END OF YEAR TRANSLATION: Special interviews from LE-CIEL EXTRA NUMBER about the World Tour
Hello everyone and happy holidays!!! I hope you all are enjoying your time off (if you have any) as we approach the end of 2012.
And my gosh has it been a year to remember - for me, it has been the year that I got to see my favourite band of all time on my home turf, London, which has so many meanings for myself and L'Arc themselves. And not only that, but I've met so many lovely people this year through both this page and the world tour itself - and I'm hoping that friendship will be a long lasting one which will be resurrected everytime those boys delight us with their presence again!
But anywho, I have a gift to mark the end of this epic year - a translation of the special interviews from the LE-CIEL Extra Number released back in September. As the world tour meant such a lot to everyone who visits this page, I wanted to translate it - as it gave me a lot of insight into what the boys felt about the world tour.
So here goes - enjoy!
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Special interview - hyde
The expressions on the fans' faces - it' was exactly the same as our fans in Japan.
We overcame all ethnic and religious borders – I felt so happy.
We interviewed hyde in a studio in Tokyo on his return from the “WORLD TOUR 2012”. The resulting interview not only showed his wide perspective, but also the depth of his future insights as well as his gentle and passionate spirit.
Having completed their 20th anniversary, this rock ‘n roll star has had a revelation, which has led him to progress further without rest to express his future visions – which surely will, soon, be shared with us all.
Q: It’s been a while since your world tour came to an end in May – looking back, how do you feel?
h: We came a long way, with everyone making a tremendous effort. I’m glad that we were able to celebrate our 20th anniversary, all together – it was very meaningful and I’m happy we managed to do that. Obviously there’s a strong sense of satisfaction within myself, but I think my feelings towards everyone else was bigger. I feel a big sense of “thank you” to everyone – we all got through it together.
Q: Who do you mean by “everyone”?
h: Everyone who was involved. Including the many members of staff working far away from us. A lot of people took part, and without them, we wouldn't have come this far. So it's very important to thank them.
Q: There were places you visited for the first time during this world tour. How did it feel playing in these places?
h: There were places which, in many ways, were very 'far' for us. For example, we couldn’t go to South America this time where there was huge demand for us. I wanted to tour around more places. I strongly feel that, still now, and will until we get there. But there isn’t a “path” we can follow for those places. This time I felt that very strongly. But even within these situations, I’m glad that we managed to play successful gigs in Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore. Having actually played there, I really felt that these places where we didn’t have a “path” before were where we were desired the most. So it was even more exciting.
Q: When you say “path”, do you mean a path for L’Arc~en~Ciel to play gigs? Or for Japanese artists to play there?
h: I mean for Japanese artists. For example in Japan, our currency is the yen, and we’re an isolated island. Which means that we have very different perspectives, or a different sense of value, from other countries. We had to go to places with completely different cultures and play good gigs there. The laws were different, everything was different - so there were several difficulties we had to face unlike if we were playing in Japan. In those conditions, we had to create a live, and make it successful – which was very difficult. But because of that, what we gained from the experience was massive. The place where we really felt the difference of perspective this time was Jakarta. There are many muslim fans, which meant many of them were covering their skins. So the crowd looked completely different from the stage. But the looks and expressions they had on their faces – was just like what we see in Japan. They all sang along in Japanese, and we could see how happy they were to have us. So when we directly sensed that, we felt that we managed to open up a new path. Having previously played in the States, we’d seen lots of people with different skin colours, and ethnic backgrounds – which we thought was a wonderful sight. We felt that we’d crossed the borders of ethnicity. But this time in Jakarta, we felt that we’ve crossed the borders of religion too. That made us feel very happy.
Q: I see. So this time, L’Arc~en~Ciel have opened up new paths – do you wish for other Japanese artists to follow your footsteps?
h: Hmm……… I don’t particularly think that. But I do feel that if there had been older artists before us who we could follow the footsteps of, it would have been much easier for us. Since we were the first ones to do what we did, we had to fumble our way through and think about every step we took – which made it hard work for the staff and I’m sure there were things that we could have done in a simpler way. But because of what we did, hopefully it should be smoother for anyone following in our footsteps.
Q: I understand. Let’s move on to the actual lives. The staging was quite different for the world tour, and then the Yokohama, Osaka and Tokyo gigs. Did you have a different concept for each live?
h: Yes. We felt that the world tour should be to show the “Best of L’Arc~en~Ciel”. What the fans around the world who had been waiting for us for ages would want was “L’Arc~en~Ciel” themselves, not the latest tracks from “BUTTERFLY”. So for the world tour, we decided to play the “best of” tracks, with some added staging that we’d previously used in Japan. We wanted to express how cool the most "up to date" L’Arc~en~Ciel was.
Q: The main effects you used were the video projections – where did the idea come from?
h: I already had in mind that I wanted to use LEDs as the main effect for the world tour. Especially since nowadays, it’s impossible to do concerts without LEDs. So we decided to use the LED projection system, but then we had to decide what movies to project. I think my thoughts regarding LEDs have developed upon time – in the past, it was enough to simply project something onto LEDs and no one really cared what was being projected. But it’s not like that anymore. What we project is what people judge us on – that’s where we have to shine. It’s one step further. So what we projected was really important for us during the tour. So I asked the director who shot our MV for CHASE – Hiroaki Azuma, to be our film director, since the MV was of such a high quality. We asked him to direct all the film footage, which was very time consuming since we were aiming for such high standards. But as the tour went on, there were bits of movies that we wanted to change - so we changed those bits ourselves. The stage manager was able to work with movies too, so together with the production staff, we changed it, often with a mild sense of panic (laughing). We were able to be flexible and adapt – which I think was good.
