#did I buy an 80s cd in order to have the older image on the cover

[thatlittlesentientfox]

since it’s apparently the 50th birthday of this album:

how the fuck is THIS

better than THIS!!!!???

like?? the vibe? the ethereal light? the grain? who would ruin this with high definition???

[kyotakumrau]

ROCK AND READ 072 – Kyo interview (1/2)

The Opened Pandora’s Box.

original text by: Hayakawa Yosuke

sukekiyo, a side project started by Kyo from DIR EN GREY in 2013, has just released an audio and video collection “ADORATIO” that is only available at their concerts and through online orders. It’s been over 13 years since the last feature interview, this time in addition to “ADORATIO” that has a considerable volume with 3 discs, 2 blu-spec CDs and a blu-ray disc, we will discuss in detail the abyss of the human named Kyo. Why does he keep transforming, we will open this “Pandora’s box”.

- It was for a different media when you just released ANIMA and held a solo exhibition, but I have interviewed you about a year before. That time you said “I noticed that I used to waste a lot of time, there was never enough time”.

Kyo: Yeah, now as well there’s not enough time.

- I see (laughing). We are starting this interview from 10 in the morning and I heard that the photo session yesterday started at 8. So I thought that you really work without wasting any time.

Kyo: That’s true, especially in the case of work I start really early. But again and again there are times when I can’t go to sleep because of work. I get mixing done abroad and constantly there’s a situation where I can’t take a lot of time, so I wake up early and have to answer emails. If there’s a tour on top of that, the timing gets slightly off and communication gets late which causes the rhythm of the activities to go off as well.

- I see. When the rhythm of your activities is in order does it have a good impact on your singing?

Kyo: For example, I think it’s much healthier when the cycle of going to sleep at 11 in the evening and starting working after waking up early continues. And even though recently we’ve been touring all the time with DIR EN GREY with old albums, my throat stays fine. At the time I was taking care of my throat, but as we continued performing my throat still got really bad. Well, how packed (the schedule) gets now is a bit different. That’s why I can keep my throat in a good shape.

- So at the same time are you also careful with your diet?

Kyo: Nah, not at all. But I eat quite a lot.

- I see. You definitely have higher energy consumption while on stage. Then, let’s talk about your audio and video collection “ADORATIO”. It was completed at last, but a few days ago, you were shooting videos just the morning after you finished 2 days in Shinkiba with DIR EN GREY, I heard you also had a recording after that, I was surprised that you had so many things planned at the same time.

Kyo: Well. The day after the MV shooting we had the recording of the chorus and fixing of some songs. I guess that time was the toughest. We also couldn’t record the second half of songs according to the schedule because of the studio. This work got really delayed; there was a time period when I was really annoyed.

- Oh. Yet knowing that you overcome a situation like that and only this was born, then strong feelings get even deeper.

Kyo: That’s true (laughing).

- The content of the release, including the videos, is 3 discs. Were you planning on such volume from the beginning?

Kyo: At first we were thinking about releasing a full album. With the flow up to then we kind of finished the first chapter, I was able to build in the worldview I imagined, could express it clearly, so I had a feeling we should go to the next stage. So when it was the time to create new music the mode inside of me changed suddenly, I was able to somehow see the next path. As much as we could we tried to arrange new songs, we started to think about increasing the volume of the release. There were the series of events produced by MERRY. At those as well we tried out new songs, even other new songs than those we played at our own tour before. Even songs that were still before the pre-production stage, we dared ourselves to add them to the setlist and let them mature while we played them live.

- So it wasn’t allowing fans to listen in advance to the already fixed songs?

Kyo: No (laughing). That’s why at the tour with MERRY in Osaka I suddenly said during rehearsal “I want to use theremin or a kaoss pad! Doesn’t matter which song. I just wanna do it”.

- What?! That’s some story (laughing)!

Kyo: Right? I said that to other members and we started calling various music shops searching for those, but we didn’t find it. But in Nagoya we had both of them delivered, for the Nagoya rehearsal we suddenly got to try the equipment with new songs. That time YUCHI got to play on the pad (without touching bass), we experimented a lot.

- That’s a very fresh image.

Kyo: I could include the experimentalism and impulse on the same level as when we created the band, I could create [this work] with a totally fresh feeling. While mixing those fresh parts and the atmosphere of the concerts, I wanted to feel various components when creating, and suddenly we did completely different songs. From the fans viewpoint they could think “eh, another new song??” or “even as they haven’t released it yet??”. But we didn’t think that.

- Indeed for sukekiyo songs it’s not about how you enjoy them, but rather how you absorb what you felt into your body.

Kyo: For us as well there are many things we’re doing for the first time, so it’s close to the feeling fans have. They probably thought “Eh, vocalist is suddenly using some kind of music equipment, what the?”, but I also performed while thinking “what am I doing?” (laughing)

- Hahaha, no way!

Kyo: That’s why doing it for real, for both other members and for me it was like “that’s interesting” or “I see, there’s a new feeling to that”; it was good so we could keep working on the album.

- If tunes were experimental, then the act itself was actually an experiment.

Kyo: Yes. Also, we prepared theremin, but it was in bad shape and couldn’t produce proper sound. So I couldn’t use it at the concert, but I played on it during recording. Members knew I said before “If it matches the atmosphere I want to try using theremin” so all of the sudden UTA contacted me saying “please use theremin from this to this second”. But it was for a song that we haven’t even played live yet? And I haven’t even played on any instrument before; it was without any explanation how to do it, too. “Please do it”, only this, I was very confused.

- (laughing) He believed in your good sense for sure.

Kyo: So I tried using it watching others and I recorded it. I sent it to UTA and it was edited properly. Having such part as this included, I think it came out interesting.

- With this there was no intention to simply create an album anymore?

Kyo: First, the price of CDs themselves is gradually going down. When my generation went to buy a CD, first we checked out the jacket and lyrics card, there was an excitement about the CD itself. For the generation older than me it was about vinyl, it was said that “it has to be this size for this record [volume]”, but for our generation we thought “good it’s not so big” or “we don’t have to change the side each time” (laughing).  This CD era is also ending; moreover you can listen to the music for free. In this age, dealing with music I wanted to set the price properly. From our point of view, one album, one mini-album and some video footage are included here and adding the artwork as well we can imagine the price of the release, but I don’t think the younger generation have that sense. In such case, with one release, without calling it an album or a single, I wanted to release it as a collection that included music, video and booklet art.

- I see. To tell the truth when you get this release in your hands I think you can be completely satisfied with its all aspects. Regarding the songs from disc 1, although the sukekiyo-like analogue feeling and melodies are still present, there’s the impression that the digital taste is perfectly combined in a different way for each song. And with that a new sound is created again.

Kyo: About digital elements, isn’t everyone crazy about EDM now? Having various effects used in music, everyone is the same (laughing). I really hate that, I don’t want to get like that. That’s why I thought it would be something new to mix the underground feeling of sukekiyo till now with new digital elements; I don’t think anyone else could pull that off yet. I thought again about creating something not done before; we went with the recording on a trial and error basis. In the end, I think we could apply [those elements] in good places. The sukekiyo till now and new sukekiyo have combined. Members could see the idea of the sound, and we worked on it while we discussed the details of various parts, and made progress. If we thought some part was too much, we dialed down a bit, or on the contrary there were times when the sound was too analogue etc, this kind of superb places took us a lot of time. (EDM = Electronic Dance Music)

- Indeed, you can feel those fine elements in each song, for example in -jyunboku, muku de arouga-. Or in -kubitsuri yuugu-, melody is somewhat nostalgic and it’s an adult song, but the digital texture that covers that is unique.

Kyo: Originally it had a really analogue feeling, it was a jazzy piece. In the end, it’s more like current sukekiyo, only the original melody is left, the rest changed quite a lot. But as the nuance of the guitar is still softly there, it’s still has that jazzy feel, but it’s also digital… there wasn’t anything like that before, we got to a very interesting place. This song also took all of us some time, “that’s not it” – we did tiny adjustments like that so many times.

- However the ending is definitely surprising.

Kyo: Right? (laughing)

- Also, you created a song titled -en-, its melody that presses hard on ones heart is really hard to describe; that sad melody that makes you emotional, many people say that the female singers of our early childhood, 70s to early 80s, had those daily life elements (in songs). Is it same in your case?

