Translated from original text by Hiroshi Mitsutani, originally appearing in M-Gazette vol. 24, May 1999.
Your first one-man tour came to a close at Akasaka Blitz on February 22. In addition to having the audience looking at you constantly to increase the pressure on you, you were also doing in-store events during this time. Wasn't it a tour that really took a lot out of you, spiritually and physically?
you: Yeah, that's true, this time it really did take a toll on our physical health. I was happiest to be doing the events in Hokkaido and Sendai. I thought it was inexcusable on my part, seeing all the fans gathered to see us and feeling not quite cheerful. It's a common feeling, however, if I can't really put myself out there and make an impact, then I really can't be a part of something like a one-man tour.
kiyo: I started out the tour thinking, "At the end of this, I want to be able to say 'that was fun'." Even though there were some parts that were really difficult, above everything else, the feeling of 'that was fun' is very strong.
ka-yu: Since I love doing lives, all of this was so much fun for me, so much fun. I thought, "If the tour ended just like this, that would be great..." (Laughs.) I, too, was really exhausted during our in-store event in Hakata. I did the live in Hiroshima feeling exactly the same. But, since what I was able to do at the time was still my very best, I'd like to forgive myself for that (Laughs). I'm trying to make my body stronger, too.
shuji: I love doing lives, too, so all of this went very fast for me. I feel the same way about longer tours, too. As far as one-man lives are concerned, I did feel like "So we really were able to do it, huh...", honestly. I was very happy to see that I was excited about it from the start.
yasu: During the last show, I had come down with a terrible cold, too. When we were halfway through, I was thinking, "We have another half to go?!" (Laughs.) But, it wasn't really that bad. Honestly, I was able to feel more comfortable during this tour than any of our other ones. The most tension-filled moment, or the time that I just froze up...it was when we were in Osaka, and we had to announce that we were now going to make our major debut. The fans already knew, and were like, 'Say it! Say it!' And then, doing the MC was just completely out of the question (Laughs).
Did any of the other members feel that kind of pressure?
ka-yu: Yeah, I was the most tense at Blitz.
you: My thoughts were racing even though I looked really calm, but just like yasu, I was tensing up at the Osaka show.
You began the tour at Akasaka Blitz, as well, but as you went from place to place, you really got involved in all of it, and really got fired up, didn't you?
yasu: I felt terrible, because I had a cold, but I stuck it out somehow. I was so depressed on those days when my voice died like it used to. But I remembered something when we finally started the shows that helped (Laughs). All I could do was make sure that I didn't completely fall on my face or anything while I was out there, feeling as bad as I did, being as sick as I was.
Did you know how many fans would show up beforehand?
yasu: They did tell us how many tickets had been sold.
shuji: But, in terms of how that related to the actual venue, we couldn't imagine it.
yasu: When we arrived, it was like "Whoa, so many..." (Laughs.)
All members: Yeah, yeah, we thought that too! (Laugh.)
kiyo: I thought, "With all these people here, will I have room so that I can play, even horribly?" (Laughs.) They were so close to the stage. (Laughs.)
yasu: It was so bad, it was like, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" "Heeeeeyyy!! Where are we supposed to go?!" (Laughs.)
shuji: I was actually quite calm, since until the house lights went on it was pitch black and I couldn't see anyone out in the audience.
That would be a good reason for that, wouldn't it? Looking back on it, though, I suppose you were thinking, "If we get even more popular, will the Blitz have enough room for us?"
All Members: Nooooooooooo!! (Voices in Unison)
ka-yu: Before we went on ON AIR WEST, we had the same feeling, each one of us. When we decided to do ON AIR EAST, it was the same way. There were 1000 people at ON AIR EAST, and at Blitz, there were 2000. It was like, "Where did those extra 1000 people come from?"
yasu: Right, right, right! They just kept filing in, one after the other! There's no way there's so many, I thought. (Laughs)
shuji and kiyo have switched positions on stage beginning with this tour, right?
ka-yu: After ON AIR EAST was over, I asked them to. It was on my mind during the lives at the other live houses we've done up till now though. If we're playing a large hall, I get uneasy if I don't have the drums right behind me. Even though we do have monitors that I can use, it still makes me feel really uncomfortable.
