ROCK & READ #027 Sadie - Mao Interview [Translation 1/2]
Hello everyone!
I am so sorry for the delay!! I really, really tried, but in the end I was just too tired on Sunday to put the finish to the translation. I had been working almost all weekend...I'm really sorry.
But here it is, the first part of Mao's interview in Rock & Read Vol. 27.
Please enjoy!!
-- I think I would like to start out asking about Mao-kun's personal history. First of all, you are originally from Kyoto, but what was closest around you when it comes to the places.
Mao [It would be Nagaoka. It would be about as close as Osaka, and saying that, leaving my family's home, it would be about 5 meter until Osaka prefecture.]
-- When it comes to the environment, in what kind of place did you live?
Mao [There were lots of mountains all around. There was a lot of nature, but then there was also the Suntory factory pretty close. With the mountains and the rivers around I had a lot of time to really play. It was the hustle of that generation's society set in the middle of no-where (laughs), where the fireflies would just fly naturally.]
-- So, does Mao-kun have any brothers or sisters?
Mao [Well, I have a younger brother. He is 4 years and 8 months younger than me.]
-- When you would have to describe yourself around the time of pre-school, what kind of character have you been?
Mao [In pre-school, I didn't get a report card often like that, however, there was something like a notice board, and something that would be written often about in the evaluation, was me being a kid to play pranks a lot.(laughs)]
-- You were a mischievous child then, weren't you? As such a kid, by what chance did you get interested in music?
Mao [When it comes to the age, it must have been around elementary to middle school, when X (JAPAN) was really exciting the world. Concerning albums, it must have been around the time, when "BLUE BLOODD" had been released. At that time, X JAPAN really did have an impact on me; however, it seemed the impact was actually too big, so it feels like I didn't take it in at that time. More like "Woo, those people are scary!"]
-- As a kid, it's rather natural to think that, isn't it?
Mao [However, just shortly after that, there was the influence of a cousin who was two years older than me, and when we went to the convenience store together there was a really cool song playing in the store. When I said that this was really cool and asked him about, who it was, he told me, that it was X JAPAN, playing "Silent Jealousy". I borrowed all of my cousin's CDs, collected a great number of info and until I was completely absorbed in it. (laughs)]
-- Was it that you didn't just want to listen to music, but make it yourself around that time as well?
Mao [It was. I would persistently ask my parents to get me a guitar. It was like a test, when they said "OK, but only if you get above that many points (in class)". Well, that's probably a pretty common pattern, but when I cleared that score, they bought me the HIDE-model of an MG-80X. That was about the 3rd year in middle school.]
-- After all there was a purpose, that's why you worked hard to get these points, but over all, what was your average level in school?
Mao [Over all, I wasn't completely bad in school, but I was only really good in English. I had been learning English from the first grade in elementary school, which is why the English classes in middle school, had been way too easy for me. That kind of state.]
-- Like "Are we honestly only covering THAT now?" (laughs)
Mao [Pretty much. (laughs) At that time already, I was sporting a rather flashy look, and while my grades in English had been fairly well, I was doing OK in other classes, too and eventually got into a pretty good high school in the end.]
-- Then after you got your hands on that MG-80X guitar, how did you proceed with learning to play the guitar?
Mao [I got the guitar in the third grade of middle school and at first I would practice myself looking at band scores. When I got into high school, I immediately entered the music club and that is where I formed my first band.]
-- What kind music did this band make?
Mao [It was a copy band. We would all bring in our ideas what we would like to do, but just be chance our vocalist, who was the head of the club, liked X JAPAN; therefore we played "WEEKEND" at first.]
-- Entering high school, forming a band and playing the guitar, isn't that considered pretty cool among the classmates.
Mao [It is, well, in most cases. (laughs) However, to get to that point more, is it OK if I get back to talking about middle school? Because the truth is, that the girl I went to the same middle school with, had rejected me three times.]
-- Uuaaah, even though you tried really hard...that's a pity sort of.
Mao [That it was pitiful, was what I thought at that time, too. I thought: "I can't have this end here!" The point of this story actually is related to why I started playing the guitar. Of course, first and foremost I did admire HIDE-san. However, during my middle school time, there were no other people around me playing guitar and so I thought that it would be really cool if I could play and form a band. I was certain that, if others would go all crazy over me, she'd also change her views on me.]
-- The speculating with such ulterior motives, how did it turn out eventually?
Mao [Well, the story is getting a little complicated here, is it OK? After all, these ulterior motives got me to start a band, didn't it? It had me thinking about how I could eventually be showing that I was cool and we had been shooting a video at that time with the band. I watched that and realized that I was absolutely not cool at all.]
-- You mean in terms of playing (the guitar)
Mao [Just completely. (laughs) The guy I did the twin guitars with at that time was technically extremely skilled. I got pretty frustrated, and came to think that I was probably no good playing the guitar.]
--I see.....then that was the time, when you decided to change directions.
Mao [That was the time. (laughs) I thought about the balance of my appearance and among other about whether I shouldn't be in the front and singing. I thought that if I did that, I could do it and exchanged my position for that of the vocalist.]
-- The story of how Mao-kun eventually became a vocalist with such hidden motives....on the one hand it is really interesting and on the other it is a little sad. (laughs)
Mao [Still, in the end, I was right, wasn't I? Therefore, when we played LUNA SEA's "ROSIER" at the next cultural festival, where I would sing, we were pretty well received. At that time, I really thought that I could only do the singing and since I didn't just do the band in my own school, but also participated in bands outside of school, I changed my position within those for the vocalist as well.]
-- That other band, was it a cover band as well?
Mao [It was mainly western music, and we'd cover Skid Low and Guns'n'Roses. I liked Visual-kei just as much as I did western music. My stance was that I would go see LUNA SEA just as much as I would go see Mister BIG.]
-- Well, the topic has carried itself a little far here. (laughs) About the girl you mentioned previously, what happened to her after wards?
Mao [About that, it went as planned. She came to the live, and with presenting myself like that, it felt like her view on me was getting a little better and in general it got quite good. However, thereafter it it was basically immediately over. (bitter laugh) Honestly, that time my ultimate purpose had already shifted completely and I actually realized how I hadn't really gotten into that person herself that much over all.]
-- This seems to be another episode of how Mao-kun is working really hard on something because there is a purpose behind it. In that aspect, when attending high school, that is probably still somewhat the best part of it in the end. Speaking of which, at that time, what were your thoughts on your further way?
Mao [At that time, the band I was playing with outside of school also started making original songs. We would gather like 200 people, friends and just people we knew and do a live performance with a lot of euphoric people. I began thinking that it would be awesome to keep doing what I really liked just like that.]
-- Then, did you continue with the band after you graduated?
Mao [No. However, it was because I knew that the actual world of a professional musician is extremely hard as such. Therefore, from that time on, I did go into a different direction again and I thought about getting into the hair and make-up business.]
-- Was that influenced by HIDE-san?
Mao [Ah, yes that was partially the case, too. (laughs) It eventually came from thinking that make-up artists are really cool and I was admiring the glamorous parts of it.]
-- With that direction in mind, what was your parent's reaction to it?
Mao [I think I was a bit in trouble. Our school was strongly connected to the ongoing schools. Around us there were only kids studying for the entrance exams for college. It wasn't that our parents where extremely strict as such, however, our relatives were pretty much an elite and they were mostly people who felt that there was no need to spare the money (for such kind of thing). And then, among them, to have a kid that was being in a band, was hanging out at night and was generally doing pretty much as he please at the brink of dropping out of school - they would think that it's impossible to listen to such a kid. Therefore, I told my parents until the end of the third year in high school in October, that I was going to be getting into the make-up and hair business. I would tell them things like "The school I want to go to even has a sisters-school in overseas, where I could really excel in English and be successful when returning home." For them, if it really was like that, it would be OK.]
-- What was it that occurred then in October of your third high school year?
Mao [My mom told me that it wasn't going to happen. She said that she was basically OK with it, but that the rest of the family was completely against it. They said, if I was going to become a hairdresser, I would still be hanging out uselessly as I was until then and that I would have no time to have a job and earn money. That's not working, right? So eventually I was told that if I really wanted to go to the university to become a hair dresser, I would have to work and save up the tuition fees myself. All I was left to answers was "I see, so I'll do that and go to university."]
-- But until then it was only four more month until the season for the entrance exams would be starting.
Mao [It was pretty hard. Honestly. After all, I had only been doing band stuff during high school until then, and except for English my grades had hit rock bottom. At first I had been looking for something with a focus on English, but in the end the level of English didn't suffice. It didn't matter how much English I knew, since I didn't have any exchange experience or wasn't returning home from another country and in the end I wasn't competitive enough. With that, it couldn't be helped and in the end I would be taking the exams in two subjects and overall took 11 entrance exams. Among those 11 places, there was one exam where I actually passed. (laughs)]
-- Wasn't that really a miracle happening?
