[OWV] Classy 220728

https://classy-online.jp/lifestyle/223445/

[OWV] The reason why Nakagawa Katsunari claims “OWV’s charm is… We have a gap!” is…?

The 4 member boy group OWV released their 6th single “Time Jackerz” under the concept of “Live” on 27 July. Inspired by the leadtrack “Time Jackerz” , CLASSY brings you an interview with the topic “time” in which OWV are dressed in the timeless and classic “Parisian casual” style. The third one is with Nakagawa Katsunari-san who is OWV’s pride with his tall and handsome visuals.

As I want to have time for myself… I want to master being a short sleeper

Just like our readers OWV are doing a lot of things both in work and in private. Please tell us whether you have any specialities or habits on how you use your time?
I was such a long sleeper back during my student days. I became a short sleeper after starting work because the time for myself became scarce! I realized recently that I am the type of person who wants to have time for himself to do his favorite things even if it means cutting down on my sleeping hours. I guess it’s nothing but a self diagnosis on how much I am a short sleeper, but I used to be useless when I didn’t get 8 hours of sleep, but nowadays I can be active all day long with just 4~5 hours of sleep.

My secret of not being tired despite my short sleeping time? First of all, if you worry about things like “What if I'm late tomorrow?”, you cannot sleep well, so I go to bed immediately without brooding about things. I am someone who falls asleep quite fast, so when I feel I am sleepy I fall asleep on the spot (laughs). I also try to sleep when we move to another place, even if it is just for 20 minutes. Furthermore, I try to make sure to soak in the bathtub all year around! I even take a bath when I think “I better go to sleep right now”. I remind myself that “Bathing is time to relax ♪” and spend about 30 mins to 1 hour in the bath, stretching, watching movies or relaxing. I guess keeping this in mind helps me not to feel tired even though I have such a short sleeping time.

If I had a free day… I might not leave the house (laughs)

If you could timejack one day, what would you do?
If I think about it realistically, if I had a free day, I might not leave the house (laughs). Having a whole free day is something precious, the readers can surely relate, so I would like to use the time to relax… On my last free day I went to the sauna with Shuta. I can recommend this because it resets both your physical and mental exhaustion.

In my dreams I would like to visit various countries if I could timejack. There are so many countries, but in reality it is impossible to visit all of them, right? I believe it would be a waste to die without knowing about the cultures and local qualities of various countries, so I want to visit a lot of countries if I was able to timejack. First I would like to visit the USA. Both the mainland and Hawaii would be fine. It’s just my personal impression, but I like the US because they are open minded about a lot of things and can spend their time as they please. I don’t want to make too many plans beforehand, I just want to do what I feel like doing on that day.

Climbing the stairs towards adulthood… What he wants to make his hobby in the future

Is there any “thing/event you love timelessly”?
It’s the Rolex watch I received from my father on my graduation.
Kosuke: But you usually don’t wear it?
Because if I wore it now, it would not suit me yet… (embarrassed). It is stored in the safe in my parents’ house until I become worthy of wearing it. This is the only nice watch I have right now, but I would like to start the hobby of collecting nice watches which you can love timelessly. In the future I want to pass on the watches to my children! What kind of watch did I buy recently? An Apple Watch (laughs). It seems to take some time to collect watches that you can love timelessly.

I want to pursue an OWV typical show where “you can enjoy both the music and our talks”!

If you were to promise a “timeless charm” of OWV to QWV, what would it be?
How good our lives are and our gap! This year the opportunities to be invited at events like KCON where we perform together with other artists have increased. My goal is a show where fans of different artists become one in enjoying the music together, and if I continue to remember this, it can surely deliver a timeless charm to QWV as well. And with gap I mean that during our performances we show our cool side but when we talk during the MCs we turn into high school boys. But well, to sum it up, it is the satisfaction of our live shows. What is the content of the MCs? Exclusive stories, that’s pretty much the content (laughs).

