[005] neo genesis vol.37 gazette
gazette talks about [DIM]. duh. but this time they talk about each and every one of the songs! so that's 17 little chunks for you to read! ruki reads too many things on the internet, aoi is evil and reita is bullied! scans with many many thanks to rawkstarr23 . there's still some awkward bits but I tried to rephrase some things to make sense in english, and put in a few explanations in italics. hope it's understandable!
neo genesis vol.37 gazette
in the 2 years since the previous album [stacked rubbish] was released, the members have been nurtured through the process of making a larger scale band. there is no doubt that this masterpiece will encapture you, this gratifying new album [DIM] from the GazettE. in last month's series of solo interviews, each member talked about how they've contributed to the making of this album. so this time round they talk about the background of each song. thus after reading both sets, if you listen carefully for information out of [DIM]...the deep dark worldviews reflected through these 17 songs will certainly be more clearly seen.
01. hakuri (detachment)
-- this song starts the album off with an instrumental piece. the important part of the entire album are the instrumental pieces inserted in between like interludes.
ruki: yes. with regards to the instrumentals, the whole song was composed just from the title...there were people who wanted something in front of this song, and there were others who wanted to just put this song in between songs, and because we hadn't decided on the order of songs before composing these instrumentals, it was a little difficult. anyway, this song 'hakuri' has a simple 'being removed from something' sort of image. removing something from yourself. for myself, I write lyrics, music, and these are something that comes out from within myself...
-- the image of "removing something from yourself" seems to be accompanied by a feeling of pain...
ruki: indeed. even though it's an image of something 'coming off', it's something from within myself. it's like rust from my body, isn't it (laughs). therefore, there would only be good things left, isn't it. so if you ask which way the album's songs go, it isn't only full of such nice things. nice stuff and fun stuff, lack this depth, isn't it. it's like because I don't have much depth left inside myself, the tunes and lyrics will not have much too.
02. THE INVISIBLE WALL
aoi: regarding the development of the song, the original tune already had such a feel, so there was no daring attempt to change this...basically the original melody really already fitted the image faithfully. it somehow had a sort of 'light and airy" image. but it also had a 'stabbing-like' atmosphere about it...
-- because the melody development has many variations, isn't it. there's a floating sort of sound, and there's a violent intense sound too. the lyrics are a mixture of english and japanese, but what's the theme of the story?
ruki: the theme..."people who have committed a sin" sort of image. something that never disappears throughout your entire life sort of thing. it's...how to explain this? it's like beyond saying repentant words, you have to continue living on carrying the guilt. it's 'something you can't see'.
-- so the main character carries the guilt, which is the 'thing you can't see'... so that must be the 'invisible wall'. the wall you can't see.
ruki: that's right. it cannot be seen, neither can you get across this wall. this is coming from a third person point of view of the lyrics...this 'wall' could be found in a number of places. in our lives, and even in this world.
03. A MOTH UNDER THE SKIN
aoi: this song, when we were deciding on the image of the album, the other members probably were thinking along the lines of a darker image, and if we did that, it would be a little too much (laughs). it would have been okay if the entire album had that sort of atmosphere going, but I also thought really confidently that I would want to put in something that was a little different.
-- there's aggressiveness, and at the same time there's scratching sounds included, as if the track is being polished.
aoi: yep. it'll be pretty fun to play it during lives. this song rides on this idea, like how the atmosphere onstage would be like, the floor would become all heated up etc. this song was composed with such images in mind.
kai: for me, at first there was a difficult phrase to play in this song, and so I asked aoi-kun, "what should I do about this..." and we discussed it. after that he told me that it's better if I don't bring up the tempo, and so based on that reply, I thought about how to play the drums for that phrase. I didn't open up too much of a gap, instead I first became aware of the parts where there weren't too many details all packed in, but the chorus only feels like it's running in one straight line. because if I'd made everything so detailed then it wouldn't be interesting anymore, because you wouldn't be able to flow with it anymore, isn't it.
-- speaking of the rhythm team (bass and drum), the bass is featured right from the introduction of the song, isn't it.
reita: yes. this was also, because aoi-san had kindly allowed me to do it...
aoi: it's true, isn't it~~~!
-- looks like he's given you a place to show off (laughs).
reita: yeah, it's true (laughs). sometimes I too, want the spotlight on me, it seems (laughs). but this introduction is pretty biting. after that from the verse it's like the bass pulls the whole song along sort of feeling, and basically I just keep playing the bass really intently.
-- the title has the word 'MOTH', so it's really about moths, isn't it?
ruki: yes. the melody has this tricky sort of feel to it, I thought. thus I went to find something that would fit this tricky feel. the word 'butterfly' appears in the lyrics, but it's really similar to a 'moth', isn't it. from the outside it looks like a butterfly, but the inside is completely different, so tricky, isn't it...and that's the sort of image the lyrics have.
uruha: oh you mean the english word 'MOTH' means moth...I didn't know that (laughs)
ruki: yep. even though it's pronounced as 'mos' it's not the same as in 'mos burger'.
reita: 'moth burger'?
-- I certainly wouldn't want to eat that...(laughs) getting back to the topic. moths and butterflies are similar on the outside but are actually completely different entities. so it's symbolised by the word 'FAKE'.
ruki: that's right. this is a song that's undergone plastic surgery. the face and other parts have been changed on the outside. but the inside has not changed. this gives off an ironic sort of feeling isn't it...but while such surgeries weren't common in the past, now they've become more commonplace.
-- so considering along this line of thought and logic, it's about trends that change over time...so things that happen in our society come up as motifs in your songs, isn't it.
ruki: that's right. there's a 'modern' feel to it somehow, if you ask me something like that.
04. LEECH
ruki: the album version sounds pretty close to the original, doesn't it. in the single version, the verse is a little distorted, so we corrected that in the album recording. it's nothing fancy though...(laughs) but anyway I thought that if we're recording all over again, it'll be better to just record it the way we want to.
uruha: after hearing "the guitar is super cool!", I still finish it like I'm trying to show off my skills, even when I hear that now. when we did the single, I think the feeling of challenging something that's the level of impossibility was great.
