Neo Genesis #41 Over The Edge Talk Session - D=OUT[KOUKI]xZORO[RYUJI][Translation]
It's been a while...
Als always (it seems), please excuse my long absence! I have missed you, honestly ;).
I really should stop counting how often I have moved within the past years, but it’s been about once a year for the past 5-6 years or more. And as always, when moving into a new place: No Internet! Argh. Actually, my job requires me to work online about 12hours a day or so, but I hardly have time to check my mails ^^;. But I am in early today and I wanted to update and show you I am alive XD.
So lately, I have found [ZORO] very appealing and I got their latest album [CORE], which I personally think, is great. They have a very unique style. And then I got Neo Genesis 41, which features a cross-over interview with [D=OUT]. And I love Neo: with the way they lead the discussions the characters of the people really show and I have found great respect for Kouki now. I own a D=Out album, but I never cared much about the band…now I think I have to give them another try…
Anyway, please enjoy the interview. And…some people are so normal, it is scary… ;)
Neo Genesis #41- Over The Edge Special One on One - D=Out [Kouki] x Zoro [Ryuji]
The final talk session of our Over The Edge Special will lead the vocalists of D=Out and Zoro into a first battle - Kouki x Ryuji. They have faced each other at the event; however, it is the first time that the two of them talk this closely with each other. They have let us hear their discussions on their favorite music, fashion, the being of their bands and other things from various angles and it turned out, that the two of them are quite the opposite of each other. This talk certainly became full of their reciprocal hobbies and the like.
- First, please let us hear what you think about each other’s bands?
Ryuji [Yes. When it comes to D=Out-san you really just think [JAPAN!], they certainly have that image. There are very distinct elements, very masculine. That’s what it feels like.]
Kouki [Oh, that makes me happy! Concerning Zoro-san, in a good way I think they are very forward. Meaning their artistic side, they leave a very aggressive/forceful/powerful impression. There is something very attractive about them.]
- How about the personal impression (of each other)?
Ryuji [When actually talking to Kouki-san, he is really nice/gentle.]
- Eh? Did you think he was scary at first?
Kouki [ahahahaha!]
Ryuji [(laughs) Not quite, but I had the impression, that he was very grown up and very polite.]
Kouki [I actually first saw Ryuji-san, when he was out at the live and with his hair style and the colors and I came to think that he was probably very individualistic. But now that I have talked to him just like this, I realized, that he is actually pretty normal. (laughs) He does things very decently!]
Ryuji [(laughs)]
Kouki [For me, I am really no good, am I?]
- As a person?
Kouki [Well, no (laughs) I am really distinct about liking people or not liking them. However, Ryuji-san has something extremely likeable about him as a person.]
- Sorry for the sudden change of topic, but Ryuji-kun, have you been doing any kinds of sports in the past?
Ryuji [Do I look like I wouldn’t like sports?]
Kouki [You look as if you’d do swimming or so.]
Ryuji [Oh! Actually I’ve been swimming, doing marathon and Karate.]
Kouki [Wow! You must be pretty strong!]
- But he doesn’t look like he’d be into ball games, does he?
Ryuji [I’m really no good at ball games! I think balls are scary. Be it Baseball, Tennis or Soccer, I can’t do any of those. At school, when ball games had been scheduled during sports classes I hurriedly excused myself and left.]
- On the other hand, how about Kouki-kun…
Kouki [From middle school all the way to University I’ve been playing Baseball. Actually I have been shallowly considering the idea of joining a weak professional team maybe.(laughs) So for me, my life as a musician is actually shorter than my life as a Baseball player.]
- So, lately, what kind of music have you been listening to?
Ryuji [For me it is mainly Funk. One of Doumoto Tsuyoshi’s projects is actually a funk-related one. Since he is doing the kind of easy-listing funk, which even Japanese people can listen to, I’m really into that right now. Also I like House, Techno and Reggae.]
Kouki [I’m pretty much into J-Pop. But apart from foreign music, I really listen to anything. As for an artist I really respect I could name Misucheru’s Sakurai-san or Shiina Ringo-san, but really I listen to all of it. I even listen to enka. For me it’s just no good if it’s not in Japanese. Lately all of our band are really addicted to the Visual Kei bands from the middle of the 90s to the early years of 2000, and I listen to it as well. When listening to it now, I always find myself wondering whether the viewpoint is different compared to back then.]
