This time, we've caught Gackt just in the middle of recording!! Trespassing into the studio, we had the opportunity to hear about many things, from the recording and tour up to his recent personal life, from a relaxed Gackt who was overflowing with smiles! By the way, the cameraman was YOU. Enjoy seeing Gackt as he is naturally, and the smile he could show because it's YOU. YOU: "Ah, pleased to help!"
-"MONTHLY GG" is out now, have you read it? What were your first impressions, and have you linked to it?
If we're talking about whether I've linked to it or not, theres still a lot of room for improvement. But because there aren't really any other artists releasing a web magazine monthly like this, it's kind of a new experiment, right? Because of that, it's a big step forward from the way Dears has been up until now. Furthermore, because you need editorial staff to release one issue a month, it becomes a big burden to the fanclub and production staff, right? If I think about that, you've done well. I want the fans to feel even more satisfied with the merits of joining the fanclub. So from now on I want all the fans to participate in the subject of the "MONTHLY GG" and make it better together!...is the point I want to make now. "This is how the fanclub will be from now on", looking at it like that is a good start, I think. It'll rapidly get better from now.
By the way, in the surveys from the fans, what they were hoping for most was of course big photos of Gackt. Can we have a few more after this?
Sure (laughs).
-At last you've begun the recording, how does it feel?
I'm about to blow my fuse (laughs). Theres a lot of difference between the times we can do it and the times we can't. When we can do the songs, we can really do them in an instant. However, when we can't, of course, it's extremely tiresome. In "Production", there's a feeling like suffering. A while ago I was talking to YOU, saying when we can't we really can't, but when we can it comes out really well. Saying so, it's not like we can get a good result by only recording when it comes out easily, it's because we vomit up so much in the painful times the good periods can visit again. So now we're just repeating ourselves "It's painful..." "It's coming out~"
-Do you feel that it is only by having the painful parts that you can make a good album?
I don't know if I can say unconditionally that it's a good album because it's painful. But in that suffering, there are a lot of things that appear at times when you suddenly find strength. Creating an album feels really good. Last year and the last six months, because I've been doing dramas and movies all that time, the time I spent together with the band members was very short and I couldn't do anything but keep in touch. But now I'm mostly around YOU and Chacha, more than just make music, I can talk about "is this interesting or not?" and such... Because making music isn't just writing songs. Bumping into things, worrying. In unexpected and familiar places, even if I'm worried, I have many friends to help me out, so the result comes out good. Especially in recording, many players offer their voices to me. I have good meetings through this. The person who is drumming for me this time is amazing. He's "A drummer that wants to sing". Not "A drummer who finds it easy to sing", "A drummer who wants to sing". Hearing the sight and sound of that person playing makes me want to sing to myself. He's that kind of drummer. When I first heard him, it came to me so firmly. At that time, YOU wasn't around, so I specially emailed him seeming all wide eyed (laughs). Yesterday was also recording my bassist...I was moved. My heart shook. Of course, he's "A bassist that wants to sing". There aren't many "bassists that want to sing". He has artistic sentiment in his instrument. If the people performing have artistic sentiment in their instruments, it will be great! I was moved for the first time in a long time. Theres a lot of perfectly sufficient "players that find it easy to sing". I say things like "This person finds it easy to sing". But "players that want to sing" are extremely rare. How do I say it... The people who give me a push, maybe. For a player, there are many steps, firstly the band and the music...Those that have the technique to fascinate me skillfuly with all of that. The next ones are "those that find it easy to sing". After all, above them are "the ones that want to sing".
-By that, do you mean the interactions with people around you is the esscence of the album this time?
It really is chemistry. Honestly, doing recording up until now, until then I hadn't felt the chemistry. But this time I feel it a lot.
-It's your first album in three years since DIABOLOS. During that time, are there parts of the "Gackt worldview" that have changed?
