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chelieu · 26 days

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March 19, 20, 2024 Warsaw

My description of concerts

I had two VIP tickets. I stood in the 2nd and 1st row. Seeing them so close, almost within arm's reach, their facial expressions, their beautiful bodies and amazing outfits is something I will never forget. Everyone knows the set lists, and each of you has probably seen the outfits in various photos and videos, so I won't describe them in detail. I will focus more on Toshiya and Kyo because they were the ones I saw best and focused my attention on. On the second day, when I heard Sa bir as they were getting on stage, I started crying. I cried a lot, but it wasn't sobbing, just tears flowing silently down my cheeks. Shinya shyly entered the stage and immediately sat behind the drums. The fans were screaming his name and squealing. The madness has begun. Then Die. On the second day, immediately with bare shoulders, in a white and red, tight blouse, longer at the back. His muscular arms and flowing hair are what I will remember from these concerts. Die entered with his hand raised and smiled at the fans. Toshiya a moment behind him. When I saw this white outfit on the second day, I got goosebumps. He is the most beautiful man in the world. He was so confident, seductive, sexy. He knew he looked amazing and gave us 100 percent of himself. Then Kaoru. On the first and second day he looked dignified. So manly with that hair slicked back. I love his black makeup on both sides of his cheeks. It makes an amazing impression. And then Kyo came in. The concert hadn't started yet and my throat was already hurting from calling their names. Kyo always entered slowly, at first he looked at the fans as if he couldn't believe that there were so many of us. What I will never forget from these two concerts is Kyo's smile. I saw how moved he was, I saw how happy he was. His smiles made me cry like crazy. You could feel that he liked it and he wanted to be here. The second day started with vinushka. It was because of this song I fell in love with their music when I was 12. Hearing vinushka live is like a dream come true. During these two dirus concerts they had incredible contact with the audience. They kept coming to the edge of the stage, encouraging us to shout, pointing at us, smiling, switching places and looking at the fans with love in their eyes. It was their attitude, their behavior that was amazing. It was obvious that they were trying their best to make sure we had a good time. Kaoru, Toshiya and Die go to Shinya's drums and play with him there. Die smiled at Toshiya and they played opposite each other several times. After the encore, Kyo always said BYE BYE and immediately left the stage. Shinya threw his chopsticks and quickly hid behind the curtain as well. Die, Toshiya and Kaoru walked around the stage and threw guitar picks. On the second day, Toshiya poured water on fans. I was grateful when he cooled me down with it. On the second day after the encore, Toshiya entered Kyo's center stage. He bowed and thanked us. And finally, he showed off legs in those sexy long boots, taking part of his dress aside. There was no end to the squeals. Oh, I'm a stupid crazy girl in love with 5 men. Thanks to their music I feel love, passion, hope and strength. They guide me through life. I love you Dir en grey. With my whole sick heart.

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redbaretta · 3 years

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#dir en grey #d'erlanger #audio #upload #how is this cover so fire tho #and shinya's drumming is amazing here #especially the middle part

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thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 3 years

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Die and Toshiya member talk at SENDAI GIGS 13th March 2021 Bits III

Notes from twitter user botdv_304

- Question: Have you ever had a hard time because of your height?

Toshiya: When I go to grandpa and grandma’s house in the countryside…. the entrance is low, so I might hit my head?....

Die: Sometimes at exclusive/high class shop, isn’t there a place where the entrance is really low? Don’t you hate that? (laughs)

----

-Talking about a festival that left an impression on them. In Germany?

Die: Many things being thrown. Like crushed cans or tiny soccer balls. The stage was full of stuff like that.

Toshiya: I got hit by a stone that someone threw.

Die: Then I realized, something that fell off…. A bra…..it was quite big.

Fujieda: Eh….did they take it off and throw it? What happened when they got back home?

Die: They were bra-less? ----

Fujieda: Die, what do you do for haircare? What do you use? Like shampoo and so…

Die: Are you (asking this) unreservedly?

Fujieda: Yes….it’s the thing you are careful about the most!

Die: Well, I use shampoo, then the conditioner, then things like hair mask and so….

Toshiya: That takes so long, so long…. ----

Fujieda: Toshiya, where is Kaoru now?

