excite: Your first single for your 20th aniversary year is “GOOD LUCK MY WAY”. What did you think when you heard tetsuya-san’s demo?
ken: I felt it was a powerful song with breadth to it.
excite: Like a song that symbolizes the beginning 20th anniversary.
ken: At Makuhari Messe（【L’A HAPPY NEW YEAR ! 】）, it didn’t feel like it was our 20th year. I’ve been hearing, “it’s your 20th anniversary” from a lot of different people but I didn’t know how I should feel about that. After we finished our live at Makuhari Messe, the four of us would meet to compose and we became more like L’Arc~en~Ciel, and that’s when it started to hit me that it’s our 20th anniversary. And then tetsuya’s “GOOD LUCK MY WAY,” which contains the two feel-good elements of L’Arc~en~Ciel-like sense of speed and breadth… came at a good timing.
excite: What kind of image do you have of your 20th anniversary?
ken: Was “KISS” released 3 years ago? If we were first years in middle school back then, then it’d be like we’re graduating now (everyone laughs). So what does a 20th anniversary mean? It’s long. If you think of it that way, then it means I’ve been able to continue making music and playing guitar without getting sick of it for years.
excite: Do you practice guitar daily even now?
ken: I’d like to become better at it quickly, really. But as I practice, new things come up like, “now that I can do this, then now it’s time for that.” Also, I try to play the things I’ve been able to in the past with more emotion and to play in the direction of my will. Then, I start to see all these places where I need more practice. So it’s neverending. There are times when I get frustrated by it. By the time I think, “Yes, I’ve finally got it! I’m all right!” there’s a new challenge. And then I feel like, “Again~.” For example, let’s say I was working on improving the movement of one finger, then I’ll feel like the other finger is being left behind. So, I begin practicing that finger. I’m working endlessly like that. Doesn’t it frustrate you just by listening to this?
excite: No it doesn’t (laughs).
ken: Because you think, “If only I was able to do that~!”
excite: I’d like to know where the “end goal” is that you’re working so hard toward.
ken: For example, it’s kind of similar to the frustration experienced by someone who wants to spread out their toes but can’t. In terms of guitar, I want to be able to play it without any stress.
excite: I’d like to talk about the Music Clip as well. There were a lot of scenes where you play.
ken: It’s been a while since I’ve taken a lot of scenes where I’m playing. For a while, we had a lot of takes for a specific scene, but this time, we took a lot of performance scenes. It was like, we just recorded and the good scenes were used.
excite: It’s been a while since all four of you held your instruments and shot a Music Clip, right?
ken: We chatted during breaks.
excite: Chatted (laughs). [T/N: The interviewer is laughing at ken’s word choice for “talk”] About what?
ken: What was it? Someone started dancing. Maybe it was hyde. Then, we talked about that dance (laughs). We were talking about meaningless things like that until we were called.
excite: That’s nice (laughs). This single also includes “metropolis -2011-” by P’UNK~EN~CIEL, and I asked yukihiro-san, “How did drummer KEN P’UNK do?”
ken: How could you (laughs).
excite: He praised you. He said, “ken-chan has mastered keeping the 8-beat rhythm with his left foot without having anyone teach him. It’s amazing how he can do that by feel.” yukihiro-san said that he learned how to do that after practicing.
ken: Really? (laughs) I wasn’t thinking about it at all. After I heard the demo for “metropolis -2011-,” I thought I’m going to need a week of practice to master it. So, while we were recording “GOOD LUCK MY WAY,” I had the staff create a room for a drumset in the booth, and I practiced by myself. Because we usually only get one try for P’UNK recordings. P’UNK～EN～CIEL seems like there’s a lot of freedom, but it’s actually really strict. You don’t somehow acquire the ability to play drums (laughs). So I practice on my own, but when something’s off, I can feel that it’s wrong. But I have no clue how to fix it. If it was with the guitar, then I could spend time on it, but with P’UNK, we record immediately, so I ask, “yukihiro-san, when I’m drumming right here, it doesn’t feel right. What should I do?” Then, he gives me advice, “For these parts, why don’t you play it like this?” and surely enough, that discomfort is gone. But, when I slack off, the discomfort comes back so I have to practice until I’ve got it down. Lately, if I have a problem with drumming, I ask him right away (laughs).
excite: Is there something you’d like to do for you 20th anniversary year?
ken: I’d like to get to know our fans. Because there are a lot of different people who liked L’Arc~en~Ciel at different times. So, I feel like they share a lot of different things and memories. I’m interested in that. For instance, there might be someone like, “my older brother was listening to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s album so-and-so and I was still an elementary school student back then.” Or “well, I was a middle school student then.” Or “I was already an adult back then and I’m even more of an adult now.” Since we’ve been playing for so long, there are that many more different ways of learning about the band, so I’d like to learn more about that.
excite: There are people who tell you on your Twitter account, right? I wonder what it feels like to have your presence and music affect so many people’s lives….
ken: Right now, we’re rehearsing and playing our old songs, but they don’t make me feel nostalgic. I’m thinking about the kind of air the song emits while I’m playing. So I wonder if the people listening to it also feel that type of air, and if they are, that’d be quite interesting, so I’m very curious. That’s how I feel.
excite: It would be wonderful if you could share that atmosphere with many people in the future as well.
ken: Yeah. To be able to feel that kind of air from the performance feels good, so I’d like to keep feeling it no matter how old.¨
ken: I felt it was a powerful song with breadth to it.
