The Aoi & Uruha GUITAR BOOK
There was so much momentum at the time that there was no style
- I heard the GazettE’s first mini album “Cockayne Soup” , you were already capitalizing on the different colors of 2 guitars.
Aoi: But in “Haru ni Chirikeri, Mi wa Kareru de Gozaimasu”, it was the guitar approach that Uruha had that made it work.
Uruha: Yeah.
Aoi: It wasn’t limited to just “Haru ni Chirikeri, Mi wa Kareru de Gozaimasu”; that time was during the period where I was still relying on Uruha (laugh).
- Is that so? Speaking of which, on the contrary, it’s my understanding that Uruha’s approach became the basis of the GazettE’s twin guitars.
Aoi: Recently, I have been struck by Uruha’s influence, definitely in a great way. It was also because at that time I still couldn’t offer any musical compositions. At the beginning of the GazettE, Ruki and Uruha were like the composers of the band. We entrusted those two to be the face of our music.
- So that’s how it was, then did you see the type of style in a song to aim for in the beginning compositions?
Uruha: I wonder… At that time “This is the style!” isn’t something we said or the driving force we had. It was because each time the sound came out the design would change. We certainly are at a dead end huh? (bitter laugh). That’s why it’s so hard to get out 1 song.
Aoi: That sure was how it was at the beginning. I also didn’t say “This song!” I think I was starting to bring out my own color around “Madara ~MADARA~” (5th Mini Album).
Uruha: Since the beginning, Aoi always bought out his own color during lives though, because you always had your own character. Weren’t you shouting?
Aoi: Yeah. Now that you mention it, at those beginning lives I didn’t play the guitar very much (laugh).
Uruha: Huh, really?
Aoi: Yeah. Without playing a phase, I would shout out “Jaan!” like a white gem. And then Uruha would get mad (laugh). He’d be like, “Why aren’t you playing your guitar? It sounds really bad if you don’t play right here, you know” (laugh). I’d be like, “Sorry. I’ll play, I’ll play! From now on I’ll play!” (laugh). Don’t you remember?
Uruha: I don’t remember (laugh). But did you start to play properly from me scolding you?
Aoi: After Uruha got mad, I started to think “That’s indeed the case”. From then I started to play well (laugh).
- So you had that period too (laugh). As for the band, in your 2nd Mini Album “Akyuukai ～Akyuukai～”, did you have an established basic impression?
Aoi: Let me see. From here we started to capitalize on a heavy unison riffs. Wasn’t it also from there that we started to adopt down tuning?
Uruha: Right. But it was sudden (laugh). At the beginning of “Ray”, even though we were using regular tuning, since everything was heavy I said, “wouldn’t down tuning be better” was how the story went. So then right before we started recording, I hurriedly tuned down 1 step (laugh).
- When you making use of down tuning in that song, Aoi didn’t have the thought of wanting to make the sound heavy as a result?
Aoi: Right. It was the becoming the “basic style” so that’s how I made the composition.
- So it’s alright to say that was a pure Aoi thought?
Uruha: That’s too pure, because he’s an idiot (laugh).
Aoi: AHAHA!!
Uruha: Although, I thought it was better not to lower “Ray”. To bring out the tone of Ruki’s pick point voice more since the members knew the regular tuning version. That way it would let it come straight out. I kept on pointing out that I thought going low wasn’t good thing. Although I thought it would give more meaning.
Aoi: Even thought there was no opposition to adopting down tuning, when it came time for the lives we were troubled. At that time, since it wasn’t something our guitars had, we were wondering what we should do.
Uruha: I don’t remember (laugh). But while doing “Ray” live we didn’t have two guitars, right? And we couldn’t do just 1 song 1 step down.
Aoi: Ahh…. that was dull (laugh).
Uruha: At that time, since we didn’t do a lot of long lives, we were probably able to support that (laugh). I thought it was fun to mix the changes around when we were recording “Akyuukai ～Akyuukai～”. Like for “Wife”, we started off with having a live feel, and then the sounds that came out suddenly changed. Figuring out how songs tie together is was very fun. The change from “Ray” to “Wife” was like rolling over in a loop, don’t you think? That’s sort of the story. Like the cutting and pounding in “Wife”, that’s the kind of mood we had.
- At the beginning of the GazettE you guys have various types of songs, but how did you perceive them?
Aoi: I wonder. Since I was already in a place where I was becoming very eager and everything I came up was new therefore as I became aware of it, I created various songs. That was the kind of feeling.
