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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 086 - Show Interview

Their own "alicenine."

At their 15th anniversary tour final that was held at Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall on August 10, their band name changed back to the original "alicenine." from the "A9" that we have gotten familiar with over the last 5 years. Although we heard the reason behind this in the previous issue from the band's frontman, Show, in this issue, we ask each of the members to talk about their feelings towards "alicenine.". With what kind of feelings did they have when facing this band name and the "blend of Japanese and Western styles" concept 15 years ago? Everyone has their own image of "alicenine.", so that means we should be able to see many aspects of the band that is alicenine.

alicenine.'s vocalist Show, who is making his second consecutive appearance in this magazine. In the previous issue, we had Show talk about the reason behind changing the band name back from "A9" to "alicenine.", about alicenine. and the current state of the music scene, from the point of a view of a businessman who is responsible for the band's strategy. This time, as the person who named this band, including with what feelings he had when he named the band, we closed in on Show's point of origin = "darkness". Only because there is poison, there is beauty.

Changing your band name back from "A9" to "alicenine.", you have made a new start. News that you had changed your band name generated a huge response to the point that it was even trending on Twitter worldwide.

Show: That's right. First of all, by changing our name to "A9", from an outsider's perspective, isn't there also the point of view that there could be "people who think that it's not interesting" that the five of us are doing activities? There was this feeling. No matter how much we say that we are doing things properly, there will be a small percentage of doubts. I think that that also goes for the people who really support us. There was this strange feeling of having to correct yourself from saying "alicenine", which we had gotten used to, to "A9". We were painfully aware that everyone felt that way, so in order to overcome that strange feeling, we thought that one of our missions was to change our band name back.

Is that so? And so you changed the band stylisation back to the katakana and kanji mix, reclaiming your band name.

Show: As we were doing our band activities, the music scene in Asia was really livening up, and on a global level, the position of music from Asia was elevated, so as a form on content from Japan, we had to also do our best. So as a "weapon" for that, and furthermore, to show our intention as a band that "returned to their origin", we changed our stylisation to the original "alicenine.".

So does that mean in other words, the choice of this stylisation also has the intention of being on the offensive?

Show: If we were to never change our band name in the future again, I thought that changing it to the English stylisation of "Alice Nine" would be the safest move. I am responsible for design, so from that point of view, it's really difficult to handle; the peculiarity of アリス九號. is too strong. But the overall consensus from the members was a choice that wasn't a safe bet, so in that respect, it really is an attack.

Were there any moments where you felt that the band name had really changed back?

Show: I guess that would be at Tora's birthday live, where I was boldly able to say "We're alicenine.". I thought that it was different from before. Because in the 5 years until then, we did not say it at all.

It was "We're A9".

Show: Right. When the words "alicenine." were born, we had nothing. But the phrase just stirs up the edgy side inside of us, or rather, the poison. It made me think, "So the name "alicenine." has that kind of ring to it and that kind of power to it".

Does that mean the name "A9" stirred up something different inside you?

Show: That might be the case. The source of my creativity are aggressive things, like hatred and grudges, so now that you mention it, there are just some feelings that "A9" doesn't stir up. Even when A9 was caught up in the affairs of the adults without knowing what was what, maybe it's because that we had grown mentally too, but none of that intense, deep black hatred was stirred up. But in the initial period of alicenine., I had done things with a thirst for blood, so this name does stir up those feelings.

No one could get that feeling of bloodlust from looking at the "A9" logo.

Show: Because it's only made up of symbols. When I gave the band the name “alicenine.", for me, there was an actual reason for choosing the word "alice". From when I was a young child to when I was in my teens, I had always thought that perhaps one day when you woke up, you would be a different person. Just like "Alice in Wonderland", perhaps you could fall down a hole and end up in a different world. I was the kind of person who lived having those kinds of fantasies.

What was is that pushed you that far?

Show: It was the expectations of my parents. But I was unable to meet their expectations. There was nothing that made me feel proud of myself. Ever since I was old enough to understand the world around me until elementary school exams, I had received special education. During this special education, I would always run away during class, and my parents and the teachers would find me and bring me back to class. So as a result of me turning and running away from my studies, there was nothing left for me, and there was nothing that could validate my self worth. So I had no choice but to escape from reality. The desire for that kind of person to want to escape from reality is embedded in the name "アリス ( "alice")". The "九號 ("nine")." part is from "(N)INE" of "NUMBER (N)INE (an apparel brand)", which I turned into "九 ("nine")" later, and when I combined it with "アリス", the first thing I thought was that it seemed like a strong name. When I looked up the meaning of "九" on Wikipedia, it said that "In Japanese cosmology, it means the greatest and the strongest", so I chose "九". The basis for me choosing this band name is my low self-esteem, which gave me no choice but to escape from reality, and the feeling of wanting to become stronger in spite of this.

Now that we know about your mentality, we can see your gloomy character and introspective world, especially in the songs during the initial period of the band.

Show: That's right. Precisely because of my view on life and death and because I was in a hopeless hole in the ground where there was only self-denial, there was the light that looked sparkling and beautiful. That is the root of my expression.

It was all you could aspire to; a world that was shining brightly with light. Even though you look like a prince (laughs).

Show: I think that if I really were a prince that was shining brightly, the stars would not shine. Because the prince himself is the one that is shining. For some reason, lately, many people have been saying to me "Show, let's do what is that the root of your expression".

Saga talked passionately about that in this issue.

Show: In terms of how my resources are used, I have the temperament of a creator, so I'm a moody, unpleasant, desperate, and clumsy person. But Saga tells me things, Ken (L'Arc～en～Ciel) tells me things, and Kei (BAROQUE) tells me things. So as someone on the receiving end of being told things, I had somehow managed to do things in a good way. Things were different at the very beginning. I took the lead and actively decided on everything.

When alicenine. first formed?

Show: Yes. For songs, I would be giving instructions to everyone, like "Let's do this kind of song next", and we would jam in the studio and make songs that way. From the setlist to the homepage to the flyers; I did everything. So when the band's level began to gradually increase, all of a sudden, it had hit me. That I sucked at singing (awkward smile).

It's not as though you were aiming to become a vocalist. And yet this band had required a vocalist that could sing well.

Show: I had painfully realised that I was awful at singing, and so once again, I lost my confidence. That's when Saga had started to work really hard for us.

In other words, that is where the baton for the musical leader had changed.

Show: That's right.

But after becoming A9 and managing the band yourselves, you have suddenly changed into a frontman with unshakeable confidence. You have the determination to pull in the audience with your emotional talking, such as saying "As long as you are happy, I don't care if people are laughing behind our backs. I will do anything for you", and since becoming a confident frontman, there has been no wavering in your singing. I think that your awareness as a frontman had completely changed once you became A9. What are your thoughts on this?

Show: All of one's life and humanity shows in singing. Although I was really bad at singing when alicenine. first formed, I was overflowing with the energy like that of a stray dog saying, "Just watch me, I'm going to rise to the top". What left an impression on me was a blog post from someone who had watched us at an event at the time, saying "What the hell is with these guys? They can't do a single thing right, but they have this overwhelming aura of winners. You can't help but feel overwhelmed by them".

Even though you were bad, the aura that you were winners was on full display.

Show: At first, that was good in its own way. But before we knew it, we made our major debut after 1 year. That meant that from there on, our craft was commercialised. To become commercialised means that what determines what the correct answer is is not the creator, but the customer. It's a matter of whether the customer wants it or not. When we reframed our activities in that manner, at the time, I did not have the tolerance, the skills, or the personality to take on the burden of expression as a commercial business. On top of that, including the staff, no one had said anything to me about my singing.

Like "You're off pitch"?

Show: Yeah. I want to tell my past self to say "Someone teach me how to sing" (laughs).

In a previous issue of "ROCK AND READ", you also said that none of the members had ever pointed out problems with your singing.

Show: Like "This is what sucks about him but this is what he's good at". The same applies to all the members. Even if we are severely lacking in something, we all have our own unique capabilities. We're a band that combines such unique capabilities.

What was the reason behind the dramatic change to your singing, which was something you were lacking in, in A9?

Show: I said that singing shows one's life and humanity, but until the change to A9, I had not understood what it meant for the people who came to hear the music live, and the true essence of that. Music is very black. Even though they don't know what it will be like live, the audience pays really far ahead in advance, and they are even required to make an additional payment for handling fees. Even if they were to buy tickets many months in advance, the tickets are done by lottery, and even if you were to score a ticket, the ticket has a certain entry number. Despite such unreasonable conditions, they come to see us live and headbang. Considering that this is a service industry, compared to other services, isn't it a very failed service? But of all the options available to them, they purposely choose music and come to see us live. It was around the 9th year that I was able to intrinsically understand the significance of that. Since then, I've been doing music not as my job, but with the feelings of living out each and every day to the maximum. It was from around the "Alice Nine 9th Anniversary #1 "World's End Daybreak"" tour where the audience gradually understood that we were being serious about it.

From then on, music was not work, but had become your life.

Show: Yes. That way, I understood what the audience was doing for us, and when I treated the audience with the determination that was aware of that, I began to see something different. I look at each and every person and wonder what I can do for them. If the capacity of the venue is 350 people, it is not just 350 people. For example, although to the person who is at the very back of Takadanobaba AREA against the wall and probably can only see a small part of me, all I can do for them is to reach my hand out to them and sing in this 8-bar rhythm, and have them feel that. That is what I am doing with each and every person now. By doing so, I can finally face each and every person that comes to see us live, and for the first time, I can exist as a frontman. I think that was probably communicated to you. So it's not a simple matter of me being able to be on pitch now.

In the past, with what kind of feelings did you have while standing on stage?

Show: I was scared when the audience was pushing towards the front, and I didn't know what to do. So I did my best to put on a brave face. Now I am standing on the stage making it a point to consider each and every person in the room. If we are playing a solo show, it's for two and a half hours. It's about just how much we can make it a valuable memory in the lives of the people who come to see us. I don't think of it as us offering time, but I constantly think about shining as something important to them and as sharing something with each other. That is why everyday, as if it was an ordinary thing to do, I stretch while listening to the music of the world. Even when I go to restaurants and such, I think about whether or not I can utilise this hospitality with the band. It's not as though I am working hard on each and every thing separately; it's connected like a neural network. I think that this becomes my humanity and my singing, and is being communicated to everyone. Since I only think about what I can do for each and every person that comes to see us play live and how I should face them, I don't mind dancing or acting. To us, there is a single connection between each and every thing and there are no lies there, so I think we are able to do that kind of thing without any hesitation.

That means that there is a single connection in terms of how you live your life.

Show: Right. I am not telling any lies when I am on stage. The way I live my life shows on stage. If I think that at least on the outside, I have to be everyone's prince, then it will just be a live show where some guy putting on airs is trying to do Visual-kei music. So rather, it's my attitude. It really is about how I live my life. The way I'm talking makes me sound like I'm in a punk rock band though (laughs).

alicenine. is a band where it is difficult to see the essence of that. When you first formed, people called you a band that only had good looks or an idol band, but since becoming A9, you all set down your instruments and actually danced like idols, so some people wondered what it was that you wanted to do. When you said earlier that there was a single connection, I feel like that is hard to communicate to other people apart from fans.

Show: I suppose so. alicenine. fans really are strong, to love this kind of rubbish prince.

I'm sure that fans were also asked things like "Who is A9?" and "Why are they dancing, even though they're a band?".

Show: And yet they don't get startled. I think the essence is communicated to the audience who come to watch us live now.

The bond between you and your fans has gotten stronger.

Show: Yes, I feel that way.

Even though you're a rubbish prince.

Show: It makes me want to apologise to them (laughs). Even so, we bare our hearts and face each and every person without lying to them, so that their lives can shine even brighter. That is all that I can say as alicenine.'s Show.

And so, "Let's become stars".

Show: Oh. I don't have any memories from lives around that time (laughs). That's why I have no idea why I blurted that out. I think what I meant was that we should head towards what is shining together and become happy.

So let's change the subject and talk about alicenine.'s single "Kakumei Kaika - Revolutionary Blooming-". Together with changing your band name back to the starting point, apparently there was a request from Saga to also write the lyrics in the same way you did when the band first started. What was it like to write lyrics in the same manner you did when the band first started?

Show: I had to write the lyrics while facing my past traumas, so it was difficult. These kinds of lyrics are about facing oneself. While mumbling all the time, I faced myself to write down the words, and since the writing style is about facing myself, it was really difficult. Since being able to work with major producers, they would always have requests like "Make this one a love song" or "Make this a song for the Winter", so the way I wrote lyrics too had also become mechanical. Writing lyrics in that way is easy. But what Saga requested this time was lyrics born from me facing myself, like the trauma I experienced as a child, so it was really difficult writing these lyrics. Even now I feel like throwing up when I see paperback books. I'm fine with Kindle, but I feel sick when I see paperback books.

Why is that?

Show: I think it's because when I was a kid, my parents told me to read books, so I was forced to read books to death. I still have memories of the Japanese literature that I read back then, so these things come out.

Literary words.

Show: Yes. People tell me "That's like an expression so and so would use", and I would go back and read it on my Kindle. Those words just pop out when I am writing lyrics while facing myself. Lately, I've been going to watch kabuki. Kabuki talks about life and death and the nobility of things that are not eternal, so it fit right in with my lyrics. I thought that my lyrics were similar to kabuki. With my lyrics, in general, someone has died. The same goes for kabuki.

Like double suicide.

Show: Yeah. That's when I thought that it's not wrong to say that we have a "blend of Japanese and Western styles" (laughs).

Where did the whole "blend of Japanese and Western styles" thing originally come from?

Show: At first, we were told by our company to decide on a concept, and while thinking "We don't have that kind of thing", I took lots of notes. As a result of all these notes, I forcibly said that a "blend of Japanese and Western styles" was our concept.

Forcibly?

Show: Yes, forcibly. I have this memory of getting angry at our manager at the time, saying that it was a blend of Japanese and Western styles, because we combined "アリス ("alice")" with "九號." and because the lyrics were in Japanese, even though it was rock music (laughs).

Were the lyrics for the coupling song "Sara Sousou" also written in the same manner?

Show: Yes. In terms of the sound, it is at the forefront of creativity, but to have these kinds of lyrics is awesome, right? "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-" was written before watching kabuki, so after watching kabuki, I thought that my lyrics were really similar to kabuki. So these are lyrics I wrote without even thinking about it.

Even with the title "Sara Sousou", with that manner of writing, you easily wrote the lyrics.

Show: It just comes to me. As for the meaning, even I don't really know. There is a flower called shorea robusta (沙羅双樹 "Sara Soju" in Japanese) and the lyrics show the spiritual world of nirvana and paint out the process of one's soul being purified. The ending has the feeling of a ceremonial bonfire and becoming smoke to return to nature.

Going back to the way you used to write lyrics, the choice of words is really unique, and though beautiful, there is that view of life and death.

Show: Although as a businessman, I look at this and think "Is there demand for this?" (laughs). But there's no helping it, because this is what comes out when I face myself. I wonder if there is this much of a need for my individuality to this extent? When I was a child, I really did want to die and thought about that every day. Even though I told my juniors "Every time I look at my own face in the mirror, I want to die", they never believed me (laughs). But that my individuality and wickedness is brought out may just be the band's individuality. That's why I think that at least for the next release, I have to write in this manner and create something that will make people think that this band is amazing.

Now that you have returned to the name alicenine., what would you like to do going forward?

Show: It's a bit contradictory to my personality, which is a little businessman-like, but I would like to go all out with the creativity I have in this current mode and see where it takes us. I want to let everything out. Although this might lead to the creation of something grotesque.

#alicenine.#alice nine #alice nine translation #alicenine. translation #show #rock and read

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kyokkou · 4 years

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RULES. post as many songs as you like that remind you of your muse and then tag people whose songs you want to see. repost, don’t reblog.

Miiro (Color of the Sea) - Kantai Collection OP performed by AKINO. [ lyrics ] [ the translation isn’t as simple so i left the kanji out. it bugs the fuck out of me to see kanji lyrics that do not match the English next to them.]

If my whole self disappears into the past "It will surely always be with you," you say "Someday we can change," you say But If my whole self is only an illusion Yes, even then, Even still this miracle of a world we lived in With a single blow I've put my prayers into, with you Even if the whole world disappears into the color of the sea I won't forget you

WHITE PRAYER - alicenine. | [ lyrics ] ( used to have matching urls from this song for their blogs, haha)

Helplessness is endearing Because if you're helpless, you can wish for someone Please save me, with a white rose. The pain can be shared, I want the strength to be able to do that

TSUBASA. - alicenine. | [ lyrics ] ( sorry for the double but i’m biased !! for old jrock !! )

I've made up my mind, To stand on my own two feet. I embrace even the pain, I'm singing to protect you

In the passing wave of people, your dried heart crying in sorrow. Even if it's a beautiful thing, where can you fly to?

I gather the fragments of your dream, it's something I can do for you Because someday, I'll rekindle the light in your heart that had started disappearing I'll be there...

Shiroi Uso (白ゐ嘘) - Kagrra, | [ ayylmao another old jrock band. lyrics. ]

You said we'll meet again, with a gentle-seeming smile You said we'll meet again, murmuring a pure white lie to the faraway future The sunflowers in our garden, the pale, pale memories we admired Whenever I recall them, painful feelings tighten in my chest

tagged by: stolen from @cxmomnia tagging: anyone who has the patience to do it goodnight wwwwww

#✺ 「砂の器を壊して、こぼれた心を拾って集められるか?」 || aesthetic;#✺ 「ウザったいとジレったいが甘えて。」 || meme;#[ i mean. i have more. but. too lazy. ]#[ so they get two each. ]

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yuuana · 5 years

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Music Monday #126: アリス九號. - TESTAMENT release: March 2020 genre: visual kei, visual rock

Okay, so アリス九號., (hereafter Alice Nine), aka alicenine., A9, and Arisu, have been around for quite awhile, changing names for various reasons, including legalities as they've bounced from label to label to currently on their own label and without a major label distribution deal, making them technically indies again. Which is a bit of a weird thing when we're talking about a band that's just celebrated its 15th anniversary in a genre where reaching five years together is a major achievement. For those of us who've been following Alice Nine for awhile now, you can tell Shou has taken vocal lessons - his style has matured and his singing has come down out of his nose. Of course this means that aspect of the band's sound has changed quite a bit, so yes their 15th anni best of collections are all re-recordings. And probably the better place to start if you're looking for more from this band (it's listed on Spotify as two albums by A9 because name change reasons). The PV is what I'd call a story-less video - it focuses entirely on the band, mostly while they're playing, with only a few visual effects, managing to be both straightforward and theatrical at the same time. And it comes with lyrics running on the side, so I expect a translation will be available in a few more days. ;) If you’ve been enjoying my selections and analyses, please consider buying me a Ko-fi! DW | Twitter | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord

#music #music monday #jrock #visual kei #alice nine #アリス九號.#hey guys can you plz stop changing your bandname now? www

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fantasy-alice9 · 1 year

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There are 5 days left to participate in the virtual magazine for ALICE NINE.