Aah, of course. If you can't feel the rhythm, of course that would make you uncomfortable. We're turning back to memories of this show, but yasu mentioned earlier that he wasn't feeling well, so for him to be able to bring his voice up to a level comparative to the quality he has always had in lives up to this point was really amazing.
yasu: I was so glad I was able to do all right. In terms of this concert, I was just trying to take care so that my throat didn't get sore and I didn't completely lose my voice.
At the show at Shinjuku Loft, as well as during ON AIR WEST, during a few songs we were really able to tell that you were feeling tense, and in some places your voice didn't really do what you wanted it to. Even though you told us that you felt tense at this show as well, I didn't get that impression at all.
yasu: Of course...I'm very glad for that.
you's method of using the wah pedal is really impressive, as well.
you: Actually, for this tour, the manufacturer of my pedal changed, so that's why you may feel that way.
Those parts of "R-TYPE [Hitomi no Iro]" were nicely put together as well. Was that done with the whammy bar?
you: That's right. That one part that's like "Aaa..." got better and better as we went on tour. So, I think that my performance at Blitz was the best one. While I was struggling during the other lives, that struggle naturally allowed me to get better.
kiyo, didn't you feel anything different when you switched positions on stage?
kiyo: I didn't really feel anything in particular, however, because my viewpoint had changed completely and I was still comparing the two, I felt like I was lost at first.
During this tour, did you use a Leslie Speaker Set?
kiyo: Yes! Thanks to all of you guys (Laughs.) I used them at all the shows. The sound was a little distorted, though.
Since we were sitting on the second floor balcony, we couldn't see you clearly, we thought you must be using them because of all the electronic-looking boxes strewn around.
kiyo: If that was the case, I'm glad that there weren't that many people watching me from there! (Laughs.)
yasu: Yeah, yeah, there are times like that for all of us!
kiyo: I feel like I'm really particular about setting those kinds of things up, even if other people have no idea...(Laughs.)
Your rhythm section consists of two people, and I was really thinking that compared to your work up to now, you've really improved and found a definite groove.
ka-yu & shuji: Thank you very much.
yasu: Yes, of course, I always thought they were especially good from the beginning. I had nothing to do with it, though...(Laughs.)
ka-yu: For me, I know there are some things that I could really open up and improve on, and that is the feeling that shuji and I had the same timing. That difference became clear to me while we were recording "Dearly". We were feeling tense at exactly the same time. But, during the "Resist" recording, when I thought to myself, "I'm just me," I wasn't tense anymore. It's strange to say that I wasn't really thinking about anything, but watching my stage performances over and over again, and studying them, I thought, "Why don't I try to see what happens when I have fun with the music as an individual?" But, I suppose that was more a change of heart than anything.
shuji: Along with the staffers that they gave me to look after my equipment on this tour, there were two people to look extremely closely at how my drums were working. Then the PA guy tested out the sound every single time, over and over, and I felt it get more pronounced as a result. During the course of this tour, I think that parts of my playing method have changed, too.
By that, do you mean the way you control the drumsticks?
shuji: That's right. The amount of power I put into my backswing and such. The way I play the cymbals, too. I use them a lot more, compared to when I was just starting out. I'm trying to figure out if I can say now that I've succeeded at using them.
When you look at the rhythm section, is Janne Da Arc a band whose specialty is in eight-beat sets, or was it created in sixteenths? What do you think?
ka-yu: Aaah, I haven't even thought about that at all...
yasu & you: Eight beats. Definitely eight beats.
shuji: Since I myself run on eight beats, I think so, too.
yasu: With tempo at 135. (Laughs.)
You said this in the MC at the concert as well, but your first one-man live at Hirakata BLOW DOWN on February 22, 1998, had approximately 200 people in attendance, and then exactly one year later on February 22, 1999, your live at Akasaka Blitz had about 2000 people.
you: A year ago, I wouldn't have even thought that was possible. When we had that first one-man live, the seating was limited to 222 people, and even selling that out, I thought, "Wow..." Always, from this time to that time, there were people that just kept on coming back, and I was focused on that. So, I couldn't even envision where we'd be next February at all.
kiyo: Since last year, the places I ended up standing on stage just got higher and higher. (Laughs) Being able to see everyone looking so involved from somewhere so high up...it's a really good feeling.
yasu: I don't really think my performance has changed much, since one, two, or even three years ago. My personal appearance has changed, and I might be using my head more during performances, but musically, the way I approach live shows hasn't changed. But, back when our songs weren't popular at all, the people at the live houses were very cold and distant, and on the other hand, so were we, the band members (Laughs). At least thinking of it in the case that we're a band whose members lick one another. (Laughs.)
ka-yu: From the time you start looking at them, you think, that band's members are little bit strange, don't you? (Laughs.)
yasu: Since we're a band who could be healed through being licked by someone. (Laughs.)
