L'Arc~Compendium

– When you were a student, the particular incidents don’t matter anymore, but did you ever have someone you thought “I absolutely refuse to lose to this guy!” about? A rival?
[I didn’t, but my friend did.]

– How about for music and bands? Have there been any since you started playing music?
[I’ve never had any. But, I understand how easy it can be to call someone your rival.]

– What do you mean by that?
[It’s so simple to compare things. That’s why businesses and brand names make rivals out of each other. In their case, when they have someone to view as a rival, they can easily gain a sense of fulfilment from the entire situation. As if they were booming just from doing better than the rival. In general, isn’t it easy to look at things thinking “Which is better?” and compare them? So it’s the same for selling things. Take selling accessories for example. In such a case, beyond calling attention to what you’re selling, you want to make other designs look bad. No one would seriously consider the other guy’s rotten design (laughs). If someone is wondering “Which one is better?” and you’ve already shown them that the other design sucks, they’ll look at yours and think “This one is better,” right? It’s all used as a selling strategy. I think the results are the same when a business makes itself a rival.]

– I see. So then forcing people to compare things in such a way is playing on a prominent human tendency.
[Relating back to the music scene, once you succeed at getting people to think of your genre as “new” you immediately get people who are opposed to it, right? Then once that’s set up, people start saying “That’s going to be the next boom. For the scene. And I bet so-and-so is the next big name.” To sell the artist you want to promote most, you intentionally want to set up that situation. That’s one of the strategies. Although, I’ve explained all that meaning, but I’ve never viewed anyone as a rival or had anyone to compete with like that. So, I think it’s something created by your environment. Rivalry.]

– You didn’t look for one yourself, and your environment didn’t send you one.
[Right. The people around me find someone else to compete with. I normally walk at my own pace, by myself. But sometimes I won’t realize that the person next to me is jogging, trying to compete with me, or something. But my answer is “I’m not racing against you.” Or something along those lines.]

– I see. What about when it comes to relationships? Have you ever experienced rivalry in love?
[Basically, if I get turned down, I’m the type who isn’t going to keep up the pursuit. My stance is “If you prefer the other, then do as you please.”]

– You’ve never had a competition with another guy to see who could get a particular girl?
[I haven’t… Never anything like trying to steal away a girl.]

– Would you want to experience that situation at least once?
[Rather than stealing her away, I think it’s more admirable to help make her fall for the other guy.]

– Hohoo… There aren’t many people who would go against their own raging emotions to help an opponent find love.
[Maybe so……. I don’t think I could love someone with conditions attached. Or have another person love me. Without the basic premise that they only have eyes for me, it’s not love. So, let’s say for example the girl is cheating on me? That’s enough to make me hate her. I don’t have it in me to forgive that kind of betrayal. That’s why I can’t love a girl who has conditions. I won’t even like her.]

– I wonder when you started taking that stance about relationships.
[Oh, no, I’ve always been like that. My parents must have drilled it into me. If you behave, you get a reward, if you don’t behave, you don’t get anything. Not loving someone who cheats is the same as that. But, doesn’t everyone hate to be cheated on? Those who can be forgiving enough to say “You’re still a good person,” must really be in love. I’ve never experienced that. Even with the people I’ve liked so far. That’s the form my love takes. But, anyone who’s been cheated on won’t forgive it, right? Am I wrong? Ah, but it might be different for men and women. For example, with your own parents, if your dad cheats you think “Oh well,” but if your mom cheats, it’s a huge shock, right? Maybe men and women have a different outlook on it.]

-Interviewer : Toujou Sachie
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

– You’ve taken charge of writing many songs for L’Arc~en~Ciel, and you also take care of every TETSU69 song, so what do you think of the lyric writing side of yourself?
[No, I don’t think I have much of anything to say about myself as a lyric writer.]

– When did you first start writing lyrics?
[The very first song I wrote the words to was for the band known as D’Ark~en~Ciel (1). It was for a song called INSANITY. But I only wrote them out of necessity. I’ve always thought lyrics were something a vocalist should write. I was the vocalist for D’Ark~en~Ciel, so I had no choice but to write them (laughs).]

– What sort of theme did that song have?
[Death. Darkness and Death. It was dark, anyway. Absolutely gloomy (laughs).]

– How about your next song?
[That would be L’Arc~en~Ciel’s milky way, wouldn’t it?]

– Why did you write the lyrics for it even though you thought that was the vocalist’s job?
[That’s because hyde casually asked “Wanna write the words?” and I figured I’d give it a try. Also, I thought it must be tough for hyde to write the words to every single song. I thought I’d give him a hand. “Yeah, I’ll write some and see,” is how it started.]

– When you tried it, did you find you had some talent for writing lyrics?
[No, I don’t have talent, do I? (laughs)]

– Does it take a lot of time to do?
[Yeah. I’m fast about writing music, but when it comes to the lyrics, I’m slow (laughs). Sometimes I can do it in one night, but I’m still slow. Time flies without my noticing it.]

– What about for TETSU69? You write the melodies first, and then the lyrics?
[Yeah, that goes for both L’Arc and TETSU69.]

– When it comes time to write lyrics, what do you base yourself on? Personal experience, feelings, your present reality, echoes, something the melody stirs up, fiction, all sorts of things like that?
[All of that. And sometimes whatever’s my boom (2) at that time will insist on coming out. Some parts are fiction, and some parts are non-fiction. It’s just that while I’m actually writing, I can’t tell where it’s coming from. It’s like echoing words and numbers get put into proper words. That’s why writing lyrics can be like a puzzle.]

– Then, the interesting part is putting it all together.
[It’s great when it’s done. It’s the same feeling as finishing a puzzle. Yay! I’m done! (laughs). I’m the kind of person who always writes the melody before the lyrics, so I don’t want to change the music to fit the words. I start by deciding how many words should go in, and I don’t change that, so it can be tough. I don’t want to have too many words. More than the meaning of the words, or their content, I give priority to their sound. The music itself becomes more prominent with age (3), so I’m going to want words that are easy to remove. That’s hard to do. I worry about the gap between the words I want to use and the sound I want to have. It troubles me.]

– Some of L’Arc~en~Ciel’s songs that you wrote the lyrics for, such as Perfect Blue or bravely (4), paint quite a severe picture of the world, tetsu-san.
[That’s a technique I use a lot, taking a very pop, refreshing, pretty melody, and then inserting a black element via the lyrics. It’s a pattern I like, and I think highly of it. The result is a pretty melody which crosses the heart that much more. That’s the result I wanted for those songs.]

– I thought the lyrics for TETSU69 communicated a lot of loneliness, loss, and pain.
[The first album Suite November does certainly have some of that.]

– How did those elements come to dominate the feel of the album?
[My schedule was really tight around then, writing three, four songs in the space of one week, not just the lyrics but making the whole song in that schedule. In the end, I might as well have written all the lyrics on the same date. I think that’s why the themes all ended up resembling each other. If I get around to making a second album, I think the contents of the song lyrics will be completely different. Even a new song from summer and a new song from winter turn out completely different. Also, sometimes, when there’s a movie I like, part of me will become the main character and write a song that way. The movies I like, the manga I like, their settings take hold of me. However, the people listening don’t realize that, so when I tell them, “Oh, really?” is the answer I usually get.]

– Could you give an example?
[The song TIGHTROPE, well, in Yazawa Ai’s manga Kagen no Tsuki (5), there’s a setting where a lost cat wanders up to a mansion. I wrote the song to hint at that scene. Then I got mail from Yazawa-san saying “That’s my favourite song.” (laughs). She caught me (laughs). This is bad (laughs). It might have been a coincidence, but I got really nervous when I thought I’d been caught. Don’t tell that to Yazawa-san. But it isn’t really a direct connection. That image persistently stuck out. It didn’t stick neatly to that one song, either. It got scattered among the other ones too, without my noticing.]

– I think that pieces of yourself are spreading into the music world, tetsu-san. Is there anything specific you’re conscious of sending out with Suite November as a whole?
[This sort of thing can’t be substantially explained in words. What could it be? I’m sure there must be something, but even I’m not fully aware of what it is.]

– I thought the overall sensation was a prominent feeling of loneliness.
[As far as my public image goes, I write pop songs, I wear pop clothes, and even within the band I take on that sort of character, but I have dark roots (laughs). No, it’s not quite right to say I have dark roots. I like being alone. I can’t say I really get lonely.]

– You’re a lone wolf.
[No, I don’t think it’s anything that cool. I just like being alone. Alone, I can indulge in my hidden thoughts (laughs).]

