BARKS (MARCH 2020) RUKI
The GazettE is releasing their LIVE Blu-ray & DVD “LIVE TOUR18-19 THE NINTH / FINAL DAIKYUU LIVE AT 09.23 YOKOHAMA ARENA” and Blu-ray & DVD “LIVE IN NEW YORK & WORLD TOUR19 DOCUMENTARY THE NINTH [99.999]” at the same time. This time, we welcomed RUKI to once again look back at the state of <LIVE TOUR18-19 THE NINTH> and talk about his thoughts on the future.
Interviewer: You released the documentary that showed you during the overseas tour and also the documentary footage on the first edition of the live Blu-ray & DVD. After watching both for about 4 hours in total, I felt that ‘because each member is particular about the details and devote their soul to express themselves, the band was able to continue for 17 years moving hearts of people around the world’. Watching that footage deepened my respect for the GazettE.
RUKI: Thank you very much. In case of the GazettE, we do not have many opportunities to show ourselves except during lives, so after finishing a long tour we are trying to add documentary footages to the live video as much as possible.
Interviewer: When I was watching the members speak and act in the documentary footage, there were many times where I would again discover how much thought went into the scenes of the songs. Knowing that, I was able to see different aspects of your experience during that time and re-watch the final performance of DAIKYUU with a new interpretation.
RUKI: When you see how it was backstage, it certainly changes the way you perceive it. For us it was a trial and error up until the tour’s last performance at Yoyogi Arena. Of course we start a long tour after building the core, but for each live we reflect on the audiences’ response we felt on that day and then connect those feelings to the next live. Our method is to keep brushing it up, so I am glad if it gets noticed.
Interviewer: However, if it is a live house scale it might be possible. In case of hall class venues, it is necessary to build it properly, so is it not hard to keep improving?
RUKI: Well, we always keep working on it until very last minute until the performance starts. If we don’t do it properly, what we’ll show to the audience will be incomplete. The hall performances we can build to some extent, but some things can only be understood after we’ve done it, such as ‘during this song it is better to stand still rather than move, in order for it to look better in this lighting’. It is our style to keep improving. Occasionally we are changing the song selection and performance drastically. We continued this tour by trying to make every performance ‘this time’s best’.
Interviewer: There are many bands that start the tour in already finished form, but the GazettE continues to pursue the best until the very last performance.
RUKI: There are times, where we also think in early stages of the tour, that it is perfected already. But after continuing like that for a while and our band develops, we would feel unsatisfied. So we keep progressing by reviewing the live footage every time and continuing to improve the sound and our performance. In addition, when we are performing the ‘fun’ might become priority and we’d end up not caring about the details. Because we don’t want to allow that to happen, we want to do it properly every time.
Interviewer: In the documentary you also said that if you get too excited, the thoughts you want to convey cannot be conveyed properly, so it is necessary to always remain calm.
RUKI: Of course we get excited during a live. But I think that for good balance, an extent of calmness is also necessary.
Interviewer: In the documentary you show yourselves outside of the stage, but the footage is mainly focused on you as musicians. You don’t show much of your private side.
RUKI: There are members who wouldn’t mind it, for some it is a no-go…I myself tend to omit footage that is not closely related to the live. Of course I understand that the fans would love to see more private footage. But I leave it to the other members; I want to show a side that is not like that.
Interviewer: So, it is up to each member’s judgment how much of them is shown in the backstage footage?
RUKI: That’s correct. It’s not like we are portraying a character which is the GazettE, so we are watching the footage created by the director and check whether everybody is satisfied with it. That’s why we first received a much longer version of the footage; each member checks it and the parts they want to be removed are deleted.
Interviewer: Both in Japan and overseas tour you were always followed by a camera team.
RUKI: We got used to the camera crew being around. If you watch the overseas tour documentary you will see that not all venues are as organized as in Japan. Including the dressing room, there were huge venues and also venues similar to warehouses. There were venues where we were wondering if it is really a live house. Well, but enjoying such things is part of overseas tours too.
Interviewer: The comments of the overseas fans were also recorded and you could really feel the love they have for the GazettE.
RUKI: There are fans not only in Japan, but also overseas, who say that when they discovered the GazettE, they were too young to go to lives, but now are old enough to come to our shows. We feel this every time we go to each country. From DOGMA onwards, the flow is to go on a tour after the album is released, but we are considering Japan and overseas as a set. Regarding overseas, we heard that it is more pleasing if we go every 3 years, instead of every year. In case of the GazettE, a tour which is based on an album will naturally take that much time, so it might be just right.
Interviewer: So although we don’t know yet when the next album will be released, once it’s released, you will tour in Japan and overseas as a package.
RUKI: As for the current situation, that’s correct.
Interviewer: Are you already moving towards the next album right now?
RUKI: Finishing the live footage productions, we were finally able to end the NINTH based activities. Right now we are starting to switch our mind to the next album. We are individually producing songs for it right now.
Interviewer: I think there are many fans, who are expecting you to announce something. To put it bluntly, will you?
RUKI: Right now I cannot say anything (laughs).
Inteviewer: As you will produce the new album from now, will it be an evolution based on DOGMA and NINTH? Or will it be completely different…? What are your thoughts on it?
RUKI: We are still in the midst of trial and error, so I cannot say anything irresponsible, but we are trying to make it completely different. At least, I am persisting to make it different.
Interviewer: Because it all starts with finding the theme, which will be the albums core.
RUKI: This is the most difficult part. In fact, I created a variety of demo songs in order to find it, but I was not convinced yet. So I delete the ones I created, make new ones, and repeat this process. In the GazettE’s albums there is one song that is directly symbolizes the whole album. Like in DOGMA it was DOGMA, in NINTH it was Falling. That’s why it takes a long time to decide on it. As long as we don’t find this song, we cannot plan a specific album release date or the next tour. Of course, we feel that we have to announce something to the fans. But because it is our responsibility towards the fans to present them a really convincing and cool album, there is not much I can do but say, ‘’please wait’’. On the other hand, we were very particular about details when creating the live footage, so we want the fans to enjoy it for a long time.
Interviewer: One last thing. The GazettE will be celebrating their 18th anniversary, so please tell us what you cherished as a visual kei band.
RUKI: That would be always evolving without destroying our style and the world view we painted when we first started. Visual kei is our favorite music. But also, through visual aspects of our band’s world view or CD’s, it allows us to express our imagination freely. As is often said, visual kei is interpreted as a word that expresses looks and is not only a music genre. I think that from the meaning of visual kei it is correct. But regardless of how it is called, the music style, melodies and world view that are called visual kei are definitely present in the music scene right now. We want to continue to evolve while protecting the music we want to do.
Interviewer: Is that style also influencing the current young visual kei bands?
RUKI: I don’t know whether it influences them. Because I don’t know much about the current visual kei scene. But if we start acting like ‘visual kei is like this’ nothing will be born from it.
Interviewer: I see.
RUKI: I think that it is important to be the 2020’s the GazettE instead of remaining unchanged from the past. Rather than shooting a music video dressed up, at a church, we feel the duty to suggest a coolness that is not that stereotypical.
Credits
Translation: Olga
Edit: Chris
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