In my music up until now, there was a lot of difficult orchestration and complex composition, so it was a difficult production, I think. As opposed to making sounds for this album, I thought "What kind of theme should I do?" like I said in the previous conversation (MONTHLY GG 8/4). However at any rate, I want to deliver the sounds firmly in a way that makes your chest tighten the instant they sound out. When I make it like that, up until now, I put a lot of sounds in to the point of making complicated music, in the long run when I go over it in my head, it became difficult music. This time, I'm saying I want it to be that as soon as you put the CD on, you'll hear it like "DUUUUN~" and it will make a strong first impression in just one strike. Therefore, musically... the violent, punkish parts...the progressive parts are really coming through. That "progressive"-ness isn't the kind of progressiveness that comes from making the sounds complicated, it means organization and expansion. Because there are a lot of those elements in it, it's violent. If I use the example of waves, it's a feeling like "A hurricane is coming!" (laughs). It's something that hasn't been in the recent "Gackt sound". The truth is, it's because this tour is a continuation of "Requiem et Reminiscence", and the "Rebirth" album. It's not just the difference in worldview between the music existing in the story known as "MOON SAGA" connecting the albums from MOON to DIABOLOS and the music that exists in the story called "Requiem et Reminiscence", I feel inside myself that I want to change the sound as well, so "Requiem et Reminiscence" and "MOON SAGA" can be clearly defined. There's still many changes to come out in the sound. Still besides, it isn't quite settled so that you can feel the worldview of the lyrics, I'm stuck in between many meanings. It's just that my course of action is to write expressive lyrics, and use a lot of difficult words and imagery, but I've been told by Chacha "It's straight".
-I don't think there are many artists that think about the tour when making the album, but Gackt starts making an album before thinking about the tour, right?
I wonder how comfortable it is just to write songs. From the beginning I'm thinking about how to show the theme and worldview based on a concert, so because I'm making an album, it surely takes time. It's kind of like making a movie. I want to proceed showing the entirety of the work. That's the method of expression I use when I can be myself. If you only heard my songs, you might get the part where you think "these are difficult songs", but when you see the concert, you should be able to grasp the threads in the difficult parts. Those who know my songs, but haven't seen the concerts...I definetly want you to bring those people along. If they're saying "What's a Gackt?", they'll definetly understand when they see the concert.
-By the way, is the song you're recording at the moment going to be a single?
Because I'm just recording the songs in the order they come, I haven't really thought about it. When I make a work, I want to make it something where "the level of the work is high", so honestly I don't want to make things in a way where I'm aiming for "singles". I'll just have a feeling somehow where "I wonder if this mightn't be a single?"
-Can we have a hint about one of the songs you feel this about?
"Flower" is used as a keyword in one of the subtopics of this tour. In a subplot of the story of this tour, I've studded the word "flower" and am thinking about how to entwine it within the story. How can I expand the imaginations of everyone in Dears? There are two kinds of "souzou", aren't there? " 想像” and "創造” (Note: These Japanese words are both read souzou, however the first one is "imagination" and the second is "creativity"). I want you to make images inside your head, and then construct things. I want you to think until the beginning (of the tour), "isn't it like this?" and have wild fantasies of the possibilities. Because there should definitely be something inside the fans I can raise up through stirring these "wild fantasies".
-I hear that as you proceed with the recording, the mood is gradually boiled down, but is there any particular "Gackt style" of taking a break?
Hmm, what is it?...Go enjoy the nightlife!! maybe. If you just keep going to sleep after holing yourself up in the studio all day, it's unpleasant. There's something I came to know well during filming the movie in Romania... I was working a hard schedule from Monday to Saturday, and I think if I was a normal Japanese person, on Saturday night I would have just said "Work's finally over! I'll go home and sleep!", but those guys in Hollywood are different. Even though they had to be completely exhausted on Saturday night, they'd go out at night (laughs). It's because what gets tired the most is your "soul". Therefore to take away this exhaustion, the thing you need most is "fun". You can take away your tiredness by sleeping in your break, but the one thing you can't take away or ignore is the tiredness in your soul that can't be removed by sleeping. So when you're tired, go play instead! I think this is an important point. What enabled me to regain my pace in Romania was going out on Saturday nights. The first time I went out there was a huge rush of people saying "Gackt finally came!". After that we kept drinking until 7am, but honestly I thought when we were drinking "these guys are definetely weird!!". But after that, mysteriously, when I went back to the hotel and slept for only 2-3 hours, when I opened my eyes I was refreshed. It's a method of refreshing oneself the Japanese can't do. It's okay if you don't actually drink anything. The act of having fun, as long as you go out and open your heart, doesn't matter what kind of fun it is.
