Arena37c Alice Nine series (2006) September
Arena37c September 2006
Scans credits: link
Every member in Alice Nine are born in summer right?
Shou: From early summer till late summer
Tora: May to September
Hiroto: That's why we love summer~
Shou: For us, summer tours have a more festival feel than winter tours
Hiroto: In summer, we often becomes 'joura'
Joura?
Hiroto: Naked on our upper half, joura. When we see other bands' members getting naked on the upper half, we say 'joura, joura'.
Well then please tell us your individual summer memories
Tora: Basically, it's a period of time where there is a long holiday so i think generally more than half of all Japanese like summer. So if you ask me about summer memories, i'll be talking about what i did during summer break. And it'll become something like "Nothing much". I'm happy about having a break but if i'm asked what i did, i don't have a good answer. In any case, for summer memories, around 31st August, i can only remember starting math drills during junior school, and catching up on homework. I'm the type who does homework the day before (laughs). Also, if we're talking about summer, it has to be festivals. When i was in high school, i wasn't in my hometown so during that period of time of festivals i was happy to be able to meet my childhood friends once. That's about all~ I don't really like summer that much. Honestly, before i started on bands, summer was too sweltering for me and i hated that. I like winter songs so i actually like winter more.
Winter songs?
Nao: Hirose Koumi. Cousin (group of singers)
Tora: Right. There were many classic winter songs during my time so i liked winter. But ever since i started on bands, i want to do lives during summer so i'm starting to like summer.
Saga: For summer, during junior school, i went for various competitions. Swimming competitions, baseball tournaments etc. In lower grades there's also the mini-4 wheel drive competitions.
Shou: We had that.
Saga: In any case there were many competitions kids love and i went for them
Were you a sports boy?
Saga: Rather than sports, i like moving around
People who can go for these competitions are usually those who got a breakthrough during the prelimary selections right?
Saga: It is like that for baseball, but for the mini 4 wheel drive thing it's something you pay to go to. I was a lively teenager who loved going for tournaments
Nao: Actually i don't really like summer as well. With regards to the divide in the visual-kei world, I'll known as the 'cold' guy [meaning lame], so i prefer feeling cool rather than hot. In terms of the general mood for summer, it's basically cheery but for me i have a lot of tragic happenings.
In that case, please tell us about your tragic happenings♪
Nao: I was also a sportsman like Saga-kun, but as i mentioned in the previous month's issue on the incident where i was dumped, it was also during summer, so there's various events in summer. When there's lots of things going on, for some reason i get dumped often. I'm quite a tragic guy who can't really make love come true. That's why, i hated summer. But if it's about lives then as expected it has to be in summer, and in that sense, i like summer for the lives. Also...
Seriously, don't look so downcast (laughs)
Shou: For me, i only have the image of doing curricular activites intensely. I did basketball and track. I was really bad with dogs, and one fine day in summer, when i was running with a senpai near school ground, a dog was looking right over our side. I was having a bad feeling about that while running, and it seems to think i'm escaping and came running over, so for 1 hour half, i was running away (laughs). I know i shouldn't have tried to escape but i was so scared that i was running for my life. Also, for summer, girls dress in thin clothings, so it was hard on me. I was in boys-school for middle and high school.
Nao: I also wore thin clothings (laughs)
Even though you were in a boys school, why was it difficult?
Shou: Sometimes at the roadside, if i see a girl wearing white T-shirt, you can see their underwear. That's not good. I don't know if i should look or not so i'm really bothered by that [oh Shou, you're too pure...]
Nao: You don't know where to look right.
Shou: I get nervous.
Hiroto: In middle school, i'm way more reckless than now, when it's summer i want to be outside always. During summer break, you don't have to care about the following day. I've been to Shizuoka with friends on bike
Shou: Why Shizuoka?
Hiroto: Somehow, we said "isn't Shizuoka in that direction?"
Shou: Did you want to meet Captain Tsubasa?
Hiroto: Yes (laughs). Summer night feels really good, so we spent the whole time riding our bicycles and broke into Shizuoka.
Isn't that really far?
Hiroto: It's far. If we stopped halfway we won't be able to reach in a day. When we reached, the summer festival was just starting, and there were many girls in yukata, so we were nervous. Aren't people dressed in yukata wonderful? We weren't in yukatas, instead we were half naked, but we had people we were close with, it was a plain summer memory.
Tora: Isn't that a little perverted?
Nao: That's nice that's nice
Hiroto: If i were to say something tragic, I went to Summerland and played the water slide. During which, I fell
Saga: Ehh?
Hiroto: In the middle of it, there was a level difference, there, my body ended up floating. I was surprised so i turned my body and fell somewhere that's not the pool, i was in agony for 8 minutes (laughs)
Shou: somebody came to help you right?
Hiroto: Somebody did, but i said "don't come near me"
Shou: That's trouble.
You didn't have any injuries?
Hiroto: Bruises. The floor i fell on was rough so i was grazed all over. This was during my 2nd year in middle school.
Everyone seems to have somewhat tragic memories. But recent summers....
Hiroto: Lives!! Last year, we had a tour, the year before last we went to the countryside for the first time
Shou: I came to like summer after starting bands too. Everyone becomes frank and there's the open feeling that you are free to say anything.
Nao: For students, there's no school the next day, so it's like "let's do something bad!"
Hiroto: The first summer as Alice Nine, in the outskirts of the Kantou region, we did a great number of lives. We were performing at a really small live house called Urawa Narciss, in uniforms.
Shou: Nao-san was in sailor uniform
Hiroto: After the rehearsal, everyone went out to eat in those uniforms.
Shou: And then, we came across real high school students, it was weird.
Hiroto: I guess we were like a joke.
Shou: When we wear uniforms, we looks like characters from some Shounen manga
Nao-kun also went for food in his sailor uniform?
Shou: He certainly didn't go.
Nao: I can't go! If i went out in that form i was worried that i might get arrested
Shou: But at that time, i don't remember feeling weird about seeing Nao-san in that uniform, he was suited for it.
Nao: In the summer 2 years ago, Shou-san fell in love with the Nao-san wearing uniform (laughs)
Hiroto: On that day the number of audience went over capacity so it was super hot inside. After the live i puked (laughs). I'm quite certain that at that time all the buttons on my uniform were gone
Nao: Popular popular.
Tora: For me too, since the start of Alice Nine, that live left the most impression on me
Nao: After that ended, we went to eat shabu shabu
And not ramen?
Shou: On that day we were ecstatic. During that period, we were doing activities on our own, so we saved all that we earned for band fees. But on that day, our company agency was decided upon, and so to celebrate we all went to have shabu shabu.
Nao: The band's money became our food's bill
Hiroto: Until then, recording costs money, we couldn't cover all our band expenses, and we were hungry all the time, so we want to get rid of that.
Shou: It was really terrible. During those times, 3 of us went to a store for set meals that allows free flow of rice, one of us will order the set, the remaining two will just have rice.
Hiroto: We ate rice with the sauce and furikake on the table and the shop keeper got mad at us (laughs)
Tora: Because we went to a yakiniku-store and ordered only rice with tare sauce [the sweet sauce for yakitori]
Nao: Yakiniku-taste rice
Hiroto: Saga-kun and I often ate furikake with rice [furikake = rice toppings]
Saga: We didn't need side dishes.
Shou: So in that sense, that was a really premium day.
Saga: But since Alice Nine, i think it was a summer where our money didn't decrease.
Shou: Since Alice nine was formed, we were able to do lives without paying.
Saga: Right right. In the past when lives increased, it was trouble being not able to pay for the quota. After Alice Nine is formed, we are really grateful for the people coming. Before then, if we did lives, we won't be able to get back home. I love summer. I want to do lots of lives.
Nao: The summers after starting on music, what's joyous is that, all the birthdays that i wasn't able to celebrate got celebrated. Because there are more lives in summer, i'm glad to have my birthday celebrated with everyone.
The day after this issue is released, you will be starting on your summer tour right.
Nao: Everyone and us are probably reserving some energy so since it's summer i want to do lives that liberate ourselves. Getting joura too...
Hiroto: Finally, we'll see Nao-san's naked top [joura] on stage!
Nao: Maybe. I don't know. Oh well, i'm tightening up my body now so i'll be fine.
Saga: I have a feeling something big will happen during summer. I had a lot of things I was exasperated about and things that i have yet to accomplish during the May tour, so this time, i have a feeling that, a miracle, or something beyond my imagination will occur. It's a make・miracle thing
Tora: We have new songs too, and we'll also be performing songs we didn't do last time, so while it's different from the Zekkeishoku tour, there will be various developments. Since it's summer, i want us to get high in line with the festival moods, it'll be great if the audience and us too can enjoy ourselves to the maximum.
Hiroto: We have more programs lined up compared to the previous tour, we're also going to some places for the first time, so I'm really looking forward to this. In the previous tour, i get the feeling that the songs from Zekkeishoku are becoming our songs, so this time i think it'll become even more so. We can do great heated up lives so this year's summer, Alice nine is definitely going to have fun.
Shou: For the May tour, I reflected upon my over concern of my outer image. I thoguht with my head and couldn't bring out the intutive parts of music. Summer is where you liberate yourselves so i want to do that and I hope to create the moment where I can experience the music instincts with the audience
Are you also performing the new song NUMBER SIX?
Shou: We have 2 new songs and both are well-matched with summer, with their hot but peaceful warmth so of course we'll be performing them
Hiroto: They are songs that will naturally create a liberalizing atmosphere. After the May tour, this was a song created from those natural feelings from the audience. That's why, I want to play this in front of everyone soon!
Shou: After the previous tour ended, I felt that we were influenced by all the people who came and came to think that they are all our 6th members, that's why the title is Number Six. Furthermore, Tora-kun will be bringing out all the thoughts from this song via a movie.
What kind of video do you think it'll become?
Tora: Number Six, is referring to the members and one more person whom we were supported by, so if we see the big picture, the theme "you are not alone" appears. I want to create a story movie where, even if you think you're alone, there is definitely someone out there who will follow you.
Saga: It's a song that amassed all the things that we want to show off from what we've experienced in our previous tour. We recorded the song with the hopes of making this a happy song.
Nao: It's a DVD single, but the song is poppish and cheerful, and furthermore connected with the video, so please look forward to it
Shou: I think it's a song that will naturally bring out a warm expression in everyone. Along with this song, i want to create wonderful memories from 2006's summer!