Tag: ISSAY

DER ZIBET | [Jul 2017] Après-guerre Reissue Vol.5: Der Zibet — ISSAY + HIKARU

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

Der Zibet
ISSAY + HIKARU

Après-guerre Reissue Vol.5
July 2017

Since their reunion, Der Zibet continued activities with their unique stance and has now released 20 Seiki (20世紀 / 20th Century), a best-of album comprising of songs they released in the 20th century, as selected by the members of the band. There is no question that even those who have recently become fans will be able to enjoy their live performances even more after listening to this album. And to those who aren’t very familiar with them yet, I invite you to have a taste of their remarkable legacy.

 

PROFILE
Debuting in 1986, ISSAY’s presence and their one-of-a-kind band image and music won them an ardent following. Kirigirisu (キリギリス) was the last album they released before they ceased activity. 10 years passed before they reunited. Since then, they have kept active at their own pace with live performances and music releases.

■OFFICIAL HP
http://derzibet.com/

 

 

――What gave you this idea to release a best-of album?

HIKARU (H): Around the end of our 30th debut anniversary year, talk about going through some record company to release it started up but since these are old releases, things are complicated with the rights so even though we originally intended to release it last year, it ended up being this year. In the beginning, things were moving along pretty smoothly but setbacks came in at the very end (wry smile). Feels like we finally released it.

――How did you feel when you got confirmation that it was going to be released?

H: Happy, right?

ISSAY (I): Because we never thought it could be. It was the sort of situation where we were questioning whether something like this was even possible.

H: Also because this is the first time we had the freedom to choose all the songs in a best-of album.

――How did you pick the songs?

H: Ultimately, we focused on songs that we perform live. We’ve done live performances of all the songs here.

I: Even if we did include songs that we don’t perform, that’s no fun, is it? There’s an increase in those who aren’t fans from way back, and they voiced out that it’s difficult to get their hands on original releases from those days too. Which also means there are a lot of songs we perform live that they don’t know, aren’t there? So, you see, it was quickly decided that this would be based on the songs we perform in our shows. Then HIKARU came in with, “What do you think about something like this?” and shared a draft with us. From there, [discussions] were like, don’t you think including this is better than that, and all that.

H: Cutting [the number of songs] down was more difficult, wasn’t it? Because we chose a little too many. Everyone was suggesting this and that.

I: While drinking, yes (lol).

H: In the mastering stage, we couldn’t fit [all the tracks] into the first CD (wry smile). We had to revise a bunch of things. Besides, if we were back in the vinyl record days, it’d be a 4-piece release, this collection.

――It’s quite a hefty one, isn’t it? Among the songs, the only newly recorded one is Neo Flower Moon. Why did you choose to record a studio version of it at this point in time? It’s from 1986, isn’t it?

I: We intended to put in in the previous album, Bessekai (別世界 / Another World). We had that in mind but the number of songs we made for Bessekai grew too large so then we again decided to put it back in storage. And now it finally gets to see the sun here.

H: The topic of recording it never came up in the past, and even though we’re only doing it now, it doesn’t feel out of place at all. Although it’s a song from 1986, it doesn’t feel weird to place it within Bessekai, and it’s fine that we do it only now, too. That’s some sort of interesting.

I: It’s something we’ve been dragging out until now so I guess it’s just good that we’re finally doing it now.

H: It’s like a homecoming.

I: And we basically kept the arrangement the same too.

――Even the lyrics?

I: I made adjustments in some parts but it’s basically unchanged, yes.

Often described as unorthodox¹

――Are the two discs meant to feel like they are split chronologically?

H: The songs we released through BMG are indeed in the second CD but that’s a good thing, isn’t it? On the contrary.

I: Because there are a lot of BMG era songs that we started to play after our reunion, aren’t there?

H: The last album we released was Kirigirisu (キリギリス / Grasshopper) and then our activities came to a halt so we didn’t manage to do a tour for it. It was pretty interesting playing the songs from that album after we came back together. We ended up recording a lot [of songs] for disc 2 so I think it’s good that we had them divided like that. Included are also really unorthodox songs that would make people wonder why they’re in a best-of compilation, but they’re a perfect fit for the present, right?

――Do you feel that there’s some reason why you don’t feel uncomfortable playing these songs again now, 30 years later, after so much time has passed?

Both: ……

I: We both fell silent (lol). This time, since we have such a quantity, we were able to include unorthodox songs, especially those from our BMG era. There are unorthodox songs in the first CD too, but whatever people used to call unorthodox back then doesn’t feel as unorthodox as it used to now in present times. After 30 years, we’re finally not unorthodox (wry smile).

――Is that because societal values or something like that have changed with the times?

I: I think that’s one reason, and also that we are now able to easily execute the little things we do in our music. We’re now capable of doing them without needing to strain for it. That’s definitely a thing, isn’t it? Otherwise we definitely wouldn’t include songs like Club Idiot, normally (lol). But when we play them now, it feels good. It feels much better now than it was back then.

H: There are songs that we would never play in this day and age (wry smile). Something just wouldn’t feel right. The music and the melody or the arrangement or something else just wouldn’t be right. Like songs from our third album or something, there are some that we get asked to play but there’s no question that we definitely don’t want to (wry smile).

I: Probably, those songs, I think the fact that they’re over-produced contributes to it too.

H: There might have also been an element of trying to do more in an effort to sell well.

I: Besides, there are also [songs] that we did because we were told to try and do something less unorthodox. Not to say that we did that unwillingly, but because we did that, it also means that we’re straying off our centre line, doesn’t it? Back then, we didn’t know what our centre line was, but now, I would think we know where it lies.

――Maybe it doesn’t feel weird even after 30 years because that centre line sticks out.

I: It’d be cool if I said that it stuck out, but we can’t do anything else. I think basically, when we four or five come together to play, this is the only brand of music we’re capable of making. And that’s something I find particularly intriguing these days. I don’t get the sense that anything’s come through, you know? 

H: Back then, fun times were complicated by unpleasant times. Now, digging up the stuff that we did in the past to play is enjoyable. In those days, we weren’t exactly a fun band having fun.

I: Now you said it (lol).

H: It wasn’t a band where four people made music happily (wry smile). Neither were we a group who got along well with each other. In comparison, we’re actually on much better terms now. It’s way more fun now than it used to be.

――Why’s that? What’s different?

H: Because ISSAY got good at singing.

I: Oy! (Lol)

H: Now I can say that we can peacefully have drinks together and chit chat. We’re not clinging to the past because we want to create new things. Steadily evolving like this is fun.  This is a different feeling than what it used to be. Because back then, since we were signed to a major record label, there were other things to contend with like how the next album had to be delivered after a certain amount of time. Now we can spontaneously release new songs or albums.

――Basically, you do whatever you want.

I: During the 10-year break, I think we came to understand our mutual characteristics. When we started things up again, we really understood our respective attributes.

H: Because playing with the same band members means that we would know their habits from those days.

To feel the passage of time

――That’s also a change caused by the length of time, isn’t it? You mentioned that you don’t feel any discomfort with the songs themselves, but do you perhaps feel the youth in it or something like that?

I: In regard to these songs, there are indeed those that I don’t think I would presently write. There are a lot that I think I could only do because of the folly of my youth, or I could only write because I didn’t understand all that much. I think I probably possessed a strength I didn’t know I had.

――When you say that there are lyrics that you wouldn’t write in the present day… it isn’t about ISSAY-san, is it?

H: Because ISSAY doesn’t stray from his path. I’ve finally come to understand that. I used to think that it would be better if he would write lyrics that were easier to understand, but after the band came back together, we spoke about a lot of things. And when we were working on Primitive, topics like what eternity means to ISSAY came up. He often talks about eternity [in his lyrics] but I wanted to understand the heart of it. After that, I started to think that the lyrics he wrote back then were actually pretty good too (lol). That’s why I say that ISSAY doesn’t stray from his ways.

I: I certainly don’t. Looking at them now, there are lyrics that I think could’ve had a little more ingenuity in them, you know?

H: Because we’re comfortable now. Like the lyrics of Bessekai songs ended up reading like they’re showing you some sort of visual media. Although if you knew what it meant, you’ll probably be able to get a deeper understanding of the unhesitating lyrics from those days which looked like you wouldn’t be able to get it unless you listened to it.

――But don’t you think that things like lyrics have a greater tendency to change?

I: It’s not about writing because I want to write, but instead, I write because something took shape in my mind. Like a landscape or an event; whatever comes to mind, wins.

――Are there instances where you listen to an old song and feel that you probably wouldn’t be able to do the same thing in the present?

I: I think I was attuned to whatever was specific to each era, so I probably chose whatever fit best. But given the way my lyrics are, they won’t really give the impression that they’re dated, so I think they’re relatable even now. I don’t think it’s weird even if we take them out to play in this manner, right?

H: With titles like, Matsu Uta (待つ歌 / Waiting), Shizumitai (沈みたい / I Wish To Sink). Amazing. huh?

I: Matsu Uta just happened to turn out like that, though. It’s a waiting song, so it’s an alias, like, “Let’s do a song about waiting”. When I said that, Chikada Haruo-san said, Matsu Uta as a title is good. So, then, I decided we’ll name it Matsu Uta.

H: And because that’s our debut single, right? It only gets even more messed up from there. Shizumitai was a peculiar one too, wasn’t it? People would ask what’s Shizumitai supposed to mean? But now it’s intriguing. Back then, the only thought I had was, “Are there no cooler-sounding song names?”

I: Because all of us were rebellious, weren’t we? Sticking to what defined rock to us and all that. That’s why things were difficult, back then. We’d butt heads over that, you know? But I also think if we didn’t have those conflicts, then we wouldn’t be here now, anyway. I think it was very important that we fought right there and then while in the midst of production.

H: Production is fun now, isn’t it?

I: We still have conflicts on occasion but those are good conflicts, you know? This album is the product of conflicts but these days, we are capable of taking it normally so it’s good, isn’t it?

H: We’re all really thankful that we can release this at this time.

I: We’re thankful, and we’re just glad. In this album, we arranged the songs as if we were putting together a setlist for a live performance. Like, it’ll sound so good if this song came after this one. And I think that’s the most impressive thing about this album.

H: Arranging them, it felt like we could put on about three whole shows just like that.

――And who came up with the album name?

I: When we were having drinks, I suggested, “What about 20 Seiki?”

H: He likes T-REX and all, so he initially proposed titles like 20th Century Boy. Saying, “20 Seiki Shounen (20世紀少年 / 20th Century Boy) is a great name, isn’t it?” “Don’t you think it’s a good idea to have 20 Seiki come after Bessekai?” 

――It sounds really odd when I hear it like this. We’ve already been in the 21st century for quite some time now, haven’t we? And yet it doesn’t feel dated.

I: Exactly. It’s like saying what you’re currently hearing is what we did in the 20th Century (20 Seiki). And it’d be great if that’s the impression it gives people. Because I think that’s the way we meant for it to be.

――It’s a wonder why it doesn’t feel old though, isn’t it?

I: Because we don’t pander to trends (wry smile). We couldn’t keep up to whatever was trendy. And that turned out to be our fortune (lol).

H: These songs were angled for the band, so simply put, we weren’t sellable (wry smile), but now, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? If any one [of our works] turned out to rake in the cash, then I think everything would start revolving around it, or we’d never remove ourselves from it. After all this time, I think that’s good for us.

――I believe there are a lot of people who would be happy to hear it.

I: Because the album itself is interesting, isn’t it?

――Have you been called unorthodox¹ since your reunion?

H: These days, the world is filled with unorthodox things, so. What we do is legitimate, isn’t it?

I: Basically saying, in the end, we were right (lol).

――I’m sure you’d like for everyone to listen to this best-of collection and enjoy your live performances even more than ever.

H: And we’ve got a pretty tight schedule for the rest of this year, don’t we?

I: We’ll start producing our next album soon.

――Very ambitious! We’ll look forward to it.

 

 

 

Notes:

¹ マニアック (maniakku), literally read as “maniac” has been translated as “unorthodox” in this interview. Despite how it reads, its definition is more closely related to being obsessed with very specific or niche topics. In other words, something that isn’t generally accepted in mainstream society. Thus the translation choice here.

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Scans: Yoshiyuki

 

 

ISSAY | [15 Aug 2023] Ongaku to Hito:【Remembering ISSAY】See you again at Sad Cafe, someday

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

【Remembering ISSAY】
See you again at Sad Cafe, someday

Ongaku to Hito
15 August 2023

text by Imai Tomoko
First image: A picture published in the February 2003 issue of the magazine (photographer ＝ Kasai Chikashi）

 

On 5 August 2023, the vocalist of DER ZIBET, ISSAY passed away due to an unforeseen accident.

Here is a passage about the artist that he was with the one-of-a-kind presence he exuded with each different worldview and his distinctive sense of aesthetic. Penned by writer Imai Tomoko-san who has been acquainted with him since DER ZIBET’s debut, it covers ISSAY’s life and the person he was as an outstanding artist who not only worked with music, but also an actor and a pantomime artist, and had considerable influence on BUCK-TICK’s Sakurai Atsushi, for starters and many, many more who came after him.

DER ZIBET’s vocalist, ISSAY has passed on.

He was bewitching as he sang in Meguro’s LIVE STATION  on the 14th of July, and was scheduled to have a joint gig with FAR EAST PHALLUS KICKER in September. The sudden news of his demise left every single person who knew him distraught, and posts from people expressing their thoughts of him continue to flow on social media.

Possessing an astounding beauty and a unique aesthetic sense, he would always offer a kind smile to anyone and everyone, but he was also well acquainted with the darker side of life. A singer, an actor, a pantomime artist; these were but some of his wide-ranging activities as a prominent artist. He doesn’t act like he’s all-knowing yet he is wise and knowledgeable in so many different things that it often surprises. There is no doubt that every person who meets someone like him will always love and have faith in him.

His stage performances were theatrical, full of aestheticism. He makes use of masks, a cane, hats and more to full effect, bringing his unique world to life. There is no other band who executes live performances in this way, so the first time I saw it, I was captivated. Also, his being a voracious reader since he was a child brought a literary flavour into the lyrics he wrote, giving them a depth that set his lyrics apart from the lyrics of pop songs which flood the streets. From Baudelaire to Edogawa Ranpo, to Capote to Mishima Yukio to Kyogoku Natsuhiko and so forth, these were authors we had conversations about from time to time.