excite: Like a song that symbolizes the beginning 20th anniversary.
ken: At Makuhari Messe（【L’A HAPPY NEW YEAR ! 】）, it didn’t feel like it was our 20th year. I’ve been hearing, “it’s your 20th anniversary” from a lot of different people but I didn’t know how I should feel about that. After we finished our live at Makuhari Messe, the four of us would meet to compose and we became more like L’Arc~en~Ciel, and that’s when it started to hit me that it’s our 20th anniversary. And then tetsuya’s “GOOD LUCK MY WAY,” which contains the two feel-good elements of L’Arc~en~Ciel-like sense of speed and breadth… came at a good timing.
excite: What kind of image do you have of your 20th anniversary?
ken: Was “KISS” released 3 years ago? If we were first years in middle school back then, then it’d be like we’re graduating now (everyone laughs). So what does a 20th anniversary mean? It’s long. If you think of it that way, then it means I’ve been able to continue making music and playing guitar without getting sick of it for years.
excite: Do you practice guitar daily even now?
ken: I’d like to become better at it quickly, really. But as I practice, new things come up like, “now that I can do this, then now it’s time for that.” Also, I try to play the things I’ve been able to in the past with more emotion and to play in the direction of my will. Then, I start to see all these places where I need more practice. So it’s neverending. There are times when I get frustrated by it. By the time I think, “Yes, I’ve finally got it! I’m all right!” there’s a new challenge. And then I feel like, “Again~.” For example, let’s say I was working on improving the movement of one finger, then I’ll feel like the other finger is being left behind. So, I begin practicing that finger. I’m working endlessly like that. Doesn’t it frustrate you just by listening to this?
excite: No it doesn’t (laughs).
ken: Because you think, “If only I was able to do that~!”
excite: I’d like to know where the “end goal” is that you’re working so hard toward.
ken: For example, it’s kind of similar to the frustration experienced by someone who wants to spread out their toes but can’t. In terms of guitar, I want to be able to play it without any stress.
excite: I’d like to talk about the Music Clip as well. There were a lot of scenes where you play.
ken: It’s been a while since I’ve taken a lot of scenes where I’m playing. For a while, we had a lot of takes for a specific scene, but this time, we took a lot of performance scenes. It was like, we just recorded and the good scenes were used.
excite: It’s been a while since all four of you held your instruments and shot a Music Clip, right?
ken: We chatted during breaks.
excite: Chatted (laughs). [T/N: The interviewer is laughing at ken’s word choice for “talk”] About what?
ken: What was it? Someone started dancing. Maybe it was hyde. Then, we talked about that dance (laughs). We were talking about meaningless things like that until we were called.
excite: That’s nice (laughs). This single also includes “metropolis -2011-” by P’UNK~EN~CIEL, and I asked yukihiro-san, “How did drummer KEN P’UNK do?”
ken: How could you (laughs).
excite: He praised you. He said, “ken-chan has mastered keeping the 8-beat rhythm with his left foot without having anyone teach him. It’s amazing how he can do that by feel.” yukihiro-san said that he learned how to do that after practicing.
ken: Really? (laughs) I wasn’t thinking about it at all. After I heard the demo for “metropolis -2011-,” I thought I’m going to need a week of practice to master it. So, while we were recording “GOOD LUCK MY WAY,” I had the staff create a room for a drumset in the booth, and I practiced by myself. Because we usually only get one try for P’UNK recordings. P’UNK～EN～CIEL seems like there’s a lot of freedom, but it’s actually really strict. You don’t somehow acquire the ability to play drums (laughs). So I practice on my own, but when something’s off, I can feel that it’s wrong. But I have no clue how to fix it. If it was with the guitar, then I could spend time on it, but with P’UNK, we record immediately, so I ask, “yukihiro-san, when I’m drumming right here, it doesn’t feel right. What should I do?” Then, he gives me advice, “For these parts, why don’t you play it like this?” and surely enough, that discomfort is gone. But, when I slack off, the discomfort comes back so I have to practice until I’ve got it down. Lately, if I have a problem with drumming, I ask him right away (laughs).
excite: Is there something you’d like to do for you 20th anniversary year?
ken: I’d like to get to know our fans. Because there are a lot of different people who liked L’Arc~en~Ciel at different times. So, I feel like they share a lot of different things and memories. I’m interested in that. For instance, there might be someone like, “my older brother was listening to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s album so-and-so and I was still an elementary school student back then.” Or “well, I was a middle school student then.” Or “I was already an adult back then and I’m even more of an adult now.” Since we’ve been playing for so long, there are that many more different ways of learning about the band, so I’d like to learn more about that.
excite: There are people who tell you on your Twitter account, right? I wonder what it feels like to have your presence and music affect so many people’s lives….
ken: Right now, we’re rehearsing and playing our old songs, but they don’t make me feel nostalgic. I’m thinking about the kind of air the song emits while I’m playing. So I wonder if the people listening to it also feel that type of air, and if they are, that’d be quite interesting, so I’m very curious. That’s how I feel.
excite: It would be wonderful if you could share that atmosphere with many people in the future as well.
ken: Yeah. To be able to feel that kind of air from the performance feels good, so I’d like to keep feeling it no matter how old.¨
Zdroj:https://jrocktrans.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/jun-2011-%E2%80%9Cgood-luck-my-way%E2%80%9D-special-site-35/
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat