These four interviews were originally posted on Recochoku’s Japanese site as a L’Arc~en~Ciel special highlighting the upcoming release of AWAKE. There many other interviews done around the same time, such as the ones at Yahoo.jp, but they all cover mostly the same questions. In fact, the members tended to repeat themselves from interview to interview. This set is the only one I have translated. This translation was originally posted on the Pieces forum.

This is a translation of the talk that appears near the beginning of the digest that was posted on the MORRICH website prior to the release of AWAKE. This translation was posted on the Pieces forum, and this HTML version is a revised and spellchecked version of the same thing. As with anything I translate by ear (as opposed to by reading it) it’s entirely possible that I misheard something and thus translated it wrongly. I do my best though.

Begin

ken : Hi, this is L’Arc~en~Ciel. The single released last June, “Jiyuu e no Shoutai,” along with “Killing me”, “New World” and “Jojoushi” are finally being compiled with new work on our album AWAKE, which will be released on the 22nd.

Q: Do you have any comments now that the album is complete?

tetsu : It’s hard thinking of it as our tenth album… I think that’s just crazy.

hyde : We’re finally done… it was kind of a long recording, but I don’t think that dragged us down.

yukihiro : We’ve become friends (laughs). It was a good process, so we had a great party when it was finally over.

ken : When I played my guitar, I did it without thinking about anything else. I’m glad.
hyde : Why did you look so sad?
ken : Before now?
hyde : When you played.
ken : Before… I’d think about how the doors were annoying. I couldn’t go in (miming holding a guitar) and the doors were a pain. It bothered me, so I looked pitiful while I was playing.
hyde : If you’d brought it up, I would’ve told you not to worry.
ken : Yeah but I was just thinking.
(laughter)

tetsu : And so, please encourage us by buying AWAKE. This has been L’Arc~en~Ciel.

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

This is the translation of the interview preceding L’Arc~en~Ciel’s performance of Joujoushi on Pop Jam. They were interviewed by Takanori Nishikawa, famous for his work as TMRevolution. This translation was first posted on my Livejournal, and I have spellchecked and edited it for posting here.

Begin

Takanori starts by commenting on how L’Arc came to Pop Jam two months in a row.

Takanori to tetsu : I didn’t realize it right away, but you hardly said anything last time! You don’t talk enough.
tetsu : Yeah, I know. (smiles beautifully)
Takanori : What kind of beautiful friendship are we supposed to have then? (laughs)
Someone off screen : He’s just being bitter (more laughing).
Takanori : I always have to call him first!
(to the other members) Does he ever call you?
hyde : No, not really. Maybe once a year. Sometimes a number will come up on my cell and I’ll have no idea who it is…
ken : I have different ring tones for different numbers, so I NEVER hear his.
Takanori : And are you all OK with that?
yukihiro : Yeah…
ken : (to yuki) You should really tell the truth…
(more laughing)
Takanori : What’s this? Sounds like a problem!

First fan question : What was the first CD or record you ever bought ?

hyde : Kamen Rider! I used to dream of being Kamen Rider as a kid.
hyde : I wore the costume and ran around town…
Takanori : With a cape? Like this?
hyde : Yeah…

ken’s answer board : Anime soundtracks

ken : But I totally don’t remember which anime, cause I had lots.
Takanori : I bet you’re one of those guys who has nothing but anime themes on his cell.
ken : Yeah.
ken : I buy as many as I can.

At this point, it seems like yukkie thought he would be next, but no, it’s tetsu’s turn.

tetsu’s answer board : Billy Joel’s Innocent Man

tetsu : I think it’s the first thing I ever bought all by myself.
tetsu : But if you mean the first CD I had someone buy for me, then it’s Kamen Rider, too.

Takanori : Ok, before Kamen Rider takes over, yukihiro-san’s?
yukkie’s answer board : Ippudo’s Sumire September Love
yukihiro : I saw it on TV. I thought it was cool, so I went to buy it.

Next question : Girl : I’m in the tennis club, so I was wondering what clubs you were all in?
hyde : I did soccer… for three days.
hyde : I really liked soccer, so I wanted to play, and I joined the club, but balls kept flying at me, so I quit.
Takanori : Oh… I get it.

tetsu : I was in the go-home-club. (1)
tetsu : I hated how they tried to tell me how to spend my youth.
Takanori : So you went against the current.
tetsu : Yeah, that’s right.
Takanori : Sometimes, they had really bad habits in those clubs, like when all the soccer players would share the same drink bottle… that’s not healthy.
tetsu : But I do like sports now.

ken : Ping-pong club.
Takanori : Not baseball?
tetsu : He’s the best at ping-pong.
Takanori : Wow, awesome.
ken : I thought of joining the soccer club, but they weren’t taking anyone that year, so they sent me to the tennis club, but I didn’t want to do that so I took the other one.

yukihiro’s answer board : Track and field club

Takanori : I think that’s the odd one out. Most people don’t join that one.
yukihiro : But I liked it while I was there.