– Are you a romantic?
[I do have a romantic side. And a great imagination.]

– So then are you able to channel that imagination into creativity?
[Yeaaah. Sorta. But I think lyrics take a lot of getting used to. I’ve only written about ten songs so far, but if I can get a bit more practice at it I should get faster. As it is, I like the songs I’ve written. I do think some changes and improvements could be made to my earlier ones, but it was an experience I needed to have.]

– What do you think defines good lyrics?
[Good lyrics? That’s hard (laughs). But there are some songs I like because of the lyrics. “Ah, these are nice lyrics,” or something. Mostly, they need to fit the music well, have a nice ring to them. Sometimes I won’t look at the lyric card even once, then I’ll be carried along by the melody and suddenly think “Hey, these are good lyrics,” and notice them. But overall, melody is more important to me than lyrics. I say that, but it’s not an absolute rule. Of course, there are times when I’ll listen to a song because I noticed it’s nice lyrics first.]

– What sort of theme do you think will be expressed in TETSU69’s lyrics from now on?
[I really don’t know, but it’s good that some people are concerned about the lyrics. I’m kind of embarrassed when people draw attention to them, so I just sort of go with the flow. I’m still not very confident about that aspect of my work. I do like what I’ve done, but I’ve always given more praise to music than to lyrics, and I kind of regret that now (laughs). I want to write good music, with good lyrics.]

– Is there a message you want to send in your lyrics?
[There isn’t. I just wanted my lyrics to support the world view created by my music.]

-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. D’Ark~en~Ciel is the predecessor to P’UNK~EN~CIEL, from back when sakura was still in the band. The most important difference though is that D’Ark played original compositions, all of which were ultra-heavy death metal. Go back.

2. As explained in Chapter 02, my boom is slang for something you’re really, really into. Go back.

3. The actual term used was sabi, which is a Buddhist term for the beauty that can only come from age and experience. In other words, the more his songs age, the more music comes to matter instead of the words. Go back.

4. In the book, the song title is written “bravely” but on the album it’s spelled “bravery.” Seeing as how they’re pronounced the same in Japanese, take it up with the original publisher. Go back.

5. This manga was recently made into a movie, which just so happens to feature HYDE as one of the major characters. Yazawa Ai is also the author of the popular NANA manga, for which TETSU69 later did a tribute song. Go back.

– It seems from your image that you keep up with details about new products and such.
[Relatively, yeah. But I don’t think that’s the case as much as it used to be.]

– As an example, what genre of thing might particularly captivate you?
[Electronics…… or drinks.]

– Among those, are there any that are hits, or that you’re totally taken with?
[Hmm, not really…… except maybe {Namacha}.] (1)

– Ah, so {Namacha} was a hit.
[{Namacha} was…… well, I still drink it once in a while. At first, it made quite the big impact. That was before all the commercials started.]

– So, basically, what kind of drinks do you like? Other than water, I mean, like tea-based drinks, or juices.
[Well, basically, I’ve gotten to like a lot of things that are good for me, but I still drink cola and stuff once in a while. That doesn’t really get me anywhere…… I mean, I’ll be drinking it and thinking “This stuff is bad for me,” but keep on drinking it.]

– Could you say you casually check out other new things?
[New magazines and stuff, yeah. But only when right that second I’m wanting to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. Especially since I work in entertainment, not keeping up is bad. But way back when, I had the release dates of new magazines memorized.]

– On that note, do you get any newspapers or anything?
[I get a newspaper, but just the one. Mainly for the arts, and for ads. I check out all the ads. Some days, I look at nothing but the ads. Somehow, it’s proportionally closer to being in real time, compared to magazines.]

-That “wanting to know” makes me think you might have a bit of a curious side to you, or something like that. That would tie in well with your “love of novelty” image, I’d say.
[But that’s a part of my personality I’ve had ever since I was born. You see, I’m a type A Libra (2), so that’s the only reason for it. I don’t think it’s special to just me or anything.]

– But, you seem to be ahead of the trends, even before people start saying something is cool. That’s very special, a talent…… with that power, you can catch a lot of things.
[I guess so. Hmm, well, with the kind of work I do, it can’t hurt me any.]

– tetsu-san, what’s the new product most on your mind right now?
[Nothing in particular, really.]

– How about cell phones?
[Not cells, either. I don’t change (units) as much as I used to. Even though the one I use now expired a little while ago. That doesn’t sound like a novelty lover, does it?]

– Do you use many of your cell’s different functions?
[Nah, I don’t use them much. Of course, it has a camera, so I take pictures, but it doesn’t seem like I’ve taken too many. Sometimes I’ll put memos in it. I think I used the features a bit more, before, but really, they ended up being a pain (laughs). I’d rather have it be simple.]

– Do you think that’s strange, eccentric of you at all?
[Well, basically, I thought they were a pain right from the start. Back in elementary school, when I was faced with the school lunch, I didn’t say anything when part of it sucked. Then, once, I said to my teacher “Isn’t it a pain to have to eat the school’s lunch?” and the answer was “Don’t eat it.” Since then, that’s how I deal with annoying things.]

– Oh, I see. So, I guess it’s similar to not liking having to wear the aprons when on lunch duty, or something like that. As if getting changed is a bother.
[Nah, I kinda liked obeying the rules. Hm, or rather, I like going as far as I can while still staying within the rules. “There’s no point in just breaking the rules,” I say. I mean, it’s so much more interesting my way.]

– But I think you might have a lot of annoyances.
[That’s cause they are annoying. Maybe because I’m so totally different from my public image. I’m such a slob. But it kind of makes me responsible, for instance as a leader, I have to tell myself “Gotta hold on!” and when I’m working, I have to keep up appearances for it, right? But if I wasn’t leader, I’d slack off. I’d tell the leader “You decide, I don’t care.”]

– So then, you think about what it would be like if you weren’t the leader?
[I think it would be so much easier if I wasn’t leader, and my good will would probably go up more.]

– Ahahahaha! That’s a bit unexpected. Back to novelty, you like moving into new rooms, don’t you?
[Moving? I’ve liked it. Moving into a new place, there’s a fresh sort of feeling to it, until you get used to the new place. That goes for everyone, doesn’t it?]

– But, tetsu-san, you’ve been called a sort of moving demon, haven’t you? As if you’re always seeking out new scenery, or something.
[Well, I do get bored easily, so I get into circumstances where I need to move a lot. That’s right, speaking of new scenery, I only move into the higher buildings in town, right? But they’re rented, always. Even though the rent is pricey, it’s a waste to always live in just one place. Well, thinking financially, it might be more of a waste to move, but from the perspective of experiencing different things in life, it’s a waste to live in only one place.]

– You have an interesting definition of “waste”.
[But if you live in several places, you’ll get to see lots of different rooms. It’s a faster way of getting different scenery, too.]

– It’s good how you can be so decisive about that sort of thing.
[Oh, no, I’m really not that good at it. I can’t ever toss things out. Really toss it for good, I mean. I’m not decisive enough, so I don’t toss anything.]

– You might toss something and end up saying “I needed that after all,” often.
[That can’t happen. If I really needed it, it’d be enough to go buy another one. However, I do have a lot of keepsakes, so once in a while I’ll have a nostalgia trip. With the stuff I got. Although, I try not to get too attached to things if I can help it.]

– Were you especially good about changing class? (3) I wanted to ask when we were talking about “new scenery,” since it is a form of changing scenery.
[I don’t remember (laughs). It didn’t matter who my classmates were; I never hung out with them much, so changing classes…… wasn’t something I dwelled on, really.]

– What about when you left Osaka to come to Tokyo?
[Ah, I didn’t like that. Tokyo’s late-night programming was boring…… and I didn’t have a car back then, so it sucked.]

– I see (laughs). Being separated from your friends, or from the scenery you’d gotten used to living with is difficult, is it not?
[Mm, it wasn’t the people. I’m rather unaffected by that.]

– Indeed, that must make that sort of thing easier. I get the feeling you didn’t want to cling to things, so that you wouldn’t exclude new possibilities, right?
[Yeah, it’s similar to how I don’t want to let useless information stay in my head.]

– Mm hmm. So, you have to make sure the information you need is always renewed.
[But then, there’s no way I can just erase everything that comes from the past. To keep only what I need, I’d have to start by forgetting everything I don’t need…… and I can’t think that deeply. New things, necessary things, even uncertain things, getting good at selecting between them is part of life, I think. It’s seeing what kind of life you can choose to have, out of all the possible choices. I think life means making choices.]