We have received around 20 messages from different parts of the world, Don't be left behind!

Don't be afraid to attach photos with your face, almost all the people who have participated show their figure together with something related to the band. Cheer up to participate!

Many thanks also to the people who have donated money in a collaborative way to make this project even more spectacular. Everything goes into the creation of this gift for the band. It's our last chance to do something global for them.

Paypal donations are welcome, this is a gift that takes too much time to design, write, translate, etc. There is a lot of work behind this virtual magazine. Please support us by participating. PayPal: [email protected]

アリス九號. #A9 #AliceNine #Alice9

Quedan 5 días para participar en la revista virtual de ALICE NINE.

Hemos recibido alrededor de 20 mensajes de diferentes partes del mundo, ¡No te quedes atrás!

No tengas miedo de adjuntar fotos con tu rostro, casi todas las personas que han participado muestran su figura junto a algo relacionado con la banda. ¡Anímate a participar!

Muchas gracias también a las personas que han donado dinero de forma colaborativa para que este proyecto sea aún más espectacular. Todo entra en la creación de este regalo para la banda. Es nuestra última oportunidad de hacer algo global por ellos.

Las donaciones de Paypal son bienvenidas, este es un regalo que toma demasiado tiempo para diseñar, escribir, traducir, etc. Hay mucho trabajo detrás de esta revista virtual. Por favor apóyanos participando.

PayPal: [email protected]

アリス九號. #A9 #AliceNine #Alice9

#アリス九號.#alicenine #alice nine #ALICE NINE.#saga #tora #hiroto #nao #shou #show #jrock #j rock #visualkei #visual kei #japan #japon #project #j music #magazine #the gazette

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 086 - Nao Interview

Their own "alicenine."

What is "アリス九號." to Nao? Just like Tora, Nao is not particular about names. Rather than names, he tells us that having the same members and being able to play アリス九號. songs, Alice Nine songs, and A9 songs without any discrimination is more important, and that is the true essence of it. To Nao, the biggest difference from their early days as アリス九號. might be that now, the status of "Akihabara" and "Nerd" have improved.

First of all, what kind of discussions did the members have to arrive at the conclusion of changing the band name back to "アリス九號."?

Nao: We had always talked about wanting to change the band name back, but as we were doing our activities as A9, there wasn't quite a point in time where we could change it back. We did our activities as "A9" for roughly 5 years, and the band logos of "アリス九號." and "Alice Nine" just happened to change in 5-year periods, so we thought that it would be nice if there was some kind of change at our 15th year anniversary.

What was the reason behind wanting to change it back to "アリス九號."?

Nao: Having left our management company and doing activities under the name "A9", we had done our activities wanting to change the band name back to "アリス九號.". But as we were doing so, "A9" had become dear to us, and we thought that "A9" was important in its own way. To be honest, I am not so particular about the band name. Of course, our 10-year history since アリス九號. is a big part of us and we have plenty of memories, but I think what's most important is that by playing both old songs and news songs without any changes in the members, we are able to do our activities integrating the past and the present. I think that is the true essence of it, so it might be the case that there isn't really such a special reason behind changing the name.

So when you changed from "Alice Nine" to "A9", you didn't really perceive it in a negative way.

Nao: It might be because I have a positive personality, but I think that a name has both a positive and a negative image.

Meaning?

Nao: People have always said that we were "a good looking band", and although I was glad, thinking, "Huh? Does that include me too?" (laughs), at the time, people around us would say that we didn't have the skills to match our good looks, and we ourselves thought the same. But the reality was that many people came to see our live shows at the time, so I think that there are many people whose impression of us is stuck in the "アリス九號." or "Alice Nine" days. It's not as though everyone has been watching us for the entire 10 years, so I thought that changing our public image and getting a fresh start with "A9" was not a bad thing.

This is just one of my own memories, but when I covered アリス九號. for the first time for a different magazine during your indie days, I can never forget that when talking about future dreams, you had said something like, "The band name アリス九號. might be hard to read, but one day, I want it to be a famous band to the point that when you type it into your PC or phone, it will automatically show up". This is my own assumption, but I thought that you guys must have been going through some really tough times.

Nao: I think it has to do with the timing. If we had become "A9" 5 years after that, I might have thought of it as a sad thing, but when you have been doing this for 10 years, the band does run into walls, and there are many difficult situations. As a result of being able to overcome those things, as long as the essence of the band does not change, then perhaps there is no need to be so particular about the band name.

So you didn't have that many troubles when you had changed to the English stylisation of "Alice Nine"?

Nao: If I remember correctly, at that time, there was a feeling that we should make the name that we mainly use "Alice Nine". That's why the name "アリス九��." was still cemented overseas.

Is that so? The concept of アリス九號. in the early days was a blending of Japanese and Western styles. What did you think of showing a Japanese style?

Nao: Show was the one to lead us in terms of the visual aspect, so I think that is where the "blending of Japanese and Western style" concept came from, but I might not have been so particular about the concept. The band アリス九號. itself did not originate from a concept, and it's not as though we came together because someone was really good at writing songs; All it was was that the 5 of us came together after having met many different people and hitting it off with each other, so we said "Let's do this".

You also told us passionate stories of making every effort with the thought that "this is my last band" in ROCK AND READ BAND 003.

Nao: Hahaha, that's right. I think that it will be tough if you don't do this with the feeling that you will put the next band you form in the graveyard.

Meaning that when the 5 of you came together, you thought "We are the strongest"?

Nao: I thought "These people are interesting! This is fun!". I felt that it had potential, and I was excited.

Having said that the band incorporates Japanese styles, you had the image of being refined, or rather, being stylish. Including your looks, everything was well balanced. Back then, did you ever feel that there was a gap between how others saw you and the real image of yourselves?

Nao: I don't think I really thought about it that deeply. I think at the time, we just discussed future activities with our company and were like "That's awesome!", and that was it (laughs). I get the impression that all we did was, without knowing, writing songs on our level that we thought were cool and standing on stage with the feeling like "We're cool!". But like I said earlier, there was a feeling of excitement I had never gotten before with other bands, and I think that was the driving force.

There was a lot of attention on you after joining the management company, and I'm sure that you were quite busy. Do you have any unforgettable memories from that time?

Nao: This is a personal thing, but around the time we formed the band, there was a negative image associated with having an Akiba(1) style or a nerdy style.

That's right. It wasn't mainstream, or rather, if you had said that you liked Akihabara, people would look at you coldly and be like "Are you a nerd?".

Nao: That's right. So the staff had told me to not to say those kinds of things (laughs). Now that time has passed, I am glad that being a nerd has a positive image. I don't really know the details of it, but I heard that at the time, the company had made "Akiba" a forbidden word (laughs).

Hahahaha. I get the impression that you had passionately talked about going to Akihabara on your day off. Was that during the Alice Nine era?

Nao: I think it was before that, during the アリス九號. era. When we appeared on the TV program "HEY!HEY!HEY!", I had said that I liked Akihabara, so I think that the company thought it was impossible to hide it, so the ban on the word was lifted (laughs).

They couldn't stop you any longer. How did you take the situation where the number of fans kept growing?

Nao: I think that in terms of feelings, I was filled to the brim with enthusiasm. I think that in some way or another, everyone was funny in the head.

The members?

Nao: Yeah. This is something that happened in our early days, but even though no one had a driver's license and we couldn't drive, we decided on playing a show outside of Tokyo, and we were like "So how do we get there?" (laughs). In the end, Hiroto had found a driver and we somehow made it work. Also, since we were doing a live in an outfit that blended Japanese and Western styles, I was also particular about my look, and performed wearing wooden clogs.

Playing drums wearing wooden clogs? How did you play the bass drum?

Nao: It hurt so I couldn't step on the pedal (laughs). We were crazy. Also, at the time, all other bands had a car for moving equipment, but in general, for us, we travelled by train. I didn't have any equipment that I was particular about, so I would go to the livehouse only carrying drumsticks.

So you were the type to rent out the drumset at the livehouse.

Nao: Yeah. Now, it might actually seem like a normal thing to do, but back then, I had no money to buy drumsticks, so I was like "I only have 3 sticks today" (laughs).

Hahaha. Like "These drumsticks definitely won't break during today's live show".

Nao: Also, what I remember is Hiroto's eccentric behaviour. We were all waiting for the first train of the day at a ramen place, and when it was 5 in the morning, we were like "It's about time we left", but Hiroto was like "I'm going to sleep for a bit and then go home", and slept in the ramen place by himself, even though it was closed. I thought "What's up with that?" (laughs). Even with Saga, at a beef bowl place, he didn't have enough money for seconds, so he ordered one without beef and added red ginger to it.

(laughs). Did you have this feeling that as the leader, you had to reign in these reckless members?

Nao: No, I think I was probably made the leader because the staff had talked to us and saw that I was the most normal of us. Like I was a person who understood what was being said (laughs). I remember listening to what the company staff had to say as the representative of the band.

So you kind of had a cushion-like role, where you connected the staff and the members. You might not have thought yourself that アリス九號. was a idol-like band, but what kind of band were you?

Nao: I've been saying this for a while now, but we're like a zoo (laughs).

Like this is the lion area, and that is the zebra area?

Nao: That's right (laughs). But it's not a jungle.

So wouldn't that mean you're a wild beast tamer?

Nao: The beast is Tora. Oh, I guess only in name (laughs).

By the way, at the time, were you conscious of the Asia region and overseas?

Nao: No, not at all. When we were in the company, we had received quite a lot of invitations to play overseas, but we firmly turned down the offers. There was a time when we went for a company-wide event, but I think we only went on our own during the latter half of the Alice Nine era.

Didn't many Visual Kei bands go to Asia and Europe during the Neo-Japanesque boom? Why did you turn down the offers?

Nao: There was the fact that Tora was scared of flying (laughs), but it was also like "Well, we don't want to go just because it's trendy". But we received more offers when the peak of it was over, so we were like, "Then I guess it's okay to go". I think we went overseas to play live shows in the latter half of the Alice Nine era.

Are you perhaps a band that is excessively cautious?

Nao: We were cautious~. Maybe it's because we didn't go at all, but when we were ranked in the top 3 among Japan's most popular idols that the Asia region wants to see, I was shocked, like, "No way!!".

Earlier you talked about how you remained as "アリス九號." overseas even though you had changed the band stylisation to "Alice Nine". It seems like a story about fate.

Nao: I guess it's because we rarely went overseas. We went on an Asia tour after becoming "A9", and the people waiting were really grateful to Tora. Like "Thank you for getting on the plane" (laughs).

How do you see the 5-year periods as アリス九號., Alice Nine, and A9, including changes in musical direction?

Nao: I think that in the 5 years as アリス九號., we did things excitedly and on pure energy, but since becoming Alice Nine, after coming to do our activities in the major scene, we learned of reality, or rather, it felt like we were made to realize that we were lacking in ability. When we got signed to a record label and had the opportunity to connect with other bands apart from Visual Kei, both personally and with the band, I remember feeling this sense of danger, like "Oh crap".

When was this, in terms of releases?

Nao: I suppose it was after we had released the album "VANDALIZE". Even though at best, all I could do was play the drums, I thought that I was lacking abilities there too, and came to practice a lot, thinking, "I have to work harder".

Since becoming "Alice Nine", the Western style in your music has gotten stronger, and you have songs that take a progressive rock approach, or dance rock songs like "RAINBOWS". I think that as a band, you had gotten more experimental.

Nao: Rather than being experimental, we thought that we had to positively take on challenges. I think that the company probably wanted to sell us as a bright pop band. But we were painfully aware of our lack of ability, and I think it was the Alice Nine era where we made more cool music and refined our technique. Although we might have peaked at even higher popularity if we had listened to our company, I think that we might not have been able to continue for 15 years if we did that.

Because you are not a group full of bright boys.

Nao: That's probably why while improving musically, we weren't selling well. I believe that perhaps because we did this while suffering, we were able to continue.

And in the A9 era, you had further developed your approach and the way you present things.

Nao: Personally, I was able to break through the bounds after becoming A9. Having left our company, there was nothing restricting us, and in reality, there was this period of danger where the band might not be able to continue, so we came to think that if we didn't know when it was going to end, we should at least do what we wanted to do so that we wouldn't have any regrets. So it was even.

Is that thought related to being able to come out to the front of the stage to sing or to put on a performance where you recite a script?

Nao: That also started from being able to break through the bounds, and the feeling I have when playing the drums is different from that of before. 1 year ago, I would never have thought that I would be singing, and I wouldn't be able to imagine myself as I am today. Also, I formed a unit called "THE ALTERNATIVE" with Saga, and we are doing activities, and that is also something that was derived from A9.

You play the acoustic guitar and sing too, right?

Nao: Although the focus is the drums and bass, we do play the acoustic guitar, and the concept is to see just how much the 2 of us can do. I think it's fun to broaden my expression, so lately, I've been addicted to the guitar.

You play the acoustic guitar all the time?

Nao: I do play the acoustic guitar, but I also bought an electric guitar. I own a better guitar than Hiroto does.

Seriously?

Nao: Hahaha. I went to the Fender Showroom together with Hiroto, and there was a guitar where Hiroto said "This guitar really makes some noise. It's great. I want it". So I was like "Oh really, I guess I'll buy it".

What kind of guitar is it?

Nao: It's a guitar made by the Fender Custom Shop master builder.

Whoa. Did you show it off to Hiroto?

Nao: I didn't (laughs). He was surprised, like, "You kidding me?".

You've been that captured by the charm of the guitar?

Nao: Since it's my hobby, I want a good one. It depends on the builder, but that guitar I bought was quite expensive. But I'd like to own just 1 guitar for the rest of my life. By the way, I also bought a bass.

Doesn't that mean you can be in a band by yourself?

Nao: I've come to want to come into contact with good things and enjoy living my life. Over the last few years, the words "saving money" is not something I know of.

You never used to be like this, right? If I had to say which, you were the type to save.

Nao: It's certainly true that in the past, I used to be more proper (laughs). What's interesting is that when I'm buying drum equipment, I go "But this part is kind of expensive".

Why is that?

Nao: When it comes to my hobbies, the way I spend money changes. That's why going forward, I have strong feelings of wanting to learn many things, take on challenges, and enjoy doing activities.

As a musician, it's a really good time for you.

Nao: The actually feeling that I am doing music is out of this world. Now, I'm recording the drums at my own studio. I also bought microphones.

I see. If you had your own studio, you would want to collect many guitars and bass guitars.

Nao: That's right. I also got some recording equipment and bought amps. I've come to not only record for myself, but also to do recording with other bands.

Just like a pro. Is that something you would have never even thought of 15 years ago?

Nao: Definitely.

That is very interesting. So your new single after changing your band name back to アリス九號., "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-", incorporates the shamisen and features quite a lot of Japanese elements. Is this the "blending of Japanese and Western styles" as the current アリス九號.?

Nao: That's right. We changed our name back, so it's like アリス九號.'s origin song. Regarding this song, rather than just releasing it, we wanted to do something interesting, so we had the vocaloids Rin and Len (Kagamine) sing the song and released a vocaloid version in advance along with animation.

That kind of challenge is also something that only the current アリス九號. can do.

Nao: We want many people to sing the song, and I'm thinking of uploading a video on the release date where I sing the song to commemorate the release.

I see. I can feel your Akiba soul.

Nao: Hahahaha. Releasing a vocaloid version is something the entire band decided on. Like "Let's try doing something a little interesting".

So finally, what do you, who is enjoying your music life, want to try doing with アリス九號. going forward?

Nao: In terms of what I want to do -- right -- I bought a camera recently. I want to discover another hobby.

The camera?

Nao: Yes. We have this new form of content on the official homepage called "アリス九號. official note", and every week, we upload what we have written down in order. Since I'm bad at writing, after thinking about what I should do, since Tora had fallen into bad health, I would like to study cooking, including health and nutrition.

Do you mean that you will upload healthy food and recipes?

Nao: I don't know exactly what it will be like yet, but I want people to enjoy cooking videos, so that's why I bought a camera.

While putting your hobbies to practical use. What kind of activities would you like to do as アリス九號.?

Nao: As アリス九號., I would like to do more live-like live shows. Since we're in the same space, I'd like to throw my passion and feelings into it even more than ever. Since we are here now because there was A9, I'd like to see an even more advanced アリス九號.

(1) An abbreviation for Akihabara, an area in Tokyo where many electronics, anime, manga, video game etc. fans gather.

#alice nine #alice nine translation #alicenine.#alicenine. translation #rock and read #nao

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 086 - Saga Interview

Their own "alicenine."

The one who composed the first release of the second stage of アリス九號., "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-", was the bassist Saga. We asked the composer himself why they went on such a strong Japanesque path. And when we did, we discovered an unexpected fact related to the original song. Also, what was the image of the lyrics he requested of Show? It actually became clear that this is connected to things that happened before the formation of アリス九號.! This is the latest interview where you can feel Saga's creative soul and his "Love for Show".

The new song "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-" was first played during the encore of "A9 LAST ONEMAN ALIVERSARY TOUR FINAL & 15TH ANNIVERSARY "THE TIME MACHINE"" at Hibiya Open Air Hall on August 10, after announcing that you would change your name back from "A9" to "アリス九號.", while wearing new outfits.

Saga: That's right.

Does that mean you worked on "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-" with the intention of it being performed at this time?

Saga: Yes. I had started pre-production from around the beginning of June. For this song, I had worked with SuzukiDaichiHideyuki. I went to his house and there was much back and forth. Since the song was pretty much complete, some minor adjustments were made.

There was something that I personally thought when listening to the song for the first time. I apologize if I am mistaken. Is this perhaps a song that you had written for the secret solo project that you had previously made public in this magazine?

Saga: Ahh. As expected of you. Even if I wanted to be active in my solo project, I'm so busy that I can't. For this year in particular, things were done for アリス九號.'s anniversary year, so I could not make the time to work on my private project. However, I did have plenty of stock songs for my solo project.

How many songs do you have?

Saga: I have enough songs for 2 albums. So when we had decided to change our band name back to "アリス九號." together with our 15th year anniversary, we talked about releasing a single that was in line with those standards. When we were deciding on what song to make it and what visuals to show, what immediately came to my mind was to wear traditional Japanese coats like we had done in our early days. Those kinds of words were thrown around.

Why is that?

Saga: I wanted a feeling that we had returned. I thought that we should show that we were back in every respect, from the looks to the songs to the band name. Because I would think that even if we changed the band name back, if we didn't change our appearances and did songs as usual, then there would be no need to change our band name back. I thought that if we were going to change our band name back, then I should change the way I composed songs back too. So I had started to write songs, but even though I thought to do so in my mind, my hands did not keep up and I couldn't come up with anything (awkward smile). Even if I did write songs and they were goods songs, the only songs that came to me were ones that were not the kind of songs to be done at the point in time when we go back to being "アリス九號.", so I rejected those songs. Before this, I had spoken to Show and said that I wanted to write a song that wasn't gimmicky and had "good singing", so I think that I wrote the song in a way that would allow good singing. But even so, we had to decide on a song or else we would have not made it on time. My iTunes is full of demos for my solo project, and when I listened to those, there was a song that I was hooked to. Unfortunately (laughs).

When you say "Unfortunately", do you mean that you had the feeling of not wanting to bring out a demo that was made for your solo project?

Saga: That's right. It is a song that I had written for myself, after all. But unfortunately, the demo for "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-" had suited the style, and it just clicked.

That it was a song that perfectly suited the timing of changing your band name back.

Saga: That's right. But this song was not written to be a single for a band, rather than communicating a message to people, the emphasis is on the atmosphere of the song. I wrote the song with the image of a degraded Japanese world. Personally, it has the feeling of Yoshiwara1.

The image of the red light district?

Saga: Right, right. The incredibly sad world of the women who worked there. Originally, I wrote the song with the image of a sad Japanese world with a negative aura lingering in the air.

So that's why you use the shamisen.

Saga: Yes. That was always in the song. From the introduction to the chorus. It's not as though we put in the sounds of the shamisen because アリス九號.'s concept is a blending of Japanese and Western styles, but it was always there from the beginning. So when asking Show to write the lyrics, I communicated my own ideas.

What kind of ideas?

Saga: There was a band called Givuss that he used to be in before アリス九號. I really liked the titles he came up with for the band. One of their album titles was "Nou Ongaku, Museimei (No Music No Life)", and personally, I thought he had interesting sensibilities. On top of that, in the very last artist photo of Givuss, they were wearing traditional Japanese coats. I thought that to wear a traditional Japanese coat and give such a title to an album was the kind of sense that only he had. At the time, other bands were all influenced by baroque and doing that kind of thing, but I thought he was original. In addition to being an extension from that, when アリス九號. first formed, the basic concept was a blending of Japanese and Western styles. アリス九號.'s debut single is called "Namae wa, Mada Nai". There, we wore traditional Japanese coats.

So the concept at the time reflected Show's sensibilities, which he always had since Givuss.

Saga: To me, those things are connected. I think that the sense that only Show has is アリス九號.'s uniqueness. I've always thought that we should value that. But when we changed our band's stylisation to the English "Alice Nine" in our 5th year, he changed the way he expresses himself into something more broad.

In line with the stylisation of the band name?

Saga: Probably. Since then, he has been holding back on expressions that he used in the past. Even if he were to express himself that way, it would only be for a song on an album or a coupling song on a single. That's what he kept it at. But personally, I always thought that he should push out those parts of him for all to see. So this time, at the point in time where we were changing our band name back, I told him that he should definitely do that. There's a song called "Byakuya ni Kuroneko", and I really like the world in the lyrics that he wrote for that song. It's a little angsty, or rather, dark, but I think that he shouldn't throw away his sense for using words. This is what アリス九號. is.

You felt that strongly about it.

Saga: Although I think when we are asked "What is アリス九號.?", we will all remain quiet. I think that it's Show's sensibilities.

Show also has fantastic sense, like saying "Let's become stars".

Saga: That is also a part of him, but I think the motivation for his most fundamental expression is the sense that allowed him to wear a traditional Japanese coat and come up with "Nou Ongaki, Museimei (No Music No Life)". When I said that to Show when asking him to write the lyrics for "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-", he said "I understand". And so he wrote these lyrics.

So you had a resolute vision for the band in the changing of the band name back.

Saga: I had a plan for the framework of the band. So when we were talking about costumes, I suggested that we wear traditional Japanese coats. I originally liked the katakana and kanji stylisation "アリス九號.".

Is that so?

Saga: Yes. So that's why when we changed to the English stylisation, of course it was changed with the consensus of the members, but I had always thought that changing our band name was a waste. But at the time, I myself was writing songs that were similar to Western music. I didn't have this burning passion inside of me to say that I absolutely hated the English stylisation. But things are different now. At first, there was the idea to change the band name back to the English stylisation at this time. We made it the katakana and kanji mix instead.

You didn't like the English stylisation?

Saga: If we were going to change it back to "Alice Nine", wouldn't it be just fine as "A9"? When thinking about what we would do after changing the stylisation back to "Alice Nine", I think that it probably wouldn't be any different to what was being done (as "A9"). That being the case, I thought that I'd rather change it to the katakana and kanji mix and do something interesting.

And so the band name was changed back from "A9" to "アリス九號.". Looking back on the 5 years spent as "A9", how do you see it?

Saga: To be honest, it was tough. Because we started from a state where people didn't know that we had changed our band name and were like "What's A9?". I do have an attachment to it, as we had carried the name all the way until this point, and I do feel that it is something emotional.

As A9, the members had set down their instruments to sing and dance, and even played the role of princes and incorporated a 2.5 dimensional play into your live show. During this era, the band came to do many activities in the pursuit of entertainment. What was the reason behind being able to do such activities?

Saga: It was because we had lost many things. We lost many things, and even lost sight of what we were. I think that's why we were able to do that sort of thing. From someone else's point of view, the sight of us doing that kind of 2.5 dimension play and reciting a script might make them think "You guys have really lost it". I don't think that it's wrong to say that. I think a band is something that loses sight of things. I think that a band "strays off course" as a long as they keep on doing activities. I think that the people who belong to a big entertainment production company and have a proper director have people navigate them on the correct course, so they don't stray off course. But I think that all bands doing activities on their own are straying off course. That's why they always say to fans "Come along with us".

Because you are straying off course.

Saga: Yeah. If you are on the right path, there's no need to say "Come along with us". I mean, because you're on the right path. But when you do activities on your own, you stray off course and get nervous. Because you can't see one step in front of you. All you can do is keep making choices on what is in front of you and do each and every thing.

Since parting from your previous management company, I think that it would appear to those around you that the band was straying off course at a faster rate.

Saga: Probably. In these 5 years in particular we strayed off course. But I don't think of that as something negative. If that didn't happen, then we wouldn't have been able to reach this point.

By straying off course, the band matured.

Saga: Right. The secret to behind our band lasting for 15 years is "straying off course" (laughs).

Hahahaha.

Saga: I'm certain it's true. All the bands that I like stray off course. U2 constantly change their musical direction.

Bands should stray off course.

Saga: Right. Whether or not that straying off course was correct or not is decided by the audience. If the audience doesn't come along with you, then it means that that straying off course was bad luck.

And fortunately, A9's straying off course wasn't "bad luck".

Saga: By a hair, though. Our audience did their best to try and understand our straying off course. That's why there were many times where I felt glad. Also, even though we were straying off course, we took it seriously. We didn't do it with any feelings of wanting to just cause incidents or to try and cause an issue. I think that is why our audience put in effort to try and understand us.

Your top priority wasn't to do something crazy to make a buzz.

Saga: That's right. Even with us dancing, it's not as though we wanted it to become a hot topic; it was just the natural course of things. For us. It's not surprising at all.

And fans understood that.

Saga: Yes. That is why we seriously practiced. That's why I think we will continue to stray off course in future too. This is something that I want to say to the readers who like bands: That is what bands are! I want you to think about whether to follow a band or not after understanding this fact. If you don't like that, then I think it would be less stressful for you to follow a more proper artist. Bands stray and stray off course, and while getting lost, there are moments where they just instantly return to the right path. That is cool in its own way, and doesn't it make fans happy? That's what a band is. Bands stray off path, and their members even change. But there are times where you can think "That thing at that time wasn't bad". That's what's strange about bands.

Like "They became princes and acted at that anniversary live, but that wasn't bad either".

Saga: Right, that's right (laughs). That's why even though we stray off course, so that we don't think of the activities that we do as a mistake, we make a choice at each and every point in time.

I see. Even though you are straying off course, you are carefully choosing the path to take.

Saga: Yes, that's right.

Ever since becoming A9, you personally have started to rap, singing in the chorus, and sometimes even leaving the bass to Tora and playing the keyboard. I feel that you've come to be able to show us that you go beyond the border of a bassist and are more and more like a multi-instrumentalist.

Saga: In the past, I thought that all I needed to do was just play the bass. But I myself changed my awareness to become A9's colour, so I think that change shows. My colour in the band is purple (laughs), but if an outsider were to take a glimpse at us, they would be like "That purple caught my eye". I myself decided that it would be okay for me to show that my colour in this band is an important one, and not just be a part of a collective entity that is the band. That was also a conclusion I naturally reached. After becoming A9 and looking at ourselves objectively, I felt that my individuality was still weak, and I felt that there was no need for us to pull ourselves back.

From a producer's point of view.

Saga: Yes. Lately I've been listening to younger bands, and sometimes all I can hear is the vocalist. Isn't that a real waste? Even though everyone in this scene wears make-up and is in a band because they particularly want to stand out. But despite this, only the vocalist wears a different outfit, and everyone else wears the same colour. I wonder if they are okay with that. The instrument players need to show themselves more. To the point it gets annoying. My feeling is that if they don't do that, it will be boring. In this scene that is called Visual Kei, what's interesting about it is that guys apart from the vocalist are also putting themselves out there to the point it gets annoying, right? If only the vocalist needs to stand out, then the instrument players should just wear masks. Isn't that the logical conclusion of that line of reasoning? I feel that if you're going to act cool, don't let it just stop at your looks and make your playing and performance cool, and it doesn't matter if you bump into your other members; just go for it. I think that a band would be more interesting if no matter how many times they get told "Don't come out to the front", they want to come out to the front.

Were you ever told by the members "Don't come out to the front"?

Saga: Our band is full of nice people, so I haven't been told that. Show will never say "No". Even if I were to say "I want to rap" or "I'm going to sing the whole chorus", he'll be like "Oh, okay" (laughs). He won't ever say "I'm going to do that". That's why people should just do what they want. Of course, if they're going to do it, then they need to practice. If there are any band members reading this issue of "ROCK AND READ", that is what I want to tell them.

Ever since A9 participated in "PARTY ZOO ~Ken Entwines Naughty stars", I feel like A9 has really gone hard with this. In the past, it would have been unthinkable for you to use your own face parts as a topic and push it, like you do with "Nose Mountain".

Saga: That might also be because that is what Ken advised us to do. He said to us "I thought A9 were princes, but you guys are boring" (laughs). When he said that to us, it made us think "Huh? Were we always like this?". That's why meeting Ken was the biggest thing for A9. The biggest memory I have from these 5 years of activities is ever since being able to participate in that event, we have become close with Ken, and he has been giving us lots of advice.

The band returned to its original name in light of the change within the band. What do you want to do with アリス九號. going forward?

Saga: In the past, we were the kind of people think that the atmosphere wasn't important. When we joined our previous management company, we were twisted, so we were punks who were like, "Atmosphere? We don't need that" (laughs). But now, going forward, I would really like to value the atmosphere. What's most important after our 5 personalities is the atmosphere. Now, it's sort of like 5 gaudy people are in front of a white backdrop. But going forward, what I would like to show as アリス九號. is the 5 of us in front of a really complex painting. And the background image is, at least for this single, the world that blends Japanese and Western styles. This will probably change for each release, but I want to make it so that there is a common factor. And that is what I talked about earlier: Show's sensibilities. Going forward, I want him to show his sensibilities more.

Show's sensibilities will be the key to アリス九號. going forward.

Show: That's right.

Earlier you were talking about bands straying off course, so do you think that after another 5-year period, アリス九號. will change their name again?

Saga: I am putting in effort so that we don't change it. Always (laughs).

So where will you head towards with this band name?

Saga: I want for us to head to our 20th year anniversary. I want to play at Nippon Budokan. When I thought about how to cook this アリス九號. to get there and what kind of meal we should be to be able to play at Budokan, for me, the answer was to go really deep with our colour, with アリス九號. Even with the songs, I want to write song that don't present to the world a song that is easy to listen to or feels familiar to the ear, but one that has an atmosphere.

And when it comes to expressing that, it does seem like it will be easier for not "A9", but "アリス九號." to do.

Saga: Is what I think. To us, this name is catchy, but it's not a catchy name to the rest of the world. They think "What is this?". Our band name doesn't allow us to do normal things. To me, I think アリス九號. is a band name on the same level as Yabai Tshirts Ya-san.

Ahahaha. It seems like you will be accelerating the straying off course going forward.

Saga: That's why I can't say "Please come along with us". To me, "straying off course" is the biggest compliment you can give.

1 Yoshiwara was a famous red-light district in the Edo period.

#alice nine #alice nine translation #alicenine.#alicenine. translation #rock and read #saga

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ Vol. 086 - Hiroto Interview

Their own "alicenine."

Hiroto, who originally had no interest in words, talks about how he came to the realization that after 15 years, "alicenine" had become his family name. He speaks frankly about how he was under huge mental pressure during the tour, and what saved him was none other than the word "アリス九號.". The feelings of the members and the fans that had always supported them towards this name that he felt at the Hibiya live show, where the renaming of the band was announced, had healed him.

First of all, please tell us your honest thoughts about going back to the name "アリス九號.".

Hiroto: It sort of feels like the blockage is gone. I was struggling for about a year after we had become A9. We had directly and personally negotiated with our company at the time if nothing could be done about the situation. But at the time, nothing could be done about it.

I'm sure they had their own circumstances and was thinking it over and over too.

Hiroto: There was that, but there was also many conflicts.

Like when you button up a shirt wrong.

Hiroto: But there was also the fact that we could not stop anymore. The members did not have the intention of stopping even during the preparation period, but the outside world had stopped. We also made the fans wait. Since it was impossible to stop for any longer, we had no choice but to go (as "A9").

If the issue over the band name was going to stop activities, then you will change the band name.

Hiroto: Exactly. We thought that even if the band name had changed, it would be better to keep on moving forward. So on August 10th, with the words "アリス九號." in the backdrop behind us, the moment we played our new song, "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-", as アリス九號., it just really felt right to me. For the first time in a while, I had felt that feeling of invincibility I had felt during our early days. It made me feel that names are important, after all. I thought that it was my family name. The same goes for "Alice Nine"; the words "alice nine" itself is my family name. Because in my life, the period where I have introduced myself as "alicenine's Hiroto" has been longer. "alice nine" has just become a part of my name.

Even during the A9 period, you probably thought of the "A9" stylisation as being "alice nine".

Hiroto: That's right.

So throughout your lifetime, these 15 years have been the longest... Wait, the math doesn't add up (laughs).

Hiroto: But until changing our name, the intensity was clearly different. The first 10 years were about 3 times as intense.

So in terms, of richness of experience, the period as "アリス九號." was longer. But even looking at the words "アリス九號." now, there is this strong connection to it.

Hiroto: Yeah. I designed goods for the first time in a long time using this logo, and it made me think that it is a strong name, after all. And also, on the contrary, it suits the era.

The katakana and kanji mix.

Hiroto: The Tokyo Olympics are drawing closer, and overseas and throughout the world, katakana and kanji are what's cool about Japan. Not hiragana. Even for brands that are active in Asia and worldwide, quite a lot of them use kanji and katakana. It's like without us knowing it, things have come full circle.

Like the times have finally caught up with "アリス九號." (laughs).

Hiroto: Yeah (laughs).

15 years ago, when the band was named "アリス九號.", what did you think?

Hiroto: Show was the one who named the band, but I thought it was original.

I recall that all of you gave ideas for possible band names. There is the famous story that the candidates were "アリス九 ("alice nine"), "ROSSO", "KORN", and "Ms. Anita". Which idea did you suggest?

Hiroto: I suggested "ROSSO".

How did you come up with that one?

Hiroto: Well, since I'm a person who plays an instrument, at the time, I had no interest in words, and I just couldn't come up with anything else. But they said to me "There's already a band called that, right?" (laughs).

Did you not know of the band ROSSO, which comprises of THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT's Chiba and BLANKEY JET CITY'S Terui?

Hiroto: I knew of them. I listened to them a lot and really liked them.

Isn't it even worse that you knew of them (laughs)?

Hiroto: I thought that it would be okay since we were in a different genre (laughs). To be honest, I didn't really think that deeply about it. At the time, I had absolutely no awareness that the name would have such power that it has today, or of things that would be born from being given a name,

So to put it another way, you realised the importance of this after 15 years (laughs).

Hiroto: That's right (laughs). At the time, it was more important for the 5 of us to quickly start our activities. We had this feeling that we would definitely do well in this formation, so to put it another way, all other elements were trivial.

You wanted to start moving quickly no matter what.

Hiroto: Right. We were like "We can do something!".

So first you were "アリス九", but when you headed to the livehouse to promote your live show, they said that your name name was like Kyu Sakamoto ("坂本九"), and there, "號" was added to become "アリス九號". After that, a period was added to the end of the name. What did you think at the time?

Hiroto: To be honest, I didn't care (laughs). When we joined our company at the time, they had a diviner who said that the number of strokes in our name was bad and we needed one more stroke, so we should change the band name. But this was around 3 months after we had started, and at a time where we were finally officially starting the band, so we were like, "Huh? We're changing the name?". We were told this during a meeting in a small conference room. Then we saw a poster of a band belonging to the same company on the wall and were all like "Ah!". We were like since our seniors Kagrra, have a comma after their name, let's just put a period after our name (laughs).

The same goes for adding the "號" on the spot, but you guys really are amazing to come up with these things at such times.

Hiroto: Yeah. But I get the feeling that it's always been like this throughout the entire 15 years. When we're in a pinch or have been chased into a corner, we don't really get pessimistic. Well, I don't know if that story about adding a period on the end is negative or not (laughs). But what I think that has not changed about the 5 of us is that even when we ourselves did not want to change our band name, we have good intuition that is more on a positive side.

So starting from there and being "アリス九號." for 5 years, what do you remember the most vividly from that time?

Hiroto: So many things happened that I don't even want to say that I remember this or that the most. Recently, we made a best of album and did a tour for it, and at that time, I really thought that music is the key to the door of memories. Because of that, this year was quite a painful one. I had to face many things and remembered many things.

By facing your older songs.

Hiroto: Yeah. The tour focused on taking a new approach to the songs of the first 10 years, so at each and every live show, at unexpected moments, I would recall many things. Like when I would play phrases. That was exhausting for me, and it continued all the way up until the show at Hibiya.

You remembered all the bad times.

Hiroto: As expected, you normally remember the good things. But for the bad and traumatic memories, you lock it up and seal it away. That's probably a self-defense mechanism of humans. But the locked up memories started pouring out. I do think that at each turning point, there were good memories, but it seems like there are the same level or perhaps even more painful memories.

So you had painful memories that when opened up, had no end. So what about the good memories? Since you had first started out, everything you did was being done for the first time, and there are probably a countless amount of such moments.

Hiroto: That's right. In that respect, in the first 5 years or so, pretty much everything was a first for us. This was something that I had only just talked about with Show during the post-live celebrations of Tora's birthday live show the other day, but thinking about it now, the time from around when we were making our very first album was a special time. That perhaps the process of making the very first album of our lives and the feelings after having made the album wasn't ever experienced again after that. We have a song called "FANTASY", and this is a personal story, but the vocalist of the very first band I was in had passed away before the live show, and I had wanted to turn that into a song at some point in time, when I had joined a band that I could bet my life on. The time had come to write such a song, and when I explained all of this to Show, it turned out that he also had a similar experience. That's why that time was remarkably filled with passion. So even though I do wonder myself what it was that I was doing all the way until morning during the recording of that song (laughs), while going back and forth saying "This isn't it" and "That isn't it", when the mixing was complete and the two of us stepped outside in the morning, we saw a really beautiful morning glow. It was around 6 in the morning. When I saw that, I was really touched.

It's at those times where strangely enough, something like a miracle happens. Well, even if it had been raining that day, you surely would have thought of it as nice scenery (laughs).

Hiroto: Yeah (laughs).

So 5 years after that, the band changed to the English stylisation "Alice Nine". What were your thoughts on that?

Hiroto: At the time, the "九號." image which had suddenly spread from a relatively early stage, in our second or third year of the band, and the logo image was sort of troublesome. Like "アリス九號. is this kind of band, right?". Like there was already a direct connection because of the logo. Also, like I just said, in terms of design, it's quite a strong logo. That's why we wanted to change it as soon as possible. Since half way through the first year or the second year of the band I have been doing goods design, and I felt just how difficult it was to handle the logo. On the contrary, we really didn't use the logo much in the early days of the band.

The goods used English from an early stage.

Hiroto: Yeah. So it felt like we had finally changed the stylisation. Show was also doing the artwork, so I think both of us felt that quite a lot.

To quickly sum up アリス九號. until that point in time, what were those 5 years like?

Hiroto: It was chaos (laughs). Disorder. For better or for worse, and in a variety of ways. PS Company, the company that we were indebted to, itself was chaotic.

Many bands belonged to that company, and you were probably so busy you didn't even get a chance to sleep.

Hiroto: But that was our source of power. We didn't really have any idea what was going on and it really was very stressful. But I think that even that was turned into our songs, into our message, and even contributed to our energy. So it was like a typhoon. Everything was swept up as we were screaming, and it drew in a variety of things.

To go even further, many people were jealous and said that you were a "band that only had good looks", so you must have had a really strong mentality.

Hiroto: That's right. It's like we were always fighting against that. Not to say that it was adding fuel to the fire, but I really feel that that really fired us up even more.

So to sum it up, it was a chaotic period (laughs).

Hiroto: To sum it up, it was a typhoon; a massive typhoon (laughs).

What about the 5 years after becoming "Alice Nine"? A passing of the typhoon (laughs)?

Hiroto: Right, the typhoon had passed and turned into an extratropical cyclone (laughs). We had a career, to a certain extent, and we were always the youngest band, but around that time, juniors like SuG and ViViD joined the company.

You graduated from being the youngest band of the company.

Hiroto: Yeah. We had some solid sales, and started to have more of a right to say things. But how should I put it? To preface this by saying it's not like it was our intention, I think it was a time where we were just soaking in lukewarm water. Even so, speaking for myself, it's when Karasu (a unit with MUCC's Tatsuro, THE THIRTEEN's Mizuki, jealkb's dunch, Ayabie's KENZO) started. Well, we weren't that active, but I did try those things out.

At the time, it was impossible for a PS band member to interact with non-PS people.

Hiroto: It was the first time for a PS band member to do so. Probably. I feel like I was in that kind of position. I was able to eat the food that we weren't allowed to eat during filming.

You were lifting the bans that PS had (laughs).

Hiroto: Pretty much (laughs).

But why were you able to do that? Was it perhaps because they doted on you?

Hiroto: I think so, somehow or another. I have no idea why, but I also went to go watch movies together with the President (laughs). It's not as though I was able to have them listen to me, but I was able to make things work out that way. I think there were some times where they were like "Since it's Hiropon, I guess we can't help it" (laughs).

And from there, you spent 5 years as "A9".

Hiroto: It feels like that time flew by us. It's like we ended up passing the same amount of time as the previous eras. Before we even knew it.

That might have something to do with age. Time passes by for humans as they get older (laughs).

Hiroto: Yeah. But I think quite a big part of it is like what I said before; that the number of new things we were doing was decreasing. People don't get stress when they get used to things. So this is only something I can say in hindsight, but in our "Alice Nine" era, there was a drastic reduction in the stress we had compared to the first 5 years. I think that what made us stressed was things we didn't know, and things we were doing for the first time. It was the other side of the coin of being excited, both physically and mentally. So looking back on the songs that we made at that time, due to there being less stress, rather than passion, I get the feeling that we shifted to being more muted. Including our looks.

Becoming more fashionable, so to speak. So how would you generally sum up the period as A9, which was after spending 5 years as Alice Nine?

Hiroto: Destruction and restoration? We have a song that we made in our 1st year called "Siva & Diva", and that's what it was like. Just when we thought that we had made a comeback with "Phoenix", our wings were broken again (laughs). So we were like "If that's the case, then let's just go all the way underground".

Hahaha. There were many difficulties in the A9 era specific to A9, but since you had built up resilience, it wasn't so bad.

Hiroto: No, we had taken quite a few hits. It made me think that life really does throw many things at you. I had thought that there couldn't be more, but there was. Out in front of me. Constantly. I was like "A stronger typhoon is coming?".

You're comparing it to a typhoon again (laughs). What was your biggest motivation during that time?

Hiroto: It was definitely the fans. And also live shows. To speak of recent matters, and honestly, only because it's over I can say this, but during the tour, or rather, right until the day before our live show at Hibiya, I was really worn out to the point that I was considering requesting that we take a break.

What you spoke about earlier. It was quite a tight schedule, so you must have also been physically exhausted too.

Hiroto: I think that when people get tired, they abandon even providing input. For over two and half years since changing to this organization (self management), there basically hasn't been a month where we haven't played a live show. Personally, the fans and live shows are a huge deal to me. Music can't be seen with the eyes and therefore cannot be touched. It really is a physical thing, but you can't tell if it's there or not if there is no one to receive it. In that respect, live shows are really important. The first moment that you understand that you have people directly receiving your sounds and your heart's message and that it exists is at live shows. To be honest, even those live shows are quite exhausting. I think that it really is two sides of the same coin.

Not playing a live show is painful, but playing a live show is also painful. But you were able to complete the tour, and at the end, see great scenery.

Hiroto: That's right. It was a close one.

But on the other hand, if there was only the A9 era, it might have ended. I'm sure that it's only because you had the 10 years before that, you were able to hold out for that 1 year.

Hiroto: Yeah. If you were to be hit with that kind of thing, it would end. I think that I would have thought "It would be better to quit".

Having a history really is priceless. So to go back to what we were first talking about, overcoming all of that and announcing at Hibiya on August 10 that you would go back to being "アリス九號.", you felt the weight was off your shoulders.

Hiroto: Like the blockage in my throat had been cleared. It's like there was always a lid over us and we couldn't open it, but then it was taken off just like that. I'm sure that not just the name, but us, who had carried that name, and the fans who have feelings when they see this name, felt the same way. It really is connected to that invincible feeling we had when we first formed the band, and at that moment, my wounds had healed.

All at once.

Hiroto: Yes, all at once.

Until this day, I had not known of "アリス九號.", but I think that many people had predicted that you would change your band name. Because even though it was named "A9's last one man tour", it definitely did not feel like it was going to end (laughs).

Hiroto: Hahaha. We also released our plans for after that day from time to time.

I had thought that perhaps you would change your band name to "Alice Nine".

Hiroto: I think fans probably thought the same.

However, to be honest, I was surprised that you changed your band name back to "アリス九號.". I was like "So that's the move they made".

Hiroto: Around 1 year ago when we did the "ALICE IN CASTLE" live show, we all considered the scenarios and when we hammered out every one of them, we had that kind of discussion. Although until the very last minute, we were wondering which name to choose.

Oh, so you were considering these 2 options.

Hiroto: Also, right before the live show, there was also the option of remaining as "A9", since we had come so far. In the end, it was a production of life. Of the people called "alicenine". So that considered, the most dramatic move would be to change the band name to "アリス九號.".

I did think that I was played. So about "Kakumei Kaika - Revolutionary Blooming-", the new song by the newly born "アリス九號.", it's in a really Japanesque style. It really shows your determination, or rather, it's a nice, clean divide. To go all out.

Hiroto: In terms of the style of the song, Saga was the one in control. But we thought that if we were going to do this, we had to go all out.

It gave me the impression that you were doing a modern version of things that referenced the things you did 15 years ago.

Hiroto: That's right. Personally, I call it "アリス九號. 2.0" (laughs).

This is a strange way of saying it, but it's like "A new old アリス九號.". Especially since it's the first release, it really goes all out.

Hiroto: It was like if we didn't do it like this, there would be people who couldn't understand why we changed our band name. There are fans who had prepared themselves for the worst during the A9 era. I'm positive that there would be people who would be like "Why?", if we had only changed our name after clearing all those hurdles. If we were careless about it, there was the possibility that we would have ruined or denied the listeners of their youth. We definitely have to avoid that, and that's not something we should do.

So that's why you went all out.

Hiroto: If we were halfhearted, there would be the possibility that we were denying something from the fans of all 3 eras. That's why I thought that if we didn't update all three dimensions and make people think "Oh, they're doing music with this kind of feeling!" or "They are going to keep attacking from here on", then there would be no point in changing our band name.

I see. So what do you want to do in the next 5 years?

Hiroto: We're doing many things now, and both personally and as a band, with that kind of music at the core, from here on, I would like to build things up again to show what we can do. Personally, I want to properly take on the challenge of doing an Asia tour again. I want to consider what it is that we can do and what it is that we want to do, and then make those things happen.

Will you change your band name again in 5 years? Like back to "A9" or something (laughs)?

Hiroto: We have nothing now. It's like "I don't yet have a name1".

You're making that kind of clever comment?!

Hiroto: We're going very far back (laughs).

1 He said "名前は、未だ無ひ。 (Namae wa, Mada Nai)", the title of their very first single.

#Alice Nine #alice nine translation #rock and read #alicenine.#alicenine. translation #hiroto

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 086 - Tora Interview

Their own "alicenine."

Tora, who had survived a sudden myocardial infarction at the end of last year, makes his appearance in this magazine roughly half a year since last time, vol. 083, an interview done after his recovery. The theme of this interview is to talk about their own feelings towards "アリス九號.", but Tora is Tora, after all! He says it straight out that back then and now, he had no fixation on the band name, and "If you only want a nice story, then there's no need for me to talk". He also speaks about the truth of the coupling song on their new single, "Ageha", and makes clear his bizarre aspirations!

Announcing that you would change the band name back to "アリス九號.", you played your new song "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-" both at the 15th anniversary live and at your headliner festival on August 24. What had the members talked about to decide to change the band name back in the first place?

Tora: Since the start of this year, in terms of timing, we said that if we could change our band name back, then we wanted to, so it was a matter of whether or not we could change the band name back. So we decided to go and talk to our previous company, and we all paid them a visit. It wasn't until the last minute where we knew if we could really change the band name back or not, though.

Do you mean timing as in because it was your 15th year anniversary?

Tora: There was that, but having come up with many different things for our anniversary lives, when we wondered what we should do for our 15th anniversary live, we couldn't think of anything new, and thought that perhaps the best thing was to change our name back. We've done many things like singing, dancing, and doing a short play, and thought that perhaps the best thing to do would be to change our name back.

So it's not as though you had talked about wanting to change the band name back whenever possible?

Tora: In my opinion, the members aren't fixated on the band name. Rather than for us, the reason was that if we could change our band name back for the people who were waiting for us, then we wanted to change the name back for them. It's not as though the members would be different, and we've never strayed from those feelings.

And the fundamental thought that you want to make music and put on good live shows as the five of you has not changed.

Tora: That's right. I think that probably when we were "A9", we thought of ourselves as "アリス九號.". Or rather, just the stylisation was different. There might be some people who thought the same way when they came to "A9" live shows, but also, when we went from "アリス九號." to "Alice Nine", there were also some people who we didn't see anymore. I'm sure that they all have their own reasons, like becoming an adult and being busy with work, but those people actually don't even know about the existence of "A9". Or even if they were to know about "A9", they would think that we are doing something different musically. But for us, our awareness and the things we are doing haven't changed so much, so a part of the reason why we changed the band name back was for the people who know "アリス九號.".

You had said that you yourselves had not changed, but with what kind of feelings did you personally have to come to terms with the band name changing every 5 years, from "アリス九號." to "Alice Nine" to "A9"?

Tora: Rather than saying I came to terms with it, when we were unable to use our band name and Show had given us the name "A9", I thought that he had really good sense. The logo was also clean and concise, and I felt that it showed that we had developed in a good direction from "アリス九號.".

Did you not have any opinions when you changed from "アリス九號." to "Alice Nine"?

Tora: I don't usually say anything (laughs).

Why is that?

Tora: Probably because I'm not concerned with that.

Hahaha. You give me the impression that rather than thinking about things too deeply, you make a positive thing out of the situation. So I guess that is true?

Tora: There is a part of me that wonders if a band name is that important.

When the band stylisation changes, just like you mentioned, there are risks, such as causing misunderstandings or seeing less people at live shows.

Tora: That's right. But I think that when you are first naming a band, anything is fine. The band name is something that grows as you keep on going forward, and people will come to know of the band. Or rather, the band name starts to have value according to the substance of the band. For example, even if the band name was "Poo", if there is value in that band, then isn't it a good band name? Then if you were to change the stylisation to "POO", isn't it fine (laughs)?

(laughs). It's fine to use a different stylisation. A merit of changing the band name might be that by changing the band name, it's easier to take on new challenges both musically and how you present yourselves.

Tora: Hmm, we've always been a band eager to take on challenges, so we really didn't feel that way about the change of the band name. We never really thought that some things can only be done within certain genres, and have done our musical activities without exception. That's why I think that when we became "A9", we were like "The only thing we have left to do is dance" or to put on a play.

Why did you feel like the only thing left to do was to dance?

Tora: Isn't it because it seems like it would be interesting? I mean, if there are bands that have been around for over 10 years and don't want to dance, then they don't have to (laughs). We just wanted to dance.

That impulse to dance came quite late.

Tora: (laughs) No, it's fine. We thought "Wouldn't it be fun if we tried dancing?". I like that sort of thing. I think that it's a wonderful thing to take on challenges, and we're not the kind of band to pretend and act cool.

But for a band like "アリス九號.", don't people tend to think that you're a band that "acts cool" just because you guys are good looking?

Tora: That might have been the case in the beginning, but around 10 years ago we got our own show on Nico Nico, and I think the image of our band changed quite a lot due to that. We did the kind of things that comedians would do on live broadcasts. We also came to be able to talk a lot more too.

I see. Going back a little, the concept of "アリス九號." was "blending of Japanese and Western styles". What was the background behind this?

Tora: In the beginning, Show said that he wanted the outfits to use Japanese patterns. Not as in traditional Japanese clothing, but in a modern way. So I get the feeling that the phrase first started due to the outfits. Because at the time, we hadn't really thought about the songs.

Did you have any songs at the time?

Tora: We had some, but barely. We had "Time Machine" and "Akai Kazaguruma".

"Time Machine" is a song that you wrote, right?

Tora: That's right. It's a song that doesn't even think about the "blending of Japanese and Western styles" concept at all (laughs). Our band is one where Show's image of the visuals comes first, so especially in the past, it's like we had worked the visuals before the songs. So before we even thought about what the songs should be, we had already made costumes and taken photos in them.

What did you personally think about being a rock band that incorporated Japanese elements?

Tora: With regards to that, at the time, our senior band Kagrra, was already incorporating Japanese elements, and the level of what they were doing was quite high. Or rather, their way of incorporating traditional Japanese instruments was great. We had thought about many things, and wondered if there was a band that would incorporate the Japanese elements this well, then was there a need for us to incorporate Japanese elements?

But the Japanese elements in アリス九號.'s songs in the beginning were quite strong. "Yami ni Chiru Sakura" is heavy and dynamic, but it has a Japanese world view.

