D'espairsRay: raipod swedish internet radio interview 2007
NOTE: I translated from Swedish to English, and before it was from Japanese to Swedish, so If something gets lost in translation... I'm sorry I tried my best to make it understandable.
I listened to the podcast and couldn't remember if it was translated or not so I gave it a shot since I got nothing better to do
I've translated another swedish interview but that one is so weird I need to do it again.... posting later
Raipod internet radio interview 2007
Raipod had the opportunity to get an interview with D’espairsRay before the concert in Stockholm.
So on July 3rd, a few hours before the concert I met with two of the guys in the band for a short interview with the help of their translator, whom they brought with them for Japan.
Do you want to start with introducing yourself?
TSUKASA on Drums
ZERO on bass
This is the first time you’re in Sweden right?
T- Yes, it's our first time.
What do you think about Sweden this far?
T - The landscape is very different from the rest of Europe, it reminds me of some Ghibli movies, I like it.
What did you know about Sweden before you came here?
T- I didn’t really think of it is as a part of Europe so I didn’t know that much about it, the only thing I thought is that it was a cold place.
You’ve played together since 1999, but how did you meet in the first place?
Z- It was our guitarist Karyu, who started the band. We knew each other through friends of friends, but we lived in different places in Japan. Thanks to Karyu we all came to Tokyo and started D’espairsRay.
If you would introduce yourself as a band to someone who never heard about you before, and had to choose a song that represented your style and music, which one would you choose?
Z - All! (laugh) but if I had to choose, MIRROR.
T - Are older songs ok?
- of course.
T - Garnet.
What music do you listen to? Do you have any favourite bands?
Z - Enka (laugh). No, but I listen to lots of different stuff, like metal, and right now I’m listening a lot to soft-rock.
And TSUKASA?
T - I don’t either want to tie myself to only one genre, I listen to both well-known and lesser known bands, lots of rock.. but I do actually listen to enka.
(That is traditional Japanese music)
If you would be compared to a big western band, which would you like that to be? Who would you be proud to be compared to?
T - of course I’m inspired by western music, and of course it’s ok if our fans think we sound like another band, but for me we are D’espairsRay, and even if we’re nice as persons I see all other bands like rivals or even enemies.
Z - For me I don’t want people to say we sound like this or that band, I would like it if they said that other bands sounded like D’espairsRay. I would like to become a band that others are compared to.
This question was meant for HIZUMI, but maybe you can answer it anyway.
Today parts of your lyrics are in Japanese and English, do you think you’ll use more English as you become more famous in foreign countries?
T- HIZUMI got that question yesterday so I remember what he answered. We are Japanese and we don’t want to force ourselves to write in English only because we’re abroad. But I’m not saying that we’ll never write songs in English, but for the moment it doesn’t feel right. Maybe in the future.
Recently you played at J-rock Revolution in USA, I wonder, what do you think of the phenomenon “J-rock”. Do you think Japanese rock will get more famous in the western world?
Z- Of course we want to see the “J-rock- scene” grow, but at the same time I'm worried that it’s just a boom that’ll fade away after a while, I hope that the Japanese music scene will continue to evolve abroad so every band can get the chance to follow it’s own road, but what’s actually going to happen, I don’t know.
What do you think of being part of this J-rock wave? Are you proud to be among it or would you rather become famous without being compared to other Japanese bands?
Z - Of course we would like to be famous on our own, and not only get invited because we’re Japanese or visual-kei, but we still think we’ll be able to move forward within this music scene for who we are.
Last question,
What are your plans for the future after this tour?
Z - After the tour we’ll return to Japan and start writing songs again, and in September we have a tour in Japan. Unfortunately we don’t have any plans on our next tour abroad, but we definitely want to come back to Europe again.
And last, do you have anything to say to your fans in Sweden?
T - This is TSUKASA, this is an Internet radio, I also had an Internet radio until recently, did anyone of you listen? But that didn’t have so much to do about the interview.
I hope you’ll like the concert today, we came to Sweden to have fun together with you, and we definitely want to come back so wait impatiently for us! Thank you.
