ROCK & READ #030 girugamesh - Satoshi Interview [Translation 1/3]
Hey everyone!!
How have you been doing lately?
I am completely caught up in work, but this weekend was the first in three weeks, where I did not have to be on the job...completely. ^^;
Hence, I bring you the promised Satoshi-mesh Interview from Rock&Read #030.
Honestly, I love this interview to pieces and if you ever wondered, why their style changed, read this and then try blaming them for it again. Music is pure human emotions and that's why it is so wonderful! (Yeah yeah..."exceptions and commerce" and such...but you get what I mean right?)
So please have fun with it and I will hurry to get the rest done ^^
Enjoy!
Rock&Read Vol.30 girugamesh - Satoshi Interview
-- It's been about a year and a half since vol. 019, when you appeared last, so let's take a look back on this time. What kind of change did happen to you as Satoshi?
Satoshi [In August 2008 we have been holding our Tour final at LIQUIDROOM Ebisu and from then on, at once the number of fans (in one place) has surpassed the 1000 people scale. This was certainly a progress for the band as well, it felt like we have eventually achieved and realized something more and of course we grew more self confident with that. Also since last year's March performance at SHIBUYA-AX, we also stopped to feel "This is all the same..." about our own style...
-- Huh? "This is all the same..."? (laughs) If you don't explain that a little more specific, I think I won't understand.
Satoshi [Probably not (wry smile) Well, like: "This would all be the same, if we weren't there, or if we are, no matter, nobody is seeing it anyway." This was the kind of backlash we were having a lot as a band, in that way we felt "this would all be the same...“ That was probably the way the four of us had been, but eventually that got erased.]
-- I see. That was the feeling there was...
Satoshi [girugamesh did not start out from a previous existence or was a grouping of popular people, as we really began from a state of complete zero and we've been bad-mouthed in the beginning as well. Like "You're impossible, you'll never sell!" This would be the kind of treatment we would get early on, however, with our solo show at SHIBUYA-AX and the reactions we got from it in return, this feeling changed. (wry smile) And the people who had told us it was "impossible" hurried to be all "Great, great dear girugamesh!" and such. (laughs) Still, that was ultimately just "one kind of people", because our agency has always been supporting us. Finally at SHIBUYA-AX, it was great, that we got this kind of confirmation in front of those persons.]
-- Until then, did you feel more aware of being rookies or apprentices?
Satoshi [That was the case. Since the performance at AX our thinking has changed greatly. We eventually got rid of the idea that “we didn't matter" and we got more aware of the thought that we wanted to go out and make music. Towards those people who had been of the opposite opinion, the feeling that we were going to triumph over them was eventually born with that. In that sense, too, has AX been great.]
-- Since LIQUIDROOM Ebisu, you have also been able to mobilize more people, but you did not think that you'd be able to mobilize this many eventually, did you?
Satoshi [No we didn't. Doing a one-man show at SHIBUYA-AX was certainly a great challenge, and we were happy that there were so many people getting excited about this.]
-- That was pretty much a thing you achieved exactly one year ago, wasn't it?
Satoshi [When reflecting on this, then it was probably the event during this one or two years, which was the greatest turning point in our life as a band. We, ourselves changed and our music changed as well, the same goes for our style to perform live. Our smiles during the performances would increase, we came to laugh during MCs, and the elements directed outside (the band) would add up immensely. Involving the people around us increased dramatically, which would be one major change as such.]
-- You have been a band, which did not think much about the communication with the fans during the live, did you?
Satoshi [That's right. But the involvement with the fans alike and our work increased as we appeared more on radio shows, gave more interviews and it also expanded in the way that we received more opinions from other people. We became a lot more motivated and the little world we had been living in changed, and the change of ourselves was just as big as that..... The state of our live performances in the early days was pretty terrible. (wry smile)]
-- I haven't seen any of those lives, what was it like?