- Next would be fashion. When it comes to your stage outfits, are there certain standards when you chose your costumes?
Ryuji [There is nothing we are very particular about. All of us just wear what they want to wear. That’s really just it.]
- So Ryuji-kun is just choosing according his latest boom, then?
Ryuji [Yes, like that. And while I really think that I don’t want to wear the same thing twice, I keep wearing some things, but then there are also outfits I want to wear more. So if one of my fables keeps going on for a long time, I wear things consistently just as long.]
- Is this in any way linked to your songs?
Ryuji [Yes. On September 9th we have actually released our full album [CORE] and the clothes I am wearing today are from the official artist photographs. From the perspective I thought they fit very well, however, as for the coupled PV, I thought it did not fit in, so I made changes to and re-arranged the outfit myself and we filmed it like that.]
Kouki [Eh? You made it yourself?]
Ryuji [Yes. The PV was for the song [Senkou (Flash/Sparkle)], but I remade the outfit I am currently wearing.]
- When it comes to the outfits of D=Out it’s usually created according to the band’s image, right?
Kouki [Yes, it is. Even though we are five people, the band is one thing. As a standard we all think about it together. What kind of feeling we want it to have and we also care a lot about the matching with the season. For this season though, we continue our three years series of wearing white. (laughs)]
- Now that winter is coming are you going to change it?
Kouki [Yeah. Shouldn’t we just simply turn it to all black, maybe? (laughs) We’ll think about that with our stylist.]
- Ryuji-kun changes his private clothes the same way, don’t you? It’s really according to each person, to wear different things.
Ryuji [I only wear what I really want to wear. When I can wear something of my favorite brand, I really only wear that. If it’s just one item or if it is really limited in the number of releases, I am usually craving it and I will go as far as standing in line to get it. Even if it means I will spend all my money for living on clothes, I’ll do it. In fact, there are things I have bought and yet never worn…but I just collect things like that.]
Kouki [Ooh…you’re a collector like that.]
Ryuji [For myself I think [With owning this everyone will be envious of me!] (laughs) Really, I don’t have any money, since I use it all (on things like that).]
Kouki [But I can actually understand the feeling about standing in line to buy something. When it comes to watching a Baseball game, I actually stand in line for 6 hours, too. For example, when it is an open-air event with free choice of seats, I do this to get the best spot in that certain place. It’s about the same dimension, I think.]
- It’s all about having passion for the one thing you’d really want to get your hands on. How about Kouki-kun’s private clothing?
Kouki [I really don’t have a certain brand I particularly like, but I like things with an Asian taste. However, unyielding clothes are not for me, they have to be comfortable to wear to begin with. There had been this incident with our stylist before, who asked me what kind of jeans I had been wearing, since they were really nice, and when I said that it was no certain brand, it still surprises people. The point is that people can still think it is actually high-class. And when I am told they did, then it certainly is just that, I guess.]
- Kouki-kun seems to be a person in the middle of aiming for this.
Kouki […and this is going to be an endless topic as I keep on looking for what it actually is. (laughs)]
- Ryuji-kun’s main hobby seems to be clothing, right?
Ryuji [Yes. Buying clothes also reduces a lot of stress.]
- What’s Kouki-kun’s hobby?
Kouki [Anything out-door. I like to go to watch Baseball by myself or just going by bike up the mountains to watch the autumn leaves. I love nature, personally. Usually I go as far as Gunma and when it’s getting too scary I turn back home.]
- Eh? What do you mean with scary?
Kouki [When I come to places I don’t really know. The other day, I had been going to Okutama and all of a sudden all the private houses had seemed to start burning their firewood.]
Ryuji [Pooh!]
Kouki [Lately I have been reading [Higurashi no naku Koro], which probably had been influencing me and then I just had a really weird feeling about this. I really came to wonder if all the wood burning was actually some kind of signal fire … and the moment I realized this, I was kinda scared, so I returned home.]
Ryuji [Ahahahaha!]
Kouki [How’s Ryuji-kun spending his free time? I really can’t imagine anything, though.]
Ryuji [Thank you very much. (laughs) I hate being at home more than anything. And I really don’t like to sleep. So since I don’t like being at home and don’t like to sleep, after getting up, I just usually spend my time being outside/away for a long time.]
Kouki [Through all of our talk, I have come to realize one thing, which would be that me and Ryuji are as people the complete opposite of each other. (laughs) But that’s probably the attracting point here. I actually like being at home, and I have said that before, if I could, I’d have hour band work 5 days a week until 5pm each day and then have a two day weekend. But that’s probably impossible. (laughs)]
Ryuji [Really completely the opposite…(laughs)]
Kouki [Even during a tour I often think, that I’d like to return back home.]
Ryuji [Ah, but during a tour I also rather return home, than sleeping in a hotel. If it’s getting late, oh well…, but if we are near Tokyo, I usually return home then.]
Kouki [During a tour I usually bring my own pillow and futon for that reason.]
- Do you mean you can’t sleep at a hotel?
Kouki [Well, no, I do sleep.]
Ryuji [Wahahahaha!]
Kouki [I love sleeping!]
Ryuji [What does Kouki-san do to obtain his physical strength as a vocalist?]
Kouki [I certainly go to the gym. Even if there are no lives, I decided that this is the one thing I always do, no matter if I just go out having fun or just doing anything really. I tell myself, if I don’t do it, it is likely that I will fall back behind other vocalists and I listen to myself there.]
- The way both your bands are being is also pretty different, isn’t it?
Kouki [I have played Baseball for such a long time, therefore, within our band, the team play is very important as well. I think it’s no good if one of us just works for themselves. We are really close in private as well.]
- You mentioned before, that it is rather lonesome, if you are not able to meet each other in private, didn’t you.
Kouki [Yeah, I did. (laughs) We know basically anything about each other.]
Ryuji [I’m jealous. Among our members we really don’t interact much in private. Together, we are really just the band, but there are probably good points about that, too.]
- So from now on, how would you like to continue?
Ryuji [Just continue really funky.]
Kouki [D=Out will continue as it did with all its heart and soul in its very own pace.]
Fin
PS: I know Ruki will release a new personal photo shooting in Zy-Magazine sometime soon, so if you want me to, I’ll give it a shot! I’m excited about it!
PPS: Wanna follow me on twitter? It’s basically a pictures spam … and lot's of randomness XD.
Als always (it seems), please excuse my long absence! I have missed you, honestly ;).
I really should stop counting how often I have moved within the past years, but it’s been about once a year for the past 5-6 years or more. And as always, when moving into a new place: No Internet! Argh. Actually, my job requires me to work online about 12hours a day or so, but I hardly have time to check my mails ^^;. But I am in early today and I wanted to update and show you I am alive XD.
So lately, I have found [ZORO] very appealing and I got their latest album [CORE], which I personally think, is great. They have a very unique style. And then I got Neo Genesis 41, which features a cross-over interview with [D=OUT]. And I love Neo: with the way they lead the discussions the characters of the people really show and I have found great respect for Kouki now. I own a D=Out album, but I never cared much about the band…now I think I have to give them another try…
Anyway, please enjoy the interview. And…some people are so normal, it is scary… ;)
Neo Genesis #41- Over The Edge Special One on One - D=Out [Kouki] x Zoro [Ryuji]
The final talk session of our Over The Edge Special will lead the vocalists of D=Out and Zoro into a first battle - Kouki x Ryuji. They have faced each other at the event; however, it is the first time that the two of them talk this closely with each other. They have let us hear their discussions on their favorite music, fashion, the being of their bands and other things from various angles and it turned out, that the two of them are quite the opposite of each other. This talk certainly became full of their reciprocal hobbies and the like.
- First, please let us hear what you think about each other’s bands?
Ryuji [Yes. When it comes to D=Out-san you really just think [JAPAN!], they certainly have that image. There are very distinct elements, very masculine. That’s what it feels like.]
Kouki [Oh, that makes me happy! Concerning Zoro-san, in a good way I think they are very forward. Meaning their artistic side, they leave a very aggressive/forceful/powerful impression. There is something very attractive about them.]
- How about the personal impression (of each other)?
Ryuji [When actually talking to Kouki-san, he is really nice/gentle.]
- Eh? Did you think he was scary at first?
Kouki [ahahahaha!]
Ryuji [(laughs) Not quite, but I had the impression, that he was very grown up and very polite.]
Kouki [I actually first saw Ryuji-san, when he was out at the live and with his hair style and the colors and I came to think that he was probably very individualistic. But now that I have talked to him just like this, I realized, that he is actually pretty normal. (laughs) He does things very decently!]
Ryuji [(laughs)]
Kouki [For me, I am really no good, am I?]
- As a person?
Kouki [Well, no (laughs) I am really distinct about liking people or not liking them. However, Ryuji-san has something extremely likeable about him as a person.]
- Sorry for the sudden change of topic, but Ryuji-kun, have you been doing any kinds of sports in the past?
Ryuji [Do I look like I wouldn’t like sports?]
Kouki [You look as if you’d do swimming or so.]
Ryuji [Oh! Actually I’ve been swimming, doing marathon and Karate.]
Kouki [Wow! You must be pretty strong!]
- But he doesn’t look like he’d be into ball games, does he?
Ryuji [I’m really no good at ball games! I think balls are scary. Be it Baseball, Tennis or Soccer, I can’t do any of those. At school, when ball games had been scheduled during sports classes I hurriedly excused myself and left.]
- On the other hand, how about Kouki-kun…
Kouki [From middle school all the way to University I’ve been playing Baseball. Actually I have been shallowly considering the idea of joining a weak professional team maybe.(laughs) So for me, my life as a musician is actually shorter than my life as a Baseball player.]
- So, lately, what kind of music have you been listening to?
Ryuji [For me it is mainly Funk. One of Doumoto Tsuyoshi’s projects is actually a funk-related one. Since he is doing the kind of easy-listing funk, which even Japanese people can listen to, I’m really into that right now. Also I like House, Techno and Reggae.]
Kouki [I’m pretty much into J-Pop. But apart from foreign music, I really listen to anything. As for an artist I really respect I could name Misucheru’s Sakurai-san or Shiina Ringo-san, but really I listen to all of it. I even listen to enka. For me it’s just no good if it’s not in Japanese. Lately all of our band are really addicted to the Visual Kei bands from the middle of the 90s to the early years of 2000, and I listen to it as well. When listening to it now, I always find myself wondering whether the viewpoint is different compared to back then.]
- Next would be fashion. When it comes to your stage outfits, are there certain standards when you chose your costumes?
Ryuji [There is nothing we are very particular about. All of us just wear what they want to wear. That’s really just it.]
- So Ryuji-kun is just choosing according his latest boom, then?
Ryuji [Yes, like that. And while I really think that I don’t want to wear the same thing twice, I keep wearing some things, but then there are also outfits I want to wear more. So if one of my fables keeps going on for a long time, I wear things consistently just as long.]
- Is this in any way linked to your songs?
Ryuji [Yes. On September 9th we have actually released our full album [CORE] and the clothes I am wearing today are from the official artist photographs. From the perspective I thought they fit very well, however, as for the coupled PV, I thought it did not fit in, so I made changes to and re-arranged the outfit myself and we filmed it like that.]
Kouki [Eh? You made it yourself?]
Ryuji [Yes. The PV was for the song [Senkou (Flash/Sparkle)], but I remade the outfit I am currently wearing.]
- When it comes to the outfits of D=Out it’s usually created according to the band’s image, right?
Kouki [Yes, it is. Even though we are five people, the band is one thing. As a standard we all think about it together. What kind of feeling we want it to have and we also care a lot about the matching with the season. For this season though, we continue our three years series of wearing white. (laughs)]
- Now that winter is coming are you going to change it?
Kouki [Yeah. Shouldn’t we just simply turn it to all black, maybe? (laughs) We’ll think about that with our stylist.]
- Ryuji-kun changes his private clothes the same way, don’t you? It’s really according to each person, to wear different things.
Ryuji [I only wear what I really want to wear. When I can wear something of my favorite brand, I really only wear that. If it’s just one item or if it is really limited in the number of releases, I am usually craving it and I will go as far as standing in line to get it. Even if it means I will spend all my money for living on clothes, I’ll do it. In fact, there are things I have bought and yet never worn…but I just collect things like that.]
Kouki [Ooh…you’re a collector like that.]
Ryuji [For myself I think [With owning this everyone will be envious of me!] (laughs) Really, I don’t have any money, since I use it all (on things like that).]