Toshiya: *laughs* at home, at home…..*laughs*

----

Fujieda: Toshiya! Kaoru and Shinya said that JEALOUS' B-melody is difficult. Is there any difficult song for you?

Toshiya: I forgot

-----

Fujieda: Today you are feeling “on” or “off”?

Die: Well, On! If it weren’t “on”, it would be bad (laughs)

-----

-How difficult was to shoot at ROCKMAYKAN?

Toshiya: I don't think we had any particular difficulties ... I felt like I was going to the actual performance after rehearsing as usual. It feels like a virtual live with no audience, but it was nice to be able to play the five of us.

------

*Toshiya looks interested in a paper . It’s a psychological test.*

Toshiya: Test yourself. Which is the place that you don’t want to go the most? 1.Dark forest 2. Abandoned and decayed House. 3. Cemetery 4. Tunnel Die chose the tunnel. Toshiya and Takabayashi chose the forest and Fujieda the cemetery. The one you chose reflects what a person is scared about the most.

Tunnel (Die): The future. They are worried they can’t see their future. Forest (Toshiya and Takabayashi): Loneliness. They need to have someone nearby. Cemetery (Fujieda): They are not scared. If they can live happily, that’s fine.

Die: I can’t see what lies ahead….I’m scared! Takabayashi: Loneliness? Toshiya: Well, one person is scared… Fujieda: Me? Toshiya: If you can live happily, that’s fine (laughs) -----

About their drinks.

Fujieda: Toshiya, is that coffee? Toshiya: That’s it? Fujieda: Die is drinking carbonated water… Toshiya: Do you have that information?

Fujieda: Toshiya, what are you drinking, is it always coffee?

Toshiya: No, it’s not that….sometime it’s tea. Coffee or tea.

Fujieda: Do you prefer warm drinks?

Toshiya: Warm…..cold….

Die seems to like the sound of the bubbles of the carbonated drinks.

---- -About Oboro

Toshiya: I can't say much right now, but ... I think it's the core song of the album, so please look forward to it.

Die: It's not finished yet ... it's at the final stage. It’s overseas now ... I think that once is completed and finished it will come back. (He seems to be talking about the mastering stage, the master engineer seems to be a new person?)

---- -The OP doesn’t remember the question, but it was about the Shinkansen train.

Fujieda: Toshiya, did you miss the shinkansen this time?

Toshiya: (I took the train) at the last minute *laughs*

Fujieda: It was really at the last moment *laughs* Just about 1-minute left…

Die: Ah, I thought he wouldn’t come to this…

Fujieda: You made eye contact with Die…..You were late last time, right?

Toshiya: I…..I've been waiting in Shinagawa for a long time….

Die: Doesn’t make sense (laughs)

-----

-About next concert with audience.

Die: I'm happy to be able to play in front of everyone. I can't say “please come " in a loud voice, but when Corona is over, I want to make a live that makes me happy to experience.

Toshiya: In 2020….I was like “what’s going on?”….I was frustrated. But I can't get that time back, so I guess the right answer is to move forward. I would like to have a live performance that shows us trying to move forward.

----

Fujieda: Toshiya, among the members, are there any Ameotoko (rain man)? *Ameotoko (rain bringer man) refers to an unlucky person that seems to be jinxed to have the rain follow them wherever they may go, thus gaining a reputation for ruining special events such as weddings or sporting events.*

Toshiya: That would be…..that person…

Fujieda: Who is that person?

Toshiya: I’m not telling *laughs*

---

Fujieda: It’s still cold in Sendai

Toshiya: Weren’t you like an energetic kid yesterday?

-----

-Die about meeting the members for the first time

Kyo:

Kyo told Die to talk later but he thought Kyo was just being diplomatic, so he went home. They met at a venue about a week later and Kyo told him “You went home that day, right?”. So, they talked again at the emergency stairs and Die was invited to join his band. When Die thought about it later, Kyo wasn’t in a band anymore at that time, so he wondered if Kyo tried to contact him.

Die: Flyers at that time were black and white, and the image quality was poor, but I think he chose me for that (the flyer).

Kaoru:

Die: When I first met him, he was at another band. Kaoru was also a good guitarist. He told me “You often play lives here, right?”

Yamo-chan (Shinya)

Die: It was at a taiban ( band’s event) but I didn’t notice him at that time. Later I was like “Were you at the Taiban?”