Tora: I came up with the original song for "Yami ni Chiru Sakura", and I remember working on it with Hiroto at his parent's place. It's certainly true that the song title and lyrics are Japanesque, but when I was originally writing the song, I didn't really focus on that. Also, with the songs I had written at the time, they were written on the assumption of being performed live, so it's not like I wrote them so we could sell CDs. Or rather, release on a CD was an afterthought. Because we had very few songs to be able to play a live show.

You had that few songs?

Tora: Yeah. In the first year, we did a one-man show with about 10 songs. None of us were good at writing songs. But all we had was energy, and even though we didn't prepare any songs, we formed a band right away. We thought we would do well if we did that. It doesn't make sense (laughs).

That's what you do when you're young.

Tora: At the time, the trend in Visual Kei was not about the songs, but the groove. I wrote songs thinking about the groove, like headbanging or moving sideways. Like "At this part, I want to crowd to do this".

Energy was important there too.

Tora: That's right. I didn't want to write "a good song". We started off from a point of wanting to have about 20 songs so that we could do a one-man show, and I only starting thinking about wanting to write proper songs when we were making an album.

So it was more like it was fine if the songs had a Japanese taste to it, but you weren't that fixated on it?

Tora: Yeah. I mean, the Japanese taste went away pretty quickly. Pretty much right after "Gion Shouja no Kane ga Naru".

Was it because you got bored of it?

Tora: Not that, but I think because there were trends. The world that Show focuses on is fashion, so it changes depending on the season. And it's not as though you can continue doing the same thing forever.

In that area too, アリス九號. is unique. You just mentioned that in the beginning, none of you were able to write proper songs, but even if the approach was different, in general, アリス九號. songs are melodic. Was that due to the influence of the bands you listened to?

Tora: That might be the case. I was raised in the Komuro1 era, or rather, raised listening to 90s music, so I still remember the melody lines.

I thought that you guys were different from the grungy Visual Kei bands.

Tora: But I liked heavy songs, so I wanted to be in that kind of band. I gave it up pretty quickly, but when the band first formed, I had dreadlocks, and I was into screamo and heavy metal. I thought that it would be great to incorporate those elements into our songs, but as the band went on, I thought that that kind of thing didn't suit us. In the beginning, the 5 of us all had our own opinions, but we gradually started to think about how we wanted to be seen as a band, and our own roles within the band.

In terms of releases, when was this?

Tora: I get the impression that it was around "Zekkeishoku" when we divided up the characters, or rather, when our roles started to form.

Hmm. I have the image of the songs that you write having a liberating feeling that are both pop and heavy. Did you write those kinds of songs in consideration of your role in the band?

Tora: No, for some reason, the songs just end up being cheerful (laughs).

Since you are part American, perhaps that background and environment also influenced you?

Tora: Well, I guess. I was brought up in a cheerful household. Also, I can't write songs unless I'm having fun, so as a result, the songs end up that way.

That essence might be connected to the image of アリス九號. songs having a mainstream feeling to it.

Tora: For our band, Show also writes songs, and 4 out of 5 of us write songs, and it's interesting that each of us manage to write songs that are slightly different n nuance. I think that's why we have such a broad range of songs, or to put it in a bad way, that's why we're a band where people don't know what we want to do with our music. Especially in the early days, there was no one to bring the songs together, so it's like we were performing the songs in the way the song was written by that person. The person who wrote the song wasn't able to clearly explain the song. But as we started to work with many different producers, we absorbed those abilities. That's why in the beginning, アリス九號. wasn't a band of 5 people that were very skilled.

If from the very beginning, the 5 of you were highly skilled in composition and performance, and had those good looks, you may have disbanded over disagreements.

Tora: If there was an annoying guy in the band, then it probably would have been his band. In our case, regarding the things we didn't know, all 5 of us didn't know, and it strongly felt like we were doing our best while learning and all walking together. That might be the secret behind why we get along so well.

Actually, to be honest, I thought that all 5 of you had your own personalities, or rather, it was a group of weirdos.

Tora: Hahaha. To this day, people still say that we are weird. For me in particular, people have been saying it to me a lot recently. I think a part of it is that I've stopped trying to talk while hiding things.

I've always had the impression that you've always been straightforward and not hiding anything though.

Tora: Really (laughs)? I'm not hiding anything at all now, compared to that time. I say what I want to say to my friends, and I don't like having to be considerate of people in a weird way. For example, even in this kind of interview, it might be good to only talk about good memories and good stories, but if that's the case, then there's no need for me to talk.

You can speak in words to describe アリス九號.'s history, but that's not the real you.

Tora: Right. I think that no matter which one of us talked, we would all say the same thing.

No matter what people around you think, you're going to speak what you think with your own words.

Tora: I think it's more interesting that way.

"Interesting" is your keyword.

Tora: I mean, if I had to say what kind of interview I want to read, it's an interview with a weird person. I don't want to pay money to buy a magazine only to read a bland and normal article.

I understand you. But that is also done with the band in mind.

Tora: There's a huge difference between "pretending to be cool" and "being cool". Strangely enough, it might be cooler to not pretend to be cool. In the past, I was mistaken, and thought that pretending to be cool was cool.

I think that you only think that way because you yourself are cool. From your perspective, how would you define "アリス九號.", "Alice Nine", and "A9"?

Tora: If the 5 years of the アリス九號. era were an elementary school student, then "Alice Nine" would be a middle and high school student, and "A9" would be someone making their debut as a working adult. In other words, we enjoyed ourselves as we were doing band activities. Like a kid who was playing in the sandbox was finally able to play at the school's culture festival. I think that's something you can only do when you're a student.

In other words, rather than musically, by going independent and changes in the environment, you debuted as working adults with A9?

Tora: A part of it was due to the environment, and in terms of music, we were still inexperienced in some aspects. Since becoming A9, we left our management company and did our activities on our own, so it was about whether or not we could do properly do music as our job.

When you belong to a management company, to a certain extent, you are protected. Perhaps from there on, you went on to walk by yourselves, and came to be more aware of being entertaining?

Tora: I think so.

Even with the live show that incorporates theatrical elements like you just mentioned, in the past, it would have been unthinkable for you to make yourselves "princes", and I felt like you yourselves hated being thought of as like princes.

Tora: That's right. On the contrary, now it's fun.

Hahaha. You guys have changed, after all. To speak in terms of being a student, being opposed to being thought of as cool or cute is like being in puberty.

Tora: That's right. When you're young, you rebel and are like "I am me". Now, I'm actually at the level where I want everyone to use my life as something to enjoy.

You've created a wise saying. Last year, you were hospitalised for a myocardial infarction. Did that change your view of life?

Tora: No, nothing has changed. I just think "I'm alive", and I don't really have any mental anguish. In life, I won't do something if it's not fun. That is the best answer.

That is wonderful. But it is quite a difficult thing to do.

Tora: Since we all die in the end, at that time, won't you think "Did I have fun?". Calculating backwards from there and thinking about it, I think it would be better to live that kind of life. It's not as though I am saying that suffering is not fun. Even with studying, if you try to have fun, you can have fun.

Like as a guitarist, "I want to acquire this kind of skill"?

Tora: Right, right. That's fun, so it's not as though I'm trying to live my life in a comfortable way. I think that the most painful thing is not doing anything. The time spent at home not doing anything is the most boring time. I think that that's a waste of time. So I think that right before I die, when I look back, if I can say "I had fun", then perhaps it means that I was able to put effort into the things I like. I think there are a lot of people in this world who have to put effort into the things they don't like.

So you only think that way because you are doing what you like. So that is the view of life you've always had?

Tora: That's right. And that hasn't changed.

So please tell me about now and the future. The new single after coming back as アリス九號., "Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-, is quite conscious of having Japanese elements.

Tora: On the contrary, because we are in these times, I think it's interesting that we included this many Japanese elements.

It's even more Japanesque than the songs you had in the early days of アリス九號.

Tora: That's right. The costumes are similar to what we had when we first started, but it's appropriate for us now, who have gone back to being アリス九號. It's like once again, we released an アリス九號. song that everyone surely imagines us to be like.

Is the coupling song "Ageha" one of your songs?

Tora: It is. This song is one that fires up the crowd to make them stage dive. It's a song that I randomly wrote at the time thinking "Let's write a song that will fire up the crowd during the live show" so much to the point that it's embarrassing for it to be released on CD. So I thought that it would never be recorded onto a CD and there would never be footage of it. That's why I never knew the lyrics and played the song having no idea what was being sung (laughs). Since we recorded the song, I guess I've finally learned what it was singing about. Show might have re-written the lyrics, so please check it yourself (laughs).

Hahaha. So going forward, what would you, who is always looking for interesting things, like to do as アリス九號.?

Tora: I say this as a half-joke, but there is just one thing that I think is in the realm of "possible" for us. And that is through our band name "アリス九號.", to really become a 9-member band (laughs).

Meaning to get more members?

Tora: I think it would be funny if we got more members (laughs).

That's a little umm... (laughs)

Tora: The average age would immediately drop (laughs).

(laughs). アリス九號. has always been popular in Asia, but what about being active worldwide?

Tora: I'm glad that we are popular in Asia, but I don't want to go overseas. I hate airplanes.

That's what you focus on? Is there anything you can say about future developments?

Tora: I want to search for something that we can do because we have come back as アリス九號. That is all.

1 Tetsuya Komuro from TM NETWORK, a group that was predominant in the 1990s. Tetsuya Komuro wrote many songs for many pop singers in the 1990s that were extremely popular.

#alice nine #alice nine translation #alicenine.#alicenine. translation #rock and read #tora

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 83 - Tora Interview

Image credit: ROCK AND READ Twitter

Despite being rushed to the hospital last November due to a heart attack, he made his recovery at incredible speed. Now, as if nothing had even happened at all, Tora is energetically carrying out activities for A9's tumultuous 15 year anniversary. Although in the previous issue, Hiroto had reported on Tora's condition, we asked the man himself about the sequence of events and his current condition. "Nothing has changed. I only just lost a little weight". Not even changing a little, the blunt but charming Tora sat down to talk to us.

It seems like today's photoshoot ended earlier than the scheduled time.

Tora: The photoshoot was over in 30 minutes. No matter what you make me do, I'm fast (laughs). The cameraman (Susumu Miyawaki) who did the photoshoot today is someone that I have often worked with, so even before the photos are taken, you can pretty much tell how the photos will turn out if you imagine it.

That said, I hope you will talk to us about many things in the interview. This is our first time meeting since you had a heart attack. First of all, I would like to ask about what your thoughts were, to be suddenly struck with illness, how you processed the illness, and about any mental and physical changes you've had.

Tora: Umm. Nothing has changed (laughs). The heart is actually something that's not understood. You just suddenly get these spasms, and after the event, it's not like there are any traces of if left behind. Even now, it has no effect on my life.

Oh. I'm relieved just hearing that.

Tora: The reason why it happened wasn't because my blood vessels were blocked. But I did have a heart attack. Just looking at the data, like electrocardiograms, I did have a heart attack, but it's not as if my blood vessels are blocked now. It seems like I got a spasm and it was possible that the blood vessels did get blocked, but there were not parts that were blocked. So even though I did have surgery, they didn't do anything like inflate my blood vessels with a balloon. When they inserted a catheter, I didn't have any blocked blood vessels. The results of the diagnosis showed that there were some parts that weren't working well, so that's probably why I got a heart attack. I don't know much about hearts (laughs), but the reason why that happens is apparently something unexpected like stress. Apparently, the cause for it can be stress on the same level as an earthquake.

I'm surprised, since it's so unexpected that you would be under that much stress.

Tora: That's what the doctor told me. They asked me, "Has anything happened in your life lately?". Because it can happen in that way too.

So heavy stress can also cause heart attacks.

Tora: Yeah. So that's why at first, when I was discharged from the hospital, I was careful with what I was eating. When you have a heart attack, there's this thick rulebook that you get at the hospital, and it's really difficult to stick to the rules when you're young. So while being as close to the line as possible, lately, I've come to think that there's no point in me worrying about it so much. If my blood vessels were blocked, then I would have to completely stick by the rules. But I realized that sticking to the rules would put me under a lot of stress.

And the doctor said that cause was probably stress.

Tora: So I'm moderating myself.

What about the alcohol and cigarettes that you love?

Tora: I quit.

Do you move around and exercise?

Tora: At first, I would go for walks, but only at first. I kept doing it for about 2 months and then I got bored (laughs).

What?!

Tora: I bought a treadmill, and I use it quite a lot at home. Because it's a pain in the ass to go outside. Apart from this, the only thing that has changed is that for my meals, I don't eat rice and only eat side dishes.

Has your weight also changed?

Tora: I only just lost a little weight. Because you won't lose a huge amount of weight just by limiting what you eat and walking. Oh right, I'm not supposed to run. The doctor told me to not overwork my heart. After being admitted to the hospital and having surgery, there was rehabilitation. At first, you can't get up from bed normally, because that requires putting strain on your heart. It doesn't make sense, right? After spending a day in rehabilitation, I was finally able to sit up in bed. After completing rehabilitation to be able to sit up in bed, there was rehabilitation on how to stand up. Doing that everyday made me think "This is a pain in the ass".

To work at it slowly so that you don't put any burden on your heart.

Tora: Yeah. After finished that rehabilitation, on the last day, I was finally able to shower. I was able to do this after about a week, but you also can't shower, but it puts a burden on your heart. After getting out of bed, I could only walk about 50 steps or something. Since I had to do rehabilitation from that level, it was a pain in the ass. I even asked "Is it okay to walk now?".

I can kind of imagine that (laughs). What kind of symptoms did you have before being admitted to hospital? According to what we heard from Hiroto, you had 2 attacks.

Tora: That's right. If the first thing I had was diagnosed to be a heart attack, then I had 2. At first, my back really hurt. It was really painful, but I was like "Someone, massage my back". That was the first attack.

Did you get those symptoms during rehearsals before a live on the 2-man tour with vistlip?

Tora: Yeah. Thinking about it now, even before that, there were times where my chest was in pain. In terms of symptoms, I had something similar to esophagitis. Including where it felt like something was stuck in my throat, I think perhaps I've also had attacks many times in the past. Only when I look back, though. But when it actually happened, it was quite painful. When it happened the first time, I even said "Crap, oh crap". It was during rehearsal, and I was writhing about on stage. I felt the pain in my left arm, back, and face, and no matter what I did, my body was in pain. Since getting the symptoms in my back, it's like the pain gets even worse from there. I want to tell people that if at first, if you're just like "My chest feels tight" but then your back starts to hurt, go to the hospital right away. When your back starts to hurt, it's a sign that things are getting bad.

With the first attack, did you just deal with the pain the whole time?

Tora: That's right. The pain got worse and worse, and I was so out of breath to the point I drooling. Since it feels similar to throwing up, people go to the toilet, but there is nothing to throw up. I drank water and threw up, but I didn't feel better afterwards. Up until now, I've gotten plenty of hangovers, and it's kind of similar to the pain you get when you've got a hangover. But it was impossible, since it happened in the evening. Even if I were to have gone drinking the day before, in terms of the time, getting the hangover during the evening on the next day is strange...... That's what I thought as I was dealing with the pain. Then the symptoms calmed down.

That's how it happened?

Tora: Yeah. I felt much more at ease after that.

How did you recover?

Tora: All I did was bear with the pain. It's a battle against time. As I was bearing with it, it was like water passing through me, where the pain suddenly just receded and went away. To the point it would surprise you.

So after the first attack, you were able to play the live show as planned. So nothing happened with your body even after doing the live show?

Tora: That's right. So when the second attack came, since I managed to keep it under control the first time, I bore the pain. With the first attack, after about 15 minutes of dealing with the pain, things calmed down, but with the second time, it took about an hour.

Where did the second attack happen?

Tora: At home. I wondered whether to call an ambulance or not, but I thought I would be fine since things calmed down the first time. The second attack happened at night. The hospitals aren't open at 9p.m., and don't you feel kind of iffy about calling an ambulance to your house? So I didn't call an ambulance. So I dealt with the pain and the attack calmed down, but I ended staying up until morning, so I googled my symptoms.

And when you did that?

Tora: The only thing that fit was a heart attack. That was the only thing, when you have chest pain, feel like throwing up, your back starts hurting, your left arm gets numb, and your teeth hurt. It said that if these symptoms last for 1 hour, it's bad news, so I was like "I guess I'll go to the hospital", and in the morning, I walked to the hospital. When I took an electrocardiogram there, the small hospital put me in an ambulance right away and took me to a large hospital. They told me "You're not supposed to walk or you'll die".

Meaning you were in quite a dangerous situation?

Tora: Yes. When they looked at the electrocardiogram, they said "At this rate, you have a high chance of dying". I was like "For real!?" (laughs). "This is not the time for laughter". When they took my blood pressure, it was 170mmHg. Since the maximum was 180mmHg, the small hospital threatened me, like "We might have to put something in your heart". After they transported me to the bigger hospital, they immediately moved me to the operating table and put a catheter in me. But in the end, my blood vessels weren't blocked. Even at the bigger hospital, they said "Your blood vessels aren't blocked, but it showed up on the electrocardiogram". It was a heart attack, but since my blood vessels weren't blocked, they diagnosed it as a spasm.

What were you thinking at the time?

Tora: I wasn't thinking anything. In any case, having a tube up my urethra really hurt (laughs). That was the first thing they did when they moved me to the operating table, and it hurt like hell and was painful! When I had a catheter, I was confined to my bed for 24 hours. I could only sleep lying on my back, and I wasn't even allowed to drink water. That was more painful for me. Putting aside the illness, the toughest thing was the reality that I had to do this kind of thing. It was a pain in the ass. That was tough.

So what happened after those 24 hours?

Tora: The next day, I was finally about to sit up in bed, and I started doing this rehabilitation to sit up. It took me a week to walk. It was hell, not being able to walk properly for a week.

What did you do when you were stuck in bed at the hospital?

Tora: Since being able to sit up, I played games. I had someone bring me a PlayStation. You can connect it to the monitor in the hospital! The doctors and nurses were shocked I did that. Like "So you can play the PlayStation here" (laughs). That was all I could do. And the hospital I went to was full of old people, like grandpas. Until I was moved there, I was first in the ICU.

For the 24 hours you had a catheter.

Tora: Yes. With the ICU being the ICU, it was full of people with critical conditions who were rushed there, so the nurse said to me "It's crazy that you are in the ICU at this age. You're too young".