Kouki [But I can actually understand the feeling about standing in line to buy something. When it comes to watching a Baseball game, I actually stand in line for 6 hours, too. For example, when it is an open-air event with free choice of seats, I do this to get the best spot in that certain place. It’s about the same dimension, I think.]
- It’s all about having passion for the one thing you’d really want to get your hands on. How about Kouki-kun’s private clothing?
Kouki [I really don’t have a certain brand I particularly like, but I like things with an Asian taste. However, unyielding clothes are not for me, they have to be comfortable to wear to begin with. There had been this incident with our stylist before, who asked me what kind of jeans I had been wearing, since they were really nice, and when I said that it was no certain brand, it still surprises people. The point is that people can still think it is actually high-class. And when I am told they did, then it certainly is just that, I guess.]
- Kouki-kun seems to be a person in the middle of aiming for this.
Kouki […and this is going to be an endless topic as I keep on looking for what it actually is. (laughs)]
- Ryuji-kun’s main hobby seems to be clothing, right?
Ryuji [Yes. Buying clothes also reduces a lot of stress.]
- What’s Kouki-kun’s hobby?
Kouki [Anything out-door. I like to go to watch Baseball by myself or just going by bike up the mountains to watch the autumn leaves. I love nature, personally. Usually I go as far as Gunma and when it’s getting too scary I turn back home.]
- Eh? What do you mean with scary?
Kouki [When I come to places I don’t really know. The other day, I had been going to Okutama and all of a sudden all the private houses had seemed to start burning their firewood.]
Ryuji [Pooh!]
Kouki [Lately I have been reading [Higurashi no naku Koro], which probably had been influencing me and then I just had a really weird feeling about this. I really came to wonder if all the wood burning was actually some kind of signal fire … and the moment I realized this, I was kinda scared, so I returned home.]
Ryuji [Ahahahaha!]
Kouki [How’s Ryuji-kun spending his free time? I really can’t imagine anything, though.]
Ryuji [Thank you very much. (laughs) I hate being at home more than anything. And I really don’t like to sleep. So since I don’t like being at home and don’t like to sleep, after getting up, I just usually spend my time being outside/away for a long time.]
Kouki [Through all of our talk, I have come to realize one thing, which would be that me and Ryuji are as people the complete opposite of each other. (laughs) But that’s probably the attracting point here. I actually like being at home, and I have said that before, if I could, I’d have hour band work 5 days a week until 5pm each day and then have a two day weekend. But that’s probably impossible. (laughs)]
Ryuji [Really completely the opposite…(laughs)]
Kouki [Even during a tour I often think, that I’d like to return back home.]
Ryuji [Ah, but during a tour I also rather return home, than sleeping in a hotel. If it’s getting late, oh well…, but if we are near Tokyo, I usually return home then.]
Kouki [During a tour I usually bring my own pillow and futon for that reason.]
- Do you mean you can’t sleep at a hotel?
Kouki [Well, no, I do sleep.]
Ryuji [Wahahahaha!]
Kouki [I love sleeping!]
Ryuji [What does Kouki-san do to obtain his physical strength as a vocalist?]
Kouki [I certainly go to the gym. Even if there are no lives, I decided that this is the one thing I always do, no matter if I just go out having fun or just doing anything really. I tell myself, if I don’t do it, it is likely that I will fall back behind other vocalists and I listen to myself there.]
- The way both your bands are being is also pretty different, isn’t it?
Kouki [I have played Baseball for such a long time, therefore, within our band, the team play is very important as well. I think it’s no good if one of us just works for themselves. We are really close in private as well.]
- You mentioned before, that it is rather lonesome, if you are not able to meet each other in private, didn’t you.
Kouki [Yeah, I did. (laughs) We know basically anything about each other.]
Ryuji [I’m jealous. Among our members we really don’t interact much in private. Together, we are really just the band, but there are probably good points about that, too.]
- So from now on, how would you like to continue?
Ryuji [Just continue really funky.]
Kouki [D=Out will continue as it did with all its heart and soul in its very own pace.]
Fin
PS: I know Ruki will release a new personal photo shooting in Zy-Magazine sometime soon, so if you want me to, I’ll give it a shot! I’m excited about it!
PPS: Wanna follow me on twitter? It’s basically a pictures spam … and lot's of randomness XD.