Toshiya:

Die: I used to say hello to him at live houses, but we properly talked at a Sugamo’s coffee shop. Kyo was with me. It seems that Toshiya lived close to Sugamo, so Sugamo was fine. Kyo and me weren’t used to Tokyo so we didn’t know how to get to Sugamo. We got on the opposite Yamanote line and I said, "Isn't it the other way around ...?" and Kyo replied "Maybe ..."

----

Fujieda: Die, have you had any fun lately?

Die: Today!

----

Notes from user rikr66603 at twitter.

Die about meeting Kyo:

Die: I met Kyo for the first time at a toilet. Our bands were playing at a taiban (battle of bands/band’s event). Kyo was doing his hair at the bathroom and I passed behind him and say “nice to meet you”. He told me to talk after the live, but I thought he was just being polite. Like “Let’s drink someday”… I thought he was just being polite so I went home. *laughs* The next time we met, he told me I went home after that and I told him “I thought you were just being polite” *laughs* He told me to talk later that day after the live. He invited me to do a band together at the emergency stairs. It was a big turning point. Kyo wasn’t in a band at that time so he was like “come and see me”.

Fujieda: Kyo said he saw you in a flyer and thought that your aura was different.

Die: I used to put a lot of flyers at live houses. They were black and white. The image quality was poor. It seems that he chose me among them." )

---

About Oboro.

Die: We used to shoot individually and combine them but this time the 5 members gathered and did the shooting…..5 members…or should I say 6? *laughs*

Fujieda: To be exact, there were 6 people *laughs*

Die: Did we shoot in January? Or was it at February?

Toshiya: February

Die: There was a woman and she couldn’t move even though it was cold. Or even if she got hungry, Kyo either. Kyo was very close to the woman (makes a hand gesture of about 30 cm). It seemed awkward. He/we were talking turning sideways.

Fujieda: They couldn’t move. Also, he was covered in a liquid…. the other members as well, right?

Die: it was a cold liquid

Toshiya: It felt gross when it got dry….

Die: It was dirty….

----

Highlights of the live footage

Die: JEALOUS. It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing from the intro. The recording was at a private house. Ah, didn’t we do it at a private house?

Toshiya: I haven’t gone there.

Die: We used two rooms at a apartment house for the drum and bass. We pierced/ put through the wall a cord and recorded it. The guitars and Kyo were recorded at a private house. It was the engineers’ house. He lived in a normal residential area. Behind the house you could heard the dogs and the crows in the evening. The dogs were barking so you could hear the dogs at Kyo’s signing part. We waited for the dogs to stop barking so Kyo could record. I got fever and I felt asleep. I put a futon on the tatami floor and I slept but, there was the portrait of a deceased old woman that I didn’t know. While thinking that I wasn’t going to get better, I felt asleep.f Was it May? After that, we recorded for 3 weeks in New York. The difference from doing it in a private house was amazing.

#dir en grey

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the-rock-blog · 2 years

Photo

THIS BAND IS DIR EN GREY

pic 1 = die : guitar

pic 2 = :shinya : drums

pic 3 = toshiya : bass

pic 4 = kyo : vocals

pic 5 = kaoru “ guitar

this band is absolutely amazing! . I have personally been listening to them since I was 15 and seen they perform here in the US twice . they put on a great show , have good music and have a very creepy and yet beautiful fashion style to them(watch videos and live performances and you will see what i mean) . I highly suggest you guys go watch the music vides, live performances and check out the music !

#jrock #dir en grey #music #rock n roll #heavy metal

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yridenergyridenergy · 3 years

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Hi, thank you for all these amazing Deg-related posts. They are sweetening my days in this strange time. Regarding Toshiyas eye - have you realized that Shinya hides his left eye (or more like half of his face) behind his hair for years now? :D Lots of love from Germany :)

Thank you for your thanks. I hate having to post these positive messages publicly hahah.

But you're right: the only times Shinya has proven to us that he still has a left eye were when he dressed up in costumes.

I especially like this tease:

"Here's a second eye. Not my real one."

I suppose, props to him for drumming one-eyed like a king all those years hahah.