The nurse in the ICU spoke to you in a casual manner.

Tora: That's because I did too. Everyone was young, even the doctors. Even one of the doctors used to be in a Visual-kei band. When they asked me if I was in a band and I said yes, they said to me "I also used to be in a Visual-kei band". Some of the nurses even know A9, so what was tough for me was to give people an autograph with a tube shoved up my XXX (laughs).

Then they moved you to the general ward. How did your parents react when you were admitted to hospital? They must have been quite surprised.

Tora: Not really. My family is also casual, so they happily came to the hospital, saying that since I got ill, they were able to spend plenty of time with me.

Did people at the hospital ask you about your tattoos?

Tora: They didn't. At the first hospital I went to, they said to me "Big hospitals aren't used to accepting patients with tattoos, so I don't know how they will react". But since there were many young people at that hospital, they were completely fine with it. Instead, they were like "Wow, tattoos!".

You have tattoos on your upper body as well as your legs. Why did you decide to get a tattoo?

Tora: Because I wanted one.

When did you get your first tattoo?

Tora: I guess when I was around 20 years old. Our previous company was quite strict about it, so when we left the company, I just went for it.

Are you particular about what kind of tattoos to get?

Tora: I'm not. In general, I leave it to the tattoo artist, so I just tell them to tattoo whatever they want.

Is there no tattoo that you got because you wanted it?

Tora: No. Oh, but I wanted to get the tiger stripes (on his leg). I thought tiger stripes would be a little crazy. Don't people not get this kind of tattoo? I wanted to get a tattoo where even people with tattoos would think "That's crazy" or "I can't imitate that". I did think about getting one of a tiger, but I thought to get one of a tiger while doing activities under the name "Tora" is too typical and predictable. With the tattoo on my hand, I'm really close with HAKUEI (PENICILLIN), so when I said to him "Let me get a tattoo that's like yours", he said it was okay. I was like "Really?! Let me take a photo of that then", and took a photo of the butterfly tattoo on his hand. The next day, I went to go get it done. When I sent a photo of the butterfly tattoo on my hand to HAKUEI, he was kind of taken aback (laughs). He was probably half-joking.

You're also casual in the way you get tattoos.

Tora: That's right. I like getting tattoos like Americans or something do, like "This was cute, so I got it tattooed" or "I like the design of this t-shirt, so I'm gonna go get it tattooed". That's how foreigners think. That's how I am too. That's why I have a tattoo of a Disney character on my arm, a matching butterfly one with HAKUEI, and also a striking tiger pattern one on my leg.

Did your parents not say anything to you?

Tora: My parents are still completely against it. They tell me "Don't get any more" and "Just please don't get one on your face" (laughs). So I was like "Fine, I guess I'll leave my face alone".

I see. We've gone a little astray, so let's get back on track. So we heard from Hiroto what it was like from when you were admitted to hospital to when you were discharged. It seems like you were able to finish the rehabilitation in record speed?

Tora: That's right. I directly negotiated with the doctor, saying that I didn't want to be in the hospital for a long period of time. The rule is that rehabilitation is 2 weeks long, but I negotiated to do mine at twice the speed.

Can you even do that?

Tora: I did (laughs). Normally, there's also a period where you have to do rehabilitation back into society. In the rulebook, it says that you return to society after half a year, but even now, I'm working a lot.

Just until recently, you were on the Asia tour.

Tora: I'm doing activities as I normally would.

So the doctor gave you reasonable permission?

Tora: The doctor understood that I'm not a regular person, and I said that I would do it. In response, the doctor didn't say anything, as if they were thinking "That's right, there isn't anyone that can cover for you". But they did say to me "Even on stage, you should try to rest". Because I'm not allowed to do very active sports.

Since you restarted activities during a time when you were not supposed to have returned to society, you must have thought about many things, such as what you would do if you got another heart attack, or it might be too late and you might die.

Tora: Well, I don't really worry about it. Although there are still things that I have left to do, it's not that I think that I don't want to die. Although, you probably won't be able to think about that kind of thing when death is actually staring you in the face. But I am still alive. It's not quite like the timing, but I thought that now was not when my time was up.

Do you mean the timing of when you will die?

Tora: Yeah. And that now wasn't the time. That's why, even if this kind of thing were to happen to my body again, I think I would think of it as just an annoyance. Like "Not now". It was the same thing when I hurt my neck.

Oh. You were on tour then too, and if I remember correctly, you had to cancel some shows.

Tora: That's right. That was much more painful, in terms of the symptoms. The suffering from the hernia was hellish. I never want to it happen again. On top of that, I hate that kind of half-baked thing. Can't anyone get a hernia? But this time, the name of my illness has the biggest impact.

Even though it was an illness, the idea that the impact is important is...

Tora: I'm a bit weird. I've always been weird since I was little. When people grow up, don't they just have this impulse to become an ordinary person? And then they say really, ordinary things. That's where I question them, like "What are you going to achieve, saying such ordinary things?". Getting sick and following the rulebook to change to a healthy lifestyle, to wake up to an ordinary day, and live while taking care of your health. I just get this feeling that that isn't the life for me. I'm not like this.

You live intuitively.

Tora: Yes. It's disgusting to live like that everyday. I think that it's not good to be this ordinary and live healthy and happy life. I think "What are you trying to achieve by trying to create ordinary happiness?". My thoughts themselves are just different from others.

What made you think ordinary = no good when you were a child?

Tora: I don't know. Maybe because I have a really bad personality (laugh)? I don't hate my parents, but I feel that I don't treat my parents in the same way everyone else does. Doesn't everyone have these sentiments that they like their parents? I don't have that.

What do you mean?

Tora: It's not as though I grew up in an unhappy family, but all parents are are "not someone unrelated to you", and in general, I look at them as any other "person". So ever since I was a kid, I would look at what my parents were doing that think "What idiots". I would wonder why they couldn't do something. For example, I would wonder why they would say certain things at certain times, and if they couldn't read the mood. Putting aside whether they are book smart or not, I would think that they were idiots. I would use that aspect of my parents. For example, if I could skillfully use that aspect of my parents, they would give me money. So I'm sort of using my parent. That's how I treat them.

Is your brother like that too?

Tora: My younger brother listened to everything my parents said, so much to the point that until 30 years of age, he was reclusive. My mum is a full-time housewife and my dad has a proper job,so we're the typical Showa-era family. I think that my parents are really old-fashioned.

Even in that household, you were an upbeat child and raised to have different sentiments from "ordinary people".

Tora: That's right. Maybe they raised a strange kid that was different from the parents.

I see. So when you were admitted to hospital and found out the name of your illness, how did the members react?

Tora: Since everyone is a grown up, they had mature responses. Like that it was good that I was still alive, and that we should all be careful. To the members, it's not something that's unrelated to them. Because in general we live similar lifestyles.

When Hiroto came to visit you in the hospital and gave you a present, you even took a photo of it and uploaded it to Twitter, which is rare.

Tora: I think that Hiroto really is a pervert (laughs). I bet he even knew that I would upload the picture to Twitter (laughs).

You don't even view that normally and twist it.

Tora: That's what it seems like to me.

To the Tora with a bad personality.

Tora: Yeah. That's why deep down, I truly can't be happy. Don't get me wrong; I am happy, you know? I am happy, but there is this feeling where I have to make a post about Hiroto being such a nice guy (laughs). Saga tweeted that he was worried about me, but he didn't come visit me. To me, it seems like a farce.

Hiroto was seriously glad that you were open and thanked him. I also heard that Saga, who couldn't go see you because he had to do recording, asked his mother, who is a nurse, about medical knowledge, and of all the members, he researched your illness the most, including your diet after being discharged.

Tora: I know that. But deep inside of me, I thought that he wouldn't come and see me as a grown up. We are in the same band, after all.

You wanted him to at least show his face. You must have been quite sad that Saga didn't come to visit you (laughs). So what were you thinking when you returned to the stage for the first time after recovering?

Tora: I think that no matter what, as long as you're alive, you have a way to express yourself. In general, I want to express myself, and even if it's not on stage, I feel that if nothing else, I have the confidence that I can express myself. If a guy can only express himself on stage, then I think that he would be uncool, even standing on stage. No matter how it plays out, I can express something. That's why my mind is not that of a guitarist. Lately, I've been into videography, and I want to express something with that. That's probably about the only thing I want to do while I'm alive. It's not like I want to work (laughs). In general, don't people want to live only doing the things they like? Because what they like is not their job. I can't do something if I think of it as work.

Have you not ever worked a part-time job?

Tora: I have, but I did it thinking it was a pain in the ass. I don't like doing the same repetitive things.

But don't bands also play the same songs?

Tora: At least for us, we have a lot of arrangements. In that respect, I don't get bored.

To commemorate the band's 15th year anniversary, the best of albums, "Kachou no Shirabe" and "Fuugetsu no Uta", with songs chosen by the members will go on sale on April 24 (interview was done in early March). Is there quite a different arrangement compared to the original songs on the re-recorded songs?

Tora: In terms of the guitars, they're completely different songs. Nothing is the same.

I see. Although songs will change with a different arrangement, what about the members? With Show in particular, you were in a band with him before A9. Even now, apart from A9, you're also in the DIAWOLF unit with him. The two of you have continued to always do music activities together. What do you think of continuing to do music activities with the same members?

Tora: I think that Show can still become much more popular.

I have a memory of you saying the same thing a long time ago when I did an interview with you for the fanclub magazine.

Tora: I still feel the same way. In general, I can't sing. Show is far more superior than me just with the 2 facts that he is cooler than me and that he can sing. It's just something that he was born with. I think that there is no way that a person who is naturally far more superior than me couldn't become more popular. That's how I feel.

Show is a person who should have more of the limelight shone on him as a star from the general public and become more popular.

Tora: Is what I think. I feel bad because it seems like I'm looking down on him while saying it. But if he doesn't become more popular, I think that the reason would be something else [and not something to do with Show]. There's no way I could be wrong (laughs).

You're really confident about it.

Tora: Because I am sure that my way of thinking is not wrong. Won't my life not have any value if I don't think that way? But by insisting that my way of thinking is not wrong, it means I will never do well with girls (laughs). I understand that girls will slowly start to think "This guy is crazy". I mean, I'm not an idiot. The girl would start to think "If I keep dating this guy who says the impossible, I'll never be happy. I just want ordinary happiness".

When they find out that at the root of the way you live and the way you think is the idea that "normal = no good". Do any of the members share your way of thinking?

Tora: I guess none of them do. I don't know.

With such members who don't share this feeling with you, what do you think is the reason that A9 was able to continue on as a band for 15 years?

Tora: That's what I wonder! But A9 have had many life events. Even if it seems like we are doing the same things over and over, I've fallen into poor health, and we also suddenly changed our band name (laughs). Our band has had many troubles. These troubles have become life events for us.

What was the incident that you thought was the worst?

Tora: Uhh, I don't know. I never thought of them as being that serious.

Really? So does that mean at the very least, you never felt any stress while doing music activities?

Tora: It's the opposite; I've had nothing but stress. Every day while living my life. Ever since I was a kid, I've used that stress as motivation for living.

You mean like the pent up feelings you were talking about earlier about your parents, when they make you wonder why they would say certain things at certain times?

Tora: Yeah. It makes me think "Okay, then I'll make sure I won't turn out like them". I find people who have long-winded talks a pain in the ass. Don't those people who like lecturing others want to lecture people on every little detail about why they can't do something?

Oh. That would be stressful.

Tora: To me, that's just a waste of time. Rather than talking about that, wouldn't it be quicker to find something that you can do?

So you're the type who wants to live fast-paced on the shortest route. That's why at the beginning you said that you were fast.

Tora: That's right. I'm fast no matter what I do. I mean, can't you tell just by imagining it? Even so, there are so many in the people in the world who can't do this. The same applies to games, but it's more fun when something is bothersome and you can't clear it. Because you want to keep doing it until you can clear it. I do think that a band is also a game that you can keep playing until you clear it.

When do you "clear" a band?

Tora: I guess that would be when you think that there is nothing more left to do with this band. Whether or not the current A9 is at the maximum level, I think that we still aren't. I do think that we've gone passed level 50, but we can still level up, and I feel that we've still not reached the final boss. So that's why I think perhaps this band can still keep on fighting going forward. I want to keep on going until we've reach the maximum level and I can think that we've "cleared" the band. I think that this is a band where the time I can think that we've "cleared" will come. Rather than being able to continue and dragging it on forever, because I think that this a band where we definitely will be able to see the moment where we've "cleared" the band, I will keep going until that point. As long as I'm still alive.

#A9 #a9 translation #alicenine.#alice nine translation #Alice Nine #tora #rock and read

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mokkoriness · 5 years

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ROCK AND READ vol. 085 - Show Interview

Photo credit: ROCK AND READ Twitter

Succession of "aesthetics"

At the final of the tour called "A9 LAST ONEMAN" at Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall on August 10, they announced that their band name would go back from "A9" to their name at debut, "alicenine.". Although the way we say their name has gone back from "A Nine" to "alice nine", why did they choose not "Alice Nine", but the katakana + kanji mix of "alicenine.", which once felt out of place to them? Junior bandman RYO:SUKE (WING WORKS) gets to the heart of the matter with the vocalist Show, who is responsible for the band's vision.

It has been a while, Show. Why did you name me, one of your junior musicians, to do this interview, which comes at such an important time?

Show: It has been a while. To me, you're one of my juniors that can speak logically. I suggested the idea, thinking that we would be able to deliver something interesting for the readers if a person such as yourself did the interview. I am really glad we were able to do this, thanks to the kindness of the editors.

I am really honoured. Thank you. Let's get straight into it. I was really surprised that you changed the band name back to "alicenine.". Frankly, why did you decide to do that at this point in time?

Show: Right from the start after we went independent, we almost got into trouble operating under the name "Alice Nine" without permission from our previous company. That was, of course, not our intention. We wanted to do our activities after having gone through the proper channels with our previous company. So we had no choice but to change our band name to do activities, and so we changed it to "A9". Since we changed the stylisation and even the way the name was pronounced, when people would call us this new name, there was this hesitant feeling. Even after 3 - 4 years, that feeling was still there.

Is that so?

Show: Of course, the fans accepted the name "A9". However, we did activities feeling bad for the fans, that they were in a situation where they wanted to call us the name they were used to, but couldn't. Some time after that, with the cooperation of many people, there was talks among ourselves of operating under the "alice nine" once again. So we decided to use this name again.

I was very surprised, and at the same time glad, that not only that, but the stylisation returned to the original "alicenine.".

Show: That's more interesting, right? Back then, we started to feel dislike at the fact that that stylisation made us stand out from others. When this band started from the lowest of the low in this scene, we gave it a name focusing on making it look as eccentric as possible and setting ourselves apart as much as possible when compared to other bands. However, 2 years after forming the band, we signed a contract with a major label and were able to land on the front covers of normal magazines. As a matter of course, won't your make up become more natural and your styling become more casual? So we felt that the band stylisation "alicenine." was very out of place, and changed it to "Alice Nine". At the time, the background to changing our band name was different from this time.

Meaning this time, that from the beginning, you decided to change the band name not to "Alice Nine", but "alicenine."?

Show: That's right. Although it's a name we gave the band 15 years ago, I feel like the times have finally caught up with this name. Over the last few years, no matter the genre, there has been a real increase in the number of bands that have a strong impact in terms of band name stylisation, but before anyone else, we had a history of attracting attention from people, who say, "How do you read that band name?". The same goes for the band you were in, "Lolita23q" (laughs).

That's right. Of course, that band name was also heavily inspired by "alicenine.". Even so, I bet the fans, particularly the ones that have been supporting you from the start, must be very happy.

Show: Yeah, rather than going halfheartedly with "Alice Nine", we thought that it would be easier for the fans to understand the meaning behind this name change if we went back to this stylisation. As there are many fans who accepted and supported our activities as "A9", after careful consideration of what form would make the most sense, we decided on "alicenine.", and here we are.

That said, I think that as you had done activities as "A9" for 5 years since leaving your previous company, people must have gotten used to it. Personally, the name "A9" doesn't feel out of place to me at all.

Show: In the band's 15 year history, we did our activities in cleanly divided eras; with 5 years as "alicenine.", 5 years as "Alice Nine", and 5 years as "A9".

Oh! I see!

Show: It wasn't planned at all, but before we knew it, it ended up like being different eras of dinosaurs, like the "Jurassic period" and "Cretaceous period" (laughs). Since we changed our band name back on the assumption that there were people who felt familiar with "A9", we understand that we ourselves need to have the determination to do this.

Hearing you say that, it means that you felt it necessary to change your name back from "A9", which you had used for 5 years. When doing activities, don't bands have times where something is like mysterious fate? Things like an important venue to you happens to be available on an important date, even though you don't intend it?

Show: There is that, but I also think that a band can't continue if there are no obstacles that they are supposed to overcome. I think it would be impossible to continue for 10 years without having any sort of obstacles. Because I think that with the momentum from overcoming an obstacle, you have a run-up to your next 5 years.

Do you have this awareness of trying to create your own hardships by changing your band name back?

Show: No. It might be more accurate to say it feels that all we are doing is what we're supposed to do. To be honest, the Visual-kei scene is in an ice age, and I think that it's a miracle that magazines like "ROCK AND READ" can continue to exist. Also, lately, I have been very busy, so busy to the point that I can't help but be annoyed that I have to do an interview for a magazine today (laughs). But I really have a lot of respect for the chief editor of "ROCK AND READ", in that they are playing a role in communicating the charms of this scene. That is why when I got the offer, I was able to say yes to doing this interview. I think that it's because this magazine has "aesthetics".

"Aesthetics"?

Show: In this age, where a DJ can fire up a large crowd with just a single mp3 track, bands, who do their activities while carrying around heavy instruments and equipment, are really inefficient. But as long as there are people who say "Even so, we are a band" and "Even so, I like bands", in terms of the manner of how to respond to such people, I think there is no choice but to persist with "aesthetics". Even the degree of influence that mass media has has changed, and I'll say it again: I am so busy that I actually think that accepting interview requests from the media is a stupid thing. But even so, I would like to accept the requests from media that I feel thankful for for covering us, and I strongly feel that I would like to be someone who persists with my own aesthetic. Precisely because bands and Visual-kei itself is no longer popular, by changing our name back to "alicenine.", I would like to once again appeal to the world about the coolness of this kind of persistence.