Q: There was a sense of story from the videos which ran throughout the live. There have been previous occasions where you used videos to tell a story, but this was the first time that I felt this through the entire live as a whole. It was very impressive.
h: I wouldn't say a story, but I did think that a total flow, or sense of unity, was necessary for the live. For example, “MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM”. The feeling of “resurrection”, or “rebirth” portrayed by ken-chan’s guitar breaking through the wilderness was the core, or the main theme of our 20th anniversary. It was a running theme from our 20th L’Anniversary LIVE held in the Ajinomoto Stadium last year. The concept of war, or wilderness, finally being reborn into a beautiful world, is what we’ve tried to portray in many different ways. The L’Anniversary was indeed a celebration, but I thought that by keeping this theme as the core, we would be able to deliver a truly memorable live. So it was important to keep that. In every country we went, we tried to deliver this message.
Q: What gave you this idea of “rebirth”?
h: I guess… it was the Ajinomoto Stadium live. That live was held just after the Tohoku earthquake, so we wanted to strongly deliver that message. And to me, it felt wrong and unnatural that we would be partying and celebrating after only one year, forgetting what had happened. I think it’s a theme that should be important not only after the earthquake – because I think there’s always two opposing sides to everything. To put it simply, if there’s a mountain, there’s also a valley. Two opposing sides. It’s a concept that’s been with L’Arc~en~Ciel throughout the 20 years that we’ve been a band. So we wanted to keep this concept as a core throughout. Wherever we played.
Q: Moving on to the lives in Japan. What did you want to change for the Yokohama Stadium lives?
h: We were doing Stadium lives in both Yokohama and Tokyo, so we didn’t want to do the same thing for each. So I thought it was important to keep them separate within myself. First, I wanted to tackle the fact that we’d released “BUTTERFLY” but hadn’t managed to tour with it. But we also wanted both the Yokohama and Tokyo lives to both be unique. So I wanted to make the Nissan Stadium live a “final” of the world tour as well as an opportunity for playing the “BUTTERFLY” tracks, so we played every song from the album. On the other hand for the National Stadium, it was the “final” of our entire 20th anniversary. So we didn’t base it on “BUTTERFLY”. It was our 20th final, and a festival. They were both very different.
Q: And Osaka?
h: It was a similar concept to the Yokohama live. But with the added factor that it was held at the Universal Studio Japan (laughing).
Q: I see. So that’s why the USJ characters appeared. And on the otherhand the opening for the National Stadium live was very much “National Stadium” style.
h: ken-chan came up with the idea for the opening - he said “Why not make it like a home-coming parade?”. Although ken-chan came up with it, he didn’t push that idea too much, but I thought it was interesting and developed it further.
Q: You were lucky to have great weather for both days.
h: I know, when we think of our 20th anniversary, it started with the rain at Ajinomoto Stadium…but we closed it with sunshine at the National Stadium. Like how we say “after a storm comes calm, and all is well” (laughing).
Q: (laughing). Before the 20th anniversary project, you must have had an “ideal” which you were aiming for. Having completed it, how does the “reality” that unfolded match the “ideals” that you had?
h: Erm… to be honest, before we started I didn’t think it was that important (laughing).
Q: What?! What do you mean!?
h: (laughing) To be completely honest, it was almost like “Oh yeah, it’s our 20th anniversary…maybe we should do something?”. But then I thought “If we are doing something, we have to do something brilliant!”. I think it’s at that time that I felt a revolutionary change within myself – that I started to enjoy singing. This was a big change for me. And our performance as L’Arc~en~Ciel came at the right time, just as this change happened within me. Until then, I never really enjoyed singing. But as I started to feel the joy of singing without having to play the guitar, we started performing as L’Arc~en~Ciel, and that made it even more enjoyable. I could perform with a completely different mindset, and I felt truly happy to be able to sing all the L’Arc~en~Ciel songs. It was the ultimate 20th year revelation (laughing). So because of that, it was a truly enjoyable tour. The best thing about the tour was that we managed to play around the world as the “best” L’Arc~en~Ciel that we could possibly be.
Q: Did you feel different singing classics such as “Niji”?
h: Oh yes, definitely. I would think of the rhythm differently, and express my vocals differently. Everything was different. In a way, I want to sing every single song again. I think the fans sense that aswell, because they tell me that they prefer the live versions of the songs. I get a lot of fanmail saying “I want the "current" hyde to sing this song”.
Q: Do you feel happy hearing that?
h: It’s more like “Yeah, I agree, I don’t want to listen to my old songs either” (laughing). They’re all flat and monotone. I do think that ‘youth’ I had at the time was special – but I think songs need to deliver the ‘soul’ of the singer.
Q: Looking back on the 20th L’Anniversary year, what made you the most happy?
h: Performing. All our performances went very well, which I enjoyed very much. We went to lots of different places and not all the places had the best sound systems, so some of the members may not have been entirely happy. But for me, I felt that we performed well. I was so happy to be able to perform - all 4 of us, together. L’Arc~en~Ciel is a band that’s not always active, so there’s a part of me that always feels “now is the time”. And because of that, the 4 of us were all concentrated, and the end result was a wonderful tour.
Q: Do you feel that what you gained from your 20th L’Anniversary year is something that will effect you in the future?
h: Hmm… it’s hard to say that now. But I do think that if I had only ever sung for L’Arc~en~Ciel, I wouldn’t have realised these things about singing. But that’s also the same for if I had only ever sung for VAMPS. Because I can do both, I’ve developed as a singer, and I really feel that. So the current VAMPS is really cool, but only because of L’Arc~en~Ciel. And after VAMPS, L’Arc~en~Ciel may also be better. No, it WILL be better. My development as a singer is amazing…if I do say so myself (laughing).
Q: In your 20 years as a musician, have you ever felt so much development?
h: No no, not at all. That’s why I think I can truly focus on and appreciate how much I can express with my vocals. I could only do that if I loved to sing. And because of that, I want to make my vocals perfect, and I want to be the coolest ever. I am so happy to be able to feel that now.
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Special interview - ken
What I learned from the world tour was that “Wherever we go, L’Arc~en~Ciel fans are L’Arc~en~Ciel fans”. That was what made me happy.
He is like water. After being in the music business for 20 years, one can become stubborn - but ken on the otherhand appears to have the ability to change and adapt himself like water, despite having a strong mindset. Not only that, but ken’s rich facial expressions and frank words seep gently into one’s heart, relaxing the listener. What is it that ken, who has flooded the world with his glistening music, has seen during this world tour?
Q: Firstly, what did you think or feel when the World tour was decided? What sort of tour did you wish for?
k: I’d heard before that there were L’Arc~en~Ciel fans all over the world, but because of issues like booking venues and stuff, I wasn’t sure if it was actually going to be possible to play gigs in these places. But once it was decided, I felt “Oh, now we CAN actually play there!”. It was important for me that it wasn’t going to be all about me trying to express what I wanted to express – of course that was important too, but I wanted to absorb and blend into the air and atmosphere of the venue, and not be self-absorbed. It’s the audience that create the air within the venue – so I wanted to breathe that air, and feel one with it by playing. That’s how I feel everytime we play a gig, and I wanted to do that this time round too.
Q: In the months building up to the world tour, how did you build up your performance and your mindset?
k: From the end of 2011 and into the new year, we did a lot of TV promotion for the single “CHASE” and album “BUTTERFLY”. I knew in my head that after that we’d start rehearsing for the world tour, but until immediately before the rehearsals started, I hadn’t really started thinking about it. I have to think about things in order or everything gets mixed up. And as we started to decide on the set list and practice the tracks and actually see footages of the venues, the excitement began building up… As for the technical processes, I discussed things like “For this track I want to use this amp and produce a sound like this” with my guitar technician who did the programming for me. And as all that was happening, the rehearsals started, and off we went on our tour.
Q: So it was quite a busy preparation period. For your 2008 “TOUR 2008 L’7 ~Trans ASIA Via PARIS~”, there was around a week between each gig, but this time you were running on quite a tight schedule – was that difficult?
k: For various reasons the schedule had to be set as it was for the world tour. So I tried to discover how, in the limited time schedule, I would be able to play the guitar in the most comfortable way. Although being tight there were some gaps, and I was worried that if I wasn’t focused enough I may forget the songs during that time. So I had to find the balance within me to calculate how much I should practice – but at the same time not lose the “live feeling”. So I would spend the 2 days before each gig to practice the guitar on my own. Actually, during this tour I was practicing how to play bossa nova.
Q: How come?
k: From the end of last year, some members of staff started requesting things like “I want you to play songs like this”. At the beginning it was hard rock, but then they asked for bossa nova (laughing). Sometimes, the things you just come across randomly can affect the way you play or write songs. For example, you may go to the beach not planning to write any songs, but when you actually go and see a certain scenery and remember it later on, you can write a song based on it.
Q: I see. Even if it seems to have nothing to do with it, the things you come across on an every day basis may affect your song writing – this can probably be said about anyone who creates things for a living. Everything is worth experiencing.
k: Yes, indeed. You play bossa nova with your fingers. During the lives I play almost solely using a pick, so my right hand works in a completely different way. So I noticed at the beginning of the tour that if I practice bossa nova too much, my fingers get confused during the lives (laughing)! And so for the 1 or 2 hours before the live, I had to practice using a pick. Actually, until recently I’d been playing simply based on the 'feeling' I had, but to make my guitar play more real, I wanted to comprehend and understand how and when I’m comfortable playing the guitar. For example, before the live I'd think “If I put my fingers here, or play with my elbows at this angle, it feels good. OK, for this gig, I’m going to play like this!”. I thought by deciding on the style I want to play in and then adding 'feeling' to that style, I could sense a stronger 'feeling' in my guitar play. But after some trial and error I’d think “Hmm, I think I’m thinking too much about the angle, or the way my fingers are. Maybe I should think about it more simply?” and then I’d try something new for the next live. It was like that each time.
Q: So even after the tour had started, your guitar play was changing?
k: I feel like I’ve been practising like that for the last 5 years (laughing). It’s like “I'm going to do this. Actually, I'm going to do that” over and over again. During this tour, I finally felt like I'd found 'the perfect style' when we returned to Japan for the coming-home gigs. I felt like I was finally at my peak, and it was really enjoyable. But having said that, it was probably only 'perfect' for that particular time, so I’m sure after a couple of years I’ll be thinking “If only I could do it like this” and trying to do something different again.
Q: You went on the world tour only a month after releasing your new album “BUTTERFLY”. I’m sure the fans were excited to hear some of the tracks from the album.
k: Yes.
Q: For the places like Bangkok, Singapore and Jakarta, we Japanese don’t really know much about their music. How did the audience react?
k: Many people play instruments in Jakarta, and I’d heard that lots of people were performing L’Arc~en~CIel songs. As the gig started, everyone in the crowd was singing along, to the extent that we couldn’t hear hyde’s voice anymore! I thought “hyde’s voice is really loud today” but it was actually the crowd (laughing). Depending on the country, the fans would shout “WAAAA!!!” or scream “kyaaaaa!!!” – the reactions were different everywhere we went. But everyone knew the Japanese lyrics and knew about each member’s character, and the smiles they had on their faces and the atmosphere within the venue was the same as if we were playing in Japan. We knew what to expect in Shanghai and Seoul since we’d played there before, but we had no idea for the places where we went for the first time. And what I learned from going to these places was that “Whichever country we go to, L’Arc~en~Ciel fans are L’Arc~en~Ciel fans". And that made me happy.
Q: Did the New York Madison Square Garden gig feel special? Personally, I felt that your gig in the UK was memorable, since it feels closest to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s sound ever since you debuted.
k: I think the boundaries that decide “this is American music” and “this is UK music” is starting to disappear. So I didn’t feel any sort of pretense depending on which country or which venue. I expressed myself in the same way in New York, and London, and anywhere else. Wherever it may be, as long as there is someone who likes the music that I play and like, I’ll say “thank you!” and go and perform there.
Q: I was surprised that you chose “Ibara no Namida” as your opening track. In your Japanese gigs you also played some rare tracks like “C’est La Vie”. How did you decide the set list?
k: Yeah, I thought it was surprising as well. Recently, hyde has been deciding on most of the set list and stage concepts. For the intro of “Ibara no Namida”, we usually don’t include the keyboard and only begin with the guitar arpeggio and hyde’s vocals, but hyde came up with the idea to use a piano and vocal based arrangement. I knew he would have something up his sleeve but when he told us, it was like “Ah! You came up with that!?”. I was surprised.
Q: The biggest “You came up with that!?” moment for the fans was surely the “festival” mood created during the USJ and National Stadium lives. Especially when the SESAME STREET characters appeared in Osaka, and your cheerleading dance!
k: Elmo wasn’t in our initial plans, but then the staff asked us “Elmo can come on the float too, what do you think?” to which we immediately replied “Ok, please, let’s do it!” (laughing). Actually, I came up with the cheer leading routine 20mins before the live (laughing). For the first day of the National Stadium gig I did the “21st Century MC”, but then I thought “what shall I do for the second day? How about if I suddenly start dancing without telling the other members – will they be surprised and laugh!?”. So just before the live I went to the leader of the cheer leaders and said “Sensei! I want to dance with the cheer leaders during the MC, so please teach me something simple!”. We then practised a little and went for the real thing. I couldn't hear the cheerleaders' voices on the stage, so I didn’t really know what to do about the timing and stuff, but they gestured “OK, let’s go!” so I managed to judge the timing in the end. But after I danced, I ended up throwing one of the pompoms into the audience. I thought “Oh no! What if that pom pom was really precious!” and felt really sorry – afterall they were a cheerleading team who were second in the world championships – their pompoms are probably the equivalent of my guitar! But then I thought “ah, I’ve already thrown one of them anyway – never mind!” and I threw the other one too (laughing).
Q: Your “souvenir MCs” during the world tour were funny too.
k: At our first destination - Hong Kong, I went for a walk in the town the day before the live. During my walk I suddenly thought “If I give the members a souvenir tomorrow during my MC, I wonder if the fans will enjoy it?”. I didn’t know if the members would be happy but that wasn’t the point (laughing). And as I expected, the fans were really happy, so I decided to do it for the next place too. From there, I kept thinking “something better next time, something even funnier next time!”. There were times when it was like “the live is from xxpm, we have an interview to do at xxpm, that means I have to go and buy the souvenirs NOW!” and I had to run to go and get the souvenirs. If I couldn't find anything that I wanted, I’d go to the next shop, and then the next…
Q: I did think it must have been quite an effort finding all those souvenirs (laughing).
k: I know! No one told me to do it - I started it myself, but I felt that if I’d started it, I’d have to do it til the end… And I did, all the way to Hawaii, so I’m incredibly satisfied (laughing).
Q: How did you feel after the final Hawaii gig?
k: It was like completing a marathon – like “Ahhhh I’m so tired!” (laughing). The National Stadium gig was like the goal, and the Hawaii gig was like the bit where you shake hands with the people who’d supported you. The faces of all the fans from around the world - smiling and crying with happiness, went through my mind.
Q: If the ken from 20 years ago could time slip and see a L’Arc~en~Ciel gig today, what do you think he’d think?
k: He’d probably think “Wow, there’s plenty of colours we can wear for our costumes!”. And “Really? We can talk during the MCs!?” (laughing). I joined L’Arc~en~Ciel a bit later - and at that time, there was this air between the crowd and the band that implied that noone could talk. Or moments where it was like “We can’t smile or laugh here” – so we had to be careful about our distance with the fans (laughing). I’m sure if the ken from 20 years ago saw our live now, he’d be surprised and say “We can DANCE?! And LAUGH!?”.
Q: (laughing) Voting has already started in preparation for the next world tour – what do you want to do next?
k: This time round, I felt truly grateful that everyone from all around the world was listening to our music and celebrating our 20th anniversary with us. We’d received invitations from South America, and in Paris an Italian fan said to me “Please play in Italy too”, but we couldn’t this time. So next time, I want to go to lots of places where we couldn’t go this time. And at that point, I’m sure that I’d be thinking “I want to play more like this” so I’ll keep on pursuing my ideal guitar play.
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Special interview - tetsuya
I think we managed a world tour of this scale because of all the other gigs we’d played up until now.
After 20 years, he finally managed to put in words his gratitude and feelings - “It’s because of the Japanese fans that we were able to reach out to the world – thank you". Because it’s not often that tetsuya will express these feelings with words, these words carry much weight and meaning. What did the WORLD TOUR 2012 mean to tetsuya?
Q: After completing your world tour, how do you feel?
t: I do feel a sense of achievement. I’m sure there are rock bands out there who have played more lives than us around the world, but no other band has played at such large scale arena-class venues. So I think that’s an amazing thing we've achieved. It’s the first time we’ve called it a “WORLD TOUR”, but in a sense the “TOUR 2008 L’7 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~” was a world tour too. But we only went to Paris for Europe, so it was a bit embarrassing to call it a world tour then. In Asia we’d played a couple of lives already. Looking back, I think those gigs were sort of in preparation for this time – only because we’d played those gigs did we manage to do a world tour of this scale.
Q: For you, it wasn’t like you suddenly went on a world tour.
t: Yes. I was recently given some CDs and a live DVD of Adam Lambert - an artist who’d gone on a world tour straight after his debut. It made me a little envioius of artists from English-speaking countries. Just because their mother tongues are English, they can automatically face the world. But for us Japanese, we can only start in Japan. The market is so much smaller. That’s the difference. But BIGBANG who are also from Asia have done a 16-country world tour, so they’ve beaten us. Although it’s hard to compare a rock band and a dance-type artist.
Q: Because L’Arc~en~Ciel are a rock band.
t: When we did an interview with the US media, I discovered that currently in the States, there aren't any rock bands that can play arena-class tours. They told us that even looking at bands world wide, there isn’t a single band that could play such large scale tours. Which I realised was indeed true. I felt that it’s a rarity that a band can play arena-scale tours, in such a world wide scale.
Q: Is it a difficult time for rock bands to succeed?
t: I think there are more kids these days who learn to dance than play an instrument. It makes them more popular. So there is a bigger dancing-population than an instrument playing-population. When it comes to playing gigs, a rock band will be more expensive and involves much more preparation. A rock gig requires lots of instruments and equipment, and the settings and rehearsals for each performance takes a lot of time and trouble. I think for dance-based groups it’s not as troublesome, which I think is one of the reasons why there are less rock bands worldwide.
Q: Did you feel that already when you went on your “TOUR 2008 L’7 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~”?
t: I did, but this time made me realise it more.
Q: Did you discover anything else after the interviews?
t: Just before our MSG live, there was an article about us in the local paper – which included a massive picture of me. After the MSG gig, there was an article in “The New York Times” – which also had a big photo of me. Maybe my fashion and hairstyle stood out as being easy to recognise.
Q: I think so – you express the “COOL JAPAN” style the most. Speaking of fashion, your “Yuumei” jacket was also talked about a lot (NB the jacket tetsuya wore had the words “Yuumei/famous” sewn onto it).
t: That was to pay homage to the LOUDNESS. They were the first Japanese artists to play at the MSG (as the opening act for the Motley Crue). I wanted to show my respect as the first Japanese artists to play since them, 20 years on. The “Yuumei” T-shirt was first worn and made popular by Niihara-san, the vocalist of the LOUDNESS. I wanted to wear it for the MSG gig, so asked my stylist to make it for me.
Q: I see. What about your new hairstyle? Why did you shave both sides?
t: I’d always wanted to do it from about 10 years ago. Murohime-kun (guitarist) used to have that hairstyle when he was in DIES IN CRIES. I thought “Oh my god that’s so cool! I want to do it!” – I even told him that. So I was looking for an opportunity to do it myself.
Q: And what made you do so at this timing?
t: When we were in Hong Kong, there were several members of staff who had this hairstyle, which made me REALLY want to do it (laughing). After that in Bangkok, there was a TV personality who also had that hairstyle too – which made me think “I MUST do it!”.