– So, making choices while going on ahead?
[As long as you’re alive, time keeps advancing. That in itself means going forward, even if you choose not to do anything, or not to think about anything.]

– tetsu-san, you don’t have many regrets?
[No, though I know I’ve screwed up a lot. I’m not always sure the path I’ve chosen is entirely correct, so of course when things go wrong, I’ll think “I would have been better off choosing a different method,” but there isn’t any real meaning to regret. “Regrets are meaningless,” that’s what Shirley said.]

– Wahahahahaha! Is that from Garbage? (4)
[And I don’t even read interviews that often (laughs).]

– Then, for instance, if you think “Ah! I messed up!” you can go straight to thinking “Then, what do I try next?” It lets you do things over, to a degree.
[Do over…… Yeah, that’s right. When I do, I don’t want to keep on repeating the same mistakes again. That’s why first, I ask myself “How come it went wrong?” and investigate the cause. If there’s a cause, there are effects, so you need to follow up on the cause if you want to avoid repeating the same mistakes…… I do that, but, I’m only human, so sometimes it can get pretty difficult.]

– Indeed, if you don’t know the cause, you can’t understand why things went wrong.
[The way I see the world, there are lots of people who won’t stop scratching at the causes of their failures. But I think there are also a lot of people who are unsure, vague about it, but advance anyway, and lots of others who keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. Especially in Japan, we have a Giri-Ninjou (5) sort of world. That makes us aware of how that sort of ambiguity can be beautiful.]

– I think your point of view is very rational, tetsu-san.
[Well, it’s not like I’m German or something.]

– Wahahahaha! So practical? Talking to you, tetsu-san, I’ve been thinking “If there were more people who thought like this, we’d be able to understand the world a bit better.”
[Maybe so. I think this way because I experience the world as an artist. If I’d entered a normal business, I wouldn’t see the world like this (laughs).]

– Then, as an artist, you want to create new things, produce something new yourself, move the world?
[There are no limits to new things, but I think only a few of them can impress people.]

– As in something no one else has done until now.
[No, that’s not what really interests me. If no one’s ever done it before, then it will surprise people, and if it was a really good idea then, of course, I think it’s great to have done it first, but I won’t not do something just because it’s been done before. Then again, “No one’s ever tried it before” isn’t a good reason to try something if it isn’t a good idea to start with.]

– Mm, hahaha, I see.
[There is such a thing as “No one would ever want to do that” (laughs). I don’t always remember reading something or seeing something so “Ideas get used over and over throughout the world,” I say. Everything does. It’s just a matter of arranging them differently. That’s something I’ve always thought, because even “the one who thought of it first” must have gotten most of the idea from somewhere else, already. It just gets changed a little. Applied and developed. Even with new things, there are always some that make me think “I figured someone would do that,” or “I was wondering when that would come out,” right? Really, there isn’t much of anything that makes me go “EH?!” anymore.]

– I see. Nothing makes you say “I’d have never imagined it.”
[Even before they had much transportation, people knew we’d be able to fly someday. And doesn’t everyone think “Someday we’ll get to the space travel era,” too? Even with new technology, it all comes from the accumulation of tiny, minute inventions. New inventions, new discoveries, they can only happen because we’ve gobbled up all the inventions, discoveries that came before until the knowledge seems obvious to us.]

– tetsu-san, are you the type who won’t hesitate to buy something secondhand, or used? Old clothes, for example.
[No, I don’t really like buying used clothes. Furniture, either. It’s just that I can’t stand the smell of used clothes. Used clothes stores stink. It’s calmed down since, but you know how a bunch of years back there was this “old clothes = cool” thing happening? I wanted nothing to do with it (laughs). There’s a reason people aren’t wearing those clothes anymore, so why go out of your way to wear used clothing?]

– Ah, I see. So which used items would be OK?
[Instruments. And cars are OK, too. Things that aren’t made anymore and rare items are OK. For cars, I buy them as soon as they cease production. I always have a lack of interest in things that are being made now. It’s like “They aren’t making this anymore… guess I’ll go buy it.” If the mileage is reasonably low, getting a used car is OK. Any vintage instrument is OK.]

– That isn’t so much a “love of novelty” as a love of having things other people don’t.
[Yeah, I like rare stuff.]

– One more thing I want to ask : “New songs.” How does it feel to perform them?
[New songs are lots of fun, it’s a very nice feeling.]

– Does that go for the creation, giving life to the song as well?
[It’s fun, creating something new out of nothing. Even though I never used to think I could make music by myself.]

-Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Namacha is a brand name tea drink, made by the Kirin company. The name means “Raw Tea.” Go back.

2. Type A blood. In Japanese superstition, blood types are said to influence personality. And of course, Libra refers to the zodiac sign. Go back.

3. Changing class here refers to going from one grade to the next and getting a new classroom with new classmates. In Japan, middle and high school students stay in the same class with the same people all day, while the teachers switch rooms. Going from one grade to the next means a much bigger change than it otherwise would. Go back.

4. They are talking about Shirley Manson, the vocalist for Garbage Go back.

5. Giri-Ninjou is a very Japanese term, referring to the conflict between social obligations, or duty (Giri) and human nature, or emotion (Ninjou). The concept is at the core of many Kabuki plays and Samurai dramas. The idea is that the two must be balanced in order to lead a good, fulfilling life. Go back.

– Is Melody Maker a consciousness that you have?
[It is. I think writing beautiful melodies that can be called such is a duty that was bestowed upon me.]

– How long have you been aware of that part of your self?
[As long as I’ve been part of L’Arc~en~Ciel.]

– Do you remember the first time you wrote a song? What kind of tune was it?
[The first song I ever wrote was Satanic Metal (laughs). I called it writing music, but all I did was make guitar riffs, really. Because I thought the main melody of a song should be the vocalist’s job. That’s why there weren’t any songs where I had decided the general run of how each part would sound. Of course, now, when it comes to writing music, I create 100% of the melodies involved in my songs. Because if I didn’t, I couldn’t say I was the one who wrote it.]

– When is a melody born?
[Generally, my melodies don’t come out of any instrument. They just pop up from anywhere. Anytime, anywhere. To a certain extent, I can feel a chord take over my body, so that when I hum the melody, I can feel that chord at the same time.]

– So that’s when the song begins?
[No, it didn’t happen like that at first. You could say I’ve gotten used to it. I feel like I have a knack for this music writing thing now. In fact, way back when I was in high school, I kind of thought I’d never be able to write good melodies on my own.]

– Why did you think that?
[Well, I would hum to myself a lot, and think “Wow, this is pretty catchy!” (laughs). But I thought anybody could do that. Everybody can hum, right? Even people who can’t play any instruments can hum, so I didn’t think it was anything special. But as I got into the band, I wound up trying to write proper tunes, so I found I had a lot of good ones, after all (laughs). There’s good music to be found in practically everything around me, so that’s probably how my Melody Maker came to be.]

– Do you find a particular mood will get your music moving? As in, you can write more during sad times, or write more during happy times. Is there any sort of trend?
[I can compose any time, in any circumstances. I could write a bright song on a sad day, or write a dark one instead. I can make up to two of them in one day. It’s a bit hard to explain, but the order has an effect on the tunes I write. If the first one I composed was kind of a dark tune, for instance, then I’ll want to make the next one a bit happier. A song can give me ideas for the tempo of the next one, so the order is important. I might make slight changes to my songs based on the timing of other members’ songs, too. Someone else will bring in a new song, then I’ll listen to it with overall balance in mind. Like, we don’t have any songs like this yet, so I’ll make my next one fit.]

– Let’s say you have a particular type of image in your head. Can you make a song that fits that image?
[I can. Whatever song comes out, what I make, will be the one to fit.]

-What about slumps?
[Slumps, well, I’ve never had a slump where I couldn’t write any songs at all. Just, sometimes my songwriting speed will go down. Like, I couldn’t even write a single song today, or, I couldn’t write a single song for three days.]

– Isn’t that usually called a slump? (laughs)
[It’s not a slump even if I can’t write a single song in a week or two.]

– What’s the shortest time it’s taken you to compose one?
[The shortest was three minutes (laughs). I started with the A melody and the rest was done in three minutes. Putting it all together later, I think the structure only changed a tiny bit. A five minute song can be done in two, three minutes. Repeat this part, put in a guitar solo there; once the chorus is made up, I can make a five minute song pretty quickly.]