"Aesthetics" is a really good term. If you were to describe with words what exactly your "aesthetic" is, what would it be?

Show: To phrase my aesthetic in terms of kabuki, it would be "to make a grandiose gesture". Although I won't do something that I truly think is lame, if it is something that will make the people supporting us happy, then I will do anything; even if I have to drink muddy water, even if I lose face, even if people laugh at me. I think that it is painfully lame to put on airs only for your own benefit, but if it is to make the people supporting me happy, then I will desperately put on airs. That is my aesthetic.

I see.

Show: I only speak about it from this point of view because my main job is the artwork, vision, and management of the band, but I definitely do not reference other Visual-kei bands. What my aesthetic is is in the upper echelons of art, for example, top fashion brands; the part that is at the cutting edge of the times. I think that you show sincerity to those who support you by digesting such elements and then reforming them as art.

I think that's what the Paris Collection is.

Show: Yeah. To simply bring that into Visual-kei is the same as buying a product from a $1 shop and only changing the label and selling it for $1.20. That is betraying the people who support you, so I definitely will never do that. I agree with what MUCC's Tatsuro said in a previous issue of "ROCK AND READ", that "all bands that do uncool things should disband". I feel that perhaps aesthetic is to always wonder to oneself what the most correct thing to do is when creating a piece of work.

At first, I had always thought that you were an businessman-like artist, but after watching you over these last few years, I feel like you are someone who has a oddly unique balance between the business aspect and the art aspect.

Show: When it comes to the business aspect, ever since when we were in our previous company, I always wondered "Why do people suck at their jobs so badly?". Although I have met people who are really good at doing business, like the president of our previous company and the people that lent us a hand after we went independent, there are only a handful of people that truly understand the nature of business, and it has only been 2 years since I was able to understand business as well.

Surely, the way I saw you started to change from around then too.

Show: I think that before then, all it was was me desperately sinking my teeth into the "Neo Visual-kei" movement and being able to secure a position for myself. All it was was me riding the trends by doing things recklessly.

Does that mean that you don't think you were the trailblazers of the time?

Show: We weren't. The band that set the trend at the time was Baroque (currently active as BAROQUE). Baroque were the ones who "invented" the fact that you could still be Visual-kei even without make-up during an era that was teeming with flashiness, and the generation after us definitely must not forget to respect that. And that caught on overseas, and bands from the 90s, like X JAPAN and LUNA SEA, were well-received once again in the 00s. Of course, a big part of that is because our seniors were the founders of Visual-kei, and in addition to that, Baroque's reinvention in the 00s spread overseas, and Visual-kei was once again well-received as a part of Japanese culture. That's why I keep on saying that what Baroque did was amazing.

I see. I think that is a very accurate analysis.

Show: So all I did was desperately ride the waves of that movement that was born then and secured a position. Then, it was when we went independent that I realised the joy of having people who support you. They really are like family. They buy tickets and make the time to come and see us at our live shows, and I have nothing but gratitude. If they are going to be happy when a band sets aside their instruments to dance, then I feel like I'll do anything and everything, like dance practice.

That is wonderful determination.

Show: Because there are many people who dedicated their youth to the Neo Visual-kei movement that we ran with. I believe that only we can make those people happy. It's impossible for us to tell those people who have been supporting us since the beginning "Please forget about clean and fresh bands and fall in love with J-Pop or hip-hop instead". That is why they still come to our live shows. That is why going on as a band is an obligation. And that's what leads me back to saying that in order to keep this going, I don't mind drinking muddy water.

But with the history that alicenine. = Alice Nine = A9 and the relationship you have with the fans that you have met, I think that you have been able to continue activities in order to make people happy, even without having to drink muddy water.

Show: It is certainly true that there is an easy method to have people who were fans of bands in the 90s to come to your live show without hesitation just by being active as a Visual-kei band now. Doing that is like making a frontal assault, and that is yet another correct method. The way to approach the current scene is a business model where of the tens of thousands of people that like Visual-kei, you get a certain percentage of those people to come see your live shows to make a living.

That is exactly right.

Show: But ever since back then, we've always had more of a punk band spirit, or rather, this need to "break the format". You can see that when we set aside our instruments and dance, or like last year, when we incorporated 2.5D play-like elements into our live show. Although the tour we did in Summer for our best of album is pretty standard for a band, since it was a tour we did after having taken on such challenges, I feel that both the band and the fans are growing. I want people to think of the expression "to drink muddy water" as expressing the mentality of searching to see if there is something that is even more interesting, even if it means getting down on the ground on your hands and knees.

What is the driving force behind that? You're an intelligent person, have proven to be able to ride the trends of the time, have band members with high potential, and have many fans. Why would such a person as yourself continue to take on these challenges and even throw away the easy route?

Show: Since it's not as though I do this because I want to show myself off, to be clear, I don't aim for 10; it's either 0 or 100. If I imitate the format that the amazing bands of the 90s did, then I can aim for 10, but I definitely won't be able to aim for 100. Now, the only band that can compete on equal footing with our seniors from that era is Golden Bomber, because they had made a new "invention". Though it seems like a waste since Baroque stopped activities when they were at their peak, I think that that in itself is cool.

I see. It's either 0 or 100.

Show: To go even further, to speak of something I personally regret, when we had the experience of playing at a large venue overseas in 2007, when Visual-kei was at its peak overseas, even though it was right before our eyes, we weren't serious about the show. Right after that, K-Pop had taken the world by storm, and the cultural power landscape in the Asia region changed in one fell swoop. That was something that I painfully felt when we played at Singapore a few years after that. The regret of not taking on challenges in the past is with me today.

So that's how it was.

Show: I feel that it is much better to take on a challenge and fail than to not take on challenges at all. It is not my intention whatsoever to act self-important and say, "I always work harder than everyone else!". I just hate not taking on the challenge and regretting it later.

And this way of thinking was only possible because you have come to understand business, and because you took on the new challenge of doing activities as an independent band.

Show: Business cannot be understood if you don't understand the entire network of operations, marketing, management, politics, law, and finance. That's what I know. I think every waking minute was spent on studying business.

How did you study?

Show: With books. At first, I read books written by Japanese businessmen, but recently, it's been insufficient, so I've started to read mainly books written by American economists. I also get the latest information on business from Twitter. Apart from the several tweets I make a day and reading those replies, I only read information on business. I want to tell bandmen to read books. Myself included, I think it would be better to be aware of the fact that we are still in a primitive world.

This is something that I want to ask you precisely because I think you are a person that, in the middle of the movement of the 00s, came out of nowhere and stood out from the rest, and on top of that, is able to flexibly handle the changes of the times. Do you have any advice for the younger generation of artists that are currently battling in this scene?

Show: Right. Since advancement of the internet, the mechanism where information flowed in one direction from those people called "celebrities" to those people called "ordinary people" has completely disappeared. I want to tell them that when you understand the current world in this way, there are only two types of artists that are of any value to consumers.

And those two types are?

Show: Whether they are "convenient or not" and whether they "have meaning or not". To compare it to cars, there are only the two choices; one is pursuing "convenience", like a Toyota Prius that has good maneuverability, or pursuing "meaning", like a Tesla that is an environmentally friendly electric car. In other words, it has changed to whether or not artists can offer something that is necessary in a consumer's lifestyle, such as something they want to listen to to hype them up when they go for a run, or something they want to listen to to calm down before going to bed. I don't know how many people realise this, though.

So that is the context when you say "convenience".

Show: Yeah. In an era where you are questioned on what kind of manner you make something that fits into the lives of the listener, we have already been plunged deep into that. Conventional Visual-kei has a business model where people who like artists that wear make-up will come to live shows. However, I think that it is only natural that that sort of thing is disappearing.

What about whether they "have meaning or not"?

Show: That would be the "aesthetics" that I mentioned earlier. It's about whether or not the listener empathises with the artist, even though the genre is not popular and the artist isn't famous, and feels their life has meaning to it when they support such an artist. Meaning it's about whether or not you are persistent with your aesthetic to create something that people feel has meaning, and for as many people as possible. That is whether an artist "has meaning or not".

I really get what you are saying.

Show: To dig even deeper from a business point of view, there are the terms "problem resolution" and "reproducibility". If even one of the two is missing, then your thing is no longer needed by people.

If "problem resolution" is being able to offer "music that people want to listen to to hype them up when they go for a run" or "music that people want to listen to to calm down before going to bed", then what is "reproducibility"?

Show: For example, with YouTube videos that have a lot of views, it is not just information that the listener is passively receiving; it is content that can be reproduced in the viewers' lives. Something like "When I give speeches, I can talk in front of people without getting nervous" or "With these ingredients, I can make food at home that is like what you see at restaurants". Watching that kind of content is for your own benefit, right? That makes is reproducible.

Now that you mention it, that is certainly true.

Show: A Visual-kei band is content that is very difficult for the consumer to reproduce. Although when the consumer goes to a live show and headbangs because they are told to might just be to fulfill their need for recognition, at the end of the day, it is only unidirectional supply and demand, and you can only increase customer satisfaction on a small scale. Just like I said before, the boundary between a celebrity and an ordinary person probably doesn't even exist anymore, and it's an era where we're all equals. I want to tell people that they should understand this fact.

I see.

Show: What I'm going to say next applies to all of society from here on, but if we're to focus only on the Visual-kei market, right now, we are at rock bottom, so if you are going to keep on doing the same thing, then you'd best be persistent about it.

So that's the way you think about it.

Show: To put it in other terms, I think that there's only one way, and that's up, and that could be in 5 years' time or 10 years' time. I really think that we're in an amazing place right now.

But aren't Visual-kei fans also hearing sad news, like CD shops closing one after the other? What is your stance on that? Of course, there are many artists that are calling on for people to buy more CDs.

Show: That is just plain stupid. Don't you think it's like telling people to eat a Belgian waffle?

A Belgian waffle?

Show: Belgian waffles used to be popular in the past. [Telling people to buy more CDs] It's just as stupid as saying "Hey, quit drinking pearl milk tea1! If you don't start eating Belgian waffles, it's going to disappear! All the Belgian waffle stores are going to close!". It's not popular any more, and you have to accept that. People surely must have realised a long time ago that it would be impossible for a "Visual-kei CD shop" to exist. On the contrary, I think that the customers who continued to buy CDs to support the existence of such shops are really cool.

Earlier you mentioned an "obligation to fans". Going forward, what do you think artists should do for the people who love this scene?

Show: I merely have this feeling that I'm obligated to not let Japanese culture go extinct around the world. Just like I said before, "Visual-kei" is a format that YOSHIKI and HIDE "invented", and now, as it were, all we are doing is selling a watered-down version of that, so I don't think of it as something that needs to be kept on going at all cost. However, I don't want people to misunderstand me; I think that the that essence of the art form where there are people who are happy when men in genderless make-up play dazzling music should be kept going.

I understand. At a glance, that difference may appear similar, but they are two separate things.

Show: So there is absolutely no need for everyone to worry about whether Visual-kei will keep on going or not. There will be a time when people will stop drinking pearl milk tea. That's how it is. I can't help but think that it would be lame for us to try and protect it because we had a bit of a taste of success and have vested interests. Rather than that, I think it would be best to concentrate on the happiness of the people that listen to your music.

I went to see alicenine.'s first solo show at Shibuya AX. At the time, Shibuya AX was a place that bandmen first dreamed of playing at.

Show: That brings back memories. It was the gates to success for our generation.

I will never forget when you said on stage during the encore, "Dreams do come true!".

Show: Oh, really? I don't remember (laughs).

That's why there is something that I wanted to ask you no matter what today. What are your "dreams" now?

Show: Right. Now that I'm older, I do really think that in the end, you are held captive to and cannot escape from the things that you wanted when you were in your teens. So from that point of view, I want to be a person that be of use to someone in a form other than music and bands.

That's a typical answer from you.

Show: I am just an ordinary person, after all; I was a kid with no friends, I wasn't popular, and wasn't cheerful. So then how do you run a band, and how do you come to run a company? By communicating that methodology and scheme, I think that perhaps I can be of use to someone.

That is amazing.

Show: I've been thinking this lately. Although we see in the news that reclusive adults are committing violent crimes, I might have become such a person had I not encountered music. Or rather, it's not a matter completely unrelated to me. I want to be someone's strength in some kind of way. If there are some of our fans out there who want their husbands or boyfriends to be sharper, I believe that now, I can communicate that to those men.

Although it's a specific example, it seems like you could write a book about it.

Show: Right. It's my dream to be able to create such output, or rather, I want to be of use to even more people. Since Visual-kei bands are not reproducible in the lives of the listeners, in that respect, I've not really been able to directly become someone's strength. In terms of contributing to the happiness of the people who devoted their youth to Neo Visual-kei, it's only because I can be their strength that people come to see our live shows, and I think that I can be of use to them. It's only obvious that bands who appeared after the boom had passed will have a rough time, but because I think they are all wonderful bands, at this rate, it's painful, or rather, it's saddening. All the young bands are really amazing, too.

That's something that we all feel.

Show: If technology advances, people may be able to make a living by uploading music from a country with cheaper costs of living than Japan, but now, the only business model available is to communicate your music from around the Tokyo area, go on tour, and have people buy merchandise in order to make a living, right? I want to be able to resolve that kind of problem too. I think that doing such things going forward is the mission that I have been given.

I am really looking forward to the future of alicenine.

Show: Right. This is something I should have talked about in the very beginning, but by going back to this stylisation, a huge part of me feels proud to be a part of Japanese culture. Right now, the music people are listening to in the Asia region is only K-Pop, and I think that perhaps the Japanese culture that can compete with that is X JAPAN, LUNA SEA, L'Arc~en~Ciel, DIR EN GREY, and MIYAVI. There is also this sense of danger with the problem that the low birthrate and aging population will keep on getting worse in Japan, so I think that going forward, Japanese artists will have to go out into the world. I want to be a rock band that puts the fact that we are Japanese and the fact that we are oriental out in the forefront.

I hope we can hear your new song soon.

Show: Our first single as (the new) alicenine., "Kakumei Kaika - Revolutionary Blooming-", will be released on October 2nd2. We're finally doing the kind of interviews musicians do (laughs). I hope people feel our dignity as a part of Japanese culture, more so than Visual-kei artists.

Dignity, you say. That is another good word.

Show: Since we are communicating to the entire world, I think I'll try to be more particular about using Japanese in the lyrics. I mean, no matter the country, K-Pop competes on the world stage using hangul and the Korean language, right?

The Korean language has strong consonants, and people say that the advantage it has when competing on the world stage is that it is compatible with Western music.

Show: On the other hand, as Japanese is a language that has a dominant component of vowels and pauses, in order to compete on the world stage, it's becoming more important to find a method of singing where it sounds like you are singing in English. I think that going forward, Japanese artists will need to be more active in that sort of information exchange. Even if you were to sing the same language as they do overseas, that will probably take about at least 10 years to become proficient. So if that's the case, I think that you will have a chance at winning by putting the culture of your own language out in the forefront. Going forward, no matter what, we will be even more persistent with our "aesthetic" as alicenine.

1 At the time of the interview, pearl milk tea was incredibly popular in Japan. 2 The release date given on the official site/Twitter is October 23rd.

#alicenine.#alice nine translation #Alice Nine #A9 #A9translation #Show #ROCK AND READ

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mokkoriness · 5 years

Text

ROCK AND READ vol. 73 - Saga Interview

Photo credit: ROCK AND READ Twitter

On May 27, Saga uploaded a music video to Twitter without warning. It was the "Yukue Shirezu" music video for VOLLAND GUMP, his solo project which he had worked on, without revealing that it was him, while activities as a band had stopped. "Everything is connected". Saga, who says that they found the ideal way for the band to be through leaving the management company they belonged to for many years, re-starting activities as A9, and "IDEAL", the album that was released after having gone back to their roots. He talks about the "now" of A9, who are dashing towards their 13th year anniversary, and his rock and carefree solo work.

So it seems like for this photoshoot, upon your request, you were wrapped in bandages.

Saga: Yes, because to date, I've done quite a lot of things. Won't people not take a look at my section if there isn't anything to make them go "Huh?!". So even though it might be late, I thought to wrap myself in bandages. It's my first time wearing bandages.

Are the bandages wrapped over your naked body?

Saga: I'm not wearing anything on my upper half. Please relax, I am wearing something on my lower half.

(laughs). Even though you just celebrated your birthday (Interview was done in late June), you are still doing this sort of thing (laughs).

Saga: That's right. Even with my birthday, for several years now, I didn't feel happy celebrating it. But for some reason, I felt glad this year. I felt blissful.

Your birthday this year was celebrated with a live show in your hometown, right?

Saga: Yes. This year, I celebrated it in the place I was born. As expected, it was different. The mood. We arrived the day before, and on that night, the members threw a birthday party for me in Kooriyama. For me, that is where my birthday live started.

Does A9 always hold birthday parties?

Saga: For a long time now, we've always done something. Honestly, on that day, I had to do pre-production for a coupling song on the new single. So at the hotel, when I had turned on my computer and was getting ready to work, all of a sudden, they called me out, saying "Let's go out for a drink now!". I said that I'll go meet them in 20 minutes. While thinking "Is it okay to not do the pre-production?", they took me to a Japanese bar. The boss of Kooriyama Hip Shot and even the lighting staff was there, so that's when my feelings had changed, and I thought that it was a good thing I came. I had fun drinking that night.

Did you get any presents from the members?

Saga: I did. I got an Apple TV.

Do you give presents to each other every year?

Saga: If we don't forget. I think a good thing (about A9) is that we properly do this sort of thing. If I were the leader, we definitely wouldn't be doing these things (laughs). Immediately, I would be like "This is a pain in the ass", and distance the members even more. I think a good thing about A9 is that the members are close.

If you were the leader of a band, it wouldn't be like this.

Saga: I don't think it would. I'm AB-type1, so I have my own territory. There's a line that I don't cross. But after 13 years, that line has been infringed upon...... Like having my parent's home exposed.

Huh? What do you mean by that?! Isn't that infringing on you too much?

Saga: It is. On Nico Nico, we used to do a show called "Alice9 Channel". On that show, without me knowing it, they exposed my parent's house. When I saw the footage, he laid on my mum's lap (laughs). And he also took a bath there. He laid on my mum's lap, took a bath, and ate pizza.