#I figured that I would time this with his birthday since it was just a few days away when I was ready to reply #Shinya #Dir en grey #ask #anon

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weak-intention · 3 years

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Album ask - six Ugly 😈

1. The first song from this album I heard: I’m pretty sure it was a live clip of Umbrella!

2. Do I own the album?: ....Yes... but tbh I don’t know if it’s a bootleg or not ahahaha I bought it second hand

3. My favorite song: Mr. Newsman The older brother to _Amber _off of Vulgar... in my mind anyway. I’m biased towards songs where Kyo sings more.

4. My least favorite song: BYOU「」SHIN I didn’t care for the original. And I don’t care for this version LOL. The instrumental and like edited vocal breakdown in the middle is kind of fun, but to be honest it’s still not that exciting to me.

5. A song I didn’t like at first, but now do: Ugly I just didn’t vibe to it when I was younger. But whenever the song came up in recent years like man... that middle part where it’s just Shinya doing a little repetitive beat where you just lightly bop your head along in anticipation... and then one nasty gritty ass guitar chimes in and you’re like OH SHIT. It’s about to go down. I used to feel like that part went on forever and hated it. But now I love the tension. I think that part is just better live vs studio cause otherwise yeah you’re constantly thinking they’re going to move on to the next part and then they just DON’T.

6. A song I used to like, but now don’t: If I HAD to choose, then umbrella. But only because i’ve been so overexposed to it that it’s lost some of its charm. Like the chorus is super fun to hear the band and the fans sing along but... I hate the chorus lyrics aslkdjaskldjajd

7. My favorite lyric: “Can Not Find A Reason To Why I Am Living Good Night” from Mr.Newsman

8. Overall rating out of 10: 6 / 10 I know a fair amount of people loved six Ugly.. and I used to think that I did until I realized I like never go out of my way to listen to songs off the mini album. If they come on, I’ll gladly listen to them. But I never go for a drive and think “Ah time to listen to Hades :) I think I convinced myself I liked it a lot more than I did.. just because all the fans on the forums I used to visit loved it. I also notice how much people love Vulgar, and I wonder how much of the love from the sound of that era trickles over to six Ugly (even tho sU came out first). And also I like it better than Missa lol Lesser of two evils. But after The Unraveling dropped... my mindset of six Ugly being amazing sorta dropped as well.

I saw someone on here mention that it’s too repetitive for them, and I SORT OF AGREE! The intros for 4 of the songs are so so identical it’s unreal. You could swap them and the song wouldn’t change. DID THEY TAKE A DEMO OF R TO THE CORE FROM VULGAR_ _AND GIVE A PART OF IT TO EACH SONGS OR SOMETHING? Umbrella has an iconic drum intro, and Mr. Newsman’s intro is more distinct than the others. And it’s a shame cause the bodies of the other songs are actually quite energetic and refreshing. But they get like tarnished with a not so great intro riff.

#ask #album ask #i do these ask replies at like 4-6am lol #forgive the babbling

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kyotakumrau · 3 years

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2020.05.29 ROCK AND READ 090 – interview with YUCHI – translation part 1/2

profile & information

born April 2nd. Blood type B. Plays on bass in sukekiyo, a project started by Kyo from DIR EN GREY in 2013, but also works as a support musician in several places. Other sukekiyo members are Takumi (g, pf), utA (g), Mika (ds). The footage from their last show in June last year in Nakano Sunplaza is included on the newest video and sound compilation 'LIQUEFACIO' available now.

future

Started as a solo project by Kyo from DIR EN GREY, but having fixed members, sukekiyo functions totally as a band. YUCHI plays on bass. The position of his bass is high, his playing overflows with grooves, he's a bassist with a sense of present. Although right now they are not active we talk about his role in kannivalism as Yuuchi (* 裕地 ), about his work as a support for MIYAVI and so on, his musical path including his early life/childhood, things he gained from sukekiyo and his prospects/outlook from now on.

text : Yukinobu Hasegawa photos: Yosuke Komatsu (ODD JOB LTD.)

translation; kyotaku (pls let me know if you see any mistakes or typos)

――As a bassist you deploy a phrase approach and have a strong presence, but I also feel a sense uncharacteristic for a Japanese there. I just feel like in sukekiyo you have shown your true abilities. What got you interested in music originally?

