GRABBING AT PARADISE #1- Disco punk
Even if I’m sooo happy that VAMPS are on tour and that they will soon come to Europe (already purchased my ticket ^^V), on the other hand I miss Laruku so badly.
It’s really nice to read translations about them and their music, especially the ones on their official facebook page. But I hope they’ll release something/resume their activities soon…><
Lately I got addicted to SEVENTH HEAVEN (well, it’s not really “lately”) so I ended up reading here and there about this songs.
It was so much interesting, especially when band members gave an insight into their working habits or when yukihiro revealed how he got into programming.
As a result, I felt once more how much Laruku have always been able to retain their very own sound, even among elements from other genres.
I believe that one of the most interesting feature of the band is experimentalism over genres. I know that they worked this way since their formation, but I feel it has increased after they went solo, especially for hyde, who wants to keep his activity for solo/VAMPS separate from his work with Laruku.
So SEVENTH HEAVEN is L’Arc-en-Ciel’s way to disco!
tetsu: Yeah, it's the first L’Arc-en-Ciel song in two years, so I think it’s good to understand it as a song that’s proclaiming, “a new season begins now”. It's got energy and a melody that makes you feel like something has begun to move. (Fb)
A handy chronology to start
2006.12
Writing song
hyde: […] Around December, I made some songs… I wanted to make about 5 songs, and this one was probably the third one I managed to complete. It took sooo long to make 1 song, and that was unexpected (laughs). Well, it was probably because I tried out several arrangements. (F)
hyde: Preproduction went really quickly with this one - I was able to get everything through the first chorus together right away. But with me, there’s a long way to go after the first chorus (laughs). Even after having the rest of the band listen, it took me a long time to finish it. (Fb)
From my own experience, for most cases, if I am able to get everything through the first chorus quickly, then it takes a long time to finish. In short, every time I begin a song easily, then it becomes a hassle (laughs). This was the case. (F)
2007.01.13
Song meeting[Not sure about the date of the song meeting. It comes from hyde’s diary on LE-CIEL 51, but in the interview in LE-CIEL 52 he says that the song meeting was held at the end of 2006]
ken: At our so-called meeting about songs, each of us brought several songs. Since every demo was properly made, I thought that all of them were good. But we agreed that among them SEVENTH HEAVEN would have been perfect for the first release because of its atmosphere and energy. So it went like: “Yeah, that’s good!” and then: “Good, let’s do our best!!” (E)
tetsu: I think that there were around 10 candidates for the single release (C)
hyde: […] I didn’t think either that it was outstanding among the other songs I made, or that it could have been chosen as single. So, the fact it attracted record label staff’s interest was completely unexpected. I said: “Oh, I see”. (F)
yukihiro: While we were in the meeting about songs, I thought that the demo were all properly done, so I started to wonder what to do: “Should I play the drums as they did in the demo? Or should I think of any change?” It was troublesome: what to do? (E)
tetsu: It’s incredible that all of us can write songs! I could feel that once more (laughs). Really, we brought together only good songs! That’s an incredible incentive, and it speeds things up. We all write songs, so in a little bit more than a month we ended up with 20 new songs more or less (laughs). Anyhow, since songs were really that good, I thought: “How many beautiful songs we have this time!”. Well, I think the same at every song meeting (laughs). (E)
hyde: “Do I have to work on it? From now on?!” I did complain. But everybody, and the staff too, seemed to like it, and they even accepted the fact I wanted to change the chorus. “Then, I’ll do my best”. Really, it was plenty of good songs (laughs). But if you just think of its rhythm, the fact it’s a song easy to get into, the fact we were to decide for the first release, this song was perfect, wasn’t it? (B)
2007.02.15
Meeting at the office and other things
hyde: I worked on the arrangement for SEVENTH HEAVEN, I think. I exchanged opinions with several people and then I changed the chorus. That was a hard work. (B)
2007.02.25
Yukihiro works on beat programming for SEVENTH HEAVEN
hyde: Another arranger worked with me [Akira Nishihira is credited for additional arrangement in the KISS booklet], but I wasn’t satisfied with the result, so I changed it again and again. The problem was how to make it sound provocative. Because originally I drew inspiration from DEAD OR ALIVE, and Pete Burns’ voice sounds really provocative (*), doesn’t it? If I’m not able to make the whole song, not just the vocals, sound that provocative, I can’t beat him. It was really hard to reach that provocative sound and to make the song catchy at the same time. Eventually I asked Yukki to help me, so we tried to create some heavier and more “violent” versions. In the end it reached the shape of a compromise between our ideas. (B)
hyde modeled even his style on Pete Burns.