Mao [Honestly, I was really glad at that time. After all, wasn't I really free again after that? I thought that I had now 4 years to think about what to do with my future. From there on, I was even worse than during my high school time.]
-- What a rose-colored university live. I'm envious!
Mao [Well, almost. From my home to that university it took about 2 hours by train and commuting would cost an incredibly amount of time and the one to come up with the money, was me. (bitter laugh). When I got into university, I wanted to joined the music club and play in a band again, unfortunately, I didn't even have the time for that. As I eventually got into that school, I worried for a whole first year, if that was actually good as such.]
-- In the end, what was the answer you came up with?
Mao [I fell into a gambling fit at first and then I thought, to make use of the exchange program of that school. I thought that, if the environment changed, there would be new ways opening up. Going abroad would add a neutral element and as I would stop wasting four hours every day in my life, there was even a doubled advantage to it, I thought. And with that I went to England. For about half a year, where I would spent the first half in home stay and the second half, I would live on my own in a dormitory.]
-- Of course there would also be the possibility to gamble over there. (laughs)
Mao [Certainly! (laughs) That's why the time there was just as rose-colored. I basically only enjoyed myself there. Just for the time of the exchange, my grades would just be right for that moment, and then at that school, I'd just do as I please, totally enjoying the country that is England.(laughs) However, rather than anything interesting at school, I would get myself in earnest conversations when going out to have fun with everyone.]
-- When speaking of excelling in English, I guess, with the flow of the Japanese English learning system, getting involved in conversations in the actual country is completely different. Did you get in trouble with your English sometimes?
Mao [The school I went to before had quite frequently exchange students from England, however, there were more students from other countries over all. With a very international communicative feeling to it, the English which was necessary wasn't at the level of natives, since we were all about the same in skills.]
-- A very multi-international environment, wasn't it?
Mao [It was very international and the age-range was very wide as well. There were middle aged men and women, as much as there were children among. At first I really thought that this kind of environment was really interesting. However, I noticed quickly, that even though I somewhat getting along, it was probably quicker to get into English conversations, when going out by myself and have fun with others.
-- Certainly. (laughs) Then, where you able to make friends quickly?
Mao [Well, when going out at night and hitting the streets, that's pretty much an immediate thing.]
tbc.
The next part will hopefully be up some time around next weekend. I've got some writing to though, so I can't promise! I'll do my best!!
I am so sorry for the delay!! I really, really tried, but in the end I was just too tired on Sunday to put the finish to the translation. I had been working almost all weekend...I'm really sorry.
But here it is, the first part of Mao's interview in Rock & Read Vol. 27.
Please enjoy!!
-- I think I would like to start out asking about Mao-kun's personal history. First of all, you are originally from Kyoto, but what was closest around you when it comes to the places.
Mao [It would be Nagaoka. It would be about as close as Osaka, and saying that, leaving my family's home, it would be about 5 meter until Osaka prefecture.]
-- When it comes to the environment, in what kind of place did you live?
Mao [There were lots of mountains all around. There was a lot of nature, but then there was also the Suntory factory pretty close. With the mountains and the rivers around I had a lot of time to really play. It was the hustle of that generation's society set in the middle of no-where (laughs), where the fireflies would just fly naturally.]
-- So, does Mao-kun have any brothers or sisters?
Mao [Well, I have a younger brother. He is 4 years and 8 months younger than me.]
-- When you would have to describe yourself around the time of pre-school, what kind of character have you been?
Mao [In pre-school, I didn't get a report card often like that, however, there was something like a notice board, and something that would be written often about in the evaluation, was me being a kid to play pranks a lot.(laughs)]
-- You were a mischievous child then, weren't you? As such a kid, by what chance did you get interested in music?
Mao [When it comes to the age, it must have been around elementary to middle school, when X (JAPAN) was really exciting the world. Concerning albums, it must have been around the time, when "BLUE BLOODD" had been released. At that time, X JAPAN really did have an impact on me; however, it seemed the impact was actually too big, so it feels like I didn't take it in at that time. More like "Woo, those people are scary!"]
-- As a kid, it's rather natural to think that, isn't it?
Mao [However, just shortly after that, there was the influence of a cousin who was two years older than me, and when we went to the convenience store together there was a really cool song playing in the store. When I said that this was really cool and asked him about, who it was, he told me, that it was X JAPAN, playing "Silent Jealousy". I borrowed all of my cousin's CDs, collected a great number of info and until I was completely absorbed in it. (laughs)]
-- Was it that you didn't just want to listen to music, but make it yourself around that time as well?
