Auga FC Mag "祭" Spring 2009 - Kagrra, Interview [Translation]
Hey everyone!
It's been ages but I had my first free weekend in a month or so...I can't really remember.
Anyway, after hearing the opinions of Auga members and non-members, I decided to translate this interview and...it has gotten sooooooo much longer than expected.
hope you enjoy it anyway! Tell me if I missed something!
^^)v
Kagrra, Auga FC Magazine 祭-Spring 2009 - All-member Interview
Unexpectedly, after quite a while Charisma-sensei is conducting an interview again. As the band members are looking towards their 9th anniversary since the formation, they are sharing their "memories" in this project. Btw. this might be causing some trouble for the 10th anniversary, since they are doing it already for the 9th. Also, these stories, you will only read here. And along come the more of less artistically drawing pictures by the band members.
Charisma: Well, I would like to start this quickly. We have become nine years old. What kind of expression are you making concerning this ninth year ahead?
Akiya: Huh? Expression？
Isshi: Facial expression? (laughs)
Akiya: Like looking old? (laughs)
Charisma: Well, it's like this: It's as if a first grader has become a high school-er...I would like to ask in what sense you have gotten weak.
Akiya: In the negative sense.
Charisma: Yes, negative. Something you wouldn't let get out into the world. Something like that. Therefore it is something that can only be asked here. (laughs) Well then, Shinpei-san.
Shin: Hmmm...
Charisma: Actually, it's OK...You can just say something like "nothing in particular" or so.
Shin: Hmmm...
(One Minute passes...)
Charisma: ... OK, nothing. (laughs) Well then, Akiya sitting next to you.
Akiya: My condition in the morning is bad.
Charisma: Aaah...that includes a number of meanings, right? (laughs)
All: (laugh)
Akiya: No, that's not supposed to have any weird meaning really!
Charisma: Well, then, Izumi-san.
Izumi: ... Hmm, well, I stopped being able to eat oily things.
All: Same here! (laughs)
Izumi: No matter what, I really can't eat that anymore. Even though I want to eat it.
Shin: It feels like the body cope with it.
Charisma: Well, that's how nine years have passed.
Akiya: (laughs) Are we gonna do this again?
Charisma: As we are entering the 10th year, from the things we have pursuing since the time of 2000...Isshi, was there anything?
Isshi: There was too much, really. Can I say something, like seriously?
Charisma: What is it?
Isshi: I came to see reality. (laughs)
All: (laugh)
Charisma: Yes, yes! Well then, on to the main topic.
Akiya: How about Nao-san?
Nao: Hmm, well. Just as Izumi-san said, it's about food. Eating jangare-ramen has become tough. (laughs) I just can't eat them all. There is always a left-over...
Charisma: Well, that's that. Then, I would like to talk about the memories from the time of 2000, when Kagrra, had been born. Let's start with Ikkun.
Isshi: From being born. It's this sing, right. "産" (San - being born). So that would be June 3rd at Takadanobaba AREA.
Charisma: Are you not gonna elaborate that?
Isshi: Well there is nothing much to be elaborated. (laughs)
Charisma: Then, from being born?
Isshi: From then...that one year had been...long. (laughs)
All: (laughs)
Charisma: Well then, Izumi. How was it?
Izumi: For me it was the pay-check. Personally it was the first time that I was able to buy food from making music.
Charisma: That's a nice answer.
Isshi: However, there had been differences opening up. (laughs)
Charisma: And Shin-san?
Shin: It's this: "Nue".
Charisma: Wasn't the recording of "Nue" really unexpectedly troublesome?
Shin: It was really tough. There are a lot of stories about it. (laughs) The first press of it was completely black, wasn't it? And then we released the second press. Usually it is the first press, which has special, right? However, it was the second press that came with more songs. (laughs) Also, it was our first CD, that's why.
Nao: It was also the first time we used a recording studio.
Akiya: I remember that in the studio lobby I came up with the intro of "Mateki" on that PC. And Due'le quartz have also been recording in that studio. So how about Nao-san?
Nao: It was the day when "Yumi Kaoru" was born.
Isshi: Yumi Kaoru? The Cyborg?
Nao: Yes, yes! It was the first time, when we have the costumes made by ID-Japan, right? Admittedly it had been extremely rough, and Isshi had this kind of dress. We had done the designs ourselves, right? And this kind of design was Yumi Kaoru! (laughs)
Charisma: Well then, on to 2001!
Isshi: Yes!
Charisma: Izumi!
Isshi: (Shock!!!)
Izumi: Well, in the company's van, I have been driving together with KAZUKI-san from Due'le quartz. Whenever, Duel used that car, it was really dirty. So I still think it to be very unreasonable, as to why they got angry at me. That was 2001 for me.
Nao: (laughs) There was even a cockroach in Duel's car. Even though it was a car! (laughs)
Charisma: Yes, so what about Shin-san? (Forces the end)
Shin: It's this, remember?
Isshi: The tour together with "Poidoll", right?
Shin: Even though we had been on a solo-tour, we had a lot of fun with other bands in the actual places...
Charisma: It was really a two-band thing with "Poidoll". Do you remember where we went?
Isshi: Kanazawa...Shikoku...Takamatsu.
Shin: In either case, the costumes really stank. (laughs)
Akiya: In Kyoto it had been really dry... and Nao-ran's arms really had a strong smell. (laughs)
Nao: Not so much...it was rather that I, myself self seemed to smell. (laughs) Really, that had been a nasty smell issue.
