– When did you first start liking an artist, and who was it?
[I liked Julie (Sawada Kenji) (1). I think it must have been around third year of elementary school. I did a lot of singing in school. At break time, I’d go up on a platform with my friends (laughs). I wouldn’t do it by myself, I couldn’t go alone. I was shy. Still, I sang with one of my friends. But everyone else was doing their own thing, so it felt like nobody was watching (laughs)]
– Which of Sawada-san’s songs did you sing back then?
[[Katte ni shiyagare], or [Casablanca Dandy], or [TOKIO].]
– The performances too?
[That’s right. I didn’t have the parachute though (laughs). I had the hat for [Casablanca Dandy] that he throws. I tried throwing mine, too. I tried the trick where he drinks bourbon and then makes it come out his mouth, only I used water (laughs)]
– Was it because of TV music programs that you started to like him?
[I think so. I guess I saw it on TV and it drew me in. Oh, I also did an imitation of Judy Ong, with the school curtain. I really liked the song [Miserarete] (2). I liked singing it. But I had absolutely no interest in the music world. Time kind of flies after that. Around sixth year of elementary, I liked stuff like YMO (3)or Ippudo (4). YMO was popular, so it was only natural. I think the first things I noticed were looks and hairstyles. I had a techno cut, too (laughs). I think I heard Ippudo before [Sumire September Love] was a hit. Tsuchiya (Masami)-san did audio advertisements, and wore armour-ish stuff, I thought that was cool. I must have gotten into Tsuchiya-san for his looks. Back then, I was kind of a conceited kid, and I made fun of my classmates a bit. People around me listened to whatever was popular, so I’d make fun of them for listening to such childish stuff.]
– Were you interested in instruments back then?
[No, not at all. I honestly didn’t do anything with instruments. I didn’t give a single thought to playing them or to making my own music. Then, in middle school, I started listening to more western music.]
– What kind of western music did you start with?
[First was Billy Joel. After that, I listened to a ton of British music. Duran Duran was incredibly popular. I was into the New Romantics Boom (5) people, like Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, and so on. I probably got started because of their looks, too. There were quite a lot of cases where I got interested in artists because of looks. If I watched a singer, a performer, who was plain, it left me cold (laughs). On the inside, I thought it should be required for a performer to look cool before they were allowed to appear on TV. I used to watch western music shows like [MTV] or [Best Hit USA] and tape them so I could check better. By the way, whenever I watched those shows, heavy metal was guaranteed to be on (laughs). And I hated distorted guitars. I used to watch the taped shows over and over every day until the next week’s show, so I gradually learned all those metal songs. Then, from hearing them so much, I gradually got to thinking they were pretty good (laughs). I started making more friends who were into metal, because metal was big in Kansai. (6)]
– Indeed, many bands came out of Kansai, didn’t they?
[It’s because Loudness came out with [Young Oh! Oh!]. Everyone saw that, and it made a comeback. And so metal came in, gradually.]
– Who were the first metal artists you thought were good?
[Ozzie Osbourne, Mötley crüe. Also, when Quiet Riot came out with [Cum On Feel the Noize], I heard it on the radio and thought it was a great song. Even though it’s distorted (laughs). After that, I lost my prejudices and listened to more heavy metal and hard rock. In first and second year of middle school, my senpai lived right across from my house, and I always went over to play. ken-chan also went over there a lot. The three of us always listened to music. They got me into Micheal Schenker, Scorpions, Whitesnake, (7) stuff like that. They both liked heavy metal and hard rock. They’d say “Duran Duran? Fuck it, that’s what girls listen to.” and I was all “Oh, is that so…” (laughs). So that was how I got immersed in the world of heavy metal and hard rock.]
– So you started listening to a lot of it.
[That’s right. Then there was the LA Metal Boom (8), and I started listening to Loudness, 44 Magnum, Earth Shaker, (9) and other Japanese metal bands and indie bands. I started growing my hair out. I remember saying to myself “rock starts with long hair.”]
– Of course, appearance is important.
[Yeah.]
– Would you say you were influenced by any artist’s lifestyle, or by the content of their lyrics?
[That didn’t really happen. I was more influenced by fashion. Well, in middle school I was just starting to want a band, then from the time I started high school, having a band became my main focus. I started up a cover band of Dead End. (10) Around then, there were only three patterns for bands; either copies of Laughin’Nose, copies of BOOWY
(11) or copies of overseas metal bands. Our band was a copy of a Japanese indie metal band. I really loved Dead End.]
– What was it you liked about them?
[At first, it was just MORRIE-san and CRAZY COOL JOE-san’s (12) looks, but the more I listened to their music, the more I thought it was cool. I listened to other music too. I even listened to U2. I tried to get a feel for a little bit of everything. At one point, I even joined Oosawa Yoshiyuki-san’s (13) fanclub. That was back in middle school, but I was member number 90. I thought it was cool to be a bassist. That was about Okano Hajime-san (14) though. And then, I listened to TM Network. I still have their debut single, [Kinyoubi no RAION] (15).]
– So you had no problem with either local music or foreign music. [Yeah. I just listened to music without paying attention to whether it was local or foreign. There are some people who stop listening to anything Japanese once they get into Western music, right? They get so full of themselves because they listen to Western music. They make the mistake of thinking they’re better than people who listen to Japanese music. I called those guys idiots. “There’s no way -you- can be better” (laughs). I even liked stuff like PuriPuri (Princess Princess)] (16). ]
– What made you start to like PuriPuri?
[Around third year of high school, I had a part-time job at a record store. The manager of the record shop I was at had metal hair, and that store would always get a hold of the newest information. When I came in to work, he’d tell me things like “This just came in, give it a listen.” He put thought into his business, so he didn’t deal only in metal. He sold normal CDs too. The store had both Japanese music and Western music. So, I was surrounded by all sorts of music. The store played a lot of samples, so customers got to hear them. Back then I liked (Street)Sliders, and Personz, Junska(Jun Sky Walkers), Echoes, and Barbee Boys.]
– You were still working at the record store when L’Arc formed, right?
[Around when L’Arc formed, I worked at a different record store. It was more of a maniac store, and rock was the main thing. They wouldn’t carry Enka (17). The first store did have Enka, but it didn’t like to deal with the Enka customers. When someone asked “Where can I find So-and-So?” they’d just answer “I dunno.” Back then, I wouldn’t have minded if Enka vanished off the face of the Earth. The next store I worked at never carried Enka in the first place, so when someone came looking for it we could reply “We don’t have Enka around here.” It was fun (laughs). You know how there’s stuff that isn’t Enka, but sounds a lot like it? It’s all the same to me; I don’t let it near my ears. If I heard any Enka, it might influence me a bit without my noticing it. I don’t want it’s input, I don’t want to know it (laughs).]
– What do you think of the classics?
[I really haven’t paid attention to classical music, but I like it. I like Bach and Beethoven. I have a CD from a project to compile the delicious parts of all the major tunes in only three minutes. It’s good. Even though I never listen to them, I think I’ve been influenced by the classics. I think even the melodies I write have classical elements to them. Oh, and since I like movies so much, I think I’ve been influenced by movie music too.]
– Since you’ve become a pro, someone who creates music, do you interpret it differently now?
[No, nothing like that’s happened.]
– Is L’Arc~en~Ciel stimulated by other artists at all?
[Are we? Who could it be? I guess you could say, early Radiohead. Or Smapa (Smashing Pumpkins). I stopped working at record stores ever since we went pro, so I’m starting to neglect it (laughs). Later, I somehow started liking Oasis, so I guess I might have been influenced by them, too.]
– Your common point must be writing such pretty melodies.
[But I don’t listen to The Beatles. I know I’ve said that a lot. My bassist side might have been influenced by Paul McCartney, because I have heard The Beatles. But I never really listened to them. The part of their music that I do know is what happenned to make it to my ears. Very little, really. When I became a pro, I borrowed some from the director and listenned. It didn’t fit in with what normally makes me think “Hey, that’s pretty good.” On the other hand, I do think Oasis is good. There seems to be a trend in the Japanese music industry where every pro listens to The Beatles. I really hate trends like that. I don’t think listening to The Beatles is necessary to become a pro, or to write music.]
– That’s where your own personality comes out, tetsu-san.
[I hate it when everyone says everyone needs to do something one particular way. Oh, lately it’s been No Doubt, Garbage, or Linkin Park. And my big hit last year was Good Charlotte. It was my thing the year before last, but it was only released in Japan last year. I started liking it around fall, two years ago, when I heard it in America.]
– They have good melodies, don’t they?
[Good Charlotte’s melodies are the greatest.]
– When do you listen to music, these days?
[I guess I might not be listening to music at all lately, besides what I make myself. Despite my lifestyle, I don’t go to CD stores, and even if I watch music programs, sometimes nothing I like will play, and it’s boring. You could say I don’t care for most of the music going around the world, these days. I think there are few good melodies in me. I have a habit of not taking in worthless information, so when I have no interest in an artist, I really mean zero interest. It’s a pain to have to go through so much music I don’t like in order to find something I do like. I can buy a lot of CDs and only find one that’s honestly good. I think it might just be a bad era.]
– As you listen to different music, tetsu-san, as a songwriter yourself who gives life to melodies, do you feel self-conscious at all about that connection?
[The music I listenned to in the past is still inside me, so I think that music must naturally come out and influence me.]
-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.
[I liked Julie (Sawada Kenji) (1). I think it must have been around third year of elementary school. I did a lot of singing in school. At break time, I’d go up on a platform with my friends (laughs). I wouldn’t do it by myself, I couldn’t go alone. I was shy. Still, I sang with one of my friends. But everyone else was doing their own thing, so it felt like nobody was watching (laughs)]
– Which of Sawada-san’s songs did you sing back then?
[[Katte ni shiyagare], or [Casablanca Dandy], or [TOKIO].]
– The performances too?
[That’s right. I didn’t have the parachute though (laughs). I had the hat for [Casablanca Dandy] that he throws. I tried throwing mine, too. I tried the trick where he drinks bourbon and then makes it come out his mouth, only I used water (laughs)]
– Was it because of TV music programs that you started to like him?
[I think so. I guess I saw it on TV and it drew me in. Oh, I also did an imitation of Judy Ong, with the school curtain. I really liked the song [Miserarete] (2). I liked singing it. But I had absolutely no interest in the music world. Time kind of flies after that. Around sixth year of elementary, I liked stuff like YMO (3)or Ippudo (4). YMO was popular, so it was only natural. I think the first things I noticed were looks and hairstyles. I had a techno cut, too (laughs). I think I heard Ippudo before [Sumire September Love] was a hit. Tsuchiya (Masami)-san did audio advertisements, and wore armour-ish stuff, I thought that was cool. I must have gotten into Tsuchiya-san for his looks. Back then, I was kind of a conceited kid, and I made fun of my classmates a bit. People around me listened to whatever was popular, so I’d make fun of them for listening to such childish stuff.]
– Were you interested in instruments back then?
[No, not at all. I honestly didn’t do anything with instruments. I didn’t give a single thought to playing them or to making my own music. Then, in middle school, I started listening to more western music.]
– What kind of western music did you start with?
[First was Billy Joel. After that, I listened to a ton of British music. Duran Duran was incredibly popular. I was into the New Romantics Boom (5) people, like Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, and so on. I probably got started because of their looks, too. There were quite a lot of cases where I got interested in artists because of looks. If I watched a singer, a performer, who was plain, it left me cold (laughs). On the inside, I thought it should be required for a performer to look cool before they were allowed to appear on TV. I used to watch western music shows like [MTV] or [Best Hit USA] and tape them so I could check better. By the way, whenever I watched those shows, heavy metal was guaranteed to be on (laughs). And I hated distorted guitars. I used to watch the taped shows over and over every day until the next week’s show, so I gradually learned all those metal songs. Then, from hearing them so much, I gradually got to thinking they were pretty good (laughs). I started making more friends who were into metal, because metal was big in Kansai. (6)]
– Indeed, many bands came out of Kansai, didn’t they?
[It’s because Loudness came out with [Young Oh! Oh!]. Everyone saw that, and it made a comeback. And so metal came in, gradually.]
– Who were the first metal artists you thought were good?
[Ozzie Osbourne, Mötley crüe. Also, when Quiet Riot came out with [Cum On Feel the Noize], I heard it on the radio and thought it was a great song. Even though it’s distorted (laughs). After that, I lost my prejudices and listened to more heavy metal and hard rock. In first and second year of middle school, my senpai lived right across from my house, and I always went over to play. ken-chan also went over there a lot. The three of us always listened to music. They got me into Micheal Schenker, Scorpions, Whitesnake, (7) stuff like that. They both liked heavy metal and hard rock. They’d say “Duran Duran? Fuck it, that’s what girls listen to.” and I was all “Oh, is that so…” (laughs). So that was how I got immersed in the world of heavy metal and hard rock.]
– So you started listening to a lot of it.
[That’s right. Then there was the LA Metal Boom (8), and I started listening to Loudness, 44 Magnum, Earth Shaker, (9) and other Japanese metal bands and indie bands. I started growing my hair out. I remember saying to myself “rock starts with long hair.”]
– Of course, appearance is important.
[Yeah.]
– Would you say you were influenced by any artist’s lifestyle, or by the content of their lyrics?
[That didn’t really happen. I was more influenced by fashion. Well, in middle school I was just starting to want a band, then from the time I started high school, having a band became my main focus. I started up a cover band of Dead End. (10) Around then, there were only three patterns for bands; either copies of Laughin’Nose, copies of BOOWY
(11) or copies of overseas metal bands. Our band was a copy of a Japanese indie metal band. I really loved Dead End.]
– What was it you liked about them?
[At first, it was just MORRIE-san and CRAZY COOL JOE-san’s (12) looks, but the more I listened to their music, the more I thought it was cool. I listened to other music too. I even listened to U2. I tried to get a feel for a little bit of everything. At one point, I even joined Oosawa Yoshiyuki-san’s (13) fanclub. That was back in middle school, but I was member number 90. I thought it was cool to be a bassist. That was about Okano Hajime-san (14) though. And then, I listened to TM Network. I still have their debut single, [Kinyoubi no RAION] (15).]
