On March 24, 2014, multi talent YOSHIKI (leader of legendary visual kei band X JAPAN and solo artist) invited various media representatives to a hotel in Berlin, Germany. The artist not only promoted his latest release YOSHIKI Classical and the associated world tour of the same name, but also showed his piano skills to the gathered press. JaME was one of the attending media and after the big photo call we had the chance to ask YOSHIKI a few questions about his current projects and future plans in an intimate interview.
You will be playing in various countries with different orchestras for your YOSHIKI Classical World Tour. How will the rehearsals look like?
YOSHIKI: For this tour there might be a piano and several strings; not an entire orchestra. It will be a very intimate feeling for these concerts. Most likely there will be four to seven strings—I haven't decided yet. What else can I say though? There may be guest vocalists too.
Among all your compositions, how did you choose the songs for your latest album?
YOSHIKI: The songs for this album are more of a theme song for something. Like the theme song for the Japanese Emperor's 10th anniversary or the theme song for the Golden Globes, the theme song for the World Expo ... so there are a lot of theme songs. Actually, I'm creating YOSHIKI Classical II right at this moment as well as X JAPAN's album. So the next one will be more like "piano heavy"—I'm going to play my piano. I just finished one recording before I came here. (laughs)
Busy as usual.
YOSHIKI: I had a free night to still play in Los Angeles, so certainly I'm playing good. (laughs)
Just now you said you will be playing with several strings rather than a full orchestra. It is also in your compositions, not only for your latest album, that the strings are very present. Do you have a special relation to the violin?
YOSHIKI: I don't know ... I love strings, even though I don't play very much on my own actually. I did play trumpet for five years. But I didn't like how it looked, so I quit. (laughs) So, visual is very important for me, too. But I love strings, you know. Also when I write orchestra pieces, I also write some French horn and so on. But in general, I like piano and strings, yeah.
It is also a very beautiful combination, that works great together, right?
YOSHIKI: (nods)
Where do you find inspiration for your compositions like the Golden Globe Theme or the theme for the Emperor of Japan (Anniversary)?
YOSHIKI: For those specific events I tried to get as much information as possible and got the inspiration from that event itself. But in general I just get the inspiration from anything, you know, from a scenery or painting or by talking to fans through the Internet or just, you know … getting inspiration from anything. Because when I write music, I don't use instruments. I just use music scores, so I can write pretty much anything anywhere.
You were shooting a new music video 10 feet under water a week ago. Can you tell us more about this experience, please?
YOSHIKI: How did you know? (laughs) Okay. I shot two music videos.
Two?
YOSHIKI: Yeah, one for Forever Love -Piano version-, and one for YOSHIKI Classical II, Rosa -Classical version-. Yeah, so ... how was it under the water?
Was it hard?
YOSHIKI: Yes, the day before we were at the beach, shooting the Forever Love video and I also burnt a piano down. Before burning down the piano it was freezing because of fake rain and I was like "Oh, I'm freezing." The next moment they put the fire all over, it was so hot, I thought "Oh my god, I hope I'm going to survive this," it was like torture. (laughs) Somehow I survived, and the next day they said "You're going under water!" I was like "Ah, you're right." They had an instructor, so I had to learn within 30 minutes to go under water. But I was kind of a little bit sick and also exhausted, but I had to go under water. Be it as it may, they came up saying that the result was amazing, so it was good. But because I was going up and down under water, my ears kind of screwed up. I actually met the doctor two days ago in Los Angeles. My ears are coming back right this moment. It will take two weeks to heal or something. But also at the same time I was writing a theme song for an upcoming animation. I can't say it yet but you're going to find out in several weeks. I was also shooting a video last week with this hologram thing in Texas, then doing these two music videos, then producing the theme song for that animation film at the same time. So, I was really ... dead. (laughs) And I was about to miss the plane. Right before coming here I was working. My flight left at 6pm, and I was working till 3pm.
We saw this on Twitter. (laughs) Do you like animation?
YOSHIKI: Yes, completely.
Yes?
YOSHIKI: Yes, I do.