Akiya: In connection with that tour, we also went to Hiroshima, didn't we? About three times, according to the campaigns we've been doing. However, for me, I had been down with a cold all the time. This tour had been especially bad, and for me it was the first time to experience being psychic. Leaving me alone in the room, everyone else went out to eat Okonomiyaki. I just stayed there like that.
Nao: We certainly left you there. (laughs)
Akiya: When I got up from the futon, the sliding door was suddenly open, even though it had initially been closed. Also, when I then opened the windows, I saw that there were graves outside. (laughs)
Isshi: It was the first one-man at that time. And O-WEST seemed so big then.
Nao: Right? It had been a dream to play there. At that time we did a drum & bass solo, didn't we?
Izumi: It was also a pretty long one.
Akiya: Wasn't this, when Nao was hitting the cymbals?
Isshi: I think that was a little later.
Akiya: Ah, it was the one, when we examined the video and were like "Oi! Oi!"
Nao: Yes, I said "Oi! Oi!"
Isshi: From the past MCs, I think it was the one with the best things said.
Charisma: What was it?
Isshi: Something like: "The flower named Kagrra has been nurtured and came to bloom today."
Charisma: ... I see.
All: (wry laugh)
Nao: Auga was also founded on that day. It was great that we were able to establish the fan club. We thought we had gotten ahead a little.
Charisma: What about 2002, Izumi-san?
Izumi: I think it was the last time during that tour that we went by car. I talked to Sugimoto-san before. We did the unloading of the equipment ourselves then.
Nao: Certainly, at that time, we've done everything by ourselves. It was also the time of the "Tennis player incident". Ah, and it was then that Izumi-san got the nickname "Totoro".
Izumi: Because my belly would show, when sleeping. (laughs)
Shin: 2002 was certainly the time of "gozen", right?
Nao, Akiya, and Isshi: I did that, too.
Charisma: Well, let's talk about "gozen", too.
Nao: Concerning the playing of instruments this album had been rather naughty.
Isshi: Also, regarding the "三" here, it meant "the third" somehow.
Shin: The costumes have also been rather stiff.
Isshi: I just remember a story about the recording at that time, I really felt like being at the limit. My voice just wouldn't come out. (laughs) When thinking about the melody, I remember that it was just within my range. And when I got the demo done without singing, I noticed how the tune was too high and I couldn't sing it. (laughs)
Shin: Even though it was your own song? (laughs)
Isshi: And then the mastering at also had been finished, when I noticed, that in "悲恋鬼談 / Hirenkidan" the synthesizer hadn’t been put into it.
Nao: Huh? Really?
Isshi: Yeah, and when I asked "That's not included?" I was just told "Yeah, that's not included." (laughs) Like...but we are already done with the mastering, right?
Nao: Speaking of "悲恋鬼談 / Hirenkidan“, there has hardly been a tough song like that.
Akiya: The mixing had been done until the morning...we had to bring it to the studio immediately...like, we really didn't know, how.
Nao: Even tougher than that was the live, right Izumi? From head to toe in sequences, he ran using...what did we use?
Izumi: The MD4 didn't suffice...so instead, what did we use. I think it was a hard disk.
Charisma: Well then, 2003.
Shin: That would be "Ouka Ranman". In 2003.
Charisma: That was the last indies album. Mini-album...?
Shin: Mini...medium...maybe.
Charisma: Ah well, let's say album. (laughs) Any memories concerning "Ouka Ranman", Shin-san?
Shin: Hmm...nothing in particular...
Charisma: (Aiming for the flip chart), well, let's say it's enough to draw a picture about that. (laughs)
Isshi: Certainly, at that time in the middle of the night I sang "Haha he" in Shin's room. With a demo or something. However, it seemed like the neighbors had gotten really angry at that. However, the person singing was in the room being all like "They are getting angry (happy)".
Shin: With the previous album, we had stopped using the pro-tools for the recording and as the making of it didn't go on, we were told to bring an "Yonpachi" (Note: a 48ch recording MTR, which is an analogue device for separate recording and sampling or various tracks.)
Charisma: That kind of memory. So let's continue.
Akiya: Can I go back a little? It's about the recording of "夜伽噺 / Yotogi". When the term major debut became relevant...When we met the director for the first time, our president said: "Next year, you will be going major!" That's how we got introduced to them.
Nao: That was during the recording of "Amafurase tanmaina".
Charisma: That's when you heard about the major debut. How about Isshi-san?
Isshi: Short hair. That was probably the strongest make-over for me to have my hair like that. For "Haru Urara" they had become so short, then we did "夜伽噺 / Yotogi" and I really wanted to have them long, so they had gotten long for "Ouka Ranman" again. And then I remember that! The costumes had gotten a little extravagant as well, so I wanted to do something more fashionable for "Haru Urara". I'm not sure if it really turned out fashionable, because the thing that I wore on the lower half was like "fish scale"...
Akiya: The upper half was something like "Fist of the North Star".
Nao: Ah, that was the same with me. In 2003 for "Haru Urara" it was Fist of the North Star.
Isshi: However, since the person in charge of the outfits was someone really deep into fashion, I could just wonder if that was the recent fashion trend. (laughs) However, then for "夜伽噺 / Yotogi" everyone was dressed completely in black. It was the first time wearing suits, too.