However, I don't think it was really necessary to expressly state during the MC that "while [you] were on tour, [you] went to the cabaret and stuff..."
All Members: (Laugh.) [1]
yasu: Well, as far as that goes, it's just because I really had nothing else to say. (Laugh.) If you're honest, that means you'll never say the same thing in two places, right? I really hate doing that. If I do that, I'm just making myself look dirty...but, I'm also reaping what I've sown to this point, too, so it'll be okay for me to look filthy. (Laughs.)
Even doing that, during your stage appearances this time around, I got the feeling that the members kissed one another a lot.
yasu: I've kissed you and ka-yu.
ka-yu: I kissed kiyo first, didn't I...since kiyo met mine with open lips...(Laughs.)
All Members: (Laugh.)
Was there any reason for it, on those days when you kissed a lot?
ka-yu: I wonder what it could be~?
you: We're backed into a corner that you can't see visually, right? One put there on account of the fans.
ka-yu: Of course, one like knowing they're sitting back there going, "That's threeeee kisses now~!" (Laughs.)
You plan to start a new tour in April. I would suppose you can do live shows now without worrying, right?
yasu: I'm worried about the live in Shibuya.
shuji: It's a little uncomfortable since it'll be the first time we've done a live where the audience actually is sitting in chairs.
you: Even though this is our last indies tour, it doesn't feel like that at all. It feels just like all the other tours we've done so far.
kiyo: I feel the same way, that it feels the same as it always did. It feels like we've just been doing this forever.
ka-yu: I wonder that since we released "CHAOS MODE", if we'll be known throughout the country now. Playing bigger venues also feels different, to me. I'm excited, but also uneasy.
shuji: I also get nervous about places with actual audience seating.
yasu: There have been a lot of bands that have done their last indies live in a large venue, and though I think we still have some way to go before we can do that, I just want to do a live that will get the fans excited about what we do.
Your show on April 27 at the Shin-Osaka Milky Way Hall seems to have audience seating, so will you be inviting your families?
shuji: Yeah, my older brother will come for sure.
yasu: Right now, I've been having trouble...but, as expected, I'll probably stop trying to reach them...
ka-yu: I suppose it's horrible for me to, since the family my younger sister married into is huge...(Laughs.)
All Members: (Erupt in Laughter.)
you: I suppose I will, since my mom said, "I want to come see you!" so insistently... (Laughs.)
shuji: But if you don't call her this time, you don't know where or when the next tour will be, right?
Knowing that your family is really out there must be interesting...(Laughs.)
yasu: Oh, I hate it...
ka-yu: I really hate it too...
shuji: Oh really? I don't hate it at all.
yasu: Well, it's the absolute worst knowing that they can see you when you get so choked up with emotion that you cry...(Laughs.)
All Members: (Erupt in Laughter.)
you: There are so many things we'll go and do after this, but we'll never be in this position again...
yasu: But since it's good to do it just once, I want to see what it's like to cry during a show...(Laughs.)
ka-yu: You're terrible...
All Members: (Laugh.)
yasu: It's okay when you're there, but when you watch it afterward on video, now that's going to be strange...(Laughs.)
ka-yu: But, after this tour is over, seeing the five of us on stage like that just as we are will really make us feel great, won't it?
yasu: Let's make that happen...
Recently, you've gained a lot of male fans, haven't you?
yasu: That's right. Since this tour, there's a really large number of them.
Who do you think has the most male fans?
yasu: Aah, I would guess shuji does.
shuji: You think so?
ka-yu: Since you're really masculine.
yasu: Gramps. (Laughs.)
ka-yu: But, seriously, shuji and you have a lot of fans, when it comes to the men.
yasu: Even though it's not that big of a deal...(Laughs.)
All Members: (Laugh.)
yasu: During the guitar solos, I can see them all out there agape. But, when we do in-store events, it's a profound mystery to me that men show up, too (Laughs).
shuji: They come up and ask me, "Teach me how to play drums like that, too!" (Laughs.)
yasu: But, they're really happy to be there, the male fans are.
ka-yu: One of the guys standing in front of me once really looked exactly like me, though. (Laughs.)
