The Voice of "Bocchi-chan" and The Vocals of Yoshino AoyamaーAoyama-san, you have taken on another difficult mission, covering ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION`s ("Rolling Rock, Morning Comes Down On You"), haven't you?Aoyama: That's right. I think it became quite meaningful. I wondered how I should sing this song that wasn’t created for this animation, and already had a large fanbase. But the more I looked at the lyrics, the more I realized that this song could have been made by Hitori Goto for "Bocchi the Rock!". I thought the song reflected Hiroti Goto very well. (Laughs.) "Bocchi the Rock!” was a project that valued musicality more than characterization, but I didn't want to make it just a musical piece. I wanted to represent Hitori Goto`s personality, and not lose the quality of the songs. If we put too much importance on music, it could lose the character of Hitori Goto herself. The song "Rolling Rock, Morning Comes Down on You" was born out of the conflict which I should pursue to sing by mimicking the original singer’s style or the style of Hitori Goto’s singing.
So, I don't think I could act the same way if I was asked to do it again. I was under a lot of pressure during the recording sessions, so that's how I felt during the recording as well. I was not sure if it was me or Hitori Goto performing, and I left the studio in a state of uncertainty. It's the same now, but when I'm doing Hitori Goto , I become her. I become unable to say, "Good morning," , or Like, "Oh, let's see, let's see, let's see....
Mizuno: Yes, yes..
Aoyama: (Laughs) Whenever Hitori Goto has a singing scene, it happens. During the recording session, I felt as if I had let Hitori Goto descend upon me and sang the song, so much so that I almost lost my social skills and could not go home properly.
Mizuno: I had heard Yoshino’s song before, so I knew she was a very good singer, and I was really looking forward to the ending of the last episode when this song was played. I heard it for the first time in the anime, and the moment I heard the first note, I was like, "that’s Bocchi!"
Aoyama: Wow, that makes me happy!
Mizuno: I thought "Bocchi(Hitori Goto)" was singing! That's how much you got into the song.
Aoyama: I am glad to hear you say so. I am really happy to hear that.
— I felt all the personalities of Hitori Goto, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION and Aoyama-san came into the same mind perfectly.Aoyama: That's right. I checked out ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION's Masafumi Goto's notebooks and podcasts, and I thought his spirituality really came out in his music. Since this song was a cover, I sang it thinking that I should never lose respect for the creator as well as for the original song. I am most relieved now that nobody didn’t nudge me because of my singing this song(laugh).
— In the radio program "Bocchi the Radio!”, you mentioned that you were conscious of the fact that Bocchi (Hitori Goto) had never sung in a band before, so she probably didn't have much lung capacity. I was surprised that you were that particular about it.Aoyama: I imagined she would have never been to karaoke or anything like that, and she would never have done improvisation. So I sang like someone who didn’t prepare anything. That was a part of the direction of Gen Okamura-san, the music producer.
—By the way, I saw an online collaboration show between "Bocchi the Rock!” and Yamaha (music store). Aoyama-san, you were amazing! There is no one who can play 8 beats so well on the drums on the first try. You are a talented musician.Aoyama: Really? They asked me to do it (laughs).
— (Laughs.) It's amazing that you can do what you were told to do.Aoyama:If I couldn’t have done well, it was bad… And it was a live broadcast.
Mizuno: It was indeed a live broadcast (laughs).
Aoyama: But the music store was a lot of fun. There were many easy to access tablets that showed the instructional videos, and all the videos were very beginner-friendly. Before I thought playing musical instruments was hard and difficult, but I think there would have always been a way to start learning. Now I encourage everyone to start playing musical instruments (laughs).
Yoshino Aoyama
Saku Mizuno
From Rolling Stone Japan 
