Boundlessly intense, endlessly relaxed, his fingertips extend limberly to spin unending rainbow-coloured timbres. The melodies released from his fingertips, from the moment they reach the listener’s heart, proceed to link feeling to feeling in infinite arcing rainbows. Guitar, ken: the man who spins rainbows from his fingertips…

—

On the second floor of a local interviewing company, in a warehouse-like meeting room; such is the space he selected to hold his personal interview. “Me? I’m OK for an interview anytime!!” spoke ken-chan as he stepped before my tape recorder and had a seat. Starting with a simple “How’ve you been?”, our conversation ran off and split into various topics. The breadth of his activities and the sheer quantity of his work have accumulated, and he has encountered a true wealth of interesting episodes. There is no mistake that he is becoming accustomed to his fortune.

—
All notes in {<- } format are from the interviewer/editor and were present in the original Japanese.

– How have you been, lately?
ken [Lately?! Lately, I… Lately, nothing’s changed, not one bit.]

– Compared to your usual lifestyle in Tokyo, wouldn’t you say this is rather different?
ken [Oh yeah, you’re right. Lately, hey. If you put it to me that way, well let me see. I’ve had a lot of chances to shoot fireworks.]

– Oh, I see. Speaking of which, you held a big fireworks display didn’t you, in a past tour, a long time ago. It was on the beach, I believe?
ken [At night, you know, I’ve got nothing to do. The shops in these towns close early, see.]

– Yes, yes, they say there is such a thing as country town time. Since it ends early, the nights are long. Too long.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Fireworks, too, at first I was happy just playing with cheap ones from a convenience store, but now it feels to me like that’s not enough. So at Tokyu Hands (1) in Hiroshima or something, I bought some and bought some more. Spent 5000 yen on just fireworks. I bought lots -.]

– I can’t even imagine how much that would be.
ken [Well, I think it’s a seriously huge pile of gunpowder?! I’ve still got a lot left over, and come to think of it, isn’t it scary to walk around carrying all that?]

– You carry the fireworks around with you?
ken [Yep. Since I bought ’em, we’ve already had two fireworks parties. With about five or six people.]

– And is it you, ken-chan, who goes around suggesting “Let’s have some fireworks tonight!”?
ken [Yeah. Somehow or other, it’s me who says it, like “Let’s go do fireworks.” We had a fireworks party just the other day, and it was a pretty big deal, you know. I guess maybe we used about 5000 yen worth of fireworks just that one night!? We did it up on the seawall, shooting ’em one after the other, then I saw something that looked like harbour police or something, off to the side. So I went “Oh crap! Guys, don’t shoot right now!” when I saw them, and at first it was just a joke, right. In the morning, I went outside from the hotel, back to the spot we’d been shooting the fireworks, and I saw right next to it, the building said “Harbour Police,” for real! (laughs) Oops.]

– I’m glad you weren’t arrested… You weren’t arrested, were you?!
ken [It would be pretty bad if I was.]

– Yes indeed. …This might be just my imagination, but I think you’ve lost weight, ken-chan.
ken [Ah, I get that a lot. I guess I did lose some weight?]

– Yes. I think you did.
ken [When people ask me how I’ve been, maybe I should just tell them I’ve lost weight. Oh, and I saw a make-up artist that I hadn’t seen in a while, so apparently my face colour changed, and so did my eyes.]

– Did they tell you, specifically, what had changed?
ken [Hmm… I’m all grown up?! (Both laugh out loud)]

– (laughs) Like you’ve hit puberty, all of a sudden. But how about you, personally? Was it any kind of change you could actually notice?
ken [I’ve grown some facial hair, that’s probably it.]

– Oh, is that all it is?
ken [Yep. Oh, and I let my hair grow out, so I look dirty? (laughs) …What else could it be… Well, my lifestyle and environment changed, so the stuff I eat’s been changing too. So I guess it’s possible that my facial tone would change because of that.]

– Heh. I suppose facial tone is something that changes quite suddenly, when it changes at all.
ken [Isn’t it? A while back, I just happened to be looking through a bunch of polaroids that I got from some photoshoots we did. My face is totally different from how it used to be. Even in photos from a month ago, I look different. It’s my face.]

– How did your face look a month ago?
ken [It was just simple, I looked so much like a little kid.]

– Other than that, has anything else changed recently? On the inside, perhaps?
ken [Hmmmmmm… Changes, things that changed… What? What?!]