He really infringed upon your territory.

Saga: Yes. That's why I got my revenge. I secretly went to Tora's parent's house. I ate the curry that Tora's mum made. Ever since doing that kind of thing, it's been impossible to say things like "This is my territory in the band, so don't come here".

So perhaps you think it is what it is, because they're your fellow members now?

Saga: Perhaps I think it is what it is because since my 20s, I've been running forward with them and spent emotional times together with them. I think that it a big part of it. Also, A9 falls on hard times at just the right moments. Oddly enough, when that kind of thing happens, it's not a time for us where we start fighting. The moments where things won't work out if we don't work hard together comes upon us time and time again. That's why we all get along well. Or rather, we are in unity.

So you fall on tough times at just the right moment.

Saga: That's right. In general, it happens every two years. Bothersome things or big incidents.

So what would be the real strength of A9, who can overcome these difficulties each and every time?

Saga: It would be because we are blessed. I can only think that we have good luck. When we are at times when it really seems like too much, there is always someone there to save us.

Do you mean that someone like a saviour appears?

Saga: Yes. To be honest, we would definitely have not been able to overcome these difficulties just with our own strength. At each every one of those times, there is someone there supporting us. Sometimes us members even talk about it, that we have good luck. That's why when the difficulties have passed, I can think of it as a good thing. I think that including all the tough times we've had up until now, it is all connected for us to be here now. When things don't go well, we can learn from it and grow. Even as a person, I'm not quite sure why, but I feel like I've gotten more capable. So when bad times come, we face the problem without panicking in a manner that suits the occasion.

I felt that the response to A9's first full album "IDEAL", which was worked on concurrently with such rough times, and the tour in conjunction with that, "IDEAL HORIZON", were both something that made the fans extremely happy, like "This is what A9 is!".

Saga: To put it another way, I thought that we had put something out where nothing could be done if it wasn't received well. So I was confident that it would be received well. Because the goal we have as a band is even further beyond that. With that considered, it wasn't a time for us to take a gamble. We all thought it was a time where we should just put out something that was simply good, something that was A9.

So that's why I got the impression that a lot of former fans came back.

Saga: Oh, many people have told us that, that they had recently drifted away but then came back. It makes me happy. But we could only have done that sort of thing now.

Why now?

Saga: We have a route, after all. I think that if it weren't for the 12th anniversary live where we went back to our roots, we would not have been able to do a tour like "IDEAL HORIZON". Before that, last year, we made "LIGHT AND DARKNESS". I think that we were able to return to our roots only after having done the "TRUTH IN LIGHT AND DARKNESS" tour. In that way, everything is connected. After going from one place to the next, it turned out like this. So it's not something that you can aim to do. We have always chosen the path where we think "We can only do this right now".

And what you can only do now is this release, where the members wrote the same amount of songs.

Saga: That was, if I do say so myself, a success. For our band, it wouldn't be enough if I were to just write plenty of songs on my own and tried to write songs in different genres. This is something that I had thought before making the album. In our early days, we all wrote songs in a balanced way. So in that case, I was free to do any bass arrangement I wanted, and thought the fans would find it more interesting to listen to that sort of album.

To date, with you taking the initiative in terms of the music, did the other members come to write songs less?

Saga: I don't know about that. Everyone does write songs, but there is a tendency for me to arbitrarily narrow down the selection. In my mind, I think "This song is not quite right".

When did this start?

Saga: Quite a long time ago, since around "VANDALIZE". But I've gotten tired of doing things that way. I've come to understand that this is not necessarily something that is good for the band. In A9, there can be no chemical reaction if the personality and musicianship of the five of us is not balanced.

Yes! That is exactly right.

Saga: I thought this around the time before we made "MEMENTO". After all, the people that like us want the see this balance.

When there is that balance, the band shines brightly.

Saga: That's right. No matter what kind of excellent music, detailed arrangement, or good sounds we perform with, that is not the scene that people want to see with A9. That is not the biggest weapon we have in our arsenal. In the end, I think that what everyone wants to see is the five of us doing something. In that way, we are like SMAP (laughs).

Just like SMAP, people want to see all five of you shining.

Saga: That's right. Even if only Takuya Kimura were to shine, the SMAP fans would think "This is not right". I think the same applies to us.

What made you realize that?

Saga: For example, when you look at the songs that our fans want to hear, it's all songs that are different from the songs the members are pushing. To us, we're like "You want to hear that song?".

There is mismatch between the songs the members like and the songs the fans like.

Saga: The mismatch was huge. Of course, there were also fans where there was no mismatch. Somehow, for me, I felt discomfort at that mismatch, and thought that we couldn't let it continue. So once again, when I thought about what it is that the ship called A9 wants to ultimately do, I thought that it would be pointless if the band wasn't shining. It's not that one member of the band is cool, it's that all five of us have to be cool. At that time, I realised that sometimes, the fans look at us from an angle that we can't even imagine. They look at the parts of us that are cool and that we don't even notice.

The fans knew of the different types of cool you can be.

Saga: I learned that fans have things that they are particular about, and there are as many favourite angles and many viewpoints as there are fans. So I reached the conclusion that if the five of us shine the most when we are united, then no matter what angle they look at us from, we would be cool.

Until then, it was as if for the music side, you were like "Now we're going to wear mode clothing and show this to everyone. Does it look good?". It's like you were coordinating what A9 would do.

Saga: When you do that and wear the clothes you like, even if people on one side thought it looked very cool, the people on the other side would be like "What's that? It doesn't look good at all". That's why the songs (that people want to hear) are always completely different from my own expectations. Since that mismatch kept getting wider and wider, I realised that it couldn't keep on going like this. That's why for the album "IDEAL", as a result of creating the album with the concept that it had to be something the five of us were involved in, it turned out the way it did.

In that respect, you were able to make something where there was no mismatch between the band and the fans.

Saga: That's right. Even on tour, the members were really liberated. From my position as the bassist, I saw the members performing really energetically.

In actuality, the fans were also happy, saying that on the tour, it had been a long time since they saw a live where the five of you were shining brightly.

Saga: That's right. To me, that's why made me the happiest. I really do think it was a good thing we did that.

So with that momentum, you will be releasing the new single "Re:Born" and rushing towards your 13th anniversary live.

Saga: First of all, regarding the 13th anniversary live, Show had said that our next stage costumes would be red. Then, when we were discussing what to do for the next single, since "MEMENTO" and "IDEAL" had a heavy feeling to it, there were concerns that if we kept going down that road for the next single, then we would be seen as that kind of band, so we talked about departing from that style and making a cheerful song. So I wrote the song. Then after that, there was the opinion that since people are saying that our style now is good, we should keep on going with that style (laughs). It makes you think "Don't screw with me!" (laughs).

That is quite cruel.

Saga: So we had a meeting. We were able to find balance by first showing the cheerful side and then not a cheerful side.

And the cheerful song that you wrote is "Re:Born"?

Saga: Yes.

It's not often that you write a cheerful song.

Saga: That's right, because I'm not good at writing cheerful songs. I'm not good at it, but I can't just leave it at that. If you only use cheerful chords, it's quite disgusting, so I tried to use as many minor chords as I could. As a result, it's a song that has quite a lot of changes. There's even a part where it's like Show is reading poetry. It's a confusing song (laughs). I hope that it's a song that sits well once we try playing it live.

So it's not a song that's straight up cheerful.

Saga: It's not. I can't write a song that is straight up cheerful. There is a part of me that stops me from doing so. Since it's cheerful, I have to do something weird with it. Something inside of me just makes me do that. I'm scared of it, like "Is it okay to write a cheerful song?". You need quite a lot of courage to release a cheerful song in this scene.

Is that so? You need courage?

Saga: At least I do. A part of me does not want to be seen as a cheerful band. I think there is a huge part of my subconscious that would hate it if we released a cheerful song as a single and people who listened it would say or think "They're a cheerful band". I don't like "cheerfulness that is easy to understand".

But if we had to say if A9 were a cheerful or gloomy band, then--

Saga: We're a cheerful and. But we're a "cheerful band" after having done many things, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. But personally, I am really against releasing a cheerful song as the lead track on a single. That's why naturally, we do many things with "Re:Born".

I see. And Tora was the director for the "Re:Born" music video, right?

Saga: Yes. It was great. It was so good there virtually weren't any unusable scenes. During the shoot, Tora took out his own phone and recorded my scenes, while saying "Cool" and "That was good~". That kind of thing has never happened before, I thought "It's going to start snowing" (laughs). I guess his senses would change now that he is directing.

But I was surprised that that kind of creative side was inside of Tora.

Saga: Tora is the type of person to see to the very bottom of things without rest regarding the things he likes, and the same goes with making videos. If the members can skillfully control that, then he is like a worker ant.

That is the user manual for Tora.

Saga: Yes (laughs). If you handle him in the wrong way, he just ends up being a guy who only drinks.

That's certainly true (laughs). And as for you, activities as the Chairman of the "Nose Mountain Club" are livening up.

Saga: That's right. I am deepening my social network.

How did that club start?

Saga: I've been curious for a long time now. I've arbitrarily thought "This person has a high nose bridge. I somehow feel some affinity with them". When I tweeted "I wonder what it would be like if such people came together and took a photo?", the fans reacted. And even the people themselves reacted to it. I was happy that they had interacted with me, and also a guy who had the look on his face that they also wanted to join the club appeared (laughs). There are actually more than I thought. If we can find a drummer, then we can put on a live show.

Isn't that amazing? The Nose Mountain Club.

Saga: Some fans even sent me information about a drummer with a high nose bridge, but that person turned out to be YOSHIKI (laughs). Isn't that just impossible, no matter how you look at it? So we are desperately looking for drummers! With a high nose bridge. If you find one, please let me know on Twitter (laughs).

Weren't you originally a person that didn't interact with people from outside your inner circle? But when it comes to the Nose Mountain Club, why are you so social?

Saga: I wonder why. Lately, I've been really popular among males. Even though I'm really unsocial, I've heard from people things like "That guy really likes Saga". Both my seniors an juniors. Encouraged by that, I've gradually become more social, like "I guess I will go talk to him then".

Wow! You go up and talk to them?

Saga: Only sometimes (laughs). Some time ago, Pentagon's Minpha...... Ah, but I couldn't approach him. One of the members had said to him "Saga wants to take a photo with you". It was kind of like a middle-schooler confessing to someone. Minpha came to me, as if he was summoned by his senior, and took a photo with me. He was a little embarrassed (laughs). So it's been gradual, but I've come to be more sociable. Usually, I'm not social at all. But everyone is nice. When we play to two-man shows or events, there are many nice seniors and well-mannered juniors, so I thought that I couldn't be unsociable. I came to think that I had to be more sociable. Some time ago, when we did a two-man show at Kooriyama, since the dressing room at Hip Shot is tiny, we rented a part of the dressing room at Club #9. On that day, Takuto Nakajima was doing a live there. It seems like he knew that we were using the dressing room. When I went there, he left a note on the table that said "Happy birthday, Saga".

Wow!! That's wonderful!

Saga: It's too wonderful. He's a real veteran. It made me wonder why he can just casually do these things. As expected, most of the veterans are really wonderful people. They're very nice. It made me want to be that kind of senior too.

While becoming more sociable and going out in the world as a musician, the other day, on your own Twitter account, without any hesitation, you publicly announced the "Yukue Shirezu" video for VOLLAND GUMP, your solo project which up until then, you had not publicly announced. It was so sudden, I was a little surprised.

Saga: Ah~. It was uploaded out of the blue. That was a song that I had secretly written two years ago. Two years ago was just the time when the band was not active, and I had nothing to do. So I thought about doing that kind of thing. To me, it felt natural. It didn't feel like I was taking on the challenge of doing it. Originally, I wanted to be a singer-songwriter, so rather than it being a bassist trying to sing, it felt like I was able to express the person that I had originally wanted to be, and it came really naturally. I pretty much played all the instruments in that song!

You even played the drums?

Saga: I got someone called Tsuyoshi Ratatouille (actually Nao) to play the drums (laughs). Apart from that, I played every instrument. I recorded it all at home.

And you also demo'd the song?

Saga: I had written the song some time ago, since when I was a high school student. Even though I thought that the song would never be released, since I had time, I thought about making it into a song, so when I worked on it at home, it turned out pretty good. So that's why I like the song. Since it's a song I freely made.

Did you not feel like doing that song with A9?

Saga: I didn't. It were to be done through the filter of A9, it would not have turned out that way. I'm sure that there are some fans who think that I should have done this song as A9, but by doing the song as a band, the melody changes. Also, A9 has two guitarists, and we arrange the songs with a heavy focus on Hiroto and Tora. If I were to write the song imagining how they would play it live, the guitar would be completely different. And if that is the case, then it wouldn't be the kind of tune and melody that I would do as a solo artist. But since it is my solo after all, it turned out that way.

I see. So what was the reason behind you disclosing that you were VOLLAND GUMP?

Saga: I thought about saying nothing about it and doing it secretly, but...... The reason why I did it in secret was because this part of me was gradually becoming weaker. I felt a sense of discomfort at the thought of fans buying the CD, even though it's not Visual-kei music, just because I made it. That's why I didn't say anything about it at first.

Oh. Fans would want to buy it if they knew it was you.

Saga: They probably would, and won't other people see it as more like "A9's Saga tried singing"? I didn't want it to be thought of that way, so I did it in secret. But my feelings changed to one where I didn't care what people thought. However, I really don't think of it as something I would make a business out of. I don't mind even handing it out for free. Because it's not something that I think has the value to be sold.

So it's more like you were sharing something that you freely made and had people listen to it, like "Please take a listen".

Saga: Yeah. It really was like that. That's why I made it so that you could listen to the full thing for free. And if you listened to it and liked it, you could also buy it.

What does "VOLLAND GUMP" mean?

Saga: I combined the names of the main chracter from two of my favourite movies: The music teacher Mr Holland from "Mr. Holland's Opus" and Gump from "Forrest Gump". Gump is a person that lives off his instincts quite a lot, and I do look up to him. With the feelings that that is the form that I want my music to have, I chose that name.

Do you have any other songs?

Saga: I still have a lot more songs apart from this one that I haven't released. I have about 30 songs. Because I have to sing those songs. I mean, I am the one who understands the song the most. So I want to give shape to it.

Do many of the songs solitary and a North European feel to them?

Saga: It's varied. There are also bright songs. I've always liked the shamisen. I really like Tsugaru-jamisen.

How did you come to like it?

Saga: What was it...... It was much earlier than the Yoshida Brothers, but it wasn't Fuyumi Sakamoto. Who was it? It was an enka singer, and the prelude to their song was tsugaru-jamisen, and it was really cool ("Come Home" by Kazuko Matsumura). It was really cool. So cool that I thought "A guitar couldn't beat this". It felt like that coolness could only be got with the shamisen, so ever since then, when I've got nothing to do, I was videos of shamisen playing on YouTube. At home, I would imitate the playing style of the shamisen on the guitar or bass. When I did that, I thought "Oh! This is pretty cool". And that phrase I played with the guitar--

Is in VOLLAND GUMP's "Sayonara Rosalia"?

Saga: That's right! I still have many of these shamisen-like phrases. I've not used them even once in A9 songs, but I actually have a lot of them. Personally, it's those phrases that are the most rock-like.

Huh? Really?

Saga: Yeah. The rock music I make = shamisen-like phrases. They are phrases that I can be confident in saying "Only I can make this phrase". So no matter how many times I listen to it t home, I think that it's really good. I really do think that only I can make this kind of phrase. For this phrase, I played it on the guitar only with downpicking. In the same way a shamisen is played.

That's why the guitar sounds so percussive.

Saga: That's what's so good about it! It's rock. Even just playing it gets me fired up. I have about 10 songs in that style. I really like the phrasing in the introduction of "Sayonara Rosalia". I still have plenty more amazing things! I even have a song in this kind of style that is 10 minutes long.

You should put them out into the world.

Saga: Rather than it wanting to sell well, I want people to listen to it.

When you performed a VOLLAND GUMP song as "THE ALTERNATIVE" with Nao, while singing, do you play the bass or guitar?

Saga: I sang while playing the guitar. Although performing in front of fans, they would say "Saga is standing in the center playing a guitar and singing~", won't a person who knows nothing about me not react in that way? Because they would think it's normal. That's the way I actually wanted to present my songs. But I don't care about that anymore.

So you should release an album.

Saga: I will. Since I have completed songs. All I have to do is write lyrics.

Will this be done concurrently with A9's activities?

Saga: That's right. But I don't want to get in the way of A9's activities. I hope I can release the solo album by the end of the year while doing A9 activities. I want to release the fruits of my labour.

The fruits of your creative activities.

Saga: Yes. Since that is the only place where I can present 100% of myself. For A9, don't we have to think about how to not let this ship that we're all riding sink, and have to move it towards our destination? That's why the simple attitude of just making anything won't work. But for VOLLAND GUMP, there is nothing riding on this, so I can take it easy, like an amoeba drifting in the ocean.

You should also make some songs for the Nose Mountain Club! Since you're the one who suggested it, you need become more sociable to bring the people together and lead them, or else nothing will happen.

Saga: That's right. Please put an ad in ROCK AND READ too, saying "Looking for drummers with a high nose bridge" (laughs).

Since A9 is doing well, your extracurricular activities must be fun.

Saga: That's right. It would have been great if it were like this from the beginning, but there are many setbacks in life. The same goes for bands. But we have to use that as motivation. If not, we can only live an unfortunate life. If we use it as motivation, when things go your way even in the slightest, you'll be able to think "I'm so happy". So to those people who think their life is a mess right now, please use that as motivation.

Where did that mature life advice come from?

Saga: The fans have it tough too, you know? There are also some fans from the generation that says "It's tough giving care to my mother, so seeing Saga is the only bright spot in my life". That's real.

Of the fans supporting you, there are some fans in that generation?

Saga: That's right. And fans that were once elementary school students now have kids. Hearing that, I feel that even more so, I have to support the fans with all my strength as A9's Saga.

You've become a little more sociable, and it seems like you are becoming a more dependable person.

Saga: I'll keep working hard!

1 In Japan, some people believe that different blood types have different personality traits.

#A9 #a9 translation #saga #rock and read #alicenine.#alice nine translation

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