Charisma: Well that was it for short hair. How about Izumi?
Izumi: Yes. For me it was. During this year, Kagrra, had been more exposed to the public and a part of that was also the radio program "Kagrra, de Wasshoi!" That's kinda nostalgic isn't it?
Akiya: Waah, that's so nostalgic...
Izumi: That was the first time we got a regular program, didn't we?
Nao: When it came to talking unsophisticated...that was it, right? It is different now from what it was back then. I'm not sure if that kind of talk is interesting at all.
Charisma: OK, next. The year 2004. That should be the same for everyone, right. Should I just put it out at once? Well then...dun dun dun dun! (Holds up flyer)...What? Not the major debut?
Shin: That's the major debut single!
Charisma: That's "Urei", right? So should we go with a comment from everyone? Let's start with Ikkun.
Isshi: Don't they often say "Sakura Blooms" during the time of the entrance exams? It seems that right before the major debut; it was much like the feeling of taking an entrance exam, wasn't it? When the director of Columbia Records came to see us, we all gave our best at the live! Like that. Or when Sugimoto-san said "There are a great many bands making their major debut, but today it is only you", the pressure was really tough.
Nao: It was, right! It was the live we did at Shibuya Astro hall, wasn't it? Astro Hall is a very small place but somehow, chairs had been aligned in an intimidating bad way. And that's where the president and the director had been seated.
Isshi: For a debut it did feel like we passed.
Charisma: How about Akki?
Akiya: The first exposure of the major debut was the TV appearance. At the UNDER COUNT DOWN we came to work with celebrities like Becky and YOU TH ROCK and people like that. At that time I thought that things really had changed. Realization really hit me.
Nao: At that time it was SUKIMA SWITCH for me.
Isshi: Wasn't it more like SUPER AWAY?
Akiya: At that time Becky said "Amazoness" about me. (laughs)
Charisma: How about Shin-san?
Shin: How we appeared in Shibuya (on the screens), and I came to think that we are actually being advertised. We had overcome a number of things with this major debut.
Charisma: Well then, Izumi.
Izumi: It was the performance at Shibuya Koukaidou. Before that we had been handing out flyers there and it was a place we wondered about playing at some point.
Charisma: That's certainly a memory. So how about 2005?
Izumi: It was the first hall tour "雲燦霧消 / Unsan Musyo". In a variety of meanings that had been a tour where we tried out what could be done and what couldn't. We did three performances in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. We were able to experience that since we had become major.
Nao: Right, I didn't think we'd be able to make a hall tour.
Izumi: There had been this one kind of wall, right?
Shin: Certainly...it was also the first time we were on the cover of SHOXX. The one for New Years. Like, since we had become major with that.
Nao: That was great, wasn't it? A really happy thing. It's a bit of a side-talk, but my brother aligned those magazines everywhere in the Tomakomai store. Even among the fashion magazines.
Isshi: For me it was the ZEPP Tour we did with all the other PS COMPANY bands. I think it was the toughest for Izumi, to be pushed like that.
Charisma: There had been various great happenings.
Nao: At that time, MIYAVI and Keiyuu had been hosting the event and Izumi was responsible for all the videos used. Was that brought up-on yourself in that sense?
Izumi: Well, it was kind of intentional.
Isshi: When all bands came together to the all-band meeting the venues became like a community center. (laughs) When MIYAVI was asked, what he really wanted to do at the event, he said "無敵 / Muteki (lit. the invincible)". (laughs) Like "For real? Those from 10 years back?". It had been inspired by the infamous "Muteki band".
Charisma: How about Akki?
Akiya: That was also the year when "San" came out, right? At that time, we appeared with the GazettE at Noripi-'s (Shouji Noriko) program, right? We have been appearing in various programs like that and have tried out different directions with that.
Nao: There was "San" and then there was KAGRRA no SU, which also started.
Isshi: At the beginning there had been a number of things been decided.
Charisma: Like Izumi-san had said previously, there was a skill-up in speaking and presenting, as it changed over time. Well then, let's continue with 2006. Shinpei!
Shin: It was "Utakata". It was the first time when we tried out how it would be to have a producer with it. It was the first single like that.
Nao: Because at that time we didn't really know how to keep on going with the band best. Like with the arrangements and such.
Shin: But it was good how it eventually turned out. Eventually it has become a sort of standard setting.
Charisma: As in creating a signature song. How about Izumi?
Izumi: For me it was the year, when we were able to start the ameba blogs. At first we had only been using the comment function on the homepage where we had the diary. From then on, we used an internet platform in a year when information spread more via the net.
Charisma: So it was the blog. How about Isshi?
Isshi: For me it is the song "Utakata". I can't forget about that anymore. At some point, when I have time, I would like to write the story that is unique to "Utakata"...I really love it a lot.
Charisma: I'd really like you to write that.
Isshi: Also there is this cover band on the net, but they are from a different country. So during the dun dun dun duun~~~ intro, they absolutely do this and extend their hands like that. It's OK not to cover that, really...(wry smile)
Charisma: That's something you probably want to do according to the song. So how about Akki?
Akiya: For me it was the photo book. The camera man, what was his name...Hoppi...?
Isshi: No that's wrong. It was Happy-san.
All: (burst out in laughter)
Charisma: He was a very famous person, right? He has taken pictures of Fukuyama-san and YOSHIKI...
