Sorry this took so long. m(_ _)m
A lot of things came up and I found this part hard for some reason. =/
As always, scans are from
rawkstarr23 in
gazette_daily. <3
Neo Genesis Vol.30
Kagrra, x Gazette Interview
Part 3/4
---You're all in the rhythm sections of your bands, so do you ever discuss equipment and instruments?
Kai: We do, respectively. Like I'll ask Izumi "What kind of drums have you been using lately?" It's not something restricted to just Kagrra, or Gazette.
Nao: Reita often asks me things like that. But, to be honest, I generally don't talk about my basses or equipment. Because I don't really get it. (laugh)
---(laugh) Surely that's not true?
Nao: Don't the guitarists talk a lot about equipment and stuff?
Reita: They definitely talk in more detail, because they have more equipment than we need for bass.
Nao: Yeah, like effectors. That's why I get a little nervous whenever Reita asks me a question. (laugh) I wonder how I should give him advice and get really stressed. But I just casually change the topic.
Reita: It's different than it was before; lately, we rarely see each other so when I see him, I ask him things like "Have you changed the bass you were using before?" But, that's not to say I talk about equipment in any great detail either. Sometimes, I don't know what I'm talking about. (laugh)
---Izumi, do you help out Kai as well?
Izumi: I do. We don't see each other very much anymore, but when I compared the band to the first time we were together during the PSC Tour, I thought they had really grown and the good things about Kai's personality as a drummer were really showing. He had the setback of joining the band midway, but I don't get that feeling at all and he's a genuinely cool guy.
Reita: That's because he's our leader now. (laugh)
Kai: (laugh) No, no. When I first entered this agency, I was already always asking Izumi about drums. Like "how should I do this?"...... Actually, Izumi still has the image that no matter how many times I ask for advice, he'll give me an answer. Nao's a bit different. (laugh)
Nao: How shocking! (laugh)
Kai: He's talked to me really honestly and right until we started this photoshoot, he searched on the net for me and was like "this would be good."
Nao: I did that too though. (laugh)
Kai: But the first time we saw Kagrra, live, we though they were really good, right?
Reita: Yeah.
Nao: Hey, are you guys playing with us? (laugh)
Reita: No, it's the truth. It's just that I expected us now to be older than you were then.
Nao: No no; don't Gazette have their own colour and Kagrra, have their own colour? If I released a Gazette CD, people in the agency would ask "Is this yours?" and listen to it, but it would be good. You have a heavy sound, and your playing has improved so much that you can't compare it to when you were younger anymore. And I watched your DVD and was really moved.
Reita: Ah, our Repeated Countless Error DVD. Nao watched all of it.
Kai: Thank you very much!
Nao: I'm listening to LEECH as well. (laugh)
---This may be a simplistic question, but there are a lot of rhythm sections that are the band's mood makers. Do you ever end up in that position when you are with your bands?
Nao: That probably happens naturally when you gain more experience.
---I kind of feel that there are a lot of people [in rhythm sections] who are open and don't stop themselves from saying or doing certain things.
Reita: That's because as long as they're part of a rhythm section, they have to make themselves fit in with everyone else.
---Ohh..
Nao: Indeed. Reita, well said. Kai, you must study a bit more~ (laugh)
Kai: (bitter laugh) Yes.
Reita: We're part of the rhythm section of life.
Nao: What a wise saying.
Reita: Sometimes I get into another rhythm though. (laugh)
Nao: That's enough. (laugh)
---Actually, Nao is quite like that, so are there any happenings we don't know about?
Nao: Hm... I wonder. I'm sure everyone knows everything that's happened to Gazette?
Reita: Everything. (laugh)
Nao: The readers will say "I know more than you~" (laugh)
Izumi: Kagrra, has suddenly gotten rid of their band image.
Nao: That's right. We got rid of it and became free. We used to comply to the rules of visual-kei, but since we became major, we just broke that all down. I used to be the type of person who would try to say what they were thinking but couldn't. Now, I say exactly what I think.
Izumi: Breaking that wall was a big thing for us. What about Gazette?
Kai: Well, if you listen to my Premium Radio, I'm basically like that.
Reita: A completely normal guy. (laugh)
Kai: Yeah, but although I thought that about both Kagrra, and Gazette, you can see their appeal clearly on stage or in photoshoots. And I think you should really do those kind of things properly.
Reita: But it depends on how you're feeling on the day, doesn't it? When things aren't right, you're like "we only have a little image." (laugh) But when you're in a really good mood, you get into it.
Kai: Well, that's being human. (laugh)
~~~