I got to know about ISSAY when I first saw a beautiful young man Chikada Haruo-san brought to some party. Later on, I think it was the launch party for Sixty Records, the label that DER ZIBET debuted with. It was around the release of the movie The Legend of The Stardust Brothers (1984) which was directed by Macoto Tezuka and written and produced by Chikada-san.

According to a Facebook post which Tezuka wrote in memoriam of ISSAY, he said that he happened to see a picture of ISSAY that one of his staff had when they were having a meeting for the movie, and picked ISSAY out of the many candidates. His and Tezuka’s fates were strongly connected, and he later went on to act in the 2018 sequel The Legend of the Stardust Brothers, and later the movie adaptation of Tezuka’s Barbara, originally a manga written by Tezuka’s father, Osamu Tezuka.

When I actually met this handsome young man, it was at an interview for DER ZIBET’s first album, Violetter Ball-紫色の舞踏会- (Violetter Ball-Murasakiiro no Budoukai- / 1985). I remember having an awkward conversation with a well-mannered but highly guarded ISSAY. But we had a number of mutual acquaintances like Chiwaki Mayumi and Okano Hajime, so things grew more comfortable over the course of the interview. 

Always stylishly dressed in sophisticated fashion with those looks, he also looked good wearing a hat and with a cane in  hand, but as exceptionally otherworldly as ISSAY appeared, he was an unexpectedly affable, practical man. He was an adorable person who would have a wide smile on his face as he chatted with people over drinks, sometimes blurting a cheeky line or two.

Rock entered ISSAY’s world when he was in high school. He said that he was greatly inspired by musicians like David Bowie, T. Rex, Lou Reed, Sex Pistols and went to school wearing makeup. He moved to Tokyo when he was 19 and started the glam rock band, ISSAY and SUICIDES which remained active for about two years before he embarked on his solo project.

Alongside his music career, he also studied pantomime under the tutelage of Mochizuki Akira who influenced not only ISSAY’s technique in physical expression but in all facets of the arts as well, from songwriting to all the way down to lifestyle. Although DER ZIBET’s work has begun, I had the chance to watch ISSAY’s pantomime performance. As I watched him support an elderly Akira-sensei with his passionate performance, I could sense from him an energy unlike that of what he exuded when in a band.

DER ZIBET was formed in 1984. It came together when ISSAY was going to form a band with HAL (bassist), who he had been working with in his solo project, and HIKARU (guitarist), who he met through a mutual acquaintance, and at the time, MAHITO (keyboardist) brought MAYUMI (drummer) along with him. Thus arrived a non-conforming band with a beautiful vocalist straddling the lines between new wave and hard rock in an era when the term “Visual-Kei” had yet to even exist.

Embodying the contrasting styles of decadence that ranged from David Bowie to Joy Division and a rock spirit backed by bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, they were a novel concept in the music scene of those days, yet at the same time, it was a huge hurdle to them. But DER ZIBET continued as a band without succumbing to the pressure.

Their 4th album, GARDEN (1988) was the product of their first time recording in London. They worked at Maison Rouge Studios, which saw artists like Jethro Tull and Peter Murphy, with Dick Beetham, who worked on Jimmy Page’s solo work, in charge of sound engineering. I spent about a week with them for interview and reporting work, and even though they had to deal with the perplexity and unfamiliarity of working foreigners, the four of them enjoyed the London life. ISSAY loved fish and chips dipped with malt vinegar so much that he said numerous times he wanted to buy some and bring them back to Japan. It was an unusual occurrence for a man like him who was generally disinterested in food.

And it was during that same period when BUCK-TICK also came to London to record their 4th album, TABOO. In between scheduled work, they held a secret gig which all the members of DER ZIBET went to watch. BUCK-TICK’s Sakurai Atsushi spoke about how reassuring it was to have fellow brethren in the audience of their first show overseas in London during a later conversation with ISSAY.

To Sakurai, ISSAY was not only a vocalist he looked up to, but also someone who influenced his stage performance in no small way. It can be inferred that the theatrical performances that Sakurai specialises in now and his use of masks and other objects to express the worlds of his songs were things that he acquired from his relationship with ISSAY. 

To Sakurai, ISSAY was probably one of the few people who shared and validated his sense of aesthetic and sensibilities, and understood him as well. And to ISSAY, Sakurai was likely the junior who adored him the most but also, maybe, his most trusted person too. ISSAY would always be invited to BUCK-TICK’s year-end concert at the Nippon Budokan without fail, and it’s become an annual sight to see the two of them quietly drinking and talking with each other at the after-party.

DER ZIBET’s activities came to a pause in 1996. Since then, ISSAY has been actively involved in all sorts of musical collaborations. He was often called upon because of his distinctive voice and performances, and ISSAY was never one to say no.

In 1997, he formed PHY together with HAL and ex. 44MAGNUM band member JIMMY (Hirose Satoshi), he formed HAMLET MACHINE with ALLNUDE’s TATSUYA, and also formed LYnx with X JAPAN’s HEATH. Alongside Fukuhara Mari (keyboardist), their unit, ISSAY meets DOLLY was created based on the concepts of Neo Cabaret Music and Theatrical Music. I felt it was a space where ISSAY could be most comfortable.

In this unit, ISSAY often sang Alabama Song (from the play Little Mahagonny. Lyrics by Bertolt, music by Kurt Weill. Covered by artists like David Bowie, the Doors, and more). Hearing his rendition, Tsuchiya Masami called upon him to become a member of his band, KA.F.KA. With all these activities, ISSAY’s singing grew ever more polished.

When HAL made a recovery from the serious injury he sustained in an accident in 2004, DER ZIBET seized the opportunity to come back together and resumed activities in 2007. I remember how ISSAY would frequently visit HAL when he was hospitalised and how he so happily told me HAL was on the road to recovery. Facing trying times with positivity was precisely the kind of person ISSAY was.

MAHITO, who left before the band made its debut in 1985, even came back officially as a member of the band when they restarted activities this time. Since then, they have continued to perform live shows and release new works. They even kept going by streaming their shows online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, finally, we were just getting to the point when shows can be held and performed normally again.

Even now, the sudden news of his passing still confounds me. But I believe all the things that ISSAY has left behind will continue to be cherished and handed down in lasting legacy. Even now, he’s probably out there somewhere singing Matsu Uta, Pas Seul-ing (solo dancing). Let’s not forget the promise to “meet at Sad Cafe”. Because I don’t want my memories to turn into Nostalgia. May the soul of the ever-smiling, ever-positive ISSAY rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Source: Ongaku to Hito online

 

 

ISSAY | [Aug 2023] Words from Chiwaki Mayumi — THE MAJESTIC SATURDAY NIGHT

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

THE MAJESTIC SATURDAY NIGHT
12 August 2023 (Extract)

Hosted by: Chiwaki Mayumi
Guest: -NA–

 

The above is a partial audio recording of the radio broadcast, THE MAJESTIC SATURDAY NIGHT hosted by Chiwaki Mayumi on FM COCOLO on 12 August 2023.

In this broadcast, Chiwaki touches on the topic of ISSAY’s passing. Her words are translated and transcribed below.

 

 

Tonight, I have been tasked to properly address this topic for everyone.
Although I’m not sure whether I am capable of doing this well and am feeling rather especially anxious about it, I’ll do my best.

 

When I met Morishige Juichi-san (ZIGGY vo.) at Zepp OSAKA BAYSIDE today,
I suppose it was to be expected that the very first thing he said to me was, “Chiwaki…… About ISSAY……”

I would think that there are many of you out there who have already heard the news, but last Saturday, the fifth of August,
DER ZIBET’s vocalist ISSAY-san has departed this life.

 

ISSAY-san returned to his hometown ahead of Obon. He was a person who really places importance on events like the New Year and Obon
so [on this occasion as well], he first went grave visiting before meeting his hometown friends and enjoying some time together with them.

There are elderly family members who live in his family home and COVID-19 is still around, so since this was only a short visit,
well, about one night only, he decided to stay in a nearby hotel for the evening.

But after he bade his friends farewell and returned to his room, it would appear that he fell.
According to the doctor, a severe pressure to his chest in a bad spot was the cause of his death.

 

Honestly, that feeling I got when I received that sudden notice, the disbelief of, “What on earth is this really saying?”, still remains with me even now.
But, really, to have a long-time friend like ISSAY-san leave us out of the blue, I believe there are many who are feeling a lot of grief.

And when I listened to all the different conversations going on at the place where we bade our farewells,
there were lives and tours that were planned.
Yes, it would appear that they had a tour lined up for Autumn.

He also had a live last month for DER ZIBET and had all kinds of other activities scheduled too.
And next year would be DER ZIBET’s 40th formation anniversary, so plans for it had also begun as well.
All things considered, it really is a shame that this happened,
but I think that the one who’s most chagrined by this may very well be ISSAY himself.

 

ISSAY-san was really active outside of DER ZIBET too, with numerous band units and collaborations.
The song you hear now comes from the unit called ISSAY meets dolly, a collaboration with pianist Fukuhara Mari-san
where he sings these kinds of cabaret-style, chanson-like songs.

When I watched this [unit’s] live or through streaming, it makes me think,
“Ah, he really managed to find a world to sing songs that could very well have been from the 60s or 70s.”

 

And originally, ISSAY-san was also involved in mime.
From pantomime performances in his old haunts, to starring in Director Macoto Tezuka’s movies,
he truly was someone with a presence so unlike any other that he was quintessential to other artists.
I believe that going forward, there will be many songs that only he can pull off.

Although his artistic career has spanned 40 years, he has unwaveringly stuck to his own brand of aesthetic
as a stoic artist and his stance has earned him respect from numerous other musicians.
He was always calm, an exceptional gentleman, and even a caring older brother to many.
That charming disposition of his was beloved by many.

 

His younger brother called him, “An older brother I’m proud of,” and
has given him another legal name, or rather a posthumous Buddhist name
written with the words of one voice (一つの声 / hitotsu no koe), “一声 (issei)”.

So going forward, he will continue to be known as ISSAY (一声).

 

I would like to report that he passed on beautifully, elegantly and very much at peace.

 

I would also like to have a special episode sometime where I can introduce DER ZIBET and his other work to everyone,
so that is a conversation I will be having with our staff later.

 

Sincerely, thank you for being my friend through all these years.

 

Today, I would like everyone to hear a version of my favourite song from their debut single in 1985
which has been recorded for their 25th’s anniversary album,
Kaikoteki Mirai~NOSTALGIC FUTURE (懐古的未来~NOSTALGIC FUTURE),
which is an absolutely fantastic album by the way.

 

 

I’ll see you again.

 

 

DER ZIBET, Matsu Uta (待つ歌).

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Transcript: イイノブ

 

 

DER ZIBET | [Feb 2017] Après-guerre Reissue Vol.4: ISSAY ✕ Toru Nogawa — Featured Dialogue

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

Featured Dialogue:
Brought to life through connection

Après-guerre Reissue Vol.4
February 2017

Photos by Koki Matsunaga

 

ties can make special things
「the relationship between the perceiving and the perceived」

ISSAY (Der Zibet、KA.F.KA、ISSAY meets DOLLY)
✕
Toru Nogawa (Artist)

If you’re a fan of ISSAY, it’s highly likely that you’ve seen Toru Nogawa’s art with him featured as a model in them. Those pieces are not meant to be portraits of ISSAY, but rather of someone else. Someone who isn’t iSSAY. What was the process that led to the creation of these works? This dialogue session will follow the collaboration between the artist and the model.

 

 

 

―― Were you acquainted before you asked him to model for your art?

Toru Nogawa (N): I’ve known him as an artist since my teens, being a fan of Der Zibet.

ISSAY (I): And then, we got to know each other through a mutual acquaintance.

N: And then, when we were drinking at an afterparty in a live house after a show, I decided to shoot my shot and speak to him about modelling (wry smile). Because his style and vibe were just perfect for the theme I was going to paint with.

―― Come to think of it, has ISSAY-san ever been an art model before?

I: No, probably not. I don’t think so.

―― I would think that there were many opportunities for you to be in photoshoots, but how did the conversation about being an art model go?

I: I was very interested because he’s someone who is capable of painting absolutely fantastical art. In the case of photos, whatever’s in the environment you’re taking photos at will also show up in the photo, right? But that doesn’t necessarily happen in a painting, and I thought that would be fun to look forward to, so I was more than willing to be a part of it.

―― Does Nogawa-san have a theme in mind before looking for a model who fits it?

N: That is indeed how I create. I think it’ll be easier to consider this from the perspective of a theatre play. [The character] I asked of ISSAY-san back then was Siegfried, a protagonist from Richard Wagner’s opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen. It’s as good as me casting ISSAY-san in the role of this character. Another theme I had in mind at the time was Dracula. A vampire. A vampire aristocrat known as the Count from the era of black-and-white film.

He in the paintings who is not ISSAY

―― What’s your process when you’re creating the actual piece?

N: The standard procedure would involve the model posing in front of the artist, but ISSAY-san is of course a busy person which means that it would be difficult to do it this way. So he prepared the outfit, took photos for me in a studio and I drew based on what I received.

―― Did you discuss poses for specific scenarios?

N: I picture them in my head, so I think it’s similar to how one would stage a play. Whether it’s Siegfried or the vampire, I’m painting them based on the same person, ISSAY-san, so he has to become someone else entirely in the painting. His response to my requests was tremendously potential-filled. He really turned into a whole other person. It only really hit me later just how amazing a performing artist I asked to do this for me.

―― Do you imagine yourself as this character, or rather, embodying it?

I: I go into it with a simple posture. Like, since this is the type of scenario it is, this is the posture that would fit. Meaning it’s better if I position this leg a little further in front, for example. To compliment that, my left leg will end up like this, but would it be better if my legs were closer together? That’s the kind of thought process that goes into creating a detailed posture.

「Siegfried]
※From W.R.Wagner 『Der Ring des Nibelungen』Oil on canvas 33.4 x 24.3/cm

―― I suppose your pantomime experience comes in handy here.

I: Indeed. Pantomime may have been most helpful.

―― What were your thoughts about being cast as Siegfried and a vampire?

I: I hope it’ll be alright (dry laugh). And, since I was selected by the artist, I suppose there’s a good chance it’ll be fine. I think it doesn’t matter how he perceives it, as long as he’s able to bring it out through me.

N: I wrote an abnormally long email for our very first discussion (lol). What I pictured only existed in my mind and I wanted to share that with ISSAY-san, so I think I set the scene for him by writing something like a short story. For my Siegfried (※From W.R.Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen) piece, he doesn’t actually have a sword on his person but I requested that he posed in a way that suggested he was holding one. It’s pretty much a pantomime. And at the time, I also wrote an essay with details like the general length of the sword the character was supposed to hold, and descriptions of this locale that only I have a vision of, like how there’s a Greek architecture-inspired column in the back. From the second request on, ISSAY-san had kindly grasped my tendencies in my art, so I didn’t have to be as detailed anymore.