His hair in the PV, the eye-patch in Music Station performance, the way he dances and the way he sings some parts of this song are clear hints.
2007.03.08
SEVENTH HEAVEN preproduction
yukihiro: First of all [the person who made the demo] goes in the studio for the preproduction and we all bring together the songs we made up to then. We discuss about which one to record and then we do a second preproduction for the song we have chosen. After that we record the performance. We work this way. (C)
2007.03.14
SEVENTH HEAVEN recording
hyde: I used to write the lyrics at home, but even if I really work at home, the others may think I am not working hard: “hyde doesn’t come” “Is he having fun at home?” “Is he really writing?”. They may think like that even if I skip sleeping to work, so I decided not to work at home anymore (laughs). Since then I have always been writing the lyrics during the recording break, when I have time. And I speed up more in the studio. (Manager FA: Anyway, we was really stoic. He could knock off at 6 a.m. , then be back at 1 pm). Well, to record the vocals, I think it’s better for me to sing when my body is wide awake. So I need absolutely to wake up at a fixed time, because if it doesn’t happen and I get up just before the recording, it takes time until my body becomes wide awake, and this ends up to be late at night. I tried to set my biological clock at 1 p.m. at any rate, and the day before, no matter which time I would knock off, I decided I would come back to the studio absolutely at 1 p.m. But sometimes I fell asleep before I knew it (laughs). (B)
2007.05.30
Release
tetsu: Yeah, it's the first L’Arc-en-Ciel song in two years, so I think it’s good to understand it as a song that’s proclaiming, “a new season begins now”. It's got energy and a melody that makes you feel like something has begun to move. (Fb)
hyde cosplayed Pete Burns on 30th October 2009,
during the HELLWEEN LIVE at Shinagawa Stellar Ball.
This pics and the following are referring to that cosplay.
***Why did hyde think of disco? What does he think about DEAD OR ALIVE, the band that inspired him the most this time? What was SEVENTH HEAVEN provisional title?
hyde: What was it [= the reason for choosing disco]? I can’t remember clearly, probably …it was because I went to someone’s live. The live was held in a club, so this person didn’t show up for quite a long time. I listened to the DJ set for 1-2 hours. Well, everybody was warmed up more than usual. I had no idea why it was like that and it looked to me like a karaoke contest. They had a choreography, too, and this gave me the impression that all of them were dancing in a pub. “Woooow, that’s an unknown world to me”. Surely… they played also DEAD OR ALIVE. When it happened, it warmed up people and I myself, too, thought that their music was cool. I thought about the genre at that time, probably. This doesn’t mean that I half-listened to it only at that time: after all, everywhere I go, whenever they play DEAD OR ALIVE, there’s big excitement. Their music is kinda powerful, I think… that was my goal, too. Unexpectedly my tune turned out to be near to what I was thinking about. (D)
