CD data december 2009 kyo interview

The other members haven’t stopped at 「UROBOROS」

-What did you think when the new song has been completed?

Kyo: If you put it short, it was a song that let us explore our new selves. I think we put the experience we got from the 「UROBOROS」tours into good use of this song. It’s hard to explain but I think we were able to climb out of the vision we had when we were in the process of writing 「UROBOROS」and gone to a different level. I felt that it was something new. I was able to feel that the other members haven’t stopped at 「UROBOROS」when is listen to the song.

-When did you start writing the lyrics?

K: Right about when the song was finished but you can tell the song’s colors before the song’s arrangements are completely done. I’ve been writing it since I saw the colors. I changed my style of writing since 「UROBOROS」. I’m focusing more on the senses. Usually, lyrics have some sort of story and you can see the message inside. I don’t want to do that. I want to write something where once you read it from beginning to end, all there’s left is this aftertaste. For example, if you see a painting, it doesn’t mean there’s necessarily an answer in the painting. It’s hard to explain but, it’s not the matter of understanding everything but more like pain,hardship…like seeing something red, something about to burst. Something you see and feel the existence but you’re not sure of its details. But if you just write lyrics that no one can interpret, then nothing will be left, there’s no statement left. It’s hard to determine the difference. It’s not like I’m not thinking about anything and it’s not like there no story. I have things that I want to say. People tend to deny whatever they can’t understand. But I think it’s important to try to look for something there instead of denial. If people read it and don’t feel anything then that’s the end of that but when you write like this, people interpret it in many different ways. I thought that was interesting. If you have a set conclusion in the lyrics then the colors are usually just one color.

-And you’re rather the one trying to get a message out. You use your voice and many different ways and I’m sure some people can’t hear what you’re saying. But you’re shouting something for sure. Shouting is not a way to express an easy feeling. There’s a part in the chorus where the title of the song is sung but it’s not a part where it’s supposed to get fun. There’s a meaning to not only in the words of the lyrics but the way you’ve put them in order. It’s easy to thing of something but it’s hard to get to the point where you can say “this is it”.

K: That’s why it’s fun (laughs). Sometimes songs sound different after listening to it for the first time in six months. The day before yesterday we had the video shooting and I had a chance to listen it for the first time in a while and I thought it was such an easy song to listen to (laughs). I knew that it was a catchy song but I guess I took it too difficultly. I don’t know what made me change my thought about it but I think a saw the song from a different angle. I really think it’s interesting.

-So if you were to describe the song into colors, what colors would it be?

K: Hm…..I think it’s the title. The chorus is sung 3 times but they’re all the same. That’s it. That’s the best hint I can give you(laughs). What you would call the chorus of the song is the peek of the song. Say there’s a mountain and when you get to the top you see whatever looks best to you. And around that there’s lyrics that support the top…so you wouldn’t get it if you just read it from the beginning.

-So you’re saying that things won’t be in order. There’s no doubt that there’s a core but you have to climb down the mountain once to see things you couldn’t see.

K: There’s a lot of things before you get to the top. And it’s still a hassle to climb back down. I think if you get this explanation and read the lyrics, you would understand it better. But, I would say everything is related to each other. There’s some parts where I just wanted to express the colors of words. For example I didn’t want to say “black” so I used a different way of saying it. There’s a lot of that throughout the song.

-I’m sure many people image the color red when they hear the word “Shakunetu”(which means “burning hot”) and black when they hear”yami”(which means “darkness”) Black and red are important factors but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s just these two colors.

K: Yeah. I see the colors but something’s moving inside it. Something’s inside it. I thought it would be interesting if that was felt in places other than the chorus as well.

-I think the whole message of the song was towards the more positive side.

K: Yeah. There’s no right answer but I was looking at it towards the more positive side. I think the aftertaste when you listen to it without thinking of anything , listening to it looking at the lyrics, just looking at lyrics have all different aftertastes.

-A lot of hints(laughs). There’s also “Zan” remake in the coupling.

