Posted by: on: November 25 2007 • Categorized in: Tetsuyaku
This is the translation of the talk that aired on Music Japan in two parts. The longer segment was on 16th November 2007, and the end was played on 23rd November 2007. Since the individual parts are rather short, and they are obviously all recorded at the same time, I decided to combine them for translation purposes.
Since I am working from the video, it is always possible that I may have misheard something.
— BEGIN —
Host : We welcome L’Arc~en~Ciel to the studio! Hello! *claps*
Members : Hi~
Host : I understand that last year marked your 15th anniversary.
hyde, tetsu : Yes.
Host : Then you travelled to many locations on a long tour. Are there any memorable incidents that stand out in your minds? ken-san, anything?
ken : I have to do MCs, you know?
Host : Yes.
ken : Talking to the crowd in the middle of the concert, yeah, well I didn’t have anything to say.
Host : I see.
ken : So I wondered what I was gonna do, and I asked hyde. Let’s see, where were we again? Iwate? Anyway, he said “Why don’t you eat wanko-soba?” (1)
*some laughing*
ken : So I ate wanko-soba. During the show.
Host : During the show?
ken : Yeah. So I put on the apron and had an old lady come up and serve it to me, then I went “Okay, next song!”
Host : You were eating it on stage?
ken : Sure was. So I called out the next song and got started, ready to get into it, let’s go… Then I turned and saw hyde was laughing at me. I didn’t know why, but it’s because I was still wearing the apron.
*laughter*
ken : I couldn’t take it off during the song…
hyde : Cause he’s got his hands full playing guitar and we need to keep going.
ken : So I was dressed to eat soba… *mimes playing*
Host : *laughs*
ken : Like, “What the hell am I doing?”
*laughter*
ken : I didn’t mean to do anything that weird.
Host : Next, tetsu-san, was there any show that was memorable for you?
tetsu : I got a cramp in my leg, up on stage.
Host : What? You had a cramp?
tetsu : Yes.
Host : What happened to give you a cramp?
tetsu : Nothing, I was just playing normally, then in the middle of a song… well you know how when I play I have both hands kinda low, I was doing this, stretched a little *demonstrates*.
Host : *laughs* So you pulled it?
tetsu : But I couldn’t let it show on my face… so I kept on looking cool.
Host : Hiding it?
tetsu : Yes.
Host : Didn’t the others notice?
hyde : No, no, he’s such a pro you know.
*laughter*
ken : This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Host : Is that so?
ken : Good story.
Host : And yukihiro-san, your body fat percentage is 4%, I’ve heard. Is that true?
yukihiro : Sometimes the measurement comes out to 5% actually.
hyde : It’s not measurable.
Host : Is that so…
hyde : He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t eat food.
Host : Don’t you all get together to eat something tasty after a show?
hyde : We do.
Host : And…
ken : We make him a “yukkie set”.
tetsu : We pick something and he has to eat it all himself.
hyde : We go to an izakaya (2) or something, you know how you can order all sorts of things to eat? So we stopped eating everything that comes out. We go “THIS part is just for yukkie,” and tell him to eat it.
yukihiro : I’m being careful now.
Host : You need to make sure you eat.
yukihiro : Yes. Everyone’s worrying about me…
Host : Please take care of yourself.
yukihiro : Thank you. *laughs*
Host : Eating is good for you.
Host : Now hyde-san, a little while ago during the tour, I heard that you snuck out into the area where the fans were, near the entrance to the venue. What happened?
hyde : When there’s a concert, I always hear about how people who look just like me are out in the crowd. “There’s someone who looks like hyde-san, acting like him”, things like that. So I figured that if I go out there myself, they won’t know the difference, right?
Host : *laughs* Because of the lookalikes…
hyde : They’re there too, yeah. I thought it would be okay. So I said I’d do it some time. The staff said “Okay but only this once, hyde-san!” Okay. I put on my sunglasses, and I had a L’Arc~en~Ciel paper bag in my hand, and I was talking on my cell phone, then went walking around for five minutes or so. There was a big crowd.
Host : Of course.
hyde: This was an hour before the show. I knew I couldn’t cause a panic. So I was nervous. Talking to our manager on the phone. People would walk right up close to me, so I’d talk louder into the phone.
Host : Didn’t anyone spot you? Or at least wonder?
hyde : I could see in some people’s eyes that they suspected…
Host : Didn’t anyone ask?
ken : They must have thought “No way”.
hyde : So I was in the crowd for a while, heart pounding. It wasn’t until the moment I went back into the restricted area that they went “WAAAI!”
Host : Ah, so that’s how they knew it was you, after all.
hyde : “He was right there”.
Host : Mission successful.
hyde : Big success.
— The rest of the talk was aired on 23rd November 2007 —
hyde : Weren’t you mistaken for a member of GLAY?
tetsu : Yeah, I was.
Host : Oh?
tetsu : I was mistaken for a member of GLAY.
Host : Is that so.
tetsu : It was like “Ah! I’ve seen you before!” So I thought “Oh no, I’ve been spotted”… They went “You’re from GLAY!”
Host : *laughs*
tetsu : I asked which member of GLAY they thought I was, and they said “You’re TARO right!?”
*laughter*
tetsu : TARO! Who the hell is that?!
hyde : A long time ago in Niigata, hey you were there too! What was it again?
tetsu : *laughs* Oh yeah.
Host : You were with tetsu-san?
hyde : Yeah, and the shop owner was looking embarrassed, but he came up to me to ask… I thought “Ah, I’ve been spotted!” but he went on and asked “Are you Okuda Tamio-san?”
Host : *laughs* Eeeh?
Host : Now, your first album in two and half years, KISS, has just been released, so I’d like to ask about the title. It was hyde-san who chose it, right?
hyde : Yes, yes.
Host : What meaning were you intending it to have?
hyde : It’s like “I wanna smooch”, you know. That feeling. Yeah, KISS.
Host : And also when you make an album, how do you decide on the song order?
ken : The song order… well each of us writes up the order he thinks we should use, right. So we take those ideas and try them all out. It takes a really long time.
Host : So you put them in order and listen, then try it out another way…
ken : Right. So we can be like “This needs changing” or like… hey it took about a whole day, right?
– cut to performance –
Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold.
1. A speciality of northeast Japan, wanko-soba is a way of serving noodles where the customers get one bite tossed into their bowl at a time. The customer keeps eating the bite of noodles and getting another thrown in by the server until the customer is too full to keep eating. It is rather messy. Go back.
2. Izakaya are a Japanese sort of pub that serve various small dishes along with alcohol. Fried foods, sushi, dumplings, noodles and meat are all available.Go back.
Posted by: on: November 17 2007 • Categorized in: Tetsuyaku
This is a translation of the talk part of Music Fighter from 17th November 2007. It concerns many interesting stories from L’Arc’s past.
BEGIN
Today’s guest : L’Arc~en~Ciel!
Tonight, we have an out of control special talk! From the formation of the group to their current projects, we’ll hear about special episodes never before revealed!