-- so you wanted to do something even better than just crossing the hurdle.
uruha: that's right. it seemed impossible, but as time passed and I listened to the song again, I still thought "woah this is cool!".
05. nakigahara (a field of crying)
-- a major composition lasting more than 7 minutes!
aoi: well firstly, the sound of the guitars making concordant and discordant sounds to produce this intriguing sound was difficult...it's not too bad making it sound really weirded (laughs). if it were done in a normal way I won't approve of it. if we did it in a normal fashion it'll end up somewhat like an enka song of sorts (laughs). so we put that weirded phrase into the actual song, but when the phrase appeared again, it felt like we were pushing it. but if we just did it normally, then something inside ruki's heart will have a problem with it.
-- there's a sense of pain, as well as a sound of an unsteady atmosphere floating...it seems that the 'field of crying' in the lyrics also imagine such a place with such atmosphere.
ruki: there's really such a place, really. there's some place behind the mountains some distance away from your home, your hometown...there's that place behind the mountains, and in that place, there are people waiting for people coming to fight with them. then, in that place where the waiting people are waiting, the war heats up. I don't write that explicitly, though. it's just an image. to put it in a larger term, it's that feeling of 'solitude'...that image is very strong. the content of the lyrics are actually from a story off the internet.
-- ehh!? is that so?
ruki: you can't understand the lyrics right, at first glance (laughs).
-- I thought it was a simple scene of a painful separation...the GazettE's songs really takes material from a large variety of sources, isn't it.
ruki: you're right. but this, is not the "modernism" I talked about just now. the point is, this song doesn't just talk about things that happen nowadays. the content of this song is taken from the internet...so eventually we will stop conversing etc. even without my own hand giving direction, other people will be able to do many things. this modernism encompasses such a implication, and it's really a weapon, isn't it.
-- that's something I don't really like hearing... included are also things like "dark place", and there's violence in the words chosen.
ruki: exactly. there's absolutely no compassion in it, isn't it. the words that capitalise on such instances are really not there just because I specifically wanted a lot of them. but I do things like that myself, and this exchange can be seen, isn't it so. I haven't really changed, right, sort of thing... that's the sort of content.
06. erika
ruki: the 'erika' here refers to the name of a flower. you've probably seen it before. and apparently it's supposed to mean 'loneliness'... after I researched on various material related to 'loneliness', I found 'erika'.
aoi: oooh you're like a poet...
ruki: (laughs) shush! apparently there's a good meaning of this word, which is 'love for humanity'... they're like complete opposites, 'love for humanity' and 'loneliness'. I think that makes the title better though.
07. HEADACHE MAN
reita: when this song was composed, I helped even though I was really pissed off. it was supposed to be headed towards the theme of the title itself, 'HEADACHE MAN', but everyone lumped everything together...it felt more like a riot, didn't it (laughs).
ruki: somehow we have a lot of times like these, isn't it...like a lot of incidences where we get all riled up. and we also just put these straight into our songs, isn't it.
08. guren (crimson lotus)
ruki: for guren, I fixed the singing. I tried to imagine singing the song live while re-singing it. we had the original song we previously recorded, and when the singing was suddenly different from the original, I could see other things in the song. so with that exact feeling I had when I arranged the song to be sung live, I re-recorded the song.
aoi: it feels pretty sad that up till now, only we know what the live version is going to sound like, and nobody else does (laughs). it's going to be a headache choosing which one to sing at karaoke, isn't it...
ruki: I only changed one verse though (laughs).
aoi: maa... even though everyone around us doesn't know exactly which part has changed, you can be proud of the fact that "I know that it's changed!". everyone, remember that in your hearts (laughs).
09. shikyuu (uterus) (thank you to those who corrected me!)
-- the noise of an infant crying... even though this instrumental is pretty short, it still has an impact.
ruki: it's a reversed sort of thinking, this song. this crying is actually played backwards. the crying is a good thing, when the baby is born, isn't it. however...some time back I talked about 'baby hatches' (a place where newborns are abandoned), didn't I. not everybody knows about this system very well, isn't it. well, if you were put into a baby hatch yourself, you wouldn't be able to erase yourself. if you thought about that, it becomes pretty depressing... this piece thinks about all this.
(I interpret this part as ruki saying that if you were abandoned in a baby hatch as opposed to being aborted, which is incidentally the theme of guren, then you would live on and not be able to 'erase yourself'.)
10. 13 STAIRS [-] 1
-- there's a lot of heavy distortion used on guitars here!
uruha: that's right. you only pointed out that it is heavy. but it isn't really too heavy...
ruki: at first, it was a distortion that made me wonder if it wasn't suitable for the song (laughs)
uruha: that was just out of wanting to play around with stuff. there's an distortion effect that makes this sound. it's called a fuzz (a guitar effects pedal also known as fuzzbox.)
-- this fuzz, is something that you said before that "in the past I wouldn't even have wanted to use it", isn't it. but this time you wanted something exciting. is that it?
uruha: yes. when I first started with the guitar, without knowing anything, the first thing I bought was this fuzz... and I have memories of it being a complete flop...(laughs) it's completely different from the normal distortion sound, and the sound made me think, "what the hell!?" but on the contrary, it's because it turned out like that, that I thought of trying it out.
aoi: but then a normal fuzz wouldn't have such a sound, isn't it. it came out like that only because we tried several methods when arranging the song, isn't it. we tried just the fuzzed bits and lined them up, saying things like that one isn't it, neither is this one it.
uruha: yep. and then we pushed the master volume to the max (laughs).
-- (laughs) this violent sound isn't quite a common sound.
aoi: it's interesting, isn't it! so we just tried this one sound alone many many times by itself. but even though we used this sound alone, we'd go back to the previous sound. so even after we tried it many times, in the end, we kept going in between the first sound and the second sound.
reita: you said, "it wasn't this sort of fuzz..."...
gazette: .............................(this awkward moment of silence)
uruha: he's been saying only interesting things since yesterday (laughs).
ruki: (laughs) it's not funny at all, is it!
-- so even though all of you tried so many things with the fuzzbox, in the end it was still a "it wasn't this sort of fuzz..." this sort of statement is...
reita: don't ask me to explain it (laughs). just leave me alone...
