hyde-kun tried really hard this time.
– Once again, a product gifted with the romanticism and drive typical of L’Arc~en~Ciel has reached us. We are presently with the creator of the opening number which drives the album, hoping to discover how he feels about his current situation within the band.
– Last year, L’Arc released an album after some delay, following it up with a tour. Do you have any particular thoughts regarding this new L’Arc?
[No, nothing special, really (laughs). It just felt like meeting up with old friends again, after a long time apart. “It’s been a while!”]
– Then, going from that album to this new one was no different from going from the first to the second, or the second to the third?
[That’s right.]
– How has the production progressed?
[The same as always. We make new tunes, then do some pre-programming or something.]
– What did you think when you first heard the newly submitted songs?
[Last time, for ‘SMILE’, hyde-kun had been really busy, so I noticed he was trying extra hard this time (laughs).]
– How was the timing for the creation of this album’s overall image?
[I don’t really understand that, myself. I don’t think about it. Now that it’s finished, I still don’t understand it. When people ask me what the feel of the album is like, I feel like giving them a CD and saying “Go listen to it.” (laughs).]
– You aren’t interested in figuring out it’s ‘Big Picture’?
[Right. I think it’s probably better to take the songs one by one. There’s no way this is a concept album or anything. Everyone tells me this is an especially varied album, for L’Arc (laughs), so I figure we must’ve done a good job with it’s overall balance. And we didn’t even have to work on achieving that balance.]
Instead of thinking of the album’s big picture, I’d rather just simply call it cool.
– Is the reason you aren’t conscious of the album’s big picture because you’re so close to it, as one of the creators?
[Nah, we’ve never started by thinking about what kind of album we want to make or anything like that. We just go ahead and make something that’ll be cool.]
– Of course, the music you make always is, yukihiro-san.
[Is it really? When people say things like that to me, I never know what to answer.]
– Then, let me ask about lyrics. yukihiro-san, in the song you wrote, ‘New World’, what is the meaning of the first line “Koko ni Aru Tashika na REALITY”? (Note : Meaning : “What is here is a certain reality”)
[It’s about what I, personally, perceive as good. I have my own feelings, my own way of thinking, and that’s what makes my own reality. I think each person has their own version of that.]
– Could it also refer to how each of the four members had their own “certain reality” regarding their feelings on this latest album?
[I guess, maybe (laughs).]
– What are your own feelings about it, yukihiro-san?
[I wasn’t thinking that hard when I was writing the lyrics (laughs), but since you’re asking the question, I think there’s one (reality) for any kind of situation. For example, when your reality gets wobbly, or when you fall prey to nervousness, that’s what’s real during that time. Reality isn’t absolute, so I think it’s ok not to connect to it especially strongly. Like right now, my reality is that I’m here trying to think of answers to your questions (laughs), well, that’s actually true.]
– Yet, for instance in ‘New World’, before that ‘truth’, the main sensation is the band’s overwhelming positive energy.
[Well, as long as we’re talking about these lyrics, I’d like to say more about the ‘truth’, as we’re discussing. Anyway, I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about what the true reality is, as long as you’re going ahead feeling good. It doesn’t matter what’s real, what’s a dream, or what’s fiction; it feels better not to worry about it.]
– This new album does feel like it calls out to those who live in that sort of world, with dreams and fictions.
[For sure, there are moments where I feel L’Arc’s sound call out that way. It happens during lives, and also in recordings when we let ourselves go wild. At times like that, I think I feel it more than the others do (laughs), and send out my own feelings.]
Things left “unsaid” help keep up a good nervous tension in the band.
– How is the situation within the band itself? I would think that if all members aren’t sharing the same circumstances, you won’t be able to make music together.
[That’s true. We definitely each have out our own roles, and if I’m feeling a certain way, everyone will also start feeling that way (laughs) as soon as we start talking. But, we don’t talk about that sort of thing much.]
– Is L’Arc the type of band where after a really good session, you make sure to tell each other you thought it was good, or the type to just smirk at each other when you don’t get anything done, or maybe a mix of both types?
[We do both, but the latter happens more often (laughs).]
– Has it always been that way since you joined the band, yukihiro-san?
[Yeah.]
– You’re a shy group of people, aren’t you (laughs)?
[Maybe we are…(laughs).]
– You don’t feel awkward?
[It’s just, some things don’t get said. And I think there are some things to be careful about. If I’m in a good mood, but someone else isn’t, I won’t try to cheer them up, for instance (laughs).]
– Would that delicate balance be a factor in L’Arc being the way it is?
[That’s right. I think that sort of feeling helps keep up a good nervous tension within the band.]
– What about the album title?
[As usual, hyde-kun thought of it. Once the sound is done with, I don’t care about the rest… Of course, the title of an album should be the strongest word the lyric writer can find to express the album, and with L’Arc, that would be hyde-kun, so he thought that was the most suitable word for describing the contents of this album.]
– But the word ‘AWAKE’ is in the song ‘New World’ isn’t it?
[Oh, yeah, it is (laughs).]
– Of course, this summer’s tour will focus on songs from ‘AWAKE’?
[That’s right.]
– Including ‘Killing Me’?
[That’s ok, isn’t it? (laughs)]
I’ll work hard to make the lives intense.
-(laughs) Have you started practicing again, now that the tour is coming?
[This time, the recording took a long time, and so listening to the songs we recorded first makes me notice how much I’ve forgotten about them. This time, we didn’t cram it all in as much, but that let us put out better quality work.]
– This time, you have shows in Korea and China, too. How was your overseas show last year, in America?
[I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t been that nervous in a long time. But, once the show started, I was fine.]
– How about Korea and China?
[I’m nervous, I guess. But I think it’s a different kind of nervousness than at the American show.]
– By the way, for many bands on tour, the day of a live doesn’t go well. How does L’Arc usually do on lives?
[We’re good, aren’t we? I, personally, have bad days too, of course, and sometimes the other three don’t seem like themselves. I probably do that too, though. I think last year’s tour went great, though.]
– Well, please try to make this year’s tour even better.
[Yes, I’ll work hard.]
Translated by Natalie Arnold.
– Once again, a product gifted with the romanticism and drive typical of L’Arc~en~Ciel has reached us. We are presently with the creator of the opening number which drives the album, hoping to discover how he feels about his current situation within the band.
– Last year, L’Arc released an album after some delay, following it up with a tour. Do you have any particular thoughts regarding this new L’Arc?
[No, nothing special, really (laughs). It just felt like meeting up with old friends again, after a long time apart. “It’s been a while!”]
– Then, going from that album to this new one was no different from going from the first to the second, or the second to the third?
[That’s right.]
– How has the production progressed?
[The same as always. We make new tunes, then do some pre-programming or something.]
– What did you think when you first heard the newly submitted songs?
[Last time, for ‘SMILE’, hyde-kun had been really busy, so I noticed he was trying extra hard this time (laughs).]
– How was the timing for the creation of this album’s overall image?
[I don’t really understand that, myself. I don’t think about it. Now that it’s finished, I still don’t understand it. When people ask me what the feel of the album is like, I feel like giving them a CD and saying “Go listen to it.” (laughs).]
– You aren’t interested in figuring out it’s ‘Big Picture’?
[Right. I think it’s probably better to take the songs one by one. There’s no way this is a concept album or anything. Everyone tells me this is an especially varied album, for L’Arc (laughs), so I figure we must’ve done a good job with it’s overall balance. And we didn’t even have to work on achieving that balance.]
Instead of thinking of the album’s big picture, I’d rather just simply call it cool.
– Is the reason you aren’t conscious of the album’s big picture because you’re so close to it, as one of the creators?
[Nah, we’ve never started by thinking about what kind of album we want to make or anything like that. We just go ahead and make something that’ll be cool.]
– Of course, the music you make always is, yukihiro-san.
[Is it really? When people say things like that to me, I never know what to answer.]
– Then, let me ask about lyrics. yukihiro-san, in the song you wrote, ‘New World’, what is the meaning of the first line “Koko ni Aru Tashika na REALITY”? (Note : Meaning : “What is here is a certain reality”)
[It’s about what I, personally, perceive as good. I have my own feelings, my own way of thinking, and that’s what makes my own reality. I think each person has their own version of that.]
– Could it also refer to how each of the four members had their own “certain reality” regarding their feelings on this latest album?
[I guess, maybe (laughs).]
– What are your own feelings about it, yukihiro-san?
[I wasn’t thinking that hard when I was writing the lyrics (laughs), but since you’re asking the question, I think there’s one (reality) for any kind of situation. For example, when your reality gets wobbly, or when you fall prey to nervousness, that’s what’s real during that time. Reality isn’t absolute, so I think it’s ok not to connect to it especially strongly. Like right now, my reality is that I’m here trying to think of answers to your questions (laughs), well, that’s actually true.]
– Yet, for instance in ‘New World’, before that ‘truth’, the main sensation is the band’s overwhelming positive energy.
[Well, as long as we’re talking about these lyrics, I’d like to say more about the ‘truth’, as we’re discussing. Anyway, I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about what the true reality is, as long as you’re going ahead feeling good. It doesn’t matter what’s real, what’s a dream, or what’s fiction; it feels better not to worry about it.]
– This new album does feel like it calls out to those who live in that sort of world, with dreams and fictions.
[For sure, there are moments where I feel L’Arc’s sound call out that way. It happens during lives, and also in recordings when we let ourselves go wild. At times like that, I think I feel it more than the others do (laughs), and send out my own feelings.]
Things left “unsaid” help keep up a good nervous tension in the band.
– How is the situation within the band itself? I would think that if all members aren’t sharing the same circumstances, you won’t be able to make music together.
[That’s true. We definitely each have out our own roles, and if I’m feeling a certain way, everyone will also start feeling that way (laughs) as soon as we start talking. But, we don’t talk about that sort of thing much.]
– Is L’Arc the type of band where after a really good session, you make sure to tell each other you thought it was good, or the type to just smirk at each other when you don’t get anything done, or maybe a mix of both types?
[We do both, but the latter happens more often (laughs).]
– Has it always been that way since you joined the band, yukihiro-san?
[Yeah.]
– You’re a shy group of people, aren’t you (laughs)?
[Maybe we are…(laughs).]
– You don’t feel awkward?
[It’s just, some things don’t get said. And I think there are some things to be careful about. If I’m in a good mood, but someone else isn’t, I won’t try to cheer them up, for instance (laughs).]
– Would that delicate balance be a factor in L’Arc being the way it is?
[That’s right. I think that sort of feeling helps keep up a good nervous tension within the band.]
– What about the album title?
[As usual, hyde-kun thought of it. Once the sound is done with, I don’t care about the rest… Of course, the title of an album should be the strongest word the lyric writer can find to express the album, and with L’Arc, that would be hyde-kun, so he thought that was the most suitable word for describing the contents of this album.]
– But the word ‘AWAKE’ is in the song ‘New World’ isn’t it?
[Oh, yeah, it is (laughs).]
– Of course, this summer’s tour will focus on songs from ‘AWAKE’?
[That’s right.]
– Including ‘Killing Me’?
[That’s ok, isn’t it? (laughs)]
I’ll work hard to make the lives intense.
-(laughs) Have you started practicing again, now that the tour is coming?
[This time, the recording took a long time, and so listening to the songs we recorded first makes me notice how much I’ve forgotten about them. This time, we didn’t cram it all in as much, but that let us put out better quality work.]
– This time, you have shows in Korea and China, too. How was your overseas show last year, in America?
[I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t been that nervous in a long time. But, once the show started, I was fine.]
– How about Korea and China?
[I’m nervous, I guess. But I think it’s a different kind of nervousness than at the American show.]
– By the way, for many bands on tour, the day of a live doesn’t go well. How does L’Arc usually do on lives?
[We’re good, aren’t we? I, personally, have bad days too, of course, and sometimes the other three don’t seem like themselves. I probably do that too, though. I think last year’s tour went great, though.]
– Well, please try to make this year’s tour even better.
[Yes, I’ll work hard.]
Translated by Natalie Arnold.
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