Satoshi [We didn't laugh at all, we would show no smiles. We did it with the feeling of wanting to show them our teeth. (Note: in the tough sense)(laughs) From our formation until the tour from January of 2008 it has been like that. During that tour this has gradually changed and at the tour final at Shibuya QUATTRO, we eventually wanted to try and have everyone speak (to the audience) for once. Until that time, I would talk little during those lives, I wouldn't laugh and in general I'd just go with the stance that we could all very well die together.]
-- Huh? Everyone dying together?
Satoshi [Yes, just like that. Very much like "Today they all came to the venue as fans, but whatever are they going to do then?" and "They are going to betray us anyway, aren't they?" That was the feeling we had, at that time, we were stubborn like that. (wry smile) I would always yell at the audience like "Woooaah!", but I would never really do an MC or talk and just wanted to be thought of as a scary person. I thought that it was cool to be angry and the four of us would be really tense with completely black make-up.]
-- Then on your album "MUSIC", which was released in November 2008 there were quite a few catchy songs recorded on it as well, weren't there? Did the change of your music go along with that change in your style of live performance?
Satoshi [There were a bunch of lives adding up and then there was the previously mentioned long tour from January 2008 and the hard shell we had been having until then, gradually came apart probably. Rather than the music, it was the way of doing lives, which became lighter as such. Certainly, when doing such a long tour, it would always be the same live and while changing the mannerism you could provoke some interesting action and make the other band members laugh, which we came to have fun with. Frankly speaking it became a tour with such a great number of lives, where we though, that "we have to do something stupid." (laughs) With that, though, the mood of this band in a whole has come to be what it is.]
-- Because in truth it is the mood that suits you as men, as you eventually noticed that this is what you really are like? (wry smile?)
Satoshi [Yes, this mood came from our inner most, because in the backstage room or at the hotel we have always been this kind of playfull, funny band. As the lives had followed one another, we came to take the things from back stage more on to the front stage. It was also something we had been really into, which was that we would share this kind of fun only among each other as a band, however, as a next step, we also came to show this fun to the fans and the voices of the fans also change with it. The voices increased saying that "when seeing girugamesh performing and having fun, I am having fun as well and I am also more lively and braver, too." From there on we felt that we wanted to make songs provoking these voices.]
-- It seems like the change has come by gradually braking down the shell.
Satoshi [After all, singing "Die!!" with a smile on your face is kind of weird, isn't it? (laughs) From there on I felt that I wanted to change the lyrics and the songs.]
-- What about when you were facing your album "MUSIC"?
Satoshi [On "MUSIC" the first real challenge was the song "Breakdown", because with a major chord, the chorus is really catchy...and at first I really thought we should just stop making that song. However, I challenged writing the lyrics for it thinking that we could make people smile with it.]
-- But it is interesting that you first thought about quitting that song. Because right now, there are tunes a lot more catchy than "Breakdown", aren't there?
Satoshi [There are. (laughs) Ahahahaahaha, that time was certainly adventurous. Until then we had always been hitting it with the lower chords and we thought "What if the fans leave?" and such.]
-- You have been the one who came up with the melody, right?
Satoshi [No, actually that one was made by Ryo and he was worried, what making such a light song would be like. So in the end, he wrote the song with a light melody like that and with that in mind I wrote the lyrics and in the end everyone thought that (the lyrics) where kind of "scary". There was certainly this feeling of an adventure to it. Especially Ryo had been thinking this a lot, but as we kept listening to the song and got familiar with it, the story changed to that this was it as it was. It really was an adventure, but in the end, we all got into this.]
-- Don't you think that the reactions from the fans of the live, where you presented this first were good?
Satoshi [Certainly, it was easy to remember. Until then the songs have been basically heavy and nothing out of the ordinary. From there we probably conveyed how we were changing step by step.]
-- Once you recorded "Breakdown" for the album "MUSIC", didn’t you feel that there could be possibly anything in terms of atmosphere?
Satoshi [Yes, yes. The song has also been made into a music clip and when we first had this finished, the next songs were bursting from it.]