– Let’s say you’re walking down the street when a melody pops into your head. What do you do?
[I usually have an IC recorder (1). Or, to make sure I don’t forget it before I get my hands on an instrument, I’ll keep on singing it in my head, non-stop (laughs). If a melody comes while I’m in the bath, I’ll run to my guitar in the living room, still wet, without bothering to dry off. But sometimes, I’ll be trying to work out the chords, and it’s like I’ve left them in the bath.]

– Giving shape to your melodies must make you pretty happy.
[It does make me happy, it’s fun, and it’s strange. There are no words for the feeling I get from creating something out of nothing. At first, I thought there was no way something could take shape if it only existed inside my own head. Music isn’t something you can see with your eyes, but the music I make ends up as part of a CD, and that’s something visible, and if that song gets picked for a promotion video (2), then that extra level of tangibility is born. That’s incredible to think about. Things that started out in my own head alone can go out and reach people I’ve never even met. I think that’s wonderful.]

– I think that writing good melodies, composing music, must be a natural gift. Do you think there is any room for the element that might be termed your own effort?
[No, I’m not so sure it’s effort. I don’t really think it’s something that happens just because you worked hard on it, is it? You need some kind of musical talent. When it comes to studying music, you can be very knowledgeable about musical theory, and perform beautifully with your instruments, but still not be able to write a good melody. I listen to all sorts of music, and I think it’s all connected somehow. Myself, I like pretty melodies. Of course, I hear a lot of good melodies, and I think they make for good stimulation. Then again, I don’t want to let weird music get inside me. This is Japan, so the moment I get careless, some strange music is sure to get at me. Normally, in London or somewhere like that, when I get in a taxi, the driver, some old man, will be listening to Oasis or something. Then, just when I start thinking it might be the radio, it’ll turn out to be a cassette after all. That never happens in Japan.]

– What do you think makes a melody be good?
[A good melody is hard to define. It somehow squeezes my chest, strikes right at my heart. It has to get an immediate reaction upon being heard. That’s the kind of melody I can call beautiful. I don’t recall when I started applying that to my own melodies.]

– Certainly, the melodies you write are characteristically pretty and pop-ish, tetsu-san.
[When it comes to melody, I think anybody can write a rotten one. The only way to tell if an amateur is any good or not is by their melodies. Anybody can go la la la. A pro has to go beyond that and make especially beautiful music, or else the word has no meaning. A beautiful melody requires beautiful composition and beautiful expansion in order to touch people. I think that must be what’s called the melody sense. I think that as Melody Maker, I can’t help but make pretty music.]

– tetsu-san, when you compose music, are there differences in your methods depending on whether it’s for L’Arc~en~Ciel or for TETSU69, or differences in your awareness of your work? Or perhaps not?
[It’s really the same thing. There aren’t too many differences in key between hyde and I, so that’s the same. hyde’s more or less higher, but I think my falsetto is higher than his. Anyway, the key doesn’t change, so my composing isn’t affected.]

– Does the melody you create change depending on the image of the singer you have in mind?
[Sometimes it does. There are times when the image of hyde’s voice will give me something to hum. But, well, I don’t know if this will make you go “Wha-?” when I say it, but hyde’s voice and mine are similar. Sometimes when I listen to the rough tapes from way back, I find myself saying “Huh? Who’s singing this?” and I can’t tell the difference. Especially for lalala singing. When there are lyrics, it’s much easier to tell which parts are hyde and which parts are me. When it’s the lalala rough versions, I can’t always tell us apart.]

– You could say your voices are of similar quality.
[Mine is bit narrower though. Some people might think that’s a lie, but it really is true.]

– That’s for L’Arc~en~Ciel’s music, so how is TETSU69’s music different?
[That’s mostly timing. Sometimes I had to submit my songs for L’Arc in a hurry, or they wouldn’t be released. If the timing didn’t work out, I’d keep the song for my solo, where that isn’t an issue.]

– What do you think characterises the songs you write melodies for?
[I don’t think many people sing them. They’re really difficult. The melody will move a lot between low points and high points. I was once asked to write a song for a female singer, but the results never made it to a CD. I couldn’t get the voice right, so I had to change the key from my demo. I shifted it an octave, but it was a useless change in the end, and hard to do, too.]

– You could say many songs have their own requirements for being sung well.
[When I compose for TETSU69, I try to surpass my own ability as a vocalist, and it’s difficult. They aren’t simple tunes for a newcomer to sing.]

– The hurdles are rather high?
[Aren’t they? (laughs)]

– In what aspects do you refuse to yield?
[As a writer of music, it’s essential that I create good melodies.]

– When you listen to music written by other people, does is stimulate you?
[It happens.]

– The other three members of L’Arc~en~Ciel also write music. How does that influence you as Melody Maker?
[That’s a huge influence. Even overlooking the fact that we’re in a band together, and that I know them well, I still think they’re incredibly good composers.]

– The four of you write music together, but still your individual personalities come out.
[So then it’s only natural that I get stimulation from them. “That’s a good tune, I wanna make one too,” I’ll say. I’m sure there are common features to what each of us likes. Looking at our solo projects, they seem completely different at first glance, but I think there’s a common point that can be expanded upon. I think we all have some similarities, and that’s what allows us to come together as a band. We can understand each other’s goals and respect each other.]

– In what form would you say the other members have influenced you?
[They’ve influenced what I think is cool. But I don’t think I’ll be writing music that sounds like what other members have written.]

– Is there a melody you have in mind now that you’d like to create?
[No. At the recording of SMILE, I used them all up, so I don’t have any in mind now.]

– Do you want to create a melody that will be passed on to the next generation?
[It’s hard to say. Like I’ve said, anyone can hum a tune, so what I think is good might not be passed on. There are lots of tunes that make me wonder how they got to be popular. “This isn’t any good, there’s nothing to this song,” I’ll say. There are a lot of songs in the world that pass for famous music, but really aren’t (laughs).]

– Passing for famous music, that’s quite the expression (laughs).
[I find myself thinking “This song is nothing!” quite a lot. Whether it’s the arrangement’s atmosphere, the lyrics, or that person’s way of doing things, there are quite a few famous songs that I don’t think are any good. So, everyone might not agree with me that the melodies I’ve written, the ones people are likely to end up humming, are actually good.]

– You don’t have any particular desire to pass your music on?
[Music that gets passed on, in the end, turns out to be the songs that were hits, doesn’t it? So then, you could say that passing on our music has always been one of the principles behind our songwriting. Even now, I can still listen to our first song and think it’s pretty cool. It’s only natural that I want to write good music. I always squeeze it out (laughs).]

– Is there any sort of definite state you have to be in so you can squeeze it out, as you put it?
[It comes right after I’m about to give up, for me. First I’ll decide that it’s time to quit, then as soon as I start doing something else, the ideas come pouring out.]

– It sounds like you make it intentionally difficult.
[However, just because I can squeeze it out doesn’t mean I have the confidence to sell it. I don’t necessarily reach that point. Sometimes a song suitable for selling can be written by going cha cha cha. ‘Suitable’ might not be the right word, but I mean something that would get a good reputation in a situation where the strength of my shoulder didn’t matter and I could just go on playing. Oh, you’re saying “Huh?” (laughs). “Ok, here it comes, this is absolutely great,” sometimes I can put my all into it like that and the song still won’t be a much of a hit. It’s difficult when that happens.]

– As a creator, which would you rather make : something you yourself think is good, or something that many people will think is good?
[Since I have no way of knowing what people will think is good, I have no choice but to create something that I personally like. Part of the creating process is not knowing what other people are going to think. In the end, I can’t help but create all sorts of music. By driving myself to create song after song, I end up with some that don’t have much emotion to them. Of course, by creating so many, I also end up with a few good ones.]

– Do you intend to write music your whole life?
[I think I’ll stick with it. And, if people want to hear it, then I’ll be happier. Giving shape to what I have in my head brings me joy all by itself, but I think it’s better for the song’s own sake to be heard by more people than just me. That’s happiness.]

-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. IC recorders are digital voice recorders that can be conveniently used anywhere. Most of them can be clipped for hands free use, and they’re easily compatible with computer formats. Expensive little devices, though. Go back.

2. Promotion video, often abbreviated PV, is what they call music videos in Japan. Go back.

– tetsu-san, you’re not quite what they call a “perfectionist,” right?
[I’m not, but I do think perfectionism makes a good theme.]

– There’s what they call “Easy on others, strict with yourself,” right? What are you like, tetsu-san?
[In the past, the people I knew told me “You’re strict with others, but that’s because you’re also strict with yourself.” I was told “That’s what makes things so hard.”]

