NHK Music Line 2026.05.01 Hosts: SEITO, RYUKI (MAZZEL) Guest: Ayumu Imazu

Summary of NHK Music Line on 2026.05.01, where Ayumu Imazu talks about his 2nd album「Classic」~~while SEITO and RYUKI being a fanboy~~.
Hosts: SEITO, RYUKI (MAZZEL)
Guest: Ayumu Imazu

Opening
They received a message from a middle school MUZE asking about MAZZEL’s routine before sleeping.
● RYUKI cannot sleep without some kind of voice in the background, so he sleeps while letting YouTube play in a small volume.
● SEITO sleep while listening to all kinds of sounds, often bonfire. Yesterday he listened to a sound of bonfire in the forest, with birds chirping and river flowing in the background.

Welcome Ayumu Imazu!
● They last met at an event in March (D.U.N.K), where Ayumu and RYUKI filmed some videos together (「Bassline」「Get Up And Dance」 ). RYUKI really wanted to film with Ayumu, so he is very happy.
● They sometimes bump into each other in the elevator and other places, where they would greet each other, but this radio is the first time for them to talk properly since being in the same agency.
RYUKI(?): Let’s become friends!

Ayumu’s first hall tour and performing with live band
RYUKI: Last year you held your first hall tour “ERA”. Why did you choose this title?
Ayumu: Well, ERA is…
All: ERA! ERA! ERA! (Teasing about the pronunciation)
RYUKI: Sorry, I’m bad at both English and Japanese.
The final show of the tour was at Hibiya Yaon, Tokyo, an outdoor stage. Ayumu performed with a live band, which he had always wanted to do, for the first time. He wanted to show what he had done and cultivated from the 4 previous performances, and make it the very last show before going to the next step, which he will perform more with live bands. So he named the tour “ERA” as in “the end of an old era” and "the start of a new era ".
● Ayumu has a particular focus on instrument arrangements ever since he’s been making music, so he feels that playing accompaniment on a track is slightly lacking in depth. He loves performing with a live band because it’s like actually playing music and matches perfectly with what he wants. Especially for percussion, as quite a lot of his songs have percussion in a live-performance-like texture, so the band version has more momentum.
SEITO: Ayumu-kun’s songs suit especially well with live bands.
RYUKI: Woof! Band SAIKOU!
● Ayumu added elements like breaks and sound effects to create moments that lock in with the groove as part of the band arrangement. He also told all the band members they don’t need to play exactly like the original track, but add some freestyle if they’re feeling the mood. He thinks that is the most interesting part of live performance.
● The drummer and bassist were people around Ayumu’s age. He had already known them or shared some acquaintances with them, and they had previously played instruments together a few times. The guitarist was Shin Sakiura, the arranger of his previous song「Superstar」. The keyboardist was Bessho, a very skilled keyboard master.

About King & Prince「Theater」
● The “clapping” move in the first verse was not originally intended as choreography. Kaito came up with it on the day they filmed the MV, and it ended up fitting the song perfectly.
● Ayumu had felt the first verse was catchy when composing the track, but he had not expected it to go viral to such an extent, and he was genuinely surprised.

Last year’s live in Tokyo International Forum
● Ayumu said that was probably his most nervous moment. He was already in that “Please don’t talk to me” vibe a day before the show. He had been completely absorbed in it and incorporated everything he wanted to do, which in turn raised his tension.
● Ayumu couldn’t sleep at all the night before the performance. He had become overly conscious about taking care of his condition, drinking large amounts of nutritional supplements and running humidifiers excessively to avoid dryness, but it had an opposite effect (of getting himself more nervous). It was tough but he felt he had made a great performance. All tickets were sold out.
SEITO & RYUKI: Surprisingly…even Ayumu-kun gets nervous…

The audition for dancers to perform 「Superstar」
● Ayumu originally started as a backup dancer himself. He was inspired to be an artist when he was given opportunities to dance on the stage. Now that the scale of his own performances had grown, he felt it was the right moment to begin creating similar opportunities for the next generation.
● At first, Ayumu was unsure whether anyone would apply. He was ultimately surprised by the overwhelming number of responses. Everyone put so much spirit into filming and sending the videos.
● While techniques were important, what stood out more to him was the passion behind the performances. He found himself drawn to qualities such as how much the dancers seemed to be enjoying themselves, their expressions, and the sense of charisma that came through on screen. As the project involved live performances together, he was particularly focused on choosing dancers who could elevate the energy of the stage.
● SEITO noted the performance was designed with dance sections where the dancers could take the spotlight on the center stage, which is uncommon for backup dancers. Ayumu said when he works together with his regular team, AI’M Creative, he feels his live shows are never a solo effort but rather something built together with everyone involved. For that reason, he makes a conscious effort to include moments where the dancers can shine as protagonists. He particularly wanted audiences to see each dancer’s advantages with「Superstar」.