In another interview (with MTV) you said you would be recording the upcoming X JAPAN album and planning the world tour with X JAPAN as well. Is this the big news scheduled for October this year?
YOSHIKI: Yes, you may have something in October. Running X JAPAN also brings a lot of contract issues, because all the members have different managements, as well as some record label issues. But as the leader of the band I'm all taking care of that, I'm right on top of it and this is almost done. Just have to read contracts this thick (shows amount with his fingers) to know how to do the recordings because of all these management issues.
Not to forget the tight schedules and everything.
YOSHIKI: Let's rock it!
A few months ago, you said you wanted to be the creator of a new era of rock in the world with X JAPAN. What would this look like? How do you imagine this?
YOSHIKI: I don't know, because our music doesn't really fall into categories. So, when it comes to compositions and composing, be it rock or classical, I'm just being confident about the melodies. So I just have to keep doing what I'm doing. And because I have amazing support from my fans, so—by the way, I love them, just for the record—so, I just want to create something new or something to break a boundary. That's what I'd like to do, together with my fans.
You became famous as a hard rock musician with X JAPAN, now you also enjoy doing classical works. Do you intend to release more albums like YOSHIKI Classical within the next years? And how do you see your further career—rocking with X JAPAN, writing more classical songs or simply being a producer?
YOSHIKI: I'd say I'm rock, because my background is rock music. But I also like to spread the classical music to pop/rock fans as well. Also classical people can learn how great rock music is. So I'd like to create a bridge between those genres.
At the end, a question we often hear from your fans. What was it like to create a comic with Stan Lee?
YOSHIKI: Okay, okay. Yeah, I just saw him ... last month or so? Yeah, yeah. I think, he's more in charge when it comes to the "Blood red Dragon" comic and I think he is talking about coming to TV. He is creating a TV series for that. You'll see.
Could you please give a message to our readers?
YOSHIKI: First of all, thank you so much for being so supportive. Because of my fans I have the strength to carry on. My life and my band had some ups and downs—like when we broke up or when we re-united and so on. It's like music is my life. My fans are as important as my music. And because of you I can keep going! I really have to thank you very much and I want to get back to the visual music.
You will be playing in various countries with different orchestras for your YOSHIKI Classical World Tour. How will the rehearsals look like?
YOSHIKI: For this tour there might be a piano and several strings; not an entire orchestra. It will be a very intimate feeling for these concerts. Most likely there will be four to seven strings—I haven't decided yet. What else can I say though? There may be guest vocalists too.
Among all your compositions, how did you choose the songs for your latest album?
YOSHIKI: The songs for this album are more of a theme song for something. Like the theme song for the Japanese Emperor's 10th anniversary or the theme song for the Golden Globes, the theme song for the World Expo ... so there are a lot of theme songs. Actually, I'm creating YOSHIKI Classical II right at this moment as well as X JAPAN's album. So the next one will be more like "piano heavy"—I'm going to play my piano. I just finished one recording before I came here. (laughs)
Busy as usual.
YOSHIKI: I had a free night to still play in Los Angeles, so certainly I'm playing good. (laughs)
Just now you said you will be playing with several strings rather than a full orchestra. It is also in your compositions, not only for your latest album, that the strings are very present. Do you have a special relation to the violin?
YOSHIKI: I don't know ... I love strings, even though I don't play very much on my own actually. I did play trumpet for five years. But I didn't like how it looked, so I quit. (laughs) So, visual is very important for me, too. But I love strings, you know. Also when I write orchestra pieces, I also write some French horn and so on. But in general, I like piano and strings, yeah.
It is also a very beautiful combination, that works great together, right?
YOSHIKI: (nods)
Where do you find inspiration for your compositions like the Golden Globe Theme or the theme for the Emperor of Japan (Anniversary)?
YOSHIKI: For those specific events I tried to get as much information as possible and got the inspiration from that event itself. But in general I just get the inspiration from anything, you know, from a scenery or painting or by talking to fans through the Internet or just, you know … getting inspiration from anything. Because when I write music, I don't use instruments. I just use music scores, so I can write pretty much anything anywhere.