Akiya: And since we also added a novel to the book, it became a real premium item.
Nao: For me it is something personal, as it was the year, when I started my series in ARENA Special! I don't want to necessarily boast with pride, but within ARENA it's the longest series ever done. I'm quite a veteran with that. That's awesome isn't it?
All: Oooohhh...
Charisma: So on to 2007.
Isshi: Forest.
Charisma: Forest?
Isshi: It was [Shizuku] in the first column of Moriyuki-sensei.
Charisma: Somehow there have been a number of things. What about Akki?
Akiya: For me it was the event in Los Angeles. That had been very inspiring. However, despite the large scale of this event it had been me and Shin nibbling on bread in the hotel. (laughs)
Charisma: It's OK that way. In such a popular place. So for Akiya it was L.A. and for Shin?
Shin: It is [Shizuku] for me. With that, we revised a number of things concerning our backbone in music. For us it wasn't about inertia, but the chance to create this album.
Nao: Certainly. In that album we have challenged a number of things.
Shin: As we kept continuing the whole time, and figured out what doing certain things would influence others to which degree, it was a chance to revise our views.
Charisma: So what about Izumi:
Izumi: Germany! There had been this large PS COMPANY event in Germany and there are good memories about that. From that time on, I kept thinking that we would go overseas more probably. And then the time on the plane seemed so long. But what about Nao?
Nao: For me it was doing the Premium radio show together with the GazettE's Reita and Kai and Izumi. We have started that in 2007. At first it wasn't really a radio show with the four of us, but only Izumi and me appearing on Kai's Premium radio as guests, which was continued regularly. And then, when eventually Reita also challenged it, it became a really popular program. Doing a radio program is certainly something fun. Doing this together with other bands is something that rarely happens, after all.
Charisma: Ok, the next is 2008, which was last year. That's probably something we have in common.
Shin: It was the European tour!
Nao: Well, we all got that together.
Shin: (looking at the pictures they drew) What's that?
Izumi: That's a picture of being me locked in the toilet. (bitter laugh)
Nao: Remembering this now is like the Doc from Back to the Future. (laughs) There were so many countries we went to with the double deck bus constantly shaking.
Shin: When waking up, you'd wonder if you were in a different country.
Akiya: In France we only got off at the live house.
Isshi: I have the feeling that we were generally drunk. Even when we returned the jetlag was hard to cure. It was from the dream back to reality.
Nao: For me, it seemed like those were the lives with the highest motivation overall.
Shin: It seemed like everything was forgiven eventually.
Charisma: Well, it was a lot of fun. So lastly, 2009.
Akiya: Even though the latest topic was certainly the event at Nippon Budokan, for me it was milking the cows.
Charisma: At the Auga FC journey, right?
Shin: But it really was the time at the farm. This was the first time in my life. That was something you could really grasp.
Nao: For me it was actually riding the horses. I did it four times.
Isshi: I did ride them quite a bit, too.
Shin: But then you commuted to school by horse, didn't you?
Isshi: It was just because there were a lot of cows and horses in the place where I grew up. I wasn't riding fast, but when I asked the neighbors if I could ride the horses, they would let me. I’ve been going by horse ever since I was little.
Charisma: Well then, Isshi.
Isshi: For me it was the PS COMPANY event at Nippon Budokan. Even though it was an event, for Kagrra, it was also the first time to stand on that stage.
Charisma: Well, Izumi-san. With the pictures I already understand. Nice bungee...I know it all. It is completely OK to scream it all out.
Izumi: I wonder if it really was completely OK...
Nao: However, when I listened to the story after wards, it seemed like something completely different. Does this also count as screaming out loud?
Izumi: It does.
Nao: It seemed like the shaking didn't stop at all. If I did that, I'd die. Also for, like what Isshi previously said, it was performing on the stage of Nippon Budokan, which was a great experience. It had a goal, too. We came to talk about doing Budokan by ourselves. And then we have done the FC performance at Takadanobaba AREA again after quite a while. There are quite a few memories (of that year). We have kind of been born from that. Also, being with all the members of Auga on the farm certainly left some great memories.
Charisma: Then lastly, please say one last word each on the 10th anniversary that is coming up next.
Shin: When speaking of a 10th Anniversary, that's quite a long time, isn't it? I myself have come to see a great number of things, and that is not boasting but something I would like to go with further.
Akiya: As the releases of the Auga fan club magazines keep being late, I would like to create even more fun projects for the members. Since there will be a next fan club journey, I hope everyone gets excited about it.
Isshi: I have been in a band for about half my life, but I still think that I love music and singing, therefore this all wouldn't happen without everyone around us. I want to give my best further and hope for your support.
Izumi：I want to grow further as a band and on a personal level. I want to become a person able to keep these things up. Also, I would like to keep the activities of this fan club up in various fields, therefore please look forward to it and expect a lot.
Nao: I think I would be good if everyone could relax and enjoy this fully. And at last a few words from Charisma.
Charisma: I am not sure if I will be able to meet everyone like this again, since I'll probably be robbed of my salary by the band members now. Somehow...the characteristics...have decreased, too. I would like to work here as a normal member for some cash somehow and continue this forever. (Of course there would be no characteristics showing.)But the smile of the band members, the smiles of the Auga members are still there, so I will continue. This is the reason why I would like to keep being this one and only Charisma-sensei. Therefore, I am counting on you for Kagrra, and for Charisma-sensei.