-This is changing the subject, but how was your birthday this year?
Because I spent the day itself quietly on my own, there was no real activity. I'd gone overseas and a birthday like that can be good too (laughs).
-When you got back, everyone celebrated with you, was there a surprise?
Up until last year, my friends, aquaintances and colleagues would go on a one day spree...that kind of party. But this year, since I was overseas, I thought I might pass it peacefully, but I was dead wrong. When I got home everyone congratulated me one by one; "since your birthday passed already" "then we'll celebrate it for you!" so the one wild party became spread out (laughs). That went on for so many days, I thought "Of course, the people who put it together are good..."
-This year's birthday marks 10 years since you went solo, so it's kind of special. Are you thinking of anything aimed at the fans?
Someday, I want to have a party with all my fans. I've had the experience of all getting excited together at lives, but that wasn't for my birthday. That said, next years birthday... I haven't thought about (laughs). If I were to celebrate my 10th anniversary and birthday together, I think I would like to do something together with my fans.
-About your recent condition...hasn't your body got a little bigger?
Everyone says "you're getting bigger, you're getting bigger", but my weight hasn't actually changed. I've lost as much fat as possible, but my body fat percentage hasn't actually changed. It's just hovering around 7-8%. However, recently I went back to Okinawa to do some gravekeeping but...everyone welcomed me home and my body fat percentage went up to 10% (laughs). It was like "Why did I come back here again?"
-It sounds like your gravekeeping was difficult again?
The tomb was a Okinawan style "Munchuuhaka" (門中墓- literally tomb/grave in a gate o_O) but had been reconstructed about 20 years ago, and was ridiculously huge. There's a Capsule House in Dragonball, right? A long time ago, (they built things) with that kind of feel, so ridiculously big I can't understand the point of it!... I say these things, but they might be rude to a bigger person (laugh). It was in the forest, but it was in a condition like it had been left alone for 400 years. Tending to it took six hours. The truth was, I was going to bring YOU along to help me clean it this time, but I think maybe he broke it off mid journey and went home (laughs).
(While he is laughing, YOU earnestly snaps a photo)
-I think after this is the final stage of recording, but can we have just one more word from Gackt?
"日々此神力入魂" (Note: WTF, Gackt, is that even a word!? If I just translate the kanji one by one, it's something like "day after day"-"this god"- "power"- "put into"-"soul", but...WTF, Gackt? *sigh*). If I push the schedule I have now, I think I'll end up pushing the tour again too. I will definitely avoid that. I'm doing my best (laughs). Also, you all need to study in preparation. You should make way for the entirety of a work connected to "Rebirth". For this tour, hints and information to prepare you will be released piece by piece on the website and in this "MONTHLY GG". Afterwards, I plan to release homework pointing towards the tour. By instructing you with those too, I hope to expand your wild imaginings.
I understand! Thank you very much.
Bonus Edition
At that time, Gackt's phone rang. He answered it like this:
~(Hello in Chinese)
~(Talked in Chinese for a little while)
~ (In Japanese) I'm sorry (he then hung up)
-What kind of conversation was that? The only word I understood was "xiexie" (thank you)
My friend says when he gets back from Shanghai, we might have a meal, I was saying that sounds good.
-If you appeared as a guest on a real Chinese TV show, to what extent would you be able to talk?
If it was a free talk on a TV program, it would be impossible because I'm not at that level. My conversation is just made out of pickup lines (laughs). If I was really going to appear on a Chinese TV show, I'd have to study more.
-In that case, what about a promotion talk?
If a script is prepared for me, I can say lines I've memorised perfectly, and can read a script with no problems. For example, if I'm told, "Say this like a Chinese person", then I can. My pronunciation is good. It's just because I don't remember vocabulary a free talk would be impossible.