You were shooting a new music video 10 feet under water a week ago. Can you tell us more about this experience, please?
YOSHIKI: How did you know? (laughs) Okay. I shot two music videos.
Two?
YOSHIKI: Yeah, one for Forever Love -Piano version-, and one for YOSHIKI Classical II, Rosa -Classical version-. Yeah, so ... how was it under the water?
Was it hard?
YOSHIKI: Yes, the day before we were at the beach, shooting the Forever Love video and I also burnt a piano down. Before burning down the piano it was freezing because of fake rain and I was like "Oh, I'm freezing." The next moment they put the fire all over, it was so hot, I thought "Oh my god, I hope I'm going to survive this," it was like torture. (laughs) Somehow I survived, and the next day they said "You're going under water!" I was like "Ah, you're right." They had an instructor, so I had to learn within 30 minutes to go under water. But I was kind of a little bit sick and also exhausted, but I had to go under water. Be it as it may, they came up saying that the result was amazing, so it was good. But because I was going up and down under water, my ears kind of screwed up. I actually met the doctor two days ago in Los Angeles. My ears are coming back right this moment. It will take two weeks to heal or something. But also at the same time I was writing a theme song for an upcoming animation. I can't say it yet but you're going to find out in several weeks. I was also shooting a video last week with this hologram thing in Texas, then doing these two music videos, then producing the theme song for that animation film at the same time. So, I was really ... dead. (laughs) And I was about to miss the plane. Right before coming here I was working. My flight left at 6pm, and I was working till 3pm.
We saw this on Twitter. (laughs) Do you like animation?
YOSHIKI: Yes, completely.
Yes?
YOSHIKI: Yes, I do.
In another interview (with MTV) you said you would be recording the upcoming X JAPAN album and planning the world tour with X JAPAN as well. Is this the big news scheduled for October this year?
YOSHIKI: Yes, you may have something in October. Running X JAPAN also brings a lot of contract issues, because all the members have different managements, as well as some record label issues. But as the leader of the band I'm all taking care of that, I'm right on top of it and this is almost done. Just have to read contracts this thick (shows amount with his fingers) to know how to do the recordings because of all these management issues.
Not to forget the tight schedules and everything.
YOSHIKI: Let's rock it!
A few months ago, you said you wanted to be the creator of a new era of rock in the world with X JAPAN. What would this look like? How do you imagine this?
YOSHIKI: I don't know, because our music doesn't really fall into categories. So, when it comes to compositions and composing, be it rock or classical, I'm just being confident about the melodies. So I just have to keep doing what I'm doing. And because I have amazing support from my fans, so—by the way, I love them, just for the record—so, I just want to create something new or something to break a boundary. That's what I'd like to do, together with my fans.
You became famous as a hard rock musician with X JAPAN, now you also enjoy doing classical works. Do you intend to release more albums like YOSHIKI Classical within the next years? And how do you see your further career—rocking with X JAPAN, writing more classical songs or simply being a producer?
YOSHIKI: I'd say I'm rock, because my background is rock music. But I also like to spread the classical music to pop/rock fans as well. Also classical people can learn how great rock music is. So I'd like to create a bridge between those genres.
At the end, a question we often hear from your fans. What was it like to create a comic with Stan Lee?
YOSHIKI: Okay, okay. Yeah, I just saw him ... last month or so? Yeah, yeah. I think, he's more in charge when it comes to the "Blood red Dragon" comic and I think he is talking about coming to TV. He is creating a TV series for that. You'll see.
Could you please give a message to our readers?
YOSHIKI: First of all, thank you so much for being so supportive. Because of my fans I have the strength to carry on. My life and my band had some ups and downs—like when we broke up or when we re-united and so on. It's like music is my life. My fans are as important as my music. And because of you I can keep going! I really have to thank you very much and I want to get back to the visual music.
Zdroj:https://www.jame-world.com/en/article/126098-interview-with-yoshiki.html?fbclid=IwAR1cY_kNcKUUaVs0EdrnzhCwvvo1WHnbwD6P2xsR1TaouejtbXNdGfRmDjA
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