Kyo: Yeah. I really love Akina Nakamori, but from the 2nd year of junior high I really hated music, I didn’t listen to any artist. We talked about this before, but when I was a child Hikaru GENJI was on TV each time you would turn it on, also because of that I started hating music, I had this image that music is a flashy thing. Also, my family didn’t watch anything but baseball. Yet on the contrary I’m glad now that at the time we didn’t play any music on TV. If we did I’d probably hate it. I started hating baseball because of that (laughing).

- Hahaha, you hate it that much (laughing).

Kyo: But for the melodies that come to me, a lot of them are like that, it’s natural. As for -en- , I talked with Takumi about wanting a song that would have a good tempo for me to sing. He really understands well the key of my songs and so on.

- For sure. The expressive power of songs and how everything fits are both splendid; it’s perfect from the strength of the opening to the ending. Even for the last -hakudaku-, you can listen to it as a song that shakes your heart, but even as the audio changes the way the ‘singing’ is in its core, is it something that goes with the flow of the evolution?

Kyo: Yeah. Also, it’s an issue I had for the past few years, “try not to over load it”… even as I’m doing it.

- For example with lyrics?

Kyo: With lyrics, too, but I’m trying to considerably decrease piling up voice tracks or types of singing. As much as possible I try to reduce those to get more impressive effect. If you add a lot of those the songs becomes average.

- Is it the same with DIR EN GREY?

Kyo: Yeah, I think from around “ARCHE”.

- So as a result of thinking it through, are you returning to “being on your own”? (without adding anything else)

Kyo: No, no, it would kill all cool back arrangements. As the attention usually goes to the vocal, I want to finish those parts well. Like, it’s fine if I don’t sing all the time, I have a tendency to cram things into the empty space, no matter if it’s good or not. I should use that more properly. I won’t know if there’s too much crammed unless I listen to it from the audience perspective, so it’s hard. If I take out too much it will end up too boring; being aware of this balance one need to care more about each small detail.

- If one listens to your work released till now being aware of the changes in the approach, there should be some things to discover.

Kyo: Also my way if singing, I had many strong habits in the past… well, it’s the same now. I have some, but I don’t like that, I’m trying to get rid of them. However, making another lap, I thought that those habits are also a part of me; I think I keep a good balance of that at the moment. I understand my own habits to some extend, so if it’s better to allow them at one point [in the song], or if it’s better to do it more smoothly, I create songs while being conscious of such fine adjustments. Also, when discussing small details, I don’t use vibrato much myself, so I think about adding it in some place in a way I haven’t before. While experimenting in my head I want to move forward, become a new singer; while thinking that I created this work.

- Being able to hear you talk so concretely about the aspects of singing is very valuable, it’s really interesting. Also, as we talked a moment ago, -saredo michizure- and -shiryou no ariana- are songs that took their final shape after you played them experimentally at your concerts, but despite being able to change your own voice so much, at the concert I thought it was unexpected that you would further change your voice with the equipment.

Kyo: Until before I was able to produce various sounds, so I thought it’s fine not to depend on such things, but I thought “it’s might be old for me personally”. I always doubt myself.

- Ah, I see.

Kyo: As in “hey, wait a moment”. To have various choices and no conditions is of course stronger. For people, before we know it we get stubborn and our perspective gets narrower, so when we get like that we think that it ends in us. I don’t want to be like that. So I constantly doubt myself…

- In such case, in terms of music in the past are there any points that you see as negative looking from a flat perspective?

Kyo: Of course. Looking at it flatly, “ah of course that’s impossible”.

- Hahaha! So it is like that (laughing).

Kyo: It’s not like I absolutely have to add things everywhere (laughing). Even from those, I am choosing properly.

- Thinking “that got old already” even though your style was established to such extend really requires some courage.

Kyo: Generally there’s a word “unwavering”. It’s a really great word. But it can also be seen as a lack of confidence. Like being told “you can only do this, nothing more”. “No, I can do various things, but I’m doing this one”. That’s why you try to see from the various points of view.

- Hearing this now, just before [you said] that there are too many voice tracks, you said “I cannot sing like in the recording”, at the concerts you stick to prioritizing expressing emotions ---- if it’s like that, it also leads to showing the style of singing precisely.

Kyo: Yeah, indeed like in “you can do it if you think you can”, so if you don’t do it no one knows if you really can do it. So showing the style once, “ah in the end I won’t be doing it”. If you don’t show people both… I hate being doubted.

- Hahaha, that’s natural (laughing). … part 2 coming some time in the future ;)