(A) for Aoi
(I) for Interviewer
Hating to lose
Baseball, kendo, soccer, bike racing, surfing…
Based on Aoi’s calm present appearance, it’s hard to imagine that he was a very active teenager.
Not wanting to lose to others, he put his whole heart into striving to be the top of what he did.
The kinds of things that Aoi wanted to do was play guitar and to meet a band that he will follow for half a life time.
But nothing much has changed. Aoi still hates it if he's not good at the things he wants to be good at and still doesn't want to lose to other people. On a personal level, there's the impression of Aoi being the most sensitive person in the GazettE.
I think that it could be the influence of the environment that Aoi was raised in.
To start off, let's ask how many people are in his family.
A: Dad, mom, older sister, older brother and then me.
I: You're the youngest? Oh~I wasn't expecting that!
A: Yup, and everyone in the band is the youngest child in their family. We're like the “baby” of the family group (laughs)
I: I didn't know that! What does kind of job does your dad do?
A: He's just a typical salary-man and my mom also worked part time...so we're a typical ordinary family.
I: What's the age gap between your older sister and older brother?
A: There's quite a gap between us. My sister is 10 years older and my brother is 6 years older. It was like by the time I was a kid they were already much older.
I: With siblings of an age gap that big, don't you get more attention and babied more by everyone?
A: It depends, kind of like a day-to-day basis type of situation. When they weren't nice to me, then they absolutely weren't, but when they were, they were really nice to me--that sort of a situation.
I: Since you and your sister are 10 years apart, didn't it feel like she was your second mom?
A: She does! I mean, even until today she still talks about changing my diapers. Also, I used to tag along when she went out on dates. Since she was still a high school student during that time, the grannies in her boyfriend's neighbourhood said things like “Oh my god! She has a kid already!?”. I guess I've left that kind of impression.
I: Did you tag along intentionally?
A: Yup
I: You really liked your sister didn’t you?
A: No, not really, it was more like I wanted to go to her boyfriend’s house. Since it wasn’t my own home, I was really curious and there were a lot of things there.
I: Well speaking of that, where were you born and raised?
A: That would be a town along the coastlines of Mie Prefecture. A fishing village! Yup, that's the kind of place I'm from. I wanted to leave my hometown from early on, but the timing was never right...and so I lived there till I was about 20 years old.
I: How did you spend your time in your hometown as a kid?
A: I played a lot outside when I was little, I started swimming around April.
I: It seems quite cold during April in Mie.
A: It was pretty cold but it didn't matter (laughs)
I: You had a lot of energy then (laughs)
A: Yes, I did (laughs). Anyways, I played a lot at the sea and also went fishing. Actually you're not supposed to hang around the tetra pods but I did it anyways...up to middle school I kept hanging out by the sea (laughs). That's why for afternoon snacks I inevitably had seafood. After coming back home from school, I'd change into my swimming trunks and would go swimming in the sea with everyone. We also did things like catch turban shells and sea urchins then climbed onto the tetra pods and opened them for our afternoon snacks.
I: What about sashimi!?
A: Ah, we ate sashimi as it was. (laughs)
Manager: No way! You're lying!
A: I'm not! It's the truth!
Manager: But afternoon snacks are things that your mom prepares for you right?
A: No~snacks are hard to come by! That's why if there were snacks like cakes in my house the immediate reaction would be “There are cakes in the house!?”, yeah that sort of thing would only happen in the world of Doraemon. I'm serious here!
I: Your afternoon snacks are the seafood you caught yourself then (laughs)
A: Yes! And so that makes me the best skin diver[*] in the visual kei industry, don't you think?
[*] Skin diving! I guess this is how Aoi might look like? (●´艸｀)
(Bursts out laughing)
A: Seriously! I'm confident in my skin diving! You have to get in through the gaps of the rocks when collecting turban shells, and then you have to push out through the seaweed after that to get out of the gaps!
I tried to compete with everyone. I brought those orange nets with me, and put the turban shells and sea urchins I collected into the net. The old gramps and grannies there used leftover nets fishermen used to make their bags. I was envious because theirs was in the shape of a hand pouch (laughs). I remember saying things like “I want something like that!” (laughs)
I: I wasn't expecting that. From your current image, it makes me imagine that you were a mature kid who played at home.
A: There were a lot of people around me who were the type that didn't study. “Hey, let's go play!” was the kind of atmosphere we had.
I: But things like swimming in the sea and fishing are very healthy activities right.
A: Absolutely. That's totally different from now, when the band doesn't have much going on, all I do is stay at home. (laughs)
I: Other than playing at the sea, what other things were you interested in?
A: I was part of the baseball team.
I: Did you play in the Little League?
A: In elementary school I did softball, so, yes, I was in the Little League. My friend asked me to join, and that was around 4th grade. I wasn't really good at it though.
I: What was your position?
A: Catcher.
I: Again! Something unexpected! Did you have a big build?
A: I was small. Previously, I learned this (the stance where you put your hand on your hip = get the person on first base). I only did it once, and I had to stretch my arms (laughs). I was really tiny back then.
I: What kind of catcher were you?
A: I just stuck with being a defensive catcher~something like that(laughs)
I: Did you play softball all the way up to 6th grade?
A: Yup~all the way. I also started kendo around 4th grade. My friend did kendo, and I thought holding the shinai while walking around looked cool. I mean every kid likes that sort of thing right? That was probably the reason why I did it.
I: You continued kendo for quite a bit right?
A: Yeah. I went to the dojo in my town up to 6th grade and also played soccer everyday at school during break time.
I: Was that around the time of Captain Tsubasa?
A: Yeah~Captain Tsubasa was great! I was usually the manager (laughs). I borrowed a ball from the school for practice, but I did that without permission (laughs).
I: Were you busy everyday?
A: I felt like I was, I practised kendo on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, and softball was Saturdays and Sundays. But I thought of it as a fun kind of busy. I had a lot of physical strength to waste during that time, eh.
I: Did you like studying?
A: Honestly, I was bad at everything (laughs), other than the important subjects...I really liked fine arts and arts and crafts. Maybe I'm just not good at things you have to learn in school. When it comes to arts and crafts, you just give it some thought and express it, right?
I: As in, by using one's imagination, you can create something. Have you gotten any prizes in arts and crafts or fine arts?
A: I've gotten a prize for arts and crafts in my hometown before. I think it was around 4th grade. I made tape cutters and there were those tape dispensers, right. I shaved the wood, making the shape, and, with a sculpting knife, I carved out the design of the dispenser.
I: Wow! Awesome!
A: But it was just in a small town.
I: But you were the one that won the prize among all those other kids right. So that's awesome.
A: I guess so? That's been the only prize I ever won though, both before and after that incident (laughs).
I: Anyways, onto a different topic. What was the subject you hated the most?
A: Math and Japanese. How should I put it...it was a pain (laughs). I thought it wasn't something that was that important, and I didn't do the homework (laugh). Seriously, I never did the homework, not even once. There was one morning where I thought, “I'm screwed!”, so I went to school and copied off of someone who already did the homework.
I: Since it was like that, you probably made the teacher angry a lot of times.
A: It wasn't a lot of the time—more like all the time. I used the excuse, “I did it but I forgot it at home” but since my house was close by I was told, “Go home and come back with the homework!”, and then I'd go, “I'm sorry”(laughs). During the first half of the class the teacher would always be angry and because of that and we weren't able to continue class. Well...I thought homework was seriously annoying because I had to do it all the time. Kids are really busy you know--we have to play, we have to eat, and then we're told to sleep early.
I: Did your parents nag at you?
A: They did, but I didn't give them a response and very cleverly made my escape (laughs). I was the kind of kid that didn't like to deal with these troublesome things.
I: You were really a kid who had your own knack for doing things, weren't you?