Second album「Classic」
● It’s been 4 years since Ayumu released his last album. He gets aware of how rapidly music trends change nowadays, with social media playing an important role. He decided the theme of the album about a year ago, willing to create a classic work that would not lose its value over time despite shifting trends. Some of the songs in the album were selected by searching through his stock of unreleased demos after the scheme was decided.
SEITO & RYUKI: I wanna hear those stocks! Open that folder and listen to everything together!
● In a previous comment about the album, Ayumu said he can finally see his “core” after 6 years of artist activities. He explained this “core” as some kind of intangible presence that cannot be clearly expressed in language, but naturally seeps out through the music itself.
● When 「Theater」 was pre-released a week before the credits had been disclosed, some listeners already commented like “Is this produced by Ayumu?” He sees this as an acknowledgement that his music had something Ayumu-Imazu-ness. He doesn’t know what it exactly is, but he knows it’s something that is definitely there, and with this consistent identity, he feels a greater sense of freedom to produce music in various styles while still maintaining coherence.

Title track「Classic」
(With RYUKI deliberately pronouncing title track.)
SEITO: It’s already insane from the intro.
RYUKI: No opinion is needed. You’ll understand when you hear it.
● The song was composed from the intro part with a particularly careful approach. Ayumu said that if the composing process initially moves in the wrong direction, it’s very difficult to correct it later, so he tends to capture the most natural idea and shape the track directly from that state. Once the intro was completed, the rest of the song came together in a miraculously smooth process.
● This song was composed after the theme of the album got decided. As “classic” being the theme, Ayumu thought the first song should definitely be「Classic」. During production, the grandness of the intro and the intense percussion further reinforced that decision.
● Ayumu’s definition of “classic”: Although trends change rapidly, he did not intend to create music that avoids trends, and there is still a desire for the songs to be catchy and potentially popular. Ultimately, “classic” is a piece of music that contains the creator’s own commitment and strong personal intention. When those personal ideas and feelings are fully embedded into a song, it will have a lasting quality even after five or ten years.
● Ayumu thinks “trending music” does not equal to “good music”, but popularity is an important part of today’s environment, so this is a difficult question without a correct answer.
SEITO: Everyone, please listen to Ayumu-sensei’s words.

About the producer Boy Blue
● Boy Blue contributed to roughly five songs on the album. Ayumu thinks Boy Blue has the arranging power to bring out the best of the songs, and they have really good chemistry.
●「Classic」and 「OTHER SIDE」was mostly (about 80%) produced by Ayumu himself. There was a point Ayumu thought he could complete 「Classic」entirely by himself, but he eventually decided to add some “Boy Blue magic”, which added depth to the track and made the overall worldview clearer.

A random conversation
SEITO: Ayumu-kun can really do everything.
RYUKI: Yeah, that’s crazy.
SEITO: He can dance this well, sing this well, and even rap.
RYUKI: He can also make songs.
SEITO: He can produce songs too.
Ayumu: No no, please stop.
RYUKI: And he’s super handsome!
SEITO: Yeah his face is handsome too.
RYUKI: And he’s kind!
Ayumu: Please stop lol
SEITO: Do you(Ayumu) ever feel like “I’m jealous of this”?
RYUKI: True, I’m curious about the opposite.
SEITO: Or like “I am unable to do this”?
RYUKI: It’s kinda awkward to let people admit what they can’t do lol
SEITO: Is there a moment you feel “I don’t have this”?
Ayumu: Ahh…
RYUKI: Do you run fast?
SEITO & Ayumu: 😂😂😂
RYUKI: Even going to that level? Do you run fast?
Ayumu: No, suprisingly… I might be average at sports. Really.
RYUKI: There it is, there it is! That’s what I want to hear!
Ayumu: Well, after all, I longed to become better on playing instruments. But that’s more of a hobby, like “instruments are cool”. I follow musicians I like on SNS.
SEITO: Ah you can play instruments too…
Ayumu: I really like instruments.
RYUKI: That’s amazing…
Ayumu: Guitar and bass and piano.
RYUKI: Drums too. You can definitely plays drums.
Ayumu: Nah I’ve only just started dabbling a bit lol
RYUKI: You could form a whole band by yourself.
SEITO: Do you start to play instruments since you were little?
Ayumu: Yes, I’ve been doing it since 2nd or 3rd year of middle school.
SEITO: You can play three instruments… I need to work hard too.
RYUKI: I’m seriously going to do it too.