Fin
It's been ages but I had my first free weekend in a month or so...I can't really remember.
Anyway, after hearing the opinions of Auga members and non-members, I decided to translate this interview and...it has gotten sooooooo much longer than expected.
hope you enjoy it anyway! Tell me if I missed something!
^^)v
Kagrra, Auga FC Magazine 祭-Spring 2009 - All-member Interview
Unexpectedly, after quite a while Charisma-sensei is conducting an interview again. As the band members are looking towards their 9th anniversary since the formation, they are sharing their "memories" in this project. Btw. this might be causing some trouble for the 10th anniversary, since they are doing it already for the 9th. Also, these stories, you will only read here. And along come the more of less artistically drawing pictures by the band members.
Charisma: Well, I would like to start this quickly. We have become nine years old. What kind of expression are you making concerning this ninth year ahead?
Akiya: Huh? Expression？
Isshi: Facial expression? (laughs)
Akiya: Like looking old? (laughs)
Charisma: Well, it's like this: It's as if a first grader has become a high school-er...I would like to ask in what sense you have gotten weak.
Akiya: In the negative sense.
Charisma: Yes, negative. Something you wouldn't let get out into the world. Something like that. Therefore it is something that can only be asked here. (laughs) Well then, Shinpei-san.
Shin: Hmmm...
Charisma: Actually, it's OK...You can just say something like "nothing in particular" or so.
Shin: Hmmm...
(One Minute passes...)
Charisma: ... OK, nothing. (laughs) Well then, Akiya sitting next to you.
Akiya: My condition in the morning is bad.
Charisma: Aaah...that includes a number of meanings, right? (laughs)
All: (laugh)
Akiya: No, that's not supposed to have any weird meaning really!
Charisma: Well, then, Izumi-san.
Izumi: ... Hmm, well, I stopped being able to eat oily things.
All: Same here! (laughs)
Izumi: No matter what, I really can't eat that anymore. Even though I want to eat it.
Shin: It feels like the body cope with it.
Charisma: Well, that's how nine years have passed.
Akiya: (laughs) Are we gonna do this again?
Charisma: As we are entering the 10th year, from the things we have pursuing since the time of 2000...Isshi, was there anything?
Isshi: There was too much, really. Can I say something, like seriously?
Charisma: What is it?
Isshi: I came to see reality. (laughs)
All: (laugh)
Charisma: Yes, yes! Well then, on to the main topic.
Akiya: How about Nao-san?
Nao: Hmm, well. Just as Izumi-san said, it's about food. Eating jangare-ramen has become tough. (laughs) I just can't eat them all. There is always a left-over...
Charisma: Well, that's that. Then, I would like to talk about the memories from the time of 2000, when Kagrra, had been born. Let's start with Ikkun.
Isshi: From being born. It's this sing, right. "産" (San - being born). So that would be June 3rd at Takadanobaba AREA.
Charisma: Are you not gonna elaborate that?
Isshi: Well there is nothing much to be elaborated. (laughs)
Charisma: Then, from being born?
Isshi: From then...that one year had been...long. (laughs)
All: (laughs)
Charisma: Well then, Izumi. How was it?
Izumi: For me it was the pay-check. Personally it was the first time that I was able to buy food from making music.
Charisma: That's a nice answer.
Isshi: However, there had been differences opening up. (laughs)
Charisma: And Shin-san?
Shin: It's this: "Nue".
Charisma: Wasn't the recording of "Nue" really unexpectedly troublesome?
Shin: It was really tough. There are a lot of stories about it. (laughs) The first press of it was completely black, wasn't it? And then we released the second press. Usually it is the first press, which has special, right? However, it was the second press that came with more songs. (laughs) Also, it was our first CD, that's why.
Nao: It was also the first time we used a recording studio.
Akiya: I remember that in the studio lobby I came up with the intro of "Mateki" on that PC. And Due'le quartz have also been recording in that studio. So how about Nao-san?
Nao: It was the day when "Yumi Kaoru" was born.
Isshi: Yumi Kaoru? The Cyborg?
Nao: Yes, yes! It was the first time, when we have the costumes made by ID-Japan, right? Admittedly it had been extremely rough, and Isshi had this kind of dress. We had done the designs ourselves, right? And this kind of design was Yumi Kaoru! (laughs)
Charisma: Well then, on to 2001!
Isshi: Yes!
Charisma: Izumi!
Isshi: (Shock!!!)
Izumi: Well, in the company's van, I have been driving together with KAZUKI-san from Due'le quartz. Whenever, Duel used that car, it was really dirty. So I still think it to be very unreasonable, as to why they got angry at me. That was 2001 for me.
Nao: (laughs) There was even a cockroach in Duel's car. Even though it was a car! (laughs)
Charisma: Yes, so what about Shin-san? (Forces the end)
Shin: It's this, remember?
Isshi: The tour together with "Poidoll", right?
Shin: Even though we had been on a solo-tour, we had a lot of fun with other bands in the actual places...
Charisma: It was really a two-band thing with "Poidoll". Do you remember where we went?
Isshi: Kanazawa...Shikoku...Takamatsu.
Shin: In either case, the costumes really stank. (laughs)
Akiya: In Kyoto it had been really dry... and Nao-ran's arms really had a strong smell. (laughs)
Nao: Not so much...it was rather that I, myself self seemed to smell. (laughs) Really, that had been a nasty smell issue.