Takanori : When did you all start being interested in bands?
hyde : About halfway through high school.
tetsu : Third year middle school.
ken : When I was 20?
Takanori : That late??
tetsu : No way, you were with me before that.
ken : Wasn’t I 20 then?
tetsu : No…
ken : I thought it was at 20…
Takanori : Shaddup! What about yukihiro?
yukihiro : In high school, I think.

Takanori : It all started with guitar, right?
ken : (checks with tetsu) Yeah, guitar.
Takanori : So you played guitar just so you could be in a band?
ken : Well, I played a little before that.
tetsu : He was awesome at it.
Takanori : Were you playing to impress the high school girls who liked music?
ken : We played heavy metal.
Takanori : Oh… (laughing)
ken : I took lessons until I was in middle school, then around second or third year I started liking heavy metal, and played nothing but that ever since.
Takanori : Without a band?
ken : Right.
hyde : I started with guitar too. Heavy metal guitarist.
Takanori : Well me too, but not heavy metal…
tetsu : That’s cause of our age gap!
hyde : I liked fast-paced guitar music.

Takanori : And we’re out of time!

(quiet pause)

Takanori : Oh wait, it’s not over?
(all laugh)
cut to performance

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

1. This means he didn’t join any clubs at all.Go back.

This is the translation of the Music Station interview from the show where L’Arc~en~Ciel performed Jojoushi.

Since I translated it by ear, instead of from written media, the possibility that I misheard something makes it much more likely that something was mistranslated. I apologise in advance if this happens. It’s probably best to watch the clip while reading this, or at least be familiar with it. The talk was mostly between tetsu and the MS host, as you are about to read.

The talk starts with the host saying that tetsu had experienced something for the first time ever last week.

Host : What was it?
tetsu : I went to a Bottle Keep. (Note : I think this is a type of make your own wine/beer place)
Host : Aren’t those rare?
tetsu : Yeah, they are. I went, and there were these old, grandmother-like ladies in the store.
Host : Did you have to go out of town?
tetsu : No, it was in Roppongi.
Host: There’s a a Bottle Keep in Roppongi?!?!
tetsu : Yes, yes. The store guy looked like a chef, a man of few words.
Host: You went to a chef’s Bottle Keep?
tetsu : I went for the drinks…
Host : You write your own label, too, right?
tetsu : Yeah. I was going for the most expensive type of Bottle Keep, when the owner said “Don’t bother with that one, it’s OK.” I think it’s beacause I look so young? He thought I was a young guy with no money.
Host : He didn’t know who you were?!
tetsu : I don’t think he did… I asked “How old do you think I am?” And he answered “22, right?”
Host and crowd : (laughing)
tetsu : So on my label I wrote : “The 23-ish looking tetsu.”
(More laughter)
Host : I guess you must have spent quite a bit of money on the drinks there?
tetsu : Mmhmm…
Host : So its expensive…
tetsu : Mmhmm…

And next comes the performance.

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

This is the translation of the Pop Jam interview from a show where TETSU69 was a guest and performed TIGHTROPE.

Since I translated it by ear, instead of from written media, the possibility that I misheard something makes it much more likely that something was mistranslated. I apologise in advance if this happens. It’s probably best to watch the clip while reading this, or at least be familiar with it.

Begin

Male Host : And now for this corner we have the solo project:
TETSU69 : Yes?
Male Host : TETSU69.
TETSU69 : Yes.
Male Host : Well, I kind of like the sound of that, but what does it mean?
Female Host : Yes, why sixty-nine?
TETSU69 : Well, I was born in 1969…
Female Host : Oh?
TETSU69 : And.. it was the first time people walked on the moon, and there was Woodstock, so I think it was a cool year.
Hosts : Oh, ok. I see. So that’s the kind of year it was.
Male Host : So, this time around, you traded in your bass for a guitar.
TETSU69 : Yeah, I did.
Male Host : It must be easier.
TETSU69 : Guitars are much lighter. Compared to bass. And that’s good, because my shoulder doesn’t get sore.
Male Host : Yeah, that makes sense.
Female Host : Please do your best, and proceed to the stage.
TETSU69 : Thank you for having me.

(He dashes to the stage and the performance starts shortly)

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

This is the translation of the Music Station interview from a show where TETSU69 was a guest and performed Shinkirou.

Since I translated it by ear, instead of from written media, the possibility that I misheard something makes it much more likely that something was mistranslated. I apologise in advance if this happens. It’s probably best to watch the clip while reading this, or at least be familiar with it.