-- let's return to serious talk then (laughs). the sound has a sprinting sort of feel to it.
kai: the speed feels like it's rising faster and faster, isn't it. the rhythm of the cymbals at the chorus was just following uruha-kun's insistence on the pattern. well that....was quite uh, random (laughs). I did that to allow listeners to clearly tell the difference in sounds. the sound of the crash cymbal next to the high hat, plus the lower crash next to the tom, adding the back china crashes were the exact 4 used separately... this was exactly what uruha insisted on. it was something like use this cymbal at this part, then use this other cymbal at this next part, sort of feeling, and there wasn't really any pattern of sorts.
-- after using the headphones to listen to this track, the cymbal sounds seem to ring from various directions.
kai: that's right. that part was difficult, and thus the tempo ended up changing.
uruha: that part was said to be difficult... I myself felt "you mean it was going to be this tough!?"
kai: (laughs) those instructions were really tough.
aoi: so kai-kun, after he asked you to do all that, what did you say?
kai: hmm!? I just said "okay let's do it!"....
aoi: you are such an idiot, aren't you! you have to say "it's not that kind of fuzz..."!
ruki: today, you may use that phrase at any point in time!
reita: (laughs) somehow I feel like I'm going to be teased to no end...
-- you may interject with that phrase anytime you like (laughs). does the title mean "13 steps"? as in the 13 steps taken by the prisoner on death row...
ruki: ahh yes. that's right. it's an image of "one step before the execution place".
aoi: ehhhhhh...... you settled on that?
ruki: so it seems. it's the steps that those sentenced to death by hanging climb. so at the 2nd last step, it's "minus 1". this story, is simply what I gathered from today's society. this is not something I took from the internet, like what I had talked about earlier, but if you don't know what is pain, then your pain can't be healed. that's the way it is if you push the back of such people...from the top of the stairs.
-- this is something you gathered from the last time, this image of "something on the edge", isn't it. and the audience... seems to be today's society, and your lyrics seem to carry such a nuance about it too, and this seems to be something that the music world of today wishes to do...
ruki: isn't it so. there are people who say that if we produce music like this then it will sell, but then there are also people who failed to become bestsellers precisely because of this. people who push the boundaries of music... there aren't just people who say they like rock music and that "music has no boundaries", there are also people who say that they dislike visual kei too. even though breaking genres and categories is really what free music is... you've heard it somewhere somehow, haven't you. things like illegal downloading. when you put all these things on top of one another, it seems like music is "on that step to death". this song has this image, yeah.
-- hmmm... after thinking about it, we're in a tough world. now everyone has a field in which they do their own thing, sort of idea.
ruki: tough huh. tough, heavy. if we only do what the genre of visual kei does, then well... because there were people who did do something different isn't it. it seems that we must do the same. it's because it's tough and heavy out there, so we must press on, or so I think.
11. DISTRESS AND COMA
reita: this is our most recently released single... the other songs from the single were fixed in this album, but this single and the album were engineered together, and the timing for the release was also pretty close, so I thought the sound was pretty good already. we listened to it again and tried to fix it, but the level of completion was pretty high already. this is really the best, isn't it. this track is the song that's most tied in with the album [DIM].
-- while that is true, I have this idea that lately the band has been releasing more melodies that are in the slow to medium pace sort of songs which make use of a lot of strings.
aoi: we've had had such songs before, though. but this is the first time we've recorded it without editing.
reita: since 'guren', isn't it.
aoi: with regards to the song, and also with regards to ruki... it seems that in this heavy feeling, there's also a little elegance added in some places. in those parts where we want to emphasise our world views, the use of unprocessed sound is simply fantastic, isn't it.
12. kanshoku (feeling)
ruki: this track is tied in with the next track, 'shiroki yuutsu'. there's a feeling of kindness, right? a gentle feeling.
-- an instrumental that uses the piano. after listening to it again... isn't it difficult to think of a title for a piece that doesn't have lyrics added?
ruki: as long as there's something, somehow I'll feel comfortable. like for this track, 'shiroki yuutsu' came out first, then from there this song was tied in and it flowed right out. on the contrary, isn't this really freedom? in the parts without lyrics, is where you can extend your world views freely. when such things are available, to me, I would feel comfortable.
13. shiroki yuutsu (white kind depression)
-- the kanji used for the title 'yuutsu', are these 2 words juxtaposed this way in everyday japanese?
(yuutsu is usually written as 憂鬱, like in zakurogata no yuutsu, but ruki decided to write it as 優鬱instead.)
ruki: nahh, it isn't. how to put it, in better terms... it's more like "kind depression". we had a song called 'zakurogata no yuuutsu', but it's not the same idea.
-- 'kindness' has a sort of link to 'kanshoku', doesn't it.
ruki: indeed it does. this one is also from a 3rd person point of view. I know of this elderly lady who contracted cancer. then somehow, since it seems like she's lost something in this world, she becomes kind for the first time, you know, that sort of thing? so the family also realises this, but the fact that the old grandma suddenly became kind, made the family even more stressed... so it seems that both parties were unable to build a relationship of mutual understanding. you've heard this sort of thing before, haven't you. when you hear someone around you telling you something kind all of a sudden, you end up being more uneasy than ever. the more that person is concerned about you, the more worried you become.
-- human psyche is difficult to understand, isn't it... I can understand the feeling of being worried for someone, but I can also understand the uneasiness of suddenly having someone worry so much for you out of nowhere...
ruki: yep. when it's someone close to you, you'd be wondering 'why on earth is he suddenly so worried!' sort of thing, isn't it. so the opposite happens instead... that's what the 'depression' part means. even in 'being kind' there's a 'depression' that develops.
-- this track also makes use of strings, doesn't it. so have you already decided how you want to put the strings sounds in during performances?
uruha: we haven't actually thought so far about it... before that we want to make sure the band's sound is solid before dwelving into all these details. if we really kept thinking about all these nitty gritty things while trying to record, then it would really be difficult to record a good sound...
-- ensuring that your sound is really tight and solid is a big principle of the band, isn't it.
uruha: yes it is. that's why firstly, we need to settle how we're going to do the width and depth of the song. after that's done and you put in the instrumentation in the arrangement, it will become fairly splendid. I think it will become a piece with much depth.
14. IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS
kai: ahhh this one... I have this image that it goes at top speed right from the beginning. but it seems to cross that maximum at the end.
-- the speed seems unstoppable...you've got to really persist on and push for the speed in order not to sound breathless at any point in time.
kai: it does seem breathless...(laughs) well well well... that's why it's more important to keep up the speed than the draining of energy, isn't it.
-- a song with this sort of speed being in the same album as a heavy song like 'nakigahara'... "I don't want to have a one-sided viewpoint of the world", I think this was exactly what you said in the last interview.
kai: that's right. this is something we consider when choosing the songs... for example, we often say things like "we don't really have enough intense songs". on the other hand, when "there aren't enough heavy songs", what we'll do is to write the songs while choosing them, and I think the members have such a consciousness going on inside them.
aoi: everybody does, huh...
kai: yes I'm sure everybody does (laughs).
aoi: everyone has a fuzz...
reita: STOP IT! I'm already so embarrassed by this so stop it....(laughs)
15. mourou (hazy)
-- this is another noisy one... even though it's a 30 second track, it's an instrumental with some impact.
ruki: 'mourou' flowed from 'OGRE'. this was really, like an acid trip to somewhere... it's like trying to use sounds to portray what goes on in a 'hazy' brain. it goes round and round, a feeling of going in a loop.
-- some fans may be wondering, so who's the person going on this trip...
ruki: it's me (laughs). for me, even though I don't really have a problem with trips, I wonder why I can still get to such a place. it's the high-ness (laughs).
16. OGRE
-- if you translate 'OGRE' directly, it means 'demon', right? the words 'demon' and 'god' appear in the lyrics... at one glance, you can see the existence of both extremities.
ruki: uhh not quite... it's a feeling of the demon wearing the cover of a god, actually. but because it isn't something tangible, uhh it will be helpful if you could apply your imagination to this... if you look at it from another way, I had a strong image of a place without God at all. in the world today, many religions place themselves as the only one that is real. for example... "XX religion" would only be able to save people who believe in "XX religion", sort of thing.
-- so to put it in more definite terms, you're dealing with yet another delicate topic... but even though there are many such religions, within the religions there are also factions that disagree with one another. there's probably still a lot of questions about exactly what is 'God'.
ruki: that's precisely the case isn't it...but, the conclusion is, there is no god. there's this feeling that even though we talk about the religious views of today, there isn't anything that can help us. that is, there is no god. that's quite worrying, isn't it... if you think about it further. but even in such a situation, it can still be pretty interesting. because the end is dependent on yourself, sort of idea.
-- because you have no choice but to live on your own strength, isn't it. so what about the sound that rides on such a strong idea? you start with a super intense sound then suddenly change completely, and then suddenly pick up speed again...an arrangement that has rises and falls included.
reita: we're pretty prone to running about during lives, isn't it. it's going to be difficult for this song. but... we've had songs in the past where the song changes very suddenly from the beginning, and you don't know which way we're swinging towards, it's a very unorthodox thing that we do, isn't it. later uhh...leader gives two bars and we're in again all intense. I also sync in with that!
ruki: it was even faster, in the beginning. the original tune. we always talked about it, isn't it. like "so up to which point can the speed go up to?" sort of thing.
kai: ah yes. well... when I was told something like 280 beats per minute, I said, "I think that's probably impossible..." (laughs)
ruki: speaking of that, I thought that on the contrary, you'd be able to do that (laughs).
-- this piece goes beyond human capabilities (laughs). this band has many many requests of one another when producing a piece, don't you.
kai: yes! if this happens again, I'll lose my brain (laughs)
aoi: (laughs) oh no no no! it's okay if it can happen again!
kai: (laughs) I suppose so too! while believing in that...I will work hard everyday!
17. DIM SCENE
-- this is an example of "a song where the more you play the more depressing it gets" isn't it... (with reference to a solo interview with uruha in the previous issue) it certainly is very heavy hearted, isn't it.
uruha: it is, isn't it... for the first part we recorded a clean phrase of arpeggio guitar playing... this atmosphere really brings the mood down. we thought about the phrase that would bring the mood down the most. that way, the more we play it the lower the mood would go, sort of idea... when we play it, anybody would soak up the atmosphere.
-- this atmosphere is the "DIM" atmosphere, isn't it. the entire album is signified by this 'slightly dark' sort of image. and this appropriately ties up the whole album?
ruki: yes. well this... all the lyrics are put into this one song. this song's lyrics has phrases from all the other songs incorporated into it, so I think it's an appropriate song to put at the end. when you first listen to the song, your impression would be "why is this song unusually dark..." in any case, because this impression is really strong, when I tried writing the lyrics for it, I thought about what is the darkest thing I could think of... and I thought, it's probably all the things put together. everything in this album put together.
-- in previous interviews, you said that "DIM" has an image of "being on the edge", right?
ruki: that's right. it's a feeling of being on the verge of something. like in '13 STAIRS [-] 1', it's the "verge of death" sort of idea. there's this sort of image in various songs. there are probably many such instances in everyone's life, in particularly trying circumstances.... I think the part just before dying is even more trying than death itself. but on the other hand, if you really die, then you can't think about such things. I suppose being alive surely, is something important, isn't it. even though there are many people and things that make you feel like you want to die...
-- even the many feelings I get after listening to this album are only felt because I'm alive, isn't it... I think it's great to be able to feel the importance of being alive.
ruki: isn't it so. I really think this way.
-- after the release of this album, you're embarking on a tour, isn't it. the reason why people are able to go to lives is also because they're alive.
aoi: yes! we start on july 18th, and will run really fast all the way to end at saitama super arena (september 5th). how would it turn out, really... well somehow, I think it's become really massive. and because the title of the tour for the album 'DIM' is called 'DIM SCENE', most certainly...
ruki: but... after listening to the album once through, I think that the album is not as dark as I thought it was. but there's a feeling of heaviness pounding through. there isn't a point that is left incomplete. and because there isn't a worldview that is left incomplete, I think this is a really good feeling.