　　It's hard to say when I started to listen to music exactly, but it was in the beginning of junior high that I started to listen consciously. Like thinking, let's buy a CD. In elementary school I liked to watch music programs on TV, but it didn't end up with me buying CDs. I have older and younger sisters, two of them liked music. The 2nd older sister had LUNA SEA's 'MOTHER'. So when she went out like to go to her part time job and so on, I sneaked into her room and listened to 'MOTHER' (laughing).

――Why did you get so crazy about ‘MOTHER’ to even enter the path of crime?

　　I got it when I was a 1st year jh student. And because it was a new release even the CD shop in the boonies had a LUNA SEA corner. And that way I got it. I think that I’ve been a bit perverse(nonconformist) even since then. At that time, I felt in my child’s heart there were many light/moderate artists. LUNA SEA was of course very popular, but they seemed so manly. So it was like, I wanted to be a person listening to the bands like that. And my sis had LUNA SEA’s ‘MOTHER’. I think it’s another reason I was listening to it. And, kuroyume’s ‘FAKESTAR,～I‘M JUST A JAPANESEFAKE ROCKER～ ‘ came out around the same time as ‘STYLE’, so I also got it. And a bit later X-JAPAN's ‘DAHLIA’. I think all of those came out the same year. Thinking about it now 1996 brought us amazing crops. It was great time to start listening to music.

――But you got into all of the rock bands. Were bands also popular among your friends?

　　Nah, not really. [I lived in] Funabashi in Chiba, so even in the city it was like a countryside. There were no shops with CDs in my town. No convenience stores even (laughing). That’s why to buy CDs I had to go to the nearby town, the basic train fare was 300 yen one way. A lot of money for a jh school student. I remember riding my bicycle to buy CDs. With ‘STYLE’ and ‘MOTHER’ I was listening to them like every day. When I was in the 2nd year, there was a visual kei boom in the world, it became a pop/popular thing. And I think since then I could also talk about music with my friends. But I found that boring. Because in the end I also ended up listening to pop artists.

――Did you always wanted to be a minority?

　　I was twisted a bit, somewhere. Looking back now, I wanted to go into more and more extreme direction, that time. I knew special CD stores from music magazines, also about indies and so on. I started digging deeper and deeper.

――Any special titles or bands that left an impression that you’ve encountered back then?

　　If it’s about leaving a strong impression, then definitely X’s past works. I started to listen to more indie bands from that time, but listening and watching old stuff from X was really impactful. When I started digging into indie music X-JAPAN has disbanded. The history and more of X was featured a lot in music magazines, it was interesting to read that. And with that I felt I wanted to be in a band.

――A band similar to X?

　　I think then it was like that. As long as I could be in the band I didn’t care about the position. All band members in X were cool, guitar was cool, bass was cool, drums were cool, so if I could be in a band any would be fine. Although I thought that singing would be impossible. To be honest I bought a music instrument around jh 1st year. 30,000 yen IBANEZ bass. Even as I didn’t know the roles of the bass and the guitar (laughing). Later I realized that the sound I wanted to play was the guitar.

――A mix up from the very first step (laughing).

　　Yup, and like that I continued with the bass (laughing).

――Isn't that the best? (laughing) doesn't the excitement go up with the first instrument?

　　Yeah, it does. But even as I bought a bass I didn't really understand it. It took me about a year to learn how to use the tuner (laughing). The first score I got was X-JAPAN's 'DAHLIA', and there was an instruction to lower the tuning by a half-tone. But I didn't even understand the regular tuning not even mentioning the half-tones. And at that time, there was a person who died electrocuted by the electric guitar. I think he was called Yamada Kamachi. So being afraid of getting electrocuted I put on working gloves and played with the wrong tuning (laughing). But I had a vague feeling of wanting to become a professional musician. If I do it I should do it properly until the end, I was thinking like a child would. On the contrary, I didn’t have any other interests. So like a child would, I got happy that I finally found something I could really get into.

――And after that you devoted all your energy and curiosity into playing the bass?

　　Yup. But it didn't matter it was a bass (laughing). As long as I could play music and be in a band I was happy. I wasn't that interested in the instruments themselves, so I got into writing songs. I started that around 2nd year of jh.

――All of a sudden original songs?!

　　Thinking about it now, it was all copying the songs from the score books I bought. Imitations of the songs of the bands I was listening to then, simply saying I was 'borrowing' the cool parts (laughing). I was connecting the parts I liked from LUNA SEA and X-JAPAN into a songs. Pretty much, all were [borrowed] parts. I think there was a software/game to do that.