Begin

Tamori : Now we have TETSU69. How are you doing?
TETSU69 : It’s good to be here.
Tamori : tetsu-kun, I’ve heard you like electric appliances.
TETSU69 : Yes. I do.
Tamori : I can understand liking electronics, audio systems, but appliances, that’s rather rare, isn’t it?
TETSU69 : It’s mostly the major ones, really.
Tamori : The major appliances?
TETSU69 : Yes.
Tamori : Washers, fridges, vacuums, air-conditioners… (tetsu is repeating the same items almost simultaneously)
TETSU69 : Yes.
Tamori : That’s unusual. But I guess you can’t help but accumulate a lot of those things.
TETSU69 : As soon as new models come out, I like to check them out. Like, different colours of vacuums, or something.
Tamori : You’d buy the same model, but in a different colour?
TETSU69 : Yeah.
Tamori : Wow. What exactly do you have, now? In your house? What do you have the most of?
TETSU69 : I have a lot of vacuums.
Tamori : How many?
TETSU69 : Four or five. (other guests laugh) Yeah.
Tamori : One for the LDK? (Note : This refers to the size of his home, Living room, Dining room, and Kitchen.)
TETSU69 : I have a 3L… (Note : Meaning three rooms in addition to the LDK.)
Tamori : 3LDK? You have four in there?
TETSU69 : Yes.
Tamori : You have more vacuums than rooms in your home!
TETSU69 : Yeah, I do. (nodding)
Tamori : Do you have one vacuum for cleaning each room?
TETSU69 : Um, well…
Tamori : You don’t use them?
TETSU69 :(laughs) I don’t.
Tamori : Ahhh. So why do you want them? All those vacuums.
TETSU69 : Well, when a new one comes out, it’s better than what I already have, isn’t it? I get envious.
Tamori : Ah. This morning in the paper, I saw an ad for one that had a sensor, and did the cleaning by itself.
TETSU69 : Ah! I definitely want to get one of those. (nodding)
Tamori : It’ll be out soon. It’ll be vacuum number five.
TETSU69 : Yeah, it will.
Tamori : You can use it when you don’t feel like cleaning.
TETSU69 : But I like cleaning. I have one with a garbage signal on it, you know?
Tamori : What’s a garbage signal?
TETSU69 : When there’s garbage, it’s red.
Tamori : Huh?
TETSU69 : And when it’s all clean, it turns green. There’s a light on it.
Tamori : Ahhh. So when you find a dirty spot, the red light comes on.
TETSU69 : That’s right. It’s like a sensor. Where’s the garbage?
Tamori : I’ve never heard of that.
Female Host : Me neither.
Tamori : So, what’s going on with L’Arc~en~Ciel?
TETSU69 : Hm. I… Um, well.. (Host says something I can’t hear) Yes, we do. Once in a while.
Tamori : You’re answering with a lot of “Ah” and “Hm”. It sounds suspicious!
TETSU69 : It should.
Tamori : Oh really?
TETSU69 : Yes, it should.
Tamori : I think we should go shopping for vacuums together.
TETSU69 : OK, let’s do that. (nodding)
Tamori : Ok, please go to standby.

There’s a brief talk with someone else while TETSU69 gets ready, and then the Shinkirou performance starts.

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

yukihiro

1) New World : It has the right feel for an opening track. When I was making the music, I’d already decided to submit it. But it wasn’t such a good a pop song until hyde-kun wrote the chorus and transformed it. I think that’s why it turned out the way it did (laughs).

2) LOST HEAVEN : Ever since I first heard it, it’s been easy to grasp the image of this song. To me, it’s a Recchi(Red Hot Chilli Peppers) rhythm. There aren’t many Japanese people funky enough to like Recchi though, at least that’s what I’ve seen.

3) Jojoushi : I’ve been thinking this song might be the best for showcasing L’Arc’s true colours. As far as the drumming goes, I thought something like ground beats would work best. It’s sort of like groove music.

4) TRUST : The finished version is just as impressive as the initial listen was.

5) Killing Me : I was having trouble doing three linked sets of two claps, so I started suggesting “How would this be instead?” (laughs) Can we change it a little? It didn’t change though (laughs).

6) AS ONE : I think hyde-kun probably already said this, but this sounds like a Slipknot song (laughs). This kind of song will be a hit with the younger drummers.

7) My Dear : This is a masterpiece. ken-chan’s arrangements particularly shine, don’t they? I thought it was going to be a hard rock song at first, but as it got closer to completion it became lighter, and I think it’s an incredibly emotional piece.

8) EXISTENCE : My first impression? I wanted to play it again (laughs)

9) Jiyuu e no Shoutai : This song was made back when we were working on SMILE.

10) Ophelia : It’s such a hyde-kun-like song.

11) Hoshizora : This is one of hyde-kun’s songs too… hyde-kun only had one song on SMILE, so maybe he thought more pressure was on him this time. He brought out a lot of songs this time around. And because of my bugging him (laughs), there’s one more. The drums for this one had me a little worried about what I was going to do, at first. The way I break up the song didn’t work structurally, because of how this song swells up and builds. The finished product was salvaged by Okano (Hajime)-san’s advice.

12) Twinkle Twinkle : I think this song was the only one fit to be the closing track. At first I thought it was going to be a hard rock song, and I was a little worried, but this is L’Arc so of course I had no reason to be (laughs). As for the drumming, ken-chan told me to give it the feel of a Sumapan (Smashing Pumpkins) song.

tetsu

1) New World : The bass line for this song was pretty tough. It keeps me busy. I want something like this for my solo. I wanna cover it. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting the pattern, for once (laughs).

2) LOST HEAVEN : In this one too, I’m constantly moving. Melodically, it has a bluesy touch to it, but it doesn’t drag down the listener.

3) Jojoushi : This is a finger song. I’m not especially good at doing that, but I don’t think there’s any other way to make it sound right.