Down tuning was the “basic style” now, so that’s how I made the composition
Uruha: Even if the melody was relatively extensive, in relation to the guitars, the various things we did weren’t as extensive. But right now we absolutely do various things. For example, in the past I didn’t have much knowledge about string bending so I wasn’t able to do it very skillfully. Even though it had a different feeling, I could still hear my objective. Even when objectively listening, it was still not there.
- But the beginning sound of the guitars also had a mucky sounding distortion. The guitar gain was a feeling of an impression left by each of you paying attention when you combining your compositions together.
Aoi: Uruha was doing things carefully since that time, since I didn’t have any recording gear to use. That’s why I think when you listen to it, it sounds a little distorted.
Uruha: Even though I carefully select the tone when we assemble a song, there’s that want for a more consistent guitar sound, you know?
Aoi: There is. (bitter laugh).
Uruha: Since that time I’ve been careful. I think, “Why do I hear this shameless sound?” But I didn’t know what technique would improve it. Since “If I turn up the bass on the amp, won’t it get thicker?” was around the level I was at (laugh).
I think enjoying frustration is evidence that I am motivated in the guitar
- So you’ve mastered creating a good guitar sound after all the recordings, huh? When it comes down to the expected time, how do you decide how you divide the guitar solos?
Uruha: Since at that time Aoi never said he wanted to play a guitar solo, it was basically left to me how I felt like playing.
Aoi: At the beginning, I never felt like playing a solo. Even I don’t know understand why I felt that way. Up until then I just joined the band and the musicianship was different, and since I didn’t know what kind of solo I could play that would be good might’ve been the reason why. But I had my spontaneous nature, since I didn’t have any tact. There was no reason to decide when I couldn’t play a solo. Somehow I felt that it didn’t matter if I could play one or not.
- So then you were changing little by little, huh? While playing in the GazettE, do you not get frustrated as a guitarist?
Uruha: I did actually. I’m the type that is repeatedly frustrated. That’s the case even up until this day (laugh). It happened just the other day. I was thinking, “I saw my limit as a guitarist.” That sort of thing happens a lot. I think of something like, “Why is that I can’t play this?” and I sink into that sort of thing.
- So that’s something you have to overcome time and again, huh?
Uruha: Right, it’s just that even if I can overcome some things, it is still difficult to overcome. But it is also a new challenge. What I mean is that it’s always scary. Being able to overcome something is good but when I can’t overcome something the damage is truly gigantic. At that time you feel like perhaps this will continue on forever. But I don’t know whether to let it go or keep at it. I think enjoying frustration is proof that I am motivated in music and in the guitar. But I also think it’s because that sort of thing is not very becoming of an adult.
- I wonder about that. Whether you it’s becoming an adult or not, that is a roundabout way to feel. Always playing while being frustrated, distressed, or burdened, is how current great artists are usually referred to be.
Uruha: That’s hard, isn’t it? There are great players from all over appearing and at the beginning I wanted become a great player. But I’m the type of person where if I don’t fully comprehend everything, I don’t worry about it. When I think about it, after having said that I think falling into depression isn’t good either.
Aoi: That’s weird; I’m probably the opposite of Uruha. When I make a mistake, I rarely care about it. When I feel envious, I just think “UWAA!” (laugh). But, that’s because I’m always worried that it can’t be helped. The only thing I can do is practice so I can do it next time. So even when I’m at home I try to practice. That’s how I feel.
In “NIL” I finally had the feeling for the music we were making. That’s when I burst open
- You two are different however you get along quite well. When the current is flowing, after the GazettE frequently put out mini albums and their first full album “DISORDER”, it seemed that for “NIL” there was an impression that your skill increased. You two did a lot of things, it seemed like you crammed a lot of feeling into that 1 album.
Uruha: Yeah, you can say that our awareness changed. At that time, we crammed all of that time’s crazes into the album. “DISORDER” was somehow on the verge of that work’s feeling. In “DISORDER”, I was getting a little bored, then in “NIL” it came out. In “NIL” I have the impression that the album isn’t one sided. In “DISORDER” I had an excess world outlook expectation. That album had playing with a punk taste but the people who played it where visual kei. Whichever way you choose, I wanted to it to have an emotional feeling. But the dicey “DISORDER” wasn’t missing anything on the surface. I mean that it lacked a sense of integration. That’s the kind of work it was.
Zdroj:https://phoenixshin.livejournal.com/10720.html?fbclid=IwAR3KE-Kl_cT3Fsm0SlyTb8q9ojO9lYXOCELsyiSgP4RoCLQG1_c-P0tz96M
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