All Members: (Laugh.)
yasu: So I guess he was a Yankee, then. (Laughs.) [2]
ka-yu: Especially in Nagoya, there were a lot of people who looked like me. I thought, "Is that guy going to try and kick my ass...?" (Laughs.)
Those fans who were unable to attend any of the shows on this tour may not know about your major debut, so will you please announce it here again?
yasu: In May of 1999, Janne Da Arc will be making their major debut. We're so happy to have been chosen to go major. But, though we don't quite know an easy answer to the question of how we're going to approach going major, we want to make an even greater impact in our own lives and those of others, so we're going to debut. When it comes to going major label, that means that you can affect the fans a lot more, does it not? But, there are advantages and disadvantages to doing so, especially to those fans who have been so kind to support us from the beginning. But, our performances will not at all be affected, even if we are on a major label.
During the MC at Blitz, yasu said "I can't say that making our major debut, we won't change. We have!", and I thought that was a really good statement to make. I thought that someone should have that kind of confidence in themselves, at the very least.
yasu: If you say something like "we'll never change", then it just sounds like you're lying, doesn't it?
shuji: With changes to the good parts, there are changes that come to the bad parts, too.
And, I would suppose that if you go from rock to pop, the rock fans that have been following you are going to be upset, too.
yasu: We're working so we don't change that drastically, in that area. The time has come for us to discover what we've done so far, tweak it, and make it better as well, don't you think? Something like that isn't really something we want to play around with, but when you do have to think about it, that's when you get really serious. Even though I say that I don't want to play around, I don't want it to ever be just my "job", either. I can't think of it in any other way than to say, "Since we're doing what we want to do, we have to do what we're doing." If it becomes a "job", it'll be over, after all.
You'll be appearing in more magazines, and on television as well. You might even appear on "Music Station" or "HEY!HEY!HEY!" (Laughs.)
yasu: Eh, I guess we'll have to get our list of appearances up to a decent number...(Laughs.)
All Members: (Erupt in Laughter.)
you: Though I think that this feeling that I have now can't change, since there are people who are naturally going to be curious when they come and see us, I want our reputation to be that "Janne Da Arc puts on a good show, and has fun playing their music". If we make that part the most important part of all, then even in two years, or three years, we'll still be able to get good results from that, right?
kiyo: I understand the sentiment of people who say, "Oh, now they've gone major" or "Here it comes, they're major label now", but if you think that way, it's so hard to approve of anything at all from a standpoint stemming from actual content. Since it looks like there are more bands going that way, I think it's our job to make ourselves really stand out.
ka-yu: Though it's an ambition for me as an individual, I want to perfect my skills to the point where people will say, "Ah, if you're talking about a bassist...ka-yu." More than just becoming good at what I do, I want to become a bassist with real notoriety. Someone like a "bass hero".
shuji: As far as the band goes, I want us to become a band that will always stand out in everyone's memories. On an individual level, like ka-yu, I want to become a really notable drummer. The kind of drummer that someone would watch play, and then start the drums themselves.
yasu: I'm trying not to be such a "show-off". Even if it looks like I am, that's really not my intention at all. I'm working to keep what we've been able to do up to this point, while still not forgetting the essence of those around me. So, if I were to say it, continuing the exact way we are now won't do us any good, and I too want to become very good at what I do. Also, like shuji, I would be very happy if there were people out there who watched us, and thought to start a band of their own as a result. We're going to build a musical history for ourselves.
Recently, you told us that "At the Budokan, we'll all cry". So, when will we be able to see that? (Laughs.)
yasu: Yeah, about that...
ka-yu: You said that at the beginning of this year, too...(Laughs.)
All Members: ...(Laugh.)
ka-yu: Just saying it is uncertain, right? Regardless, everyone will say something about it...(Laughs.)
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Translator's Notes:
[1] Note that the Japanese version of the cabaret is more akin to what most people would consider a strip club. Sexual liaisons are prohibited, however, the girls do offer lap dances and conversation company for an hourly fee. In addition, Japanese cabaret club girls are allowed to go on "dates" outside of the club itself with clients, which are paid for with an allowance given them by their club.
[2] A Yankee is a person whose fashion style usually involves really gaudy jackets (think high school athletic jackets) with blue jeans, a sort of throwback to James Dean-like characters. Another staple of this fashion style (for men) is a giant hairstyle with a very pronounced front coif.