Q: And finally you did it. But during the tour you only showed that one side of your head was shaved, and then during the “Ki/oon 20 years and days” gig which you appeared as TETSUYA, you showed that you had the left side shaved too. Why was that?
t: I think Japanese people are quite conservative, and don't really like drastic change. So at first I only showed one side – I thought people wouldn't be so shocked if I showed them one side and then the other. Actually, that’s something this world tour made me realise - that Japanese people are conservative. Probably the most conservative people in the world. When I was in my teens I used to love wearing really bright and unique clothing. But because of that, I used to get some really funny looks when I went on the train – in a really rude way. But when I do the same overseas - for example when I did a photo shoot on the London underground, no one was rude, or even cared.
Q: They acted like nothing was happening?
t: Yes. So I feel really free when I’m abroad. I strongly felt that this time round too. I think I’m more suited to being overseas, since I feel more relaxed.
Q: Where would you want to live?
t: Actually, I looked at some property whilst we were in Singapore (laughing), but it was super expensive! More expensive than Tokyo! Hong Kong was expensive too. But actually, I wouldn't want to live in just one place – I’d like to live in about 3 or 4 different places, and move around according to the season.
Q: OK, coming back to the world tour. I think this tour must have made you realise that there are plenty of L’Arc~en~Ciel fans overseas that appreciate your music. Did you always feel that your music had this potential?
t: Ever since we’d started off as a band, I had confidence in the music that we were producing – so I knew that our music would be appreciated outside of Japan too. But having said that, I’d never really thought about going overseas, or becoming a band that was well-known overseas. I think everything we’ve done until now is gradually reaching a point, where naturally, we’ve become the band we are now. I used to get fanmail from overseas soon after we’d formed as a band, so I knew that there were overseas fans already. Our record label Sony Music is world wide, so staff from other countries would tell us “In our country there are many L’Arc~en~Ciel fans” or “there are fans who have opened an unofficial fan club here”. So I knew those fans were out there. But that didn’t mean we could immediately play lives in all these countries – lives need preparation and time. But eventually that time came.
Q: And the fact that L’Arc~en~Ciel isn't a band that plays small live house venues must also be a reason why it took so much time.
t: I think so. The way we proceeded overseas isn’t that different to what L’Arc~en~Ciel had initially done in Japan. Indie rock bands tend to play lots of live houses everywhere, but we never really did that from the beginning. So it was the same for overseas – we didn’t want to take it overseas when we were only going to fill venues of 500 or 1000 people. Gigs at that size would mean that we’d take the instruments ourselves but rent the drumset and the other equipment locally. And we’d have to rely on the local staff for lightings or the sound systems without proper rehearsals. L’Arc~en~Ciel aren’t capable of doing such gigs. Maybe if we were still all in our early 20s, but not any more. We can’t travel on economy class anymore either.
Q: (laughing) I see.
t: And that aside, it’s just not practical. As L’Arc~en~Ciel, not only do we want to take our own equipment with us but we want to take bits of the stage set from Japan as well. And we want to take our Japanese staff with us. Doing a tour like that is difficult.
Q: Moving on to the Japanese gigs. Did you feel that the “WORLD TOUR 2012 THE FINAL” was different from your overseas gigs?
t: Oh yes. Did you notice that from the Nissan stadium gigs, I was actively trying to excite the crowd? I didn’t do that overseas.
Q: Huh? Really? I thought that you’d been doing that overseas!
t: No no, that’s not it! I didn’t have to do anything to excite the crowd overseas – they were already very excited. The cheers from the crowd were immense – you could hear it even through the ear monitor! The crowd were already SO excited that we didn’t need to induce it at all. But then we returned to Japan and were like “what? (takes ear monitor off) what? I can’t hear anything!”. They’re much more quiet. Once we’d gotten used to the volume of the overseas fans, I felt a bit unsatisfied – I know this may sound bad to the Japanese fans, but honestly, that’s how I felt. I know a lot of Japanese people are shy, so it is inevitable... But overseas, they sing along with the ballads, and make so much noise. I would simply be standing there and they’d be like “KYAAA!”.
Q: How did it feel to be met with such enthusiasm?
t: I’ve always tried not to be influenced by the crowd, but when we were abroad, there were moments that I thought “If you’re getting so excited, I might try a little harder too!!!” (laughing). I felt that on many occasions. 20 years on (laughing).
Q: The National Stadium must have meant something special to you as a big football fan?
t: The Nissan Stadium was actually bigger than the National Stadium. But instead, the National Stadium has a long history as an iconic football stadium. So even if we wanted to play there it was difficult to get permission – so it felt like a 'limited edition' gig. Not everyone can play there. So again, the Tokyo Dome is a bigger venue, but I felt more passion playing at the National Stadium.
Q: And then you reached your finale in Hawaii. How was that?
t: It was difficult. How should I explain... I was the one that suggested we play in Hawaii. L’Arc~en~Ciel means “rainbow” so I thought it would be beautiful to finish our tour in the “paradise of rainbows” – Hawaii.
Q: And the city of Honolulu declared that the 31st of May will be L’Arc~en~Ciel day.
t: Yes…… but as I said, it was difficult, as the “L’Arc~en~Ciel day” also became a day that someone died… A person very dear to me died on that day in Hawaii. I think some people misunderstood why I was crying so much during that last gig – I think people thought that I was crying because I was overwhelmed that the world tour was over. But actually, it was because that very important person had died and I felt so lost and sad. I was in no emotional state to play a gig that day. So the 31st of May became a day that I’d never forget. Life brings many surprises… which makes me think that all I can do is live my life to the full, carrying with me the thoughts of those that we have lost. But one day we’ll be able to see them again. I want to live my life so that when we do meet again, I can say to them “It was difficult after you went, but I tried my best to overcome it”.