Mao [It was. I would persistently ask my parents to get me a guitar. It was like a test, when they said "OK, but only if you get above that many points (in class)". Well, that's probably a pretty common pattern, but when I cleared that score, they bought me the HIDE-model of an MG-80X. That was about the 3rd year in middle school.]
-- After all there was a purpose, that's why you worked hard to get these points, but over all, what was your average level in school?
Mao [Over all, I wasn't completely bad in school, but I was only really good in English. I had been learning English from the first grade in elementary school, which is why the English classes in middle school, had been way too easy for me. That kind of state.]
-- Like "Are we honestly only covering THAT now?" (laughs)
Mao [Pretty much. (laughs) At that time already, I was sporting a rather flashy look, and while my grades in English had been fairly well, I was doing OK in other classes, too and eventually got into a pretty good high school in the end.]
-- Then after you got your hands on that MG-80X guitar, how did you proceed with learning to play the guitar?
Mao [I got the guitar in the third grade of middle school and at first I would practice myself looking at band scores. When I got into high school, I immediately entered the music club and that is where I formed my first band.]
-- What kind music did this band make?
Mao [It was a copy band. We would all bring in our ideas what we would like to do, but just be chance our vocalist, who was the head of the club, liked X JAPAN; therefore we played "WEEKEND" at first.]
-- Entering high school, forming a band and playing the guitar, isn't that considered pretty cool among the classmates.
Mao [It is, well, in most cases. (laughs) However, to get to that point more, is it OK if I get back to talking about middle school? Because the truth is, that the girl I went to the same middle school with, had rejected me three times.]
-- Uuaaah, even though you tried really hard...that's a pity sort of.
Mao [That it was pitiful, was what I thought at that time, too. I thought: "I can't have this end here!" The point of this story actually is related to why I started playing the guitar. Of course, first and foremost I did admire HIDE-san. However, during my middle school time, there were no other people around me playing guitar and so I thought that it would be really cool if I could play and form a band. I was certain that, if others would go all crazy over me, she'd also change her views on me.]
-- The speculating with such ulterior motives, how did it turn out eventually?
Mao [Well, the story is getting a little complicated here, is it OK? After all, these ulterior motives got me to start a band, didn't it? It had me thinking about how I could eventually be showing that I was cool and we had been shooting a video at that time with the band. I watched that and realized that I was absolutely not cool at all.]
-- You mean in terms of playing (the guitar)
Mao [Just completely. (laughs) The guy I did the twin guitars with at that time was technically extremely skilled. I got pretty frustrated, and came to think that I was probably no good playing the guitar.]
--I see.....then that was the time, when you decided to change directions.
Mao [That was the time. (laughs) I thought about the balance of my appearance and among other about whether I shouldn't be in the front and singing. I thought that if I did that, I could do it and exchanged my position for that of the vocalist.]
-- The story of how Mao-kun eventually became a vocalist with such hidden motives....on the one hand it is really interesting and on the other it is a little sad. (laughs)
Mao [Still, in the end, I was right, wasn't I? Therefore, when we played LUNA SEA's "ROSIER" at the next cultural festival, where I would sing, we were pretty well received. At that time, I really thought that I could only do the singing and since I didn't just do the band in my own school, but also participated in bands outside of school, I changed my position within those for the vocalist as well.]
-- That other band, was it a cover band as well?
Mao [It was mainly western music, and we'd cover Skid Low and Guns'n'Roses. I liked Visual-kei just as much as I did western music. My stance was that I would go see LUNA SEA just as much as I would go see Mister BIG.]
-- Well, the topic has carried itself a little far here. (laughs) About the girl you mentioned previously, what happened to her after wards?
Mao [About that, it went as planned. She came to the live, and with presenting myself like that, it felt like her view on me was getting a little better and in general it got quite good. However, thereafter it it was basically immediately over. (bitter laugh) Honestly, that time my ultimate purpose had already shifted completely and I actually realized how I hadn't really gotten into that person herself that much over all.]
-- This seems to be another episode of how Mao-kun is working really hard on something because there is a purpose behind it. In that aspect, when attending high school, that is probably still somewhat the best part of it in the end. Speaking of which, at that time, what were your thoughts on your further way?
Mao [At that time, the band I was playing with outside of school also started making original songs. We would gather like 200 people, friends and just people we knew and do a live performance with a lot of euphoric people. I began thinking that it would be awesome to keep doing what I really liked just like that.]
-- Then, did you continue with the band after you graduated?
