Translated from original text by Hiroshi Mitsutani, originally appearing in M-Gazette vol. 24, May 1999.
What are your impressions of "Desperate", as a bassist?
From the first time I was given the first song, I just approached it in terms of the bass. There were a lot of songs that showcased the guitar as the main part. I was thinking, "What should I do?" all while trying to make the piece suit the direction I wanted to take, experimenting with trial-and-error tactics all the while. Generally, it was largely done by finger-picking, but I feel like the resonance in it is quite strong.
Do you think about arrangement immediately after getting a song?
From the time we get a song, everyone meets in the studio, and we decide how the phrases are going to go together, that takes about two or three days, generally. The process for me, even when working alone, is over just as quickly.
Since "R-TYPE [Hitomi no Iro]" has such a fast tempo, I would suppose the rhythm part was quite difficult, wasn't it?
When the members of our band write songs and bring them for us to check out, they play through it in sequence, so we have a general idea of how the song is supposed to go. First, I just try to copy what they give me, even though I'm thinking "this is kinda hard..." (Laughs.) I was working on that song and "Desperate" at the same time. Even though it's really impolite for me to say this, I put my energy into "Desperate", between the two of them. (Laughs.)
(Laughs.)
Oh, no, I'm kidding. (Laughs.) With a song as much up-tempo as that one is, the feeling of speed that the band can generate becomes important. Its simplicity makes it move along quite well.
How did you undertake doing that with your playing style?
If I play something as if I'm undertaking it, it doesn't make my heart race at all. Surely, I don't want to do it like I'm some kind of idiot or anything, and I know where the difficult parts are, but I play so that when I do it live, it doesn't feel as surreal. (Laughs.)
We've been told that you've had "Psycho Dance" as a piece since you were in high school.
That's a song that has been around since before I joined the band. Janne Da Arc's previous bassist before me wrote the part, but he used a fretless bass. Generally, the phrases were written for that instrument, that is, a fretless. It was a song with a lot of modulation. But, I didn't want to go about and change the main bass phrases of the song, either.
So, did you use a fretless?
...no. (Laughs.) Though I used a fretless before, to play "More Deep" from "Dearly", it was difficult, as I expected it to be; so, this time, I just worked to capture the nuance of this piece as best as I could.
During the mastering and track-down, were the other members in attendance?
They weren't present during the mastering stage, but they were there for the track-down. We decided which parts should be the main ones, though I felt that was largely decided by the song's composer.
What do you think are the things that have allowed you to find your groove, so to speak?
As I mentioned in the group interview, when we were doing "Dearly", we were finally able to stop feeling so nervous and highstrung around one another. Gradually, we were able to not feel stressed out, and make how everything sounds together most important.
Since "...song" was somewhere in the middle of all of this as a piece, I would guess that there were some difficulties with that.
The sound and intervals between the notes were really difficult. Before we put the rest of the piece together, I should have dropped my tempo down to about 5 or so from what I had been playing originally, but I ended up playing it fairly well after the fact. When I was trying to figure out the intervals, I thought it would be good if it left the impression that I was just a little bit behind. If possible, even a little more behind than behind. As far as that's concerned, though, I think shuji was much different than I was...(Laughs.)
Generally, I think Janne Da Arc has an image of being a band in which the rhythm section is their real strength, though.
Oh, you really think so, huh...(Laughs.) We don't really see it that way though.
"Labyrinth" has the impression of having a very strong backing section behind it.
That's the problem with back picking and playing in alternates. It might have been better for me to go with more of a down-pick instead, but because of my intensity, I ended up picking both up and down. (Laughs.) With that piece, I thought I really wanted it to leave the same impression as it would if I was playing it live, in terms of my playing style. Come to think of it, that song came together the most quickly out of all of them, didn't it...?
Is there a point when you really want to make the support part come out strongly?
In my case, I do bring the backing parts out fairly strongly. Originally, I used to take the individual sounds and put them together as I was playing them, but then with pieces like this, I suddenly started thinking that it would be better to make the parts really come together in a different way...while still playing them rather deliberately anyway. (Laughs.)
How did the recording of "Strange Voice" work out?
I thought, "Man, this one is going to take the longest...", but, it didn't (Laughs).
In the guitar solo, there's a part where the bass comes in and plays in unison with it. Was that part there from the beginning?
Well, the composition changed completely, but it's the same one that we use when we play it live.
How many different basses did you use this time?
I used two. There's the one I always use, the black Les Paul type, and then the other Les Paul, the red sunburst. They also have completely different setups.
How do you know which one of the two to use?
My main one is a little harsher, so it produces a much harder sound. My other one produces a wider, more gentle sound. So, for songs like "...song" where a harsh sound doesn't fit the piece at all, I use the secondary one.
As a bassist, is there a particular section that you really recommend that we listen to closely?
"Desperate" in particular is my musical daruma, so to speak, something that I hoped would really work out well (Laughs), so that part. After that, it's pretty strong, though. I got a fan letter that said, "I can't tell the guitar and bass parts apart", and that was just so sad to me (Laughs). So, while you read this interview, try your best to listen to me play! (Laughs.)