-- And with that result, pretty much bursting songs like "evolution" were born?
Satoshi [Yes, that's the case. "evolution" is one of the songs we did a bit after that. Because there was a song like "Breakdown" we could do such a song. There was nothing really we worried about. However, inserting the female voices was something we felt adventurous about. In any case we wanted to do something interesting. We wanted to show something different from the previous works, with a different perspective as well.]
-- Then, after the release of "MUSIC" you went on tour from November 2008 until March last year. You have been passing through all 47 prefectures all over Japan. Was this journey also a great motivation for you?
Satoshi [We have felt a number of different things. We visited places we usually don't go to as a band and the fans have told us "Thank you for coming" and we have come to be very grateful for this. From May we have also been on tour in Europe, where we felt that music is surpassing the walls of words. Then there was the departing of our staff (rotation) and while this experience was repeating itself, we grew as a band, too. These were incredibly real days. This "CRAZY TOUR" was really an intense time.]
-- Please let us hear some of your memories from the "CRAZY TOUR" inside Japan.
Satoshi [When going to places more in the country sides, more than in the metropolitan areas, there are lots of kids at the age of high school students. There were a lot of boys coming and saying they were playing instruments and voices saying that, because they admired girugamesh, they started a band. Until then, that was really something that hadn't been there. We were really happy as we realized that we were having influence like that as this suddenly increased.]
-- On the premium DVD that came with "MUSIC" there are certainly a lot of things that make one laugh changing the image of the band at once. As the performances appealed more to the masses, you were also able to mobilize more people. You might also be falling into disgrace it seems. (laughs)
Satoshi [There is absolutely nothing scary about this anymore. (laughs) Really, when watching the DVD, without cuts, we reveal parts of our real faces. Since the release of "MUSIC" there are also a lot more kids who come with their dad or mom.]
-- Oooh, that's great, isn't it?
Satoshi [There are also a lot more middle aged people coming on their own now. There were also letters stating "I am a 40-year old unmarried woman, but is it OK if I come to the lives from now on?" (laughs out loud.) Or “I have come to live apart from my partner and am really on the ground of things. However, I have been saved by girugamesh's music.” That person was 56 years old, but I remember clearly. There are so many backgrounds and people with worries. Concerning them, we have made "MUSIC", with the concept of looking ahead more positively, because we do worry, too and we do understand these feelings. During the tour I came to think that it is great to write these kinds of lyrics. I also thought that I need to change a lot more about my writing as well.]
-- I see. So the lyrics from your latest album "NOW" as compared to "MUSIC" have also become a lot easier to understand. On "MUSIC" they had an a lot stronger defensive tension to them.
Satoshi [Yes, they did. I thought about how I could convey these messages to the fans in a different way. It was also the time when we went on the "CRAZY TOUR" that I came to think this.]
-- Also, in April you had been taking part in an American event and then from May you toured Europe with 10 one-man lives in 7 countries. In July you have taken part with two performances in rather historic events in Europe as well (Note: Sweden "Metaltown" and Finland "Tuska Open Air"), which must have been a great experience. I think there must be a great number of feelings when spending such a long time overseas.
Satoshi [I had been planning to take my pride as a Japanese person with me; however, this pride has been completely erased. When giving interviews it was like "No one of us can speak English" and we have felt like idiots. In Europe we felt as a result that it was natural to speak your own language and English as well.]
-- Even though there was an interpreter with you for the interviews?
Satoshi [Of course there was an interpreter, however, not being able to speak English was pitiful and we deeply felt we had been lazy with English. Still, during the lives the excitement was still there and we just thought "Music is amazing as to how it is able to surpass this barrier of words."]
-- Have you also felt the difference to the Japanese culture?