I: Since then, if I asked, “How’s this?”, for example, he’d just say, “More like this,” or something of the like.

N: I’ve been requesting images from ISSAY-san for a lot of my work in recent years. So doing it this way is better (lol).

―― How did you feel when you first laid eyes on the artwork that was created through such a process?

I: It’s difficult to put into words, but in a nutshell, like, “Whooa…”. “So this is how it turned out.” While there’s no doubt that I’m present in his world too, I couldn’t have ever imagined the extent of its depiction. Because my world is more indistinct. And this has taken shape as something beyond the world I imagined. What made me happy was seeing how [the character in the piece] was obviously me, but it wasn’t me. I was really happy about that.  He painted here what he saw through me.

―― I believe people who know ISSAY-san will be able to tell that he’s the model but this isn’t a painting of ISSAY-san, right?

N: If I were to do a portrait painting, I’ll probably have to paint ISSAY-san as he is. On the contrary, what I hoped to do was see how much of ISSAY-san’s inherent personality I could carve off.

―― So since then, you’ve been making paintings of different themes and settings.

N: To me, The Picture of D (Dの肖像 / D no Shouzou) is a mystery to be solved but I told ISSAY-san that it’s based on The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray’s first initial is D, just as Dracula’s first initial is also D. In addition, something visitors to my exhibitions mentioned to me was that Der Zibet also starts with D. They commented the three D’s were brought together in this piece, so it’s a painting that I’m also very happy with. It’s a double-image piece of Dorian Gray along with a particular sort of immorality that is drawn from vampires, right? From this point, we can increasingly say that [the subject] isn’t entirely Dracula and what I painted is a marquis of darkness, an immortal undead king of ISSAY-san’s and my making. Dracula has a variety of appearances but he’s described as a member of the aristocratic class of marquis in mainstream European stories so this series actually leans closer to the original. From then on, I started to leave the details to him.

―― How did ISSAY-san carry out your part of the work?

I: Take, for example, this pose. I’ll move my body while thinking about factors like, to what extent can I exhibit an air of reclusiveness, or whether this character really considers themself to be alone, or what this person might think if another were in their presence, and things like that.

N: Since then, ISSAY-san would move and adjust his poses while I kept clicking the camera shutter. I feel that doing this gives the piece more depth than before. There’s an interesting element that comes from the lack of a specific target here. Through this method, that which is naturally unique to ISSAY-san would be incredibly apparent in the final piece. But that’s not the ISSAY-san we personally know. It’s the ISSAY-san who becomes the gaze of the character in the piece. Which puts us in a similar position as the audience who watch ISSAY-san when he performs on stage. That’s why I can look at the art more objectively. And that’s a good thing. The method I use is a classic technique of the old masters, so the painter has to remain calm too. Instead of wielding the brush in a subjective state of mind, I have to paint with a somewhat analytical perspective, as if I’m critiquing a painting done by another. That’s why it’s very good if I can look at a painting objectively.

 

「Ein Dunkler Markgraf：魔性の刻 (Mashou no Koku / Witching Hour)」 Oil on canvas 116.7 X 90.9/cm

Turning Der Zibet’s song into a painting

―― And after that, the theme that you chose to work on was Der Zibet’s song.

N: As a painter, when I watch their concerts or listen to their albums, as long as text or words or music are present, pictures will come to mind. So I mentioned that something like this came to mind and asked if it was okay for me to paint it since it was based on a Der Zibet song.

I: And I said, please go ahead (smiles). I appreciate it.

―― So you wanted to create an artwork of an image that came to mind from a song.

N: Of course, it’s not exactly the same as the lyrical world ISSAY-san writes about. Instead of tracing an artist’s work from the perspective of a third party experiencing it, what I feel I’m doing is closer to traversing the path carved out by their work and weaving yet another story out of the leaves and branches that I come across. 

「Ein Dunkler Markgraf：月下美人 (Gekka Bijin / Queen of the Night)」※ From “DER ZIBET” music piece
Oil on canvas 31.8 x 41/cm

―― What’s it like having a song by your own band turned into a painting?

I: It’s a strange feeling. But it makes me really happy, though. Like, ahh, so this is how it turned out. I have my own idea of what it might look like, right? When it’s released from Der Zibet’s control and turned into something that comes from Nogawa-san, it’s really refreshing for me to see what a great piece he’s made of it. I was very happy.

N: I didn’t notice at the time, but I just realised something. Thinking about it again, it’s a strange order of events for me to ask if you’d be willing to model and feature in this painting even though you’re singing in Der Zibet to begin with.

I: That work was actually done during our concert, right?

N: Ah, right.

I: Without me singing (dry laugh). It was really interesting though, wasn’t it? To me, I think the person in SISTER ROMANOID is kind of bubbly, somewhat crazy. This was brought with subtlety so I liked that. And it’s clearly got something that leans towards romanticism, doesn’t it? I love that a lot.

N: This isn’t an illustration, to begin with, but a world that I believe only the people present at a concert and people listening to this song possess. And [this painting] is just one of those [worlds].

I: Meaning that it just so happened that Nogawa-san opened this door, y’know?

N: It’s something like a parallel world, see? Following that, I’ll paint with a more confined essence from the lyrics. The most recent piece was Gekka Bijin which features the marquis of darkness. I overlapped the characters from Ein Dunkler Markgraf with Der Zibet’s Gekka Bijin.

―― In other words, you’ve arrived where your two worlds converge.

I: It’s like some kind of reaction occurred.

―― Will you continue to count on ISSAY-san as a model for your paintings going forward?

N: I’m thinking of starting a Der Ring des Nibelungen series alongside the marquis of darkness in 2017. I’ll also be holding an exhibition in November at a private gallery in Paris which is owned by the chairwoman of French automotive company Peugeot. Seeing a painting with ISSAY-san in a gallery located in a European cityscape is certainly fitting, isn’t it? That’s what foreigners will see.

―― It sounds like you’ll be creating many more pieces in the future.

N: Right now, I’m just listening to all the Der Zibet CDs I have (lol).

 

 

 

 

 

■ISSAY PROFILE
Vocalist in Der Zibet, KA.F.KA, ISSAY meets DOLLY. With an unparalleled presence unrivalled by any other artist, his charisma draws an impressive following. He has upcoming live events on February 19 at Kichijoji ROCK JOINT GB and on March 25 at Shibuya GLAD performing as Der Zibet.

■INFORMATION
OFFICIAL HP: http://derzibet.com/

■Nogawa Toru PROFILE
An artist who creates unique fantastical worlds with oil painting. A member of the International Fantastic Art Association (IFAA) and Fondation Taylor, Paris, France. His works have been exhibited in shows at locations like Ginza’s SPAN ART GALLERY. Planned activities this year include a two-person exhibition at SPAN ART GALLERY in autumn, an exhibition in Paris in November, and other vampire-themed group exhibitions.

■INFORMATION
OFFICIAL BLOG: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/eden_gallery
OFFICIAL Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToruNogawa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Scans: Yoshiyuki
Image of Ein Dunkler Markgraf：魔性の刻 : Toru Nogawa @ Official Blog, Twitter

 

 

BUCK-TICK | [20 Aug 2022] OKMusic: Yagami Toll’s (BUCK-TICK) star-studded 60th birthday celebration — Live Report

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

Concert report of Yagami Toll’s (BUCK-TICK) star-studded 60th birthday celebration

OKMusic
20 August 2022

Text＝Yuka Okubo
Photos＝Seitaro Tanaka

 

The report covering Yagami Toll ～60th Birthday Live～ IT’S A NOW！2022, the birthday concert celebrating Yagami Toll’s 60th birthday which was held at CLUB CITTA’ Kawasaki in Kanagawa on Friday, 19 August 2022 has arrived.

While Yagami Toll is drummer to the band BUCK-TICK, who will be celebrating 35 years together with no change in member line up in September later this year, he also carries out solo activities under the name Yagami Toll & Blue Sky and has released an EP, WONDERFUL HOME -Thunder & Cold wind- in 2019.

This event was in celebration of Yagami Toll’s 60th birthday, and was held on 19 August, the actual day of his birthday. Apart from the Yagami Toll-led band, Yagami Toll & Blue Sky, there also were performances by BUCK-TICK and D’ERLANGER, and he also shared a stage with guest musicians like his close friend Miyako Keiichi from SOPHIA/Rayflower, drummer Minato Masafumi, Der Zibet’s ISSAY, his mentor-figure Takahashi Makoto, and singer Yoshida Minako whom Yagami has admired since childhood.

 

 

On 19 August, stalwart drummer Yagami Toll of the band BUCK-TICK, who will be celebrating their 35th anniversary in September, celebrated his 60th birthday at CLUB CITTA’ Kawasaki in Kanagawa with the show, Yagami Toll ～60th Birthday Live～IT’S A NOW！2022.

This birthday concert has become an annual event ever since the 2012 show at the very same CLUB CITTA’ Kawasaki celebrating his 50th birthday. Subsequent shows were held at Shimokitazawa’s live house with the Yagami Toll-led Yagami Toll & Blue Sky as the main act performing their original compositions and covering Yagami’s favourite songs. But this year, they decided to throw a big celebration for Yagami hitting the big 60 and had performances by BUCK-TICK, D’ERLANGER, and special guests like Miyako Keiichi (SOPHIA/Rayflower), Takahashi Makoto, Minato Masafumi and Yoshida Minako joining Yagami Toll & Blue Sky, as well as ISSAY (Der Zibet) taking part in BUCK-TICK’s set. 

During transitions between sets, congratulatory video messages from musicians of all genres of bands were shown too, a testament to just how large Yagami’s circle of friends is. Even the audience’s faces burst into smiles as they watched all the sincere comment videos from stand-out individuals and groups, like the 5 members of Kishidan exclaiming “We knew Anii would be a-okay even at 60!” together, Nishikawa Takanori, fellow Gunma-ite Kanagawa Macoto, his musician seniors Uchiumi Toshikatsu and Nakano Shigeru (亜無亜危異 / ANARCHY), his drummer senior Tsunoda☆Hiro, drummer junior Shinya of DIR EN GREY, Sakiyama Tatsuo from Spitz, and BRAHMAN’s RONZI, just to name a few.

Actor Kuroda Takaya was the backstage announcer for this event, calling in the first batter of the night, D’ERLANGER. As all four members faced each other, they kicked things off with BABY. And Angelic Poetry followed, flaunting the way each and every note could be heard clearly while coming together in the satisfying explosive sound that is unique to D’ERLANGER. Waves alternating between quiet and intensity came and went in Romeo＆Juliet, and after performing their hit songs LULLABY and CRAZY4YOU, drummer Tetsu who is Yagami’s close friend said, “I’m glad that we can throw a grand celebration for you in such a large venue today. May our friendship continue into tomorrow, and the day after, and even longer!” 

Singer kyo then said, “To commemorate this day, we’ll be performing a song that everyone is familiar with.” Following that, they performed Oh! My God!; a rock’n’roll song from Yagami Toll & Blue Sky’s discography with lyrics written by Yagami himself. It was a surprise for Yagami too, and when the excitement in the hall was at its peak, the band performed SADISTIC EMOTION, a fiery song that perfectly led back to what kyo said in his very first MC: “Do allow me to properly warm up the stage.” And with that, they departed from the stage.

Up next was Yagami Toll & Blue Sky. The drum stand on the stage took on a special look with a display covered in deep red roses. Once Yagami, Harada Kenta (guitar & vocals), KANAME (bass & vocals), Yagi Masato (guitar), and Miyako Keiichi (keyboard) took the stage wearing red t-shirts, they started their session with the instrumental track WONDERFUL HOME -Thunder & Cold wind-. After drawing the audience in with the mellow performance, they got the crowd going with upbeat rock ‘n roll songs SODA ROCK!! and ROCK’N ROLL STAR.

There’s one more person who is integral to these IT’S A NOW！ birthday events and that is SHIME, who passed away in March this year. As a tribute to his memory, they covered SHIME’s own song, Top of The Mountain Bar. Footage of SHIME performing with the band was shown on screen, and at times, Yagami could be seen watching it as he drummed.

Next came a twin drums session where they were joined by guest drummer Minato Masafumi in performing CAROL’s Funky Monkey Baby and Good Old Rock’n’Roll, and then by Takahashi Makoto in their performance of Larry Williams’ SLOW DOWN which The Beatles once covered, and BOØWY’s DREAMIN’. Then, Yoshida Minako, who Yagami has professed to being a huge fan of, joined them on stage for a heartfelt rendition of Yagami’s song requests, Toki yo and Yume de Aetara. 

While still immersed in the afterglow of her groovy singing, Yagami’s biological younger brother, Higuchi Yutaka (bassist/BUCK-TICK) brought cake onto the stage with Tetsu (D’ERLANGER) who carried a large bouquet. All at once, the hall switched into a festive mood. With the celebratory mood in the air, the band then closed off their set with the mid-tempo Blow Wind, the one and only song that the sharp-tongued SHIME ever praised.

SE THEME OF B-T resounded through the hall as the final act of the night, BUCK-TICK took the stage. We departed from the lull with Go-Go B-T TRAIN, the up-tempo number that was a combination of speed and force. With a whine from guitarist Imai Hisashi’s instrument imitating the pressure of steam blowing out, Higuchi rocked backwards, lifting the neck of his bass guitar up high. Guitarist Hoshino Hidehiko’s strumming was sharp and cutting too as the band went in hard and heavy from their very first song.

Vocalist Sakurai Atsushi causally introduced the band as, “Yagami Toll and his trusted associates,” and then continued his MC with, “I’m straying into personal matters on this happy day, but I fell sick with COVID-19 despite everyone’s cautioning to be careful. Zero powers of persuasion there.” 

This day marks the very first show that Sakurai is having after his falling ill and recupertion last month. But not even a shred of evidence of that was left in his powerful yet delicate voice as the band went on to perform GUSTAVE and then, Baby, I want you.. 

“Let’s call on our lovely guest,” Sakurai said before singing, ♪‘Radio kara no Transmission〜’ from Der Zibet’s Shizumitai. A delightful scene followed when ISSAY came on stage singing the next part of the song. Then, Sakurai and ISSAY dueted in their first performance of Itoshi no Rock Star together after close to 27 years.

Following the emotional Koi and everyone throwing up peace signs in Eureka,  Sakurai began a humorous introduction with, “This [next one] is on request by our Anii-san from Tokyo.”

Yagami then announced, “We’ll be performing the title track from our debut album!” which led into their last song for the night, SEXUAL×××××！. Just as they jumped into the intro to Yagami’s count, red and silver streamers flew into the air and the audience went wild from this surprise that felt like a return gift from Yagami; a fitting, euphoric end to the night.

After the performance concluded, Yagami remained on stage to tell the audience, “Thank you for coming to celebrate my 60th birthday today.” And finally, to the rest of his bandmates who will in turn hit 60 in future, he added, “I hope we’ll be able [to celebrate like this] three and four years later too.”

The audience gave a rousing applause throughout the performance, and showered love on Yagami, the star of the evening from start to end. The hairstyle that he has kept upright throughout BUCK-TICK’s 35 years of activities is like a symbol of the determination he has had since day one and his love for the fans.

What especially struck me was how quickly they changed the angles of the cymbals for Yagami Toll & Blue Sky’s set. As the drum stand was higher up than usual, the audience wouldn’t be able to see Yagami from where they stood if the cymbals were set at certain angles. For this reason, the cymbals were almost horizontal. Such attention to detail is probably one of the reasons he is so loved by many. I hope that to continue seeing his reliable self as the supporting backbone of BUCK-TICK not just three or four years from now, but far into the future too.

 

＜Set List＞

■D’ERLANGER

  1. BABY
  2. Angelic Poetry
  3. Romeo & Juliet
  4. LULLABY
  5. CRAZY4YOU
  6. Oh! My God! (Yagami Toll & Blue Sky cover)
  7. SADISTIC EMOTION

■Yagami Toll & Blue Sky

  1. Mandom—Lovers Of The World
  2. WONDERFUL HOME -Thunder & Cold wind- / with Miyako Keiichi
  3. SODA ROCK!! / with Miyako Keiichi
  4. Fire Girl / with Miyako Keiichi
  5. ROCK’N ROLL STAR / with Miyako Keiichi
  6. Oh! My God! / with Miyako Keiichi
  7. Top Of The Mountain Bar (SHIME cover) / with Miyako Keiichi
  8. Funky Monkey Baby (CAROL cover)　/ with Minato Masafumi
  9. Good Old Rock’n’Roll (CAROL cover) / with Minato Masafumi
  10. Slow Down (THE BEATLES cover) / with Takahashi Makoto
  11. DREAMIN’ (BOØWY cover)　/ with Takahashi Makoto
  12. 時よ [Toki yo] / with Miyako Keiichi & Yoshida Minako
  13. 夢で逢えたら [Yume de Aetara] / with Miyako Keiichi & Yoshida Minako
  14. Blow wind　 / with Miyako Keiichi

■BUCK-TICK

  1. THEME OF B-T
  2. Go-Go B-T TRAIN
  3. GUSTAVE
  4. Baby, I want you.
  5. 愛しのロック・スター [Itoshi no Rock Star] / with ISSAY
  6. 恋 [Koi]
  7. ユリイカ [Eureka]
  8. SEXUAL×××××！

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Source: OKMusic, Lingua Sounda

 

 

DER ZIBET | [Dec 2015] Après-guerre Reissue Vol.1: ISSAY — What are your favourite things?

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

Feature: What are your favourite things?

Après-guerre Reissue Vol.1
December 2015

 

Der Zibet celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. As the vocalist of the band, ISSAY’s presence is inimitable. With this issue’s theme surrounding our interviewees’ “favourite things”, we take a deep dive into his mind and catch a glimpse of a surprising side of him through conversation.

Der Zibet、KA.F.KA、ISSAY meets DOLLY

ISSAY

PROFILE
Active with Der Zibet,  KA.F.KA, ISSAY meets DOLLY among a wide variety of activities, ISSAY’s is ultimately a vocalist with an unwavering character whose presence radiates through his performances which incorporate pantomime and, of course, his singing.

INFORMATION 
ISSAY OFFICIAL H.P.: 
http://homepage2.nifty.com/issay/

Der Zibet OFFICIAL H.P.:
http://derzibet.com/

 

 

New album, Bessekai

―― Releasing an album this year, in the year of your 30th anniversary, did you take any special notice of things like milestones or turning points during production?

ISSAY (I): I think I’d be lying if I said no, but it’s not as if we paid all that much attention to it either. It was sometime around the end of last year when the band had drinks together while talking about the concept of the album. After that, we only decided on the album’s name after the start of this year. First came the concept, then came the name. And only afterwards did we start to put the music together.

―― Does it mean that everyone has the common idea of another world that isn’t the one we live in?

I: To start, when we were discussing the concept, we decided that we won’t do anything that would get classified as indie, or too niche, or anything like that. Der Zibet has always been a band that is said to be “too niche” to begin with anyway, but we’ve released a few albums since our reunion, and we’re of course satisfied with them, but we feel that we’ve producing them in a friendly manner. And thought, isn’t it about time that we made something that featured our quirks in the limelight? Those were the sentiments that came first. Once we had that down, we started thinking about what exactly were Der Zibet’s quirks, and things like MONDE MOVIE and MONDE FILM and MONDE MUSIC started coming to mind. Which led us to wondering, what’s the definition of MONDE in the first place? Cutting to the chase, it’s something like another world (bessekai / 別世界). As we started talking about how it seems to imply something that isn’t of this world but rather of another, we started to get the idea that Bessekai might be a good idea for an album title.

―― Hearing that gives me the impression that you’re only talking about going back to being “too niche” because this is for your 30th anniversary.

I: I don’t think the other band members feel this way, but for me, personally, I see our situation as a band from 1985, who made the type of music we did back then, thinking about what we want to create in the year 2015. Obviously, 30 years have passed, times have changed and even we have changed in our ways of working and all that, so all things considered, what are we going to do in 2015? What are we going to do now with the same underlying feelings that we had when we first started the band? That’s what I personally kept thinking about.

―― Apart from going in the niche or indie direction, does [this album] have any other tangible differences from your other recent works?

I: Rather than some strong, pointed intention to bring things towards this direction, we simply freed ourselves from our shackles. [Normally,] if I think that something might be difficult to grasp, I’d make small changes to it, right? So that’s something I decided to stop doing this time around. Even when we have [jam] sessions among ourselves as a band, we’d usually try our best to eliminate the thinking that certain parts of our music should be made more easily acceptable. No matter how niche we are, or how much people say we’re indie or whatever, we’re a band who’s attuned to pop, so no matter what, I think our melodies are pop-ish. That’s why we felt that it’s not possible for us to do anything ridiculously outlandish.

―― I also have the impression that as a band, Der Zibet is pop, but this album-

I: Is easy listening? (Lol)

―― -was somehow overwhelming to me from the second track onwards, when METRO was followed by Mr.Bad Trip and then Toki no Boumeisha (時の亡命者).

I: Because that’s the kind of flow we intended with the track order. If we wanted [the album] to sound like pop, we wouldn’t do this (dry laugh).

―― That’s true. So how do you feel about the work resulting from freeing yourself of the shackles of making yourselves easy to understand?

I: There’s quite a big difference when it comes to the lyrics. How do I explain this simply. Say, for example, there’s a second character in the lyrics. In previous albums, I think this second character would be given form and made visible. I’d write “you” and write it all down so the listener would know what kind of person this second character is. But this time, we completely ignored all of that. And we additionally also did our best to refrain from writing typical love songs. Love songs are easy to make sense of. Very easy. That’s what we wanted to rid ourselves of as much as possible. We just want to make the world we envision even more blatantly visible the way it is, you know? And, you can see it, can’t you? You just can’t help it (lol).

―― Because you show us the worlds that could be seen and felt with each song just as they are.

I: Exactly. That’s what it is in a nutshell. That’s why you can no longer describe it with the words ‘pop music’, right? But from each and every one of the songs, you can probably see different worlds in them. I think you’ll be able to see them clearly. But I don’t think there’s anything more to it than simply giving us a view of the worlds that the protagonist steps into. That’s the kind of work it is.

―― Going back to what you initially said about the concept, does this mean that MONDE MOVIE is one of the keys to this album?

I: No, not particularly. It’s just that when we were discussing Bessekai’s concept, the music that HIKARU presented was an instrumental piece. I thought it might be interesting to put lyrics to it, so I did that without anyone asking. That also happened to be the moment in time when I was trying to figure out what kind of lyrics I should write, so this ended up being the very first set of lyrics that I wrote for this album. And once this was done, I was easily able to compose the lyrics to the rest of the songs. For me, there’s this tunnel when I’m writing lyrics and if I don’t go through it, I won’t be able to write. The tunnel this time around wasn’t all that long, but I wrote the very first set of lyrics which were for MONDE MOVIE, without any thought at all and after that, it got easier and easier for me to write. It’s not that I want to do it all in this manner, but I just think it was a really good thing that this was how it started.

―― How did the recording go?

I: Smoothly. I used a hand mic to record my singing this time. I mentioned that there’s one mic that I really favour because I really like how it I sound recorded when I sing into it, and HIKARU said okay, sure. Then, let’s record with you singing into the the mic in your hand. It’s just so comfortable to sing with a hand mic, you know? The last time I sang into a hand mic was when we recorded our second album (dry laugh). Isn’t it nice to not have to worry about how and where you’re standing?

―― It’s the kind of album that makes me think of entering a world while you’re standing still and singing though.

I: Because there’s no song to sing unless I immerse myself in that world.

―― Not that. I was thinking of a more physical sort of world.

I: Like darkening the room?　Personally, I generally do keep it darkened but not so much recently, I think. Because I want to make it relaxing, you know? If it’s set up ahead of time, I think it’ll just turn into something that makes my stomach hurt more. Anyway, I just didn’t want to be bothered by unnecessary things any more. I wanted to lose the tension in my shoulders. Does that make it easier to understand? Besides, don’t we use hand mics for live performances too anyway?

―― I just can’t imagine what kind of a live performance this album will yield. Although, I’d expect that there’s some form of live show unique to this album.

I: Well, it isn’t exactly an album with much leeway, is it?

―― Now that the album is complete and you’ve released it, do you think it’s turned out to be what you had imagined when you initially decided on the concept?

I: What we thought of in the beginning was in no way defined. It was something more ambiguous. That’s why it’d be wrong of me to say that we’ve created exactly what we envisioned. We are satisfied with how we executed it; the way it’s turned out with the kind of album name and concept it has. It’s a very experimental album for us from that perspective.

―― So you’re satisfied with the results of your experiment. What do you like about this fulfilling work of yours?

I: I guess I’m satisfied with the fact that it’s got quite a hefty presence as an album. I’m not talking about how it’d turn out in a live performance, but just the way it is as an album. I’m happy with it.

Going home

―― When you talk about going home, you’re referring to returning to your actual hometown where you grew up, right?

I: Literally what it generally means. I go back a few times a year. Although that includes occasions when I go back because I need to attend to something on this day and that day, regardless of my personal intentions.

―― Do you feel more relaxed or liberated when you go back?

I: I don’t. I think when I was about 27 or 28, before then, it felt like the city was telling me ‘Welcome home’ every time I got off the train and stood in the station. But after a certain point, it stopped saying that. It was then when I realised, “Ah, I don’t belong to this city anymore.”

―― What do you do when you go home?

I: I check.

―― Check what?

I: My own pain, for example. It’s a city where a river flows. When I go there, I can check on the pain that I felt from back then. Whatever the time, whether midnight or midday, I’d go to the beach and zone out while staring at the sea, and check on my past self who used to watch the sea like this too. I check and make sure that the person I was back then is still in this body of mine.

―― Is that because you want to stay the way you are?

I: Yeah.

―― I’m getting the impression that this is connected to your being a performer.

I: There’s no doubt that it is related. I need to drop by home, make my rounds and visit each key spot, and check how this sea looks to me at this point in time.

Rose garden

―― Do you like rose gardens?

I: I’ll go once or twice a year. Usually, I’d visit one in Tokyo.

―― I’m definitely very much into the idea of ISSAY-san with roses, but why rose gardens?

I: It’s fun, for some reason (smiles). It feels like I’m on a leisure trip. But I haven’t been able to see the spring or autumn roses. But when I was in Kamakura for business the other day, I went to the Kamakura Museum of Literature and there happened to be a rose garden there so I took photos (smiles).

―― Do roses mean something special to ISSAY-san?

I: That never crossed my mind. But don’t they make you feel, like “whoa” when they’re in full bloom? It makes me feel as if le spectre de la rose from that ballet might be in there somewhere. Like they inspire dreamy fantasies. Although, the same goes for cherry blossoms too. Because I feel a thrill in my blood when I go to places where cherry blossoms are blooming all over, you know? It’s embedded in Japanese DNA. I go cherry blossom viewing too.

―― You’re surprisingly fond of taking leisure trips.

I: I love them. I just don’t think of taking them often. I actually like man-made places and sights. Like places where buildings are all lined up together. I feel like the city is breathing when I see the buildings’ rooftop lights shine and flicker. I love it.

―― And in all of that, you just happen to adore roses.

I: Yes. I’d go and look at the sea. I adore roses. And cherry blossoms. Those are the kinds of things I love.

 

Roses in full bloom (Taken by ISSAY)
Roses in full bloom (Taken by ISSAY)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Images: Yoshiyuki

 

 

KA.F.KA | [Aug 2015] On Their First Album《Fantome † Noir》

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

On Their First Album
《Fantome † Noir》

ROCK JET Vol.62
August 2015

Interviewer ＝ Fujitake Toshiya

 

・Interview・


KA.F.KA
Tsuchiya Masami
ISSAY

 

Leaving a legacy

―― Congratulations on KA.F.KA’s first album, Fantome † Noir being released. To start, please tell us about how the band came to be.

Tsuchiya (T): Touching on that will result in a large amount of printing to do (lol).

―― That’s okay (lol).

T: The very condensed version of it starts with my obsession with trip-hop back in the 90s and how I almost lost the desire to create and express myself during these past 10-plus years. I questioned the way music was being dominated by the internet and this situation where music itself was being turned towards that direction.
Expression is something that can only become material when there’s an audience and the level of those who are looking to make that happen have dropped so much that I felt like there was nothing I could do but sit and stare. Also, it dawned on me that I haven’t created anything worthy of a legacy.
I know that things will someday get better. But I figured that it’ll probably take quite a while before that happens. Because people themselves have become stupid enough that it’d take them a long time to realise that something isn’t right about this.
So, it was during the period when those thoughts occupied my head that I met ISSAY-kun. About 4 years ago, I was given a reserved seat at a BUCK-TICK concert and it just so happened that ISSAY-kun was seated next to me. I knew of him but I never had the chance to have a proper chat with him.
There, I spoke about the same topic that we’re on right now, and when I asked whether he’s left some sort of legacy, he said there’s nothing, so I said if that’s the case, maybe we should have something to leave behind. To leave a legacy, in this sense, would mean to make music.

―― So he asked you, out of the blue, whether you’re leaving a legacy.

ISSAY (I): That’s right. He started by asking me whether I’m leaving a legacy. I answered, “I’m not leaving anything.” And that’s where it ended then. The next time we met, I was thinking of doing something that involves making this kind of music when he asked, “Shall we work together?” Tsuchiya-san is someone I respected as a musician, and when I watched him play guitar at Kawamura Ryuichi-san’s¹ concert, I thought he was an amazing guitarist and if I ever had the chance, I’d like to work with him.
Having someone like that reach out to me, I readily replied, “Yes, let’s work together,” without a second thought. I was beyond happy. I only realised the gravity of the situation when the band started work.

T: It just so happened that at the time; that was 2013, by the way, Kaneko Mari-san² asked me if I would perform something at a Kyoto live house. In my head, the thought of creating something like this [KA.F.KA] had already formed but I was still undecided about when it would happen and what shape it would take. At that point in time, there was no band, nothing, except for the conversation I had with ISSAY-kun about ‘leaving a legacy’. But the words, “Let’s leave something behind” became a sort of motivator and I replied [Mari], “Well, then I’ll perform in a band.”

―― Out of nowhere.

T: That’s the time when things get done, right? So in any case, I started with ISSAY-kun, so Morioka Ken (ex-SOFT BALLET) will certainly be within reach. I saw drummer MOTOKATSU-kun playing at SUGIZO’s concert and I thought he was a great drummer so I reached out to him. As for our bassist, I asked KenKen, who’s also Mari-san’s son.
At that event, we performed as a band named KA.F.KA. It was wonderful. And the best part was the superb tension. We started our journey without any songs, wrote them within a few weeks and got in rehearsals too. It wouldn’t have worked if it weren’t for this sustained tension. We could spare no effort or time. But those nerves brought wonderful expression to life.
It’s been about 10 years since I did any sort of attention-grabbing musical endeavour by then, so I created my own record label and released my solo album Swan Dive first. I had ISSAY-kun sing 3 songs in that album. The song Last Shadow was obviously a KA.F.KA song, but I felt that it was needed in Swan Dive so I put it in. When I was making that album, I told the band members that the next album I’m making would be for this band. And so here we are now.

―― I see. So you’ve already started on this present album when you were producing Swan Dive which was released in 2013.

T: Swan Dive consists of 6 songs. KA.F.KA’s Fantome † Noir also has 6 songs. These two works put together are equal to one album. In other words, I’d prefer it if you’ll take them as one 12-song album. The A- and B-side; the front and the back of a vinyl record. They are to be listened to one after another. 
When Coyote, the last song on Fantome † Noir ends, it goes back to the first song of Swan Dive, Swan Dive Part-1. That’s the way it’s designed.
It would’ve been difficult to make a 12-song album all of a sudden, wouldn’t it? While I do have my own record label, it was difficult to match schedules with the members of the band. Especially with KenKen who was so very busy that we had to ask Ueno Kouji-kun³ to play bass for KA.F.KA.

―― What made Tsuchiya-san reach out to ISSAY-san?

T: It’s because he’s the most striking person by far. Is there anyone else who cuts as conspicuous a figure as him among rock vocalists? I can’t think of any. And in my mind, I don’t see e ISSAY-kun as just a vocalist. Instead, he’s more like an avant-garde performing artist…… Actually, it’s probably more accurate to describe him as an avant-garde dancer. That’s the image I have of him.
There are many vocalists who unwittingly flirt with their audience. Of course, this isn’t possible unless there’s someone at the receiving end of it, though. There are all kinds of rock bands, and there’s a lot of difference between the way each vocalist carries themselves. Whether they’re flirtatious or not. It’s important to share the emotion but I don’t believe there’s such a thing in rock music where we ask [the audience] to “please listen” or “please sing along”. That may be a thing in other musical genres. But I have clear standards when it comes to this area.
There aren’t many vocalists who have an aesthetic sensibility in being unflirtatious. And because of that, ISSAY-kun is the cream of the crop in the rock genre. His stage presence, his choice of language, his lyrics; all of this make the sum of ISSAY-kun’s attractiveness.

―― It is indeed true that flirting [with the audience] in rock music is unseemly.

T: I’ve instructed ISSAY-kun against chatting on stage. ISSAY-kun is a good person. And his goodness comes through once he speaks (lol). We can’t show that. If people know that ISSAY-kun’s a nice person, even my own performance will become flirtatious to the audience (lol).

――  ISSAY-san’s an angel, isn’t he (lol).

T: We absolutely cannot let people know about that (lol). Ultimately, I want him to exude the presence of a scary, aloof person for KA.F.KA’s performances.

Phantom of darkness⁴

 

―― KA.F.KA’s worldview also comes through in the lyrics but the music comes first, then ISSAY-san listens to it and writes the lyrics for it, right?

I: That’s right.

―― What were your thoughts when Tsuchiya-san handed the music to you?

I: The worldview is very well thought out. That was my impression. But honestly, the very first thing that came to mind when I heard it was how complicated and bizarre it was. All parts were necessary no matter what angle you consider them from. The chord progression, the melody line, all of them appeared to be necessary. But the feeling of the guitar and all that, they were so unconventional and complex. Like, ah… I’m supposed to write lyrics for this song…… (lol).

―― Do you mean it was difficult?

I: No, because the worldview was concrete. I first listened, then grasped it with my own image of it, and after that went to check whether there were any keywords or anything like that via email, then did I come to understand what Tsuchiya-san intended through a word or two. I was able to get into the music’s world easily.

―― Is it different than when you’re writing lyrics for your own band?

I: I’ve never made that comparison, but when I’m writing lyrics, I have to make my way through a dark tunnel once. The tunnel for KA.F.KA’s lyrics has a deep darkness to it but I get through it unusually fast, so it’s short. That’s what it feels like.

T: My concept is to be “difficult to comprehend”. That’s what makes it different from my solo album. When it comes to my solo work, it’s musically kind to my listeners but that shouldn’t be the case for KA.F.KA. That’s the very thing I asked ISSAY-kun to pay attention to. His good nature has a tendency to show in his lyrics after all, and we can’t let that happen.

I: That, I’ve been told quite sternly (lol).

―― Don’t flirt with the audience, make it hard to understand.

T: But because of this, the universe of the songs also get to grow through the listeners’ imagination. I was surprised when I received the lyrics to Coyote. It got me thinking, “Oh, this is it!” And, just as expected, Coyote is well received. As to what brought about this response, I’m inclined to believe it’s the lyrics.
Be it film or music, all of it is actually an art of memory. The key to it is the amount of memories the performer has made and how much they have experienced. The more original the performer can be with their unique and strange experiences that only they have ever had, the better. In Coyote, it’s enjoyable if both the listeners and the composer possess memories of similar experiences, and even if that isn’t the case, the [audience’s] relationship with the song begins if they think it’s a circus song.
How moved you are [by the song] increases if it’s linked to a memory. That’s my ideal. And it’s the one thing I won’t compromise on.

―― Is the band’s name is inspired by Franz Kafka?

T: Precisely so.

―― Please tell me more about the album’s title.

T: After forming KA.F.KA, we held 3 shows in the form of an event which we called Fantome † Noir, meaning phantom of darkness⁴. It can’t be done with a person who doesn’t live in darkness. It’s not feasible with someone who’s cheerful and energetic or someone who comes alive in the summer. 

―― So, what you want is to illustrate the world of those who belong in darkness when it comes to KA.F.KA.

T: That’s my theme too. I like rainy days more than sunny days. I’d rather a dimly lit room than a brightly lit one. Instead of standing up, I’ll sit on the floor, hugging my knees. Those are the clear ideals I have.
Back to the topic of the album title, I already had in mind to name the album《Fantome † Noir》since the event started. 
I really don’t want to make an album in a rush when it comes to leaving something behind as a legacy. And that’s why there was no going around and asking “What should the title be?” or “What should the cover look like?” at all. Because I’ve been spending a long time asking myself questions to come up with the concept. So all of it had already taken shape when the time comes.

―― Does ISSAY-san like Franz Kafka?

I:  I read his work when I was in high school. Actually, there’s a song Kafka from Tsuchiya-san’s solo album RICE MUSIC, and I’ve once done a reading of Kafka’s Metamorphosis on stage with that song in the background. So while we were talking about these topics, I started discussing Metamorphosis with Tsuchiya-san and it suddenly drew out the very feeling that I got when I first read it, like, “It’s like this, right?!” I was surprised. That made my spine tingle.

―― That was the feeling of being understood, right?

I: Yes. It made me realise that there’s a house in my heart, and there was, surprisingly, a door in such a place. And this wasn’t pointed out to me in the, “It’s there, isn’t it?” way. It was more like a feeling of being given something to think about and as I thought about it, I noticed the door’s existence. And that I’ve opened that door before in the past. That’s how I’ve been feeling this whole time ever since KA.F.KA began. 

―― You’re not adding something new, but rather, you’re recalling a long-forgotten thing that exists within you. This is connected to the concept that art is based on your memories, right?

I: A door I’ve forgotten. And there’s also a door within me that I wasn’t aware of. I came to realise it with a, “Ah, so something like this exists in such an area.”

T: That’s right. ISSAY-kun is without a doubt an exceptionally rare person. His interests also lie in strange places. But it wasn’t my intention to draw anything out from within him. All we did was have a regular conversation and something like that happened. Isn’t it fascinating?  It’d be ideal if one could make something with that and turn it into a profession. A profession is a calling, work that lives. That’s why it’s not about putting up with something for the sake of doing what you want; that would make it a job. If you consider this from a Western perspective, it’d be called ego though. I really love the phrase, “This is what I was made to do.⁵” 
An occupation is something you say you are, right? It’s especially the case for musicians and all too. That’s why I’m thinking that someday, I want to write “poet” in my occupational field.

I: That’s so cool. I wanna write that too.

T: You’d just want to, right?

―― How wonderful it is that the both of you met. It’s as if it happened because you were meant to come together.

T: I strongly feel that. When I started making music, I had my period fo popularity and saleability too, but the seniors i met at the time said to me, “The real fun comes much, much later.” They also said, “When it’s time to die, it’ll happen in an instant so it’s okay.”

―― Really?

T: They were pretty easy going about that. And that was what I was told about 30 years ago. I noticed that meeting someone isn’t something that suddenly happens out of nowhere; it’s something that was years in the making.
Recently, I met Chuya-kun from the band Allergy for the first time, I felt the same way with him too. He’s been working with someone I’m very close to for a long time. The person who inspired me to become a musician had recorded with Chuya-kun before. Of course. I did know about the band Allergy since the 1980s, but I was surprised when I watched them perform for the first time after they reformed. They were just too cool. It’s like I witnessed first-hand someone who performs with the same awareness as us. ‘This is no ordinary person’, I thought, ‘I should talk to him’, and when I did, ‘I knew it’. He’s very similar to ISSAY-kun too. 

―― You’ll meet the people you’re meant to meet. And when that happens, you’ll be able to portray what you’re meant to portray.

T: It’s also important not to resist things and to let things go.

―― This is inspiring.

T: That’s what it is, right? Life. Because people are living things. Other people won’t know what makes a person happy. I did wonder before why do lazy people exist, but that’s precisely a case of what I just said.

―― There’s more to life than just living, right?

T: But [the answer to that] isn’t quite ‘the future’. I’m not optimistic about the future.

―― Are you saying that you’re not optimistic about what society will be like in the future?

T: That’s right. But society itself is a personalised thing, so if someone is under the impression that it doesn’t exist, then it doesn’t exist. 
The existence of people implies that there’s a universe that exists within each one of us and the moment the universe inhabits the body is the moment when the person is acknowledged by the universe. This appears to be similar to puberty. The awakening of the mind in that period is very similar to it. This is apparently when one’s personal values are determined. I believe it is during this period when the unnoticed door is formed. And that’s why boys and girls have a hard time when they enter puberty. Everyone has a door. But if you think you don’t have it, you don’t. If you think you do have it, you do. It makes me feel better to think this way.

I: Things will be quite tough until you arrive at this perspective.

T: That’s the kind of song The Prisoner is. And in the end, both the perpetrator and the victim are 15 years old. If an incident like this happens, if this song turns into reality, I’d be shocked though.

Joy Division and The Doors

―― Is there some basis behind the idea to form such a band?

T: As I said before, it’s the desire to leave something behind. Also, Joy Division’s a big part of it, right? I absolutely loved their 1978 release, Unknown Pleasures back when it first went on sale, but personally, I somehow feel that what we now call post-punk was still in its adolescence at that point in time, so I enjoyed it without truly understanding what it was. No, rather, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. I only understood it from a technical perspective. Time went by before I finally realised, “Ah, so that’s what it’s about.”
In the end, it took me about 30 years [to get to that point]. 30 years is the equivalent of one cycle. In my case, it’s coming around for the second time. In my youth, I had my first adolescence, then I turned 30 and that was when I experienced another adolescence since becoming an adult, and now, another 30 years have passed and I’m once again gaining the ability to look at it all objectively.
Back then, I couldn’t explain what it was to others and more than that, I’ve come to understand that I overlooked the most important parts of it. Don’t you think this happens a lot? People who realise this probably get to live happy lives. Of course, even if you don’t realise it, it’s alright. Because it’s that person’s life to live. But it’s fun to find out.

―― So Joy Division is what started it.

T: That’s right. I realised it after discovering them once again. One day, I took their CD out of my cabinet for no particular reason to listen to them and found myself astounded. Listening to them now, their playing sounds exceptionally crude from a technical standpoint but that wasn’t what got me.
It was the question of why they decided to make something like this at such a time. And they weren’t the only ones, this was happening on a global scale back then. Something was changing and we could move towards it. People who saw things as they were held that belief. But I don’t have any proof of that. Which is what makes it cool.
That’s what we’re lacking the most these days, right? If you’re asking me whether people can be moved by blind faith or unquestioning conviction, I think they no longer can be. That’s the reason why things are no longer interesting.
The beginning of the 20th century, the 1910s were interesting. That was the age of German Expressionism. People came to think that it’s beautiful to destroy whatever came before. But there’s no proof at all that it’s truly the case. But it got to a point where they decided to destroy what they’ve created since it’s right in front of them. Then they questioned how they should destroy things. Which led to the pursuit of the beauty of destruction.
When punk came to an end, a mountain of things that had been broken was left before us and we found ourselves wondering how we were supposed to rebuild it all. We stood upon a mountain of rubble. We had Surrealism and Dadaism as our foundations. So, how do we rebuild it?
There is an appeal in that. How we chose to build differed from band to band. Among them, it was YMO who brought in technology.
Where do we go after Dadaism? It required a lot of energy for us to build the roads into the future too.
It couldn’t have been done unless you were driven. If you weren’t standing at the precipice, you wouldn’t have the energy for it. You wouldn’t even have enough to tell yourself, “I’m going to do my best.” Flailing and struggling in the sweeping trends, you’ll push to your very limits and there, you start to wonder, is there something I can do…… That is the point of time when a mysterious energy rises up.
But you must first tear things down. Because the lovely thing about humans is how they won’t understand unless they get to see first-hand the state of destruction.

―― Does this mean that Tsuchiya-san doesn’t align with Dadaism?

T: I do, after destruction. But that’s contemporary history or contemporary art that’s yet to be established. We haven’t arrived at its conclusion yet.
Joy Division and Factory Records were born out of Manchester, where the Industrial Revolution occurred. Therein lies a big hint. And as to what comes next, think about it yourself. It’s most definitely no coincidence.
What happened in Germany also happened in due course of history.

―― I see. I’m starting to understand why you named the band KA.F.KA.

T: It’s a courtesy, isn’t it? It’s a flow with proper etiquette. What’s important isn’t that the style of expression is new. If you have Shakespeare in your foundation, what you say will for some reason come across as beautiful even if you’re saying something harsh in your words. There’s not much point in being straight-up aggressive, neither is it attractive. Kafka wrote, “Our salvation is death, but not this one.”⁶ It’s brilliant, isn’t it? What does “this” refer to?

―― Right (lol).

T: Because a universe exists within each one of us. And in the end, that’s what it comes down to.
Our salvation is death. But what “this” refers to differs. That’s why we’re alive.
Kafka is just brilliant.

―― Like the eternally unobtainable in The Castle. But that’s why it’s good, right?

T: That’s right. Ultimately, where is the destination? You might have already gone past it.
There are those who say that the terminus for civilised society was 50 or 60 years ago. When we achieved a good balance. But after that, we’ve just been carrying out wasteful activities. There are also those who say that it all ended after the atomic bomb was created. That we’re just making things we don’t need.

―― Where does music stand in this?

T: This is the reason why music is important. Because it has to be made with care. To use it for the sole purpose of making money out of it is blasphemy. That’s not what music is.

―― I’d like to ask you about understanding people. For example, Miyazawa Kenji for years polished the story of Night on the Galactic Railroad⁷ while rewriting it for years, and in the end, he passed away without it ever being released to the world so what we’re now reading is the incomplete manuscript he held onto the whole time. Naturally, it was never read by anyone before his death. Not only that story, but all of Miyazawa Kenji’s works and his genius wasn’t understood in his lifetime.

T: This is because, the greater the excellence of a work, the longer it will take to understand it. But I think Miyazawa Kenji was very happy when he wrote Night on the Galactic Railroad. Because he created such a work of art. However, the level of those around him was too low for them to understand him sufficiently. And that is the misfortune of those who were not Miyazawa Kenji.
Van Gogh was put in the same situation. His wonderful works of art weren’t understood when he was alive. But I believe he spent an immense amount of energy painting those works, and he must’ve been absolutely thrilled with them. He must have been at the height of joy when he completed his paintings. Be it Miyazawa Kenji or Van Gogh, they were only understood by a few people like their siblings in their lives.
But now, Van Gogh’s paintings go for billions of yen. Something is fundamentally wrong. And that is the sad reality of our present era. You’re celebrated if you sell so many copies [of music] that it becomes a trending song, or if you generate lots of sales. But there’s probably nothing we can do about it because it’s a system that’s created in line with the society we live in.

―― KA.F.KA’s an amazing band. When the time came, Tsuchiya-san made your move and ISSAY-san joined in to create such great music.

T: It might be amazing to people like us, but I’d suppose society would consider this as no big deal. But we’re Miyazawa Kenji in this case, so that’s fine anyway (lol).

―― I see (lol).

T: I don’t expect what we’re making to be that easily understandable. Because even for me, I took 30 years to understand Joy Division.

―― ISSAY-san likes Joy Division too, right?

T: There aren’t many who can listen and feel Joy Division above a certain level. In ISSAY-kun’s case, I believe The Doors came existed before [Joy Division]. He has a good sense of etiquette.
I went to see the Dolly project that ISSAY-kun is working on and there, I watched him perform Kurt Weill’s Alabama Song from Bertolt Brecht’s play, The Threepenny Opera. I have never seen a performance that did Kurt Weill’s song justice. The version he performed was The Doors’. And that he performed it quietly in a blue room was great. [He made it] a place where revered art is born.
Now, The Threepenny Opera is recognised for its outstanding artistry, but when it first premiered, it was thought to be a very strange thing. Probably because it looked like a miscreation in theatre.
Joy Division’s Ian Curtis admired David Bowie and was said to have become the kind of singer that he was. And as to why David Bowie was thought to be attractive, it’s because The Doors existed. Like Hayakawa Yoshio’s album, To Think Being Cool Is This Uncool (かっこいいことはなんてかっこ悪いんだろう / Kakkoii Koto wa Nante Kakko Waruindarou), that’s exactly what The Doors have achieved.
As a band, The Doors existed in the era when all the different facets of rock music were being established so in other words, they were thoroughly worn out. As a rock band, they gave off such a fatigued feeling, it really was Hayakawa Yoshio’s To Think Being Cool Is This Uncool. But that’s a good thing.
This To Think Being Cool Is This Uncool also applies to Joy Division. If we show a DVD of their concert footage to young ladies who don’t understand rock music, I think 100 out of 100 of them will say that Ian Curtis is gross and that will be the end of it (lol). But that’s a natural reaction. How could they understand? It’s not something that is easily understood.
Both The Doors and Joy Division truly gave their all in what they did. But it was crude. They were all out crude. But they had the courage to continue fighting in that state, and that’s what rock music is to me. It’s not something that’s smart or achieved by fixing the sounds with a computer.
It doesn’t matter to me if people call [us] gross and leave it at that. I’m not even that interested in getting people to understand us. As to why, it’s simply because we’re all different.
I’m categorised as part of the Beatles generation but this is no joke. When I was in middle school, there were only one or two people talking about the Beatles in school. And yet, now, those who were kids when the band came to Japan to perform are calling themselves the Beatles generation, and those who get called that think they are in this group too.

―― Was Tsuchiya-san listening to the Beatles in middle school?

T: I lived in the suburbs, but I was lucky in the sense that my older sister was exchanging letters with an American for her English language studies and her pen pal sent us Meet The Beatles!. That’s why I started listening to them very early on. Their harmonies were the very first thing that struck me. And that was when my musical journey began.

―― Where did ISSAY-san’s musical journey begin?

I: For me, I was rowdy as rowdy could be when I was young, so there was no time for music. But I was introduced to David Bowie and T. Rex and Sex Pistols, and that was when I started to listen actively. It felt like music said “Yes” to me.

T: Where from did you get this present disposition of yours? These exceptionally gentlemanly aspects and the like.

I: Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

T: Maybe family lineage.  Were your ancestors perchance samurai?

I: Yes, I do have samurai ancestry.

T: They must’ve been rowdy yet classy people as well (lol). I was born in Fuji-shi, and he, in Numazu. We’re both from Shizuoka.

I: When I was a teenager, I was so rowdy that I wasn’t allowed to stay in that city (lol).

―― Well then, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours (lol).

 

 

 

KA.F.KA will be performing! 
WORLD HAPPINESS 2015 
23 August 2015 (Sun)
Doors open 11:00 / Show starts 12:30 (Performance scheduled to end 20:00)
Yumenoshima Athletic Stadium, Tokyo
info: http://www.world-happiness.com/

  _______________________

《Fantome † Noir》
KA.F.KA

MBRC-9901 
Mazzy Bunny Records 
2000 yen (excl. tax)

  1. Jack The Midnight 
  2. The Prisoner 
  3. 夜明け前 ~Before the Dawn~ [Yoake Mae ~Before the Dawn~]
  4. Labiera Beladen 
  5. Silent Party 
  6. Coyote

 

 

 

 

Notes:

¹ Luna Sea’s vocalist.

² Kaneko Mari is a singer whose career began in the 1970s and took off with Smoky Medicine, the band she formed with Char. Her two sons are KenKen and Kaneko Nobuaki of RIZE.

³ Ueno Kouji was the bassist of THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT. He’s currently in the band the HIATUS.

⁴ 暗闇の怪人 (kurayami no kaijin) is the actual phrase used, rather different from the direct translation of Fantome Noir, i.e. black ghost. The reason why I went with “phantom” for 怪人 is actually because Phantom of the Opera in Japanese also uses 怪人 in its title (オペラ座の怪人 / Opera-za no Kaijin).

⁵ This might not be the most accurate translation of “それを生業とする” but I think it most closely conveys what Tsuchiya is talking about here. A more literal translation of this phrase is, “This is what I do for a living.”

⁶ I think that’s the quote he’s referring to. If it’s wrong, please let me know.
The line in Japanese reads: 死は確かに救いだ。ただ君が考えているそれとは違う。

⁷ 銀河鉄道の夜 (Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru), sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad, Night Train to the Stars or Fantasy Railroad in the Stars, is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Miyazawa Kenji written around 1927.

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Pics: Yoshiyuki

 

DER ZIBET | [Mar 1988] SNIPER IN ‘88 — Band interview

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

SNIPER IN ‘88

Pati-Pati Rock ‘n’ Roll
March 1988

Photos by Sashi Motoko (佐志素子)
Text by Editorial department

 

The first time I came into contact with their concerts was in a live house in Shinjuku. On behalf of rock magazines, I’ve been to a few live houses but watching children being absorbed in their “kids’ meal” level of inferiority left me, in all honesty, sick of it.

On this night, the venue was packed with girls dressed up in black outfits. And for some reason, the live house was filled with an overwhelmingly charged atmosphere. On this night, DER ZIBET put on a show so manic and savage that it was more than plenty; that shook me to my core. In terms of the show itself, I did get a sense of inexperience from the structural problems and issues with the live house but in an instant, I understood what they were trying to do, and I found myself believing in them. These guys were serious, although they were also testy with impatience. 

“YOU MEET THE ROCK PARTY” is a project where we introduce rock bands we’ve selected to the readers of Pati-Pati Rock ‘n’ Roll. And kicking things off as our first band, we have DER ZIBET. We wanted to share with as many people as possible the joy and the fever that everyone gets to experience at their concerts that exemplify the “wild and danceable”. This interview with them was held after their two hall shows at Osaka’s Banana Hall and Nagoya’s HeartLand.

 

 

―― First, let’s hear about what you think of “YOU MEET THE ROCK PARTY”.

Hikaru (H): It was fun. This is just the first event but I think this is something that [people] can look forward to in future too. But I got the feeling that our reputation hasn’t quite built up yet. First-timers at our show were also starting to enjoy themselves in the second half, weren’t they? 

Issei (I): To perform an actual concert of what’s so far been spreading in print and then having the magazine make us known all over the country, it’s [a] groundbreaking [project], isn’t it? It always feels like this when DER ZIBET performs at a place we’ve never been to before. Although we’ve performed at this venue many times before, there were probably a lot of people who were seeing us for the first time, right? I was glad to see them gradually start dancing despite the case. Because things never turn out the way we expect it to.

HAL (HA): The audience weren’t our fans but a recon team, or something… They’re like people who’re here to see what kind of band we are.

Mayumi (M): It’s an honour to be the first (lol). I think this magazine has been satisfying the hearts of the audience these days (lol), so yeah, maybe it’s a good thing to bring on a little more party atmosphere.

―― Hey, wasn’t there a video? (Before the show started, a film was being screened by 4 projectors onto walls and such. Captured in it were things that each band member liked) Tell us about what you picked for that and why.

I: So, for me, my house is full of junk, y’know. I just can’t get myself to throw all these things and they pile up so much that I don’t even have space to sleep. [The things I picked for the video are] the things I see most often within that pile. A broken alarm clock. A music box. A book. A Lindsay Kemp¹ photobook. Things like that.

H: I focused on what’s in my bag. Like my driving license, my wallet, an ero-guro picture from the early Showa period.

HA: Boots, hat, beard, a Chinese doll from China atop my bass guitar. The cover of a Mingus² album. At the very end, my eye appears…… This is meant to represent an “eyeball”.

M: Ingenious (lol). As to what I chose, you know how in university there’s a library and a research lab, right? I borrowed a whole variety of books for the purpose of research and just like that, I dropped out (lol). So, those are fancy books that can never be bought with pocket change. Books about music, the arts, theatre, and so on. I picked a few out of them [for the video]. Aside from those, there’s also a Dalí³ brochure a fan gave me and things like that.

―― All your strange hobbies are being shown (lol). Right, so you’re releasing your LP soon but will your live concerts change after it’s out?

H: Yeah. Now that we’ve got this far, it feels like we can go anywhere. We’re not leaving anything behind, and besides, from this album on, we’ve included elements that make people feel and want to listen to our music in a way that’s different than before. Our live shows will probably end up with a mixed [format]…… Not only will it have a strong groove, but the flow on the whole also won’t change too, something like that.

I: I think the scale [of our shows] will grow bigger. Until now, our shows have been structured to make people go to their limits. You could say that our shows are like an hour’s sprint at full speed…… But this time, I think we’ll have a kind of tempo.

H: You know, in the past, we split [our shows] into two portions, and for the first, the audience can’t stand. We’d insist that they sit. …… Then suddenly we’d come out with oil lamps in our hands (rofl).

M: Sounds stupid, doesn’t it?

HA: We even had a street lamp erected on stage.

M: Wasn’t that around the same period? Next to the street lamp was the oil lamp, right? We did that a lot. But it wasn’t a bad thing. It’s just that, I guess it was embarrassing or something (lol).

―― Did you do that too after your debut?

I: We did at Kudan Kaikan, didn’t we? The [audience’s] reaction, wasn’t all that great (lol).

M: We did so many different things that I get exhausted thinking about it. I guess it’s sad, because we can’t get to the next level if we don’t do all this.

I: We were seriously theatrical. Yes, so theatrical that it’s nauseating. Maybe that’s the kind of nuance that comes through.

M: I think we can do it if we look at it as a form of entertainment. We’ve matured a little more now too……

HA: I want to make something like the progressive music that’s come after new wave.

―― That’ll leave an impression. In a past interview, you’ve said that what you want to do is more like a “tear [your shirt] buttons off” rather than a “undo [your shirt] buttons”.

HA: I guess in comparison, this time, we’re asking people to go off the beaten track, something like that.

 

I: Won’t putting it into words narrow [the possibilities] down? But well, yes, it’s like a state of nothingness. Or a state where there’s nothing but yourself. There are many ways to get there, and rock happens to have the essential element of aggression. Steadily stripping things down…… I guess you could say that even we are facing our true selves when we perform…… It’d be wonderful if we could turn our shows into spaces where everyone listening could do the same, don’t you think?
A while ago, I went to look at paintings…… You know, while I was viewing the art, I felt something that brought me to the verge of tears for the first time. That, in the end, is seeing the artist who drew it, right? And I could also see myself looking at it. It’s the most basic thing of all. Being able to see yourself as a human being.

―― Stripped down to the bare essentials, right?

I: The trouble with performing live is when people start to think, you know. I feel that it’s not about the words saying this or that. Rather, it should be [a sense of] “Ah, I get this.” If each and every person would feel like that, wouldn’t that be great?

―― So it’s not about persuading them.

I: When you listen to rock, [the most important thing is] that sensation of the very first thing you felt, right? That feeling of being forced to strip naked. The way it’s so unexpected. Making you wonder how it got you like this. That’s the one powerful thing rock music has. Rather than persuading you, it strips you naked and leaves you outside. That’s why, it makes you feel what you want to do instead of making you think about it.

―― You know, these days, pop songs that have always been so popular are now on the decline. Recently, I read the data that an advertising agency released and there’s one part in it that said we’re moving from the era of expressing “something similar to the heart” to expressing “the heart itself”. It has to be real if it’s going to work. How composed are you? How serious are you? There’s a stereotype, and people are no longer looking at the sweet. That’s the kind of era it’s going to be. Isn’t it amazing? Well, you could of course say it’s no surprise. That’s just the conclusion this advertising agency came to after studying the trends.

M: We want to become the leaders in that sense, though. For the kids 40 years in the future to be good people and follow the rules and keep their acts together…… Spiritually speaking, everyone ends up the same in the end, right? But the truth is that every single person is different. Although no two people are alike, we’re all really one human race. So to what extent can we express ourselves?   Socially speaking, it’s not accepted much, is it? But with music, we’re free. I think more and more people are starting to feel that way. [With music,] we can show ourselves off in a civil manner, not physically or violently. This way, it’s peaceful, we’re making music, right? For us, we were born in the mid-1950s, so I think we’re the first generation to realise what the younger generation thinks these days. Those older than us don’t really matter. Because they can do whatever they like and they’ll die first. It’s the younger generation.

I: They somehow believe things too carelessly, don’t they?

HA: But, you know, haven’t we always been cynical ever since we were kids? Then we’d brush it all off as a joke…… Come to think of it, that makes it difficult to tell what’s actually real.

I: You can’t really tell who’s friend or foe.

H: Because words like “That’s rank” and “Tragic” and all that were always on our lips. If something’s really moving to you, you’d say it’s rank⁴. Now we’re past that, right? We don’t use these words so lightly now. It’s exaggerated, right?

M: I guess it’s like the old days.

I: We just hope that the era where people are convinced they’re safe would end. From the perspective that everyone should take things seriously, you know?

H: But that we think that we can do that through music and lyrics. We want to think about it, but we don’t want to put it out there directly.

M: Because doing that is authoritarian⁵, right……

I: Ultimately, just one field is enough……⁶

―― Have you decided on the title of your LP?

I: DER ZIBET.

―― That’s straightforward. Why?

I: To say that this is “DER ZIBET”.

H: We could’ve come up with a one-word title or something, but we feel that there are still many people who don’t know us so…… We figured that this would be the most straightforward way to get that across.

M: This is our company (lol).

HA: With a capital C.

―― What does DER ZIBET mean though?

H: What it means is, well, the word “ZIBET” is what the civet cat is called in both English⁷ and German, but the “DER” that comes before it is a definite article in German that has been altered to an English reading. Germans wouldn’t know this word (lol).

―― So what about the single you’re releasing on 21 March?

I: It’s Only “You”, Only “Love”.

―― Why did you choose to make this the first cut?

I: Because it’s got good energy (lol). We really hope people will listen to it.

 

 

DER ZIBET is a band that has now just started to have a voice. Because they have finally broken out of their societal situation; of being too manic an artist. And also, because their self-titled album DER ZIBET will also be released on 21 March. The experimental approach that they have taken so far will probably continue in future too. But this attitude of ensuring satisfaction before moving on is, I believe, also one of the purest forms of rock ‘n’ roll history. I hope they will keep rocking forever with this purity. And also, that their live shows and albums will knock us clean out.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

¹ Lindsay Keith Kemp was a British dancer, actor, teacher, mime artist, and choreographer. He was probably best known for his 1974 flagship production of Flowers, a mime and music show based on Jean Genet’s novel Our Lady of the Flowers, in which he played the lead role of ‘Divine’. Owing to its homosexual themes and perceived decadence, reviews were sometimes hostile, but it was widely considered a theatrical and sensory sensation, and it toured globally for many years. He was also a mentor to David Bowie and Kate Bush.

² As in Charles Mingus, an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock.

³ Salvador Dalí.

⁴ The original word here is クサイ (kusai) which is normally a descriptor for something that smells, or just to say that something stinks. But in this context, they’re obviously referring to some old slang interpretation of クサイ which no longer exists. I can’t think of any similar sort of slang/trend phrase in English, so I picked the rather questionable option of “rank”.

⁵ The word Mayumi used was “fascism (ファシズム)”. I didn’t use that direct translation because the implied meaning of it has probably evolved over the years to possess different connotations than it probably did back in the late 80s.

⁶ I don’t really know what he’s referring to but here’s the original text for your consideration:
あくまで、ひとつのフィー ルドでいいと……

⁷ Since this is an English translation, we know that’s not true lol. I believe he’s definitely talking about the word “Civet” but is just a little mixed up with the pronunciation of it.

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Scans: morgianasama on LJ

DER ZIBET | [Jul 1996] X cross talking: Der Zibet・ISSAY

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

X cross talking

J-rock Magazine
July 1996

Interviewed by Hiroshi Ishida
Photographer Akihito Takagi

 

Once the music is released, it’s not a personal possession any more

In March, the more than a decade long career of DER ZIBET was packed into a best-of album Ari which they released alongside their 12th full album Kirigirisu. They were supposed to go on their promotional tour for these two albums, Ari to Kirigirisu¹ but the tour was unfortunately put on hold when a band member suddenly took ill. You can imagine the shock of the fans who have been looking forward to their first tour in almost a year, but the band probably feels the same way too. How does ISSAY, for whom live performances are like an anxiolytic, feel about this? Let’s hear it from the man himself in his own words.

 

 

Be it pantomime or music
You can’t do either without the soul of a poet

―― How’s the general reaction to Ari and Kirigirisu?

ISSAY (I): … I don’t know.

―― Don’t the music reviews in magazines interest you?

I: It’s not as if I don’t care for them at all though. I do think it’s good to just read and see what that person feels about it. In the end I just feel distant from that kind of thing.

―― Because these reviews are subjective.

I: Besides, if they weren’t, the writer’s existence is moot. Even if it makes me think, “That’s not quite right though,” once the music is released, it’s not my personal possession any more. That’s why I just take [these reviews] as a matter of “Ah, so this person feels this way.” But if it sounds like “This guy isn’t listening,” it makes me want to beat them to death (lol). Like, “How dare you write something like this when you weren’t even listening enough,” or something (lol).

―― When I was listening to your latest album Kirigirisu and your best-of album Ari, I was really intrigued by ISSAY-san as an expressionist though. Like, with your lyrics, it feels as if a particular part of you is being brought out.

 

I: I suppose, first and foremost, it’s the sense of loneliness that’s always there, right? The sense of loneliness, alienation; those are the kinds of things that I want to bring out in a positive light. Because we humans are alone when we’re born and we’d be on our own ever since. I always want to put that positively. That, and the “swaying”, I guess. There are periods when our emotions get swayed, right? There are loads of these instances like In our adolescence, or when we fall in love, and I think it’d be great if I can bring that across.

―― Guitarist HIKARU-san said that, ‘ISSAY is picky with words but he’s pretty flexible when it comes to lyrics.’ But what does ISSAY-san think about this?

I: Right, I suppose that might especially be so in recent years. Because it’s a problem if you end up with the wrong impression of a particular word when writing lyrics. Even if someone suggests to me that it’s better to change a certain word, I’d say something like, “I don’t think it can be replaced.” To me, if I see the word “孤独 (kodoku / solitude)”, it’s neither negative nor positive. Because I see it as nothing more than a state of being. But if you change that to the word “寂しい (sabishii / lonely)”, it turns into something else entirely, so I’m very particular when it comes to things like that. But not when it comes to the order in which the words come. I’m not too bothered by the minor details as long as the song makes proper sense in the big picture.

―― As Der Zibet’s vocalist? Do you see it like this precisely because you’re one of four members of a band who each have strong personalities?

I: I don’t think that I’m just one quarter of the band. Besides, I think the one singing is the greatest of them all (lol). And once I start writing lyrics, it’s already out of my hands. How I’m going to sing it on stage next time is up to the future me who will be performing it so it’s about expressing how I feel about that particular piece of work, y’know?

―― Even though it’s something that originally came from inside of you?

I: But you see, it’s turned into something that is no longer the same thing as what was initially conceived, so if I were to keep holding on to the energy that I had in the beginning, [the song] would become too subjective and that’s not good. In the end, I’d be taking on a different stance when I perform. That’s something that I’ve been doing in recent years, especially since I released my solo album.

―― So, what’s Hamlet Machine, this other unit that you’re doing away from Der Zibet with Mizunaga-san?

I: Mm… Spite, I suppose (lol). I guess it’s unfettered spite and aggression. I’d say it’s something that is even more aggressive and abrasive than Der Zibet. An abrasive solitude, spitefulness; that’s the kind of thing we’re doing.

―― Der Zibet is a flesh and blood band but Hamlet Machine uses programming which gets me thinking that your method of expression would also change, so when you say that it gets aggressive, is that because of the background music being programming after all?

I: If we’re using programming, the background music will still be perfect even if we’re doing something crazy. That’s why I can always let loose with a piece of mind (lol). Because in the case of Hamlet Machine, at the music composition stage, we’re already assuming that the music will be played by a machine, you know?

―― Since ISSAY-san also does pantomime, do you think that you’re performing with a different side of yourself when you’re doing that as compared to music?

I: No, I think of it as the same. In the end, you can’t do pantomime if you don’t sing, you know? Because I think of it as a song without sound or a voice, so, be it pantomime or music, you can’t do either without the soul of a poet, y’know? That’s why, although the parts of me used in performance are different, in the end, I’m doing the same thing. But the pantomimes that I do are only those where I perform with my master, so since they’re not created by me, it’s probably more enjoyable (lol).

―― Come to think of it, what made you start pantomime?

I: I just happened to bump into my present master (Mochizuki Akira / 望月章) (lol). He suddenly asked me, “Won’t you perform in my next show?”, and I said, “I’ve never done it before so, I won’t,” but he said, “I’ll only let you do things within your ability,” so I said, “If that’s the case, then I guess I’ll give it a go.” More than 10 years have passed since…

―― You got hooked (lol). Is it because you were influenced by your master’s performances after all?

I: No, I was already performing before I saw his work. It’s because I liked that person.

―― Were you drawn by his character?

I: Saying it’s his character is weird but, yeah, I suppose it’s his character in a way.

―― I’d assume your master is one of them too, but aren’t there quite a number of artists who influenced you, ISSAY-san?

I: There are lots. I think that [the music] I’ve listened to all this while has definitely all influenced me. Besides, there are quite a number of musicians who inspired me to start listening to rock music. Like there’s David Bowie and Lou Reed and The Doors who [influenced me] in that sense of it, but I only decided to make music after I listened to T. Rex. I ended up with a huge misconception when I heard T. Rex… I thought, “If [this is rock], then even I can do it, right?” (lol). I think that was a serious misconception, but that’s what made me start music, you know (lol).

―― (Lol) But you’re here today because you thought that way.

I: Exactly, yes. Cocky, isn’t it? (Lol). I got this far in life by being cocky. Through misconceptions and cockiness.

Because making music, writing lyrics,
these are things I have no choice but to do

―― What made you decide to start writing lyrics?

I: It’s because I originally liked reading. I used to read Mishima Yukio and all that. So, one day, I found Tanikawa Shuntaro-san’s poetry collection in a second-hand bookstore, and that got me thinking maybe I should write lyrics..

―― Again, why?

I: I wonder… It made me want to try.

―― Not because you thought, “Even I can do it.” (Lol)

I: I think the idea that “Even I can do it” probably did cross my mind (lol). Since my life is just one of hubris (lol). Lyrics written with such simple vocabulary were fresh, weren’t they?

―― Even now, do you still remember the lyrics you wrote when you just started out?

I: (Lol) Because I have them. At home.

―― You still have some left?

I: I keep them. You know, I made small changes to the lyrics I wrote when I was in high school and turned it into our debut song Matsu Uta (lol).

―― Such lyrics you’ve written back in your high school days probably seem fresh when you read them today.

I: They do. They’re amateurish but I didn’t write them particularly because I absolutely had to come up with something, so it was really interesting because my emotions were in dire straits.

―― You didn’t have deadlines either back then, right?

I: Nope, none at all. And I never even had the mind to sing or anything like that back then, so it really was just me and my need to write, you know? Now, it’s me and my need to stand on stage, but at the time, I had to write lyrics no matter what. So much so that I found myself at the precipice of my… How do I say this, [these lyrics are] unpolished because they were written based on the unstable parts of my psyche, but they’re about things that we all understand very well, right?

―― I’m sure you felt a sense of release after you vented that out.

I: Probably, right? Then again, that much is still the same even now though (lol).

―― I heard that ISSAY-san had your own solo activities prior to the formation of Der Zibet, so what did it sound like?

I: I guess it was something that feels like a mix of punk and glam and electric pop.

―― So how did you go from that to deciding to form Der Zibet?

I: I was a one-man act so the members (of my backing band) weren’t fixed. It’d be a different lineup every month too. So I got sick of such an uncertain set up and was thinking about forming a band and giving that a go when I got acquainted with my present band members, and I thought, “Ah, this is it.” The moment I met this group, I decided that I’d formally form a band with them and make music with them.

―― And just like that, you’ve been together for 10 years. It’s amazing.

I: Yeah, in the end… I suppose it just goes to show how appealing this band is, right?

―― Come to think of it, ISSAY-san once acted in a movie too, right?

I: (Lol) I did.

―― So, why didn’t you continue down that path but chose to pursue music instead?

I: Rather, it’s because I had no choice but to do it. For me, making music, writing lyrics, these are things I have no choice but to do, you know? This isn’t a case of, “I’ll make it if I’m capable of it.” Even if I’m not, “I have no choice but to do it”, that’s how I felt, so… It’s still the same even now. Like, when I act in a movie, I’m not doing it because “I have no choice but to do it”. Back then, I only did it because of the people I met and because I thought it seemed like it would be fun. It was indeed fun in reality though.

―― From the perspective of such an expressionist like yourself, are there any recent artists of note to ISSAY-san?

I: There a~ren’t, are there, at all (lol). Even Western music hasn’t been interesting these recent few years. There’s good music, but I guess I just can’t get into it. … But I really like allnude’s present album² a lot though.

―― (Lol) I feel like I understand that.

I: Until I listened to that album, there were no artists that I liked recently at all, and there weren’t any artists who could get me emotionally invested like in the past, so I started to wonder whether it’s me who changed. If that were true, it’d be sad, but you know, when I heard allnude’s present album, I thought, “So I’m not wrong after all.” (Lol) I realised it’s just that there wasn’t anything like this until now.

―― When I listened to that album of allnude’s, I thought, “Ah, it’s Der Zibet.”

I: (Lol) We sound completely different, but we have things in common, don’t we?

――Somehow, there are similarities between Mizunaga-san’s lyrical universe and ISSAY-san’s.

I: That’s because we’re twins, me and that guy (lol).

―― (Lol) Then what about your little brother Sakurai Atsushi-san?

I: (Lol) I think he’s definitely putting out great work with his band BUCK-TICK. Because I also really like that last album³ that I participated in.

―― BUCK-TICK’s another band with a strong personality, aren’t they?

I: It’s nice to see them do things the way they want like that, isn’t it? When I went on a radio show recently, they played BUCK-TICK’s upcoming single and that was interesting too. It was a very good song. No, it really was good. Noisy (lol). The melody was pop, though, right?

 

Without concerts to hold
it feels like I’m going to lose it

―― It couldn’t be helped that your bassist HAL-san suddenly took ill, but it truly was unfortunate that your tour had to be put on hold considering that your show at Osaka was going to be the first in about a year…

I: I believe the band feels that more than anyone else. Including HAL. Because, you see, we’re useless human beings, right? (Lol) We have to get on a stage or we’re useless. That’s why [situations like] these are very frustrating. The number of shows Der Zibet had in these few years are too few so we want to play more but (lol).

―― (Lol) How is HAL-san?

I: He’s slowly getting better.

―― So I guess your tour will be confirmed as soon as he recovers.

I: That’s right. We feel that he shouldn’t force himself and that we should wait until he’s in good shape though. But looking at how he’s doing now, I think [the tour] probably isn’t going to be something that far off in the future. So we’re getting ready to charge when it happens (lol). And when it does, we’ll be having a ton of concerts. Without shows to play, it feels like I’m going to lose it. I really can’t take it (lol).

―― So once your next show is confirmed, the energy will be…

I: Through the roof (lol).

―― Considering how much you love being on stage, do you still remember the first time you went up there?

I: I was a real mess, y’know. I was so nervous. Because I did it despite being a person who’s always been bad at putting myself out there in front of a crowd (lol). I downed a pocket bottle of whiskey before going on stage. I was plastered drunk on stage, y’know. The first few years I had to drink because I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t go out (lol).

―― So why do you go on stage despite that?

I: Because I had no choice but to go on stage. If I don’t [do this], I’d get thrown off balance on the inside. If a person’s balance is thrown off, their mania⁴ would go out of hand and all that. So in the end, I have no choice but to do it, right? Even now, right before I go up on stage, I have the desire to go home (lol).

―― (Lol) No one would ever get that idea when they see you perform though.

I: It changes the moment I step out, y’know. Until then, I can’t do it. As long as I can get out there, I’ll be fine though…

―― The expression on ISSAY-san’s face when you’re singing live looks really happy.

I: I am happy, that’s for sure. Up on stage is where I’m most comfortable. I guess [on stage,] I can be anyone; I can feel very free. 

―― That’s the kind of place a live show is, right? Not only the ones on stage, but even the audience can escape reality…

I: Rather than calling it an escape, I think it’s more that [this particular space] is made up of only the innermost part of you. For example, there are lots of times when you can’t directly express that, “This is it!” even though that’s what you really think, right? And [live shows are] spaces where those barriers don’t exist at all. Since whatever you find in that space is really your innermost core self and that’s really what constitutes a live show, I think it’s truly a place of freedom

―― We touched on this earlier too, but HIKARU-san and HAL-san both have active solo careers. So, on that, does ISSAY-san have any plans for a 2nd solo album or anything like that?

I: I’m not particularly interested in making another solo album. Even with my last solo project, I didn’t release an album because I just wanted to release one, you know? It just happened because I wanted to do a cover album, I did it, and it turned into a solo project. And that’s nothing I couldn’t have done in Der Zibet, right? It’s more or less just me doing what I want to do. Maybe [I might start another solo project] if I find something that I can’t do with Der Zibet like how that cover album turned out, but unless that happens, I don’t have even the slightest intention of going solo.

―― Since that’s the case, what do you think about HIKARU-san’s PUGS⁵ and all the other solo activities of your bandmates?

I: That’s not really HIKARU’s solo band work, right, just him joining in. “He’s doing interesting stuff,” is what I think but… (lol). I think he understands that too, but I suppose he might be doing it with the idea that it’s his solo work though.

―― With all your bandmates all dabbling in their own activities outside of Der Zibet, does that reflect in your album and  your music?

I: I think it does, y’know. Because with this present album, HAL, for some reason, said, “I want to bring out the good elements of ISSAY’s solo album [in this album].” I suppose when each of us head out, or leave home, you know, we see the goodness of home (lol). Because you’d get an outsider’s perspective and you’ll be able to see things with fresh eyes. Furthermore, we get stimulated differently when we work with other people, so that can also be brought back into the band, right?

―― It appears that the reason why the lyric work came first for Kirigirisu is also a result of HIKARU being influenced by his participation in Sasano Michiru⁶ recording work.

I: Because he is always picking up and bringing back those kinds of new things and techniques. I think I do that too, of course. Also, I think that’s the source of Der Zibet’s power to keep changing though.

―― Maybe [he] does things with the mind that, “This might be interesting to do with Der Zibet.”

I: Maybe the thought that, “This method might suit ISSAY,” passes his mind, right?

―― For an album packed with all those things, it requires quite some time between the end of your recording sessions to the release date, right? During that period, do you start thinking things like, “It might be good if we did that for this particular part.”?

I: No, no. The sample CD will be done some weeks before we release it, right? Until then, I can’t look at it objectively. Because I’d become objective for the first time only after that sample is done and I listen to it.

―― Until then, you’ll be immersed in the accomplishment of completing an album.

I: Because I’m still in the midst of that album, y’know? But when the disk is done and I listen to it objectively, I’d think, “Well, isn’t this cool,” (lol) and when the album tour is over, that’s when I can truly be objective. I guess it’s because I can’t flesh it out unless I perform it on stage after all.

―― The tour’s been halted, but are there any songs from this album that you’re dying to perform?

I: I want to do them all (lol). Although we did do Garasu-goshi no Sekai (ガラス越しの世界 / The World Through A Glass) in that gig we did last year end. I think songs like Gokuraku Ressha (極楽列車 / Paradise Train) and Dr. Real Love will probably be lots of fun.

―― For,  I’m hoping to hear Kirigirisu wo Koroshita no wa Dare? (キリギリスを殺したのは誰？ / Who Killed The Grasshopper?) live though.

I: I actually think it’ll turn out to be something amazing (lol).

―― Especially that part in the chorus, when the noisy guitar whines and groans right after ISSAY-sings.

I: Y’know, when it gets too noisy, I can’t sing, right (lol). It was difficult when we were recording too. I’m like, “Scary. This guitar feedback, tone it down~~. I can’t sing~~.” (Lol)

―― Will it be okay live (lol).

I: We’ll make it work somehow. Because we’re professionals (lol).

―― You’re getting more and more excited for the tour.

I: It’s not that far off, so do look forward to it.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

¹ In reference to Aesop’s fable

² Taking the date of this interview into account, the album in question is allnude’s Children Of The Evolution. Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAimKiv6WCQ

³ That will be Six/Nine. ISSAY provides vocals for 愛しのロック・スター (Itoshi no Rock Star).

⁴ The word I translated as “mania” is 躁鬱 (sou-utsu), which is a word specifically used to refer to bipolar disorder or manic depression.

⁵ PUGS was formed in 1994 with HONEY★K, Hoppy Kamiyama, Okano Hajime, Steve Eto. Other musicians would join in to play with them typically as a band of six. There’s a short English article about the time they played as a second stage act on the Lollapalooza 1997 festival tour. https://wc.arizona.edu/papers/90/166/11_2_m.html

⁶ Michiru Sasano, is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter who debuted in 1988 with Japanese pop band Tokyo Shōnen where she was the band’s songwriter and vocalist. After the band broke up in 1993, she became a solo artist

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Scans: Morgianasama on LiveJournal

 

 

DER ZIBET | [Feb 1992] 2nd FOREVER MY WORSHIP – ISSAY・Jim Morrison

Posted on by Yoshiyuki

2nd FOREVER MY WORSHIP
The search for a musician’s everlasting idol!

Fool’s Mate
February 1992

Text＝ISSAY
Photos＝Saori Tsuji

 

Following the well-received first of this series, today, we have Der Zibet’s ISSAY penning his thoughts about Jim Morrison, the vocalist of The Doors who dominated the late 60s and early 70s with their intense stage presence and visionary sound.

 

 

JIM MORRISON
(The Doors)

One night, when I was still in high school, a strange melody from an organ that I heard on the radio echoed in my ears. After the intro, my nerves were wrung by a voice that sounded wide awake on the surface and, at the same time, as if it was smouldering underwater.

That moment did me in.

Come on, baby, light my fire ／ Come on, baby, light my fire ／ Try to set the night on fire 

(Light My Fire)

This was my first encounter with The Doors.

 

As I recall at the time, their song The End was also the theme song of the movie Apocalypse Now, so it was a period when [my interest in] The Doors got rekindled for the umpteenth time. At the same time, I believe their songs were being played on the radio too.

Anyway, a few days later, I ran to the record store and bought the one and only copy of a compilation album, The Doors’ Greatest Hits.

This album which starts with the song Hello, I Love You, which Der Zibet also covered before, was perfectly made for newbies. At first glance, it looks like a pop album, but their characteristic acrimony was more than enough to intoxicate a tender high schooler. Having fallen for a deep dark world where a raspy voice like that of a teenager whose voice just broke floats in the repetitive flair of the keyboard, I decided that I would collect their original albums, but for all it was worth, I lived in a rural town by the sea where even the record stores didn’t bring in The Doors or anything like them. In the end, I could only keep borrowing whatever I could from friends and seniors at school. It feels like it was only quite recently that I really managed to collect their albums.

 

Now, here’s a simple list of their discography for those who aren’t too familiar with The Doors.

 

January 1967  “THE DOORS”
October 1967  “STRANGE DAYS”
July 1968  “WAITING FOR THE SUN”
July 1969  “SOFT PARADE”
February 1970  “MORRISON HOTEL”
July 1970  “ABSOLUTELY LIVE”
April 1971  “L.A. WOMAN”

Looking at it now, written like this, it really hit me that this was all in the span of a mere 5 years. They’re a band who within the mere 5 years of the late 60s, made 7 albums and came to an end right after the sudden death of their vocalist Jim Morrison. They’ve actually released a few other albums after that, but I do not acknowledge The Doors without Jim Morrison. Because to me, Jim Morrison is The Doors.

The man who claims that the spirit of a Native Indian who died in a car accident he witnessed as a child jumped into his soul. The man who got so drunk and drugged that he stood on the road and suddenly screamed, “I am the lizard king! I can do anything!” The man who sang, “Father, I want to kill you. Mother, I want to fuck you!” and got fired from a live music club. The man who emptied fire extinguishers inside a studio because he thought a fire might start if things got too heated among the band during recording. So on and so forth. Now, stories about Jim Morrison have even spawned numerous books in Japan, and even a movie. In a way, he’s one of the legendary rock musicians.

The Jim Morrison you’d see in concert on video is one whose eyes are wide open, clinging to the mic stand as he talks along with the music, as if singing (This is the aptest way to describe that man’s song). Then, in an instant, he twists and turns with a desperate shout, tensing up as he brings that tension to a peak.

In one interview, drummer John Densmore said, “On stage we (the members of The Doors) could get into a rhythm with Jim and let him do what he wanted, but we couldn’t get into a rhythm with his personal life.” But I suppose that’s the kind of person he had always been, Jim Morrison.

Standing between dream and reality, between real life and fantasy. While he had been traversing back and forth between the two, he had been sinking deeper into the depths of himself.  That is why he could sing such amazing songs. That is why his shouts were always directed inwards.

In the mid to late 60s. When the world was experiencing the height of the hippie movement. It was a time when anyone and everyone was dreaming of going to San Francisco. In the midst of it all, in Los Angeles, The Doors’ existence was like an overpowering shadow to the sun-kissed hippies (flower children).

At a time when everyone believed in being thoughtless and carefree and lauded doing things hand in hand as if they were under a spell, The Doors peered at their (own) inner selves.

Break on through to the other side ／ Break on through to the other side, yeah

 (Break On Through)

This is the powerful refrain of the very first song of their 1st album. Everything that The Doors are began here, and in the end, it feels as if it ended here too.

The image I harbour of The Doors is that of an eternal summer. The sounds and smells of flora and fauna in the early morning filled with the inexplicable exhilaration of youth and, the fleeting moment of eternity pierced by blinding white light.

And in a little less than 5 years, The Doors had gone on into that eternity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translation: Yoshiyuki
Scans: Morgianasama on LiveJournal