-So you can speak it up to that point, but a free talk is too hard, right?
I think it would be impossible to speak normally unless I remember 10,000-20,000 words. Well, around that.
-"MONTHLY GG" is out now, have you read it? What were your first impressions, and have you linked to it?
If we're talking about whether I've linked to it or not, theres still a lot of room for improvement. But because there aren't really any other artists releasing a web magazine monthly like this, it's kind of a new experiment, right? Because of that, it's a big step forward from the way Dears has been up until now. Furthermore, because you need editorial staff to release one issue a month, it becomes a big burden to the fanclub and production staff, right? If I think about that, you've done well. I want the fans to feel even more satisfied with the merits of joining the fanclub. So from now on I want all the fans to participate in the subject of the "MONTHLY GG" and make it better together!...is the point I want to make now. "This is how the fanclub will be from now on", looking at it like that is a good start, I think. It'll rapidly get better from now.
By the way, in the surveys from the fans, what they were hoping for most was of course big photos of Gackt. Can we have a few more after this?
Sure (laughs).
-At last you've begun the recording, how does it feel?
I'm about to blow my fuse (laughs). Theres a lot of difference between the times we can do it and the times we can't. When we can do the songs, we can really do them in an instant. However, when we can't, of course, it's extremely tiresome. In "Production", there's a feeling like suffering. A while ago I was talking to YOU, saying when we can't we really can't, but when we can it comes out really well. Saying so, it's not like we can get a good result by only recording when it comes out easily, it's because we vomit up so much in the painful times the good periods can visit again. So now we're just repeating ourselves "It's painful..." "It's coming out~"
-Do you feel that it is only by having the painful parts that you can make a good album?
I don't know if I can say unconditionally that it's a good album because it's painful. But in that suffering, there are a lot of things that appear at times when you suddenly find strength. Creating an album feels really good. Last year and the last six months, because I've been doing dramas and movies all that time, the time I spent together with the band members was very short and I couldn't do anything but keep in touch. But now I'm mostly around YOU and Chacha, more than just make music, I can talk about "is this interesting or not?" and such... Because making music isn't just writing songs. Bumping into things, worrying. In unexpected and familiar places, even if I'm worried, I have many friends to help me out, so the result comes out good. Especially in recording, many players offer their voices to me. I have good meetings through this. The person who is drumming for me this time is amazing. He's "A drummer that wants to sing". Not "A drummer who finds it easy to sing", "A drummer who wants to sing". Hearing the sight and sound of that person playing makes me want to sing to myself. He's that kind of drummer. When I first heard him, it came to me so firmly. At that time, YOU wasn't around, so I specially emailed him seeming all wide eyed (laughs). Yesterday was also recording my bassist...I was moved. My heart shook. Of course, he's "A bassist that wants to sing". There aren't many "bassists that want to sing". He has artistic sentiment in his instrument. If the people performing have artistic sentiment in their instruments, it will be great! I was moved for the first time in a long time. Theres a lot of perfectly sufficient "players that find it easy to sing". I say things like "This person finds it easy to sing". But "players that want to sing" are extremely rare. How do I say it... The people who give me a push, maybe. For a player, there are many steps, firstly the band and the music...Those that have the technique to fascinate me skillfuly with all of that. The next ones are "those that find it easy to sing". After all, above them are "the ones that want to sing".
-By that, do you mean the interactions with people around you is the esscence of the album this time?
It really is chemistry. Honestly, doing recording up until now, until then I hadn't felt the chemistry. But this time I feel it a lot.
-It's your first album in three years since DIABOLOS. During that time, are there parts of the "Gackt worldview" that have changed?
In my music up until now, there was a lot of difficult orchestration and complex composition, so it was a difficult production, I think. As opposed to making sounds for this album, I thought "What kind of theme should I do?" like I said in the previous conversation (MONTHLY GG 8/4). However at any rate, I want to deliver the sounds firmly in a way that makes your chest tighten the instant they sound out. When I make it like that, up until now, I put a lot of sounds in to the point of making complicated music, in the long run when I go over it in my head, it became difficult music. This time, I'm saying I want it to be that as soon as you put the CD on, you'll hear it like "DUUUUN~" and it will make a strong first impression in just one strike. Therefore, musically... the violent, punkish parts...the progressive parts are really coming through. That "progressive"-ness isn't the kind of progressiveness that comes from making the sounds complicated, it means organization and expansion. Because there are a lot of those elements in it, it's violent. If I use the example of waves, it's a feeling like "A hurricane is coming!" (laughs). It's something that hasn't been in the recent "Gackt sound". The truth is, it's because this tour is a continuation of "Requiem et Reminiscence", and the "Rebirth" album. It's not just the difference in worldview between the music existing in the story known as "MOON SAGA" connecting the albums from MOON to DIABOLOS and the music that exists in the story called "Requiem et Reminiscence", I feel inside myself that I want to change the sound as well, so "Requiem et Reminiscence" and "MOON SAGA" can be clearly defined. There's still many changes to come out in the sound. Still besides, it isn't quite settled so that you can feel the worldview of the lyrics, I'm stuck in between many meanings. It's just that my course of action is to write expressive lyrics, and use a lot of difficult words and imagery, but I've been told by Chacha "It's straight".
-I don't think there are many artists that think about the tour when making the album, but Gackt starts making an album before thinking about the tour, right?
I wonder how comfortable it is just to write songs. From the beginning I'm thinking about how to show the theme and worldview based on a concert, so because I'm making an album, it surely takes time. It's kind of like making a movie. I want to proceed showing the entirety of the work. That's the method of expression I use when I can be myself. If you only heard my songs, you might get the part where you think "these are difficult songs", but when you see the concert, you should be able to grasp the threads in the difficult parts. Those who know my songs, but haven't seen the concerts...I definetly want you to bring those people along. If they're saying "What's a Gackt?", they'll definetly understand when they see the concert.
-By the way, is the song you're recording at the moment going to be a single?
Because I'm just recording the songs in the order they come, I haven't really thought about it. When I make a work, I want to make it something where "the level of the work is high", so honestly I don't want to make things in a way where I'm aiming for "singles". I'll just have a feeling somehow where "I wonder if this mightn't be a single?"
-Can we have a hint about one of the songs you feel this about?
"Flower" is used as a keyword in one of the subtopics of this tour. In a subplot of the story of this tour, I've studded the word "flower" and am thinking about how to entwine it within the story. How can I expand the imaginations of everyone in Dears? There are two kinds of "souzou", aren't there? " 想像” and "創造” (Note: These Japanese words are both read souzou, however the first one is "imagination" and the second is "creativity"). I want you to make images inside your head, and then construct things. I want you to think until the beginning (of the tour), "isn't it like this?" and have wild fantasies of the possibilities. Because there should definitely be something inside the fans I can raise up through stirring these "wild fantasies".
-I hear that as you proceed with the recording, the mood is gradually boiled down, but is there any particular "Gackt style" of taking a break?
Hmm, what is it?...Go enjoy the nightlife!! maybe. If you just keep going to sleep after holing yourself up in the studio all day, it's unpleasant. There's something I came to know well during filming the movie in Romania... I was working a hard schedule from Monday to Saturday, and I think if I was a normal Japanese person, on Saturday night I would have just said "Work's finally over! I'll go home and sleep!", but those guys in Hollywood are different. Even though they had to be completely exhausted on Saturday night, they'd go out at night (laughs). It's because what gets tired the most is your "soul". Therefore to take away this exhaustion, the thing you need most is "fun". You can take away your tiredness by sleeping in your break, but the one thing you can't take away or ignore is the tiredness in your soul that can't be removed by sleeping. So when you're tired, go play instead! I think this is an important point. What enabled me to regain my pace in Romania was going out on Saturday nights. The first time I went out there was a huge rush of people saying "Gackt finally came!". After that we kept drinking until 7am, but honestly I thought when we were drinking "these guys are definetely weird!!". But after that, mysteriously, when I went back to the hotel and slept for only 2-3 hours, when I opened my eyes I was refreshed. It's a method of refreshing oneself the Japanese can't do. It's okay if you don't actually drink anything. The act of having fun, as long as you go out and open your heart, doesn't matter what kind of fun it is.
-This is changing the subject, but how was your birthday this year?
Because I spent the day itself quietly on my own, there was no real activity. I'd gone overseas and a birthday like that can be good too (laughs).
-When you got back, everyone celebrated with you, was there a surprise?
Up until last year, my friends, aquaintances and colleagues would go on a one day spree...that kind of party. But this year, since I was overseas, I thought I might pass it peacefully, but I was dead wrong. When I got home everyone congratulated me one by one; "since your birthday passed already" "then we'll celebrate it for you!" so the one wild party became spread out (laughs). That went on for so many days, I thought "Of course, the people who put it together are good..."
-This year's birthday marks 10 years since you went solo, so it's kind of special. Are you thinking of anything aimed at the fans?
Someday, I want to have a party with all my fans. I've had the experience of all getting excited together at lives, but that wasn't for my birthday. That said, next years birthday... I haven't thought about (laughs). If I were to celebrate my 10th anniversary and birthday together, I think I would like to do something together with my fans.
-About your recent condition...hasn't your body got a little bigger?
Everyone says "you're getting bigger, you're getting bigger", but my weight hasn't actually changed. I've lost as much fat as possible, but my body fat percentage hasn't actually changed. It's just hovering around 7-8%. However, recently I went back to Okinawa to do some gravekeeping but...everyone welcomed me home and my body fat percentage went up to 10% (laughs). It was like "Why did I come back here again?"
-It sounds like your gravekeeping was difficult again?
The tomb was a Okinawan style "Munchuuhaka" (門中墓- literally tomb/grave in a gate o_O) but had been reconstructed about 20 years ago, and was ridiculously huge. There's a Capsule House in Dragonball, right? A long time ago, (they built things) with that kind of feel, so ridiculously big I can't understand the point of it!... I say these things, but they might be rude to a bigger person (laugh). It was in the forest, but it was in a condition like it had been left alone for 400 years. Tending to it took six hours. The truth was, I was going to bring YOU along to help me clean it this time, but I think maybe he broke it off mid journey and went home (laughs).
(While he is laughing, YOU earnestly snaps a photo)
-I think after this is the final stage of recording, but can we have just one more word from Gackt?
"日々此神力入魂" (Note: WTF, Gackt, is that even a word!? If I just translate the kanji one by one, it's something like "day after day"-"this god"- "power"- "put into"-"soul", but...WTF, Gackt? *sigh*). If I push the schedule I have now, I think I'll end up pushing the tour again too. I will definitely avoid that. I'm doing my best (laughs). Also, you all need to study in preparation. You should make way for the entirety of a work connected to "Rebirth". For this tour, hints and information to prepare you will be released piece by piece on the website and in this "MONTHLY GG". Afterwards, I plan to release homework pointing towards the tour. By instructing you with those too, I hope to expand your wild imaginings.
I understand! Thank you very much.
Bonus Edition
At that time, Gackt's phone rang. He answered it like this:
~(Hello in Chinese)
~(Talked in Chinese for a little while)
~ (In Japanese) I'm sorry (he then hung up)
-What kind of conversation was that? The only word I understood was "xiexie" (thank you)
My friend says when he gets back from Shanghai, we might have a meal, I was saying that sounds good.
-If you appeared as a guest on a real Chinese TV show, to what extent would you be able to talk?
If it was a free talk on a TV program, it would be impossible because I'm not at that level. My conversation is just made out of pickup lines (laughs). If I was really going to appear on a Chinese TV show, I'd have to study more.
-In that case, what about a promotion talk?
If a script is prepared for me, I can say lines I've memorised perfectly, and can read a script with no problems. For example, if I'm told, "Say this like a Chinese person", then I can. My pronunciation is good. It's just because I don't remember vocabulary a free talk would be impossible.
-So you can speak it up to that point, but a free talk is too hard, right?
I think it would be impossible to speak normally unless I remember 10,000-20,000 words. Well, around that.
Zdroj:https://amaia.livejournal.com/?skip=50&tag=interview
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat