We haven’t heard anything at all from the GazettE ever since their 18th anniversary live 【18TH ANNIVERSARY DAY/6576】, scheduled for March 10th last year, had been cancelled due to the effects of the coronavirus. No doubt their January announcement of a new album release, 『MASS』, had many fans breathing a sigh of relief. We caught up with Aoi (Guitar), on the verge of releasing his new work, to talk to him about life during the corona crisis, the GazettE’s thoughts behind their silence in 2020, their new work 『MASS』 and more. (4 parts in total)
First of all, I would like to ask you about last year, when the corona crisis began. Starting from the end of February 2020, one after the other lives and events ended up being postponed or cancelled due to the effects of the crisis. the GazettE’s 【18TH ANNIVERSARY DAY/6576】 scheduled for March 10th was cancelled as well, how did you feel about that?
Well, I sort of felt that there was nothing to be done about it. Obviously we wanted to do the show but we understood that the circumstances didn’t allow it. Our opinions, those of staff and the band members, regarding whether we should or shouldn’t do it weren’t really divided, and we all agreed that it was important to release information about whether it’d be cancelled or postponed as quickly as possible. At the time there were people saying “Won’t corona be gone by May?” So even though March was impossible, we thought maybe we’d be able to re-schedule for June and that’s why it was decided not to do it in March.
The cancellation happened right while you were already getting excited for the live, I wonder if that left you feeling disheartened.
It did. March 10th is such an important day for the GazettE, we all came together to create this concert and then it got cancelled right as we had reached that final stage [of preparations]. But even so we didn’t hesitate to cancel it. The beginning of March was a very delicate period of time, you know. The truth is that, while there were people who decided not to do shows, there were also those who did, despite the situation, and there were voices praising them for it. I, however, was wondering whether that was really something worth being praised for. Doing or not doing shows is something each artist has their own opinion on, you can’t really say which one is the better one, but I asked myself how people around me were saying “giving concerts in these circumstances is a resolute decision.” Because I thought that the important thing was to try and keep corona from spreading any further so although I felt disappointed that we couldn’t do the show, there was nothing I could do about it.
You were calmly watching the situation, right? After that, mid-March, the numbers of infected people began rising and on April 7th the first state of emergency was declared; the world entered the “STAY HOME” period. How did you spend your days at the time?
I was a NEET. Generally a NEET (laughs). [TN: ‘NEET’ describes a young person neither working full-time nor learning a job] I did get invitations but I declined them all and just shut myself inside. I was always at home, always playing the guitar. I’m taking lessons and those ended up being online so I continued those. And that way I spent a lot more time facing my guitars. I felt like, because we’re the kind of people who are being kept alive by all of you [the fans], I wanted to prepare properly for the next time we’d be able to have a show, not go out and have fun or anything like that. So I played the guitar, not do anything stupid. If I were to get covid, there’s no way it would stay a secret, it would be news, right? And if that happened, people would ask “But the GazettE aren’t working, so how did you…?” And that would be the biggest betrayal for our fans, I think.
We also cancelled the show because it would’ve been awful if we had gotten covid ourselves, so if I’d gotten it then people would’ve been like “how the hell are you getting covid doing nothing?” (laughs) I wouldn’t have gotten away with my usual “Be careful.” So I just holed up at home, playing guitar and waiting with all my heart for the day I could go outside normally again.
Refraining from going out and playing the guitar with the goal being to pick up your activities again shows your level of awareness. That is to say, during this time of self-restraint, were you drinking at home?
I was always drinking at home, I still do now. I’ve already become friends with big brother Kakuyasu (laughs). [TN: Kakuyasu is a liquor store] Because I have them bring beer over two, three times a month.
Eeh?! Uh, w-well, with doing that two, three times a month you’ve got quite the drinking capacity…
Not really, I only ever buy 1 case at a time which has 24 cans in it. I drink 2 cans a day, so they’re gone in around 10 days.
A-Ah, is that so? Can you buy only one case at a time at Kakuyasu?
No no no, you can get more. But I have a feeling it wouldn’t be very good for me if I had that many beer cans lying around my house (laughs). So I try to only buy one case at a time (laughs).
You’re not drinking every evening like you’re bathing in it, are you? (laughs) Aoi-san, you like fishing though, have you fished at all?
I haven’t. I bought the equipment but I haven’t used it once so far.
From June on and after, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem to get in a car by yourself and go fishing, but you practiced self-restraint?
That… well. There was this one time around summer where corona calmed down, right? There I thought I could go fishing but then there had been… red fire ants? coming out of some containers at the pier. So then I refrained from going and then winter came around and corona was still going strong so it just didn’t work out. I didn’t go fishing at all. I just rolled up my reel at home (laughs).
Ah… I see (laughs). I caught sight of a lot of artists who ended up falling into a “corona depression”, who pondered things and then decided to retire, but I am glad you weren’t hit by that yourself.
It was pretty tough, though. I did think “I want to be depressed” and that it would be much easier to just say “Hey, I’m depressed.” I felt quite bad mentally. Because I got this kind of sensation like I was being detached from society because I wasn’t working, and there were struggles on the financial side of things as well. But having said that, it wasn’t so bad that I would’ve worked at a cash register at a conbini or something. Because if that story had spread, that wouldn’t have been very funny (laughs). It was a sort of last-minute situation in that way. I do believe that all musicians felt like that at the time, but there weren’t any prospects for the future at all and it worried me. We’ve already been doing the GazettE for 19 years now but we’ve never once had a time where our schedule was this empty. I mean last year we were working on songs for the album so I didn’t entirely feel like we were being inactive, but I think it would’ve been really dangerous if I hadn’t had that.
The effect of the corona crisis was felt in so far that pursuing one’s activities as normal was no longer possible, and around June last year many artists began using platforms like YouTube for streaming. But the GazettE didn’t. Did the topic of whether or not to do streaming not come up?
It didn’t. We’ve never been the band to do this type of thing in the first place, so “because of the times we’re in, let’s do something to connect [with people] on the Web” was not a conversation that we were having. I guess we didn’t want to do it, but that’s us being selfish. How am I supposed to say this… When we thought about how we would be perceived as a band once the time comes that we can be active again, we, as a band, dared to decide that there was no need [for things like streams].*
*[TN: I’m not sure if this is clear, but basically he’s saying they were confident that they didn’t need streams just to keep their fans interested lol]
I understand that feeling. But, setting aside the live streams of talk events or acoustic shows that bands were doing, it was a bit surprising to hear the GazettE weren’t doing any online concerts.
We just thought that we couldn’t do the whole package with online concerts. The point is that if you stream something live, you have no idea how it’s going to turn out and we were more anxious about that [than we were confident]. Like if we do it, we’ll do it to the extent it’s possible, but is that enough? Things like that. Also, we were afraid people would end up thinking that because watching from home is this easy, it’s better. So when it came down to either making a little profit or protecting everything the band has built so far, then we’re sorry but we wanted to protect the band. When online shows become the norm*, then certainly people would ask “please do a live stream with us” and that’s troublesome, too. We thought about all kinds of things like that, and then decided that we aren’t going to do online lives.
*[TN: I asked a Japanese friend what the meaning behind this particular phrase (that I translated as “becoming the norm”) might be, and she explained that ‘once it’s shown that a live, usually performed face-to-face, can be delivered online, it’s to be expected that people will want online lives with the same quality a real concert would have.’]
So it’s not like you lost your spirit or forgot about your fans, but rather that your decision, “we won’t do it”, was you taking the offensive.
Yes. We want to be the coolest, the most powerful as a band, for our next move. What we’re pursuing the most is people thinking “As expected, the GazettE are amazing” when they see us live. That’s the only thing we think about. And I swear I have the confidence that we can truly do that.
I want that day to come as soon as possible. Also, I have a feeling that once corona has cleared up and artists can resume their activities, it’ll become clear in what ways they have spent the meantime.
I think so. Well, obviously I’ve been in touch with music all this time to improve my skills, but what I hate the most is when we get active again after a long time and the members think like “wow, he sucks!” I’m just doing it so I’ll have something to say when they ask me what I’ve been doing all this time.
It’s amazing that you’ve been doing this band with the same people over so many years but haven’t become irresponsible.
I’ve always preferred the essence of the band to be more like rivals, rather than “a group of 5 buddies.” I feel like it’s easier to connect with each other that way, ultimately having harmony is not what enables us to create good work, but being able to inspire one another is. I’ve had my fair share of relying on the band, although I strongly feel now that I don’t want to do that anymore.
You did rely on them, didn’t you? Though I don’t have that impression at all.
Because it’d be terrible if that [info] leaked outside of the band (laughs). I feel inside myself that I’ve been dependent on them, and I don’t think that was a good thing.
In any case, I have a feeling that the GazettE are in a good situation now. Even though I think that because the corona crisis has been going on longer than expected, that period of time that you didn’t do live streams was also longer than you thought. Did you have any worries at all that fans might end up forgetting about the GazettE?
We did, and we did talk a lot about it among the members. Whether we aren’t being too stubborn with our convictions, or if fans won’t have forgotten about the GazettE after taking some time away from it. But I don’t think I’ll do anything about that. I think the other members will keep us connected with them for me, won’t they (laughs). Although we are having more stress than I’d imagined. Stress with the company not making more profit, but we’re also having to think more seriously than usual about where we draw the line between how far we can and cannot go. We haven’t been active publicly, but the stress is accumulating. I do what I can every day in these circumstances. Although I haven’t met anybody in forever, so I don’t know if I can [actually] do it.
I think you can. It’s been a year since we last talked, but I’m feeling a sense of tension in your thoughts. the GazettE has kept quiet for a long time, though you announced the release of your new album 『MASS』on January 29th this year. That was produced during that time you put your activities on the back burner, wasn’t it?
Yes. We began working on the new album around the end of 2019. Since we decided to have the anniversary show in March last year, we took a temporary break and worked on that instead, but then any type of activity, let alone concerts, became undoable. Because of that a whole bunch of things got delayed and so ultimately it wasn’t until summer last year that we started full-scale recording.
Is that so? When you decided on making a new album by the end of 2019, did you already have a theme or concept for it?
No, I feel like we didn’t. With 『DOGMA』we had drawings that Ruki had brought, but we didn’t have that. But I don’t think we had a particular concept for 『NINTH』either. We didn’t this time around either so… I feel like we were just bringing songs forward and trying to take a look at the hits*… kind of like that. Ruki probably had some vague images in his mind but he was not yet at a stage where he could’ve made clear exactly what he was going for.
So after the show in March was cancelled, we each went back to songwriting and began sharing what we’d come up with. And while we did that, we decided which song was going to be the single. Or more like… we decided only the single. We only had this one song, you know, although I keep calling it an album (laughs).
*[TN: “hits” as in “hit songs”, songs they particularly liked)
Well, I think that’s one of those things you can’t do anything about. I’m sure it was difficult to gauge what type of songs you were supposed to compose because there was no definite concept yet; also because you weren’t able to meet up with your fellow members until around June.
We did meet in the summer for song selection meetings. We would bring songs to selection meetings about once a month, but around autumn we didn’t meet anymore. I introduced the band to Zoom because we’d also begun using Dropbox. It’s just that after I made the folder, I told them to put songs in it but nobody did (laughs).
Eh, why wouldn’t they?
Probably because nobody wants to be the only one submitting something, I guess (laughs). Besides, nobody’s commenting on anything either because even if you do, nobody’s gonna reply (laughs).
Eeeh!? Please reply to each other. Why is it that there’s no correspondence between you?
I don’t know if I think it’s cool or something (laughs). Well, the GazettE… we’re kind of super weird, you know. We started using Zoom pretty late into it, had something as handy as Dropbox and nobody used it… (laughs). It was crazy by the end of production. We continued to use Zoom during it as well, but we all stay connected on it until the dead of night you see. But because the screens are all visible, it feels to me like I’m being monitored or something (laughs). That’s how extreme it is (laughs).
So which song did you choose as the lead for the album after those selection meetings?
That would be 「BLINDING HOPE」. We decided on that around summer last year, and because it’s been a while since our last album we wanted to try and be diligent with recording it. Pre-production phase was packed, to some extent, so by the time we got to recording I had the impression that we’d managed to finish it the way we’d imagined. There were no dramatic changes [to it anymore], it felt more like a clean copy.
「BLINDING HOPE」 is a heavy and emotional number, enabling you to appreciate the newest shape of this core of the GazettE. By shaping 「BLINDING HOPE」, imagery of other songs is visible as well, and the pacing of your songwriting became quicker, didn’t it?
Yeah, no, it was a little different. We made 「BLINDING HOPE」, but that didn’t mean that we could already see a complete picture for the album. That’s how it was for me personally.
In that case, how did you go about completing the songs?