K: I tend to deny the past(laughs), so I want to rerecord everything. And then I thought, what would happen if I did this song now? I got excited. There’s more songs that we want to do but this time it just happened to be “Zan”. I honestly think that it doesn’t sound much different though. And then I told the other members. I said “it’s not that different right?” and they said “Are you kidding?! It’s so different!” (laughs). And my part probably went through the most change(laughs). But I think it’s more catchier now.

-I think so too. And also a one shot take of “Shokubeni” will be included as well. This is a first for Dir en grey.

K: Yeah. It was fun. In a way you can get yourself together and look at the other members. During shows I don’t look at them so it was kind of weird (laughs).

- Finally, I have a feeling that the Budokan Show will be a show that will put an end to all of the acts of 「UROBOROS」….

K: Not exactly (laughs). It just started in Osakajo Hall and ended in Budokan. We’re in the next stage but people who are going to see both will find it interesting. I’m excited to see how the new song will seep in with our set. It’s the end but the beginning of a new step. I think it’ll be a rare sight.

GiGs December Kyo Interview Part 3

last part

again sorry for taking so long

LA shows today!!! wooo!!! ok...ill start

-(lol theres a kanji I can't read...so ill skip the question and go straight to the answer)

Kyo: People mature the more they think. I wanted to make "GLASS SKIN" so it doesn't sound like a lecture but leaves you with something to think about. I wanted them to think "Oh, maybe it should stay this way". I sing for myself but I want to write lyrics that make people think. The only song that actually has a message is "Ware, Yami to te....". It's a love song but it may sound like it's towards a particular person but it's actually written towards the audience or listeners.

-You've actually written down lyrics with that kind of feeling....

K: Before it was all about something born from neglect ion or comfortableness. There's still some of that now but neglection isn't the only thing in this world. It's like when you give a new factor to something it becomes a new thing. I think it has a new perspective and it's really interesting. I have many different feelings as well.

-You've changed up your titling style as well. It makes me think about so many things from just the title.

K: Each song from this album has it's own perspective and it seems really narrow but it's actually a very wide view and it seemed deformed all together. I didn't want to push my titling style to these songs that have their own free form. I thought they should have freedom. I think that when you grow up you automatically know what sounds or look cool or ugly. I wanted to get rid of that and write lyrics that goes with the song. I wanted to do something new and something I can only do. That's when these titles came up(he uses Japanese that you noramlly wouldn't speak in a everyday conversation in these titles).

-So the album title came to be because all the songs connect somehow?

K: Kaoru brought that word in and I really like how it sounded. Then I heard what it meant and I knew we had to make that the title. It suits this album which has a really strong perspective. "UROBOROS" isn't a sphere but I has a really deformed image. And it always seems like it's moving.

GiGs December Kyo Interview Part 2

ok if ur wondering where im translating its the middle row of page 17.

-This is a question about the world of the lyrics but when you use so many different kinds of voices, does that mean there's a lot of different characters that represent each of them?

K: There is a lot. There's soft people, people that are trying to eat other people... many different kinds.

But I write the lyrics so that they are an inspiration to the song so it never goes off track. If I'm able to use the right voice that goes with the scene the lyrics sink into the song. If I write the lyrics without thinking about the song it would cause some irony at one point so I don't think that's a good idea.

-In the end of "VINUSHKA" there is a very beautiful harmony done by some sort of choir. Did you only dub yourself?

K: Yes, it's all me. When you listen to the album, you imagine how many people are singing right? But in reality there a lot more than what you're hearing or there might be voices where you didn't even notice. I did so many things.

-In the album there's "SA BIR" which is also used in the concerts and then a ten minute long "VINUSHKA". It seems like this albums starts at the climax. A song that long usually gets placed in the middle of the record but you guys placed it in the beginning. The this have to do with the lyrics?

K: When we choose the order of the songs, it really doesn't matter what order it goes in. But there was always a song that I wanted if we were to choose. I personally thought that the battle begins in the one second right after "SA BIR" finished playing. You fall as deep as you can with "SA BIR" and then you open up something new and what do you see? I only imagined "VINUSHKA". We put what we think of what's the core of the album right there. Only the people who can take that, who can climb over the mountain, can come along. I think that's the characteristic of "UROBOROS". It's not an album where you can just seep right into. Song wise, I was really able to bring out pretty much everything I have into "VINUSHKA". Speaking of song order, I've always wanted "INCONVENIENT IDEAL" at the end in my mind way before we've thought about it together. Everyone had a matching opinion for this so we were able to do it.

