Interview with Kamijo for Ure Pia Souken

 

Interview: Fujitani Chiaki

Source: VK link aviable on the previous link*

English translation: Ariane

Russian translation: Versailles Community : *I cannot put the VK link Facebook don’t allow it... go to the original page to see all the links :/

Original interview : https://ure.pia.co.jp/articles/-/16221

Solo debut of 「KAMIJO」, a young nobleman from the School of Aesthetics!

A brilliant story of Visual Kei's enchantment filled with 「poison」

he leader of a visual kei group called Versailles, Kamijo, appeared with his solo debut, and also appeared at URE PIA Souken! We did a great interview with him about his solo single, his enchanting 「Aesthetics」, and his warm love for visual kei.

Versailles is a Visual Kei group that, with their wonderful way of seeing the world, was very famous even abroad, adhered to the concept of 「Descendants of the Rose」. Leader of the group, KAMIJO-san, will debut on August 28 with his highly anticipated single 『Louis ～ Enketsu no La vie en Rose ～. And in such good spirits, he visited URE PIA Souken! This interview is about his politics, close to the 「School of Aesthetics」.

- Kamijo-san, what made you think about a solo career if you were active in groups before?

KAMIJO: Versailles hiatus, late last year. I didn't think of any other way, but a solo career is the next way of expressing myself, so I thought from the very beginning to debut as a solo artist.

- So you have not thought about creating a group, for example?

KAMIJO: I'm already in the Versailles band. And I wondered if I was okay. Besides Versailles, I played in a band called LAREINE (major debut in 1999, and paused in 2007), so I wondered if I really needed some other name in the current situation? That is why I started a solo career under the name 「KAMIJO」.

- And your debut single will be released on August 28 『Louis ～ Enketsu no La vie en Rose ～』.

KAMIJO: The word 「Enketsu」 is a derivation. It should be understood as 「Enchanting color of blood」. Because I love France so much, the band's name was originally taken from the French word for the QUEEN, namely Marie Antoinette. It was the same with Versailles, so all the time I was active (in projects) with titles related to French history. However, it is clear that 「KAMIJO」 is not related to French at all. It's Japanese at its fullest (laughs). That's why I thought to use 「Louis」 as the title of the debut single.

- The name 「Louis」 is reminiscent of the King of France, Louis XVI, who was executed during the French Revolution.

KAMIJO: Yes, that's right. For generations, the word 「Louis」 was addressed to the king, which is why I chose this name. I have created a song with so many different wishes that fit the visual kei scene.

- However, in addition to the title track, bonus tracks 『Grazioso』 and 『Gensō trianon』 were recorded, which were included in the regular edition.

KAMIJO:『Grazioso』 in Italian means 「Elegant」. This part is probably the same story as described in 『Louis〜』, but viewed from a different angle, because I think everyone lives their lives differently. And I also ask myself what if I go through life my own individual elegant way. It seems like I just put my feelings about the passage of this path into this song.

『Gensō trianon』 is also related to the French Revolution, but I wanted to entrust the question to the audience "Who is the main character?" ... This song is already a year old, and originally, its title was supposed to be 「Maboroshi」 (illusion), and I'm glad as if the illusion became reality, this song was finally able to see daylight.

- Do you plan to release the full album and live performances after the single is released?

KAMIJO: I think the album will come out. I worked with one single, so I could

pour out feelings in every song. I would like to release (the album) as quickly as possible, but my principle is to finish the songs one by one. Concert-wise, LIVE Versailles played fast and based on two bass drums, so I think they were attractive. That's why I want my recital to be more interesting, so I guess I would like to create a performance that is visually different from Versailles.

- A while ago you said about 『Louis ～ Enketsu no La vie en Rose ～』 that 「This is a song written with feelings for visual kei」, but it seems to me that you KAMIJO-san have your own different approach to 「Visual Kei」 stage.

KAMIJO:As for me, firstly 「Visual Kei」 is not a genre. I think there are different concepts here that help the musician to use ideas for many other methods - expressing them not only through music.

My first band, LAREINE, debuted as major in 1999. At the time, in the wake of the Visual Kei boom, there were many great bands with the so-called 「Big Four Visual Kei」 in the foreground. Under these circumstances, our LAREINE had a very low profile (underground) since we debuted at the end of this boom. Then a time came when the scene wasn't particularly impressive and I felt responsible to set an example for my young colleagues. And it became an impetus for me, my strength.

The values ​​and feelings that we accepted, that we created, reached not only the audience, but also our young colleagues who adopted it, and it became a force that made them start their own activity.

Of course, I still haven't changed my style, and this is largely due to the support of my fans.