Z - This is ZERO, this is the first time we’re in Sweden, and earlier today when we had a autograph session, I noticed how cautious and shy fans in Sweden are, it’s a big difference from fans in other countries outside of Japan, and it surprised me, but it makes me think that the concert tonight will be good. I hope everyone will like the concert and that you’ll continue to support us until the next time we come to Sweden.
and no reposting please
I listened to the podcast and couldn't remember if it was translated or not so I gave it a shot since I got nothing better to do
I've translated another swedish interview but that one is so weird I need to do it again.... posting later
Raipod internet radio interview 2007
Raipod had the opportunity to get an interview with D’espairsRay before the concert in Stockholm.
So on July 3rd, a few hours before the concert I met with two of the guys in the band for a short interview with the help of their translator, whom they brought with them for Japan.
Do you want to start with introducing yourself?
TSUKASA on Drums
ZERO on bass
This is the first time you’re in Sweden right?
T- Yes, it's our first time.
What do you think about Sweden this far?
T - The landscape is very different from the rest of Europe, it reminds me of some Ghibli movies, I like it.
What did you know about Sweden before you came here?
T- I didn’t really think of it is as a part of Europe so I didn’t know that much about it, the only thing I thought is that it was a cold place.
You’ve played together since 1999, but how did you meet in the first place?
Z- It was our guitarist Karyu, who started the band. We knew each other through friends of friends, but we lived in different places in Japan. Thanks to Karyu we all came to Tokyo and started D’espairsRay.
If you would introduce yourself as a band to someone who never heard about you before, and had to choose a song that represented your style and music, which one would you choose?
Z - All! (laugh) but if I had to choose, MIRROR.
T - Are older songs ok?
- of course.
T - Garnet.
What music do you listen to? Do you have any favourite bands?
Z - Enka (laugh). No, but I listen to lots of different stuff, like metal, and right now I’m listening a lot to soft-rock.
And TSUKASA?
T - I don’t either want to tie myself to only one genre, I listen to both well-known and lesser known bands, lots of rock.. but I do actually listen to enka.
(That is traditional Japanese music)
If you would be compared to a big western band, which would you like that to be? Who would you be proud to be compared to?
T - of course I’m inspired by western music, and of course it’s ok if our fans think we sound like another band, but for me we are D’espairsRay, and even if we’re nice as persons I see all other bands like rivals or even enemies.
Z - For me I don’t want people to say we sound like this or that band, I would like it if they said that other bands sounded like D’espairsRay. I would like to become a band that others are compared to.
This question was meant for HIZUMI, but maybe you can answer it anyway.
Today parts of your lyrics are in Japanese and English, do you think you’ll use more English as you become more famous in foreign countries?
T- HIZUMI got that question yesterday so I remember what he answered. We are Japanese and we don’t want to force ourselves to write in English only because we’re abroad. But I’m not saying that we’ll never write songs in English, but for the moment it doesn’t feel right. Maybe in the future.
Recently you played at J-rock Revolution in USA, I wonder, what do you think of the phenomenon “J-rock”. Do you think Japanese rock will get more famous in the western world?
Z- Of course we want to see the “J-rock- scene” grow, but at the same time I'm worried that it’s just a boom that’ll fade away after a while, I hope that the Japanese music scene will continue to evolve abroad so every band can get the chance to follow it’s own road, but what’s actually going to happen, I don’t know.
What do you think of being part of this J-rock wave? Are you proud to be among it or would you rather become famous without being compared to other Japanese bands?
Z - Of course we would like to be famous on our own, and not only get invited because we’re Japanese or visual-kei, but we still think we’ll be able to move forward within this music scene for who we are.
Last question,
What are your plans for the future after this tour?
Z - After the tour we’ll return to Japan and start writing songs again, and in September we have a tour in Japan. Unfortunately we don’t have any plans on our next tour abroad, but we definitely want to come back to Europe again.
And last, do you have anything to say to your fans in Sweden?
T - This is TSUKASA, this is an Internet radio, I also had an Internet radio until recently, did anyone of you listen? But that didn’t have so much to do about the interview.
I hope you’ll like the concert today, we came to Sweden to have fun together with you, and we definitely want to come back so wait impatiently for us! Thank you.
Z - This is ZERO, this is the first time we’re in Sweden, and earlier today when we had a autograph session, I noticed how cautious and shy fans in Sweden are, it’s a big difference from fans in other countries outside of Japan, and it surprised me, but it makes me think that the concert tonight will be good. I hope everyone will like the concert and that you’ll continue to support us until the next time we come to Sweden.
and no reposting please