Arena37°CSpecial 11 2008 - Reita Interview [Translation Part 1/2]
Well fuck me, I got my own (working) laptop today, so I can finally upload this!!!
Weeeeheeee!!! This is page 1 to three...so maybe it will only be two parts ^^
The Usual rules apply.
Please enjoy! ^^v
- Today , I would like to investigate Reita-san thoroughly…and although you probably talk about this every time, I would like to start out with what was the charming point of the bass guitar that you got obsessed with?
[When I first started with the bass I wasn’t obsessed with it at all.]
- Ah, is that so?
[Yeah, because I wanted to play the guitar. Therefore the first thing I bought was a guitar. Further, it was an acoustic guitar, too. That was in second grade of middle school.]
- What was the reason for it being an acoustic guitar and not an electric one?
[Well, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to play the electric one at home, because the sound was too loud.]
- That’s a point well considered. You were certainly a kid with a good sense like that. (laughs)
[Well, but actually the pure sound of an acoustic guitar is quite loud. But because I didn’t know that, I bought an acoustic guitar. (laughs) Moreover, I knew nothing about the tuning, therefore I quit after about three days.]
- That surely portrays you as someone that can’t stick to anything. (laughs)
[Well, that’s true. (laughs) Also for the electric guitar…I bought it, and then I quit.]
- I would often say “ the restraint was stumbling over that difficult F-cord”…but what was Reita-san’s reason?
[Rather, it wasn’t the cords or something. I don’t know it wasn’t really anything.]
- Well, even if it wasn’t anything in particular…you just quit.
[Yeah. Just because I didn’t know (how to do it) (laughs)]
- So it was just your choice to not put more effort into getting to understand it then? (laughs)
[Yes. (laughs) Around me the guys who started to play the guitar were increasing, therefore I got to understand the reading of scores. At that time, Uruha started to suggest playing at a cultural festival, but he didn’t have an amp, so he borrowed mine. With that, I more and more thought it to be boring. From the very beginning I relished the atmosphere of the more distorted sound, but since I couldn’t do it, it was even more boring and that was the reason I quit. Then at last in third class middle school I started to play the bass.]
- When someone is switching from guitar to bass, the reason is quite often that “a bass only has 4 strings and is easier therefore”, but was that also the thinking in Reita-san’s case?
[Yeah, pretty much like that. Moreover, when I was listening to CDs I couldn’t really distinguish the bass sound, so I thought that probably no one could and therefore I did that.]
- Because at any rate nobody would have known? (laughs)
[Yes yes yes!! I thought that, even if I did play things wrong, nobody would be able to hear it (laughs)]
- That kind of a fool?
[However, at that time, with the CDs I listened to, the bass could have been wrong, but after all I didn’t known…I think, I wanted to do just that.]
- That way of thinking is kinda scary. (laughs)
[Well, but I knew how to read scores so I worked very hard to copy one song.]
- What song was that?
[It was LUNA SEA’s [Precious…] At that time it was just beginning to bloom. With Uruha and another friend playing the guitar the three of us played along with the CD.]
- So very innocent. (laughs)
[Speaking of the interesting time, when we matched (the sound), until now there was nothing that has come to surpass this yet.]
- It was such an impact in the youth of Reita-san, wasn’t it?
[Yes. From there on I wanted to play other songs (as well), and gradually, I got really obsessed with playing the bass.]
- That even Reita-sensei had such inexperienced times …in this connection, at that time, when you wanted to have a guitar, was there an artist that you admired?
[No, there wasn’t anyone in particular. I just thought it would be cool, if I could play guitar.]
-It is often said, that one wants to be idolized by the girls, did you also have this devious intention?
[Concerning that, well, I thought, since I did Visual-Kei, that the girls wouldn’t idolize me at all. I thought I would be told, that “even though you are a guy this is kind of awkward”. On the contrary I thought that (the girls would) idolize (someone) who is properly getting a job. (laughs)]
- You possessed an awfully composed kind of judgment. (laughs)
[However, completely unrelated to that I really came to want to start a band. The reason really only was, that I thought it would be cool, if I could play the guitar.]
- So back to Reita-san, who had been captivated by the bass in [Precious…], today, what do you think is the charm of the bass guitar? Perhaps, the values in the memories of that time have come to be different, I think.
[Of course, sound without a bass is kinda dried up, isn’t it? Therefore, sound without bass really can’t be. For example, even within the harmonious sounds of a piano there are low bass sounds included. Even just when I am speaking like this, there are bass sounds attached in my voice. I think I wanted to go with this, because it is something that is attached with whatever you do. Also, it is also an instrument, which possesses melodious (parts). It is a rhythmic instrument like the drums as well. Yet, while when playing drums you are sitting on a chair and can’t move, I can move to the front, to the back, freely from left to right. How to call it…something like a mid-fielder, is what it feels like. I think, because it is an instrument anything can be done with, it is the most interesting instrument.]