– For example, in your behaviour?
ken [It’s always been like this, but lately, I’ve gotten to really hate staying still (Both burst into laughter). You laugh, but you know what I mean, right? (laughs).]

– Yes. Lately, I’ve noticed you seem to be moving around constantly. You’re definitely more active.
ken [You can call me active, but it’s not like I plan any activities or anything. I just hate standing still. In my mind, you know, it feels like being sent back to elementary school. I’m like a little kid who loves baseball; if there’s a ball and a bat, you know I’m gonna go hit it.]

– Just before this, in the next room over, isn’t that what you were doing? I saw a ball and a bat.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Before a live, while everyone else is getting their makeup done, I play with those the whole time. ‘Cause I haven’t been wearing makeup, lately. So I just find a big enough space and start hitting it.]

– While the other three are in front of the mirror.
ken [Yes.]

– You run around with a bat.
ken [Yes. And then I go on stage, just like that (laughs). Seriously, sometimes I go on without even bothering to get changed. Sometimes, it feels like my other choice of clothes would be too dull, surprisingly often actually. When it comes to clothes, first the manager asks “What do you feel like today?” And then I answer. Like “Today I want Ikebukuro,” or maybe “Kabuki-cho style” (2) or something like that. And then the manager picks out an outfit that feels like Ikebukuro.]

– Hahahahaha. (Big round of laughter) So dirty. But, it sounds like fun. What happens if the outfit that gets picked out doesn’t fit your image of Ikebukuro?
ken [Well, actually, I may the one saying it, but I don’t really think about it much. About whether it fits my image or not. Plus, it always ends up being Sakamoto Issei stuff, for me. By the time we get three songs into a show, I’m already down to a sleeveless top. It only matters if it’s black or white. And when I play baseball, I’m sleeveless. I’m sleeveless today, too.]

– Indeed, you are just like a little kid. Like a school kid on summer vacation. But ultimately, is there any opposition to your being sleeveless like that from the beginning of the live? { <- Stupid } ken [Well I guess I have to wonder if it isn't kind of rude. So I try to wear the outfits they pick out for me, too. It's like sex. Rather than just get naked from the start, no matter how close and familiar your partner is, isn't it better to show up in a bathrobe or two? { <- This may be rather silly also } - Um..... ? ken [Well? I'm right, right? Right?!] - Yes. ken [Right!? And of course, you are going to leave this part in, right? { <- I don't know him anymore }] - You may rest assured that I most certainly will. By the way, how has the audience response been, during the lives themselves? ken [There are good days and there are bad days, but the good days are seriously awesome.] - What are the characteristics of a good day, for you, ken-chan? ken [In a live, hey... When I can't tell up from down. It's a question of feeling, though. On the other hand, I can tell it's a bad day when I stay calm. When I can tell what I'm doing, where I am, when all that stuff is clear. Obviously, things are more interesting when I can't tell up from down. There are days when I'm just howling, for no reason. Then I wake up later. "I think I was going WOO."] - And outside of lives? ken [What makes a good day? Let me see... I guess it's when I get to goof off a lot.] - Have you been able to goof off a lot lately? ken [Hmmm.... Lately, I .... I've been thinking that I want to go fishing. Fishing, to do that, you have to be able to stay still for a really long time, right? And I suck at staying still. So, I've always been really bad at fishing, but somehow lately, I started liking it. And you know, I heard that there's a fishing pole maker called KEN. So I want to buy their stuff. When I first heard about that, I thought "That's so cheesy, having stuff with my name on it," and then someone said to me "When something has your name on it, you start to want it, you know?" and then boom, it happened. "Yeah, that's what they say, and now I want that too." (laughs) And the lures, they're all so pretty.] - Ummm. ken-chan, going fishing. ...How ...unexpected. ken [I think so, too. Since I can't stand to stay still, I think I'll get bored with it right away. But I also think it'd be a good thing to try, once in a while.] - You mean, a good thing to try and hold still once in a while. ken [Yeah. I feel that way sometimes.] - Is there something in particular that you think of when that happens? ken [What am I gonna do next, when I'm done? Oh but sometimes, I space out and don't think of anything at all. My eyes are open, and there are people next to me, but I don't think about anything, no thoughts. It's like... it's like I go into this totally empty world. I might have talked about this before, but when I walk, almost 100% of the time I'm spacing out. Once, a long time ago, hyde passed by, really close by, and I didn't notice him at all.] - Hehh. I suppose that's extreme. Do you just walk around in circles, or...? ken [Well, I'm spacing out. So maybe I do.] - Do you feel that "extreme-ness" inside of yourself? ken [Well, I am type AB. (3) {It had to be said}]

– Ah, indeed you are. Do you feel aware of it, as in “Ah, I’m such an AB-type”?
ken [I do. I feel like I’ve got two personalities. …But normally, everybody does, don’t they? For thinking about stuff, they say there are two kinds of justice, generally.]

– Inside of yourself?
ken [Yeah. And, you can agree with either one. So, to decide things, you need to add in morals. You need to add morals to the mix, then decide which is better. If you leave it, if you say “Whatever, both work,” then you end up not wanting it either way. That way, you can see the two versions of yourself. …I think everyone works that way, probably. …I do. I think I can see my two selves much better now, more than I used to. Before, I used to get confused, all of I sudden I couldn’t remember why I was doing something, but now, I can sort things out and understand, and take consciousness of all those ideas, and go “Okay, this one.” Before it was just “Which? What? Whey? WHAT NOW?”]

– How did you manage to come to this understanding, I wonder. It’s quite fascinating.
ken [ …I think I just realized that if I took a step back, I could see things both ways, pretty clearly. And then, I could think about them… But anyway, I really feel like I just somehow figured out how to do it. I want my mind to be like this {As he spoke, he pointed his two index fingers upward and lined them directly before his eyes}.]

– You want to be like that.
ken [It’s more fun to be just the one. I think I’m jealous… Oh, by the way, what was today’s theme?!]

– It was “How have you been, lately”.
ken [Oh right. So how have you been, lately?]

– You don’t change at all, do you? Okay, so lastly, can you tell me how the other members have been, recently?
ken [Uhmmm, I think they’ve all gotten over the cold I gave them, so I’m relieved, seeing as I’m the one who made them sick.]

– But ken-chan, you had to have caught the cold from somewhere yourself, too?
ken [I didn’t catch it from anyone else, I created that cold myself. That was a really bad cold. It might be myself-enza.]

– That is, influenza, your style.
ken [Yeah. If you checked under a microscope, the germs would all have my face on them, I bet (laughs).]

Words – Itou Aki
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. Tokyu Hands is a chain of department stores that focuses on crafts and do-it-yourself goods, hence having a lot more fireworks than in your average convenience store. Go back.

2. Ikebukuro and Kabuki-cho are neighbourhoods of Tokyo. Ikebukuro is a mixed commercial and enternment district, famous for Otome Road, the number one area for entertainments aimed at women. Kabuki-cho is the famous red light district. What either of these imply for ken’s fashion is not exactly clear.Go back.

3. According to Japanese blood-type-based fortune telling, AB type is supposed to indicate a bipolar personality that changes quickly and is generally quirky. Go back.

[Where could it lie, the origin of the rainbow?]
That question asked by each of us in childhood, he can answer it with rhythm. That graven rhythm, hailing the beat of the listener’s heart, draws out a primitive consciousness and much else besides. Drum, yukihiro: The man that is the earth that holds up the rainbow.

—

From the rainy days of Tokyo’s may, he took a flight. Its purpose was to make use of the tour’s transit days to take care of this personal interview. The craft climbed ever higher, westward bound, revealing the Seto Inland Sea below within an hour’s time.

The first time I met yukihiro-kun, we were heading north – toward London, to be exact – in an airplane. He had only one bag; an extremely small amount of luggage. Indeed, with nothing but the clothes on his back, he made his way to a L’Arc~en~Ciel photoshoot. Bending his knees upon the seat, he demonstrated the flexibility of his body and laughed. yukihiro-kun’s luggage must be only the bare minimum needed for the trip.

—

– How have you been lately?
yukihiro [I’ve been on tour lately.]

– Are you used to touring, now?
yukihiro [I can’t get used to it. Somehow, I can’t sleep, I end up staying awake until 10 am. Last night, I managed to sleep a little, but the last two days before that, I didn’t sleep at all. It sucks.]

– It really does. How about the lives?
yukihiro [I did my best, obviously. Even though I didn’t sleep, it’s not like I did a bad job, so there’s no need to feel bad for the fans who came to the lives on those days.]

– Have you always been unable to sleep during tours?
yukihiro [It’s been happening for so long that I can’t remember anymore!]

– Hahahahaha! (Both laugh)
yukihiro [For me, it’s not just the tours, I have a hard time sleeping any time I’m in a hotel room. I end up doing something or other, so I stay awake until 4 or 5 am. Even though I meant to sleep. I can’t sleep, and I can remember looking at the clock last time and it was already around 5 am. That happens a lot.]

– Eehh. I wonder why. I suppose some people are extra-sensitive to changes in environment.
yukihiro [A different pillow… or something… gah, I don’t know, I don’t know myself.]

– But, I suppose you must be getting delicate.
yukihiro [Barricade!]

– …Er? …I don’t believe it. I didn’t think you were the type to mess up someone’s words like that. (laughs)
yukihiro [Hahahahaha! (both laugh)]

– How about the lives, themselves?
yukihiro [Hm, yeah, the lives, I think they’re going pretty well. …I don’t know if the fans are really enjoying it or not, but personally, I’m getting great feedback, really.]

– Can you say, specifically, how the lives are going?
yukihiro […When it’s over, I feel really satisfied. … Yes. Somehow, I feel the same way every day.]

– You mean, you feel satisfied with your own performance?
yukihiro [Let me see… Well, if you want details, there are some days where it’s just basic. Then just… times when I simply feel I did a great job.]

– What do you think about on those nights when you can’t sleep?
yukihiro [Oh, all kinds of things. All sorts of things inside my head, trying to get to the front. I think about all those things, all at the same time, you know.]

– Oh, I see. So you don’t mean that you think about all sorts of topics, one after the other, but rather that half of your mind is occupied with one thing and the rest is working on a different thought entirely?
yukihiro [Yeah yeah. Yes. That’s pretty much it. And, I get frustrated because I can’t sleep. …My eyes and stuff hurt. It gets to the point that it hurts to have them open. I figure I can’t sleep so I might as well read something, but I can’t read anything. Because my eyes hurt (laughs). So, I put on music and stuff, but now, I’ve got that music stuck in my head. Ah, and then, since we’re on tour, I can’t go out to buy other CDs. Some good stuff has come out lately, right?!]

– I can imagine you’d want to go CD shopping.
yukihiro [Yes. Even in the middle of a tour, I’ve still got some free time sometimes, so I’d like to be able to go out and buy CDs.]

– These days, no matter where you go, you can find those big foreign chain stores.
yukihiro [Yes. They’re everywhere. Well, some places didn’t have them (laughs).]

– Ah, already.
yukihiro [Yes, already. …I guess I want to listen to them (to his recently-bought CDs). I wanna hear some cool sounds.]

– Do you mean that you expect to be stimulated by that music?
yukihiro [Yes. That’s it. …But, there are other things like that, you know. … Books, just after I finish reading one. …That part (of him that craves more stimulation), it’s insatiable, isn’t it, even I think so sometimes.]

– Ah, is that so.
yukihiro [Yes. Before, I… how do I say… I used to be afraid that if I didn’t constantly take in cool things like that, I’d end up dead inside. I really thought so. I was sure that if I didn’t work on making myself a deeper person every day, I’d wind up completely empty.]

– And now, you don’t feel that pressure anymore?
yukihiro [Now, I… I think I still do, in some ways. Of course, I think that now, I’m better able to make use of all the things I’ve taken in, compared to how I used to be. So, I can’t say that I feel afraid, not the way I used to.]

– I wonder if that’s related to your ability to control the quality and quantity of what you express of the things you’ve taken in.
yukihiro [Hmm… I rather think it’s that I’ve gotten better at interpreting it all. For example, if I take one new thing now, before if took in one new thing, I’d get only one thing out of it… or that’s how it felt, but now, it all passes through me and I can use all of it, express it in in many different ways.]

– How much of that do you think is due to the influence of L’Arc~en~Ciel in your life?
yukihiro [How much, how the band is influencing me now, even I can’t answer that. But, I want to influence them, I want to do what I can for this band, in my own way.]

– That aspect of you, yukihiro-kun, can it be faithfully transmitted?
yukihiro [Hmmm…. (silence)… … . I intend to show it, that is. Yes. …I think it shows in the way I approach my work, with the songs. …And, even in ways that have nothing to do with music. When I make a huge ruckus, I think that side of me is part of it, that’s got to be what it is. I never used to do anything like that, before.]

– A huge ruckus??
yukihiro [No no no (laughs). Well of course, I think that before, my reaction to other people used to wait a breath. I’d be asked something, and before reacting, I’d take a breath and think about how I should react to whatever it was, I think that’s what I was doing. Now, if something is funny, I just go Nyahahahahahahahaha right away. It’s funny (laughs).]

– Ah, I see. More responsive, responding with laughter, indeed that’s the impression I get. You must be a laughing drunk, too, aren’t you?!
yukihiro [Am I?! (laughs) I think that part of me must have always been there, but I didn’t let it out, nicely. Because, I thought that laughing out loud, laughing too hard, was totally uncool so I didn’t do it. Because punks are cool. Or something. (both laugh)]

– What a change (laughs).
yukihiro [Hahahahaha (laughs). I don’t think like that anymore, not at all. I figure that if what I do is cool, that’s good enough.]

– It’s easier that way, I’m sure.
yukihiro [Yes. It is. And it’s boring to take a breath during lives. …Anyway, I think this is a really great environment. A little while back, the live was over, and I saw the staff loading things onto a truck, and I was touched, emotionally, somehow. Ah, they work so hard, they’re doing all this work.]

– Could you please tell me a bit more about that?
yukihiro [Yes. That time, it was after a live, and I was at the members’ exit, which was the same as the delivery entrance. That’s when I realized how great it is, everything the staff does for us.]

– And you felt it was great that you had so many people doing it?
yukihiro [Ah, yes yes yes. That’s it. And, those people, they’re all working together for the same cause. That’s just, wow, it’s great.]

– You mean that the staff members are all working together for you, for L’Arc. Did you feel something because you were the one at the centre of all this effort?
yukihiro [No. That’s not what I felt. I felt that I was a part of all the work that was happening, though.]

– yukihiro-kun, what have you been putting the most power into, recently?
yukihiro [The lives, of course.]

– For instance, do you do anything to give yourself more energy?
yukihiro [Before the show starts, I kick chairs.]

– You kick chairs. Hahahaha. (laughs)
yukihiro [Yes. Kick. (laughs) But even that doesn’t do much for me… so I kick walls (both laugh hard).]

– You kick?! (laughs)
yukihiro [Yes. I focus hard on doing it. …But you know, I don’t want to put too much power into it. Obviously, if I spend too much energy on that, I won’t have enough power left for the live. To an point, I need to be tense, but I also need to relax.]

– Is that something you can find in your regular daily life?
yukihiro [No, not at all. Well, really, in my regular life, I don’t think the same way at all. It’s just for lives, I guess that’s the only time I think.]

– One year ago, could you have imagined yourself the way you are today?
yukihiro [How could I possibly have done that?! (laughs) One year ago, I think that’s just about the time that Niji was being written.]

– At that point, had it already been decided that you’d be at the recording?
yukihiro [Ummm…. I think it was. But the exact schedule hadn’t been made up yet. …. But even still, how could I have imagined?!]

– How does it feel to have your entire environment change so much in one year?
yukihiro [It’s a good experience. It may not be a very common experience, so I’m lucky. Ever since the recording of Niji, up until this current tour. Everything single thing that’s happened has been a really great experience.]

– I’d like to close with the same question for all four members. How are things between you and the other three, lately?
yukihiro [Hmm, let’s see. hyde-kun has a bit of a cold, but that makes for a different atmosphere in and of itself, and he talks about making sure all the lives are really cool. I guess there are some parts that are really hard for him, with a cold, so that’s exactly why things are that much more intense. But it looks like he’s starting to recover now, so I’m happy about that. ken-chan is, well he never changes the slightest bit… right. (laughs) I think he’s very energetic. tetsu-kun is… Ah, tetsu-kun had a cold too, a little while ago. Because of that, in the morning, his eyes would be all puffy, and he’d say his eyes were no good. (laughs) Well, that’s how the tour’s been going.]

– Words by Itou Aki
Translated by Natalie Arnold

This is a translation of a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in PATi-PATi STYLE, 1998 issue, after the conclusion of the Light My Fire! tour. This was reprinted for the Box Set of The 15th anniversary in formation. The translation is based on the reprinted version.

—-

hyde, ken, tetsu, yukihiro –
The four of them, having just completed their dazzling tour of the entire country, namely L’Arc~en~Ciel Tour ’98 Light My Fire!, tell their Current Feelings in these Personal Long Interviews! And! The highly-rated plan makes a comeback! Could it be? The word-game interview’s revenge! Through these 29 pages, the super forceful and mega full bodied wrap-up will be accessed from just beyond this door…

This is a translation of a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in an item published by Sony Magazines. It accompanied the release of ectomorphed works. Familiarity with that album as well as other remixes that appeared on the 1999-2000 era singles is reccomended. This was reprinted for the Box Set of The 15th anniversary in formation. The translation is based on the reprinted version.

BEGIN INTERVIEW

He is already renowned as a remixer. For yukihiro, the drummer, this first L’Arc remix album, ectomorphed works, is an opportunity to discover a new side to their hits and to put the depth of their work on display. Let us obtain an explanation of the importance of each track from the artist himself.

—

ectomorphed works, the first remix album in L’Arc~en~Ciel’s history, features a neologism in its title, (Analyzed directly, ectomorphed means “recreated from the outside” and as so suggested, the artist has indeed made his decisive mark upon the songs by putting his hand to them from the outside in. Now, the details of the ten tracks that appear below were divulged by yukihiro, who alone applied his hand to the original works for this recreation. On the day following the album’s completion, it appeared that he had something to conceal. He was, of course, exhausted the previous night, telling us “I realized I’d fallen asleep with my shoes on… that’s how tired I was.” with a characteristic laugh that tells volumes about his satisfactory completion of the work, truly expressive as always.

—

● larva {ectomorphed long mix}

yukihiro [(In response to the question “Were you sure that this would become the opening track?”) I guess so. ‘Cause it’s instrumental. I wanted to make it long. I like Underworld (1) and… They have songs with a singing part, and the rest of the track just goes on and on, you know. I wanted that kind of ambiance. The track has blocks where there’s a bit more or a bit less sound, right. It didn’t give me much trouble when I was making it.]

● trick {new^2 wave of japanese heavy metal mix}

yukihiro [A revised edition? That’s what it is. It doesn’t really have much of a concept. I just wanted to remix it, again. If I’m going to have a chance to release it again, then I want to remix it again. This song is kind of hard to work with. There’s all kinds of kicks in it, so it’s hard to get deep enough in to figure out which one should be emphasized when. And the subtitle, I thought it was a really cool thing to say about this song.]

● Kasou {0628 mix}

yukihiro [It’s got enough sound, compared to the last version. There are more kicks, and more percussion, and I changed the rhythm around a bit. (For me, remixing is) Easier when there’s singing, so-called club music is really monotonous, you know. It’s loop music. It’s easier to showcase when there’s singing. It’s easier for the listener to appreciate too, I think.]

● fate {everybody knows but god mix}

yukihiro [The subtitle is ‘everybody knows but god’. It’s the opposite of the saying ‘god only knows’. So it’s a twist, saying ‘everybody knows fate, except god.’ For this one, I had ken-chan play some new guitar parts. First I made a simple synth version with rhythm and bass for him, and went “Here, play something.” He gave it back and I edited it… I wanted to try making a remix like that. ] (When approached about this style of music creation, ken called it “correspondence style”. /laughs)

● Shinshoku ~lose control~ {ectoborn mix}

yukihiro [This is the only song that I really want to do over. I don’t think the last one was cool. Of course, at the time, I did think it was cool, but now I look at it again, and as a remixer I think it was pretty amateurish. But honestly, a bit after I made the last one I thought “Oops, what did I do…” (laughs). I went into it thinking “I wanna do this differently” so I decided to put ‘ecto’ in as part of the title.]

● a swell in the sun {system in chaos mix}

yukihiro [Here, the subtitle alone is ‘chaos’ right. My image of chaos? It makes me think of… putting it simply, it’s a ‘snowstorm’, like on TV. Only more twisted, and more solid. I used to dream about it a lot, when I was a kid. I dreamed about how it would twist around me. I don’t dream about that anymore (laughs). Honestly, I haven’t listened to the completed final track yet, but when I was making it I thought “Hey this is sounding pretty good.” But I wasn’t really adding much new sound. This is how I wanted it to sound in the first place, yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s it.]

● l’heure {quiet afternoon mix}

yukihiro [After chaos comes floating? Yes it does. It’s got the atmosphere of a quiet afternoon. It’s the same for any song, but I think the bass and drums are what’s important for creating the atmosphere, with this kind of sound. I try to take care, with that in mind. In this song, it’s like the drums are floating on the bass. The sound the drums make, it’s really quite dry. It’s not about my own preference in sound, this one is about creating a world.]

● cradle {down to the moon mix}

yukihiro [(When asked about how this remix has ‘moon’ where a previous one had ‘earth’) Well yes (laughs). I wanted it to ‘float’ more. I thought, I want this one to go to space (laughs). I added some female vocals here. hyde’s voice is Japanese, hers is English, see. At first I thought simply, they would work together, back and forth. It’s kind of tricky to work with, you know, with rap. When the girl is singing normally and I licked into a rap, and stuff. I think it’s really cool.]

● Shinjitsu to Gensou to {out of the reality mix #2}

yukihiro [In this one, the second half sounds like a draw. At first I thought it should be more, I didn’t know more what, exactly, but it felt like it needed to be more. But, then when I laid it out I thought it would be hard to listen to. This is a “sequel” anyway, so it’s not about adding or removing sound. I did a lot with it, but it still matches the previous one, it just brings more to the table. It’s not about thinking “I’ve gotta change it,” its simply “Can I make this any cooler?”. I had the idea, and it sounded like it would turn out pretty cool so that’s what I did.]

● metropolis {android goes to be a deep sleep mix}

yukihiro [This one is pretty different from the old one. It’s kind of refreshing, I guess. The last one was all “Wooah!” you know (laughs) overall. I wanted to cut back on that, this time. Actually, it’s got one piece less than the other. I took out one part. And it’s actually the last thing that I put into the last one. I thought there was something missing, but that was overdoing it, I felt. In the end, the sound of the piano that I wanted to show off in the last one, it’s more obvious in this version.]

Words – Masuda Yuuichi
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1.Underworld is an electronic music duo that has been recording since 1980.Go back.

This is a translation of a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in PATi-PATi, October 1996 issue, shortly before the recording of True began. This was reprinted for the Box Set of The 15th anniversary in formation. The translation is based on the reprinted version.

BEGIN INTERVIEW

As intensely hot and sharp as he may appear on stage, the vocalist of L’Arc~en~Ciel is always surrounded by a fluffy yet mysterious air. Now, let us ask hyde for seven wonderful dreams…

—

Autumn

I like this time of year, when autumn turns to winter. Because somehow, human warmth becomes tangible during this season. For example, whenever someone goes out to eat, they’ll invite others, saying “Let’s go get something warm to eat.” I guess I like that atmosphere. It feels nice to sleep, too, you know. Makes me want to spend the whole day curled up in my futon. And I also like the sadness of it. Falling leaves and so on. I think it’s kind of romantic, too. What does autumn remind me of?! Uhm…. Bonfires, I guess. I like camping, I used to do it a lot. Bonfires are great to have when it’s cold out. Ah, I guess it reminds me of those nights. Oh, and sanma (1). Obviously, it goes with autumn.

—

Self

Right now, I’m mostly interested in recording the next album. Right at the moment, that’s all I can think about. When it comes to myself, if I were to analyze myself, I guess I’m a cold person. That, and an optimist. These days, I’m really trying to be more optimistic. But, I think that by doing that, the cold side of myself will end up having even more influence. For example, imagine there was someone at work that I couldn’t quite seem to get along with. When that happens, I tell myself “Well, that person still has good points, so there’s no helping it.” Then, if those good points turn out not to be good enough, I go “Oh well, forget it. I’ll just ignore that person.” Isn’t that cold?! (laughs) You know, I think I want to get better at speaking. I have a feeling my life would be more fun that way. It doesn’t occur to me to start talking to people, so my conversations go nowhere. So, I think the girls I date get bored. Because I don’t talk to them much. I wanna get better at speaking.

Space

A while back, there was a map of space published in Newton (2). Looking at it got my heart fluttering. There’s the Milky Way, you know, that’s the centre of our galaxy. The solar system, where Earth is, is just a tiny dot at the corner of the galaxy. Then, if you could see the galaxy from above, it would look round, but from the side it’s actually narrow. Like a thread. And then from Earth, we can just see the Milky Way. Because we’re looking at the centre from over in the corner. Isn’t that fascinating?! What if I could go anywhere?! I’d want to go to another planet that has life. You know, I used to be afraid of that when I was a little kid. In magazines made for kids, they’d draw faces on the planets and stuff like that, you know. Mr. Jupiter, Mr. Saturn, and so on. That always creeped me out. And aliens, that just wasn’t cool. What if I could only bring one thing to space?! ……..My bride.

Rain

When it rains, I feel rather calm. On rainy days, no one really wants to go outside, right? So instead, I get to look at the day differently, and wonder “What can we do indoors today?” It makes me very excited. When I was a kid, there was a park about five minutes away from my house, and I used to play there with a couple of friends there. This one time, it started raining all of a sudden, and it rained really hard, with thunder and lightning, so intense that I couldn’t go home even though it was only five minutes away. Plus, there wasn’t anything nearby that we could use for shelter, all we could do was huddle by the wall of the gym next door. There wasn’t anything above us so we got soaked anyway. The water went up to my knees, and it was running like crazy. I had to slosh my way through it. (laughs) Sticking to the wall. Then I saw this old guy come running up, sticking to the wall. Of course, he was having a hard time too (laughs).

Love (3)

I hate it. Koi have such an ugly face and they just hang around with their mouths open. It’s gross, you know? (Wrong koi! It’s supposed to be koi as in Love) Ah yes, you want me to talk about love. Love, to me, is a powerful drug. When I’m in love, my heart is pounding constantly. On the other hand, when I can finally calm down, it means it’s another kind of love. When I can relax, it’s a different kind of love. I think the passionate, exciting love is just a part of the greater whole. It’s just a piece of this great big bond (he makes a big circle with his hands) that connects people.

Dreams

I have a lot of dreams. I had a good one recently, but it’s kind of embarrassing so I won’t tell you (laughs). A while back, I realized that I was dreaming while I was still asleep. In my dream, I went “Hey, am I dreaming?!” and then started bragging to everyone else in the dream. “Hey I bet none of you realize this, but we’re actually in a dream right now.” And everyone answered “Oh yeah, I guess you’re right.” And, in my dream, I knew how to wake up. I could go “Hey this is a dream!” to somebody, then tell them “If you just do this, it’ll wake you up.” The trick was to just move my eyeballs upward without opening them. Then, in the dream, I woke up, and thought “Aw, I woke up. I should’ve taken the chance to do bad stuff,” like a naughty little kid. I was thinking of all the stuff I’d do if I had a dream like that again, then I realized “Hey, I’m still dreaming!” but then I woke up for real. I haven’t had another dream like that ever since. The coolest dream I ever had was like, I was at the top of a mountain, and there was a UFO battling an airplane. That was about two years ago. They were fighting right there, in the sky. With missiles and everything. I was just a normal person, watching from the ground, going “Woooow, awesome~”. It was so intense it was almost scary, I guess. Lately, I’ve been dreaming about Mount Fuji. About climbing Mount Fuji. A while ago, I saw this thing on TV about it, and they said that the mountain doesn’t belong to the government. Did you know that?! It actually belongs to a shrine. I think it’s called Asama Shrine, and it owns everything from the summit to I don’t know how far down, and then everything below that belongs to the government. Apparently they fought over it, in court, after the war. And the shrine won. Oh, and the shrine was given the mountain by Tokugawa Ieyasu(4).

My childhood dream?! I wanted to be Kamen Rider (5). My mom tells me I was really crazy about Kamen Rider, I had Kamen Rider stuff on my bike and everything, and I’d get bath towels to make a cape and run around the neighbourhood like that every single day. (laughs) Then, I’d jump down three flights of stairs, like Wooo~. Sounds like I really wanted that costume (laughs).

Mystery

I like mysteries. They make my heart beat faster. But you know, when I get around to looking up something I find mysterious, I get bored halfway through. But, it’s not good to want something to stay mysterious. Things need to be solved. We can’t just say “That’s the way it is, the end.” Obviously, I can’t expect to understand things when even the experts haven’t figured them out yet. I just get bored when I don’t understand. Well, I guess I get bored even when I do understand (laughs). Women are a mystery. I used to not understand them at all, but now, I think I basically understand them.

– Interviewer: Itou Aki
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. Sanma is a type of fish that is in season during autumn and therefore is a typical meal of this time of year, in Japan.
Go back.

2. Newton is a scientific periodical, probably the most well-read of its kind in Japan. Incidentally, some of hyde’s comments about space and the galaxy are not quite correct.
Go back.

3. The word “koi” can mean either Love or Carp. hyde pretended he thought the question was about the fish, at first.
Go back.

4. Tokugawa Ieyasu was one of the three warlors who unified Japan at the dawn of the 17th century. He even ruled the country as shogun himself for a few years.
Go back.

5. Kamen Rider is a live-action children’s series about a costumed fighter. In English, it is called Masked Rider.
Go back.