Lastly, if you were to pick just one “timeless masterpiece” from the new single, which song would it be?
It would be “Time Jackerz”. Actually it is a song we have been waiting to release for some time. Finally the time for everyone to listen to it has come, so we made it our title track for this single! I had the feeling it could become a timeless song and the determination to make it one. It’s a song I really want you to hear at a concert. Depending on the setlist we could perform it as the first song to impress everyone, or after a MC to change the calm atmosphere, or we could mixit in for some impact and create some unity with the audience, or… It is a versatile song, and I can’t wait to perform it live!

[OWV] TOWNWORK 220727

https://townwork.net/magazine/job/workstyle/131552/?vos=dtwnsnss1614717

Interview with Honda Kosuke & Nakagawa Katsunari (OWV) - “Believing in ourselves and following through it guides us to the OWV image we envision”

The boy group OWV, formed by 4 former trainees of a popular audition program, have released their 6th single “Time Jackerz”. We interviewed the members Honda Kosuke-san and Nakagawa Katsunari-san about secret stories from the music video filming, their song recommendations, as well as about their part time job experiences and what they have in mind regarding their work.

“Time Jackerz” is an essential song for the future “OWV”

What kind of songs are on your 6th single “Time Jackerz”?
Katsunari: The overall concept is “Live”. Because we often had the chance to hold concerts and we appeared at a lot of events last year, we made “Time Jackerz” with the wish that the people coming to the venue would “simply enjoy this single as well”. The coupling song “Summer Days” expresses summer in OWV’s own way and “Alright” is a song that suits the twilight in summer. The whole single has a clear composition and development and I think it is a thrilling release.

Please tell us your impression of “Time Jackerz” when you first heard it.
Kosuke: It was actually quite some time ago when we first heard it, but back then I felt “It is going to be an essential song for the future OWV”. And now, the time has finally come to release it. It has a new sound feeling and you can immediately imagine how we perform it on stage. This is the part I am the most excited about.

Was there something hard or you struggled with during the recording?
Katsunari: While the key is not that high, as it is a dance tune and has a steady 16th note rhythm, I kept in mind to add some accent to the Japanese rap parts so It will not become boring. I thought a lot about how I should express the song by singing my parts, recording them and then listening to those.
Kosuke: When I am singing the phrase “Here is the Danger Zone” alone, there is a melody that only appears at this part, so I was quite worried about which tone I should use.
Katsunari: Both Honda-kun’s and my parts contain rap, but we studied this part in our own ways and coordinated the recording, so it is a part I’m quite attached to.
Kosuke: It might be the song we have discussed the most. We had the feeling that we wanted to release it at a challenging point for OWV, so it took longer than before to bring our singing together.

A 3kg jacket and leather. Struggling with the outfits at the MV filming

The MV with its cool and futuristic look is impressive, but please tell us an episode from the filming.
Kosuke: The costume I was wearing for the outdoor scenes had a pair of super stylish jeans with a string-like strap connecting to both knees. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t open my legs further than shoulder width, so this was a struggle. The jacket also weighed about 3kg…
Katsunari: 3kg is a lot (laughs). It is like the weights they use in “Dragon Ball”.
Kosuke: Yes! It was the hardest to dance while wearing an outfit like Piccolo.
Katsunari: Tops and bottoms of our main outfit are made of leather. It made me sweat the most out of the group and I could even be in the Top 5 of Japan…
Kosuke: Top 5 is high. I guess I am usually at the 2050th place?
Katsunari: With a population of more than 100 million people, the 2050th place is in the upper ranking (laughs). It was the filming with the most dancing ever. Dancing in leather made me sweat like Niagara Falls.
Kosuke: Your punchline is a bit of a bummer (laughs). You didn't land it properly so it sank.
Katsunari: It fell into the waterfall (laughs).

In reference to the title track, what time do you cherish the most?
Katsunari: For me it is the time when I take a bath. No matter how exhausted I am, I love to get into the bathtub every day and use different bath salts depending on my mood.
Kosuke: You really do it every day?
Katsunari: Yes, every day.
Kosuke: Even when you are super tired and get back home at 5 am? Even then you take a bath?
Katsunari: What’s with that talk (laughs).
Kosuke: I value the time I spend alone. When I am with other people, I end up thinking about something, so it is vital for me to have time to eat dinner alone, go to the cinema or just relax.
Katsunari: I envy that you can do things on your own, Honda-kun.
Kosuke: If you happen to spot me… Please don’t talk to me (laughs).

Living together with stink bugs had been hard, but encountering my friends was precious (Nakagawa)

I heard you had several part-time jobs in the past, so could you please tell us about those?
Katsunari: I have worked in a cafe, in a one Michelin star sushi restaurant, at a moving company and in a resort. The most memorable experience was the one at the resort. Back then I was living in the Hyogo prefecture and me and my friends were talking about saving some money and as I heard you could make a lot of money there, I decided to work at a ski report in the Niigata Prefecture. I stayed there for a month, but in the dorm stink bugs frequently appeared.
Kosuke: Just by imagining it… (laughs bitterly)
Katsunari: I lived with stink bugs for a month and even worse, as it was off-season, there was barely any work and I returned home having earned less money than if I had worked a part time job in my hometown, which left me with mixed feelings (laughs). But it was fun that people from various regions came there together and I made a lot of new friends, and in addition I could snowboard as much as I wanted, so I am glad that I went.
Kosuke: Let me try to sum my part time jobs up. In a cafe, at a karaoke place, at an izakaya, in a call center, at a pizza store, at a pasta shop, at an exclusive restaurant, at a bar, I was an event staff… I did quite a lot. At the call center, there was the quota of selling two contracts during the six hour shift, but my low voice is apparently not suitable for this kind of job, so there had been days where I couldn’t even sell one contract. My boss told me “Honda-kun, you can stop an hour earlier today” and I spent that one hour listening to a recording of 5 hours of me calling people while my seniors instructed me how I should do it. When I listened to recordings, I felt, Indeed no one would buy something from this voice (laughs bitterly).
Katsunari: How did you sound like?
Kosuke: “Hello, we currently have this campaign and….” (reenacts). It made me realize that there are jobs in this society that I am not suited for, and it was a good lesson for my life. I think people who continue to do this job are amazing.

If you have a dream you want to realize, you should say it out loud (Honda)

More than two years have passed since the group formation, but is there something you value in your work?
Kosuke: I have a clear image of OWV in mind, so that I won’t stray from that, I keep that principle in mind while looking for fitting content that the fans will enjoy.
Katsunari: For me it is to believe and stick to my own decisions. There are many cases in which OWV is involved in the direction and selection of the songs, so I believe that if we don’t believe in ourselves, we won’t do the right thing. There might be moments in the future when I think “This was the wrong choice”. However, I think this is also a part of the fertile ground that OWV was built on.

You two made your first step towards your dream by challenging an audition program, but please give advice to the younger generation who are also struggling on a daily basis.
Kosuke: I want to tell them “Say it out loud”. I think if you have something you want to do, you should tell it to the people around you, so that you can get information about it from and you can also get the courage that you are not struggling all alone. For example, even if it is a dream that others would laugh about, you can be more serious about it yourself by declaring it openly and because I believe there is such a thing as words can alter the reality, you should say the dream you want to realize out loud.
Katsunari: I think you should not forget to enjoy it no matter what job you are doing. Regardless of whether you do a job like us, be a student or work in a company, if you spend the same amount of time doing something, you will get more out of it if you enjoy it than if you don’t do so. There might be times when it is hard and tough for you, but I think it would be better to do it while finding something you enjoy in it. I think that curiosity and having a good time becomes the power to do your best, so I try to enjoy everything I do.

[OWV] JJ 220727

https://jj-jj.net/lifestyle/158392/

[OWV] What Urano Shuta-kun wants to do in order to make “the best summer day” happen is…?

The popular boy group OWV will be releasing their 6th single “Time Jackerz” under the concept of “Live” on 27 July. This summer we can finally enjoy typical summer events again. Along with photos of OWV wearing Yukata, we bring you interviews with each member under the theme of “Enjoying summer!”, where we talk about summer-related topics. As the third interview we bring you one with Urano Shuta-kun, their main vocalist who has a variety skills and a free and high voice that both improve day by day.

SHUTA URANO
Born 17 June 1997. 25 years old. From the prefecture Kanagawa. He is the main vocalist with a rich and expansive high voice. He is also the mood maker of the group who has been refining his skills to respond in variety programs over the years.

Eating watermelon after dinner is a bliss 🤍

When you hear the word “summer”, what is the first thing that comes into your mind?
Summer means~ cicadas!

By the way, Sano-kun also answered “bugs”.
No it was almost the same! Well then, watermelon! I love those. At home, we serve watermelon after dinner during this season. Actually, it is already like this. I eat quite a lot of it. It is best to eat some chilled watermelon after coming home from the summer heat outside.

It is a bit of a cliche, but I want to travel to Hawaii with everyone

Do you have a place you want to visit with the members this summer?
I want to go to Hawaii with them~ We ride a banana boat or jetski and when we are tired we chill at the beach or in the hotel. At night we eat a delicious steak and watch the beautiful scenery… Ah this would be so nice~ It is hot in Hawaii, but just being in another country is great! But we have to be careful not to get sunburnt (laughs). Ah, I want to fly to Hawaii right now!

The ideal day would be full of the things I like to do… gym, sauna, movies and dramas.

What kind of day would be “the best summer day” for you?
I would wake up a bit early. It is nice to spend a whole day sleeping, but I might regret it a little later. I wake up at 6, drink coffee and eat some bread, before going out. I guess I could go to Hawaii just like this~ (laughs) Just kidding, if I stay realistically, I would go to the gym and sauna! I want to spend it efficiently, doing all the things I like! But since it’s summer… It’s a bit of an hassle to leave the house during the day… (laughs) Just like Katsu-kun I hate the heat.If I wanted to make a blazing hot summer day the best summer day, I would get up early, but I would only leave the house in the evening! I would go shopping then. During the day, I would watch movies and dramas, turn on the air conditioner to the highest level, eat watermelon and relax! I am too much an indoor person, right? (laughs)

Competing with everyone in a fast eating challenge!

Please tell us what comes into your mind when you hear the word “summer food”.
Cucumbers!
(When he answered this, Honda-kun teased from the side “But you don’t even eat those!”)
Alright, watermelon! No, Kakigori. Last year we all made Kakigori together and ate it. This year I want to make a fast eating challenge out of it. Like who can eat Kakigori the fastest (laughs)

Onsen and a drive along the coast… Especially this year I want to travel with the members!

Tell us one of your “unforgettable summer memories”!
Shuta: The summer of PDJ~ Something more recent would be our “-WIND-” live! There are barely any special summer memories as OWV, so I would like to travel with the members even if it is somewhere close. Or we could go to an Onsen or on a drive. A drive along the shore would be nice… Yes, it would surely be fun! (Urano-kun seemed happy while he imagined this 🤍)

What is the song that makes Urano-kun say “When it comes to summer, there is only this one choice!”?

Now, please pick a song from the new single that “suits summer the best”!
Shuta: No matter how I look at it, it’s “Summer Days”. It is the only possible choice because the song is perfect for this summer. I want you to listen to it on blazing hot days or in midsummer. Or when you do something outside, or in the train or car when you go to a music festival or summer festival. But, you have to stay quiet even if you unintentionally get into the mood. Everyone, please stay quiet on the train!

[OWV] Classy 220726

https://classy-online.jp/lifestyle/223273/

[OWV] Urano Shuta-san’s favorite item since his childhood, which is “absolutely essential in his life” is…?

The 4 member boy group OWV will be releasing their 6th single “Time Jackerz” under the concept of “Live” on 27 July. Inspired by the leadtrack “Time Jackerz” , CLASSY brings you an interview with the topic “time” in which OWV are dressed in the timeless and classic “Parisian casual” style. The second one is with OWV’s main vocalist Urano Shuta-kun. He is also the mood maker of the group with his smooth high tone voice, so let's directly check out what he has to say about "time"!

My routine is to prepare everything before going to sleep!

You seem busy every day, but do you have any specialities or habits on how you use your time?
I lay out all the things I need on the next day before I go to sleep. For example, I neatly lineup my wallet, lip care, eye drops and so on on my desk, so in the morning I can take everything in one go and leave the house. When we shoot somewhere else or sleep in a hotel, I put the bath set on the table and prepare everything to be able to depart right away on the next day.

Ah, but… (speaks a little more quietly) Honda-kun can’t do that all… (laughhs). He is always searching for something like “Where did that paper go?” (laughs).

If I could timejack… I want to become a bird and fly around the world!

If you could timejack one day, what would you do?
I want to fly through the sky for one day. I want to become like a bird and fly around the whole world. It's more efficient to fly around the world when you are a bird than to get on a plane or something and go through the boarding process (laughs).

The theme for today is “Paris-like”, but would you like to visit Paris, too?
Yes! I enjoyed the “Paris-like feeling in Tokyo” at the shooting today, so I want to fly around the world lightly and freely and visit Paris like places in every country of this world.

Even in the dorm of PDJ! His favorite time that is essential during sleep is…

Is there any “thing/event you love timelessly”?
The towel I always use when I sleep! I can’t sleep if I don’t have it. I also brought it with me to the dorm of PDJ. As I use it for as long as I can remember, I had to replace it once because it was falling apart. Ah, of course I wash it, too (laughs). If I forget it when we go somewhere else, I have no choice but to endure using one of the towels provided by the hotel as a substitute but… I have been using this towel for years and this is the only truly essential thing in my life! I believe I will continue to love it for a long time. Yesterday we went to Osaka and I made sure to have it with me! The first one had a pineapple pattern in red and yellow and on the current one there is a picture of Donald Duck (laughs).

“Being understood without a word” This atmosphere is timeless

If you were to promise a “timeless charm” of OWV to QWV, what would it be?
It should be the atmosphere. Everyone knows that we are close, right? Hence, I think even if we don't say anything anymore, you understand our moods just by the atmosphere. I’m sure this is conveyed also in our live streams and schedules. I think QWV love this atmosphere and it is our charm. Family, friends, brothers… Our bond is hard to describe, but they always were and will always be timeless special people for me. People I always feel comfortable with.

Lastly, if you were to pick just one “timeless masterpiece” from the new single, which song would it be?
“Alight”! I think it is a song you can always listen to no matter the place or season. If you listen to it when you are feeling down or depressed, it can lift up your mood and even when you are not down, it can make you feel more positive! I want you to especially pay attention to the lyrics. I want you to listen to it when your efforts are not acknowledged or you make a joke and no one gets it (laughs). I think everyone can gain a new positive outlook from the lyrics that I sing: “Baby, you are working hard, aren’t you? But still sometimes… ♪” It means “I am at your side”, but well, I haven’t been in a situation yet where I failed and felt down, but when it happens, I want to listen to this song (laughs). I will listen to it during the about 5 times when I screw up in the future (laughs). Hence, when you also screw up, please listen to “Alright” and pay the most attention to the part I am singing!

[OWV] JJ 220725

https://jj-jj.net/lifestyle/158414/

[OWV] The song Nakagawa Katsunari-kun “wants you to listen to when you feel summer fatigue” is…?

The popular boy group OWV will be releasing their 6th single “Time Jackerz” under the concept of “Live” on 27 July. This summer we can finally enjoy typical summer events again. Along with photos of OWV wearing Yukata, we bring you interviews with each member under the theme of “Enjoying summer!”, where we talk about summer-related topics. As the second interview we bring you the summer Nakagawa Katsunari-kun, OWV’s pride with his tall and handsome visuals, wants to enjoy.

KATSUNARI NAKAGAWA
Born 16 March 1997. 25 years old. From the prefecture Hyogo. He's an all rounder who charms with his powerful and smooth raps and vocals. The gap between his handsome visuals and calm personality heals one QWV after another.

A summer trauma was born from the centipede incident!

When you hear the word “summer”, what is the first thing that comes into your mind?
Bugs! (laughs) It is because of something that happened during high school when I made a firework display with a few friends. I felt something strange on my back, but as it was dark I couldn’t see anything. But I just knew that there was something… so when I brushed it off with my hand, it turned out to be an insanely huge centipede…! Just by remembering it, I’m trembling again (laughs). Luckily I didn’t get stung, but it became a summer trauma for me.

Also, summer means “family vacation” for me. Traveling with my family had been an annual summer event, but because of the pandemic we were unable to… I can’t wait for the day we can restart the family vacations, as they are so important to me as if “summer means family vacation” is carved into my DNA. I think the last one was to Hawaii in the year before Produce. In Hawaii there is a morning market at the foot of Diamond Mountain every weekend. Whenever we went to Hawaii, we had the family routine of going to eat breakfast there. Back then I wasn’t a morning person and yet it was a refreshing and meaningful time. It is one of my memories from the family vacations.

If I went on a summer vacation with the members… I would go to Hokkaido to defy the heat!

Do you have a place you want to visit with the members this summer?
Since I cannot tolerate heat well, I want to travel with the members to Hokkaido and a lot of delicious things like seafood! I want to work hard so that we can have a concert in Hokkaido one day.

This year is the 3rd summer I spent with OWV. Because of the pandemic we were hardly able to go out and even though we spent so much time together, I barely have summer memories with them… The single summer memory I have is when only the members went on a drive at the beach on the way to return the car after wrapping up the location filming for our show “OWV road”!

The best summer for indoor people needs first of all an air conditioner!

What kind of day would be “the best summer day” for you?
Since I am an indoor person, I want to play games with my friends in a cool room while drinking an ice-cold juice (laughs). I don’t like summer because I sweat a lot… I only need to walk two steps outside and I will be already sweating! It is different from the pleasant sweat you have when you play some sport, you know? I want to avoid sweating as much as I can, so I shut myself in an air conditioned room (laughs).

Hashimakis are an essential summer festival food!

Please tell us what comes into your mind when you hear the word “summer food”.
Pickled cucumber. When I see them at the conbini I think “Ah summer is here!”. Out of the OWV members, only me and Honda-kun often eat it. And if I went to a summer festival? I used to eat Hashimaki in the car on the way home when I went with my family. Do you know this? It is my favorite food from the food stalls and it’s something similar to Okonomiyaki wrapped around chopsticks. If you find it, you need to try it!

A plush toy incident took place at my grandpa’s home

Tell us one of your “unforgettable summer memories”!
When I was in kindergarten I had a hamster plush toy that I really loved. When I went to the house of my grandparents alone I accidentally dropped it in a nearby river. My grandpa was so kind and said “Wait a bit!” and did his best to get it out for me… This is one summer scene I remember from my childhood (laughs). This plush toy is still at my parent's house!

“Alright” is a song that suits summer evenings

Now, please pick a song from the new single that “suits summer the best”!
It’s “Alright”. It is a song that can be enjoyed regardless of the season, but it suits the evening hours in summer with its warm and enveloping lyrics and melody, so it’s perfect for soothing your exhausted heart while watching the sunset. Please listen to it when you are suffering from summer fatigue!