- A very popular image of bass-players leaves a rather plain/simple impression, but when I listen to this, it seems like the most delicious instrument, I think.
[Certainly, back in the days the image was a lot simpler. However, these days it seems the image has changed just a little bit.]
- And there I think, this is where a part of Reita-san has also come to change.
[Nah, not really…]
- Reita-san himself, with the admirable individuality of a strong bassist, has come to be an accomplice to rise in this position. (laughs)
[Aah…accomplice???(laughs) However, I still have to work a lot harder.]
- Well, as for now, there are lots of young people who start to play bass because they admire you, aren’t there?
[That makes me really happy. However, I feel a little uneasy for the people who copy (us), because there are quite a few irregularities in our tuning. Because of that…I think I need to apologize. (laughs) At first, when I started to play bass I only thought of playing songs with the regular tuning. When there were things written like “just the fourth strings one note lower”, I just didn’t understand the reason and therefore didn’t do it. (laughs) Today there are still many bands like that and therefore (my own) resistance has probably dropped from that…I want everyone to work hard, though! ]
- Let’s pray for a strong fight! Lately the impression of Gazette turning more towards the heavier stereo sound is pretty strong, however, what is Reita-san’s personal reason for attraction towards the lower sounds? Could you explain?
[The feeling there is that of a manly image. Like the back of a man, concerning the position of the bass. Therefore it is absolutely not my strongest point to strike a pose there. I always wonder, if I am congenial when chopping the rhythm into small pieces.]
- The esthetics of a man keeping quiet and bravely carving his shape into (what has become) Reita-san, can be clearly felt.
[Hm…yeah. That’s only how I can be.]
- Certainly…It seems that Reita-san in his young age does have some old-fashioned spirit.
[It’s a little…stubbornness. And there are probably also parts of a hectoring husband. (laughs)]
- I don’t mean to say that your attitude is like that of a middle-aged man, however, on the one hand you map out the casual dad of the Heisei-era, and on the other hand it’s like you let everyone feel, that you are the backbone, such as the fathers of the Shouwa-era.
[Well, maybe there are parts like that. When I was five my parents got divorced and after that I was left with my mother only, and there wasn’t a father (in the house). However, there was my grandfather, who was usually very kind, but when he got angry he was someone with a very old fashioned spirit. So maybe unconsciously I took over those characteristics of my grandfather.]
- Adding to that, while being very young, was it that you have the awareness of being the representative for your dad within your family home?
[That is…probably not the case. Actually I have been pretty spoiled. (laughs) That’s the reason why I think I have to work pretty hard from there.]
- The image of a spoiled Reita-san isn’t really welling up, though.
[I am pretty much the opposite. At home I can be pretty much an excellent man, however, within I am pretty spoiled. (laughs) Therefore, the image of the people who only see the Reita standing on stage and those who know me from way back, absolutely don’t go along with each other, I think.]
- The Reita-san standing on stage leaves a rather aggressive and strict (bone-like) impression.
[Maybe I would like to do it differently…from the point onwards, that I put on make-up for the stage, that’s the switch. It happens that I would like to be more like my normal self, when I do that. I always worry about the ideal that I am asking of that Reita, then. Therefore it is very much like a different person.]
- As in the projection of what you wish for Reita’s existence to be?
[Yes. I always think of myself, that HE (Reita) has to be like that.]
- So concerning other people’s demands, you don’t get influences by those?
[Yeah…it’s rather, that if there are people who demand something from me, there is usually no understanding (for it).]
- However, aren’t there for example fans who come and say they would like you to be a certain way?
[Well, of course that’s the case. I usually don’t much care, and I often don’t respond to these demands, even if they complain, that I don’t do the things they would like me to do.]
- Is this concerning the fans?
[It’s not just the fans, it’s also the people of this country. (laughs) Concerning politicians, concerning talents…I just wish they would bitch (about things like that). (laughs)]
- Well…exposing this kind of ego is pretty much common with most people. (laughs)
[Yes, probably it’s like that. I really hate this in people. (laughs) When they demand something, they already profit by returning just 10%, in all honesty. Well…we are also carrying pats of our dreams on our shoulders, don’t we? Doesn’t our office stuff also have to approve of our dreams (for us)? Therefore, what has to be done has to be done!]
- When you talk about ‘raw’ things like that, it is the daily life of this band’s stuff that, which is getting awkward while the fan’s living and dying is dominating their doing. It’s that kind of existence, isn’t it?