-- let's find the worldviews which aren't stuck incomplete in the songs presented with all our might!
aoi: yes let's do that! how it turns out, is left to the next time we talk about it... if we get another article with neo genesis, please do interview us again (laughs).
-- (laughs) I'll be waiting to see the band in an issue soon!
neo genesis vol.37 gazette
in the 2 years since the previous album [stacked rubbish] was released, the members have been nurtured through the process of making a larger scale band. there is no doubt that this masterpiece will encapture you, this gratifying new album [DIM] from the GazettE. in last month's series of solo interviews, each member talked about how they've contributed to the making of this album. so this time round they talk about the background of each song. thus after reading both sets, if you listen carefully for information out of [DIM]...the deep dark worldviews reflected through these 17 songs will certainly be more clearly seen.
01. hakuri (detachment)
-- this song starts the album off with an instrumental piece. the important part of the entire album are the instrumental pieces inserted in between like interludes.
ruki: yes. with regards to the instrumentals, the whole song was composed just from the title...there were people who wanted something in front of this song, and there were others who wanted to just put this song in between songs, and because we hadn't decided on the order of songs before composing these instrumentals, it was a little difficult. anyway, this song 'hakuri' has a simple 'being removed from something' sort of image. removing something from yourself. for myself, I write lyrics, music, and these are something that comes out from within myself...
-- the image of "removing something from yourself" seems to be accompanied by a feeling of pain...
ruki: indeed. even though it's an image of something 'coming off', it's something from within myself. it's like rust from my body, isn't it (laughs). therefore, there would only be good things left, isn't it. so if you ask which way the album's songs go, it isn't only full of such nice things. nice stuff and fun stuff, lack this depth, isn't it. it's like because I don't have much depth left inside myself, the tunes and lyrics will not have much too.
02. THE INVISIBLE WALL
aoi: regarding the development of the song, the original tune already had such a feel, so there was no daring attempt to change this...basically the original melody really already fitted the image faithfully. it somehow had a sort of 'light and airy" image. but it also had a 'stabbing-like' atmosphere about it...
-- because the melody development has many variations, isn't it. there's a floating sort of sound, and there's a violent intense sound too. the lyrics are a mixture of english and japanese, but what's the theme of the story?
ruki: the theme..."people who have committed a sin" sort of image. something that never disappears throughout your entire life sort of thing. it's...how to explain this? it's like beyond saying repentant words, you have to continue living on carrying the guilt. it's 'something you can't see'.
-- so the main character carries the guilt, which is the 'thing you can't see'... so that must be the 'invisible wall'. the wall you can't see.
ruki: that's right. it cannot be seen, neither can you get across this wall. this is coming from a third person point of view of the lyrics...this 'wall' could be found in a number of places. in our lives, and even in this world.
03. A MOTH UNDER THE SKIN
aoi: this song, when we were deciding on the image of the album, the other members probably were thinking along the lines of a darker image, and if we did that, it would be a little too much (laughs). it would have been okay if the entire album had that sort of atmosphere going, but I also thought really confidently that I would want to put in something that was a little different.
-- there's aggressiveness, and at the same time there's scratching sounds included, as if the track is being polished.
aoi: yep. it'll be pretty fun to play it during lives. this song rides on this idea, like how the atmosphere onstage would be like, the floor would become all heated up etc. this song was composed with such images in mind.
kai: for me, at first there was a difficult phrase to play in this song, and so I asked aoi-kun, "what should I do about this..." and we discussed it. after that he told me that it's better if I don't bring up the tempo, and so based on that reply, I thought about how to play the drums for that phrase. I didn't open up too much of a gap, instead I first became aware of the parts where there weren't too many details all packed in, but the chorus only feels like it's running in one straight line. because if I'd made everything so detailed then it wouldn't be interesting anymore, because you wouldn't be able to flow with it anymore, isn't it.
-- speaking of the rhythm team (bass and drum), the bass is featured right from the introduction of the song, isn't it.
reita: yes. this was also, because aoi-san had kindly allowed me to do it...
aoi: it's true, isn't it~~~!
-- looks like he's given you a place to show off (laughs).
reita: yeah, it's true (laughs). sometimes I too, want the spotlight on me, it seems (laughs). but this introduction is pretty biting. after that from the verse it's like the bass pulls the whole song along sort of feeling, and basically I just keep playing the bass really intently.
-- the title has the word 'MOTH', so it's really about moths, isn't it?
ruki: yes. the melody has this tricky sort of feel to it, I thought. thus I went to find something that would fit this tricky feel. the word 'butterfly' appears in the lyrics, but it's really similar to a 'moth', isn't it. from the outside it looks like a butterfly, but the inside is completely different, so tricky, isn't it...and that's the sort of image the lyrics have.
uruha: oh you mean the english word 'MOTH' means moth...I didn't know that (laughs)
ruki: yep. even though it's pronounced as 'mos' it's not the same as in 'mos burger'.
reita: 'moth burger'?
-- I certainly wouldn't want to eat that...(laughs) getting back to the topic. moths and butterflies are similar on the outside but are actually completely different entities. so it's symbolised by the word 'FAKE'.
ruki: that's right. this is a song that's undergone plastic surgery. the face and other parts have been changed on the outside. but the inside has not changed. this gives off an ironic sort of feeling isn't it...but while such surgeries weren't common in the past, now they've become more commonplace.
-- so considering along this line of thought and logic, it's about trends that change over time...so things that happen in our society come up as motifs in your songs, isn't it.
ruki: that's right. there's a 'modern' feel to it somehow, if you ask me something like that.
04. LEECH
ruki: the album version sounds pretty close to the original, doesn't it. in the single version, the verse is a little distorted, so we corrected that in the album recording. it's nothing fancy though...(laughs) but anyway I thought that if we're recording all over again, it'll be better to just record it the way we want to.
uruha: after hearing "the guitar is super cool!", I still finish it like I'm trying to show off my skills, even when I hear that now. when we did the single, I think the feeling of challenging something that's the level of impossibility was great.
-- so you wanted to do something even better than just crossing the hurdle.
uruha: that's right. it seemed impossible, but as time passed and I listened to the song again, I still thought "woah this is cool!".