hyde: I know disco music [it was my main inspiration]. I also wanted to add a modern guitar to it. Well, more than disco, I should say DEAD OR ALIVE. Back then their music left on us the impression to be quite powerful. So I aimed at recreating it, wondering how they would play it now. (C)
hyde and Pete Burns
hyde: […] Well, they [DEAD OR ALIVE] were the Eighties visual kei (laughs). They are always associated with British new wave or DURAN DURAN, but they stand out among others. Even nowadays, when their music is played in the clubs, people get extremely warmed up. Well, they were more popular in Japan than overseas. I think they have the catchiness Japanese people like and the “provocative side” everybody appreciates. Recreating all that was terribly difficult. I believe that DEAD OR ALIVE’s provocative part was, after all, their vocalist, Pete Burns. If that is so, what about me? I wonder (laughs). I mean, his voice is really matchless, isn’t it? I cannot take such a heavy responsibility only on my shoulders. So I need the performance to be provocative too. If I work carelessly, the result will be an ordinary disco song. I did know how to make a performance provocative. So when Yukki told me: “There’s a genre called disco punk now, you know?”, even without knowing well what disco punk is, I told him: “I’ll take this word! It’s perfect!”. (B)
hyde: The provisional title was “Genki ippai”!! (= Full of energy-vitality/in high spirits) (CDTV 2007.06.02)
hyde and Pete Burns
***(to be continued)
(*) hyde used the word 毒(poison/poisonous) to refer to Pete Burns’ voice. I feel that my translation fails at covering every nuance this word implies. But if you listen to Pete Burns' voice I think you'll easily understand
Sources
(A) hyde’s diary, LE-CIEL 51, Spring 2007
(B) hyde: take me to the SEVENTH HEAVEN - SEVENTH HEAVEN interview, hyde’s diary, LE-CIEL 52, Summer 2007
(C) L’Arc-en-Ciel to drop a “danceable”, powerful new single with different origin!!, CDdata, June 2007
(D) L’Arc-en-Ciel SEVENTH HEAVEN, PATI-PATI June 2007
(E) L’Arc-en-Ciel SEVENTH HEAVEN, B-PASS July 2007
(F) SEVENTH HEAVEN, L’Arc-en-Ciel WORDS II, April 2010
(Fb) SEVENTH HEAVEN, L’Arc-en-Ciel WORDS II, April 2010. Credits for translation: L’Arc-en-Ciel Official Facebook
It’s really nice to read translations about them and their music, especially the ones on their official facebook page. But I hope they’ll release something/resume their activities soon…><
Lately I got addicted to SEVENTH HEAVEN (well, it’s not really “lately”) so I ended up reading here and there about this songs.
It was so much interesting, especially when band members gave an insight into their working habits or when yukihiro revealed how he got into programming.
As a result, I felt once more how much Laruku have always been able to retain their very own sound, even among elements from other genres.
I believe that one of the most interesting feature of the band is experimentalism over genres. I know that they worked this way since their formation, but I feel it has increased after they went solo, especially for hyde, who wants to keep his activity for solo/VAMPS separate from his work with Laruku.
So SEVENTH HEAVEN is L’Arc-en-Ciel’s way to disco!