Q: I understand. In summary, how was your 20th anniversary year?
t: Someone told me that “the 20th year is a critical turning point and many drastic things will happen, including difficulties. But once you overcome them, you will progress even further”. It was indeed, very much like that.
Q: And finally, a message for your fans who celebrated the 20 years with you.
t: I think L’Arc~en~Ciel fans are fans that we can truly be proud of. Without the Japanese fans, we wouldn't have gone overseas. If we weren’t popular in Japan, no one would have noticed us outside of this country. So it’s thanks to all our fans that we have come this far. Thank you very much.
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Special interview - yukihiro
If we can go abroad again next time, this tour would be a good experience we can build on. And that was the same about this tour – it’s thanks to what we’ve built up so far.
Yukihiro is a drummer that stoically pursues his ideals, beating out his rhythm with great precision and flair. However, he seemed a little different whilst playing during this 20th anniversary year. Was it a sense of evolution? Or freedom? Or revelation? We attempted to get some answers.
Q: How do you feel now that the “WORLD TOUR 2012” is over?
y: Erm, I’m glad we did it. I was able to visit lots of different countries (laughing).
Q: You mean you were glad you played in so many countries? Or simply visited?
y: A bit of both.
Q: I see. I think previously, you would set yourself a goal before the tour, and try to reach this 'ideal point' during the tour. But last year when I interviewed you, you said “Actually, maybe it’s just ok to simply enjoy the live now”. Did you feel that during this world tour as well?
y: Yes, I think so. The lives were all enjoyable. But there were obviously things that I could improve on for the future.
Q: Understandably. But whilst playing overseas, you were thinking “Ah, this is fun!”?
y: Yes. Largely.
Q: Did you enjoy anything, or anywhere in particular?
y: It was our second time playing in Paris at the same venue, which was great. It was like “Ah, we’re here again. We can play here again.”.
Q: Was the first time and second time different?
y: Yes. The first time always comes with some confusion and anxiety – especially with the country’s culture.
Q: The Paris gig was amazing. You were on a roll!
y: Really (laughing)? But yes, Paris was brilliant.
Q: What about the Asian half of the tour?
y: I enjoyed Bangkok. I had the feeling that we'd reached the point of “we’ve done it!” already at our second destination. Personally, it was like “I’ve done it! And already, this early on!” (laughing).
Q: You’ve been on many tours during the past, but you’ve never felt so convinced so early on?
y: Well we didn’t have much time for rehearsals this time round, but we had already played at the Yokohama Arena before setting off overseas. So that was a way to ease in to the ‘live’ feeling, so I didn’t feel the nerves that I usually feel when I think “the tour has started!”.
Q: So you managed to ease into the start of the tour?
y: Yes. And then with the positive flow of Bangkok, we carried on to Shanghai and Taipei.
Q: I see. What about the Madison Square Garden gig? It must have been one of the highlights of the tour. How did you feel?
y: When I first heard that we were playing there, everyone around me was SO excited that I felt a bit lost and left behind (laughing).
Q: If you’re honest (laughing).
y: Yeah. I’d watched many basketball games being played there on TV, so it was like “Michael Jordan!” (laughing).
Q: (laughing). But many artists that you admire, like DEPECHE MODE, have played there. Did you think about that?
y: Not really, that aspect hadn’t really hit me. At all.
Q: I see. So only once you arrived in New York did it hit you?
y: Erm, even after I’d arrived, I was more concerned about keeping my stamina up. I suffered the worst jet lag when we arrived in New York, so I had to be careful about that. But then I realised that the fact that we were going to play at the MSG had been so hyped up, so I was like “Oh god this is actually going to be massive!” (laughing).
Q: How did you feel once you were actually on stage?
y: Once we’d been to the venue and seen that thing on the ceiling (the 8-faced screen hanging from the centre of the venue), I thought “oooohhhh it’s that thing!”. I took photos (laughing).
Q: I knew it (laughing). Seeing that alone makes you feel quite emotional doesn't it. And how was the live itself?
y: It didn't go very well. I was really nervous, which made my drumming very stiff.
Q: Because it was so “massive”?
y: The whole thing was completely overwhelming. Plus it was all a big rush. It felt so different from our other lives – I felt like I was somewhere so completely unfamiliar (laughing). The backstage area was full of foreign staff, and once outside the dressing room everyone was speaking English, and I had no clue what was going on or what they were saying (laughing).
Q: And you found that overwhelming?
y: Yes. I wish that I’d noticed how massive it was earlier, so that I was up to scratch with what was going on. I really felt “Oh god, it really was massive”.
Q: Did you manage to appreciate the view from the stage?
y: No, I didn’t have the capacity to take it in.
Q: Afterwards, were you like “I did it!”.
y: More like “Oh no, I’ve really done it now!”
Q: But when we spoke afterwards I remember you said to me “That was an accomplishment… that was an accomplishment right?”.
y: I think in the sense of it being a “first” in many ways was an accomplishment. But I want to do it again, with more preparation this time (laughing).
Q: I see. But in the sense of having played at the MSG, it was a true accomplishment.
y: Erm…yes, I guess so.
Q: And after a short break came the 2 European gigs. You looked like you were on top form for those gigs.
y: After the MSG gig, I thought “oh no, that really wasn’t good enough” so I wanted to put it right in London. The venue in London was the smallest during this tour, and because we hadn’t played in such a small venue for a while, it felt really different – so in a way I think I tried too hard to no avail. So in a way, I tried to put it right in London, which was a bit better, but it only felt completely right in Paris. In Paris I felt “I’ve done it!” again.
Q: And after those European gigs, you returned to play the special live in the LIQUIDROOM, and then went on to play in Singapore, Jakarta and Seoul.
y: At that point I think I was already back to being able to play more constant lives.
Q: The Jakarta gig was very exciting.
y: Jakarta was ‘hot’ – in many ways. Although I was really cold at the hotel (laughing).
Q: At that point, had you already felt like you’ve achieved what you wanted from the world tour?
y: I don’t know… I do hope that there will be a next time. We had the plan to go to several countries to play gigs there, and this time we managed to make these things reality. So if we can do it again next time, I think we'll feel even more that L’Arc~en~Ciel is a band that’s truly capable of doing these things.
Q: I see. And then you went back for the Japanese gigs. First, it was the Nissan Stadium and then USJ. How did it feel to play in Japan after being away for a while? Did you feel something different after meeting all the overseas fans?
y: The venue was so big, I couldn't really tell (laughing).
Q: The set list was different from the overseas gigs, and the staging was also different.
y: In that sense… I don’t usually say anything about the set list or the staging, but this time I did feel “ooh it’s going to be quite tough” (laughing). So I was really careful, and I think that was good.
Q: And you got to play with the characters at the USJ.
y: Yes I did. The red one was very forthcoming (laughing). It was unexpectedly rather cute.
Q: Elmo was quite forthcoming (laughing)? It was fun – it felt like a celebration.
y: Yes.
Q: And after less than a week, it was the National Stadium gig. A new set list and new staging again.
y: And again I thought “It’s going to be tough” (laugh).
Q: How did you feel prior to the “finale” at the National Stadium?
y: It was difficult. I didn't really think about things like that. I just kept on thinking that I can’t make any mistakes, so I wasn’t thinking of much else. I think we’re a band that have to be able to do everything, including the staging, perfectly.
Q: How about your performance?
y: Hmm… neither good nor bad. Lives tend to fluctuate, so if I’m not used to the set list for example, sometimes I can’t quite get on top of it. If I’m sure of the flow of the live, I’m more in control.
Q: On the second day, you walked from one side of the stage to the other after the live. That’s quite a rare thing for you to do – what were your feelings behind that?
y: Well I thought “oh this is a big stage… I might go for a walk to the side” (laughing). It’s not often you have such a wide stage.
Q: I think a lot of the fans felt quite emotional seeing that – including myself.
y: It’s probably because I don't do it very often (laughing).
Q: And after that was the Hawaii gig.
y: To me Hawaii was like an afterparty (laughing). It was a brilliant live though. For me, the true ‘final’ of the world tour were the Osaka gigs, and the ‘final’ of the 20th anniversary were the National Stadium gigs. So because we ended the USJ lives on a good note, I felt the world tour was a success.
Q: Having completed this tour, what are your feelings for L’Arc~en~Ciel as a band? I think the world tour must have been quite a challenge in many ways.
y: As I said, I think it depends on what we do next. Do we go on a world tour again, or do we focus more on Japan? I’m not really involved in the planning of these sorts of things, but I think a lot of it depends on how much potential the members and the staff felt from the experiences of this world tour.
Q: So it’s more how everyone perceived this world tour? How about you – did you think L’Arc~en~Ciel can continue to proceed overseas?
y: Oh yes, I think if we can, we definitely should. There may be lots of difficulties ahead, but I think it’s a good idea for us to do so.
Q: Because you think the second time is really the challenge?
y: If we can go again next time, this tour would be a good experience we can build on. And that was the same about this tour – it’s thanks to what we’ve built up so far.
Q: Finally, what was this anniversary year like for you?
y: Let's see, it was busy. And we did lots of different things, which were all very enjoyable. I think with such a busy schedule it’s hard to think about anything else (laughing). At times I did think “ah I want to rest”, but there were plenty of opportunities where I could relax. I really felt that if we were able to do something, we should do it. As a band. Not only lives, but writing songs, releasing singles, and albums. If we can do it, we really should.
Q: It was indeed a very tight schedule throughout the year – starting from the “L’A HAPPY NEW YEAR”, the Ajinomoto Stadium “20th L’Anniversary LIVE”, the “20th L’Anniversary TOUR” in Japan, and then the world tour. During that time you released singles aswell as the album “BUTTERFLY”. It’s like there was a massive increase in the capacity of what the band was capable of.
y: Yes, indeed. Oh yeah, we had the tour in Japan aswell didn’t we (laughing).
Q: Yes you did (laughing). And on that note, a message for the fans?
y: See you next time! (laughing)
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Aaaand that's it!! Thank you for a great year everyone and looking forward to an even better 2013!!!!!
Risa xxx