05. nakigahara (a field of crying)
-- a major composition lasting more than 7 minutes!
aoi: well firstly, the sound of the guitars making concordant and discordant sounds to produce this intriguing sound was difficult...it's not too bad making it sound really weirded (laughs). if it were done in a normal way I won't approve of it. if we did it in a normal fashion it'll end up somewhat like an enka song of sorts (laughs). so we put that weirded phrase into the actual song, but when the phrase appeared again, it felt like we were pushing it. but if we just did it normally, then something inside ruki's heart will have a problem with it.
-- there's a sense of pain, as well as a sound of an unsteady atmosphere floating...it seems that the 'field of crying' in the lyrics also imagine such a place with such atmosphere.
ruki: there's really such a place, really. there's some place behind the mountains some distance away from your home, your hometown...there's that place behind the mountains, and in that place, there are people waiting for people coming to fight with them. then, in that place where the waiting people are waiting, the war heats up. I don't write that explicitly, though. it's just an image. to put it in a larger term, it's that feeling of 'solitude'...that image is very strong. the content of the lyrics are actually from a story off the internet.
-- ehh!? is that so?
ruki: you can't understand the lyrics right, at first glance (laughs).
-- I thought it was a simple scene of a painful separation...the GazettE's songs really takes material from a large variety of sources, isn't it.
ruki: you're right. but this, is not the "modernism" I talked about just now. the point is, this song doesn't just talk about things that happen nowadays. the content of this song is taken from the internet...so eventually we will stop conversing etc. even without my own hand giving direction, other people will be able to do many things. this modernism encompasses such a implication, and it's really a weapon, isn't it.
-- that's something I don't really like hearing... included are also things like "dark place", and there's violence in the words chosen.
ruki: exactly. there's absolutely no compassion in it, isn't it. the words that capitalise on such instances are really not there just because I specifically wanted a lot of them. but I do things like that myself, and this exchange can be seen, isn't it so. I haven't really changed, right, sort of thing... that's the sort of content.
06. erika
ruki: the 'erika' here refers to the name of a flower. you've probably seen it before. and apparently it's supposed to mean 'loneliness'... after I researched on various material related to 'loneliness', I found 'erika'.
aoi: oooh you're like a poet...
ruki: (laughs) shush! apparently there's a good meaning of this word, which is 'love for humanity'... they're like complete opposites, 'love for humanity' and 'loneliness'. I think that makes the title better though.
07. HEADACHE MAN
reita: when this song was composed, I helped even though I was really pissed off. it was supposed to be headed towards the theme of the title itself, 'HEADACHE MAN', but everyone lumped everything together...it felt more like a riot, didn't it (laughs).
ruki: somehow we have a lot of times like these, isn't it...like a lot of incidences where we get all riled up. and we also just put these straight into our songs, isn't it.
08. guren (crimson lotus)
ruki: for guren, I fixed the singing. I tried to imagine singing the song live while re-singing it. we had the original song we previously recorded, and when the singing was suddenly different from the original, I could see other things in the song. so with that exact feeling I had when I arranged the song to be sung live, I re-recorded the song.
aoi: it feels pretty sad that up till now, only we know what the live version is going to sound like, and nobody else does (laughs). it's going to be a headache choosing which one to sing at karaoke, isn't it...
ruki: I only changed one verse though (laughs).
aoi: maa... even though everyone around us doesn't know exactly which part has changed, you can be proud of the fact that "I know that it's changed!". everyone, remember that in your hearts (laughs).
09. shikyuu (uterus) (thank you to those who corrected me!)
-- the noise of an infant crying... even though this instrumental is pretty short, it still has an impact.
ruki: it's a reversed sort of thinking, this song. this crying is actually played backwards. the crying is a good thing, when the baby is born, isn't it. however...some time back I talked about 'baby hatches' (a place where newborns are abandoned), didn't I. not everybody knows about this system very well, isn't it. well, if you were put into a baby hatch yourself, you wouldn't be able to erase yourself. if you thought about that, it becomes pretty depressing... this piece thinks about all this.
(I interpret this part as ruki saying that if you were abandoned in a baby hatch as opposed to being aborted, which is incidentally the theme of guren, then you would live on and not be able to 'erase yourself'.)
10. 13 STAIRS [-] 1
-- there's a lot of heavy distortion used on guitars here!
uruha: that's right. you only pointed out that it is heavy. but it isn't really too heavy...
ruki: at first, it was a distortion that made me wonder if it wasn't suitable for the song (laughs)
uruha: that was just out of wanting to play around with stuff. there's an distortion effect that makes this sound. it's called a fuzz (a guitar effects pedal also known as fuzzbox.)
-- this fuzz, is something that you said before that "in the past I wouldn't even have wanted to use it", isn't it. but this time you wanted something exciting. is that it?
uruha: yes. when I first started with the guitar, without knowing anything, the first thing I bought was this fuzz... and I have memories of it being a complete flop...(laughs) it's completely different from the normal distortion sound, and the sound made me think, "what the hell!?" but on the contrary, it's because it turned out like that, that I thought of trying it out.
aoi: but then a normal fuzz wouldn't have such a sound, isn't it. it came out like that only because we tried several methods when arranging the song, isn't it. we tried just the fuzzed bits and lined them up, saying things like that one isn't it, neither is this one it.
uruha: yep. and then we pushed the master volume to the max (laughs).
-- (laughs) this violent sound isn't quite a common sound.
aoi: it's interesting, isn't it! so we just tried this one sound alone many many times by itself. but even though we used this sound alone, we'd go back to the previous sound. so even after we tried it many times, in the end, we kept going in between the first sound and the second sound.
reita: you said, "it wasn't this sort of fuzz..."...
gazette: .............................(this awkward moment of silence)
uruha: he's been saying only interesting things since yesterday (laughs).
ruki: (laughs) it's not funny at all, is it!
-- so even though all of you tried so many things with the fuzzbox, in the end it was still a "it wasn't this sort of fuzz..." this sort of statement is...
reita: don't ask me to explain it (laughs). just leave me alone...