Satoshi [While after the live, we would just take a shower and head on from country to country in a huge bus, staying in a hotel at the next venue usually, we didn't really have the chance to get in touch with the people in the different countries. Still, it was interesting how the European crew was very different from the Japanese style. For example, while the Japanese PA-person would wonder how to get a certain sound done himself, the European staff would just say: "Do as you like; I only make this sound completely cool for you." It was more the stance of "The sound as you want it to be is the right sound." Therefore, it also felt OK to do the rehearsal like this, which was very different from the Japanese way.]
-- Was there something different about the fans as compared to the Japanese ones?
Satoshi [First of all, they are absolutely not shy. We have done a number of autograph sessions and they would say things like "Hug me please" or "Kiss me" just normally. And among them there were also fans saying "Sign my bust please!" (laughs)]
-- Eh? Would they bare themselves in front of you?
Satoshi [No, they'd be wearing clothes, but like on their breast cleavage. (laughs) And as they said "Right there please", I'd be feeling the pen's resilience and would write just there. (laughs) However, honestly, we've been welcomed in an incredible way. We have felt like the big stars crossing the ocean. We don't know what it actually feels like, but it was really like that.]
-- In Europe you have mobilized about 7000 people and when watching the video footage you can really see how popular you are...
Satoshi [Somehow, it did feel a little like being gods. (laughs)]
-- Eh? That's a bit extreme, though!
Satoshi [I have said it already a couple of times, but we have been received like big stars there. Somewhat, nearly to the extent that it would get to our heads. As for the Japanese fans, there have been no reactions with excitement like that. In Japan, the fans would be waiting for us and wave their hands, hand over their letters and in Nii-san’s case, tell him not to drink too much alcohol. (laughs) The feeling is more like that of friends, and as compared to Europe where you’d be showered in screaming voices, that is an incredible drop. Over there we are princes. During the autograph sessions there were lots of kids with shaking hands or crying even.]
-- Hmmm...this seems to be a bit of a misinterpretation.
Satoshi [Probably. The reception was really incredible. The overseas crew would ask in return "Is there nothing more you would want to order? Anything else you need?" During that tour we really became bigheads. And when we returned to Japan, we realized that we were no lords in the end. (laughs)]
tbc.
How have you been doing lately?
I am completely caught up in work, but this weekend was the first in three weeks, where I did not have to be on the job...completely. ^^;
Hence, I bring you the promised Satoshi-mesh Interview from Rock&Read #030.
Honestly, I love this interview to pieces and if you ever wondered, why their style changed, read this and then try blaming them for it again. Music is pure human emotions and that's why it is so wonderful! (Yeah yeah..."exceptions and commerce" and such...but you get what I mean right?)
So please have fun with it and I will hurry to get the rest done ^^
Enjoy!
Rock&Read Vol.30 girugamesh - Satoshi Interview
-- It's been about a year and a half since vol. 019, when you appeared last, so let's take a look back on this time. What kind of change did happen to you as Satoshi?
Satoshi [In August 2008 we have been holding our Tour final at LIQUIDROOM Ebisu and from then on, at once the number of fans (in one place) has surpassed the 1000 people scale. This was certainly a progress for the band as well, it felt like we have eventually achieved and realized something more and of course we grew more self confident with that. Also since last year's March performance at SHIBUYA-AX, we also stopped to feel "This is all the same..." about our own style...
-- Huh? "This is all the same..."? (laughs) If you don't explain that a little more specific, I think I won't understand.
Satoshi [Probably not (wry smile) Well, like: "This would all be the same, if we weren't there, or if we are, no matter, nobody is seeing it anyway." This was the kind of backlash we were having a lot as a band, in that way we felt "this would all be the same...“ That was probably the way the four of us had been, but eventually that got erased.]
-- I see. That was the feeling there was...
Satoshi [girugamesh did not start out from a previous existence or was a grouping of popular people, as we really began from a state of complete zero and we've been bad-mouthed in the beginning as well. Like "You're impossible, you'll never sell!" This would be the kind of treatment we would get early on, however, with our solo show at SHIBUYA-AX and the reactions we got from it in return, this feeling changed. (wry smile) And the people who had told us it was "impossible" hurried to be all "Great, great dear girugamesh!" and such. (laughs) Still, that was ultimately just "one kind of people", because our agency has always been supporting us. Finally at SHIBUYA-AX, it was great, that we got this kind of confirmation in front of those persons.]
-- Until then, did you feel more aware of being rookies or apprentices?
Satoshi [That was the case. Since the performance at AX our thinking has changed greatly. We eventually got rid of the idea that “we didn't matter" and we got more aware of the thought that we wanted to go out and make music. Towards those people who had been of the opposite opinion, the feeling that we were going to triumph over them was eventually born with that. In that sense, too, has AX been great.]
-- Since LIQUIDROOM Ebisu, you have also been able to mobilize more people, but you did not think that you'd be able to mobilize this many eventually, did you?
Satoshi [No we didn't. Doing a one-man show at SHIBUYA-AX was certainly a great challenge, and we were happy that there were so many people getting excited about this.]
-- That was pretty much a thing you achieved exactly one year ago, wasn't it?
Satoshi [When reflecting on this, then it was probably the event during this one or two years, which was the greatest turning point in our life as a band. We, ourselves changed and our music changed as well, the same goes for our style to perform live. Our smiles during the performances would increase, we came to laugh during MCs, and the elements directed outside (the band) would add up immensely. Involving the people around us increased dramatically, which would be one major change as such.]
-- You have been a band, which did not think much about the communication with the fans during the live, did you?
Satoshi [That's right. But the involvement with the fans alike and our work increased as we appeared more on radio shows, gave more interviews and it also expanded in the way that we received more opinions from other people. We became a lot more motivated and the little world we had been living in changed, and the change of ourselves was just as big as that..... The state of our live performances in the early days was pretty terrible. (wry smile)]
-- I haven't seen any of those lives, what was it like?
Satoshi [We didn't laugh at all, we would show no smiles. We did it with the feeling of wanting to show them our teeth. (Note: in the tough sense)(laughs) From our formation until the tour from January of 2008 it has been like that. During that tour this has gradually changed and at the tour final at Shibuya QUATTRO, we eventually wanted to try and have everyone speak (to the audience) for once. Until that time, I would talk little during those lives, I wouldn't laugh and in general I'd just go with the stance that we could all very well die together.]
-- Huh? Everyone dying together?
Satoshi [Yes, just like that. Very much like "Today they all came to the venue as fans, but whatever are they going to do then?" and "They are going to betray us anyway, aren't they?" That was the feeling we had, at that time, we were stubborn like that. (wry smile) I would always yell at the audience like "Woooaah!", but I would never really do an MC or talk and just wanted to be thought of as a scary person. I thought that it was cool to be angry and the four of us would be really tense with completely black make-up.]
-- Then on your album "MUSIC", which was released in November 2008 there were quite a few catchy songs recorded on it as well, weren't there? Did the change of your music go along with that change in your style of live performance?
Satoshi [There were a bunch of lives adding up and then there was the previously mentioned long tour from January 2008 and the hard shell we had been having until then, gradually came apart probably. Rather than the music, it was the way of doing lives, which became lighter as such. Certainly, when doing such a long tour, it would always be the same live and while changing the mannerism you could provoke some interesting action and make the other band members laugh, which we came to have fun with. Frankly speaking it became a tour with such a great number of lives, where we though, that "we have to do something stupid." (laughs) With that, though, the mood of this band in a whole has come to be what it is.]
-- Because in truth it is the mood that suits you as men, as you eventually noticed that this is what you really are like? (wry smile?)
Satoshi [Yes, this mood came from our inner most, because in the backstage room or at the hotel we have always been this kind of playfull, funny band. As the lives had followed one another, we came to take the things from back stage more on to the front stage. It was also something we had been really into, which was that we would share this kind of fun only among each other as a band, however, as a next step, we also came to show this fun to the fans and the voices of the fans also change with it. The voices increased saying that "when seeing girugamesh performing and having fun, I am having fun as well and I am also more lively and braver, too." From there on we felt that we wanted to make songs provoking these voices.]
-- It seems like the change has come by gradually braking down the shell.
Satoshi [After all, singing "Die!!" with a smile on your face is kind of weird, isn't it? (laughs) From there on I felt that I wanted to change the lyrics and the songs.]
-- What about when you were facing your album "MUSIC"?
Satoshi [On "MUSIC" the first real challenge was the song "Breakdown", because with a major chord, the chorus is really catchy...and at first I really thought we should just stop making that song. However, I challenged writing the lyrics for it thinking that we could make people smile with it.]
-- But it is interesting that you first thought about quitting that song. Because right now, there are tunes a lot more catchy than "Breakdown", aren't there?
Satoshi [There are. (laughs) Ahahahaahaha, that time was certainly adventurous. Until then we had always been hitting it with the lower chords and we thought "What if the fans leave?" and such.]
-- You have been the one who came up with the melody, right?
Satoshi [No, actually that one was made by Ryo and he was worried, what making such a light song would be like. So in the end, he wrote the song with a light melody like that and with that in mind I wrote the lyrics and in the end everyone thought that (the lyrics) where kind of "scary". There was certainly this feeling of an adventure to it. Especially Ryo had been thinking this a lot, but as we kept listening to the song and got familiar with it, the story changed to that this was it as it was. It really was an adventure, but in the end, we all got into this.]
-- Don't you think that the reactions from the fans of the live, where you presented this first were good?
Satoshi [Certainly, it was easy to remember. Until then the songs have been basically heavy and nothing out of the ordinary. From there we probably conveyed how we were changing step by step.]
-- Once you recorded "Breakdown" for the album "MUSIC", didn’t you feel that there could be possibly anything in terms of atmosphere?
Satoshi [Yes, yes. The song has also been made into a music clip and when we first had this finished, the next songs were bursting from it.]
-- And with that result, pretty much bursting songs like "evolution" were born?
Satoshi [Yes, that's the case. "evolution" is one of the songs we did a bit after that. Because there was a song like "Breakdown" we could do such a song. There was nothing really we worried about. However, inserting the female voices was something we felt adventurous about. In any case we wanted to do something interesting. We wanted to show something different from the previous works, with a different perspective as well.]
-- Then, after the release of "MUSIC" you went on tour from November 2008 until March last year. You have been passing through all 47 prefectures all over Japan. Was this journey also a great motivation for you?
Satoshi [We have felt a number of different things. We visited places we usually don't go to as a band and the fans have told us "Thank you for coming" and we have come to be very grateful for this. From May we have also been on tour in Europe, where we felt that music is surpassing the walls of words. Then there was the departing of our staff (rotation) and while this experience was repeating itself, we grew as a band, too. These were incredibly real days. This "CRAZY TOUR" was really an intense time.]
-- Please let us hear some of your memories from the "CRAZY TOUR" inside Japan.
Satoshi [When going to places more in the country sides, more than in the metropolitan areas, there are lots of kids at the age of high school students. There were a lot of boys coming and saying they were playing instruments and voices saying that, because they admired girugamesh, they started a band. Until then, that was really something that hadn't been there. We were really happy as we realized that we were having influence like that as this suddenly increased.]
-- On the premium DVD that came with "MUSIC" there are certainly a lot of things that make one laugh changing the image of the band at once. As the performances appealed more to the masses, you were also able to mobilize more people. You might also be falling into disgrace it seems. (laughs)
Satoshi [There is absolutely nothing scary about this anymore. (laughs) Really, when watching the DVD, without cuts, we reveal parts of our real faces. Since the release of "MUSIC" there are also a lot more kids who come with their dad or mom.]
-- Oooh, that's great, isn't it?