4) TRUST : You know how the intro to this song has guitar going kakokako? That’s from the demo I played on guitar. Did I even have it tuned properly? I’m still not sure about that (laughs). ken-chan said “This is just fine!”

5) Killing Me : It was hard to get the bass to sound melodious for this up-tempo song. This is what forms the root of the song. I had a hard time getting it to sound melodious for this song, but it still ended up sounding pretty good. I found myself stopping to ask “Does this sound right?” a lot, but I don’t remember it being that troublesome, really.

6) AS ONE : My job as bassist wasn’t any trouble at all since we decided to pre-program this song. Oh yeah, I thought the lyrics to this song were all English, but then I checked the booklet and went “Oh! It is Japanese!” (laughs). I was surprised.

7) My Dear : It’s a good song.

8) EXISTENCE : The guitar intro to this song is magnificent. It’s so amazing, I doubt I could reproduce it.

9) Jiyuu e no Shoutai : This actually came from the rehearsals for Shibuya Seven days 2003. I was in the studio with yukkie, and we were supposed to be rehearsing all our old songs, but I felt like writing a new song and so I started jamming on a guitar. That’s how this song originally started. yukkie might not remember, though (laughs). To describe it simply, I’d say it’s a fast, free-flowing tune.

10) Ophelia : The bass on this one is awesomely cool. I think it’s the best bass line on the album. Every two or three times I play it right, I mess up the next performance, but keep going until the end, anyway (laughs). As long as we were using pre-programmed takes, I wasn’t correcting the parts I kept messing up on, was I? That changed the sound, and the studio changed it too. So, it’s a good thing. Even I can’t replay the same thing twice. I don’t understand how I pulled it off the first time (laughs)! That atmosphere doesn’t come back.

11) Hoshizora : I don’t have much to say about this type of song… It wasn’t especially tricky to play. Doesn’t it kind of feel like L’Arc’s old style? And this is ’05.

12) twinkle, twinkle : This is a finger song too. Slapping with the fingers. This song is very ken-chan-like… I like it, and I want him to write more songs like this.

ken

1) New World : yukkie said to me “ken-chan, do the chords!” It progressed with yukkie deciding what sounded best, and turned into a really bright song. “Wow! yukkie made a happy song!?” (laughs) But I was happy about it.

2) LOST HEAVEN : A good jamming song for our usual three-piece (guitar, bass, drums).

3) Jojoushi : I’ve been wanting to hear hyde’s voice in this register. I think this is how his voice sounds prettiest, but if I didn’t write a song for it, I wouldn’t get to hear him sing that way, so I wrote it.

4) TRUST : I’ve been thinking about the hidden theme in the backing vocals of this song. I thought they were cool when I first heard the song, and now I really like this song.

5) Killing Me : I always feel like going “Yay!” while playing this song, but I hold it in and just keep playing. That’s the kind of song it is.

6) AS ONE : When this song was submitted, I wondered “Did you make me a good hard song, hyde?!” and then hyde said “I wrote this because, during the tour, ken-chan said he wanted a hard song to play!” so I’m pretty embarrassed now (laughs).

7) My Dear : This is the tearjerker. For the second half of this song, I worked out the arrangements so that the atmosphere would gradually change, like doing a morphing (for example, an image manipulation where head shots of two people are merged into a new person using computer technology). Still, I don’t think that changed the song’s outlook.

8) EXISTENCE : This is great for bon-odori too (ken made a comment to this effect in the February 2005 issue’s interview concerning the release of Killing Me). I hope I remember to use it by then (laughs). I thought it would be nice to have a song you can run around irresponsibly with, so I wrote this.

9) Jiyuu e no Shoutai : I haven’t played this kind of guitar lately, so at least one of my strings goes “pyuu!” at the intro. It’s like a fresh start.

10) Ophelia : When hyde was all wrapped up in writing this one, he was focusing on the piano to write the chords. I was glad he wasn’t explaining them on guitar, cause that meant I was free to mess around irresponsibly on my acoustic (laughs).

11) Hoshizora : This is a splendid song, is it not? All sorts of different things went into it, so there’s a lot of feeling, especially in the chorus. I wanted the guitar solo in the second half to fade out, but it took too long. The key changes are complicated too. At least, they seem that way now (laughs).

12) twinkle, twinkle : Back during the Baltimore show, and during the SMILE tour, I was thinking I’d like to try a song with this kind of tempo, so I wrote it. It’s a good song for bon-odori, even kids and old people can use this one.

hyde

1) New World : After being rearranged by yukkie many times, this is the song that finally came out (laughs). But when it was finally done, I thought it was an incredibly catchy song.

2) LOST HEAVEN : It’s going to be a movie ending theme (for the movie Fullmetal Alchemist : Shamballa wo iku mono) so I thought I should check it out before I wrote the lyrics. But actually, as I was watching the DVDs, I found myself bonding with it so much that I cried out loud (laughs). I didn’t want to simply transfer that anime’s world into words, I wanted to let it influence me.

3) Jojoushi : It’s a good song, so I wanted to write good lyrics for it. It takes luck to be able to do that, and I think I had just the right amount of luck this time.

4) TRUST : When I wrote these lyrics, I wanted to convey a feeling that even though the world itself doesn’t change, life can change and renew itself all over again.

5) Killing Me : I started writing part of this song on a tree trunk. I’m not sure why (laughs). It just started with singing “Killing Me” (laughs). But for the album version I thought different lyrics would suit the feel of the song better (laughs).

6) AS ONE : We all like hardcore, but L’Arc~en~Ciel doesn’t have many songs like that. So I thought I’d go all out for this one. Still, the chorus turned out pretty catchy. I think it means I did a good job with the song.

7) My Dear : I wrote this three years ago, and I brought it out again because I didn’t think I was going to make my quota (laughs). But with the band’s arrangements, it got changed quite a bit. ken-chan in particular did good work with the structure and arrangements. I don’t think I have that kind of creativity.

8) EXISTENCE : The moment I heard this song, I got angry, cause it’s got a dirty image. I thought about something to write angry lyrics about, so decided to make lyrics about not being able to sleep.

9) Jiyuu e no Shoutai : I took rhyming into consideration when writing this one, so I think I paid a lot of attention to it (laughs).

10) Ophelia : This was another song that filled up my quota (laughs). I wanted to insert a name into the song, and even though it’s common, I pulled it out of Hamlet. (Ophelia is one of the principal characters in Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’, she is the tragic love of the main character, Hamlet) Hammering it out during our sessions was the greatest.

11) Hoshizora : I used “explosive” words to make straightforward lyrics, and so I think this song penetrates the soul. I chose fairly strong words.

12) twinkle, twinkle : My job is easy, I just write lyrics for other people (laughs). But this one is incredibly hard to sing. But rather than hate the song, I see it as a fresh challenge.

Translated by Natalie Arnold

hyde-kun tried really hard this time.

– Once again, a product gifted with the romanticism and drive typical of L’Arc~en~Ciel has reached us. We are presently with the creator of the opening number which drives the album, hoping to discover how he feels about his current situation within the band.
– Last year, L’Arc released an album after some delay, following it up with a tour. Do you have any particular thoughts regarding this new L’Arc?
[No, nothing special, really (laughs). It just felt like meeting up with old friends again, after a long time apart. “It’s been a while!”]

– Then, going from that album to this new one was no different from going from the first to the second, or the second to the third?
[That’s right.]

– How has the production progressed?
[The same as always. We make new tunes, then do some pre-programming or something.]

– What did you think when you first heard the newly submitted songs?
[Last time, for ‘SMILE’, hyde-kun had been really busy, so I noticed he was trying extra hard this time (laughs).]

– How was the timing for the creation of this album’s overall image?
[I don’t really understand that, myself. I don’t think about it. Now that it’s finished, I still don’t understand it. When people ask me what the feel of the album is like, I feel like giving them a CD and saying “Go listen to it.” (laughs).]

– You aren’t interested in figuring out it’s ‘Big Picture’?
[Right. I think it’s probably better to take the songs one by one. There’s no way this is a concept album or anything. Everyone tells me this is an especially varied album, for L’Arc (laughs), so I figure we must’ve done a good job with it’s overall balance. And we didn’t even have to work on achieving that balance.]

Instead of thinking of the album’s big picture, I’d rather just simply call it cool.

– Is the reason you aren’t conscious of the album’s big picture because you’re so close to it, as one of the creators?
[Nah, we’ve never started by thinking about what kind of album we want to make or anything like that. We just go ahead and make something that’ll be cool.]

– Of course, the music you make always is, yukihiro-san.
[Is it really? When people say things like that to me, I never know what to answer.]

– Then, let me ask about lyrics. yukihiro-san, in the song you wrote, ‘New World’, what is the meaning of the first line “Koko ni Aru Tashika na REALITY”? (Note : Meaning : “What is here is a certain reality”)
[It’s about what I, personally, perceive as good. I have my own feelings, my own way of thinking, and that’s what makes my own reality. I think each person has their own version of that.]

– Could it also refer to how each of the four members had their own “certain reality” regarding their feelings on this latest album?
[I guess, maybe (laughs).]

– What are your own feelings about it, yukihiro-san?
[I wasn’t thinking that hard when I was writing the lyrics (laughs), but since you’re asking the question, I think there’s one (reality) for any kind of situation. For example, when your reality gets wobbly, or when you fall prey to nervousness, that’s what’s real during that time. Reality isn’t absolute, so I think it’s ok not to connect to it especially strongly. Like right now, my reality is that I’m here trying to think of answers to your questions (laughs), well, that’s actually true.]

– Yet, for instance in ‘New World’, before that ‘truth’, the main sensation is the band’s overwhelming positive energy.
[Well, as long as we’re talking about these lyrics, I’d like to say more about the ‘truth’, as we’re discussing. Anyway, I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about what the true reality is, as long as you’re going ahead feeling good. It doesn’t matter what’s real, what’s a dream, or what’s fiction; it feels better not to worry about it.]

– This new album does feel like it calls out to those who live in that sort of world, with dreams and fictions.
[For sure, there are moments where I feel L’Arc’s sound call out that way. It happens during lives, and also in recordings when we let ourselves go wild. At times like that, I think I feel it more than the others do (laughs), and send out my own feelings.]

Things left “unsaid” help keep up a good nervous tension in the band.

– How is the situation within the band itself? I would think that if all members aren’t sharing the same circumstances, you won’t be able to make music together.
[That’s true. We definitely each have out our own roles, and if I’m feeling a certain way, everyone will also start feeling that way (laughs) as soon as we start talking. But, we don’t talk about that sort of thing much.]

– Is L’Arc the type of band where after a really good session, you make sure to tell each other you thought it was good, or the type to just smirk at each other when you don’t get anything done, or maybe a mix of both types?
[We do both, but the latter happens more often (laughs).]

– Has it always been that way since you joined the band, yukihiro-san?
[Yeah.]

– You’re a shy group of people, aren’t you (laughs)?
[Maybe we are…(laughs).]

– You don’t feel awkward?
[It’s just, some things don’t get said. And I think there are some things to be careful about. If I’m in a good mood, but someone else isn’t, I won’t try to cheer them up, for instance (laughs).]

– Would that delicate balance be a factor in L’Arc being the way it is?
[That’s right. I think that sort of feeling helps keep up a good nervous tension within the band.]

– What about the album title?
[As usual, hyde-kun thought of it. Once the sound is done with, I don’t care about the rest… Of course, the title of an album should be the strongest word the lyric writer can find to express the album, and with L’Arc, that would be hyde-kun, so he thought that was the most suitable word for describing the contents of this album.]

– But the word ‘AWAKE’ is in the song ‘New World’ isn’t it?
[Oh, yeah, it is (laughs).]

– Of course, this summer’s tour will focus on songs from ‘AWAKE’?
[That’s right.]

– Including ‘Killing Me’?
[That’s ok, isn’t it? (laughs)]

I’ll work hard to make the lives intense.

-(laughs) Have you started practicing again, now that the tour is coming?
[This time, the recording took a long time, and so listening to the songs we recorded first makes me notice how much I’ve forgotten about them. This time, we didn’t cram it all in as much, but that let us put out better quality work.]

– This time, you have shows in Korea and China, too. How was your overseas show last year, in America?
[I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t been that nervous in a long time. But, once the show started, I was fine.]

– How about Korea and China?
[I’m nervous, I guess. But I think it’s a different kind of nervousness than at the American show.]

– By the way, for many bands on tour, the day of a live doesn’t go well. How does L’Arc usually do on lives?
[We’re good, aren’t we? I, personally, have bad days too, of course, and sometimes the other three don’t seem like themselves. I probably do that too, though. I think last year’s tour went great, though.]

– Well, please try to make this year’s tour even better.
[Yes, I’ll work hard.]

Translated by Natalie Arnold.

Our manager gave us “Five songs each” for a quota!

– You’ve created a wonderful product. It was truly moving. ‘SMILE’ honestly pales in comparison.
[But ‘SMILE’ has a good reputation. I’ve had people tell me it’s the best album yet.]

– Of course, all listeners have their own opinions. But aren’t you happy about that?
[I’m not so much happy as surprised. But some people do feel that way. It goes to show that there are all sorts of people in the world. It’s like that with clothes, too, right? There are people who buy clothes that I look at and think “Who would buy something this weird?” (laughs)]

– Is ‘AWAKE’ your response to them?
[I wouldn’t call it a response. Our manager said “Five songs each” was our quota this time. So, except for yukkie, we submitted five songs each. I actually had about seven, so in all we had nearly twenty songs, right? At the time, I thought they were all good songs.]

– Wasn’t it hard to choose from so many?
[No, it wasn’t a problem having so many songs. We had a lot of really great songs, and that was when we realized that.]

– Was the tour for the previous album, ‘SMILE’, a major factor in writing them?
[Hmm, well, with some analysis, you might find a lot of the songs were influenced by that tour. But I don’t think that was all.]

I think we got the band engine warmed up.

– In the past, there was a time when the band accelerated furiously, correct? It had a tangible force, but I wonder if you wanted to step away from it. How far could you let it take you? I wondered.
[Wanted… I think all we needed to do was get the engine warmed up again. ‘SMILE’ felt like a warm-up, and now that the engine’s ready, we can get up to speed again. I thought so even back when we were making ‘SMILE’, that we wouldn’t be back up to full speed until the next album. It all worked out the way I’d hypothesized.]

– Now, you mentioned that you had submitted seven songs, and actually ‘Jiyuu e no Shoutai’ was made back in the days of ‘SMILE’ so you only had one new song made. Why weren’t more of your songs chosen?
[Just because they weren’t chosen doesn’t mean they’re dead.]

– That sounds rather suspicious.
[I’m unwilling to say more. We already have twelve great songs on the album, so… (laughs). That makes over 120 already, soon we’ll break 150. Maybe they’ll get used on another album.]

– It wasn’t the right time for them?
[That could be it, too.]

– Are you thinking of the next single?
[That, too.]

These songs are like a digest of the past year.

– What is your position with regard to songwriting? Have there been any changes compared to what you did before, or have some elements stayed the same?
[Over the past year, I think I’ve finally perfected my methods. I took a good look at what exactly I was doing, and I’ve matured, too.]

– When you were working on ‘AWAKE’, was there anything you thought you would finally get a chance to express?
[No, there wasn’t.]

– You were just glad to get it done?
[No, when the recording was finished, I wasn’t thinking “Hurray! We’re done!”… it just slipped away from me.]

– I realise that recording isn’t a simple task, but was there anything particularly troublesome? Something that got on your nerves, trouble with the location, or perhaps a restriction on how many days you could spend in the studio?
[I don’t think there was anything like that. I did a lot of net surfing in the studio, actually (laughs).]

– You had that luxury, but you were still thorough with your work.
[Were we? Well, it took a long time to finish.]

– How long did it take, really?
[About half a year. We started around September.]

– Recording became a part of your daily life?
[Actually, I’ve kind of forgotten about the recording period. I guess it must have been.]

– So, what do you remember about the recording, now?
[Is there anything? I can’t remember anything but the view from the studio. I can remember which studios we went to.]

– Right (laughs). Were you being particular about anything in terms of the sound of your bass playing during the recording?
[Nothing in particular. I’ve always taken it one step at a time, letting the sound vary from song to song. There’s no advantage in carving out one sound and using it for each of the twelve songs. That’s why I change the sound between songs, changing which bass I use too. With the bass as the root, the sound of the other instruments changes, too.]

– This time around, which songs were especially fun to play? And which ones were tricky to play?
[Fun ones… On ‘Ophelia’ and ‘AS ONE’ we used pre-programmed takes.]

– Eh?
[The main line of ‘Ophelia’, I kept getting the distortion wrong.]

– It doesn’t sound that way intentionally?
[It got distorted. I meant to make the amp sound distorted, but I ended up distorting the line (the direct output from the bass). Normally, I record straight from the line, but the sound kept getting distorted! Distorted by the amp, distorted by the line. But that’s how the end result turned out. If we hadn’t done that (made use of a pre-programmed take) it wouldn’t have sounded the same. Still, even though we had the pre-programmed version, I still played it two or three times. Just to see if I could record it right, I played it once or twice between other songs. But still, I’ve only played the full song three times, at most.]

I think listening to music is a question of love or hate.

– Ahh~. Hearing about that might change the way people respond to the song. But, changing the subject, I get the impression there was a lot of meaning placed in this album. Was it meant to be included? Or did you try not to do that?
[I think it might be a little bit of both.]

– It just happened?
[Yeah (laughs).]

– Did you consult each other?
[Nope.]

– What’s your secret for keeping yourself going? I think self-confidence must be necessary, or else you wouldn’t get very far.
[I do have confidence. I don’t let other people’s opinions affect me much. I don’t think the people giving me their opinions know better than I do (laughs) at least not musically. Would you claim to be in a position to tell a pro athlete how to play their sport? It’s the same thing, isn’t it? I don’t really listen, so it doesn’t influence me, and I don’t get affected.]

– Then, you can get inspiration on your own? For example, by watching movies or listening to music, or by going somewhere.
[…Not really. I never go anywhere (laughs).]

– You should! Or don’t you have the time?
[No, it’s just that I’m the stay at home type (laughs).]

– I remember you mentioned once that you don’t travel.
[It’s such a pain (laughs).]

– You said you do net surfing? But not real surfing.
[I don’t surf.]

– So what have you taken up for stimulation?
[Nothing at all.]

– Don’t you get bored?
[I’m a boring kind of guy.]

– That can’t be true, can it?
[Even at home, I just space out. …I’m really not that interesting.]

– …That’s enough (laughs). As I’d imagined, you’re at the age where men are past the phase of constantly obsessing with sex? Though, this album sounds so young it’s hard to think of you that way.
[Well, I guess that might be true.]

– Is there anything in particular you’d like your listeners to keep in mind, or to pay special attention to?
[I think listening to music is a matter of love or hate. If you like it, you like it, and if you don’t, then you don’t. I think we’re confident that we’ve put out a good product.]

Translated by Natalie Arnold

When I’m holding my guitar, it’s like my mind goes all white.

– ken-san, on the album ‘AWAKE’ I thought you came across as a ‘thoughtful person’.
[Have you always thought that?]

– We are talking about your musical approach, right?
[Yeah.]

– How did you consciously approach the music this time?
[I played with everything I’ve got.]

– With all your might?
[It’s not that I put my all into “making it sound even fiercer” or that I went all out because “this part is supposed to sound sadder!” or because “this part is supposed to be more fun!” but anyway, I put everything I had into it.]

– You weren’t pouring your all into giving shape to that particular song, but rather into putting the same soul into the entire product, right?
[Yeah. After all, I have to do something to make it stand out a little, give it a novel twist… It might sound weird to say I have to, but that’s how I write music and play my guitar, you know?]

– You could say that rock is about asking yourself “How can I make something new with this?” right?
[Yeah. But, it’s not really a question of working out my brain cells. My creative process doesn’t involve that much brain stretching. When I put my all into it, I mean finding things like “That’s the way!” or “I just had it!” and then maybe just taking care to figure those out. At first, I have butterflies in my stomach when I start playing, but it gradually fades.]

– There’s an example that’s easy to relate to (laughs).
[So I don’t yell at myself “What’s up with this?! I’m about to start playing, already!” as I start to play, but I just say “This is it.” I’m just saying obvious stuff (laughs).]

– You could make a joke about how “Food and music don’t mix” at this point (laughs).
[But really, once I’m holding my guitar and say “Ok, let’s go!”, it’s like it goes all white inside my mind.]

– It becomes a challenge to see how far you can meld with the song, or something like that?
[Yeah. When it gets to be the tune that asks to be played, rather than me requesting it, I’ve really merged with it. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?]

– You’re making it sound like food again (laughs).
[I have to keep an out and make sure the good bits don’t run away as quick as they came out.]

– If you’re pessimistic about that, you’ll be paying for it at the recording.
[Yeah. That’s why, for example, if we’re playing a darker type of song, I’d let myself fall into that sort of feeling. But this time though, when the moment came I said “Ok! Let’s put everything into this one!” and so “Boom!” it worked.]

– You were in an idle state.
[Yeah. What I mean is, I think there are a lot of people who are listening to us for the first time, and I want them to want to come to lives, and enjoy it, right? So I gave my all so I could do that. If those people tell me “No, no, you should get all wrapped up in the emotion of it!” I’ll say “Sorry, my mistake!” (laughs)]

– There’s always going to be someone saying “I wanted to hear ken’s angry guitar playing!” or something.
[Yeah. But I can say I put my all into making what we did end up with.]

– I think that perhaps the appropriate name for your approach to this recording was “ken-san unmasked”.
[Yeah. You could say that.]

– When a guest comes to your home, you say “Oh, I’m glad you’re here! I have good food!” and put your all into cooking something especially delicious for them. But in this case, the guests aren’t just fans, your music is also being made for hyde, tetsu, and yukihiro.
[Yeah, that’s true, that’s how it is for the music. That’s how I think about it, anyway. It’s not a strange way to play around, is it?]

– For example, rather than being like a stubborn ramen shop owner and saying “This is how our ramen tastes, so eat it!” or “I’m not making something special for you!” and just making what you feel like having, it’s better to ask the guests what they want and work on making something that fits their request.
[Yeah. “I’m making me happy!” or something.]

– Isn’t that sort of person horrible?
[Aren’t they? Makes you sick (laughs).]

– Ye, yeah (laughs). But why are you putting all of yourself into it, now?
[When we came back together to make ‘SMILE’ and toured it, of course all the members spent a long time together, and so I thought I should give more of myself while things were still fresh.]

– You weren’t before?
[It’s more like it crept up on me (laughs).]

– Ahahahaha (laughs).
[While it’s fresh… like for example, when you’re trying to start up a band you think “Ok, let’s go find a drummer!” and put your all into it from that point on, right? But I had just said “It’s such a pain, trying to find members.”]

– Ahahahaha (laughs).
[I even said “We don’t have to all be in the same place. It’s more fun to just write the songs I play by myself!” or something like that. I was playing randomly “Yay! That was fun!” and just goofing off like an amateur. I performed carelessly, but even though it was lots of fun, it wasn’t exactly good playing. That came later.]

– It’s taken a long time for you to come so far (laughs).
[It did take a while (laughs). “Ah, so this is the way guitar is meant to be played!”. Realizing that wasn’t so much me going “Hey, this is pretty good!” but rather just naturally coming to like this way better.]

– What was that like?
[“Am I always going to be doing this?” (laughs)]

– Please, keep playing! This latest piece of work is so very, very, good. ‘AWAKE’ I mean.
[I guess so. But well, I think my feelings change gradually. Like a mischievous spirit (laughs).]

For the tour, I want to show off the true colours of each and every song.

– Naturally, your feelings are going to change once the tour starts. We’ve only been talking about your thoughts on the recording studio work so far.
[Right.]

– What kind of tour do you think it will be?
[When it comes to lives, well, the word “live” makes me think of putting songs into sets of two or three and then saying “Time to show off!” and playing them that way. Even so, I want to perform while showing off the true colours of each and every song.]

– I thought the ‘SMILE tour’ had the feel of an omnibus movie that showcased each song individually. Was that what you were trying to do?
[Yeah. The feel of that one was jumping in with both hands and going “This is rock!” “What else could it be?!” (laughs). Well, it goes back to what I said about “I gotta put everything I’ve got into it” right?]

– You keep saying you want to showcase each song one at a time, but I think you have to keep in mind the overall performance, too.
[Yeah. Without that root, it’ll only turn on people who get easily excited, but what can you do about that? (laughs)]

– It’s not like a classical concert. You’re doing a rock show and so it’ll feel that way.
[Right. The audience participates, right? They keep us excited. But that’s kind of strange, isn’t it?]

– What is?
[I send out my feelings through sound. Now, I can tell what I was thinking, wondering “Will they hear it that way?” and if they do “I’m thrilled.”]

– What I felt the most was that “He really completely loves L’Arc”. You do love L’Arc, don’t you?
[This is embarrassing! (said brightly)]

– Please say it! Say you love L’Arc.
[What kind of interview is this?! “Declare your love!” This is the first time I’ve been asked to do that (laughs).]

Translated by Natalie Arnold.