-- let's return to serious talk then (laughs). the sound has a sprinting sort of feel to it.
kai: the speed feels like it's rising faster and faster, isn't it. the rhythm of the cymbals at the chorus was just following uruha-kun's insistence on the pattern. well that....was quite uh, random (laughs). I did that to allow listeners to clearly tell the difference in sounds. the sound of the crash cymbal next to the high hat, plus the lower crash next to the tom, adding the back china crashes were the exact 4 used separately... this was exactly what uruha insisted on. it was something like use this cymbal at this part, then use this other cymbal at this next part, sort of feeling, and there wasn't really any pattern of sorts.
-- after using the headphones to listen to this track, the cymbal sounds seem to ring from various directions.
kai: that's right. that part was difficult, and thus the tempo ended up changing.
uruha: that part was said to be difficult... I myself felt "you mean it was going to be this tough!?"
kai: (laughs) those instructions were really tough.
aoi: so kai-kun, after he asked you to do all that, what did you say?
kai: hmm!? I just said "okay let's do it!"....
aoi: you are such an idiot, aren't you! you have to say "it's not that kind of fuzz..."!
ruki: today, you may use that phrase at any point in time!
reita: (laughs) somehow I feel like I'm going to be teased to no end...
-- you may interject with that phrase anytime you like (laughs). does the title mean "13 steps"? as in the 13 steps taken by the prisoner on death row...
ruki: ahh yes. that's right. it's an image of "one step before the execution place".
aoi: ehhhhhh...... you settled on that?
ruki: so it seems. it's the steps that those sentenced to death by hanging climb. so at the 2nd last step, it's "minus 1". this story, is simply what I gathered from today's society. this is not something I took from the internet, like what I had talked about earlier, but if you don't know what is pain, then your pain can't be healed. that's the way it is if you push the back of such people...from the top of the stairs.
-- this is something you gathered from the last time, this image of "something on the edge", isn't it. and the audience... seems to be today's society, and your lyrics seem to carry such a nuance about it too, and this seems to be something that the music world of today wishes to do...
ruki: isn't it so. there are people who say that if we produce music like this then it will sell, but then there are also people who failed to become bestsellers precisely because of this. people who push the boundaries of music... there aren't just people who say they like rock music and that "music has no boundaries", there are also people who say that they dislike visual kei too. even though breaking genres and categories is really what free music is... you've heard it somewhere somehow, haven't you. things like illegal downloading. when you put all these things on top of one another, it seems like music is "on that step to death". this song has this image, yeah.
-- hmmm... after thinking about it, we're in a tough world. now everyone has a field in which they do their own thing, sort of idea.
ruki: tough huh. tough, heavy. if we only do what the genre of visual kei does, then well... because there were people who did do something different isn't it. it seems that we must do the same. it's because it's tough and heavy out there, so we must press on, or so I think.
11. DISTRESS AND COMA
reita: this is our most recently released single... the other songs from the single were fixed in this album, but this single and the album were engineered together, and the timing for the release was also pretty close, so I thought the sound was pretty good already. we listened to it again and tried to fix it, but the level of completion was pretty high already. this is really the best, isn't it. this track is the song that's most tied in with the album [DIM].
-- while that is true, I have this idea that lately the band has been releasing more melodies that are in the slow to medium pace sort of songs which make use of a lot of strings.
aoi: we've had had such songs before, though. but this is the first time we've recorded it without editing.
reita: since 'guren', isn't it.
aoi: with regards to the song, and also with regards to ruki... it seems that in this heavy feeling, there's also a little elegance added in some places. in those parts where we want to emphasise our world views, the use of unprocessed sound is simply fantastic, isn't it.
12. kanshoku (feeling)
ruki: this track is tied in with the next track, 'shiroki yuutsu'. there's a feeling of kindness, right? a gentle feeling.
-- an instrumental that uses the piano. after listening to it again... isn't it difficult to think of a title for a piece that doesn't have lyrics added?
ruki: as long as there's something, somehow I'll feel comfortable. like for this track, 'shiroki yuutsu' came out first, then from there this song was tied in and it flowed right out. on the contrary, isn't this really freedom? in the parts without lyrics, is where you can extend your world views freely. when such things are available, to me, I would feel comfortable.
13. shiroki yuutsu (white kind depression)
-- the kanji used for the title 'yuutsu', are these 2 words juxtaposed this way in everyday japanese?
(yuutsu is usually written as 憂鬱, like in zakurogata no yuutsu, but ruki decided to write it as 優鬱instead.)
ruki: nahh, it isn't. how to put it, in better terms... it's more like "kind depression". we had a song called 'zakurogata no yuuutsu', but it's not the same idea.
-- 'kindness' has a sort of link to 'kanshoku', doesn't it.
ruki: indeed it does. this one is also from a 3rd person point of view. I know of this elderly lady who contracted cancer. then somehow, since it seems like she's lost something in this world, she becomes kind for the first time, you know, that sort of thing? so the family also realises this, but the fact that the old grandma suddenly became kind, made the family even more stressed... so it seems that both parties were unable to build a relationship of mutual understanding. you've heard this sort of thing before, haven't you. when you hear someone around you telling you something kind all of a sudden, you end up being more uneasy than ever. the more that person is concerned about you, the more worried you become.
-- human psyche is difficult to understand, isn't it... I can understand the feeling of being worried for someone, but I can also understand the uneasiness of suddenly having someone worry so much for you out of nowhere...
ruki: yep. when it's someone close to you, you'd be wondering 'why on earth is he suddenly so worried!' sort of thing, isn't it. so the opposite happens instead... that's what the 'depression' part means. even in 'being kind' there's a 'depression' that develops.
-- this track also makes use of strings, doesn't it. so have you already decided how you want to put the strings sounds in during performances?
uruha: we haven't actually thought so far about it... before that we want to make sure the band's sound is solid before dwelving into all these details. if we really kept thinking about all these nitty gritty things while trying to record, then it would really be difficult to record a good sound...
-- ensuring that your sound is really tight and solid is a big principle of the band, isn't it.
uruha: yes it is. that's why firstly, we need to settle how we're going to do the width and depth of the song. after that's done and you put in the instrumentation in the arrangement, it will become fairly splendid. I think it will become a piece with much depth.
14. IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS
kai: ahhh this one... I have this image that it goes at top speed right from the beginning. but it seems to cross that maximum at the end.
-- the speed seems unstoppable...you've got to really persist on and push for the speed in order not to sound breathless at any point in time.
kai: it does seem breathless...(laughs) well well well... that's why it's more important to keep up the speed than the draining of energy, isn't it.
-- a song with this sort of speed being in the same album as a heavy song like 'nakigahara'... "I don't want to have a one-sided viewpoint of the world", I think this was exactly what you said in the last interview.
kai: that's right. this is something we consider when choosing the songs... for example, we often say things like "we don't really have enough intense songs". on the other hand, when "there aren't enough heavy songs", what we'll do is to write the songs while choosing them, and I think the members have such a consciousness going on inside them.
aoi: everybody does, huh...
kai: yes I'm sure everybody does (laughs).
aoi: everyone has a fuzz...
reita: STOP IT! I'm already so embarrassed by this so stop it....(laughs)
15. mourou (hazy)
-- this is another noisy one... even though it's a 30 second track, it's an instrumental with some impact.
ruki: 'mourou' flowed from 'OGRE'. this was really, like an acid trip to somewhere... it's like trying to use sounds to portray what goes on in a 'hazy' brain. it goes round and round, a feeling of going in a loop.
-- some fans may be wondering, so who's the person going on this trip...
ruki: it's me (laughs). for me, even though I don't really have a problem with trips, I wonder why I can still get to such a place. it's the high-ness (laughs).
16. OGRE
-- if you translate 'OGRE' directly, it means 'demon', right? the words 'demon' and 'god' appear in the lyrics... at one glance, you can see the existence of both extremities.
ruki: uhh not quite... it's a feeling of the demon wearing the cover of a god, actually. but because it isn't something tangible, uhh it will be helpful if you could apply your imagination to this... if you look at it from another way, I had a strong image of a place without God at all. in the world today, many religions place themselves as the only one that is real. for example... "XX religion" would only be able to save people who believe in "XX religion", sort of thing.
-- so to put it in more definite terms, you're dealing with yet another delicate topic... but even though there are many such religions, within the religions there are also factions that disagree with one another. there's probably still a lot of questions about exactly what is 'God'.
ruki: that's precisely the case isn't it...but, the conclusion is, there is no god. there's this feeling that even though we talk about the religious views of today, there isn't anything that can help us. that is, there is no god. that's quite worrying, isn't it... if you think about it further. but even in such a situation, it can still be pretty interesting. because the end is dependent on yourself, sort of idea.
-- because you have no choice but to live on your own strength, isn't it. so what about the sound that rides on such a strong idea? you start with a super intense sound then suddenly change completely, and then suddenly pick up speed again...an arrangement that has rises and falls included.
reita: we're pretty prone to running about during lives, isn't it. it's going to be difficult for this song. but... we've had songs in the past where the song changes very suddenly from the beginning, and you don't know which way we're swinging towards, it's a very unorthodox thing that we do, isn't it. later uhh...leader gives two bars and we're in again all intense. I also sync in with that!
ruki: it was even faster, in the beginning. the original tune. we always talked about it, isn't it. like "so up to which point can the speed go up to?" sort of thing.
kai: ah yes. well... when I was told something like 280 beats per minute, I said, "I think that's probably impossible..." (laughs)
ruki: speaking of that, I thought that on the contrary, you'd be able to do that (laughs).
-- this piece goes beyond human capabilities (laughs). this band has many many requests of one another when producing a piece, don't you.
kai: yes! if this happens again, I'll lose my brain (laughs)
aoi: (laughs) oh no no no! it's okay if it can happen again!
kai: (laughs) I suppose so too! while believing in that...I will work hard everyday!
17. DIM SCENE
-- this is an example of "a song where the more you play the more depressing it gets" isn't it... (with reference to a solo interview with uruha in the previous issue) it certainly is very heavy hearted, isn't it.
uruha: it is, isn't it... for the first part we recorded a clean phrase of arpeggio guitar playing... this atmosphere really brings the mood down. we thought about the phrase that would bring the mood down the most. that way, the more we play it the lower the mood would go, sort of idea... when we play it, anybody would soak up the atmosphere.
-- this atmosphere is the "DIM" atmosphere, isn't it. the entire album is signified by this 'slightly dark' sort of image. and this appropriately ties up the whole album?
ruki: yes. well this... all the lyrics are put into this one song. this song's lyrics has phrases from all the other songs incorporated into it, so I think it's an appropriate song to put at the end. when you first listen to the song, your impression would be "why is this song unusually dark..." in any case, because this impression is really strong, when I tried writing the lyrics for it, I thought about what is the darkest thing I could think of... and I thought, it's probably all the things put together. everything in this album put together.
-- in previous interviews, you said that "DIM" has an image of "being on the edge", right?
ruki: that's right. it's a feeling of being on the verge of something. like in '13 STAIRS [-] 1', it's the "verge of death" sort of idea. there's this sort of image in various songs. there are probably many such instances in everyone's life, in particularly trying circumstances.... I think the part just before dying is even more trying than death itself. but on the other hand, if you really die, then you can't think about such things. I suppose being alive surely, is something important, isn't it. even though there are many people and things that make you feel like you want to die...
-- even the many feelings I get after listening to this album are only felt because I'm alive, isn't it... I think it's great to be able to feel the importance of being alive.
ruki: isn't it so. I really think this way.
-- after the release of this album, you're embarking on a tour, isn't it. the reason why people are able to go to lives is also because they're alive.
aoi: yes! we start on july 18th, and will run really fast all the way to end at saitama super arena (september 5th). how would it turn out, really... well somehow, I think it's become really massive. and because the title of the tour for the album 'DIM' is called 'DIM SCENE', most certainly...
ruki: but... after listening to the album once through, I think that the album is not as dark as I thought it was. but there's a feeling of heaviness pounding through. there isn't a point that is left incomplete. and because there isn't a worldview that is left incomplete, I think this is a really good feeling.
-- let's find the worldviews which aren't stuck incomplete in the songs presented with all our might!
aoi: yes let's do that! how it turns out, is left to the next time we talk about it... if we get another article with neo genesis, please do interview us again (laughs).
-- (laughs) I'll be waiting to see the band in an issue soon!