Host : Ok, let’s get started. First of all, I’d like everyone to watch this video.
Video : L’Arc~en~Ciel in 3 minutes
It has now been 16 years since the formation of L’Arc~en~Ciel.
On screen : 1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union
It was the year where the Soviet Union collapsed, changing the political landscape of the world.
Meanwhile in Osaka, tetsu was active as a bassist, and he began to pursue hyde, who was involved with another band at the time.
Arrow : tetsu scouted hyde
Q : How did tetsu invite hyde?
hyde : I was doing lives (with the previous band) and he kept coming, every time. Every time he was all.. “Well? Well? How do you feel?”.
*laughter*
And so that year, tetsu and hyde joined together and L’Arc~en~Ciel was born.
By the way, the word L’Arc~en~Ciel is French for rainbow. It was tetsu who found this name and gave it to the band.
Next, in 1992, tetsu scouted his childhood friend ken, who was a university student at the time, and asked him to join the band. ken accepted the invitation and quit school.
But! At the first live, ken got a negative reaction from the audience… Why?!
ken : It’s because I had a recruit cut.
Hosts: Eh? Why did you have a recruit cut?
ken : Cause I was a recruit (into the working world).
Host : So how did you look, standing on stage that first time??
ken : I had my recruit cut and a little braid coming out the back.
*laughter*
ken : The other members made me do it!
Starting from Osaka, they lit a fire and were soon burning up the whole country!
On July 1st 1994, they released their major debut single, Nemuri ni Yosete.
How did tetsu, the leader, react when the major debut was proposed?
tetsu : Eeh? We have to go to Tokyo?
Host : *laughs* Wasn’t it your dream? (to go major)
tetsu : Dream? Not really… And moving (to Tokyo) seemed like such a pain…
Four years later in 1998, their senior in the music industry, yukihiro, joined the band. This brings us to the current lineup.
During yukihiro’s first session with the group, which was an excellent session of excellent skill, there was a shocking sight to be seen! What was it?
yukihiro : It was hyde-kun. He showed up in shorts.
*laughter*
yukihiro : Really tight ones.
*more laughter*
The year that yukihiro joined, 1998, was also the year of the three simultaneous singles : Shinshoku – lose control – , HONEY, and Kasou, all of which climbed high on the Oricon charts! From 1998 through 2000, the success never slowed, and they participated on Kouhaku Utagassen among other elite programs.
BUT!
In 2001, they each suddenly began to work on solo projects. The first to announce a solo was hyde.
Question : how did hyde feel when he proposed his solo project?
hyde : I just… kinda… wanted to show off my own personal worldview.
Host : Aaah, separate from the group.
hyde : Yeah.
And so the four of them began to walk their own paths. (Note : The video shows solo clips from 2006 but they are still discussing 2001-2002. MF’s mistake) L’Arc~en~Ciel was not active, but the four of them were far from forgotten by the world. A year passed, then another, and then!
Reunion?!
Just when all might have been lost… in 2003 they came back spectacularly with the Shibuya Seven days 2003 live! Such was the revival of L’Arc~en~Ciel.
Question : What did tetsu notice when he returned to L’Arc~en~Ciel after working solo?
tetsu : The difference between solo and the band is really the budget.
host : Striking, isn’t it?
That is L’Arc~en~Ciel, now reaching their 16th year. They are still going strong!
– end video –
Host : (to hyde) So about tetsu asking you to join the band..
hyde : We had a session, and well, I met him and got to know him a little, but after that, he was like stalker…
*laughter*
hyde : I was already in another band, at the time. After our lives, he’d come to the parties and sit next to me and go “So how was it?”
*laughter*
hyde : And if I said I felt good, he’d go “Aaah, so you feel good~”
*laughter*
Aoki : Like he was in love with you, practically.
hyde : Oh yeah.
tetsu : *nodding*
Hosts : He really liked you.
tetsu : I was serious about him, but he was two-timing me. I wanted him to break it off with the other.
Hosts : (to hyde) And how did it feel for you, having him pursue you?
hyde : Well my band was in rough shape. The guitarist and bassist were always playing like this (demonstrates with hunched over posture).
*everyone laughs*
hyde : I pointed it out to them, but it was rough going.
Host : So how did he convince you?
Other host : How did he propose?
*more laughter*
tetsu : “I think it would be much better for you to form a band with me, hyde.”
Host : Ah, I see.
tetsu : I guess it sounded weird, but don’t misunderstand…
Host : It must have been a problem if hyde-san was still training the guitar and bass.
*laughter*
host : So next it was tetsu’s old friend ken-san who got recruited. How did that happen?
ken : He called me.
tetsu : Early in the morning.
ken : Yes, early.
tetsu : Around 4, 4 or 5 am. I said “Wanna join L’Arc?”
hyde : We thought 3 am wouldn’t be a good time to call. So we waited another 2 hours.
Host : So hyde-san, you were there too?
hyde : We were having a big meeting. At Denny’s.
Hosts : Eeeeh!
tetsu : We were in a bit of a predicament. The previous guitarist had just quit.
Host : Oh yeah.
tetsu : So we, L’Arc, went to Denny’s to eat and figure out what we were gonna do. Well actually I’d already introduced him (ken) to hyde, cause he’s my old friend, so hyde said something like “tet-chan, why don’t you ask that friend of yours? He’s good.”
Hosts: Oooh. So what was ken doing at the time?
ken : I was in university.
Hosts : Ooh.
Aoki : Looking for a job? In what area?
ken : General construction.
Aoki : Eeeeh! So ken-san, if you had already gotten a job, would you have refused to join the band?
ken : Yeah it was a close call. I had done an interview or two already.
Host : So it was really close then, almost hired.
Other host : If they were hiring you, would they call at 5 am?
*laughter*
Host : How was it, when you first went on stage?
ken : You know, all the members had their own fans already. So the audience was there, but they moved away from me, kinda like a strong wind was pushing them over to the other side.
Host : Because of how you looked, I bet.
*laughter*
Host : You had a recruit cut right? Couldn’t you at least put it up?
ken : I tried, I think I looked like a piece of sushi. The others felt sorry for me so they bought me a braided extension.
*laugher*
ken : Well sure people will laugh at me for wearing it, but they laughed when I didn’t too.
Aoki : I wanna see that!
*Everyone laughing*
Host : You must have scared the fans!
Host : Moving on to your major debut, how it was announced, and was it a big deal?
tetsu : Um, well I kinda found our manager’s notebook lying open, and I flipped through it, and it said “L’Arc’s major debut XX date”. So yeah…
*laughter*
Host : What did you think?
tetsu : I didn’t mind.
Host : tetsu-san, you didn’t want to go to Tokyo, right?
tetsu : That’s right.
Aoki : How come?
tetsu : I really didn’t have that sort of goal in mind, the whole turn pro and move to Tokyo thing. I figured it would happen eventually if things kept going the way they were going, but it wasn’t my goal.
Host : I see. But, you did go major, and you did move to Tokyo, so was there anything that shocked you when it happened?
hyde : For me well… My weak point was Osaka-ben.