Akiya: In connection with that tour, we also went to Hiroshima, didn't we? About three times, according to the campaigns we've been doing. However, for me, I had been down with a cold all the time. This tour had been especially bad, and for me it was the first time to experience being psychic. Leaving me alone in the room, everyone else went out to eat Okonomiyaki. I just stayed there like that.
Nao: We certainly left you there. (laughs)
Akiya: When I got up from the futon, the sliding door was suddenly open, even though it had initially been closed. Also, when I then opened the windows, I saw that there were graves outside. (laughs)
Isshi: It was the first one-man at that time. And O-WEST seemed so big then.
Nao: Right? It had been a dream to play there. At that time we did a drum & bass solo, didn't we?
Izumi: It was also a pretty long one.
Akiya: Wasn't this, when Nao was hitting the cymbals?
Isshi: I think that was a little later.
Akiya: Ah, it was the one, when we examined the video and were like "Oi! Oi!"
Nao: Yes, I said "Oi! Oi!"
Isshi: From the past MCs, I think it was the one with the best things said.
Charisma: What was it?
Isshi: Something like: "The flower named Kagrra has been nurtured and came to bloom today."
Charisma: ... I see.
All: (wry laugh)
Nao: Auga was also founded on that day. It was great that we were able to establish the fan club. We thought we had gotten ahead a little.
Charisma: What about 2002, Izumi-san?
Izumi: I think it was the last time during that tour that we went by car. I talked to Sugimoto-san before. We did the unloading of the equipment ourselves then.
Nao: Certainly, at that time, we've done everything by ourselves. It was also the time of the "Tennis player incident". Ah, and it was then that Izumi-san got the nickname "Totoro".
Izumi: Because my belly would show, when sleeping. (laughs)
Shin: 2002 was certainly the time of "gozen", right?
Nao, Akiya, and Isshi: I did that, too.
Charisma: Well, let's talk about "gozen", too.
Nao: Concerning the playing of instruments this album had been rather naughty.
Isshi: Also, regarding the "三" here, it meant "the third" somehow.
Shin: The costumes have also been rather stiff.
Isshi: I just remember a story about the recording at that time, I really felt like being at the limit. My voice just wouldn't come out. (laughs) When thinking about the melody, I remember that it was just within my range. And when I got the demo done without singing, I noticed how the tune was too high and I couldn't sing it. (laughs)
Shin: Even though it was your own song? (laughs)
Isshi: And then the mastering at also had been finished, when I noticed, that in "悲恋鬼談 / Hirenkidan" the synthesizer hadn’t been put into it.
Nao: Huh? Really?
Isshi: Yeah, and when I asked "That's not included?" I was just told "Yeah, that's not included." (laughs) Like...but we are already done with the mastering, right?
Nao: Speaking of "悲恋鬼談 / Hirenkidan“, there has hardly been a tough song like that.
Akiya: The mixing had been done until the morning...we had to bring it to the studio immediately...like, we really didn't know, how.
Nao: Even tougher than that was the live, right Izumi? From head to toe in sequences, he ran using...what did we use?
Izumi: The MD4 didn't suffice...so instead, what did we use. I think it was a hard disk.
Charisma: Well then, 2003.
Shin: That would be "Ouka Ranman". In 2003.
Charisma: That was the last indies album. Mini-album...?
Shin: Mini...medium...maybe.
Charisma: Ah well, let's say album. (laughs) Any memories concerning "Ouka Ranman", Shin-san?
Shin: Hmm...nothing in particular...
Charisma: (Aiming for the flip chart), well, let's say it's enough to draw a picture about that. (laughs)
Isshi: Certainly, at that time in the middle of the night I sang "Haha he" in Shin's room. With a demo or something. However, it seemed like the neighbors had gotten really angry at that. However, the person singing was in the room being all like "They are getting angry (happy)".
Shin: With the previous album, we had stopped using the pro-tools for the recording and as the making of it didn't go on, we were told to bring an "Yonpachi" (Note: a 48ch recording MTR, which is an analogue device for separate recording and sampling or various tracks.)
Charisma: That kind of memory. So let's continue.
Akiya: Can I go back a little? It's about the recording of "夜伽噺 / Yotogi". When the term major debut became relevant...When we met the director for the first time, our president said: "Next year, you will be going major!" That's how we got introduced to them.
Nao: That was during the recording of "Amafurase tanmaina".
Charisma: That's when you heard about the major debut. How about Isshi-san?
Isshi: Short hair. That was probably the strongest make-over for me to have my hair like that. For "Haru Urara" they had become so short, then we did "夜伽噺 / Yotogi" and I really wanted to have them long, so they had gotten long for "Ouka Ranman" again. And then I remember that! The costumes had gotten a little extravagant as well, so I wanted to do something more fashionable for "Haru Urara". I'm not sure if it really turned out fashionable, because the thing that I wore on the lower half was like "fish scale"...
Akiya: The upper half was something like "Fist of the North Star".
Nao: Ah, that was the same with me. In 2003 for "Haru Urara" it was Fist of the North Star.
Isshi: However, since the person in charge of the outfits was someone really deep into fashion, I could just wonder if that was the recent fashion trend. (laughs) However, then for "夜伽噺 / Yotogi" everyone was dressed completely in black. It was the first time wearing suits, too.