Satoshi [There are also a lot more middle aged people coming on their own now. There were also letters stating "I am a 40-year old unmarried woman, but is it OK if I come to the lives from now on?" (laughs out loud.) Or “I have come to live apart from my partner and am really on the ground of things. However, I have been saved by girugamesh's music.” That person was 56 years old, but I remember clearly. There are so many backgrounds and people with worries. Concerning them, we have made "MUSIC", with the concept of looking ahead more positively, because we do worry, too and we do understand these feelings. During the tour I came to think that it is great to write these kinds of lyrics. I also thought that I need to change a lot more about my writing as well.]
-- I see. So the lyrics from your latest album "NOW" as compared to "MUSIC" have also become a lot easier to understand. On "MUSIC" they had an a lot stronger defensive tension to them.
Satoshi [Yes, they did. I thought about how I could convey these messages to the fans in a different way. It was also the time when we went on the "CRAZY TOUR" that I came to think this.]
-- Also, in April you had been taking part in an American event and then from May you toured Europe with 10 one-man lives in 7 countries. In July you have taken part with two performances in rather historic events in Europe as well (Note: Sweden "Metaltown" and Finland "Tuska Open Air"), which must have been a great experience. I think there must be a great number of feelings when spending such a long time overseas.
Satoshi [I had been planning to take my pride as a Japanese person with me; however, this pride has been completely erased. When giving interviews it was like "No one of us can speak English" and we have felt like idiots. In Europe we felt as a result that it was natural to speak your own language and English as well.]
-- Even though there was an interpreter with you for the interviews?
Satoshi [Of course there was an interpreter, however, not being able to speak English was pitiful and we deeply felt we had been lazy with English. Still, during the lives the excitement was still there and we just thought "Music is amazing as to how it is able to surpass this barrier of words."]
-- Have you also felt the difference to the Japanese culture?
Satoshi [While after the live, we would just take a shower and head on from country to country in a huge bus, staying in a hotel at the next venue usually, we didn't really have the chance to get in touch with the people in the different countries. Still, it was interesting how the European crew was very different from the Japanese style. For example, while the Japanese PA-person would wonder how to get a certain sound done himself, the European staff would just say: "Do as you like; I only make this sound completely cool for you." It was more the stance of "The sound as you want it to be is the right sound." Therefore, it also felt OK to do the rehearsal like this, which was very different from the Japanese way.]
-- Was there something different about the fans as compared to the Japanese ones?
Satoshi [First of all, they are absolutely not shy. We have done a number of autograph sessions and they would say things like "Hug me please" or "Kiss me" just normally. And among them there were also fans saying "Sign my bust please!" (laughs)]
-- Eh? Would they bare themselves in front of you?
Satoshi [No, they'd be wearing clothes, but like on their breast cleavage. (laughs) And as they said "Right there please", I'd be feeling the pen's resilience and would write just there. (laughs) However, honestly, we've been welcomed in an incredible way. We have felt like the big stars crossing the ocean. We don't know what it actually feels like, but it was really like that.]
-- In Europe you have mobilized about 7000 people and when watching the video footage you can really see how popular you are...
Satoshi [Somehow, it did feel a little like being gods. (laughs)]
-- Eh? That's a bit extreme, though!
Satoshi [I have said it already a couple of times, but we have been received like big stars there. Somewhat, nearly to the extent that it would get to our heads. As for the Japanese fans, there have been no reactions with excitement like that. In Japan, the fans would be waiting for us and wave their hands, hand over their letters and in Nii-san’s case, tell him not to drink too much alcohol. (laughs) The feeling is more like that of friends, and as compared to Europe where you’d be showered in screaming voices, that is an incredible drop. Over there we are princes. During the autograph sessions there were lots of kids with shaking hands or crying even.]
-- Hmmm...this seems to be a bit of a misinterpretation.
Satoshi [Probably. The reception was really incredible. The overseas crew would ask in return "Is there nothing more you would want to order? Anything else you need?" During that tour we really became bigheads. And when we returned to Japan, we realized that we were no lords in the end. (laughs)]
tbc.