Host : Eh? Aren’t you from there?
hyde : I am from Kansai, yeah. In a normal conversation you hear things like “The hell you saying, moron?!” every day. To me it sounded so harsh!
Host : You were so naive.
hyde : Tokyo people say “What’s the matter?”
*laughter*
hyde: And so I thought people in Tokyo are so nice.
Host : And ken-san?
ken : When we first went there all of us were crammed into one tiny car. Then in Shibuya or something, on the way to a livehouse, I think tetsu was next to me but anyway I thought I saw “KINTAMA-ZAKA” (Testicle slope) on a sign.
*Laughter*
Host : No such place!
tetsu : I saw it too!
ken : Now they call it Konnouzaka (Golden King slope), missing one line. (Nani : If you add one line to the second kanji it changes from Konnou to Kintama).
*laughter*
tetsu : That name makes me wanna go there.
*Onscreen note : Kids, graffiti is bad, so don’t change it to what he says*
Host : yukihiro-san, you must have had some culture shock when you joined this band. When you first met them, there must have been surprises.
yukihiro : Yeah. That and all the nervous tension.
Host : How was it, hyde-san?
hyde : I don’t remember. Was I in a swimsuit?
Crowd : Eeeeh?!
Host : Why would you wear a swimsuit to the first session?
*laughs*
Host: Must have been summer fever.
yukihiro : I was summer. It was like he’d just come back from Hawaii or something.
Host : Must have been in a swimsuit.
hyde : I was in a swimsuit!
*laughter*
Host: How did you get to know him (yukkie) in the first place?
hyde : He’s our great sempai. (Nani : A senior, ahead in the same job) Back when were still working part time jobs, he was in ZI:KILL already. So I heard of him a long time ago.
Aoki : And yet when you went to meet your great sempai, you wore a swimsuit.
*laughter*
hyde : Sorry. *bows*
*laughter*
yukihiro : The first time I saw them was one time, while I was still with my previous band, they came backstage to say hi. I didn’t know what to expect. And at first glance, hyde-kun really looked like a girl, so I though “Wow, this beautiful person is coming to see me~”
Host : And then?
yukihiro : And then I noticed his facial hair.
*laughter*
Host: What did you all think? What was your first impression of yukihiro-san?
ken : I didn’t know how to talk to him. He’s our sempai, so I ought to treat him accordingly, but then he joined our band and I thought “yukihiro-san” sounded bad, but I couldn’t find a good way to address him.
*laughter*
ken : So for a while… I didn’t call him anything.
Aoki : You didn’t ask him what he wanted to be called, in a meeting or something?
ken : More like we each had our own little strategies. hyde is more the type to randomly make up nicknames. He suddenly started calling him “yukkie”. Before that no one said it.
*laughter*
ken : Once I saw him using that name, I figured “yukkie = OK”.
*much laughter*
Host : Can you tell us about some crazy incidents?
tetsu : One time we were recording a radio show, and when we got to Omiya station we were mobbed. I found out later there were about 20 000 people. They came right to our car. I thought “Wow, we’re like the Beatles”.
*laughter*
Host : No way.
Host : Changing the subject, let’s talk about your solo projects. hyde-san, care to comment?
hyde : When you’re in a group, everyone brings up their opinion, and there are a lot of things to consider. I wanted to try doing things by myself.
Host : Aah. And we’ve heard that the budgets are quite different, compared to when you’re L’Arc~en~Ciel.
tetsu : Even in our solo work, I think each of us is on a different budget level.
*laughter*
Host : That striking?
Host : So what’s the biggest difference, the most noticeable thing that changes between L’Arc and your solo, tetsu-san?
tetsu : When I’m on a plane, I can’t recline the seat as much.
*laughter*
Host : It goes all the way down for L’Arc.
*more laughter*
tetsu : And the amount of squeeing that goes on is quite different. Even my staff, and the program hosts, everyone acts differently.
ken : When I came to this show for my solo promo, you really put me through a rough a time.
*laughter, and the in-screen video shows ken playing ping-pong*
Host : You mean the ping-pong game?
ken : If it was L’Arc, you’d have let us win.
*screen : Ken’s total failure*
Host : Let’s look at the video now and see how energetic your lives can get.
*live footage from L’Anniversary*
Embarrassing moments from Lives! The best four! Revealed for the first time!
4th place – During his first live with the band at Tokyo Dome, yukihiro started to leave even though there was still one song left !
yukihiro : I had seen the list of songs, and there was a pause before the last song starts, so I thought it was going to be an encore.
Host : So you thought you were going to leave, and come back again?
yukihiro : Yeah, but I was the only one who started walking offstage, the others didn’t move. Then I realized I was wrong and just walked around my drum set.
*laughter*
Host : Didn’t the others notice?
ken : I think I did. But I also thought “maybe he’s not feeling well”. Then he sat down again so I figured he’s okay.
*laughter*
3rd place – During one live, right at the beginning, hyde dropped his mic during the first song.
Host : Really?
hyde : Yes. It was in a livehouse, we were on tour, so first we all came on stage and started playing, like an intro. Just before starting to sing I came flying out of nowhere, but I hit the mic stand and the mic fell.
Aoki : That’s not cool!
hyde : It went over the audience’s heads.
*much laughter*
Aoki : So what did you do?
hyde : One of the audience members was very kind and gave it back.
*more laughter*
2nd place – At one live, tetsu’s zipper was completely open!
Host : How embarrassing!
tetsu : It was when I was singing for P’UNK~EN~CIEL. I was feeling great, really into it, then when the guitar solo came around I looked down and “Oh?”…
Host : What did you do?
tetsu : I was completely open. But I thought I’d better not act embarrassed.
Host : They’ll think you’re just a pervert, then.
tetsu : Pervert?!
1st place – When they were supposed to a live in a livehouse’s main floor, ken messed up and walked into a yakiniku restaurant, going “Good morning!”
Host : How can you mix those things up?
ken : It was right when I’d just joined L’Arc, and it was my first time going to a livehouse in Tokyo. I didn’t know where it was. tet-chan had said “It’s over there” and I was like “Ok, I got it!” so I was wearing my sunglasses, looking down, and just walked forward, opened the door and went “Good morning!”. People were just eating their meat.
*laughter*
Host : So L’Arc~en~Ciel just released a new song, and the title is :
hyde : What is it again?
Host : How can you not know it?!
hyde : Well we’ve released so much lately! I can’t remember what came out when!
*Laughter*
*Video of Hurry Christmas*
hyde : It’s very pop, and cool, but actually we’ve been playing it since six months ago, since May.
Host : So Santa came in May?
hyde : Yeah, Santa came in May this year.
Posted by: on: November 11 2007 • Categorized in: Tetsuyaku
SPECIAL PROJECT DRUMMER : Portrait of KEN P’UNK [from P’UNK~EN~CIEL]
It’s like I just ran the hundred meter dash, sometimes, I can’t even breathe.
– Is this your first interview as KEN P’UNK?