– Did you really think things were hard?
[Hard? Well, sure, for the things I was particular about and for the people I was particular about. Being picky takes up a lot of time. When things take too long, I might say “It’s tiring” or “I’m exhausted” or something like that. But if I get down to the line where I can think “Now this is OK,” it’s much more fun, isn’t it?]

– Yes, I think so.
[When I decide “This will be OK,” it makes me happy, and if that time comes by quickly, then I’m lucky, right? That level is high, and it takes a long time for me to give my OK, so that’s when I’ll complain that it’s tiring.]

– So, what kind of person do you think of as a perfectionist?
[Perfectionist? A perfectionist is someone who strives for perfection, right? (laughs)]

– But what sort of thing is that, really? Not just “Making it in this field is perfection!” Try projecting onto different genres. For example, is a collector of figurines or something a perfectionist?
[Take our producer, Okano (Hajime)-san. (1) He’s the type to try and complete sets of figurines and gashapon (2), but I don’t think of Okano-san as a perfectionist. He’s really funky, his rough sides are rough, and of course, he has things he’s particular about as a professional. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever met a real perfectionist. People eventually change what they’re particular about. I think everyone has their own thing to be picky about.]

– For you, tetsu-san, in your daily life, have you ever said “This is the one thing I’ll be picky about” about something? For example, “If this isn’t that brand, I don’t want it” or “This is the only brand that should be making this” about things.
[No, not really. If I like something, it’s enough that I think it’s good. I’m 100% confident about recommending everything I have at home to other people, and they’re not all functional things or designer things or wonderful things, either.]

– Oh, I see. Listening to you talk, I thought you might have some thoughts such as “This is how the interior should look” or particular tastes in clothes.
[You can call it pickyness, but I won’t wear clothes I don’t like. Anyway, I always have to wear something, right? Since I can’t go outside naked, I need to wear some kind of clothes, and of course I always have this slight urge to wear the clothes I really like. Everyone has that.]

– But, it seems like the part of you that won’t say “Well, whatever” about that sort of thing is stronger than it is in most people.
[Maybe, but I don’t especially think so.]

– I suppose. Well, it might be another of your interests, but are you particular about cars?
[Just that I want to have things nobody else has. I just hate having the same thing as someone else. Other than that, it has to be one I find cool.]

– You say you hate having the same things as others. Why might that be?
[If I bump into someone in town with the same clothes as me, I think “This sucks.” It’s the same idea. I don’t want the same thing as someone else. In fact, it applies across the board, for clothes, and for accessories. To say “This is what’s being sold now” or “This is the most popular” is common in the general public, kinda like saying “I mostly bought this to fit in.” I think there are people who follow that selling method, that buying method. But me, I want different stuff. Stuff that I think is cool. Even with the most popular things, I’ll only buy it if I actually want it, too. Everyone might have it, but if I buy it, it means “I think this is good.” But then, there are things that are like “Nobody has this because nobody wants it”… and I don’t want it either (laughs).]

– Ahahahaha! That’s right. Yet, there aren’t so many other people who have such a strong aesthetic consciousness. That might not have made you feel your best. (3)
[It’s normal, coming from me. If I think something is special, it’s a bad sign. As normal as a guy who thinks “I might be a bit of an oddball~” can get (laughs). I don’t really think I’m normal. Around the world, everyone called “artists” think of themselves as normal. I’m probably as normal as the ones who think “I’m an oddball” or “I’m an artist, so I’m a little different” to themselves.]

– Kuhahahaha…… That’s not cool.
[Since I was a kid, I always thought “I don’t want the same things as everyone else” but I can’t say I thought I was “special.” I just thought “Those other guys can buzz off.”]

– Ahahahaha! Right, right, I’m sure that’s the right sense. If you thought of your own feelings as normal, then you wouldn’t sway. I always have thought that artists get their own way of doing things.
[But, I don’t actually know that many other artists (laughs). I really don’t know much of anyone besides the members of L’Arc, and the members of my own solo band. But they’re all normal (laughs)]

-Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Quite possibly the same person mentionned back in chapter 05, as a bassist tetsu admired who is now a producer.
Go back.

2. Gashapon are those little toys you get from vending machines, encased in a hard plastic bubble. See Gashapon. Go back.

3. Please read the next few paragrpahs keeping in mind the stong Japanese tendency towards conformity. The interviewer seems to think tetsu had some bad experiences because he doesn’t like to fit in, which is rare in Japan. Go back.

– tetsu-san, you give the impression of having a good memory. Like a walking chronology.
[In the past, my memory was awesome, wasn’t it? I memorized the exact year, month, day, and place of every single live we did since the debut. But lately, my memory sucks. Probably because I have too many things to remember. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t remember playing my own bass yesterday. Then, at practice, I’ll be all “What’s this?!”]

– Eh?! You forget things so cleanly. Then, I guess you must subconsciously remember how to play?
[It’s not subconscious at all. I have to think hard and practice playing. My memory… it might really be fading.]

– Conversely, you could wonder how you were able to remember so much in the past.
[It could be a question of capacity, maybe. It’s completely stuffed now, I bet. I’m going to have to delete a few things. But it’s pretty bad, I keep forgetting my office postbox PIN number. So there are days when I can’t get into it at all. “Can’t help it…” (laughs). Well, I usually remember it by the next day. I’ve totally given up on those other days.]

– I guess this goes back to that “Tomorrow is another day” thing from the “Favourite Sayings” talk.
[You know, I never know what’s on my schedule until the day before, so I guess it fits. There are times when I go to bed wondering “What time do I need to get up tomorrow?” and I’ll answer “But I can’t ask anyone this late.”]

– So what do you do!? And what if you needed to get up early…….
[Yeah, I get in trouble. That happens a lot.]

– It feels like days go by so fast, one after the next. A year, or a month, or a week.
[They do fly by, so fast. Sometimes I think “This is bad!” to myself, and “I haven’t done anything yet, this year!” Well, I actually do get things done. I somehow get sound out every year. But, I often think “I don’t have any more in me.” I can’t tell my work, fun, and hobbies apart anymore. I get to make a living having fun and playing.]

– I’m a little jealous (laughs).
[Isn’t it nice? (laughs) After all, beyond becoming a pro, there are lots of things that just gotta be done. But I really do it all for my own sake. Above all, I won’t have anything to do with halfway measures. Not for releases and not for lives. So, it all might get to be a bit of a pain, but I never really mind.]

-That’s a very good lifestyle.
[A good life. Back in elementary school, I didn’t have a dream for when people asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” so I vaguely answered “I don’t want to be a salaryman.” Back then, I didn’t play music or anything, but that dream did come true since what I’m doing now is nothing like a salaryman’s life.]

– Going back to the topic, do you ever think “I gotta improve my memory” or “I need to do something, this is getting bad” or anything…….
[No, not really. Sometimes, it’s convenient to forget things (laughs). That way I can be impressed. I can listen to my own bass the next day and go “The hell?! This is awesome!”]

– I guess that could be seen as a good thing.
[Yeah, but I, well, can’t remember words. In lives. I kinda… can’t remember(laughs).]

-Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

– You also play the guitar on your TETSU69 solo album, right?
[Only a little bit, but I did play all the guitar solos.]

– You said you had started guitar before bass; how long ago was that?
[Back in middle school, they had guitars in music class, so that’s where I started. I wasn’t especially thinking that I wanted to play guitar at that time, though.]

– When you play the bass, how does that make you view the guitar as an instrument?
[It’s lighter than the bass, isn’t it? I think during lives, it must be so much easier (laughs). Also, the guitar stands out a lot more, right? There are lots of guitar heroes, but there aren’t really any bass heroes, are there? I own some guitars too, and I end up playing them at home more than I do the bass.]

– So, could you say that you like the guitar more than the bass?
[Nah, I play the guitar, but sometimes I feel more like playing the bass. I can be a bit bratty like that. Sometimes I play the bass as if it was a guitar, just to see. But really, there’s a way to play guitar, and a way to play bass. Well, back when I didn’t even own a single bass, I somehow got a hold of a bunch of guitars. I had about five.]

– Have you ever thought about becoming a guitarist instead?
[Nah. Looking at it as a thing, it’s just easier to buy guitars, kinda like buying toys. For the bass as a thing, there aren’t many that strike me as cool. But I will go “Ah, this guitar is cool, I want it, I’ll buy it.” I still do that now. There are a lot more cool guitars, so there are a lot more I want.]

– So, do you have a lot of guitars now?
[I have some. Probably less than 20.]

– What do you think are the interesting points of the guitar?
[I’ve never thought about it in that much detail. I just play.]

– tetsu-san, when you were in middle school, the guitarist ken-san lived nearby, right? What did you think of him as a guitarist?
[By middle school, ken-chan was already incredibly good. He was by far the best around. That’s why I thought he was cool. I wanted to be like that, too. Then, I was trying to be as good as him. Back then, there was more emphasis on technique than on whatever type of music it was, especially for hard rock and heavy metal. It mattered how fast you could play. You had to practice a lot, or you’d regret it.]

– In your activities for TETSU69, when you played guitar, what were you being picky about?
[I guess when I play guitar, I try to make it delicious. What I play has to be simple, and yet stand out at the same time. I make guitar solos and main themes so that they’ll get stuck in your head. I have fun making a lot of delicious bits like that. I’m a slut for them (laughs). I don’t think any part of me but Melody Maker (1) can really connect with the guitar.]

– From now on, what do you think will happen with your guitarist side?
[I have no idea. How far can I take the guitar? I might not even play it anymore. I made the first album by trial and error, just one song at a time. I worked with lots of different people. So, I can’t see what the next thing will be, yet. If I think it’ll be fun, I’ll probably do it, but even I can’t tell if I will or not. Oh, yeah, on L’Arc’s new album, I played one of the guitar solos (laughs). I might end up doing more guitar for L’Arc. It’s one of my own songs, so at the demo stage I temporarily put in my own guitar solo. At the actual recording, ken-chan kept on playing the intro instead, so I said I’d show him how it’s done. I just meant “it should be like this” but when we gave it a listen, we decided to keep mine. We used it just like it was. I had a guitar the technicians hadn’t even adjusted. I guess I played it just right.]

– Is it because of that relaxed feeling that you were able to do such a good a take?
[I never know if a take was good or not. It’s not that important. It’s not that I actively wanted to play the guitar part. ken-chan’s playing is fundamentally right for L’Arc~en~Ciel. It’s just an occasional kind of thing.]

-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Melody Maker is one of tetsu’s ‘characters’ or ‘personas’. Others are mentionned in the booklet for Suite November, such as TERRY TETZ and TETSUKO. Go back.

– When did you first start liking an artist, and who was it?
[I liked Julie (Sawada Kenji) (1). I think it must have been around third year of elementary school. I did a lot of singing in school. At break time, I’d go up on a platform with my friends (laughs). I wouldn’t do it by myself, I couldn’t go alone. I was shy. Still, I sang with one of my friends. But everyone else was doing their own thing, so it felt like nobody was watching (laughs)]

– Which of Sawada-san’s songs did you sing back then?
[[Katte ni shiyagare], or [Casablanca Dandy], or [TOKIO].]

– The performances too?
[That’s right. I didn’t have the parachute though (laughs). I had the hat for [Casablanca Dandy] that he throws. I tried throwing mine, too. I tried the trick where he drinks bourbon and then makes it come out his mouth, only I used water (laughs)]

– Was it because of TV music programs that you started to like him?
[I think so. I guess I saw it on TV and it drew me in. Oh, I also did an imitation of Judy Ong, with the school curtain. I really liked the song [Miserarete] (2). I liked singing it. But I had absolutely no interest in the music world. Time kind of flies after that. Around sixth year of elementary, I liked stuff like YMO (3)or Ippudo (4). YMO was popular, so it was only natural. I think the first things I noticed were looks and hairstyles. I had a techno cut, too (laughs). I think I heard Ippudo before [Sumire September Love] was a hit. Tsuchiya (Masami)-san did audio advertisements, and wore armour-ish stuff, I thought that was cool. I must have gotten into Tsuchiya-san for his looks. Back then, I was kind of a conceited kid, and I made fun of my classmates a bit. People around me listened to whatever was popular, so I’d make fun of them for listening to such childish stuff.]

– Were you interested in instruments back then?
[No, not at all. I honestly didn’t do anything with instruments. I didn’t give a single thought to playing them or to making my own music. Then, in middle school, I started listening to more western music.]

– What kind of western music did you start with?
[First was Billy Joel. After that, I listened to a ton of British music. Duran Duran was incredibly popular. I was into the New Romantics Boom (5) people, like Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, and so on. I probably got started because of their looks, too. There were quite a lot of cases where I got interested in artists because of looks. If I watched a singer, a performer, who was plain, it left me cold (laughs). On the inside, I thought it should be required for a performer to look cool before they were allowed to appear on TV. I used to watch western music shows like [MTV] or [Best Hit USA] and tape them so I could check better. By the way, whenever I watched those shows, heavy metal was guaranteed to be on (laughs). And I hated distorted guitars. I used to watch the taped shows over and over every day until the next week’s show, so I gradually learned all those metal songs. Then, from hearing them so much, I gradually got to thinking they were pretty good (laughs). I started making more friends who were into metal, because metal was big in Kansai. (6)]

– Indeed, many bands came out of Kansai, didn’t they?
[It’s because Loudness came out with [Young Oh! Oh!]. Everyone saw that, and it made a comeback. And so metal came in, gradually.]

– Who were the first metal artists you thought were good?
[Ozzie Osbourne, Mötley crüe. Also, when Quiet Riot came out with [Cum On Feel the Noize], I heard it on the radio and thought it was a great song. Even though it’s distorted (laughs). After that, I lost my prejudices and listened to more heavy metal and hard rock. In first and second year of middle school, my senpai lived right across from my house, and I always went over to play. ken-chan also went over there a lot. The three of us always listened to music. They got me into Micheal Schenker, Scorpions, Whitesnake, (7) stuff like that. They both liked heavy metal and hard rock. They’d say “Duran Duran? Fuck it, that’s what girls listen to.” and I was all “Oh, is that so…” (laughs). So that was how I got immersed in the world of heavy metal and hard rock.]

– So you started listening to a lot of it.
[That’s right. Then there was the LA Metal Boom (8), and I started listening to Loudness, 44 Magnum, Earth Shaker, (9) and other Japanese metal bands and indie bands. I started growing my hair out. I remember saying to myself “rock starts with long hair.”]

– Of course, appearance is important.
[Yeah.]

– Would you say you were influenced by any artist’s lifestyle, or by the content of their lyrics?
[That didn’t really happen. I was more influenced by fashion. Well, in middle school I was just starting to want a band, then from the time I started high school, having a band became my main focus. I started up a cover band of Dead End. (10) Around then, there were only three patterns for bands; either copies of Laughin’Nose, copies of BOOWY
(11) or copies of overseas metal bands. Our band was a copy of a Japanese indie metal band. I really loved Dead End.]

– What was it you liked about them?
[At first, it was just MORRIE-san and CRAZY COOL JOE-san’s (12) looks, but the more I listened to their music, the more I thought it was cool. I listened to other music too. I even listened to U2. I tried to get a feel for a little bit of everything. At one point, I even joined Oosawa Yoshiyuki-san’s (13) fanclub. That was back in middle school, but I was member number 90. I thought it was cool to be a bassist. That was about Okano Hajime-san (14) though. And then, I listened to TM Network. I still have their debut single, [Kinyoubi no RAION] (15).]

– So you had no problem with either local music or foreign music. [Yeah. I just listened to music without paying attention to whether it was local or foreign. There are some people who stop listening to anything Japanese once they get into Western music, right? They get so full of themselves because they listen to Western music. They make the mistake of thinking they’re better than people who listen to Japanese music. I called those guys idiots. “There’s no way -you- can be better” (laughs). I even liked stuff like PuriPuri (Princess Princess)] (16). ]

– What made you start to like PuriPuri?
[Around third year of high school, I had a part-time job at a record store. The manager of the record shop I was at had metal hair, and that store would always get a hold of the newest information. When I came in to work, he’d tell me things like “This just came in, give it a listen.” He put thought into his business, so he didn’t deal only in metal. He sold normal CDs too. The store had both Japanese music and Western music. So, I was surrounded by all sorts of music. The store played a lot of samples, so customers got to hear them. Back then I liked (Street)Sliders, and Personz, Junska(Jun Sky Walkers), Echoes, and Barbee Boys.]

– You were still working at the record store when L’Arc formed, right?
[Around when L’Arc formed, I worked at a different record store. It was more of a maniac store, and rock was the main thing. They wouldn’t carry Enka (17). The first store did have Enka, but it didn’t like to deal with the Enka customers. When someone asked “Where can I find So-and-So?” they’d just answer “I dunno.” Back then, I wouldn’t have minded if Enka vanished off the face of the Earth. The next store I worked at never carried Enka in the first place, so when someone came looking for it we could reply “We don’t have Enka around here.” It was fun (laughs). You know how there’s stuff that isn’t Enka, but sounds a lot like it? It’s all the same to me; I don’t let it near my ears. If I heard any Enka, it might influence me a bit without my noticing it. I don’t want it’s input, I don’t want to know it (laughs).]

– What do you think of the classics?
[I really haven’t paid attention to classical music, but I like it. I like Bach and Beethoven. I have a CD from a project to compile the delicious parts of all the major tunes in only three minutes. It’s good. Even though I never listen to them, I think I’ve been influenced by the classics. I think even the melodies I write have classical elements to them. Oh, and since I like movies so much, I think I’ve been influenced by movie music too.]

– Since you’ve become a pro, someone who creates music, do you interpret it differently now?
[No, nothing like that’s happened.]

– Is L’Arc~en~Ciel stimulated by other artists at all?
[Are we? Who could it be? I guess you could say, early Radiohead. Or Smapa (Smashing Pumpkins). I stopped working at record stores ever since we went pro, so I’m starting to neglect it (laughs). Later, I somehow started liking Oasis, so I guess I might have been influenced by them, too.]

– Your common point must be writing such pretty melodies.
[But I don’t listen to The Beatles. I know I’ve said that a lot. My bassist side might have been influenced by Paul McCartney, because I have heard The Beatles. But I never really listened to them. The part of their music that I do know is what happenned to make it to my ears. Very little, really. When I became a pro, I borrowed some from the director and listenned. It didn’t fit in with what normally makes me think “Hey, that’s pretty good.” On the other hand, I do think Oasis is good. There seems to be a trend in the Japanese music industry where every pro listens to The Beatles. I really hate trends like that. I don’t think listening to The Beatles is necessary to become a pro, or to write music.]

– That’s where your own personality comes out, tetsu-san.
[I hate it when everyone says everyone needs to do something one particular way. Oh, lately it’s been No Doubt, Garbage, or Linkin Park. And my big hit last year was Good Charlotte. It was my thing the year before last, but it was only released in Japan last year. I started liking it around fall, two years ago, when I heard it in America.]

– They have good melodies, don’t they?
[Good Charlotte’s melodies are the greatest.]

– When do you listen to music, these days?
[I guess I might not be listening to music at all lately, besides what I make myself. Despite my lifestyle, I don’t go to CD stores, and even if I watch music programs, sometimes nothing I like will play, and it’s boring. You could say I don’t care for most of the music going around the world, these days. I think there are few good melodies in me. I have a habit of not taking in worthless information, so when I have no interest in an artist, I really mean zero interest. It’s a pain to have to go through so much music I don’t like in order to find something I do like. I can buy a lot of CDs and only find one that’s honestly good. I think it might just be a bad era.]

– As you listen to different music, tetsu-san, as a songwriter yourself who gives life to melodies, do you feel self-conscious at all about that connection?
[The music I listenned to in the past is still inside me, so I think that music must naturally come out and influence me.]

-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Nicknamed Julie because he really liked Julie Andrews. Started out as a singer in The Tigers, then had a long solo career. He also did a lot of acting. See his filmography or this site for other info. He is still quite popular. Go back.

2. Judy Ong was originally from Taiwan, but she was a huge pop star in Japan in the 60s and 70s. She also appeared in a few movies and dramas. Miserarete means “Bewitched” and was one of her greatest hits. Go back.

3. YMO stands for Yellow Magic Orchestra. The were a very influential techno/electronic group in the 70s. See their official Sony listing. Go back.

4. Ippudo was a New Wave/Techno Pop group from the 80s. They were hugely popular, and some of their stuff was released worldwide. Sumire September Love (sumire means violet) was their best known hit. Tsuchiya Masami is a member of this group. Not to be confused with the popular ramen restaurant chain of the same name. Go back.

5. The New Romantics Boom was a musical trend. It came out of England, after punk was popular. It combines keyboards and very emotive and unusual guitar sounds. The bands mentioned are good examples of this style. Go back.

6. Kansai is the western side of Honshuu, Japan’s largest island. Major cities included in that region are Kyoto, Kobe, and of course, tetsu’s hometown, Osaka. Go back.

7. Scorpions (German) and Whitesnake (American) are both best described as hair metal. See the-Scorpions.com and Whitesnake.com. Go back.

8. The LA metal boom is essentially the birth of thrash, which in turn is non-hardcore(ie, no screaming), fast, metal-punk fusion music. Go back.

9. All Japanese metal acts. See LOUDNESS ON SITE, EARTHSHAKER.JP. Go back.

10. Dead End were a J-rock group who will be mentionned quite a lot from now on. Seems they were very influential on tetsu, as well as the rest of L’Arc. For instance, in the “Zombies” special live, they did a cover of the Dead End song Spider In The Brain. See DEAD END for a discography. Go back.

11. Both of these were J-Rock acts, though Laughin’Nose tends more towards punk. See Laughin’Nose and BO0WY Go back.

12. Two members of Dead End; the vocalist and bassist respectively. Go back.

13. Oosawa Yoshiyuki was a solo vocalist, and his work can still be found in online CD stores. Little other information seems available. Go back.

14. Okano Hajime had quite an active career. He was the bassist for the bands Pink, Pugs, Tokyo Bravo, and Cioccolata, did some vocal work, and eventually went on to produce other artists. Go back.

15. TM Network are actually still around and active. See TM NETWORK. The song name means [Friday’s Lion]. Go back.

16. Princess Princess were an all-girl rock band formed via audition. See this site . Go back.

17. Enka is a traditional style of Japanese music, though something similar exists in China and Korea. The vocal style is unique and hard to describe. The lyrics are typically written in very formal style. Overall, it is not a genre typically loved by the young. Go back.

– When did you have your first encounter with the bass?
[It must have been my first or second year of middle school. I had been playing guitar before that, though. I used to play a lot at one senpai’s (1) house, nearby. I played guitar there. I didn’t especially plan it. It just happened. ken-chan, who also came to that senpai’s house, said to me “tetsu, how about you try the bass?” so I asked “What’s a bass?” and found out it’s like a guitar with four strings instead of six. I thought with four strings, it must be easier, so I bought one. I got it through a catalogue, but when it came I was shocked by how big it was! It’s huge! (laughs)]

– You can’t see that from a catalogue, right?
[Right. I had no idea. So, even back then, ken-chan was taller than me. I was the little one. I remember thinking “How come I get stuck with the gigantic instrument?” (laughs) But really, instead of both of us playing guitar, I was better off with the bass.]

– How was it when you actually started playing?
[I didn’t normally play by myself. That’s no fun! (laughs) Really, guitar was more interesting. I felt like they’d tricked me into it. I started playing the bass more and more when we got together at that senpai’s house. Since around the time I bought that first bass, I’ve been playing it. I say that now but, even though I thought “why don’t you guys play this thing instead?” a lot, it really grew into a part of me. Even though it was boring at first (laughs). Normally, when I get something new, I end up getting bored. But, the other senpai, whose house we were at, he played the drums. I played with him and ken-chan. They started out as a drum and guitar duo, and then I came along. We had lots of fun together, it was great. That’s how it all started. Back in second or third year of middle school.]

– What did you play back then?
[Covers, of Scorpions’ “Big City Nights” or of Michael Schenker’s stuff. (2) I remember, that drummer senpai was really very good. I don’t think he reached that level just by goofing around with us. That’s also the time when being in a band started to appeal to me. I wanted to start up a band of my own, so I started looking for members. More than just playing the bass, I wanted to play in a band. If my senpai had pushed me toward playing drums, I’d have been happy with that. If I’d stayed with guitar, I’d have been happy with that too. I just wanted to be in a band. If skateboards had been popular, I’d have bought one, gotten everyone together, and had us all skateboard together. I almost ended up being a skateboarder. It was another one of my hobbies. At that time, I really wasn’t thinking about going pro with any of it, though.]

– But as you played, the bass became more interesting, didn’t it? [Well, I didn’t really practice that much. I’ve almost never spent much time practicing, over my life.]

– To be able to play the way you do without practicing much, that must be proof of your talent, right?
[I guess my fingers just move right. But even now, I’m still a bassist. It’s really a quite recent thing for me to really feel an appreciation for the bass. Since around the recording of SMILE (laughs). Until then, I just kept on doing it without really thinking too deeply about it. That’s why now, I think the older stuff I’ve done is terrible. I didn’t know anything. I wasn’t looking at it properly, so now it sounds like a car wreck to me.]

– But you didn’t get where you are now without accidents, did you?
[They might have been what carried me along. So, sometimes some aspect of the music I make will turn out badly. It’s only lately that I’ve started seeing that as a way to move forward (laughs). Recently, I’ve wanted to set myself apart as a bassit. I want to be an awesome bassist.]

– Set yourself apart? So, what kind of bassist would be an ideal example?
[There haven’t ever been any bassists I particularly liked. I don’t know very many by name. I’ve never said “I want to be a bassist just like this guy” or anything. Lately, I finally found a bassist I liked. I don’t know his name, but he’s the new bass player for Jane’s Addiction. (3) He’s messy, but it’s in a cool way. I don’t like Jane’s Addiction’s music that much, but I’ll listen to it just for the bass. There are a lot of talented people out there, but raw skill has never been what I’m aiming for. But, that guy from Jane’s addiction does something like what I want to do. To put in words, it’s a splattery sort of playing.]

– Personally, I think your bass work is quite lyrical, but what are you particular about when you’re performing?
[I guess I can’t help but be picky, but I don’t really know what’s particular about my own preformance.]

– But I’ve heard that your preformances can’t be reproduced.
[Even I can’t perfectly reproduce them (laughs).]

– Could you say a little about the instruments themselves, as in maker, shape, or colour?
[I’ve got quite a collection of them. I have a lot, but one favourite is my rare Fender Jazz Bass. It’s got some value as an antique, and I like vintage stuff like that. I used to have a preference for more hyper, ultra-fine ones though.]

– How many do you own now?
[Over 100. Most are in storage. There are some that I’ve never played after I bought them. I like rare things, so it’s fun for me to have this collection. Over the years, I’ve hesitated less over buying new ones, especially when I might not get a second chance. I do use them for recording once in a while. I like my instruments, so when I do record with them, I make sure it ends up on a CD. I think they’re happier being bought by me than by some layman (laughs). It’s like a rescue, but for instruments.]

– How many do you keep ready?
[Less than 10, usually. The rest go into storage, unless I go pick them up for a recording.]

– What exactly is a bass to you, tetsu-san? How do you feel about that instrument?
[Nothing that special. There are some people who keep on playing an instrument until it’s down to the last string, right? Personally, I’d rather replace it. That might just be because I have so many. If there’s a day for a four-seater, there’s also a day for a sports type. (4) I don’t squeeze that much out of a single one. I’m not the type who gets that fixated on a single one. There might be some merit in using the same one down to the last string, you’d get used to the neck, for example, but I can’t bring myself to go that far. I have a more “try a bit of everything” type of personality. Or maybe try a bit of a few things (laughs).]

-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Senpai is a senior in school or work. The opposite word for junior is kouhai. Go back.

2. Scorpions were a german metal band from the 1980s. Micheal Schenker was their guitarist, who then did a lot of solo stuff and work with other bands. See : Michael Schenker Himself Go back.

3. See : Jane’s Adiction Go back.

4. It sounds like he’s making an analogy to different kinds of cars here. Go back.

[Favourite sayings? I don’t really know any sayings. None! “One good deed a day” (1) or something…… Or at least one good meal a day. Yeah right. (laughs) “Tomorrow is another day.” (2) “The child matures even without the parent.” (3) Am I wrong? What kind of thing is that, a favourite saying? ……Oh, I like books that are a collection of sayings and things like that. I like a book that can be read all in one shot. The kind of book you can pick up and leave off any time.]

– Those collections of sayings, are they something you read just in case you need them?
[Yeah. I do that when I want to get a few hints. The ones I read and respond to end up influencing me quite a bit. It’s because I’m the kind of person who listens to other people’s opinions a lot. Though, I end up thinking “I don’t like that phrasing” pretty often, don’t I? But, phrasing is only one side of things. I can rearrange that, and the content’s still OK, right? Most Japanese say phrasing is very important. They think saying things at the right time, in the right order, in the right situation controls things, so they say not to speak if you can’t keep track of all that, and to blend in whenever possible. I have times when I think “I don’t want to say that to him,” or “This is a nasty way of putting things,” but I get things said anyway. I like to hear as many different opinions from as many different people as possible. I look at things calmly and judge for myself. I think it’s wrong to reject a perfectly good idea just because it was phrased badly.]

– That’s a great thing to say, but it must be very hard to do sometimes.
[It is hard. I can’t always do exactly what I intend to do. I’m only human.]

– “Favourite sayings” doesn’t really sound like a very concrete term, but more of a basis for judgement of thoughts or actions, wouldn’t you say so?
[I don’t think that sounds quite right. Lately I’ve applied “Keep it simple, keep it simple” to things, like my thoughts. I’m making everything simple. When I’ve got too many things piled up, I get rid of some to keep it simple. After that, I think I’ll make it simple inside my head too, starting with my feelings.]

– Is that becoming important to you now, as tetsu the artist?
[Is it? Well, I think I’m making recording itself simpler. In the physical sense. For example, I’ve got over 100 bass guitars now. Playing every one of them just to find the one that goes best with a tune would be too much. Plus, I’d have to find the right amp to go with that bass too, wouldn’t I? And then what about the speakers? Testing all that out would be a huge workload. Rather than spending all that time, I’ve started feeling that I’m better off focusing on just recording a good take. A while back, I spent a lot more time on producing the sounds. I kept about 50 instruments ready in the studio. Now, though, I’ve got my priorities straight. I feel like I really know what’s more important now.]

– For an artist, “Keep it simple” is a good motto to live by, isn’t it?
[Yeah. It applies to everything, really. It applies to making music, it applies to machines. I’ve always been able to simplify things. But now, I’ve made simplifying into a priority. I think it’s becoming a bit of a my boom (4)for me.]

– But do you feel you’ve had a “my boom” with sayings in general, or is that something different?
[Let’s see…… A “sayings boom”…… Well, I guess “Tomorrow is another day” isn’t it?]

– Are you that type, then, tetsu-san? I can see you as a “Tomorrow is another day, so let’s leave things be for now” type.
[I’m probably not a “Tomorrow is another day” type of person. I’m more of a “Hit a stone bridge running” (5)type. (laughs) In my late teens and early 20s, even now, a lot of people have said that to me. I think it’s because of my positive way of thinking about things. I go around thinking everything is good, so then even when I don’t know what to do next, I carry on that way, using it to my advantage. So, there might be times when it would be too weird to carry on happily, but I wouldn’t bet on it.]

– You have such a positive way of thinking, but do you ever think that you aren’t really that optimistic on the inside?
[No way. So, I don’t really know about that “Tomorrow is another day” thing from before. I think more like “Do what you want to do the way you want to do it.”]

– Is there a particular instant when you felt that way?
[An instant… Well, there was the time I went to a friend’s funeral. I had never experienced anything like that before. There hadn’t been any funerals in my family at all. So, the first funeral I ever went to was for that one classmate. I thought about how strange it is, seeing a dead person. As in, “Why won’t he wake up? Why won’t he move?” Then I realized how incredibly fragile humans are when it comes to death. So that’s why I think it’s important to do what you want, how you want, before you die.]

– So that was a turning point for you?
[Way back, when I was in elementary school, I already knew I didn’t want to be another ordinary salaryman (6). That friend of mine died just a bit before graduation, when I was in third year of high school. That’s when I thought hard about doing exactly what it was I wanted to do, which was to start up a band. I got really serious about it for the first time. But, I wasn’t especially trying to go pro with it yet.]

– Well, this last question isn’t related to favourite sayings at all, but what’s your goal for 2004?
[Goal? ……Well, I guess it’s Reset and Next. For both my work and my private life. There are a lot of things I’d like to go back to square one with, look at them with a fresh eye. I’m turning 35 this year, aren’t I? I think I’ve finally reached a typical 25 year old’s mentality (laughs). I think I’ll follow some good advice, and take shortcuts where I can find them, since I’d like to be more efficient.]

-Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke

Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. A proverb, written with the kanji meaning ‘one day one good’.Go back.

2. Literally, tomorrow’s wind will blow tomorrow. Means, we’ll see what happens tomorrow, or just let it be until tomorrow. Go back.

3. This one means “Kids don’t require parents to grow up”. Possibly misquoted, as I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Go back.

4. My boom is a strange bit of engrish slang that means being really, really into something. Crazy over it, even. Go back.

5. tetsu’s making a play on the saying “To hit a stone bridge while crossing.” This means being very cautious, as in periodically checking the bridge by hitting it. The tetsu version implies pretty much the opposite, because it’s not very cautious to just dash across, hitting or no hitting. Go back.

6. A salaryman is just a business man, an office worker, a white-collar job person. It’s a pretty common term in Japanese. Go back.