[Certainly it’s like that. However, I am also human, therefore half of me just wants them to stop bitching, and the other half does not raise the voice like that, I think.]
- Well, the difficult thing about this is, that Gazette is a band in which basically everything is possible, there is also this matter of having commercial elements, isn’t there?
[Yes, sometimes.]
- Aren’t there conflicts arising, in case that this kind of state is reached without you all intending it to happen?
[There is, certainly. We are a rock band, there for we would like to like to ask “Aren’t we a rock band?!!”]
- Ah, I see, on the contrary, right?
[Yes. It is demanded of a rock band. I mean, I think it is good that we know what we are doing. Lately there has been this tendency; especially in this scene…the words have become louder. As if being a saint person, and demanding perfect speeches. Just like [Because you say this, I think, you want to be thought of like this.]]
- As if that is the reason why you do rock music (laughs). Certainly it is difficult to draw the line, but I think as long as the lowest level of people’s manners is preserved, it’s ok.
[Of course, we would like to preserve this minimum level of manners. Those speeches demanded by people, I think it is something to doubt.]
- AT times, where there was this kind of contradiction, when you had to live with this kind of conflict, weren’t there moments when you just doubted things?
[Frankly…there was. Well, lately there wasn’t anything like that, however, back in the days it was quite common. Truthfully, it was before I even entered Gazette, where I said that I would stop playing in a band. I thought of just getting a job.]
- What the background of you coming to think this?
[At that time, guys who worked properly where just seen as very cool.]
- And adding to that, the fears towards the future were rather small, weren’t they?
[Yeah, I think I was also fearing that. However, in between that, I think it is good, that I believed and came to do (what I did). I think to do that (playing in a band) necessarily causes trouble. For now…I don’t really know, what I am going to do in the future, or if I will always be able to live of making music. Although I really don’t know anything of that, if I had always worried about things like that, I shouldn’t have started a band in the first place, I think. (laughs)]
- Certainly, you wouldn’t do this kind of gamble. (laughs)
[Right??!! (laughs) Therefore I stopped worrying. If I had been able to plan it, I’d gone to university, gotten a job…and certainly wouldn’t have started a band!!! (laughs)]
- Originally you were that kind of a person? (laughs)
[Yes, originally I was a little (more) reasonable, certainly. (laughs) Basically I’m pretty serious, however, I have often been told to be [somewhat reasonable]. However, in spite of having quite a serious attitude, I am also someone to get bored of things easily. On the other hand, if I really get into something, I really DO get into that. I am easily attracted and I get easily bored. It’s the same with everything about my motor bike. When I got into that I did research about parts on the internet every day and I basically was involved with that all the time. Because I wanted to do it all on my own, I looked up how to install the parts and such. Right now, I’m not yet bored with it, but it can happen pretty quickly, that I do.]
- So there hasn’t been a time, when you got tired of the bass?
[Yes, just with the bass it hasn’t happened. It is probably about things that I do on my own a lot, which I get bored with. I do the band with everyone together so there is nothing really to get bored of. There is constant motivation, I’d say.]
- Looking at Gazette from an outsider’s view, you have passed a number of years and you can draw good connections. However, has there not been a time, when you thought [I can’t do that!]??
[There hasn’t! As 5 people we can act freely, because we don’t tell each other to do this or that. This is concerning appearance as well as playing (our instruments). When we are concerned with the arrangements we do talk with each other, but that’s not supposed to be a bad atmosphere. However, if I was to do the production temporarily of the five of us, I’d probably get bored after one or two times. (laughs)]
- Eh? You would?
[Yeah. (laughs) If each of us do it together, it is interesting, but if I was to decide this alone, I’d probably get tired of it.]
- So you mean that when you do this with each other, you can always estimate the impossibility and therefore it refreshes the motivation, don’t you?
[Yes yes!! So when I am told, that the phrase I am playing should be changed, there is no resistance at all. Then I think of creating a much more surprising phrase to play instead. Because wouldn’t I want to surprise the other in the first place? After all if they weren’t, the fans neither would be surprised, would they? Therefore it is better to do this, when a motivating thing is demanded and having it requested without feeling bitter. If nobody said anything, I’d probably be pretty unsure (of things). (laughs)]
- When I think about this, there is a remarkable feeling of closeness between each of you. There is no rude persuading (into things), but you are also not just letting things take their course. It seems you all respect each other while facing opposite directions.
[Yeah, that’s probably the case. We absolutely talk about private things as well, which does not mean, however, that we don’t talk about music, too. That’s why I think we are the best band members.]
- So you haven’t gotten tired of Gazette yet?
[No I haven’t! I always think that I want to d new things and at our roots, we are all good guys. At our roots, right?! (laughs)]
- Once you ascend the stage you are a pretty dangerous person, right? (laughs)
[This is really interesting. Until right before the live, we totally talk about unimportant things, but once I get on stage, I even now would like to think [Is he the same person as just before???!!]. As a human being there is quite a gap (within me there). However, I really like that gap. (laughs)]
- Surely this difference has the ability to attract people.
[If exceedingly scary people just walk their dog, or so and if there is some sort of familiarity coming up, as someone is just a little slow and gentle-mannered going to work, where he really works extremely actively, I think that is really cool. Therefore I don’t really like to see people just by what they look like. When there is a brown haired guy, with brown skin and when he just talks about unimportant stuff and then he also just does unimportant things, I can’t really forgive that. However, if he actually studies very hard or owns specific qualifications, that’s really good. I then think that I want them to talk about it! (laughs]
- Actually Reita-san himself is such a person.
[I’m pretty much like that.]
- On stage you are someone making a lot of noise, but normally, you are quite a gentle person.
[I am the world’s most gentle person!!]
- That came out big again! (laughs) Is this you (initial) intention, or does this just happen naturally?
[Well, there is probably a part which does this a bit more intentionally. When I talk to someone with great manners, I’d get a little bewildered, wouldn’t I? With this kind of attitude, whatever I do, it’s not getting anywhere. Well, originally, I am not that kind of a person, so usually it doesn’t happen, until I start to think about it.]
- When thinking about it, don’t you have quite an unexpectedly, cooperating side?
[That is probably why people like me are turning towards rock bands. (laughs)]
- So this was your direction then? (laughs)
[However, I think it’s also ok, if I was just a bit more unreasonable (about things).]
- Well, maybe we can blame this last statement on the stage-Reita, then.
[I think, maybe we should.]
- Ok then. So speaking of which, Reita-san also includes the nose-tape. Well…you probably talk about this in every single magazine…
[Actually, I don’t quite talk about it.]
- Well, nonetheless again, I would like to ask…What is it? (laughs)
[What is it…I would like to ask that question (myself). (laughs) Well, I didn’t have it during high school, now. I just did the lives with spaying my hair red and lining my eyes black. However, I wanted to be a lot scarier. I wanted to go into a way darker direction. At first I was just concealing one eye. Incidentally I also really liked those anime characters which covered one eye. (laughs)]
- Incidentally we would like to ask what character that was for the time being.
[Ah, well he did not cover his eye but it would have been [Yuyu Hakusho] I liked characters with this kind of mysterious aura. Like, you wouldn’t be able to imagine them baking bread in the morning. (laughs)]
- Like they don’t need a daily life. (laughs)
[Exactly. So that was what I was after at first and thinking I would cover one eye…I had come to by black fabric. Actually I wanted to buy leather, but I didn’t have the money to, so it was just normal fabric. (laughs) So At first, in front of the mirror I wound this around my face numerous times/in different ways…eventually, to cover my forehead, my left eye and the nose all together was the coolest for myself.]
- That is more like how a patient with some serious illness would be covered in bandages.
[Yes yes!! Some considerable illness. (laughs) So for some time I did just that, and in between I also covered the mouth, so only the right eye was left.]
- Pretty much at the edge of a mummy. (laughs)
[However, already at that time I already understood, that with (covering my face) it was the switch (for the live). Therefore this is a leftover of that. When being told about (things) “concerning Reita”, I think this is maybe, what everyone sees in it, however, inside myself this is the right interpretation (of things).I wanted something which is certain like that. To tell the trith, for a period of time I removed it, though.]
- Ah, I did not know that.
[When we started with Gazette at the very beginning. However, it was pretty embaracing to do the lives (without it). I couldn’t face the front (of the stage).]
- That is a weird story. Just about that one layer of cloth? (laughs)
[Yes!! That cloth really saved me. (laughs) Concerning today, I would like people to think “What kind of (weird) guy is he?”, and because I am that person, I continue this, also to scold them (for this).]
- I don’t really understand the last bit, but as for now you don’t seem to change this style, do you?
[As for now, I won’t. Because, thinking about it changes…hmm, even if you didn’t understand the last thing, but as for now this is “Reita”.]
- Even if, did the other members say anything when you first applied this (to your face)?
[No, nothing in particular. (laughs)]
- The others are also the others. (laughs)
[If anything, I am asked these days. [Speaking of which, why do you wind this (around your face)?] (laughs)]
- Only now they do? (laughs)
[Yet, the people I know from way back don’t really have doubts about it. After all it is Reita. It is already of the same memory as applying make-up.]
tbc...
Weeeeheeee!!! This is page 1 to three...so maybe it will only be two parts ^^
The Usual rules apply.
Please enjoy! ^^v
- Today , I would like to investigate Reita-san thoroughly…and although you probably talk about this every time, I would like to start out with what was the charming point of the bass guitar that you got obsessed with?
[When I first started with the bass I wasn’t obsessed with it at all.]
- Ah, is that so?
[Yeah, because I wanted to play the guitar. Therefore the first thing I bought was a guitar. Further, it was an acoustic guitar, too. That was in second grade of middle school.]
- What was the reason for it being an acoustic guitar and not an electric one?
[Well, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to play the electric one at home, because the sound was too loud.]
- That’s a point well considered. You were certainly a kid with a good sense like that. (laughs)
[Well, but actually the pure sound of an acoustic guitar is quite loud. But because I didn’t know that, I bought an acoustic guitar. (laughs) Moreover, I knew nothing about the tuning, therefore I quit after about three days.]
- That surely portrays you as someone that can’t stick to anything. (laughs)
[Well, that’s true. (laughs) Also for the electric guitar…I bought it, and then I quit.]
- I would often say “ the restraint was stumbling over that difficult F-cord”…but what was Reita-san’s reason?
[Rather, it wasn’t the cords or something. I don’t know it wasn’t really anything.]
- Well, even if it wasn’t anything in particular…you just quit.
[Yeah. Just because I didn’t know (how to do it) (laughs)]
- So it was just your choice to not put more effort into getting to understand it then? (laughs)
[Yes. (laughs) Around me the guys who started to play the guitar were increasing, therefore I got to understand the reading of scores. At that time, Uruha started to suggest playing at a cultural festival, but he didn’t have an amp, so he borrowed mine. With that, I more and more thought it to be boring. From the very beginning I relished the atmosphere of the more distorted sound, but since I couldn’t do it, it was even more boring and that was the reason I quit. Then at last in third class middle school I started to play the bass.]
- When someone is switching from guitar to bass, the reason is quite often that “a bass only has 4 strings and is easier therefore”, but was that also the thinking in Reita-san’s case?
[Yeah, pretty much like that. Moreover, when I was listening to CDs I couldn’t really distinguish the bass sound, so I thought that probably no one could and therefore I did that.]
- Because at any rate nobody would have known? (laughs)
[Yes yes yes!! I thought that, even if I did play things wrong, nobody would be able to hear it (laughs)]
- That kind of a fool?
[However, at that time, with the CDs I listened to, the bass could have been wrong, but after all I didn’t known…I think, I wanted to do just that.]
- That way of thinking is kinda scary. (laughs)
[Well, but I knew how to read scores so I worked very hard to copy one song.]
- What song was that?
[It was LUNA SEA’s [Precious…] At that time it was just beginning to bloom. With Uruha and another friend playing the guitar the three of us played along with the CD.]
- So very innocent. (laughs)
[Speaking of the interesting time, when we matched (the sound), until now there was nothing that has come to surpass this yet.]
- It was such an impact in the youth of Reita-san, wasn’t it?
[Yes. From there on I wanted to play other songs (as well), and gradually, I got really obsessed with playing the bass.]
- That even Reita-sensei had such inexperienced times …in this connection, at that time, when you wanted to have a guitar, was there an artist that you admired?
[No, there wasn’t anyone in particular. I just thought it would be cool, if I could play guitar.]
-It is often said, that one wants to be idolized by the girls, did you also have this devious intention?
[Concerning that, well, I thought, since I did Visual-Kei, that the girls wouldn’t idolize me at all. I thought I would be told, that “even though you are a guy this is kind of awkward”. On the contrary I thought that (the girls would) idolize (someone) who is properly getting a job. (laughs)]
- You possessed an awfully composed kind of judgment. (laughs)
[However, completely unrelated to that I really came to want to start a band. The reason really only was, that I thought it would be cool, if I could play the guitar.]
- So back to Reita-san, who had been captivated by the bass in [Precious…], today, what do you think is the charm of the bass guitar? Perhaps, the values in the memories of that time have come to be different, I think.
[Of course, sound without a bass is kinda dried up, isn’t it? Therefore, sound without bass really can’t be. For example, even within the harmonious sounds of a piano there are low bass sounds included. Even just when I am speaking like this, there are bass sounds attached in my voice. I think I wanted to go with this, because it is something that is attached with whatever you do. Also, it is also an instrument, which possesses melodious (parts). It is a rhythmic instrument like the drums as well. Yet, while when playing drums you are sitting on a chair and can’t move, I can move to the front, to the back, freely from left to right. How to call it…something like a mid-fielder, is what it feels like. I think, because it is an instrument anything can be done with, it is the most interesting instrument.]
- A very popular image of bass-players leaves a rather plain/simple impression, but when I listen to this, it seems like the most delicious instrument, I think.
[Certainly, back in the days the image was a lot simpler. However, these days it seems the image has changed just a little bit.]
- And there I think, this is where a part of Reita-san has also come to change.
[Nah, not really…]
- Reita-san himself, with the admirable individuality of a strong bassist, has come to be an accomplice to rise in this position. (laughs)
[Aah…accomplice???(laughs) However, I still have to work a lot harder.]
- Well, as for now, there are lots of young people who start to play bass because they admire you, aren’t there?
[That makes me really happy. However, I feel a little uneasy for the people who copy (us), because there are quite a few irregularities in our tuning. Because of that…I think I need to apologize. (laughs) At first, when I started to play bass I only thought of playing songs with the regular tuning. When there were things written like “just the fourth strings one note lower”, I just didn’t understand the reason and therefore didn’t do it. (laughs) Today there are still many bands like that and therefore (my own) resistance has probably dropped from that…I want everyone to work hard, though! ]
- Let’s pray for a strong fight! Lately the impression of Gazette turning more towards the heavier stereo sound is pretty strong, however, what is Reita-san’s personal reason for attraction towards the lower sounds? Could you explain?
[The feeling there is that of a manly image. Like the back of a man, concerning the position of the bass. Therefore it is absolutely not my strongest point to strike a pose there. I always wonder, if I am congenial when chopping the rhythm into small pieces.]
- The esthetics of a man keeping quiet and bravely carving his shape into (what has become) Reita-san, can be clearly felt.
[Hm…yeah. That’s only how I can be.]
- Certainly…It seems that Reita-san in his young age does have some old-fashioned spirit.
[It’s a little…stubbornness. And there are probably also parts of a hectoring husband. (laughs)]
- I don’t mean to say that your attitude is like that of a middle-aged man, however, on the one hand you map out the casual dad of the Heisei-era, and on the other hand it’s like you let everyone feel, that you are the backbone, such as the fathers of the Shouwa-era.
[Well, maybe there are parts like that. When I was five my parents got divorced and after that I was left with my mother only, and there wasn’t a father (in the house). However, there was my grandfather, who was usually very kind, but when he got angry he was someone with a very old fashioned spirit. So maybe unconsciously I took over those characteristics of my grandfather.]
- Adding to that, while being very young, was it that you have the awareness of being the representative for your dad within your family home?
[That is…probably not the case. Actually I have been pretty spoiled. (laughs) That’s the reason why I think I have to work pretty hard from there.]
- The image of a spoiled Reita-san isn’t really welling up, though.
[I am pretty much the opposite. At home I can be pretty much an excellent man, however, within I am pretty spoiled. (laughs) Therefore, the image of the people who only see the Reita standing on stage and those who know me from way back, absolutely don’t go along with each other, I think.]
- The Reita-san standing on stage leaves a rather aggressive and strict (bone-like) impression.
[Maybe I would like to do it differently…from the point onwards, that I put on make-up for the stage, that’s the switch. It happens that I would like to be more like my normal self, when I do that. I always worry about the ideal that I am asking of that Reita, then. Therefore it is very much like a different person.]
- As in the projection of what you wish for Reita’s existence to be?
[Yes. I always think of myself, that HE (Reita) has to be like that.]
- So concerning other people’s demands, you don’t get influences by those?
[Yeah…it’s rather, that if there are people who demand something from me, there is usually no understanding (for it).]
- However, aren’t there for example fans who come and say they would like you to be a certain way?
[Well, of course that’s the case. I usually don’t much care, and I often don’t respond to these demands, even if they complain, that I don’t do the things they would like me to do.]
- Is this concerning the fans?
[It’s not just the fans, it’s also the people of this country. (laughs) Concerning politicians, concerning talents…I just wish they would bitch (about things like that). (laughs)]
- Well…exposing this kind of ego is pretty much common with most people. (laughs)
[Yes, probably it’s like that. I really hate this in people. (laughs) When they demand something, they already profit by returning just 10%, in all honesty. Well…we are also carrying pats of our dreams on our shoulders, don’t we? Doesn’t our office stuff also have to approve of our dreams (for us)? Therefore, what has to be done has to be done!]
- When you talk about ‘raw’ things like that, it is the daily life of this band’s stuff that, which is getting awkward while the fan’s living and dying is dominating their doing. It’s that kind of existence, isn’t it?
[Certainly it’s like that. However, I am also human, therefore half of me just wants them to stop bitching, and the other half does not raise the voice like that, I think.]
- Well, the difficult thing about this is, that Gazette is a band in which basically everything is possible, there is also this matter of having commercial elements, isn’t there?
[Yes, sometimes.]
- Aren’t there conflicts arising, in case that this kind of state is reached without you all intending it to happen?
[There is, certainly. We are a rock band, there for we would like to like to ask “Aren’t we a rock band?!!”]
- Ah, I see, on the contrary, right?
[Yes. It is demanded of a rock band. I mean, I think it is good that we know what we are doing. Lately there has been this tendency; especially in this scene…the words have become louder. As if being a saint person, and demanding perfect speeches. Just like [Because you say this, I think, you want to be thought of like this.]]
- As if that is the reason why you do rock music (laughs). Certainly it is difficult to draw the line, but I think as long as the lowest level of people’s manners is preserved, it’s ok.
[Of course, we would like to preserve this minimum level of manners. Those speeches demanded by people, I think it is something to doubt.]
- AT times, where there was this kind of contradiction, when you had to live with this kind of conflict, weren’t there moments when you just doubted things?
[Frankly…there was. Well, lately there wasn’t anything like that, however, back in the days it was quite common. Truthfully, it was before I even entered Gazette, where I said that I would stop playing in a band. I thought of just getting a job.]
- What the background of you coming to think this?
[At that time, guys who worked properly where just seen as very cool.]
- And adding to that, the fears towards the future were rather small, weren’t they?
[Yeah, I think I was also fearing that. However, in between that, I think it is good, that I believed and came to do (what I did). I think to do that (playing in a band) necessarily causes trouble. For now…I don’t really know, what I am going to do in the future, or if I will always be able to live of making music. Although I really don’t know anything of that, if I had always worried about things like that, I shouldn’t have started a band in the first place, I think. (laughs)]
- Certainly, you wouldn’t do this kind of gamble. (laughs)
[Right??!! (laughs) Therefore I stopped worrying. If I had been able to plan it, I’d gone to university, gotten a job…and certainly wouldn’t have started a band!!! (laughs)]
- Originally you were that kind of a person? (laughs)
[Yes, originally I was a little (more) reasonable, certainly. (laughs) Basically I’m pretty serious, however, I have often been told to be [somewhat reasonable]. However, in spite of having quite a serious attitude, I am also someone to get bored of things easily. On the other hand, if I really get into something, I really DO get into that. I am easily attracted and I get easily bored. It’s the same with everything about my motor bike. When I got into that I did research about parts on the internet every day and I basically was involved with that all the time. Because I wanted to do it all on my own, I looked up how to install the parts and such. Right now, I’m not yet bored with it, but it can happen pretty quickly, that I do.]
- So there hasn’t been a time, when you got tired of the bass?
[Yes, just with the bass it hasn’t happened. It is probably about things that I do on my own a lot, which I get bored with. I do the band with everyone together so there is nothing really to get bored of. There is constant motivation, I’d say.]
- Looking at Gazette from an outsider’s view, you have passed a number of years and you can draw good connections. However, has there not been a time, when you thought [I can’t do that!]??
[There hasn’t! As 5 people we can act freely, because we don’t tell each other to do this or that. This is concerning appearance as well as playing (our instruments). When we are concerned with the arrangements we do talk with each other, but that’s not supposed to be a bad atmosphere. However, if I was to do the production temporarily of the five of us, I’d probably get bored after one or two times. (laughs)]
- Eh? You would?
[Yeah. (laughs) If each of us do it together, it is interesting, but if I was to decide this alone, I’d probably get tired of it.]
- So you mean that when you do this with each other, you can always estimate the impossibility and therefore it refreshes the motivation, don’t you?
[Yes yes!! So when I am told, that the phrase I am playing should be changed, there is no resistance at all. Then I think of creating a much more surprising phrase to play instead. Because wouldn’t I want to surprise the other in the first place? After all if they weren’t, the fans neither would be surprised, would they? Therefore it is better to do this, when a motivating thing is demanded and having it requested without feeling bitter. If nobody said anything, I’d probably be pretty unsure (of things). (laughs)]
- When I think about this, there is a remarkable feeling of closeness between each of you. There is no rude persuading (into things), but you are also not just letting things take their course. It seems you all respect each other while facing opposite directions.
[Yeah, that’s probably the case. We absolutely talk about private things as well, which does not mean, however, that we don’t talk about music, too. That’s why I think we are the best band members.]
- So you haven’t gotten tired of Gazette yet?
[No I haven’t! I always think that I want to d new things and at our roots, we are all good guys. At our roots, right?! (laughs)]
- Once you ascend the stage you are a pretty dangerous person, right? (laughs)
[This is really interesting. Until right before the live, we totally talk about unimportant things, but once I get on stage, I even now would like to think [Is he the same person as just before???!!]. As a human being there is quite a gap (within me there). However, I really like that gap. (laughs)]
- Surely this difference has the ability to attract people.
[If exceedingly scary people just walk their dog, or so and if there is some sort of familiarity coming up, as someone is just a little slow and gentle-mannered going to work, where he really works extremely actively, I think that is really cool. Therefore I don’t really like to see people just by what they look like. When there is a brown haired guy, with brown skin and when he just talks about unimportant stuff and then he also just does unimportant things, I can’t really forgive that. However, if he actually studies very hard or owns specific qualifications, that’s really good. I then think that I want them to talk about it! (laughs]
- Actually Reita-san himself is such a person.
[I’m pretty much like that.]
- On stage you are someone making a lot of noise, but normally, you are quite a gentle person.
[I am the world’s most gentle person!!]
- That came out big again! (laughs) Is this you (initial) intention, or does this just happen naturally?
[Well, there is probably a part which does this a bit more intentionally. When I talk to someone with great manners, I’d get a little bewildered, wouldn’t I? With this kind of attitude, whatever I do, it’s not getting anywhere. Well, originally, I am not that kind of a person, so usually it doesn’t happen, until I start to think about it.]
- When thinking about it, don’t you have quite an unexpectedly, cooperating side?
[That is probably why people like me are turning towards rock bands. (laughs)]
- So this was your direction then? (laughs)
[However, I think it’s also ok, if I was just a bit more unreasonable (about things).]
- Well, maybe we can blame this last statement on the stage-Reita, then.
[I think, maybe we should.]
- Ok then. So speaking of which, Reita-san also includes the nose-tape. Well…you probably talk about this in every single magazine…
[Actually, I don’t quite talk about it.]
- Well, nonetheless again, I would like to ask…What is it? (laughs)
[What is it…I would like to ask that question (myself). (laughs) Well, I didn’t have it during high school, now. I just did the lives with spaying my hair red and lining my eyes black. However, I wanted to be a lot scarier. I wanted to go into a way darker direction. At first I was just concealing one eye. Incidentally I also really liked those anime characters which covered one eye. (laughs)]
- Incidentally we would like to ask what character that was for the time being.
[Ah, well he did not cover his eye but it would have been [Yuyu Hakusho] I liked characters with this kind of mysterious aura. Like, you wouldn’t be able to imagine them baking bread in the morning. (laughs)]
- Like they don’t need a daily life. (laughs)
[Exactly. So that was what I was after at first and thinking I would cover one eye…I had come to by black fabric. Actually I wanted to buy leather, but I didn’t have the money to, so it was just normal fabric. (laughs) So At first, in front of the mirror I wound this around my face numerous times/in different ways…eventually, to cover my forehead, my left eye and the nose all together was the coolest for myself.]
- That is more like how a patient with some serious illness would be covered in bandages.
[Yes yes!! Some considerable illness. (laughs) So for some time I did just that, and in between I also covered the mouth, so only the right eye was left.]
- Pretty much at the edge of a mummy. (laughs)
[However, already at that time I already understood, that with (covering my face) it was the switch (for the live). Therefore this is a leftover of that. When being told about (things) “concerning Reita”, I think this is maybe, what everyone sees in it, however, inside myself this is the right interpretation (of things).I wanted something which is certain like that. To tell the trith, for a period of time I removed it, though.]
- Ah, I did not know that.
[When we started with Gazette at the very beginning. However, it was pretty embaracing to do the lives (without it). I couldn’t face the front (of the stage).]
- That is a weird story. Just about that one layer of cloth? (laughs)
[Yes!! That cloth really saved me. (laughs) Concerning today, I would like people to think “What kind of (weird) guy is he?”, and because I am that person, I continue this, also to scold them (for this).]
- I don’t really understand the last bit, but as for now you don’t seem to change this style, do you?
[As for now, I won’t. Because, thinking about it changes…hmm, even if you didn’t understand the last thing, but as for now this is “Reita”.]
- Even if, did the other members say anything when you first applied this (to your face)?
[No, nothing in particular. (laughs)]
- The others are also the others. (laughs)
[If anything, I am asked these days. [Speaking of which, why do you wind this (around your face)?] (laughs)]
- Only now they do? (laughs)
[Yet, the people I know from way back don’t really have doubts about it. After all it is Reita. It is already of the same memory as applying make-up.]
tbc...