BE:FIRST's SHUNTO shares behind-the-scenes stories from the music video shoot for his new song "Blissful." "I only had about two hours of free time (during my two-day stay in NY)."

■ “(During my free time) I would always buy T-shirts at second-hand shops” (BE:FIRST・SHUNTO)

BE:FIRST member SHUNTO will be making his first guest appearance in about three years on FM Yokohama’s program “Tresen” (broadcast every Monday to Friday from 3:00pm to 7:00pm) on August 22nd.

Along with fellow program guests Uematsu Teppei and Kagawa Saya, he spoke about “Blissful,” the lead song from BE:FIRST’s second album, “2:BE,” which was chosen as the ending song for “Tresen.”

Teppei Uematsu:This song (“Blissful”) sounds like it would be great to perform live!
Saya Kagawa:Yeah, yeah.
SHUNTO:We performed it for the first time at a live concert at the recent “SUMMER SONIC”. The choreography made it easy to make eye contact with the other members, so it was really fun. It felt like the audience was also creating this music together, and there was a sense of unity.
Uematsu:The song itself has a certain ease to it. It’s the type of song that you definitely wouldn’t release right after your debut (laughs). It’s a song that makes you feel like the group is doing well. The MV is also good. It looks like… fun! (laughs)
SHUNTO:That was filmed in New York. In previous music videos, we would often reshoot the dances and finalize them, but this time we filmed more private moments, so we didn’t do anything pre-determined.
Uematsu:Just decide on the location?
SHUNTO:That’s right. Like, “Play basketball so I can take a photo!” (laughs)
Kagawa:It’s not yet decided what the move will be.
SHUNTO:Nothing in particular, just took pictures of us playing normally.
Kagawa:That sounds fun!
SHUNTO:It was so much fun.
Uematsu:It’s fun, but it’s difficult when someone just suddenly tells you to “play!” (laughs).
SHUNTO:Yes, that’s right (laughs). There were other scenes like going to a vintage clothing store. I think we shot it in about two days in total.
Uematsu:Did you actually have time to just hang out outside of filming?
SHUNTO:I didn’t have much private time (laughs). I only had about two hours of free time, so I spent the whole time buying T-shirts at second-hand shops.

SHUNTO said that he enjoyed the filming with all his might, even with the tight schedule. Furthermore, regarding the release of their first album in two years, he commented, “In our first album, there were many songs that followed the mainstream genres, but this time there are many songs that express what we want to do, so I think it’s an album that has given us more self-awareness and confidence as artists.” He also said, “BE:FIRST’s songs have evolved,” looking back on their debut.

This episode will be available to listen to on radiko for one week after broadcast.