tetsu: Yeah, it's the first L’Arc-en-Ciel song in two years, so I think it’s good to understand it as a song that’s proclaiming, “a new season begins now”. It's got energy and a melody that makes you feel like something has begun to move. (Fb)
A handy chronology to start
2006.12
Writing song
hyde: […] Around December, I made some songs… I wanted to make about 5 songs, and this one was probably the third one I managed to complete. It took sooo long to make 1 song, and that was unexpected (laughs). Well, it was probably because I tried out several arrangements. (F)
hyde: Preproduction went really quickly with this one - I was able to get everything through the first chorus together right away. But with me, there’s a long way to go after the first chorus (laughs). Even after having the rest of the band listen, it took me a long time to finish it. (Fb)
From my own experience, for most cases, if I am able to get everything through the first chorus quickly, then it takes a long time to finish. In short, every time I begin a song easily, then it becomes a hassle (laughs). This was the case. (F)
2007.01.13
Song meeting[Not sure about the date of the song meeting. It comes from hyde’s diary on LE-CIEL 51, but in the interview in LE-CIEL 52 he says that the song meeting was held at the end of 2006]
ken: At our so-called meeting about songs, each of us brought several songs. Since every demo was properly made, I thought that all of them were good. But we agreed that among them SEVENTH HEAVEN would have been perfect for the first release because of its atmosphere and energy. So it went like: “Yeah, that’s good!” and then: “Good, let’s do our best!!” (E)
tetsu: I think that there were around 10 candidates for the single release (C)
hyde: […] I didn’t think either that it was outstanding among the other songs I made, or that it could have been chosen as single. So, the fact it attracted record label staff’s interest was completely unexpected. I said: “Oh, I see”. (F)
yukihiro: While we were in the meeting about songs, I thought that the demo were all properly done, so I started to wonder what to do: “Should I play the drums as they did in the demo? Or should I think of any change?” It was troublesome: what to do? (E)
tetsu: It’s incredible that all of us can write songs! I could feel that once more (laughs). Really, we brought together only good songs! That’s an incredible incentive, and it speeds things up. We all write songs, so in a little bit more than a month we ended up with 20 new songs more or less (laughs). Anyhow, since songs were really that good, I thought: “How many beautiful songs we have this time!”. Well, I think the same at every song meeting (laughs). (E)
hyde: “Do I have to work on it? From now on?!” I did complain. But everybody, and the staff too, seemed to like it, and they even accepted the fact I wanted to change the chorus. “Then, I’ll do my best”. Really, it was plenty of good songs (laughs). But if you just think of its rhythm, the fact it’s a song easy to get into, the fact we were to decide for the first release, this song was perfect, wasn’t it? (B)
2007.02.15
Meeting at the office and other things
hyde: I worked on the arrangement for SEVENTH HEAVEN, I think. I exchanged opinions with several people and then I changed the chorus. That was a hard work. (B)
2007.02.25
Yukihiro works on beat programming for SEVENTH HEAVEN
hyde: Another arranger worked with me [Akira Nishihira is credited for additional arrangement in the KISS booklet], but I wasn’t satisfied with the result, so I changed it again and again. The problem was how to make it sound provocative. Because originally I drew inspiration from DEAD OR ALIVE, and Pete Burns’ voice sounds really provocative (*), doesn’t it? If I’m not able to make the whole song, not just the vocals, sound that provocative, I can’t beat him. It was really hard to reach that provocative sound and to make the song catchy at the same time. Eventually I asked Yukki to help me, so we tried to create some heavier and more “violent” versions. In the end it reached the shape of a compromise between our ideas. (B)
hyde modeled even his style on Pete Burns.
His hair in the PV, the eye-patch in Music Station performance, the way he dances and the way he sings some parts of this song are clear hints.
2007.03.08
SEVENTH HEAVEN preproduction
yukihiro: First of all [the person who made the demo] goes in the studio for the preproduction and we all bring together the songs we made up to then. We discuss about which one to record and then we do a second preproduction for the song we have chosen. After that we record the performance. We work this way. (C)
2007.03.14
SEVENTH HEAVEN recording
hyde: I used to write the lyrics at home, but even if I really work at home, the others may think I am not working hard: “hyde doesn’t come” “Is he having fun at home?” “Is he really writing?”. They may think like that even if I skip sleeping to work, so I decided not to work at home anymore (laughs). Since then I have always been writing the lyrics during the recording break, when I have time. And I speed up more in the studio. (Manager FA: Anyway, we was really stoic. He could knock off at 6 a.m. , then be back at 1 pm). Well, to record the vocals, I think it’s better for me to sing when my body is wide awake. So I need absolutely to wake up at a fixed time, because if it doesn’t happen and I get up just before the recording, it takes time until my body becomes wide awake, and this ends up to be late at night. I tried to set my biological clock at 1 p.m. at any rate, and the day before, no matter which time I would knock off, I decided I would come back to the studio absolutely at 1 p.m. But sometimes I fell asleep before I knew it (laughs). (B)
2007.05.30
Release
tetsu: Yeah, it's the first L’Arc-en-Ciel song in two years, so I think it’s good to understand it as a song that’s proclaiming, “a new season begins now”. It's got energy and a melody that makes you feel like something has begun to move. (Fb)
hyde cosplayed Pete Burns on 30th October 2009,
during the HELLWEEN LIVE at Shinagawa Stellar Ball.