Charisma: Well that was it for short hair. How about Izumi?
Izumi: Yes. For me it was. During this year, Kagrra, had been more exposed to the public and a part of that was also the radio program "Kagrra, de Wasshoi!" That's kinda nostalgic isn't it?
Akiya: Waah, that's so nostalgic...
Izumi: That was the first time we got a regular program, didn't we?
Nao: When it came to talking unsophisticated...that was it, right? It is different now from what it was back then. I'm not sure if that kind of talk is interesting at all.
Charisma: OK, next. The year 2004. That should be the same for everyone, right. Should I just put it out at once? Well then...dun dun dun dun! (Holds up flyer)...What? Not the major debut?
Shin: That's the major debut single!
Charisma: That's "Urei", right? So should we go with a comment from everyone? Let's start with Ikkun.
Isshi: Don't they often say "Sakura Blooms" during the time of the entrance exams? It seems that right before the major debut; it was much like the feeling of taking an entrance exam, wasn't it? When the director of Columbia Records came to see us, we all gave our best at the live! Like that. Or when Sugimoto-san said "There are a great many bands making their major debut, but today it is only you", the pressure was really tough.
Nao: It was, right! It was the live we did at Shibuya Astro hall, wasn't it? Astro Hall is a very small place but somehow, chairs had been aligned in an intimidating bad way. And that's where the president and the director had been seated.
Isshi: For a debut it did feel like we passed.
Charisma: How about Akki?
Akiya: The first exposure of the major debut was the TV appearance. At the UNDER COUNT DOWN we came to work with celebrities like Becky and YOU TH ROCK and people like that. At that time I thought that things really had changed. Realization really hit me.
Nao: At that time it was SUKIMA SWITCH for me.
Isshi: Wasn't it more like SUPER AWAY?
Akiya: At that time Becky said "Amazoness" about me. (laughs)
Charisma: How about Shin-san?
Shin: How we appeared in Shibuya (on the screens), and I came to think that we are actually being advertised. We had overcome a number of things with this major debut.
Charisma: Well then, Izumi.
Izumi: It was the performance at Shibuya Koukaidou. Before that we had been handing out flyers there and it was a place we wondered about playing at some point.
Charisma: That's certainly a memory. So how about 2005?
Izumi: It was the first hall tour "雲燦霧消 / Unsan Musyo". In a variety of meanings that had been a tour where we tried out what could be done and what couldn't. We did three performances in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. We were able to experience that since we had become major.
Nao: Right, I didn't think we'd be able to make a hall tour.
Izumi: There had been this one kind of wall, right?
Shin: Certainly...it was also the first time we were on the cover of SHOXX. The one for New Years. Like, since we had become major with that.
Nao: That was great, wasn't it? A really happy thing. It's a bit of a side-talk, but my brother aligned those magazines everywhere in the Tomakomai store. Even among the fashion magazines.
Isshi: For me it was the ZEPP Tour we did with all the other PS COMPANY bands. I think it was the toughest for Izumi, to be pushed like that.
Charisma: There had been various great happenings.
Nao: At that time, MIYAVI and Keiyuu had been hosting the event and Izumi was responsible for all the videos used. Was that brought up-on yourself in that sense?
Izumi: Well, it was kind of intentional.
Isshi: When all bands came together to the all-band meeting the venues became like a community center. (laughs) When MIYAVI was asked, what he really wanted to do at the event, he said "無敵 / Muteki (lit. the invincible)". (laughs) Like "For real? Those from 10 years back?". It had been inspired by the infamous "Muteki band".
Charisma: How about Akki?
Akiya: That was also the year when "San" came out, right? At that time, we appeared with the GazettE at Noripi-'s (Shouji Noriko) program, right? We have been appearing in various programs like that and have tried out different directions with that.
Nao: There was "San" and then there was KAGRRA no SU, which also started.
Isshi: At the beginning there had been a number of things been decided.
Charisma: Like Izumi-san had said previously, there was a skill-up in speaking and presenting, as it changed over time. Well then, let's continue with 2006. Shinpei!
Shin: It was "Utakata". It was the first time when we tried out how it would be to have a producer with it. It was the first single like that.
Nao: Because at that time we didn't really know how to keep on going with the band best. Like with the arrangements and such.
Shin: But it was good how it eventually turned out. Eventually it has become a sort of standard setting.
Charisma: As in creating a signature song. How about Izumi?
Izumi: For me it was the year, when we were able to start the ameba blogs. At first we had only been using the comment function on the homepage where we had the diary. From then on, we used an internet platform in a year when information spread more via the net.
Charisma: So it was the blog. How about Isshi?
Isshi: For me it is the song "Utakata". I can't forget about that anymore. At some point, when I have time, I would like to write the story that is unique to "Utakata"...I really love it a lot.
Charisma: I'd really like you to write that.
Isshi: Also there is this cover band on the net, but they are from a different country. So during the dun dun dun duun~~~ intro, they absolutely do this and extend their hands like that. It's OK not to cover that, really...(wry smile)
Charisma: That's something you probably want to do according to the song. So how about Akki?
Akiya: For me it was the photo book. The camera man, what was his name...Hoppi...?
Isshi: No that's wrong. It was Happy-san.
All: (burst out in laughter)
Charisma: He was a very famous person, right? He has taken pictures of Fukuyama-san and YOSHIKI...
Akiya: And since we also added a novel to the book, it became a real premium item.