Mao [No. However, it was because I knew that the actual world of a professional musician is extremely hard as such. Therefore, from that time on, I did go into a different direction again and I thought about getting into the hair and make-up business.]
-- Was that influenced by HIDE-san?
Mao [Ah, yes that was partially the case, too. (laughs) It eventually came from thinking that make-up artists are really cool and I was admiring the glamorous parts of it.]
-- With that direction in mind, what was your parent's reaction to it?
Mao [I think I was a bit in trouble. Our school was strongly connected to the ongoing schools. Around us there were only kids studying for the entrance exams for college. It wasn't that our parents where extremely strict as such, however, our relatives were pretty much an elite and they were mostly people who felt that there was no need to spare the money (for such kind of thing). And then, among them, to have a kid that was being in a band, was hanging out at night and was generally doing pretty much as he please at the brink of dropping out of school - they would think that it's impossible to listen to such a kid. Therefore, I told my parents until the end of the third year in high school in October, that I was going to be getting into the make-up and hair business. I would tell them things like "The school I want to go to even has a sisters-school in overseas, where I could really excel in English and be successful when returning home." For them, if it really was like that, it would be OK.]
-- What was it that occurred then in October of your third high school year?
Mao [My mom told me that it wasn't going to happen. She said that she was basically OK with it, but that the rest of the family was completely against it. They said, if I was going to become a hairdresser, I would still be hanging out uselessly as I was until then and that I would have no time to have a job and earn money. That's not working, right? So eventually I was told that if I really wanted to go to the university to become a hair dresser, I would have to work and save up the tuition fees myself. All I was left to answers was "I see, so I'll do that and go to university."]
-- But until then it was only four more month until the season for the entrance exams would be starting.
Mao [It was pretty hard. Honestly. After all, I had only been doing band stuff during high school until then, and except for English my grades had hit rock bottom. At first I had been looking for something with a focus on English, but in the end the level of English didn't suffice. It didn't matter how much English I knew, since I didn't have any exchange experience or wasn't returning home from another country and in the end I wasn't competitive enough. With that, it couldn't be helped and in the end I would be taking the exams in two subjects and overall took 11 entrance exams. Among those 11 places, there was one exam where I actually passed. (laughs)]
-- Wasn't that really a miracle happening?
Mao [Honestly, I was really glad at that time. After all, wasn't I really free again after that? I thought that I had now 4 years to think about what to do with my future. From there on, I was even worse than during my high school time.]
-- What a rose-colored university live. I'm envious!
Mao [Well, almost. From my home to that university it took about 2 hours by train and commuting would cost an incredibly amount of time and the one to come up with the money, was me. (bitter laugh). When I got into university, I wanted to joined the music club and play in a band again, unfortunately, I didn't even have the time for that. As I eventually got into that school, I worried for a whole first year, if that was actually good as such.]
-- In the end, what was the answer you came up with?
Mao [I fell into a gambling fit at first and then I thought, to make use of the exchange program of that school. I thought that, if the environment changed, there would be new ways opening up. Going abroad would add a neutral element and as I would stop wasting four hours every day in my life, there was even a doubled advantage to it, I thought. And with that I went to England. For about half a year, where I would spent the first half in home stay and the second half, I would live on my own in a dormitory.]
-- Of course there would also be the possibility to gamble over there. (laughs)
Mao [Certainly! (laughs) That's why the time there was just as rose-colored. I basically only enjoyed myself there. Just for the time of the exchange, my grades would just be right for that moment, and then at that school, I'd just do as I please, totally enjoying the country that is England.(laughs) However, rather than anything interesting at school, I would get myself in earnest conversations when going out to have fun with everyone.]
-- When speaking of excelling in English, I guess, with the flow of the Japanese English learning system, getting involved in conversations in the actual country is completely different. Did you get in trouble with your English sometimes?
Mao [The school I went to before had quite frequently exchange students from England, however, there were more students from other countries over all. With a very international communicative feeling to it, the English which was necessary wasn't at the level of natives, since we were all about the same in skills.]
-- A very multi-international environment, wasn't it?
Mao [It was very international and the age-range was very wide as well. There were middle aged men and women, as much as there were children among. At first I really thought that this kind of environment was really interesting. However, I noticed quickly, that even though I somewhat getting along, it was probably quicker to get into English conversations, when going out by myself and have fun with others.
-- Certainly. (laughs) Then, where you able to make friends quickly?
Mao [Well, when going out at night and hitting the streets, that's pretty much an immediate thing.]
tbc.
The next part will hopefully be up some time around next weekend. I've got some writing to though, so I can't promise! I'll do my best!!