– So you had no problem with either local music or foreign music. [Yeah. I just listened to music without paying attention to whether it was local or foreign. There are some people who stop listening to anything Japanese once they get into Western music, right? They get so full of themselves because they listen to Western music. They make the mistake of thinking they’re better than people who listen to Japanese music. I called those guys idiots. “There’s no way -you- can be better” (laughs). I even liked stuff like PuriPuri (Princess Princess)] (16). ]
– What made you start to like PuriPuri?
[Around third year of high school, I had a part-time job at a record store. The manager of the record shop I was at had metal hair, and that store would always get a hold of the newest information. When I came in to work, he’d tell me things like “This just came in, give it a listen.” He put thought into his business, so he didn’t deal only in metal. He sold normal CDs too. The store had both Japanese music and Western music. So, I was surrounded by all sorts of music. The store played a lot of samples, so customers got to hear them. Back then I liked (Street)Sliders, and Personz, Junska(Jun Sky Walkers), Echoes, and Barbee Boys.]
– You were still working at the record store when L’Arc formed, right?
[Around when L’Arc formed, I worked at a different record store. It was more of a maniac store, and rock was the main thing. They wouldn’t carry Enka (17). The first store did have Enka, but it didn’t like to deal with the Enka customers. When someone asked “Where can I find So-and-So?” they’d just answer “I dunno.” Back then, I wouldn’t have minded if Enka vanished off the face of the Earth. The next store I worked at never carried Enka in the first place, so when someone came looking for it we could reply “We don’t have Enka around here.” It was fun (laughs). You know how there’s stuff that isn’t Enka, but sounds a lot like it? It’s all the same to me; I don’t let it near my ears. If I heard any Enka, it might influence me a bit without my noticing it. I don’t want it’s input, I don’t want to know it (laughs).]
– What do you think of the classics?
[I really haven’t paid attention to classical music, but I like it. I like Bach and Beethoven. I have a CD from a project to compile the delicious parts of all the major tunes in only three minutes. It’s good. Even though I never listen to them, I think I’ve been influenced by the classics. I think even the melodies I write have classical elements to them. Oh, and since I like movies so much, I think I’ve been influenced by movie music too.]
– Since you’ve become a pro, someone who creates music, do you interpret it differently now?
[No, nothing like that’s happened.]
– Is L’Arc~en~Ciel stimulated by other artists at all?
[Are we? Who could it be? I guess you could say, early Radiohead. Or Smapa (Smashing Pumpkins). I stopped working at record stores ever since we went pro, so I’m starting to neglect it (laughs). Later, I somehow started liking Oasis, so I guess I might have been influenced by them, too.]
– Your common point must be writing such pretty melodies.
[But I don’t listen to The Beatles. I know I’ve said that a lot. My bassist side might have been influenced by Paul McCartney, because I have heard The Beatles. But I never really listened to them. The part of their music that I do know is what happenned to make it to my ears. Very little, really. When I became a pro, I borrowed some from the director and listenned. It didn’t fit in with what normally makes me think “Hey, that’s pretty good.” On the other hand, I do think Oasis is good. There seems to be a trend in the Japanese music industry where every pro listens to The Beatles. I really hate trends like that. I don’t think listening to The Beatles is necessary to become a pro, or to write music.]
– That’s where your own personality comes out, tetsu-san.
[I hate it when everyone says everyone needs to do something one particular way. Oh, lately it’s been No Doubt, Garbage, or Linkin Park. And my big hit last year was Good Charlotte. It was my thing the year before last, but it was only released in Japan last year. I started liking it around fall, two years ago, when I heard it in America.]
– They have good melodies, don’t they?
[Good Charlotte’s melodies are the greatest.]
– When do you listen to music, these days?
[I guess I might not be listening to music at all lately, besides what I make myself. Despite my lifestyle, I don’t go to CD stores, and even if I watch music programs, sometimes nothing I like will play, and it’s boring. You could say I don’t care for most of the music going around the world, these days. I think there are few good melodies in me. I have a habit of not taking in worthless information, so when I have no interest in an artist, I really mean zero interest. It’s a pain to have to go through so much music I don’t like in order to find something I do like. I can buy a lot of CDs and only find one that’s honestly good. I think it might just be a bad era.]
– As you listen to different music, tetsu-san, as a songwriter yourself who gives life to melodies, do you feel self-conscious at all about that connection?
[The music I listenned to in the past is still inside me, so I think that music must naturally come out and influence me.]
-Interviewer : Hasegawa Makoto
Translated by Natalie Arnold.
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