This pics and the following are referring to that cosplay.
***Why did hyde think of disco? What does he think about DEAD OR ALIVE, the band that inspired him the most this time? What was SEVENTH HEAVEN provisional title?
hyde: What was it [= the reason for choosing disco]? I can’t remember clearly, probably …it was because I went to someone’s live. The live was held in a club, so this person didn’t show up for quite a long time. I listened to the DJ set for 1-2 hours. Well, everybody was warmed up more than usual. I had no idea why it was like that and it looked to me like a karaoke contest. They had a choreography, too, and this gave me the impression that all of them were dancing in a pub. “Woooow, that’s an unknown world to me”. Surely… they played also DEAD OR ALIVE. When it happened, it warmed up people and I myself, too, thought that their music was cool. I thought about the genre at that time, probably. This doesn’t mean that I half-listened to it only at that time: after all, everywhere I go, whenever they play DEAD OR ALIVE, there’s big excitement. Their music is kinda powerful, I think… that was my goal, too. Unexpectedly my tune turned out to be near to what I was thinking about. (D)
hyde: I know disco music [it was my main inspiration]. I also wanted to add a modern guitar to it. Well, more than disco, I should say DEAD OR ALIVE. Back then their music left on us the impression to be quite powerful. So I aimed at recreating it, wondering how they would play it now. (C)
hyde and Pete Burns
hyde: […] Well, they [DEAD OR ALIVE] were the Eighties visual kei (laughs). They are always associated with British new wave or DURAN DURAN, but they stand out among others. Even nowadays, when their music is played in the clubs, people get extremely warmed up. Well, they were more popular in Japan than overseas. I think they have the catchiness Japanese people like and the “provocative side” everybody appreciates. Recreating all that was terribly difficult. I believe that DEAD OR ALIVE’s provocative part was, after all, their vocalist, Pete Burns. If that is so, what about me? I wonder (laughs). I mean, his voice is really matchless, isn’t it? I cannot take such a heavy responsibility only on my shoulders. So I need the performance to be provocative too. If I work carelessly, the result will be an ordinary disco song. I did know how to make a performance provocative. So when Yukki told me: “There’s a genre called disco punk now, you know?”, even without knowing well what disco punk is, I told him: “I’ll take this word! It’s perfect!”. (B)
hyde: The provisional title was “Genki ippai”!! (= Full of energy-vitality/in high spirits) (CDTV 2007.06.02)
hyde and Pete Burns
***(to be continued)
(*) hyde used the word 毒(poison/poisonous) to refer to Pete Burns’ voice. I feel that my translation fails at covering every nuance this word implies. But if you listen to Pete Burns' voice I think you'll easily understand
Sources
(A) hyde’s diary, LE-CIEL 51, Spring 2007
(B) hyde: take me to the SEVENTH HEAVEN - SEVENTH HEAVEN interview, hyde’s diary, LE-CIEL 52, Summer 2007
(C) L’Arc-en-Ciel to drop a “danceable”, powerful new single with different origin!!, CDdata, June 2007
(D) L’Arc-en-Ciel SEVENTH HEAVEN, PATI-PATI June 2007
(E) L’Arc-en-Ciel SEVENTH HEAVEN, B-PASS July 2007
(F) SEVENTH HEAVEN, L’Arc-en-Ciel WORDS II, April 2010
(Fb) SEVENTH HEAVEN, L’Arc-en-Ciel WORDS II, April 2010. Credits for translation: L’Arc-en-Ciel Official Facebook