Kind of like, Ruki brought the songs and we went “Ah, so that’s what we’re doing, okay, got it.” That’s how we ended up not doing song selection meetings anymore. The songs on this album are basically all songs that Ruki made or was involved with. There are only two songs that the four of us in the instrument group made but even there Ruki chimed in saying “do it like that, do it like this” and that shaped the final form.
So, if you put it like that, all songs are Ruki’s. Regardless of whether that’s the right solution or not, if we’re talking about the shape that is the GazettE, then that just means we, as one, managed to create one coherent album named 『MASS』.
I feel that the album’s complete picture slowly became clearer in Ruki’s mind. At the core of 『MASS』 are musical compositions that perfectly balance a fresh band spirit and mechanical sequences. What are your impressions of this type of style?
I’m glad if it’s perfect, but my impression is that it’s the simplest of all our works as a band until now. That’s just my personal thoughts, but I think it’s the simplest and the easiest to listen to, out of everything we’ve made so far.
I agree with it being the easiest to listen to, however I don’t think it’s simple. Because of how detailed the musical arrangements are, the individual playing and the way you scatter the sounds.
Yeah, turns out Ruki envisioned it like that as well. Stuff like the arrangements and the use of sequences is also something he came up with, because basically all I did was play the guitar parts that Ruki put into the demos. We concluded that that was the right path this time around. That’s why it was relatively easy in terms of the approach, all parts supported each other in the arrangement.
For sure, the guitars this time have more of a straight feeling to them than usual. Well then, out of all recorded songs on 『MASS』, which has left the strongest impression on you?
A song that left a strong impression on me, or rather one that I enjoyed recording is 「MOMENT」. Rather than with melodies and the likes, I’ve never approached the guitars as methodically as this before. I did all acoustic guitar phrases for 「LAST HEAVEN」 from 『BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY』 (released Oct. 23rd 2013), but the technique used for that song was one in which Uruha and I played different arpeggios together and made it into one phrase. This time we divided it into side guitar [TN: side guitar = rhythm guitar] and arpeggio, and I only did the strokes. That has guts and I like that, so I enjoyed it, too.
We did have the option to record at the studio too, but because we’d been proceeding with it online [before too] we decided to do it from home. That way I could really think about and construct the sounds of the acoustic guitar at my own pace. Confronting my acoustic like that is something I don’t really do a lot. Until now I’ve dealt with the sound of its main body, but that will change completely depending on the microphones and arrangements of the engineer, you know. So I just brought my acoustic guitar to the studio. I’m glad that I realized how fun it is for me to reflect on these different types of things.
You managed to reach a new stage, right? 「MOMENT」 is a warm medium tune and musically innovative, too.
It having warmth is something I felt as well. Not only 「MOMENT」, but the whole album is super emotional this time around. It’s emoting, studded with lots of different feelings, that’s my impression. The lyrics have a strong message-like character to them, which is a bit different from our previous style. It’s a new the GazettE I guess you could say. I mean, ultimately there are no songs on this album that aren’t Ruki’s. But that’s not a negative thing, almost certainly it’s just that Ruki has so many things he wants to convey, I think. They’re stories that all members sympathized with and created together. So it’s not like we’re becoming a “one-man band”, but just that “this type of” the GazettE “also exists.”
I listened to the songs on 『MASS』 without knowing that they were all composed by Ruki or that it was often specified how the instrument group approached it. Yet I didn’t feel like Ruki’s color* was domineering. I think that is because he’s very familiar with things like the GazettE’s essence and each member’s personality as a player.
*[TN: the interviewer literally does say “color”, but I feel like what they were referring to is more Ruki’s “influence.”]
That’s true. What’s fascinating about Ruk is that he thinks very precisely. “Uruha plays this type of guitar, that type of guitar part suits Aoi very well” is sort of what he says to us. That’s how he understands us members and it’s why none of us felt any discontent at the fact that we would duplicate his demos. I feel like particularly this time around Ruki watched the band more than he ever has.
So it wasn’t like you listened to Ruki’s demos and went “no, I won’t have that…”
Oh I did (laughs). I listened to Ruki’s demos and whenever I thought “I would do this like that”, I would make a suggestion, “how about we do it like that”. But Ruki’s mental image [of the album] is quite definite, so there were some songs that I ultimately just went with. Of course that happens, it’s not like we don’t doubt things just because it’s Ruki who says them. Whenever I feel like an approach different from his would be more suitable, I’ll ask him to let me try and see which one I’m more into. If we don’t decide then I won’t be able to put all my strength into it and Ruki might end up thinking that the members don’t contribute anything to the songs. I don’t want that to happen. So we communicate properly and if there’s anything I want to try, I ask him to let me try it.
That’s a good pattern. This can be said for all parts of the songs, but your individual influences do come out in the way you obtain nuances and timing* in your specific phrases too. I want to ask a little bit more about the songs on 『MASS』. I noticed that 「ROLLIN'」blended hardness with some latin tastes, and that while 「THE PALE」 is dramatic, it also has a mechanical feeling to it.
*[TN: the interviewer says ‘sense of time’ and upon googling, I found out this could also mean ‘sense of rhythm’ in the music world. So they’re talking about timing and rhythm here)
Yeah, 「ROLLIN'」 is new. Ruki often said that “jungle” was a keyword for 『MASS』 for him. It was the same for 『BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY』. The melody in 「ROLLIN'」 has a latin feel to it, but I feel like he wanted to create more of a hodgepodge of all different kinds of elements. Ruki’s intuition in that area is so good, it’s outstanding. It’s thanks to that 「ROLLIN'」 is so alive; truthfully I could never write a song like that.
Be that as it may, I do think that it’s also the members who have the skill to give Ruki’s ideas a firm shape.
That’s why it’s necessary to be diligent. For 「ROLLIN'」, my guitars didn’t have the tone color that suited it and there were no [other] bands that would have been of use as a reference. So I proposed my own approach and we applied it that way. 「THE PALE」 is a very GazettE-ish song. GazettE-like or rather… basically Ruki likes these types of songs, you know. That’s why you can imagine a live right away [when you hear it] and it gives you that “these types of songs are nice after all” kind of impression.
I feel like there are many bands that use strings and keyboards, like you did in 「THE PALE」, excessively but it’s also good to know how to use them moderately.
For sure, if you want to make an extravagant song like that you can put as much [strings and keyboard] in it as you like, but 「THE PALE」 has a band feeling to it. What I mean is that Ruki has applied them super well here, too.
I feel the same. Well then, while 『MASS』 is a fulfilling work suitable to be the first voice of a post-corona the GazettE, it is also the band’s tenth album. How do you feel now that 『MASS』 is completed?
Right, so… I don’t think 『MASS』 is the best album we’ve ever made. We did recording completely online, without meeting each other, and mixing was done online too, so [by the end of it] I was like “Huh, hold on, are we done now?” (laughs). Besides, we’re a band that’s always been creating very “live show” kind of works*, we place the highest priority on our live performances. So even if the album is produced and everyone can listen to it, you can’t say it’s “complete” [until we’ve performed it live].
It was similar with 『NINTH』 but we could go on tour there, we could perform the new songs, paint a nice picture. When I thought that we’d been able to have good lives, that it was a successful tour, that’s when it was “completed” for the first time. I feel that in particular very strongly this time around. Because we can only imagine what kind of picture we would paint for 『MASS』 at live shows. We did put concert footage into the trailer for the songs but that is purely our impressions of what it would be like. 『MASS』 will be completed by us actually performing it. Which means [until then] I don’t actually really feel like it is.
*[TN: I think what he means here is that they always think of concerts when they write music, and how each song would/could possibly look & sound like when performed]
『MASS』 will be glorious live, and at the same time it’ll gather songs that make you feel like you’re growing up live more and more, so I’m looking forward to it. But at the present time you don’t have any plans to announce a live show, do you?
We don’t. We do want to do lives, inside of us there’s this strong craving to do them. It’s not like we’re at a standstill, looking at the state of affairs in the world right now. We’ve been looking for a place for a long time, but venues aren’t renting out; it’s worth mentioning that everyone’s struggling with venues. So it’s pretty tough. But I want you all to understand that we are working towards doing shows. Or well, I personally am being a NEET* (laughs). Also I want to know if you guys still remember the GazettE at all? (laughs)
[TN: ‘NEET’ describes a young person neither working full-time nor learning a job]
They do! Your fans will be patient for a little longer.
We’ll definitely be doing lives again, so I’d like them to keep listening to『MASS』and stay connected with us until then. I joked about it like “do you still remember us” but there’s a part of me that actually thinks about that pretty seriously. Too much time has passed since we’ve stopped sharing [new things] so I can’t comfortably say “wait for us, okay?” It’s inexcusable.
PŘEKLAD: cancerianwastenlandcat.tumblr.com
( part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 )
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