- 「Visual Kei」 provides many possibilities. One of the reasons new bands are appearing on the Visual Kei scene is the ease with which they gain fans, but there are also cases when an active group leaves the scene.

KAMIJO: Visual Kei has 「poison」. From the very beginning, there were a lot of people who liked to style in the direction of Visual Kei, but for example, do metal bands enter the Visual Kei realm when they put on their makeup?

I have a feeling that lately people think that 「I will probably become popular (When will I put my makeup on?)」. Now more and more interesting bands appear. But they cannot avoid it. I suppose this is good for Visual Kei. Because there are beautiful musicians (laughs). Once you put on a mask, you cannot take it off (laughs).

But this is not only happening to musicians, because Visual Kei has an impact on fans and listeners who also have nowhere to go.

The moment when you most often think “This is beautiful, this is interesting”, when looking at photos, rather than listening to music, I call 「Awakening」.

I think there is no other scene that is so poisonous. No metal scene, or punk, or any other scene sinks so deep in toxin. That's why I love her so much.

Of course, I want to offer you, who listen to music, songs that are not only poisonous, but also give life in the color of roses. I want to fill the lives of people with roses as they listen to the climax of my first solo single 『Louis〜』, the lyrics of which say 「La vie en Rose, I want to paint you with enchanting shades」.

Moreover, Mana-san (MALICE MIZER ・ Moi dix Mois) appeared in the MV for this song. Mana-san told me a story about a world filled with roses, and he was the one who introduced this world to me. And Mana-san, being somewhat of a teacher, came into being in my MV, in which I showed the moment of my awakening in Visual Kei, so I guess I want the people watching this clip to have that in mind and wake up too.

For me, closely following the example of Visual Kei ends with 「School of Aesthetics」.

People who follow Visual kei primarily want to be handsome, handsome and more

more impressive than anyone else - that kind of feeling is born in them - and I think that is what the soul of Visual Kei is all about. Mana-san, being my teacher, told me 「Why should there be so few groups that fit roses?」. Having conceived to make a revolution together, I invited him, and this time we would act together.

upd. Continued translation

- Versailles and KAMIJO-san's popularity abroad was really high, which is why you decided to do a tour of South America and Europe, and you literally traveled all over the world. According to 「Cool Japan」, ways of showing Japanese culture in other countries have been discussed in various ways. But we would like to hear the opinion of KAMIJO-san who has traveled all over the world.

KAMIJO: People in other countries are adopting Japanese culture, which makes me extremely happy. But the truth is, when you go somewhere, you may also meet people whose knowledge is really limited. The reason is that not all people in the country have the same level of knowledge about Japan.

However, many people do not know the good side of Japan, and this is a huge loss. At the same time that Versailles began its operations, Visual Kei began to attract interest in Europe and then in America and Asia, but South America also began to show significant interest. However, as the months passed, people gradually began to leave, and only those who were really good remained with us.

This is why I am thinking of a different way besides 「Cool Japan」, which says that we do not take other countries seriously. Along with a solid foundation built on artistic achievement in Japan, I would like to have the opportunity to be the representative of Japan to the world. This has become a hot topic lately - I think it would not be beneficial for Japanese culture to go abroad so carelessly.

- So do you think we should support the growth of Visual Kei in interested countries?

KAMIJO:I would love to take all my wonderful Japanese staff overseas. Of course, people in other countries are also amazing, but still the Visual Kei scene is not only herself, not only the performers, but everyone from the staff around her, I think this would be the best way. That's why, if I could take everyone overseas with me, I could show the brilliance of Japanese Visual Kei, I think. So if I had a budget for that, wouldn't that be a great way to support it?

So in the current situation, when you are going on a world tour, you have to choose an elite staff who will go with you?

KAMIJO:No doubt there are artists who do this, but I would rather say that they are in the minority. Another thing is that since there is a limit on the number of devices and musical equipment that you can take with you on the plane, it happens that you have to rent it, for example, on the spot.

The visual Kei scene is truly amazing. I think that if it were only music, it would only be created by musicians. But Visual Kei are not only musicians, they are makeup artists, photographers, videographers, many different artists involved in creating music so that you can hear it better. A lot of the staff members are also involved in the songs and I'm wondering, so the Visual Kei scene isn't it getting deeper?

I think this scene is more cohesive than the rest. This is why I think Visual Kei is great. Taking this opportunity, I would like to say 「Thank you」 to every member of the stage. From now on, let's stick to the revitalized Visual Kei together.

Zdroj:https://www.facebook.com/notes/vive-le-roi-kamijo-fanclub-by-fans/interview-with-kamijo-for-ure-pia-souken/799969177269943/