A: I wouldn't say it was to that extent, but I was just a kid that did the things I liked. In other words, I'm just a very ordinary kid that you can find anywhere (laughs)
I: Really? There aren't that many kids out there who can make their teacher angry for an entire first half of a class though, you know (laughs). You might not have realized it, but didn’t you seem like a notable student in your class?
A: You could put it that way (laughs) I wasn't a leader or anything, but I was always with my friends. Other than the memories of playing with my friends, I don't remember studying much in elementary school.
I: What kind of personality did you have as a kid?
A: I'm not much different from now, other than studying if I couldn't do anything properly or well it's unacceptable to me. I don't want to lose to anyone.
I: You really hate losing.
A: Yeah, and with kendo, no matter what, there are always people who never win. But because I didn't want to lose, I practised a lot. I went home and did practise swings, and yet I still didn't win.
I: What about in tournament?
A: Aah~I did. I've won only in an individual match before.
I: Oh, so you've won once!?
A: Yeah, I did. Definitely, there was the me who never won, but that me ended up winning. I only won that one time though, which is why I have one gold medal. The group always won, and that was our team.
I: Were those who didn't win also in the same team?
A: Yup, they were in the same team. We were part of the Tanaka Dojo. It was next to a Chinese restaurant, and you could always smell something nice (laughs).
I: At that time, what was your dream?
A: I wanted to be a bike racer.
I: Up to now we've been talking about careers that have no sort of relationship (laughs). Why again?
A: We started first talking about me tagging along on my sister's dates right? It was related to that. My sister's boyfriend had a bike and he often let me take it for a ride. And it felt awesome~!
I: Did you like going against the wind?
A: Yeaah~ I thought it was really cool. That's why I usually went to Suzuka Circuit to go racing. Sometimes I asked my parents or my friend's parents to take me there.
I: Ah, you really wanted to be a racer, didn't you. How long did you have that dream for?
A: Up to around 1st grade of junior high. I thought about making a living as a racer, but then at that time I came across the guitar and my dream of being a racer vanished.
I: Let's talk about music in more detail later on. How did you spend your middle school days?
A: It was...club activities, club activities, and club activities! Oh, and also the baseball club. When I was in primary school, I was part of the broadcasting committee and the guys that were part of that committee with me all went, “Hey! Let's join the baseball club!” and so we joined (laughs).
I: While you were being asked to (laughs)
A: But during that time “Slam Dunk” was popular and I felt like I wanted to do basketball. Since I was asked to join the baseball club I thought, “Yeah...why not.” (laughs)
I: So you were pretty close with your friends in the broadcasting committee (laughs).
A: Yeah, and it also felt like if you weren't tall enough you couldn't be in the basketball team. During the time I entered middle school, I was still pretty small, which is why I thought about joining baseball.
I: Was that the reason why you busied yourself with baseball everyday?
A: I played baseball everyday. I really liked baseball.
I: Was the baseball club a strong one?
A: No...we were weak. We finally were able to go to the prefecture tournaments in the third year.
I: But since you're competitive, didn't you practice really hard?
A: I wasn't very good at it, and, for some reason, I never got better at it, but I did like it.
I: What was your position?
A: First position as pitcher, and the reason for that was because it was the easiest position (laughs).
I: So, the reason you chose the position was kind of...dishonest? (laughs)
A: I was really bad at it, so choosing the easier path is a bad habit I have (laughs).
I: Changing the topic a little, isn't baseball—though this has nothing to do with it being popular—a club activity that's popular with the girls?
A: Oh, is it? I don't really remember...but I don't think it was (laughs) In my school everyone had to join club activities, and there also weren't any cute girls around. There were only the girls' ballet club and the girls' basketball club, who did exercises like running around outside. That's the time when things got exciting and also when everyone on the baseball team would be excited (laughs). If there were no signs of girls, we'd skip practise (laughs). Yeah...that's the kind of guys we were and probably why we only got to the prefecture tournaments (laughs).
I: Since you got so excited when a girl ran in front of you, weren't there love affairs popping up everywhere?
A: My middle school was a combination of the kids in my town and the neighbouring town. There were girls I hadn't seen before...so of course I was excited. Girls start to feel like this around this age too, don't they? Things like, “I like so and so”. It has nothing to do with whether or not the guys wants the relationship or not. When it happens it happens.
I: Like the girls get you to go out with them by force (laughs)
A: Yeah, yeah.
I: Did you also become a victim of this kind of girl?
A: I wonder about that too (laughs). Well, there was the feeling that the girl was trying to get to know me and hang out with her.
I: It's what they call experiencing a first relationship in junior high school, right?
A: Yeah (laughs). It was like...tearing a page out of a notebook and then writing a note. The note would then get passed around during class. It was a really innocent kind of feeling.
I: Did you date?
A: I didn't. When you're in junior high you get busy too right. It's much busier than elementary school. There are club activities, hanging out with guy friends....and since I'm that busy I don't pay attention to things like dating. So when I think about hanging out with people, it's the feeling of being with my close friends. We did things like exchanging Christmas gifts and exchanging key chains which we attached onto our bags.
I: Did you get any chocolates on Valentines?
A: Well...I tried to accept it, but I was too shy, so I couldn't. So I went back home without receiving anything. The girl was from another class, and although she went out of her way to my class entrance, all I said was “Ah, no, it's okay.”
I: You said it nicely, but that was harsh!
A: Nooo! I was way too embarrassed! I felt really bad!
I: Were you really shy when it came to girls?
A: I was a super shy boy! I'm really bad with that kind of thing. I thought it was much more fun hanging out with my guy friends than girls.
I: In junior high, most boys start becoming a little rowdy right, what were you like?
A: Around the 2nd and 3rd year of junior high, I stayed out late. Things like going out biking, even though the bike wasn't mine. My hometown is really open minded, there were bikes that were parked with the keys still there (laughs). Or when the seat is put up the keys would bet left there and then we'd spin around saying “Let's go!” to everyone. We were also close with the guys at the local police box.
I: (Laughs) So you did those kinds of things!
A: And also things like looking at porn mags on the tetrapods* and smoking. Well...everyone's done things like that (laughs).
*In case you guys don't remember , tetrapods are these weird looking things.I: And now back to the original question. I would like to ask about when you first started music. Did you have many experiences in music back when you were little?
A: I had my older brother's used record player but I didn't have any records to play (laughs). Sometimes in kid's magazines there are supplementary vinyl sound sheets attached and so I'd listen to those.
I: Did your parents like music and did your sister and brother listen to music at home often?
A: My parents...well it would have been nice if they liked classical music but they were Enka* fanatics.
They like to sing really loudly and even bought a karaoke system.
*Enka is traditional Japanese ballads, for those curious to hear how it sounds like check this out. Aoi also mentioned his mom loved singing to Teresa Teng (featured in the link), who is a famous Taiwanese singer who was prominent all over Asia during her generation.
I: Oh! You even had a karaoke system at home!?
A: We did and I even sang Enka with everyone (laughs). I've never heard any music coming out of my sister's room, but my brother always had music blasting from his room. He was in a band, and he played the guitar. He did Jun Sky Walkers covers, in the mornings he'd play a “don doko don doko” CD. It was a nuisance, but a good kind of nuisance (laughs).
I: Since he did covers of Jun Sky Walkers, your brother was pretty into the classic bands that were popular then. Can you recall any other bands?
A: X Japan...and some Western bands, mostly heavier-sounding bands.
I: When you say a “good nuisance” was that the main factor that influenced your interest in music?
A: There was a time when my brother was playing a song and I thought, “That's a cool song”. I asked him, “What song is this?” “It's X Japan's Kurenai” and I thought “I want to play it too!”
I: So you weren't interested in singing, but instead, you suddenly wanted to play the guitar?
A: Singing wasn't anything special to me. I mean I could sing karaoke at home, and at school I could sing in music class. But guitar is different, there's a special kind of feeling, and I thought it was cool. And also, my brother said he would lend me his guitar.
I: You weren't interested in bass or drums?
A: I wasn't. My brother played the guitar and that was my main influence, so I wasn't interested in the bass or drums(laughs).
I: And your brother lent you his guitar and taught you how to play?
A: Nope, he never taught me anything. The first guitar that he gave me was an acoustic guitar.
I: Was it because he didn't use it very much? (laughs)
A: Yeah(laughs). Which is why no matter how much I played I couldn't produce the sound I wanted.
I: Ah, so that's how it was. It wasn't an electric guitar (laughs)
A: And he also gave me a guitar chord book with various songs in it along with the first guitar. He handed it to me and said “All you need to do is memorize this, now go and do it.”
I: You did as he told you to?
A: I did. On the other hand, my brother's friends were nice to me. They taught me a lot of things (laughs)
I: After starting the guitar did you talk about it with your friends? Guitar-related things or X Japan?
A: I didn't. I didn't have many friends that played instruments in our first year of junior high. So there weren't any conversations about guitar or anything related to music. Which is why I felt, “Wow, I didn't know such an awesome band like X Japan existed!”
I:Ah, so you—-all by yourself—-were really into music.
A: Yeah. Another band my brother covered which I thought was really cool and got really into was Metallica. I went to him again and said, “Give me a guitar!” (laughs)
I: Were you like, “Don't give me an ordinary guitar this time! Give me an electric guitar!” (laughs)
A: Yeah! Even though I had an acoustic guitar, he still wouldn't lend me an electric one. Anyways, around the end of first year of junior high my brother gave me an electric guitar. It was a broken electric guitar, but I didn't know that. He told me “It needs an amp.” and of course I saved up New Years money to get one. I held on tightly to the money I saved up, and I asked my mom to take me to buy an amp which was about a 30 minute drive away. The amp was small, so it was easy to transport. After I bought it and connected it to the guitar no sound came out of it, and I cried (laughs). My mom was mad and scolded my brother “Why did you give your brother this broken thing!” “Give him one that works!” and I finally got an electric guitar!
I: Before that you were using the acoustic guitar, but after getting the electric guitar and hearing the sound from the amp, did you feel that, at that moment, something incredible happened?
A: I was really happy when I heard the distorted sound that came out. It felt so satisfying!
I: What kind of songs did you play during that time?
A: For the time being I played X Japan's “Kurenai”. But, well...I couldn't play it well (laughs) It was fun pretending that I could play the song.
I: Did you start talking about music with you friends?
A: I did around the second year of junior high. It just so happened that I was talking to a friend whose older brother also seemed to be in a band. “I want to play guitar too because of him!” “I want to play too! Let's practise together!” was how our conversation went and basically how it all happened. It was mostly like, “Hey let's do a cover of the song together!” As for things like “what kind of bands do you like,” we didn't talk about things like that.
I: What kind of songs did you and your friends cover?
A: I was really into the X Japan boom, but for some reason I thought Seikima II was really cool (laughs). I worked really hard to practise Seikima II's songs.
I: Was listening to Seikima II also due to your brother's influence?
A: It was. My brother is the kind of person who listens to a wide range of music (laughs). Seikima II's songs are simple and pretty easy, even for beginners. My friend and I practised really hard to match the rhythm, even though we had electric guitars.
I: You must have overworked your amp (laughs). Did you keep up with various other types of music?
A: No, not really. Other than Seikima II, I really like Western music. There were only around 5 other bands that I kept up with. I mainly listened to heavy metal because I thought the riffs and stuff like that were really cool.
I: What type of bands were you into?
I: How did you make friends that were interested in music?
A: Around the third year of junior high club activities come to an end, and because everyone didn't have much to do, more of my friends started getting involved in music.
I: So you finally started to talk to everyone about music?
A: Yeah, and more friends were going “Come on, let's start a band!” Everyone would ask, “So what should we do?” I had no idea. So everyone started from square 1 that summer during the third year of junior high, and then afterward we formed a band.
I: Together with the kids you practiced guitar with?
A: Yeah, which is why our band had twin guitars, well we were a cover band and we covered bands like Ziggy. Oh! That's not from our generation! (Laughs) It really wasn't, but the band's bassist knew more about bands from that generation than us. He listened to a lot of cool CDs, but I don't really know why we covered Ziggy.
I: That's really unique for Aoi's generation.
A: Yeah, which is why, except for us, all the other bands covered Luna Sea. For some reason I can't play that kind of style—there's something about it that I can't do. My background is mainly in metal (laughs) and during that time Ziggy sounded kind of nice too.
I: In junior high, did you stay with the first cover band that you formed?
A: Yeah, we tidied up the shed in my house set up the drums and practiced there. My brother had practiced there before too.
I: You had your own studio-like place set up at home?!
A: It was only a shed (laughs). There wasn't air conditioning, and it was really hot! (laughs). Anyway, we pretended to have band practice and fooled around a lot back then.
I: So you didn't practice at studios or anything like that?
A: There aren't any studios where I live...sorry (laughs). We don't have those kind of facilities, you see. Oh, but we asked an upperclassman if we could play at his live.
I: So your upperclassman was like, “Since we're having an event, we'll let you guys make an appearance too.”
A: Yeah. It was probably because the tickets weren't sold out (laughs)
I: Did you play at a live house then?
A: Oh, no, no, like I said we didn't have those kind of facilities (laughs). We performed at the local gymnasium. We only used a third of the gymnasium, (laughs) but it was a lot of fun.
I: What memories do you have of your first time on stage?
A: All I did was look down—I was so nervous I couldn't look to the front at all. I wonder why I was so nervous. Plus, at that moment, I felt as if I was going to die. (laughs)
I: Wow, so you were pretty nervous (laughs). After it was all done, were you able to enjoy it?
A: Yeah, it was fun, even though the attendees were mostly people we knew.
I: So after experiencing what it was like to perform, did that increase the interest you had already for music and the guitar?
A: It did. I was really nervous, but after the live I had this really refreshed and pleasant feeling. Since I really remember that day's feelings, I didn't want to stop playing the guitar.
I: By the time you were in high school, did you get really serious about the band?
A: I told my parents I didn't want to go to high school and asked them to let me go to a music school instead. My parents said something along the lines of, “Don't you say those smart ass things to us!” but later on they said if I still really wanted to go, “After you graduate from high school, we'll let you go.” They told me for the time being to just go to school, so I had to go to some stupid local high school. The kind of high school where all you needed to do was write your name on the entrance exam to be accepted. (Laughs)
I: Did you put together a band when you entered high school?
A: The band I was in was still doing well after I entered high school. I just wanted to play the guitar so I played it.
I: Was that because you eventually wanted to become a studio musician without having to fuss about a band?
A: I wonder too. Even though I told my parents to let me go to a music school, I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make a living as a guitarist or be in a band. I just wanted to be a person who was free to do whatever he wanted.
I: You were more fascinated by the guitar compared to the dreams of being a racer or the various sports you had played up until now, am I right?
A: Ye~ah somewhat. But the feeling I have is different from just liking it. It's like, that natural feeling you get when you're in a room. It's kind of a problem if I'm asked whether or not that's a fascination. I only wanted to play the guitar. Of course there are interesting things about it, but I didn't have a guitarist that I admired. However, I did want to become better than my brother. Since we were talking about whether I was fascinated by the guitar, I think I've gotten sidetracked.
I: But didn't your dream of becoming a racer disappear the moment you started the guitar? What was it that lead you to be completely whisked away with the guitar?
A: Well, that's probably other than wanting to be better than my brother, the feeling of not wanting to lose to a junior high friend I used to practice guitar with.
I: You had nothing but a determined mind-set, and that's what drove you?
A: I guess. I really hate it if I'm not number one. But compared to losing, the feeling of not wanting to be left behind is even stronger. It doesn't matter which one comes first, but it's like that really strong feeling of not wanting to be bitter or regretful when I see a friend who is doing same thing but is better at it.
I: And so you graduated high school without any problems and went to a music school?
A: Nope, I didn't graduate from high school. I had too much fun in the summer of my first year...just like that I continued on with my summer holidays. (laughs)
I: What did you do during your first summer that was so much fun?
A: Hmm...what did I do? First of all I just lazed around (laughs). During that time I just slept in my room everyday without a fan or air conditioning. But if a friend said, “Hey let's go to the beach!” while I was sleeping, I'd get up and go. I had a lot of fun that way, and I thought, “I want to stay as a person with lots of freedom.” Just like that, I ended up not going to school (laughs)
I: Did you start a band the moment you quit school?
A: Nope, I didn't think of starting a band at that time. The upperclassman who invited me to play at his live went to the same high school as me, and I went to hang out at his house quite often. He was also really good at the guitar, so I thought, “I want to be better than him!”
I: So, you did nothing but practice by yourself at home?
A: I did. That time was probably when I practiced the most.
I: Was the music you liked still metal?
A: Yeah, I don't think it changed. I still practiced a lot whether or not I could speed play. But I couldn't (laughs). It was impossible, especially when foreigners were playing it really fast (laughs).
I: When did you actually start a band after you did nothing but practice your guitar?
A: When I went to Tokyo.
I: Which means you spent quite some time practicing on your own.
A: No, it wasn't really like that. Hm, how should I put it? Even though you're practicing by yourself you'll eventually reach your limit, right? When that happens, you'll start to want to find other things to do. The brother of a good friend of mine was a surfer at the time. After seeing that, I wanted to start surfing. The beach was also nearby.
I: Ah~well how many years did you surf for? (surprised)
A: For about 2-3years. My personality doesn't allow for me to focus on doing only one thing. Which is why I worked part-time at night for an izakaya, and every morning I'd go to the beach...that was the turn my life took. Even the strings of my guitar were rusting.
I: You mean you just suddenly stopped playing?!
A: Yeah...well I played my acoustic guitar a little and Yuzu was popular too. But I was basically out of the music loop. The person who taught me how to surf wanted to become a pro-surfer and my dream was also to become a pro-surfer. I didn't surf for fun but mainly to compete in tournaments.
I: That's because you didn't want to lose—so did you follow through with surfing?
A: Well...sort of. I did compete in a tournament. It was called the Murasaki Cup, a tournament organized by Murasaki Sports.
I: Isn't that a pretty big tournament?! Did you come out on top?
A: Oh no, nothing like that. But I did feel like I was on my way to reaching the top. I still didn't want to give up so I practiced a lot, and even in the winter I was practicing non-stop. Which is why I had a sun tan and I got pretty dark. Spiral perms were also the trend during that time...I'm really sorry to say this but I also had a spiral perm (laughs)
I: With your hair dyed light brown?
A: Yeah, I was tan, my hair was light brown and done up in an afro. I worked really hard on my surfing while looking like that. Only if I told anyone this no one would believe it (laughs)
I: Even now, can your body remember how fun it was to surf then?
A: I can't do those daredevil moves now, but I can surf on the waves.
I: Wow! I really can't imagine it! Why did you go back to music again even though you were aiming to be a pro-surfer?
A: I worked at an izakaya, so by the time I got off it was already midnight, right? After getting home from work, I just turned on the TV and watched some music program that was on the air. An indies band was playing. After seeing that I thought, “Hey, I can do that,” and then I really abruptly told my mom, “I'm going to Tokyo.” (laughs) I didn't even give her any advance notice.
I: What was your mom's reaction?
A: She hesitated for a moment, but since I was 15 or 16 when I told her I wanted to go to a music school, she said, “Well, since you've thought of it to this extent then I'll let you go this time.”
I: Nonetheless, that was a quick change. You aimed to be a pro-surfer and even though you practiced so hard, you casually and suddenly say you want to go to Tokyo to do music...(laughs)
A: (Laughs) But I really thought it was sudden too. I thought, “I can do this way better!”
Zdroj:http://michido.blogspot.com/2011/06/magazines-rock-read-feat-aoi-from.html
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