[It’s my first time speaking as KEN P’UNK, yes. I ought to get into character (laughs). Hi, I’m KEN P’UNK.]
– I heard that when P’UNK~EN~CIEL records a song, you won’t let yourselves have more than three takes to do it, maximum. Is that true?
[Yes! That’s why I have to work pretty hard at practise before the recording. But in my case, my practise time is restricted to when I can get the studio. I’m on drums, so there’s only a few places I can go. I know how the readers of GiGS must feel. So yes, this time around, I practised at a live house during certain stops on the tour.]
– Not in a studio, but at live houses?
[The rehearsal studio was booked solid, so I had to use a live house. Plus, I had to practise on that day, or else I wouldn’t be ready for the live. I couldn’t just go on stage and play the drums without taking the time to rehearse.]
– Of the many songs you’ve released as coupling tracks to L’Arc~en~Ciel singles, several of them have become well-known, but the most spirited of them all must be Natsu no Yuuutsu SEA IN BLOOD 2007, right?
[Yeah. When I first heard the demo though, I wasn’t too sure, but I didn’t think I’d be able to play it. Up until then it was like “Double bass is forbidden”, so at first I played it on the tams. I think it was tams on HYDE P’UNK’s demo tape, too. But it’s hard to play that way, you know? There was no other way to do it, I practised double bass (with a twin pedal)…]
– It’s not a tempo you can learn just by practising lightly, is it?
[Man, my foot moves so fast now that I can’t sit down anymore. I was just thinking about pounding it, and before I knew it my butt was floating 2cm above the chair (laughs). …Honestly, it’s pretty tough. After playing that song, I’m panting like I’ve just run the 100m dash. I don’t know when to breathe, so I end up breathless (laughs).]
– Sounds rather dangerous.
[HONEY 2007 and Feeling Fine 2007 went extra smoothly, you know. The tempo was just right for what I’m good at. Just when I was starting to think I didn’t need to practise anymore, Natsu no Yuuutsu SEA IN BLOOD 2007 comes along, and well… yeah. But I did want to see if I could pull it off.]
– Because it’s so much like Slayer?
[Yeah, and I love Slayer. I told myself “Hey, I’m Dave Lombardo!” while playing it.]
– The intro closely resembles something Metallica might do, then the rest has an intense sound throughout… By the way, this isn’t quite “punk”, is it?
[…It’s slash metal, I know… I thought of that too.]
– Doesn’t P’UNK~EN~CIEL have a rule about only making punk songs? I already thought Kasou Heisei Juunananen was rather suspicious…
[Not really, no. The only thing is that YUKI P’UNK needs to yell “One two three four!” in every song, a little thing like that to standardize the songs. Oh, and I think HYDE P’UNK is making himself play right-handed (laughs).]
– For every song, it’s a different member who chooses the song to cover and decides the arrangements, right?
[That’s right. This time around, I did HONEY 2007, Feeling Fine 2007 was YUKI P’UNK’s, and HYDE P’UNK was in charge of Natsu no Yuuutsu SEA IN BLOOD 2007.]
– Does HYDE P’UNK get guitar advice from ken-san?
[Not really. HYDE P’UNK is always practising a lot. When he recorded the solo for Feeling Fine 2007, I was surprised. During the recording (for L’Arc~en~Ciel’s KISS) he practised to exhaustion every day, I guess so that he could copy the original solo perfectly.]
– When I first heard it, I honestly thought that it must have been played by ken from L’Arc~en~Ciel. I especially noticed the sweeps.
[Nope, it’s HYDE P’UNK. But yeah, I was surprised when he announced he was going to play the solo. He’s good! What the hell! (laughs)]
– But KEN P’UNK-san, you’re getting better and better yourself.
[I guess so, thank you. It’s really interesting, to the point that for the last tour, I wanted to practise drums more than guitar… Even I can see how I managed to progress to this level, it’s because I practised at this crazy pace. But if I play drums all the time and stop playing guitar, I get mad at myself, like “What the hell am I doing?” It’s just a question of having the time, drumming is really interesting for me. I love it. It feels wonderful. Thinking about it makes me feel a bit sad, though.]
– I understand. To cheer you up from that sadness, let’s talk about your precious drum set now. You debuted your personal drum set during the tour, but I’m wondering if there’s any particular reason why the shells are all different colours?
[Well you see, it’s just that I wanted to be able to go “I’ll play the black tam now!” or “I’ll play the red one now!!” They’re different sizes, but when you first look at them, don’t they look the same? That’s just… taste, you know?]
– Right…I see…?
[Oh, and if it’s all different colours, it looks more like a toy and it’s cute. This time, during the tour, I changed one of the cymbals halfway through. I’d been playing it, and decided it sounded too rough. I knew I had to change it to one that would sound a little clearer. I asked yukkie from L’Arc~en~Ciel for advice, and he agreed that I should change it, so I got the other one in there, and now I can play the way I want again (laughs).]
– As you accumulate experience as a drummer, I’m sure you must be discovering which equipment and which settings suit you best?
[During the tour, the engineers or yukkie would give me advice on what to do to make it easier to play, they taught me a lot. I’d try those things out, and learn what I like about it. So I guess the settings I use change naturally. It gradually turned into a proper drum kit, as you can see. And the settings are important, I know that now.]
– I guess that unlike tuning a guitar, you can’t do much in the way of adjustments in between songs. P’UNK~EN~CIEL isn’t on stage long enough.
[Right. Once I sit down, I can’t adjust anything. Now I understand why drummers are so picky about the way their drum kits are set up. It happens a lot. Like the song will start, then I notice “Whoa, this one’s a bit higher than usual, oh man…” you know (laughs).]
– And lastly, is there anything else you’d like to experiment with, as a drummer?
[As a drummer… I’d like to try songs that are less violent (laughs), but considering the special kind of band that P’UNK~EN~CIEL is, I don’t think I’ll ever get away with it. I’ve got to get myself into shape. The way I am now, just walking a little gets me huffing and puffing (laughs).]
– Are you training yourself, to get a body as strong as yukihiro-san’s?
[Well… I guess I’ll have to, if I want to play. Playing drums, you naturally end up with a body like that, right? But if I don’t have the guts, it’s impossible (laughs).]
Interview by Fushimi Satoshi
Translated by Natalie Arnold
Posted by: on: November 4 2007 • Categorized in: Uncategorized
– Let’s start with the album’s jacket. You felt strongly about this one, right tetsu-san?
[Indeed, I thought about a lot and reflected on it the most, yes.]
– Could you tell me more, about the concept and so on?
[I had several designers come up with many different patterns. There were other ideas, and some were based on images from the other members, but out of all of those the one pattern that had nothing to do with any of that was this one, and it jumped out at me. “Ah, this isn’t what I had in mind, but it’s really great!” So the idea won, in the end.]
– What I feel from the image is that the headphones represent the transmission of music, which links the band together, and the cord goes on to infinity, which means they’ll always be connected.
[Yeah, I felt that too. Also, it’s refined, isn’t it? Aikawa Yuri-chan from “Detroit Metal City” would like this design (laughs).]
– (laughs) It’s pop-ish, isn’t it?
[Yes. Doesn’t it look like Ka**mi Ka*i?]
– Yeah (laughs), now that you mention it. I get the impression that it’s saying “Ah, L’Arc~en~Ciel has gone over to a fresh style now”.
[The title is KISS, but I thought the jacket didn’t associate to it very much, and yet… if you open to the inside the design changes, and the face seems to be kissing something, I thought that was so cute. It’s a great idea. Then I thought the other members would be against it, but it’s the design I want! So I decided it would be that one. ….That’s OK right? (laughs)]
– Yeah. Now on to the main topic. How was it, getting the album together?
[……It was rough, in a lot of ways.]
– Please don’t look at me so intensely (laughs).
[Hahahaha, I was just thinking of something. Last year, we had the 15th anniversary live at Tokyo Dome in November, then after that, for all of December, each of us had time to compose some songs. The idea was that we’d spend the whole month of December writing music, then after New Year’s we’d get together and go straight to work on pre-prog and so on. But, I did my solo recording right after the Tokyo Dome live, thinking “Whatever, I can get my songs done any time!”. My solo song (Can’t stop believing) was already set to be in a tie-up (with Super Soccer, as the ending theme), so once the recording was done and the goods were delivered, it would start playing (on TV) right away. So if I could finish it a week early, they’d start playing it a week earlier and it would stay on air that much longer. While I was working on that, I somehow heard rumours that the other members had written a bunch of songs! so I was like “Oh crap, I haven’t written a single one yet…”. Plus I hadn’t written the lyrics to Can’t stop believing yet, I was playing the bass and working on the arrangement and I still had to do the orchestra recording, and I had to get those lyrics written, and I was telling myself to write something for L’Arc~en~Ciel, like “What am I gonna do?!”… I burned out, last December.]
– (laughs)
[Plus, during the holidays there’s the label’s event at Budoukan, so I had to go to rehearsals for that, too. I didn’t have time to put up my Christmas lights, that’s how busy I was. Then after New Year’s, I had to film the PV (for Can’t stop believing) and do the promotional stuff… So, I didn’t start writing my songs for L’Arc~en~Ciel until late January.]
– Ah, that is rather late.
[Yes. And actually, we were scheduled to get together and show off our songs in early February. I made it, but just barely. At that meeting hyde had about three songs, ken-chan had four, yukkie had zero, and I had two songs done, so at the time I could tell myself “I made it!” at least (laughs).]
– For the time being (laughs).
[Well, I worked fast after that. Two, three weeks later, at our second song meeting, I had another four songs ready, and all together we had 24 songs done… In the end, looking back on it, we really created an incredibly good album. The tunes are good, the sound is good, the timing is good too. Dear record company, sell this thing!]
– What was that about the timing?
[This year, on tour, we did the whole country in three months and promoted the album everywhere. It was a big promo, and we used our own bodies for it (laughs). Then, right after the tour, MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM came out, and then DAYBREAK’S BELL came out, leading up to the album, you know… It’s like we’ve done nothing but promote this album all year.]
– Then, tetsu-san, did you go about the recording with that idea in mind, that you were going to do nothing but push this album out into the world for a long time to come?
[It started long before the recording. At the beginning of the year when we members got together to show each other our songs, I thought “Wow, this next album is going to be awesome”. Honestly, every song was great. Because we’re all professionals, no doubt. We can all compose songs, so we can listen to each other’s songs and get stimulated by them. It’s amazing that we have four members who can all do this.]
– Was there any specific source of your feeling that the album would be so great?
[ken-chan’s songs, in particular, I guess his work made me want to put a certain type of songs in the album? They were really great. I think I said this for the MY HEART~ interview, but for a long time, back during SMILE, and during AWAKE too, I wanted him to write us a song like MY HEART~, but there wasn’t one. But this time, as soon as I heard it I went “YES!”.]
– Did hearing ken-san’s songs spur you on, light a fire under you, or anything of the kind?
[No, I don’t think I wrote anything new just because I heard ken-chan’s songs, so that can’t be right. However, this song didn’t make it into the album this time, but one of the songs I composed and showed the others got complimented by the head of the company. “This is great” he said, and it’s unusual to be complimented by him. That was the first song I came out with, so I didn’t feel any pressure afterwards, I just wrote songs normally and showed them to the others. So that song is still sitting around, for now.]
– It ain’t over yet! (laughs)
[(nods gravely)]
– (laughs) So why don’t we get to hear it?
[Because I won’t let you (laughs).]
– I think the album benefits from having a lot of variety. It’s almost the total opposite of AWAKE, I think it’s extremely pop, and very colourful. What do you think, tetsu-san?
[Ah yeah… but, we actually passed over a lot of the more colourful and pop-ish songs. We picked 12 out of 24 songs, that’s leaving out half of them. That you still have that impression from only hearing half the songs, well, I guess that’s pretty amazing.]
– Oh I see…
[And, for the second half of the year, some members are still writing songs, so there’s even more to come!]
– How did you end up passing over the more pop-ish songs?
[It’s because more people than just us members are involved in choosing the songs. It reflects the opinions of everyone concerned. Plus we’re all strategizing in our own ways, thinking things like “I’d rather keep this song for the next album, it’ll sound cooler then,” we’re all calculating these things. Like the timing will be better later on. We each have our own ideas about that.]
– About the track order of the twelve selected songs, tetsu-san, could you tell me what you had in mind during the decision process, and also your impression of how it actually ended up?
[I didn’t really think about it… When we decide (the songs), we look at what’s at the core, we listen closely and make sure they all fit together. And if anyone thinks it’s not quite right, then we change it. We do that over and over.]
– Did it go smoothly, this time?
[…… I wonder. When we hit a rough patch, it can take up to two days. When we did ark and ray, it took two whole days. I guess this time it took about five hours? Four, five hours, of putting them in order and listening, changing the order and listening again, then we settled on something.]
– The first part bites you, then the middle is sensual, with good melodies, and the end is entertaining pop. That’s the impression I have of it, but what do you think?
[Yesterday, we got as far as deciding the spacing between songs, that’s something everyone needs to agree on, too. We fine-tune it until everyone is in agreement… “A little sooner” or “A little later”… We’re really careful even about those tiny details, but I’m sure not many people notice, so I thought I’d mention it (laughs). Well I guess every artist is careful about that kind of thing when they’re making an album. The song order and the space between songs can really have an impact on how it all comes together… It’s because of those details that KISS became the album it is. We picked 12 songs out of 24 and put them in order… but it’s really not something you can have any thoughts about from the beginning. While making it, you get and idea about this and have a thought about that. It’s not about one person’s idea, it’s got reflect everyone’s opinion, so… It’s truly miraculous, isn’t it? An album, that is. So rather than go “I wanted it to be like that, oh I wish we’d done that”, ultimately it is what it is. …so there’s no need to go into it going “I want it like this.”]
– Since when have you thought this way?
[Since always.]
– You must be quite the happy band.
[Oh?]
– I mean, it sounds like you can rely on each other, so I get that impression.
[I see. Well I don’t really get it myself, but it’s like, a lot of bands around the world are just living on the efforts of one genius member. But L’Arc~en~Ciel isn’t like that.]
– tetsu-san, was that something you wanted to ensure from the very beginning? I mean, did you gather these members for the sake of making a band that could accomplish that?
[Well, if you’re asking whether I was consciously aiming for that from the start, I don’t think I was, not explicitly… What we have is really the result of chance, or maybe something like destiny. This has higher hurdles to jump than romance. I mean, in love you only need to make it with one partner, but there are four of us here, so each of us has to make it with three other people. So… it’s harder than romance (laughs).]
– I suppose luck is part of it, but isn’t it also the result of your hard work?
[Nah, I don’t work hard. I just… I think I just wished for it.]
– As a leader?
[As a leader… Maybe so…… Everyone’s a genius, and they have common sense, and they’re strong, reliable people. So I guess it’s not so hard, it might not be that complicated.]
– I think it’s quite rare for a band to have this kind of talent and manage itself as a group, like you do. I suppose there must be some difficult choices and compromises to make, but why do you think L’Arc~en~Ciel has been able to consistently continue to create such work?
[Hmmmmm……… It must be because these members are truly wonderful people, and talented musically, and because we’re lucky, and the fans support us, and so does the staff…… that’s got to be it. ………And, I think we’ve seen some real growth. The quality of our demos is amazingly high, for example. We’re a great band, really (laughs).]
Posted by: on: November 4 2007 • Categorized in: Uncategorized
– Two weeks have passed since the conclusion of the tour, so I would like you to pour your heart out during this interview, which we will conduct over a meal.
[Okay (laughs).]
– Do you like to eat?
[No, well I do pay more attention to it than I used to, but I don’t really care…… it’s not one of the pleasures of life, for me.]
– How sad! Looking back over this intense tour, spanning three months and 37 venues, how would you describe it?
[It was fun. I had fun right until the end. It had been a while since I’d had so much fun playing the drums. Since the tour started, I went through five or six, so that’s why. I’ve felt that L’Arc~en~Ciel wants to do bigger things, so it was fun to go around to lots of places like this.]
– Have you always liked lives?
[I do like lives. I like recording too, but ultimately lives are the starting point… When I first started, recording sounded like just a dream (laughs).]
– But, if you checked with the audience, they wouldn’t be thinking of it as a yukihiro live, would they? It’s rather more “self-searching”.
[Yeah (laughs). That’s right.]
– 37 venues means 37 rounds of self-questioning.
[Indeed (laughs). That’s a lot of questions, hahahahahahahha.]
– Almost like questioning the gods (laughs).
[I must be an M (laughs). I’m at my best when I’m a little bit unhealthy. I wonder why… Really, when I’m being a little strict with myself, that’s when I can do my best work, and my concentration improves.]
– That really does make you sound like an M, yukihiro-san.
[(laughs)]
– How was the recording, this time?
[Recording went smoothly. Before it started, I got wrapped up in worries about still being immature, but then I got into it and it wasn’t a problem. This time, I felt that we were being less subjective and more objective about it. And so, for example, if you look at the tone of the drums, there were many songs were I thought it didn’t sound much like me, surprisingly. But even though it’s not like me, as long as everyone was OK with it I let it go.]
– This might be extreme, but was it like, instead of playing for yourself, or for the band, or for L’Arc~en~Ciel, you played simply for the song?
[I guess so. I came around to thinking that, in the end (laughs). But even so, even though I couldn’t really hear myself in it, I was quite happy with some of it.]
– Speaking with the other members, I heard that you finished your drumming parts quickly this time, yukihiro-san. That seems to have left an impressive memorial on the other member’s minds.
[Oh, is that so? (laughs) I guess I was pretty quick. Why did that happen…… I have no idea (laughs).]
– The way the others put it, you played a lot of takes that didn’t need to be played over again, and so it was finished quickly. As if your feelings had made it through. That’s how it sounded.
[Before…… I was a lot more stubborn, really obstinate. I wanted to be completely satisfied with myself, wanted everyone to be able to say “Wow, that was an incredible take”, and so I played a lot. I had a lot of ego, as a player. If I messed up even the tiniest bit, I’d stop right away and redo it from the start…… I did that a lot. …yeah, I think I had a lot of ego, personally, as a player. I didn’t want to be laughed at, or thought badly of, stuff like that.]
– You don’t mean by the members or by the staff, right?
[Right. It’s inside myself, it was my way of moving forward and improving. In my case, I’ve been in a position to be called visual kei quite a bit, and got made fun of because of it. “You suck!” or “All you have is looks!” and so on. Since that was constantly around me, it got inside me too, so I internalized an attitude that goes “Don’t underestimate me!”.]
– But yukihiro-san, you didn’t give yourself a complex over it right? You just destroy them.
[Hahahahahahahahahahaha, really? Maybe I do (laughs).]
– You’re not holding onto the negative feelings within yourself, you’re acting on them reflexively. Like, “This is my way to be!” perhaps?
[I wonder (laughs). But I don’t say “This is my way to be!” or anything like that (laughs). Or maybe I do, unconsciously.]
– For instance, considering the 15th anniversary live, do you think that this was a good chance to, say, “restart L’Arc~en~Ciel”?
[I suppose. I guess that to an extent, it was a relief. The early songs (referring to songs that were created before yukihiro joined), honestly I didn’t really want to play them, but after doing that live I felt relieved. Well, when it comes to playing old songs, I still resist a little. I think it would be better if they were played by the lineup of the time. I had a different experience you know? For example, if this were about Zi:Kill, I could play the songs they made after I left, but then it wouldn’t be the same song. It’s not about being good or bad. I was afraid of it, though. I think it’s the same for foreign bands. When someone leaves and someone else joins, it’s disappointing to go see that band. I really hate thinking that way… I hate it, and it scares me. But doing that live, I saw how many old, unplayed songs there are… If I work hard, I can handle it (laughs). I didn’t know how to go about it, but I knew I could have some fun playing them, somehow. It was a relief in a lot of ways, for me.]
– Let’s move on. I’d like to ask you to give us a drummer’s review of the twelve songs of the new album, one by one. Since this will be published more than a month before the album is released, please leave out the song names, just make it a quick sketch that the readers can try to match to the songs, once they hear them. So let’s start with the singles, from SEVENTH HEAVEN.
[I thought it would sound coolest if played in four-four. But I also thought I’d better make it match the clicks exactly – I really pounded it (laughs). I think I nailed it, though.]
– Next, MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM. For that single your rhythm was quite necessary to support the entire song, correct?
[That one really went by so fast that I can’t remember anything (laughs).]
– Really? Completed in one take?
[Yes. I totally put everything into it. At first I wondered “How was it, really?”, but I let a little time go by and then ken-chan said the take was pretty good so I knew I could leave it alone. I was so into it. I wanted to do it perfectly, but it really worked out for this song.]
– And now for DAYBREAK’S BELL?
[That one was difficult (laughs). I got through my takes quickly, but when I first heard the demo tape I had no idea how I was going to pull that off. I started by listening closely to the demo tape, and to the rhythm ken-chan was so crazy about, then I took out all the parts that were humanly impossible to play (laughs). Then, once the rhythm was humanly playable, I tried to get as close to it as I could and I tried several different approaches on the song.]
– And then there’s the oldest single to make it on this album, Link. Re-recorded as Link -KISS Mix- right?
[The image for that one is Motown. I thought the drums ought to stick to that as closely as possible too… It’s Motown but it’s also pop-ish. I had this image in mind that it could be really cool that way. A while back I bought a CD full of Motown break beats, too.]
– Next there’s the single due out in November. This one challenged you to try a different branch of music, wasn’t it?
[Yeah, it was a first for me. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, at first. “How typical of hyde-kun” (laughs). In the end it turned out jazzy, don’t you think?]
– Now we’re left with the non-singles. First off there’s that wild, dirty, ken-chan rock and roll, right? (laughs)
[I was thinking it had to be wild, had to be rock and roll! Without thinking of anything else, I just played… Dakadakadakadakadakadaaang! I felt that intense, cool feeling just had to go into it.]
– Had you never done songs that way before?
[Oh right, I guess we didn’t (laughs). But ken-chan was very happy, so I’m glad (laughs).]
– There is a beautiful ballad, too.
[That one is tetsu-kun’s song, and it was arranged by Nishihira-san… Nishihira-san had a lot of influence on my drumming, there (laughs). This time when I went to record my drum parts, I put myself in recording mode from my head to my ass. Even so, there were changes to throw in every minute. I’d be told “I want to change that part a little, so really punch it in!” but I’d be thinking “No, I don’t think that part should be quite like that”, while I played it (laughs).]
– In a previous interview, you mentioned that it hurts your pride when your playing gets edited.
[Yes (laughs). My pride got cut down for that song (laughs). There were always new details coming up later and later, like “I want this part to be in unison with another instrument, so can you change the kicks to fit this pattern?”. It was a long story from the start of that recording.]
– Now tell me about the break beat song you created yourself.
[That one was really difficult to drum (laughs). Damn me (laughs). But it was quite interesting. I think I made some interesting takes.]
– But it must have been quite hard to play the break beats so fast.
[That’s true. That’s what made me go “Damn me!” (laughs)]
– Now for the next fascinating ken song.
[That song, I think I only had to play it once. It’s not a song I need to do much for (laughs). I did it exactly the way the rhythm of ken-chan’s demo tape sounded. I think the most I changed was the kick pattern, slightly. I did it squarely, nothing special happened all the way through. Well, the breaks just fit the start, build up, climax, finish pattern, so I might as well let the other instruments tell the story.]
– Now the fleeting yet warm ballad by tetsu-san?
[That’s a song I’ve wanted to get recorded since SMILE, so I had it finished in one take. I actually played it a lot before this recording session (laughs). I’m quite crazy about this song. I think I played it for three days straight.]
– After three days straight, the atmosphere in the studio must have been…
[It was bad (laughs). “Are you still doing that?” (laughs). It was hard though. At first I couldn’t match my body to the beat, and so the drum pattern couldn’t be settled. So I think for the lives, I played it wrong. I used the pattern it had before (laughs).]
– Next, hyde’s hard rock song.
[This part of hyde’s weird song series (laughs). I wondered if he wanted it heavy… I ended up doing something we didn’t have before now. In the end, I had to practise a lot. I had an hour of extra practise time the day before we recorded it… Yeah I practised.]
– Lastly, the ken ballad that echoes the clarity of the stars.
[I did that all in one shot too.]
– You did all of ken-chan’s songs that way (laughs).
[ken-chan already had a very strong image of what he wanted, and if I tried to mess with it he’d go NO! which I didn’t want to have happen, so that’s why. With this song especially, I didn’t have to do much with it, I didn’t do anything to it at all! He was picky about the drums on this one. It was strange ambivalent pattern, so I figured that as long as it sounds cool that pattern will work… Yeah, I experimented with the sound quality.]
– Looking it all over, what kind of album do you think it turned out to be?
[I think it’s a good album. Of course I felt that it was a relief to us. It feels like everything’s been cleared up… I think we can still move forward. But I think we’ve done what we needed to do for now.]
Posted by: on: November 4 2007 • Categorized in: Uncategorized
– At last, the new album KISS has been completed. First of all, could you please tell me your feelings about it?
[It ended up without a single song that I don’t like. I like the sound of every single one of them. ‘Cause, there was great communication with the engineer we worked with, and there was wonderful communication between us members during the recording, and each of us was able to express the atmosphere he wanted each of his demo (songs) to have, so I was able to get into that atmosphere for every single song. I think that’s what affected it.]
– Keeping the 15th anniversary show in mind, I think that it must have settled a few things for you. It seems that it made you ask yourselves if you were going to keep it up with L’Arc~en~Ciel, and of course you decided to keep going, so it made you straighten up and make music together once again. In that sense, I think this recording must have been a new starting point for you as songwriters. What do you think?
[I did think of that. L’Arc~en~Ciel is L’Arc~en~Ciel. I don’t know that L’Arc~en~Ciel-ish-ness is, but clearly we are L’Arc~en~Ciel! ………When I hear something that makes me think “This is L’Arc~en~Ciel” it makes me want to spit out new music, maybe that’s what it is. I have no idea what that L’Arc~en~Ciel-ish-ness is, though. …I don’t know what kind of ambition it is, but I felt the same way when we were making True, and also when we were making DUNE. Whatever it is, it’s come around again.]
– It sounds like a wonderful thing to be conscious of. Could it be that you were starving for that something?
[Like, “Music is NOT boring!”. I get to feeling that way, then I want to make people listen to something. And then…. It was the same for DUNE and for True, you know, like everyone was doing his own thing. We can make music without going there, and when that happens, it’s bye-bye! But I wanted to go there. Can’t we keep doing this forever? But it gets to a point where it goes boom! And (they take a break and sneak into some other bands) happens, you know? Then once that gets going the gossip starts up, and we’re all painted with the same brush (laughs). For example, when we were being called visual, we went “NO!” and protested, and then when we climbed up the Oricon chart we started getting lumped in with those (normal) people, and we went “NO!!” all over again. Maybe that’s coming around again…]
– ken-san, you’re coming from the idea that what you’re doing is on a completely different level, right?
[That could be it. They ask “Why does this sell?” and say “The magazine writers say this is cool but they don’t understand it”…… I don’t know why members of a band think their own music is cool. Often, when I read other people’s interviews and they mention how wonderfully cool they are, I’ll listen to the music and go “What are they talking about?” …… or just go “?”, that happens a lot.]
– I know what you mean. I heard from the other members that this time, for the totality of the recording, you dove in quite unhesitatingly and were wonderfully sharp the entire time, ken-san. Could you tell me how you came to be that way?
[It might just be that I realized that if there is a way I want things to turn out, something that it would be awesome for L’Arc~en~Ciel to do, then I have to speak up if it starts to seem like it won’t get that way naturally, and when I do speak up the others understand, so I can relax. They don’t ask “What are you talking about?”. I used to stay in my place rather more. For example, I was going over a melody with hyde, and he wanted to cut out a measure. I didn’t want to take that bit out, but hyde did. We were able to have a proper discussion about why and why not, we managed to really understand each other. And then, we were able to do this part this way, and that part that way…… I’m talking about Yuki no Ashiato (Footprints in the Snow) here, if it had just been rushed according to what I had in mind it wouldn’t have worked and you wouldn’t be able to hear the good points of hyde’s melody there, but it’s not like our ideas merged into one, more like they took on a shape that allowed both to coexist. Also, to understand each other you have to be able to say that you don’t like something when you don’t like it… It’s not about giving in as soon as someone says no. Anyway, I wanted to be able to say “I want it to be like this” when I had an idea.]
– You were able to get much deeper into each other, that makes the experience worthwhile all by itself. All that included, was this recording fun for you?
[It was a lot of fun. It’s all great music. tetsu changed the way he records bass, he sounded awesome… very happy. Me, too, I’ve liked these songs since we started recording, and I wanted to make them with only the sounds that made my heart pound, so it feels good to listen to the whole thing. I simply thought “It’s good”. That’s why it reminds me of when we made True, we put a lot of heavy thinking into the treatment of the songs, that time. So that, plus how each member’s performance is so much better now, I fell in love with it… The treatment of the whole thing, and everyone’s performing power, that made it possible to express something with every performance, and the sound lets you know it, it’s got real quality… That’s how I feel. I might be wrong though.]
– As for the songwriting stage, was there anything that seemed radically different to you this time?
[When I’m at the songwriting stage, I get excited, and I think I really treasured the feelings that I surprised myself with. Then, when we got to the actual recording stage, I was all like “This has to be even cooler than the demo!”, full of passion like that. And it’s a gorgeous feeling… If I felt like putting a certain sound into it, I didn’t hold back and just put it in there. I did that with piano, and with strings, and for my guitar I had a certain amp set up and played with it, and I tried several kinds of micing (the position and recording method of the microphone) too, until I could settle on the best one… even though it took time, I did it. I really put in the effort required to get exactly the sound I could be satisfied with. Even when it could have been done right away, I wanted to be sure I’d feel good about it in the end, so I didn’t say anything definitive right away. I didn’t want to say it was good, but then think “Oh it could have been so much more gorgeous…” so I didn’t say much of anything, I was very self-conscious about that.]
– This time, the songs are quite amazing. I was taking with the other members, and there was the opinion that you’re the music teacher of the group, ken-san.
[Hahahahahahahahahahaha.]
– I think what they mean is that, on top of having the longest-running experience with musical theory, you make exceptional music that has made you the songwriter per excellence. Once again, the songs sound lovely. Thinking about why that is, I’ve come to the conclusion that in addition to being a good song from L’Arc~en~Ciel’s perspective, the songs are good from the perspective of those who will listen to them – those who hear them with you, enjoy them with you, those who will be touched by the songs; your songwriting is aimed at all of them, isn’t it? That’s what I’ve observed.
[Hmmm, but it would have been strange for me not to keep all those people in mind as much as now.]
– ……so I’m wrong.
[I’m sorry (laughs). But there is one point that I feel good about – When something sounds like it will make other people happy, but has me thinking “Well, others might think this is good but I don’t feel good about it”, then I’d look for a way to make myself feel great about it. That’s even more applicable to recordings than to songwriting – well for songwriting too, I think I made ‘surprise’ the key element there – anyway, in recording, I felt strongly about how I wanted each song to be. I mean, for instance when I’m writing a song, I’m doing it alone so I can let it go wherever I want, but for recording there are a lot of people involved. So then, even though I was taking everyone’s opinion into consideration, I felt strongly that I couldn’t let certain parts be ruined. Until my points were made, until everyone understood, I had to keep at it, so that’s what I had on my mind while making this.]
– Doesn’t this mean that since you were so stubborn while getting the album made, ken-san, you must truly love pop for it to turn out so pop-like.
[Yeah, I won’t deny that. Sometimes I think about whether it’s pop or not, but…… I guess I do like pop, normally… I’m inconsistent (laughs).]
– Hahahahahahahaha.
[I figure some people do hold on to a single type of music forever, but I’m not that consistent (laughs). Putting it another way, I think I’d have a hard time coping if I were restricted to a single musical genre. When we discussed what would sell and what wouldn’t, like if they say “If we do it like this, it will sell”, but the thing that would sell isn’t my style at all… it makes me wonder what the point of making music is supposed to be, then. But, I do like many different kinds of music… is that why? I’ve wondered that before.]
– (laughs) The point would be, then, that it takes an inconsistent person to create the greatest albums.
[I guess so (laughs). Of course, we are a band after all, so I think it goes like this : hyde is the head of band, thinking up the words and writing them out for us, then my inconsistent music lets us have some variety, and then tetsu’s playing and yukkie’s playing fill it out and give it substance.]
– There is a sense of great joy throughout this album. Was this one of the goals you kept in mind, ken-san?
[I didn’t perceive a sense of joy in it, but the music that I want to make heard is something that can fan feelings of joy as well as those of despair. Of course there’s music that can just be listened to casually, every day, too, but there’s some music that’s meant to make the day extraordinary, even if you listen to it on a normal day, and I very much prefer the latter. That’s why there can be both in it, it can make you sublimely happy, or it can get you down without you really knowing why…… I listened to music in order to shake up my feelings, so if this album can achieve the same effect, then the listeners will be happy, they’ll be glad they listened to it, won’t they? That is really what I aimed for, this time. I guess I won’t know if it worked or not unless I ask the listeners (laughs).]
– Hearing you speak, it makes me think that when I listen to the music, my own cells and nerves will get the better of me……
[Yeah yeah, that’s what I mean.]
– Do you ever feel that the songs you make are made to grow by the band and then evolve, or can you see where they are headed from the beginning?
[Hmmmmmm…… We do discuss things in detail, but I think it’s rather more of a mutual sense of understanding. It’s not about artistic theories, it’s just a feeling about how it should be…… Maybe in reality, I should be saying “Do it like this, because if you do it like this it will feel like that”, but that’s not how it is, I can get it all across just by saying “I want it to feel like that”. It works for all of us.]
– I think it’s the same for orchestras and gypsy bands, in that everyone comes together to build up a groove, and so it comes to transcend the art form and something else begins, something fun is born.
[Right.]
– I think that these days, a lot of the people who make music are being turned into food, but despite the times, I think it’s a wondrous thing to be able to hear joyful music like this once again.
[Right (laughs), that’s definitely something I want, something I consider to be good. The recording was a lot of fun, you know.]