Nao: For me it is something personal, as it was the year, when I started my series in ARENA Special! I don't want to necessarily boast with pride, but within ARENA it's the longest series ever done. I'm quite a veteran with that. That's awesome isn't it?
All: Oooohhh...
Charisma: So on to 2007.
Isshi: Forest.
Charisma: Forest?
Isshi: It was [Shizuku] in the first column of Moriyuki-sensei.
Charisma: Somehow there have been a number of things. What about Akki?
Akiya: For me it was the event in Los Angeles. That had been very inspiring. However, despite the large scale of this event it had been me and Shin nibbling on bread in the hotel. (laughs)
Charisma: It's OK that way. In such a popular place. So for Akiya it was L.A. and for Shin?
Shin: It is [Shizuku] for me. With that, we revised a number of things concerning our backbone in music. For us it wasn't about inertia, but the chance to create this album.
Nao: Certainly. In that album we have challenged a number of things.
Shin: As we kept continuing the whole time, and figured out what doing certain things would influence others to which degree, it was a chance to revise our views.
Charisma: So what about Izumi:
Izumi: Germany! There had been this large PS COMPANY event in Germany and there are good memories about that. From that time on, I kept thinking that we would go overseas more probably. And then the time on the plane seemed so long. But what about Nao?
Nao: For me it was doing the Premium radio show together with the GazettE's Reita and Kai and Izumi. We have started that in 2007. At first it wasn't really a radio show with the four of us, but only Izumi and me appearing on Kai's Premium radio as guests, which was continued regularly. And then, when eventually Reita also challenged it, it became a really popular program. Doing a radio program is certainly something fun. Doing this together with other bands is something that rarely happens, after all.
Charisma: Ok, the next is 2008, which was last year. That's probably something we have in common.
Shin: It was the European tour!
Nao: Well, we all got that together.
Shin: (looking at the pictures they drew) What's that?
Izumi: That's a picture of being me locked in the toilet. (bitter laugh)
Nao: Remembering this now is like the Doc from Back to the Future. (laughs) There were so many countries we went to with the double deck bus constantly shaking.
Shin: When waking up, you'd wonder if you were in a different country.
Akiya: In France we only got off at the live house.
Isshi: I have the feeling that we were generally drunk. Even when we returned the jetlag was hard to cure. It was from the dream back to reality.
Nao: For me, it seemed like those were the lives with the highest motivation overall.
Shin: It seemed like everything was forgiven eventually.
Charisma: Well, it was a lot of fun. So lastly, 2009.
Akiya: Even though the latest topic was certainly the event at Nippon Budokan, for me it was milking the cows.
Charisma: At the Auga FC journey, right?
Shin: But it really was the time at the farm. This was the first time in my life. That was something you could really grasp.
Nao: For me it was actually riding the horses. I did it four times.
Isshi: I did ride them quite a bit, too.
Shin: But then you commuted to school by horse, didn't you?
Isshi: It was just because there were a lot of cows and horses in the place where I grew up. I wasn't riding fast, but when I asked the neighbors if I could ride the horses, they would let me. I’ve been going by horse ever since I was little.
Charisma: Well then, Isshi.
Isshi: For me it was the PS COMPANY event at Nippon Budokan. Even though it was an event, for Kagrra, it was also the first time to stand on that stage.
Charisma: Well, Izumi-san. With the pictures I already understand. Nice bungee...I know it all. It is completely OK to scream it all out.
Izumi: I wonder if it really was completely OK...
Nao: However, when I listened to the story after wards, it seemed like something completely different. Does this also count as screaming out loud?
Izumi: It does.
Nao: It seemed like the shaking didn't stop at all. If I did that, I'd die. Also for, like what Isshi previously said, it was performing on the stage of Nippon Budokan, which was a great experience. It had a goal, too. We came to talk about doing Budokan by ourselves. And then we have done the FC performance at Takadanobaba AREA again after quite a while. There are quite a few memories (of that year). We have kind of been born from that. Also, being with all the members of Auga on the farm certainly left some great memories.
Charisma: Then lastly, please say one last word each on the 10th anniversary that is coming up next.
Shin: When speaking of a 10th Anniversary, that's quite a long time, isn't it? I myself have come to see a great number of things, and that is not boasting but something I would like to go with further.
Akiya: As the releases of the Auga fan club magazines keep being late, I would like to create even more fun projects for the members. Since there will be a next fan club journey, I hope everyone gets excited about it.
Isshi: I have been in a band for about half my life, but I still think that I love music and singing, therefore this all wouldn't happen without everyone around us. I want to give my best further and hope for your support.
Izumi：I want to grow further as a band and on a personal level. I want to become a person able to keep these things up. Also, I would like to keep the activities of this fan club up in various fields, therefore please look forward to it and expect a lot.
Nao: I think I would be good if everyone could relax and enjoy this fully. And at last a few words from Charisma.
Charisma: I am not sure if I will be able to meet everyone like this again, since I'll probably be robbed of my salary by the band members now. Somehow...the characteristics...have decreased, too. I would like to work here as a normal member for some cash somehow and continue this forever. (Of course there would be no characteristics showing.)But the smile of the band members, the smiles of the Auga members are still there, so I will continue. This is the reason why I would like to keep being this one and only Charisma-sensei. Therefore, I am counting on you for Kagrra, and for Charisma-sensei.
Fin