-I've felt a really mysterious fear when I listened to "VINUSHKA". But the emotion in this albums isn't just filled with evilness or hatred.

K: Yea. Of coarse each song has a message in it but not just that but aftertaste, a phrase stuck in your mind, a heaviness or pain but then a really soothing sensation should be felt after listening to all 13 tracks. I really wanted to focus on all that. I've been writing all the lyrics but I wanted to focus on the aftertaste. For example there's a bunch of CDs out there that have really heavy lyrics but you don't feel anything at all. But then there's really gentle songs that make you feel sad after you listen to it. I focused on that and how much I can leave my message into that person's mind. Because of that, there some songs that have lyrics that are in the middle of telling a story or some really hard to understand. Or there might be lyrics that you might be able to hear one word really clearly and then not hear anything else at all for the rest of the song. I've done that on purpose so that when you finish listening to the album you have a clearer image in your mind. In the lyrics, it's not just all hatred or evil but it's more of a world that you look through from the bottom. I think that the same sky would look and feel very different from a plain and someplace really low. DEG's Kyo wanted to describe the sky from a lower point of view. And the aftertaste. But in lyrics it might sound like it might be about anger or hopelessness but when you're done listening you don't feel any anxiety. It's not written in words but you've be left with images of strengh of hope. (eh that turned out weird)

GiGs December Kyo Interview Part 1

I'm gonna break it into 3 parts

-Do you feel that you have accomplished something very big when you guys completed "UROBOROS"?

Kyo: I was really hard. I feel that I did but more than usual. It was an album that didn't let us finish in every way(laughs). Recording took 3 times as much longer that it usually takes. I was quick to writing the lyrics and thinking up of a perspective but it just took a really long time to record. And then we've recorded as much singing as we can and then took out some parts later on and did really minor changes. That changes what the songs holds so we've been careful with that.

-As the songs came to shape did you have a theme as a vocalist?

K: It was really broad at first but I've always had a image in my head of what kind of album I wanted it to be. I wanted to bring what we have in our recent shows and take that energy to a newer level to this album. Something really strong that we can only do.

-Seems that you've really gotten creative as a vocalist. Growls, whisper, clean, vibrato, whistle. I hear many different emotions in one song. That's why I can't get a grip on the song with just listening to it once. Seems like all my energy is being taken away.

K: When I make something 100% original I want to take to a point where no one else can do it and express myself. It's like challenging myself. But it's not like I'm trying to make the spectrum wide and the lyrics are supposed to fit the scene with the right tone on the voice. I've tried to make it natural. You know how Japanese people have a bad habit of making the song structure "Verse 1 to Verse 2 to chorus"? I don't do that at all. I don't have a set place for a chorus ore a verse. That's why there some parts in the song where it's only used once throughout the song. But I do it from how it sounds so it should never sound weird. I thought that was really interesting for me to do. I've made things without thinking too hard and when I opened the lid I was able to do everything at my best.

-What the song that took you the longest to sing with the song.

K: All of them. Seriously. There was no time for recording and there was so much I wanted to put in. I sung like 8 hours a day every single day. I was tired mentally(laughs).

GiGs December Shinya Interview

sorry for making you guys wait

ive been busy with college applications

-We've been calling you a weird drummer behind your back but after this album you have to admit it(laughs).

Shinya: A little(laughs). Depending on the song I do really weird things.

-You don't play normal beats.In the intro for "BUGABOO" you play a normal 8 beat but other than that you've constructed very abnormal things.

S: That's the basic.

-So does that mean that you can’t be normal when you tour the world?

S: No, I it means that I was abnormal to begin with(laughs). But I’ve only started to think that way and concentrate on that approach in these past 2 years. I’ve always like weird approaches but I wanted to do simple drumming as well. But after that when I was touring overseas, people liked the weird phrases.

-Yea. When you look up your evaluation overseas as a drummer, drumming that isn’t normal have really high ratings. They say “Nobody can think of them”.

S: Really!? Actually, musicians that we’ve shared stages with ask me “How do you play that phrase?” or “What was that?”(laughs). Because of that, I think that the abnormal part of me defines my originality. I wanted to master that. During TMOAB I haven’t thought it up to that point. So starting from this album.

-So you’ve tried to put in as many weird phrases as possible?

S: No, I think of weird phrases by nature. So I can say that I am myself in this album. Not too long ago, I thought that it was better to concentrate on simple and groovy drumming but I noticed that instead of forcing me to be something else, it’s better to just be myself.

-I was surprised that you can express yourself in so many different ways with the drums. A lot of the song really have unexpected things in them. How do you look at these songs and put phrases in tehm?

S: I just listen to it and play what comes to my mind. There was a lot of different parts so I thought of many different phrases. I was inspired by the songs. Because of that, there’s a lot of weird phrases. The things is, there was no time for me to practice until the actual recording(laughs). I have the phrases in my head but I can’t play them. During preproduction, I went to the studio and practice.

-You have the drum set you use to play your shows in your mind when you think of these phrases right?

S: Yes. I memorize the set and make the phrases so “that one piece” becomes necessary. They’re all phrase that can only be played on that set, at that position or else I can’t play it. I think you’d understand if you listen to the phrases with low toms. The setting is really important for me to play these phrases.

(Sorry, I’m going to skip 2 questions because it really doesn’t make sense at all in what they’re saying. It’s not the terminology but just don’t get where the convos going. My guess is that it’s not really important.)

-I hear so much that I always think you’re overdubbing yourself.

S: In the middle of “Ware, yami to te…” I overdub myself playing congas and percussion instruments to add more taste to it. And in the middle of “Reiketu nariseba” too. Those are the only 2 overdubs. The rest is all done once. That’s why the drums are really busy even when it’s quiet.

-It’s really interesting how you use the kicks. Even if you do the same thing with your hand your feet are doing completely different things.

S: I just played. I never really thought too much about how I wanted to play the kicks. The blast in “RED SOIL” is something I usually don’t do. I was playing it before it knew it(laughs). I’ve never had any difficulties making up drum parts. I had more difficulties playing what I thought of.

-What was a hard song for you to be able to play then?

S: The chorus for “GLASS SKIN”. I put in the hi hat with the ride but it’s really complicated to play. Well if I say that then everything really complicated (laughs). This time it just really worked my brain. I couldn’t memorize “VINUSHKA”. It’s really scary how that song is constructed. There’s so many different parts and in each part there’s different patterns. It was really hard for my body to memorize it. This was a song that become close to its final form towards the end but I would have never imagined it being like this. I felt the scariness of this album first hand. And for “Gaika, Chinmoku ga nemuru koro” this was diru’s fastest song (228BPM) and I’m just physically tired. It’s just a blast beat with the high hat. When I nailed this song it felt so relieving.

-You can say that you’re very close to the complete form of your weird drumming for the first work.

S: I don’t think that it’s perfect but I think that I’ve pulled out everything I have now. I’ve worked on this album thinking that my drumming would be a significant factor of DEG’s sound.

GiGs December Toshiya Interview

Sorry for the wait. Here it is.

-You've always had set goals that you wanted to accomplish as a bassist for each album. What were your goals for this one?

Toshiya: I wanted to make the songs sound more lively. I didn't want to make the bass sound like it was in the way. So that I don't cause unnecessary friction(laughs).

-I understand. In this album the guitars and drums have a wide variety of phrase, so you need to think about how to approach those with the bass.

T: Yea. I wanted to do something that I wanted to do and at the same time function as part of the band's full sound.

-I think you've become the best to support the songs and sound. Bass is the core of songs.

T: I think so. Depending on the songs, I'm playing crazy but I have some riffs that contain silence.

-At what point in the recording process did you choose your bass tone?

T: The very end of mastering. The guitar and drums had their sound set, and I chose the tone at the very end. Our concept for this albums was to make it beautiful so I though I shouldn't put too much low in. But when I listen to it, it sounds too empty. So we decided to redo the mastering and put more low in.

-You really liked the heavy bass sound.

T: It's really heavy and low on this one too.

-But this has is lower than usual with more grooves.

T: I wanted it to be that way. I've had thoughts for different approaches too. I wanted to hold it down so that there isn't too much high. But actually, the really low sound you hearing is from the guitar. The bass doesn't go that low and stays a little higher than the guitars.The bass's low mixes with the kicks. That's how we make our wide ranged band sound. So the basic tone for the bass is coming from the mid range.

-You've changed your playing style. Seems like you've done a lot less obbligato on the higher frets.

T: Yea, I didn't put in too many. I played them depending on the song. I just thought it was enough with the guitar being showy. It might not be the best way to express it but the bass might sound too quiet. It was fun for me though. I also thought there was a lot more variation compared to TMOAB.

-In "STUCK MAN" you did slapping and played with the drums.

T: Yea. But you can't play too much on bass(laughs). I didn't want to play too much but at the same time I wanted to express what I wanted to get out.

-You try to make the mood of the song with the bass right? The fret noise in "VINUSHKA" was really effective.

T: That's not fret noise. I just switched an effect on and off. It sounds like the bass comes out all the sudden. The reason I played higher on the second half of the song was to make the song more exciting(laughs). I really wanted to make the songs more lively and wanted to make a really good album. That's how it ended up. This might be too extreme but it's like the secret to martial arts. You utilize the opponents power and slash them. It's like Toki from "Hokuto no Ken"(laughs).

-In "Ware, Yami to te...". I didn't know how long you were keeping the sustain and where you were cutting it. And it seemed like you weren't doing much and yet you kept making the mood of the song. That really came to me.

T: So it did(laughs). I'm glad. I think the most effective skill on the instrument called bass is rest notes. If you cut the note you can stop the flow and start it over. You can always make the mood. Bass is really fun.

-Even though you said you tried not to put in too many obbligato, the bass lines are really melodious.

T: Yea. I like singing bass lines but this time I wanted to approach it from a different angle and play a singing bass. So when you realize these things, it makes me really happy.

-"INCONVENIENT IDEAL" has a melodious bass that's really easy catch. And "Doukoku to Sarinu" is very violent but still melodious.

T: Yea. Bass can be a melody instrument or a rhythm instrument so I wanted to play both. My play in "STUCK MAN" is more of a rhythm while "Doukoku to sarinu" was both rhythm and melody. While I build up the melody I build a wall with the drums. Then I top it off with a good phrase in the last chorus. In "VINUSHKA", it had a lot of changes but I didn't put any moving phrases in it on purpose. The voice was main and the guitar made the melody. The drums built the core and the bass cemented that core.

-Was it a long path to get to this style of approach?

T: It was a pain(laughs), "RED SOIL". The first phrase, I actually thought that the bass alone is good enough. Not only this song but every song. There were some songs where I thought I should stand out but then you'd get tired listening to a band where every part is doing crazy shit right?(laughs). I might be plain on this one was well but I think I did a good job keeping everything together. Bass is the only part that can do that.

GiGs December Die Interview

-You guys have made something amazing.

Die: Yea(laughs). I feel like I've put everything into this.

-Did you have any challenges as a guitarist when you guys started?

D: I don't know if it's a challenge but I wanted to overcome the hurdle of being better than I was. Because of that it really took a long time for me to arrange and record the song. It wasn't like "I think it's enough around here".

-You've tried to pull out something that was deep in your drawer?

D: If you put it that way, yea. I needed to concentrate. If it was this kind of song, these phrases might work or based on my past experiences there was some things that just came out naturally. I didn't mind if that happened but if my goal was set at a much higher level, I needed to reset my mind. Otherwise, I probably would have made the same thing. Easier said, I have a hard head(laughs). Even in chord sequences I didn't want it to be all theory like how high should this C7 or a Em be to fit here. But this time, those kind of things didn't make sense to me(laughs). There are some things that I don't even know even if I use theory. Instead of understanding theoretically and guessing the sound, I looked for the sound that seemed to fit. Depends on the songs but I've played off the songs.

-Yea. There's a lot of odd phrases.The intro for "RED SOIL" has one.

D: If I didn't think of that sound and phrase I think it would have been a really normal song. I felt that it needed a phrase that would make it sound completely different.

-"Reiketu nariseba" has a weird chord hanging in the background and has a really creative phrase in the middle.

D: Yea(laughs). We never had anything like that. Those are the types of things I wrote without thinking about theory.

-Not just that song but you've put these kind of phrases everywhere.

D: That's why there was a shit load of tracks just for guitar. I wanted to make a mood from the guitar so I need to make a backing sound for that guitar. The backing sound took a really long time to write. To have people hear the guitar in the front, the existence of the backing guitar was really important. I used three or four each playing a single note. This time it wasn't like left channel kaoru, right channel me. We wanted to use everything we had. That's why I've put more thought into structures of the songs much more than I did in the past.

-I felt that "VINUSHKA" was a piece where you put in phrase after phrase into the song as soon as it came into mind.

D:But the phrases that came up were already near the complete form since the writing process. The rest was just adding more taste to it during each session. And how we wanted the structure to be(laughs). I didn't know where this song was going to land. It really took a long time to finish this on.

-On the other hand "Toguro" seems like a song you really enjoyed writing with some improvised phrases.

D: Actually that was the phrase I thought about the most. I couldn't think of anything good and I thought about it even during the recording of other songs. How much it echoes to how my guitar playing was. I think my personality appears in that song.

-So you've felt more pain than fun?

D: Yea. And "RED SOIL" too. It's a short song but the notes in each measure are really detailed. I've done a lot of thinking on where to bring that 1 note. I played it a lot. Actually this is a song that was done by theory. In the writing process it only had about 2 chords and it was really simple, but it drastically changed.

-When you want a beautiful sound you use an accoustic?

D: It's more like when the sound came to my head it was a accoustic. But even if I'm using a acoustic there are places where that guitar ruins the atmosphere of "Reiketu nariseba". In those places I used another acoustic in a different tuning, hook it up to a amp and play it without a pick. It's top secret what I used instead of a pick(laughs). I didn't choose a phrase but I just played random things and took about 3 takes on that and then I just chose what sounded right. I've done that a lot. We didn't make sounds that just sounded great though. We've made sounds(as in chord changes or probably chords that don't even exist) that were never heard before in every song. As we've worked on the recording we've found new techniques and tried it on different songs.

-So the impact of the sounds and phrases that never existed in the world are strong.

D: I think all the members think that. Even in the arranges, Kaoru and I argued many times on how it should be. We've expressed specific sounds we wanted with words and images like "That atmosphere this person has standing in front of this country''s church sitting in absolute darkness"(laughs).

-That seems hard to make. But each time I listen to this album, I discover a new sound. And the number of guitar phrases and information(?) seemed really close to "MACABRE"

D:oh...yea. I think the process of making it was really close. But this time we've really looked for our limits and thought it can't be normal. It was really hard making it but surprisingly I was able to relax during the recording. At the studio, we were able to hear the amazing sounds and got me excited and it was just fun. When you get to see the new sounds being made right in front of you it's like a orgy(lol i had to use that).

-After overcoming many hurdles, do you have a future image that you have in mind?

D: I wasn't thinking that far. I just want to make myself more open so that we can evolve/change more. Just go with the flow. If I don't do that I feel like I won't get anywhere. I think making this album, got me to think that way.

GiGs Decemeber Kaoru Interview

it's on pg6 if ur wondering

sorry for any mistakes or confusions in advance

ask me on batsu if ur confused about anything

ill try to re-explain them

-When you finished the albums mastering, did you feel like you've accomplished something big?

Kaoru: When we finished mastering the second time around I was at the mixing for the disc 2 in the limited edition so I listened to it a bit and just thought "oh, that's ok"(laughs), We've got it very close to it's final form in the mixing process so I was burned out.

-Was there anything specific you wanted to do before starting to make the album?

K: First of all, any picture that came into mind. Even if it wasn't a picture, I could be a color or scent, anything. Something that you can imagine while you're listening to the song. And to top that off, something that sounds beautiful musically and sound wise. In TMOAB we made it sound crashed together, connecting all the parts together but this time we wanted to do the opposite. We wanted to make the each individual sound stand out and sound beautiful and at the same time make sound like it was alive. I wanted to seal everything I can possibly do into this. So when we were writing songs or arranging them I never said "This sounds llike a song we've done before". Even if it seemed the same, we've kept attacking it from different sides to see what happens.

-Which songs were the first to be written?

K: In the preproduction process "RED SOIL","TOGURO","GLASS SKIN","STUCK MAN" and "INCOVENIENT IDEAL" had their shapes.

-"RED SOIL" seems like you guys brought back your previous styles. The melody defines you guys.

K: Yea. It sounds like the good old us, but the drastic change in the song, the approach of each instrument and how its sung is very different. We wanted to try and make these songs without following the regulation. When you made DG I thought, I don't really get this song but I think it's cool. I think we shouldn't try to get it all organized and keep it the way it is. The more we regulate it, it's gonna become normal. Forget about all the Verse 1, Verse2, Chorus stuff and try to keep it the way it is.

-Are there a lot of songs that you've stuck with that?

K: If you listen carefully you'll notice them. I like how different things fly at you. I wanted to put many different sounds from the guitar and express as much as I can with the guitar. I wanted to make something we can never do again, like a box of sounds where you didn't know what was going to come out. I think it's more fun to listen when you don't know what to expect. I always ask the me back in high school "is this cool?".

-I've heard many different guitar phrases throughout the album but did you use a lot of different guitars?

K: No, it's like the more variety of guitars you use, the better. A guitar is like a mirror that reflects yourself. No matter what kind of guitar it is, it would express you fully and the only thing that can express me is guitar. I found a guitar that was able to understand each other and I used that most of the time.

-What was the hardest song to make, arrange or play?

K: I would have to say "VINUSHKA" was a little hard. No, very(laughs). We wanted it to have acoustic guitar in it, change of time, make it heavy, and make it somewhat oriental. We put that up as themes and started making it and around May, during a tour, our ideas started coming together. But I was afraid of having the members listening to it. I was afraid they would say something like "I think it's a good songs but somethings missing"(laughs). A song that we couldn't think of a phrase until the end was "RED SOIL". We were troubled until we got the cleanish phrase into beginning and middle. There weren't many chords we could use, and it was hard to express from the limited choice. But I wanted to put something that I normally can't think about and wanted to make it melodious and emotional.

-I was really suprised by the thrash riff in "gaika, chinmoku ga nemuru koro".

K: We aimed for it to be that way. In a way those kinds of songs are our specialty so it was easy to make. Up until now, we've tried to make it interesting from the rhythm or a drastic change but for this one we tried making it interesting with just the guitar. I really wanted to do a song like this. If you put it that way, I really wanted to do "INCONVENIENT IDEAL". The minute we put it in the 13th track, I thought it was so cool. So cool that I think the preceding 12 tracks are there for the existence of this song(laughs).

-The opener of the album really took me to someplace really scary but it in the end it feels like you're being saved.

K: Yea. You feel a little love don't you? We wanted it to end that way. When we finished "INCONVENIENT IDEAL", my confidence for this album rose like crazy. The me back in my teens told me that the album with this song is good and that it's convincing.

-When you finished making the album. did your confidence change into something stronger?

K: Actually, I've barely listened to "INCONVENIENT IDEAL". When I finish listening to that, I feel like this album is going to end. I don't understand "UROBOROS" very well either. But it's almost leaving my hands. So it seems like when I finish listening to it, it's gonna go away. I don't want it to end, I don't want relief. I just really like this album. I want this thought strong with me to Osakajou Hall.

UROBOROSについて。

なんかﾈｯﾄで見つけましたｗ

予定より全然早く届いてしまった方がいたみたいで

もちろん完全限定盤予約してあるんですが、どうしても待てなくてｗ

で早速聴いてみたところ

なんかもう一曲聴き終わるごとに鳥肌・・・

すごいです・・・

言葉が思いつきません

ﾗｲﾌﾞばかりやっていた1年があっただけに皆かなり上手くなってます

かなり期待をしていたつもりですが想像を絶する作品に仕上げってました

まだ一回しか聴いてないからこの曲がよかったとかはまだないけど・・・

多分ﾃﾞｨﾙだけじゃなくて今まで聴いてきた色んなｱﾙﾊﾞﾑの中で頂点に立つと思う

以上

CD Journal interview part 2

sorry for the typos in advance.enjoy(^-^)

-Are there any lyrics that represents the albums?

K: It's not just one song. I wrote this time trying to make something be left in you after listening to the entire albums. So if someone analyzes saying "these lyrics were like this so it means this which means its this kind of song" it really upsets me. I didn't write the outcome or answers on these on purpose. My goal was to have something really heavy left over after listening. I've done the same in the past but I've emphasized on this one more than the older ones.

-You've mentioned that you don't like positive thinkers, but doesn't hope desperation come from hope?

K: Yea. I just don't like really obvious positive thinkers. Like something will happen if we all work together kind of thing. Depends on how one person thinks when that one faces a despair. I like the positive thinking during those kinds of scenarios.

-Yea. I've felt a strong message similar to that.

K: That my goal.(laughs) I hate people who don't face their problems and just try to live a easy life. I like people who don't care if it's a little bit at a time, don't care if no matter how much they get hurt and just keep going. ....I think that's expressed in my lyrics. If you put as the concept for the band it's like internal pain....I want to express things what people normally don't see. That's where our meaning lies.

-As for sounds there's a lot of clean tones used. I think those ideas were naturally born but how did you want it to sound?

D: Something that we think we've never heard of. Something you can feel is too simple and boring for us. So even if it's a clean guitar sound on guitar, that's not the only thing we want you guys to focus on. It's something more deep. It took a really long time to get the exact sound we wanted.

-So you've put something in that you can't produce with machines?Emotion?

D: hmmm...back then we used to think mentally like, play this part softly but now we don't really think like that. We just let the part flow on it's own. We just really see how the song flow. We don't really concentrate on how we play the instruments.

-Is there a reason your voice range is widely used?

K: I don't know. It's really naturally happened from my perspective. Basically, the song called out to me(laughs). But, sometimes theres parts that I just need to get out on but I've tried not to do that too much with a high voice. 90% was produced by the song calling out to. The other 10% came from me thinking it won't be special if I don't do something that nobody else can do. I only consider my voice as a sound. So just as a guitar's sound changes, my sound changes so that it fits.

-The singles' lyrics in the album(GS and DG) have changed to english.

K: I really didn't want the songs to sound weird when I changed them to english but when I actually did it, it sounded new and it was really interesting. It was a new challenge. GS's lyrics have actually changed. The theme itself is the same but from a different perspective so it's more easier to understand it. DG is just a translated version but it's really hard to get the full meaning of a japanese song and express it into english. Becuase of that, DG is also easier to understand. I think you will enjoy both of these songs if you look at the lyrics.

-Enjoy it and at the same time understand the true meaning better. For this release, I've heard that you guys had "a strong feeling for more people to listen to it".

K: Yea. I don't really care if we sell a lot of records but we don't really want it to be too underground. But then again, we really don't want to get mainstream famous. It's complicated. I can't explain with words.

-For people who will listen to DEG for the first time do you think "UROBOROS" will be the perfect album?(laughs)

K: I'm not sure. If someone bought the album because they really liked GS my reaction to that would be "huh!?"(laughs). I think it creates a huge wall for someone to get into the song. But if you get over that, it's really easy to understand and it's really catchy. So I think you won't understand this album by only listening to it once(laughs).

Die: People have probably never heard of an album like this(thanks for the tease die....we're all very excited.....). But it's not like we've wanted it to be an album that was difficult to understand....just if you put it from our perspective it's really easy to listen to(laughs).

-It seems like there would be a discovery each time you listen to it. So, there will be a North American Tour in November and a show titled "UROBOROS-breathing-" on 12/29 at Osaka Jou Hall. These events sound really exciting when a set of songs like these are waiting to be released.

K: It's the first time "UROBOROS" can be 100% out there, so we're very excited too. I think "UROBOROS" has a very deep perspective when it's played live so people who really wanted to be drowned in this I will be more than happy if you guys come to the upcoming shows.