――When you are young you can easily start using programs for writing and composing music.

　　Ah, no, it wasn't DTM or anything like that (DTM=Computer Music). There was a game like that on PlayStation. You could choose each part and write the score with a controller. And after writing all parts in the score you could just play it like that on PlayStation. But you couldn't record it. At the beginning I just entered all music notes as they were written in the score. And with that I got 'ah, so song goes on like that' or 'chords move like that' and 'the chords are composed like that' and so on. I wasn't planning to be learning through this, but as I was playing with this program as a result I've learnt a lot.

――You must've experienced the fun and thrill of the band ensemble.

　　Yup. And that's why I liked all the parts in the band.

――By the way do you remember the title of the first song you composed?

　　No, not at all. I think it must've been something embarrassing (laughing). It was a song similar to 'BLUE BLOOD' by X. I made my friends listen to it. But they were just confused (laughing). But it roughly had the right composition, A melody, B melody, chorus. In the end, the know how I got from this got very useful later.

――Was the high school time when you got to start a band the moment when the revolution happened for you?

　　Yeah. My elementary school was in a small town, so there weren’t that many students. But upon entering high school suddenly the number of students was high. And at that time many bands were popular so there were many people playing on instruments. So I invited my friends to play at the live house (small music club). It was fun. I’ve realized my dream to play in a band. But ever since the 1st year of jr I wanted to play in a band professionally so I had this weird uncomfortable feeling. Friends who created a band with me at school weren’t really interested in becoming professional musicians, I think they were just doing it for fun. Playing in a band at school sure has its limits huh, I felt. I didn't wish for the same story as SUGIZO and Shinya from LUNA SEA , but it seems they were childhood friends and started a band at school and continued until professional level like that. I realized that in reality there are more cases that don't end like that. And then I realized that I have to start a band with people who were very serious about music. Thus around the second year I quit high school (laughing).

――Woah, wait. I will act as a parent here for a bit. 'What do you think school is for, punk?'

　　I went to high school to join a band.

――You're being serious!? That's the first time I, your dad, have heard that!

　　Hahaha. Thinking about it now it sounds like a joke, but at the time I was serious about that. Also when reading the interviews with musicians I liked, they said things like 'we started the band at high school' and that you meet band members at school. So thinking that's the way, you start a band at high school and aim at becoming a professional like that. But reality is different. Well, duh (laughing). But as it was a school focusing on preparing for university entrance exams it was different. I caused a lot of trouble for my parents and teachers.

――They must have been worried about your future and talked to you many times.

　　I think so. They tried persuading me. They told me that I can start a band after graduating. That is true. You can also play in a band after classes while still going to school. I was 13 when I first thought about starting a band, at 17 only 4 years have passed. It would be fine not to decide everything in those 4 years. I wouldn't quit school if I was deciding now (laughing). But then, I was serious, it felt wrong to continue going to school. I thought I will miss my chance at the goal of my life. I thought I have to quit school and pursue band properly. Then I wanted to spend time doing that.

――You had a lot of enthusiasm but didn't know how professional musicians did things and worked.

　　Mostly that, yeah. For example I went to a clothes store in Harajuku to [check] the handwritten ads by people looking for band members. By calling so many people from all of those ads I gathered members. Among the people I got to know there were some who had an experience with being in a band or performing live. And this way my circle gradually kept expanding. But around the 17 year old me everyone was older. But among people I have met later were Ryo and Kei who are doing BAROQUE now. They were around 15 or 17 then. It was unusual to have someone that young so I remember that we met because of that.

――Was kannivalism the band born then?

　　Yes. Ryo and Kei were playing together in a band for over a year already, so they had quite some experience and also some fans. When they were starting a new band I got invited. I really wanted to do a band with someone in the same age, we understood each other well. I remember that we started with working on the songs, experimenting what sounds are good in the studio. Kei came in with some original songs, we listened to them in the studio and I added the bass then and there. DTM was still not common then, it still wasn’t the time when most of band musicians have computers. That’s why I remember we all gathered in the studio and worked on the songs saying this is not it, that is not it, creating a song from scratch.

――Do you remember talking about what kind of band you want to create before it all started?

