planned to collaborate with such impressive artists on this album?

Y: At our first meeting we gave some names of people we'd like to work with and whose songs we'd like to sing, and all of those people ended up agreeing to write for us, so postponing the album's release really ended up broadening the spectrum of the album. We didn't really have a concept for this album, we just wanted to do what we liked with people that we liked.

Q: You worked with a lot of amazing people like John Spencer, Butch Walker and Dexter Holland. How was it to work with producers of top artists like that?

Y: We were really happy to get the chance. First off, we were happy that they produced songs for us, and they were all such good people. Everyone was so nice, and so warm, and that made us really want to do our best to make the songs they wrote for us into something really good. And everyone said that we did a great job, so it was really worth it. We were kind of nervous, wondering what we'd do if we didn't do a good job on all these wonderful songs they wrote for us.

Q: Did they just provide the songs for you, or did they come to Japan for the recording?

Butch came to Japan to produce his songs, but with John and Dexter we started by exchanging data. John made the track himself, but Dexter asked a Japanese producer, Kameda-san to do the music, and he send his advice by e-mail as the recording progressed.

Q: There are a lot of popular Japanese artists on the album as well, like Masamune Kusano, Hiroto Kohmoto, Ken Yokoyama, etc. Had you worked with any of them before?

A: This was our first time working with Hiroto-san, Ken Yokoyama and Kazuyoshi Saito. But we'd known them before this.

Y: Right. Either we really like their music, or we'd met them at a summer music festival, or are old friends. So it wasn't like we'd never met them before and were meeting them for the first time. We knew all of them one way or another.

Q: The artwork for the album is very memorable. Was it your idea?

A: We spent a lot of time thinking about it with the designer. If we wore gorgeous clothes then we would become gorgeous too, and like we said before, that's not the meaning we wanted for 'Splurge'. So we thought of the concept of the two of us being normal but our surroundings being very glamorous, and that's what we came up with.

Y: We had meeting after meeting about it and the designer came up with all these different ideas, but that's the one we ended up going with. There were so many other ideas I can't even remember them all.

Q: You two are looking very languid. Was that also part of the concept?

Y: Yes, we did that on purpose, to be like, we're really ordinary, however.

Q: What's your favorite song off of Splurge, or the song that you have the most attachment to?

A/Y: (Thinking it over)

A: All of them.

Y: I don't know how things are in the US , but in Japan you release singles first, and then an album, and that's just the way it works. So the first single of our 10th year was a song called 'Mole Like' written by Tamio-san. It had been about 4 years since Tamio-san had produced anything for us, but we wanted to work with him again since it was our 10th anniversary. This song has a lot of meaning for me, because it was our first single for our 10th year. Also, he never says any thing to us, but I always feel a lot of love in the lyrics that Tamio-san writes for us. In the past we had a choreographer by the name of Sasuga Minami who choreographed our dances. We hadn't done any dancing in a really long time but we wanted to kind of go back to our roots with 'Mole Like', so we asked Sasuga Minami to choreograph a dance for it. This was a song that we really put a lot of thought into, so it's very special to me.

A: The song that John Spencer wrote for us, which is called 'Go Baby Power Now', and sung in English on the US version and 'Onna Machine Gun' on the Japanese version. The Japanese version has lyrics written by Seiji of Guitar Wolf, and if you listen to them and compare, you can hear that there's a huge difference between the English and Japanese versions. Like, even the melody is different, so definitely give it a listen if you get a chance.

Y: When I saw John the other day, he really praised the Japanese version. He said it was really good.

Q: So you had your 10 th anniversary this year, what was the best thing about the past ten years?

Y: I guess being able to do shows all different places. We never had a fan club, because you can't really get a real sense of the fans without actually doing a show. Of course nowadays we're able to read all kind of things on the internet, but before the only close contact we had with fans was at shows. But we've done shows in the US and in Asia, and I think that's the best thing for me, being able to do shows all over like that.

A: I'm really happy we were able to make such a good album, because I think that we were able to do so because we've really been surrounded by wonderful people and I'm glad we could make a good album like this as a way of kind of giving back. This album really illustrates just how wonderful all the people we work with are.

Q: Would you say that Splurge is your favorite of all your albums?

Y/A: Yeah.

Q: So then, what's the craziest thing that's happened in the past ten years?

Y: Good question. There's been so many.

A: You could say that our career in the US is crazy. We have our own cartoon, we're doing tours, it's a situation we've never been in before. And I don't think it's something that's easy to achieve, so we're kind of like, 'Whoa, what's happened to us?'. (laughter)

Y: I think that craziest thing is that we're still doing this 10 years later. (laughter) Of course we're still doing it because we've never wanted to quit, but we debuted when we were around 20. Now that I'm over 30 I don't think anything of it, but 30 seemed so old to me when I was 20. So when we first made our debut the two of us said, 'There's no way we'll still be in Puffy when we're that old.' And here we are, still going strong. That's the biggest surprise.

A: I never thought I'd still be wearing pink.

Y: We thought we'd be more grown up.

A: Wearing suits or something. (laughter)

Q: Tell me about your US tour. How does it compare to your previous US tours in terms of the kind of audience and their reactions?

A: Last time there were a lot of children because of the cartoon, but this time there weren't as many, because the shows are late, and not really at a time when children could go. So we'd expected that, but I was really happy to see older Puffy fans, people who like Puffy's music.

Q: Splurge hadn't been released in the US as of the time of your tour. How was the reaction when you performed songs from it?

Y: There should have been no way for them to know the songs unless they'd listened to them on the web, and I don't know if the people who came to the shows had listened to them, but they started cheering as soon as we'd say the titles. Also, we've been doing a lot of songs from Splurge on this tour. Last time we did mostly songs from our Best of collection, but this time we've been doing a lot of new songs and everyone's been really into them. They get really good results, I think. We have fun doing new songs, and the audience really goes off for a new song.

Q: You had a lot of new experiences this time, going to Cincinnati , and doing a festival in NY. How were those?

A: The festival in NY was so much fun! We could see the ocean, and it was such different scenery than in Japan , and we were all really motivated. We all had a great time. In Cincinnati , there was no one in the city at first, so we wondered if anyone would really show up. (laughter) But once our show started, a lot of people came.

Y: Apparently most places in Cincinnati close at 6 or 7, so we figured most people would be at home at night, and we'd been saying that there might not be a very big crowd. But then a lot of people ended up coming, so I was really happy about that. So I think Cincinnati was the biggest surprise. Also, the audience was the most fired up.

A: They really went crazy!

Y: You could tell right away how crazy they were.

A: Anything we said, they screamed.

Y: Yeah, the whole thing was very unexpected, so it was really interesting.

Q: So the crowd in Cincinnati was the most enthusiastic.

A: But Chicago was pretty pumped too.

Y: Cincinnati was the biggest surprise because we hadn't thought people would come, but every where we go the audience has been really enthusiastic. The audience seems to enjoy themselves a lot. We almost can't believe it.

Q: Puffy AmiYumi is known all over the US by music fans, and everyone from little kids to fashionable trendsetters. What is it that you want the fans in the US to know about you?

Y: Our music.

A: We're most happy to have them listen to our music. I mean, it's not like we wear amazing clothes or anything. (laughter)

Y: I guess listening to our music is the best way to get a really good sense of us. In Japan , it's often said that listening to our music is a lot of fun, or that it cheers people up. I think if they listen to our album, they'd understand that we've got all kinds of things in there. We really do want to do all kinds of things, and I think that comes out. Even when it comes to clothes, we wear all kinds of clothes, and don't' just stick to one kind of thing, because that's the most fun for us.

Q: What are you two into right now?

Y: I want to go home and see my cat, and snuggle with him. You're worried about your turtle, right, Ami?

A: Yeah, I have a pet turtle. I know he's alive (laughter) but I wonder if he's grown a tiny bit, or anything.

Y: What are we into, huh?

A: I'm a little late, but I've been watching season 4 of '24'.

Y: She's always watching it, like when we're on the bus.

A: I can't wait to find out what happens to Jack.

Y: What do I do?

A: You sleep. (laughter)

Y: Yeah, I'm always sleeping.

Q: You're into sleeping?

Y: Yeah. I'm always asleep. Now that we're in the US , I think it's better for me to sleep and save my strength than go out on the town.

Q: What about in Japan ?

Y: In Japan , I bought an electric bicycle. It's really amazing, really makes things easy.

A: Do they not have them here?

Q: I don't think so.

Y: It's got a little motor, so it goes really well. It goes up hills really easily too.

Q: Do you go cycling a lot?

Y: Yeah, because it's so hard to find parking in Japan.

A: Yeah. Because now citizens handle the parking violations and they can hand out tickets.

Y: Yeah, so the bicycle is really handy if I don't need to go too far. I use it all the time. I think I'm really fit. (laughter)

Q: Who are your favorite artists now?

Y: I like all of the artists that contributed songs for Splurge, and I listen to their music, I think they're so cool. I listen to them a lot.

A: Lately I've been listening to a group called 'Jack's Mannequin'. I think they're American, but anyway I listen to their CD a lot.

Q: How did you hear about them?

A: Uh...

Y: At Tower Records in Kawasaki.

A: Right. Tower in Kawasaki. (laughter). I'd heard that they were good, so I bought their album, and it turned out to be really good.

Q: What artist would you like to perform or work with next?

A: I don't care if we work with them, but I want to meet the Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Y: Me too. They're coming to Japan for the Fuji Rock Festival, but we have work and can't go see them. I really want to see them. I couldn't work with them because I'd get too nervous, but I want to meet them.

A: I feel like if we keep saying we want to meet them, then someday we will. (laughter)

Y: Yeah. We really want to meet them.

Q: How do you think Puffy will evolve now? Is there anything you'd like to try?

Y: The puffyamiyumi.com website just opened, and people from all over the world post messages for us.

A: Yeah, it's amazing.

Y: I was so shocked, all of these people posted messages saying they want us to come play shows near them. So I'd like it if people in all different countries could listen to our CDs.

A: It's so surprising.

Q: Do you go to the site a lot?

A/Y: We do.

Y: We really want to put our CD our in other countries. Because if we just randomly come for a show no one will know who we are. So we want to work hard to make that happen.

Q: Finally, give a message to all the fans looking at tofu records.com

A: The new album is our best one yet.

Y: It's our best ever!

A: We've made our best album ever, so I can wholeheartedly recommend it to you. Please have a listen.

Q: And, Yumi-chan.

Y: I agree of course, and we're going to do as many concerts as we can, so I hope I can see you all soon somewhere.