About 「Sugar Rush」
● It’s a disco-ish song with gentle electric piano. Many foreign producers are credited in this song: Ryan Siegel, who is in the same band (Party Pupils) with Ayumu’s friend MAX; Cody (Michael Cody Dear), who can play keyboard and sax; Alexander Lewis, who Ayumu met for the first time. This song was produced in the summer time in LA, so it was like “Let’s make a song of this vibe”.
● The disco-like vibe came out while they were having a jam session, making the drums a bit disco-ish and so on. For the lyrics, they wrote it like “What would Prince (the artist) say?” when they got stuck. The song was actually made quite a while ago and stocked there before Ayumu decide to make an album.

A random conversation, continued
SEITO: So you can speak English too!!
RYUKI: Amazing! I cannot even speak proper Japanese. I’m seriously jealous.
RYUKI: Why don’t you deny it?
SEITO: Eh?
RYUKI: Deny it (and say I can speak proper Japanese).
SEITO: No you can’t.
RYUKI: Don’t say that!
SEITO: You can’t although you’re a rapper… What about writing rap lyrics?
RYUKI: If it’s rap lyrics, I’m confident… Well, I’ll do my best.
SEITO: You are swept along by Ayumu-kun.
RYUKI: It’s impossible to say I can in front of Ayumu-kun!

About 「Bassline」
● SEITO think the bass and synthesizer are so addictive that this sound effect can be hardly found elsewhere. RYUKI really love this song and he was so happy to film the short video with Ayumu together. He also likes the choreography a lot. The boys think the MV and the dance practice video are also crazy. (SEITO: paused for a good second and said dance practice instead of danpra)
● Ayumu himself also thinks the MV is wild. The Dance Practice video is a live-streamed, one-take video. They made a rule that it has to be a one-take, so even if you mess up, you just stay as it is. The first part went fine but things were getting brutal. Ayumu got so nervous than ever before that his mind actually went blank for a second. He thinks he’s not doing it this way anymore.
● SEITO and RYUKI watched the Recording BTS video and was astonished that it’s conducted through an online connection. Ayumu said Boy Blue is really skillful at drawing out vocals, so despite difficulties such as time differences and communication barriers, he still thinks it’s important to keep Boy Blue connected online. MAZZEL recognized that this song was recorded secretly in BMSG’s booth (as Ayumu wasn’t publicly announced as a BMSG artist at the time?). Boy Blue mixed up the versions of recording and asked “What’s the Japanese word for I’m sorry?” “Gomen.”
RYUKI: That part is so cute.
● When「Bassline」is playing in the radio (and their microphones are muted), SEITO kept bombarding Ayumu with questions like “How did you make this part?” “I want to do this, but I seriously don’t know how.”
RYUKI: You should start to learn from the theories.
SEITO: Yes, please teach me step by step after the radio ends.
● RYUKI (again) said he love this song so much and it pushed him to film that video with Ayumu. He saw the dance choreo and liked it a lot, especially the “Te-re-re, Te-re-re” part, so he thought “I really want to film a video with the artist himself.”
SEITO: If it’s me, after the mixing is finished in the booth,when I listen to the final version, I’d be in the mood like “This can go global!” “I can change Japan’s music!” “I’m insane!”
SEITO: Did you say that?
RYUKI: It’s cooler if you don’t say it out.
Ayumu: But honestly speaking, because I’ve been in New York and places like that quite a bit, I really feel that there’s a high wall (the gap in level).
SEITO: The standard is incredibly high.
RYUKI: We need to do our best too.

Ending messages from Ayumu
● As an album after 4 years, Ayumu really poured out everything he have, so he truly want people to listen to it a lot.
● Ayumu is holding a nation-wide livehouse tour in 9 cities, which is his highest record. Most of his performance was in Tokyo and the fans come to see him, so he thought he has to go where the fans are. And he thinks that tracks get flourished by being performed live too (so he planned the tour in so many cities).
SEITO & RYUKI: We really want to see your live!

Aftertalk
RYUKI: He (Ayumu) is such a kind person.
SEITO: After talking to him, I really think we need to work harder!
RYUKI: You were talking with him the whole time when the songs are playing in the radio.
SEITO: True. I was keep asking “How do you make this part?” “How do you come up with that melody?” I want to talk to him a lot after this.
RYUKI: I want to go for a meal with him.