　　I think we didn’t really have a talk like this. But we wanted to do something no other bands did. At the time, the visual kei boom I’ve seen when I was in junior high was on the decline, it was a period with the number of bands steadily decreasing. And with things going on like this there weren’t any visual bands that felt new. That’s why we wanted to do a band that no one seen yet, no one done yet. But we didn’t have a concrete model what the band should be like.

――Did all of the band members aim at becoming professional musicians already from the time you started the band?

　　Instead of thinking to become professional we thought starting the band we already are that (laughing). Quite a big misunderstanding (laughing). But there are some good things that can result from such misunderstandings. It can spread into various things like possibilities or the momentum. We continued doing some things then that now I would be scared to try.

――When kannivalism came out, everyone was talking about the birth of a young band with a good sense.

　　If that’s [how it was received] it makes me happy. Band activities and everything else, all felt fresh to me. Both Ryo and Kei had done bands before, so their way of thinking was a bit more mature. But then, before I noticed kannivalism was also over (wry laugh). In the small world of visual kei the word about the new band kannivalism has spread also to some more senior band musicians and Ryo got headhunted by the more senior band. And like that we disbanded in less than a year.

――Was the break up of the band wrapped in dreams really the answer?

　　it was, but the headhunted member will usually start activities in the new band very soon, right? It was like that, and myself, I wanted to do a band that will kreep going properly so I soon looked for new band members and started another band.

――You're talking about k@mikaze?

　　You know well. Not even a month after kannivalism disbanded we had the k@mikaze's first concert. In k@mikaze I wrote some songs. But there was quite an age difference between band members, I was the youngest, and there was a 7 year difference between me and the oldest band member. It is also quite different how quickly 18 yo and 25yo people absorb and perceive things. I was watching and listening to various things, my attitude was to try add what I found interesting. And somehow there was a gap between [the younger me] and the 24 or 25 yo people. When I think about it now, I remember that they were desperately responding to the things I wanted to do, but the me then was not satisfied. And like that k@mikaze too disbanded after about a year and half.

part 2/2 will come soon ;)

#sukekiyo #yuchi #rock and read #interview #translation

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yridenergyridenergy · 5 years

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Dir en grey - Otaru GoldStone 09/28/2019 live report

1. Zetsuentai

2. Aka

3. Downfall

4. Devote My Life

5. Rubbish Heap

6. Merciless Cult

7. Keigaku no yoku

8. Celebrate Empty Howls

9. Ningen wo Kaburu

10. Keibetsu to hajimari

11. Values of Madness

12. Ranunculus

13. The World of Mercy

Encore

1. Fukai

2. Followers

3. Gaika, chinmoku ga nemuru koro

4. THE DEEPER VILENESS

5. Utafumi

What a night. Otaru Gold Stone is small, we were around 500 in it but the stage was low, the sound was too loud for some instruments depending on where you were in the venue, and holy hell I thought moshpits were forbidden here in Japan. We kept getting pushed and pushing, and someone we got closer everytime, so apparently people in the centre were getting squashed out toward the sides?!

This live report will be even more Kyo-centric than usual, because I could only crane my neck and stand on my toes among that wall of fans to concentrate on one member. But Toshiya seemed stern at first but as the show progressed, he came foth and enjoyed the crowd, even though he never fully cracked a smile. He encouragedthe audience though and appeared to approve of our reactions in general. He was just as entranced with his bass, turning his head upward during Ranunculus. As for Die, his vest really matches Kaoru's custom guitar. His long hair kept blowing in the wind and he would flip it occasionally. In one of the first few songs, he was staring at his side of the crowd with a grave expression but raised his chin a couple of times as if to say: "Oh yeah? That's it?" Kaoru I think remained very serious the whole time except that, at the end, he stayed the longest and really enjoyed the night. Shinya, all I could notice was that he rumbled away like there was no tomorrow at his heavy drums during The World of Mercy, he was in his own universe.

Kyo has a full pectorals tattoo! I doubt it is completely new, but it was definitely news to me. I have no idea what it is, it looked like the marks on a leopard's fur at first but it looks more complex, almost as if it's supposed to be the shadows of the skeleton inside his chest? And on his right side of his neck, it really looks like the drawing from Junji Ito, with the conjoined heads - the hair of a woman stretching toward something in the back. Just below his chin, it looked like a bunch of vertical lines only. He is going full on yakuza for sure.

He came on stage wearing a matching suit: both top and bottom were black with sparse big white feathers. The vest looked like it had a flap, like a short cape behind the neck, because at some point he crouched to give a growl or something and a piece of fabric came to cover his should, but it could not possible have been the lower ends of the vest itself... The dress shirt he had underneath was classic black, and he had a black tie. After three songs or so, he loosened it and also undid the first couple of buttons at the top. Near the end of the main setlist, more buttons had been undone and that's how we were able to see his chest, wide enough to see his nipples.

His hair! With the stripes of the feathers, the formal clothing, his styled hair and the smudged lipstick, he looked almost nazi-esque. This hairstyle is so close to the Tabula Rasa/In Situ one! I am so glad that I witnessed it in person! I guess, to describe it, it almost looks like Levi's hairstyle from Attack on Titan, but he styled the left side toward the back of his head. After sweating though, it was even more awesome and resembling!

He smoked twice or three times during the show. For the first instance, its scent came to my senses before I could see it, during the pause. He tried to do the iiiiiii high-pitched sound in Downfall (?) while having the cigarette on the corner of his mouth: that failed. Later, he was holding his cigarette with his two middle fingers, giving us the horns/fox sign he is now known for!

Aka was more dramatic than I remember it being. Kyo looped his mic cord around his neck twice and caressed it into a hanging string. I think it was during that song that he was dancing like a maniacal pantomime a lot too.

At the very beginning of Rubbish Heap, Kyo cones to the forefront of the stage next to his stand and he holds his fist up in the air for the first 'Fist!' of the song and he has that very obvious facial expression like "Come on guys, here's what I want you to do! Come on, you can do it, go!" which you would use for a child. And yet, what do the majority of the fans do? Still hands...

I cannot remember which song it was exactly, but Kyo started by hitting his forehead repetitively with the mic, and then the chest/heart, and again with the head. It might have been Ranunculus, because I remember that the sound of the hits came just before the circus-like sound and he was singing about kokoro. Doing it right before those sounds was nice, like a preclude, it made sense altogether.

Ranunculus was at least if not more intense than usual. I think that it was during it that Kyo clawed at his dress shirt's sleeve on his left arm, then brought his wrist to his mouth and actively bit it. Had his teeth been any sharper, he would have undoubtedly drawn blood.

After Ranunculus was The World of Mercy. In the transition between the two, Kyo spoke to himself, asking 'Naze?' (why) often, and he then began The World of Mercy fucking depressed, sad and desperate. The end of the song was very beautiful with the simple idea of blasting white light from behind the stage while he chants 'The World of Mercy', it really looked more angelic.

When singing about the game of life and repeating game ('yuugi'), Kyo kept tracing a large circle with his arm fully extended, strenghtening the never-ending nature of this foolishness/challenge.

When doing the return after the break in The World of Mercy, since there are no instruments at first, he yells the 'Jou ni-' with his mic near his hip.

People don't understand the intensity of tge part after 'sekai de' yet.

By the way, the stage just has a large poster of the The Insulated World cover, with fingers on each side. No movies at all this time.

In Keigaku no yoku, Kyo definitely changed that last sentence to 'ore-', but the part he adds after sounded more like 'watashi...'. He also changed or added an 'omae no' something to one of the songs, but it wasn't to make a compliment...

In the encore, Kyo came back wearing black jeans with ripped knees and a D.E.G. shirt without sleeves. The image was identical to the sticker they are currently selling in the goods, so perhaps this design will be used for the T-shirt sold in the USA, Mexico and Europe?

Kyo is such an amazing rocker. I believe that it was during Gaika chinmoku that he did that headbang, where he needs to lean his left hand on his thigh because of how heavy it gets, you know? Ugh. Really the total opposite of sukekiyo's feminine songs. He's so good all around.

As always I am probably forgetting stuff. I will try to draw some of my memories though.

#Dir en grey #live report #Otaru #This Way to Self-Destruction #tour 2019 This Way to Self-Destruction #live #Kyo #tattoos #京 #Sapporo

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kyotakumrau · 6 years

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DIR EN GREY - Sendai Ginko Hall Izumity21

00 video intro (planets, space, crown of thorns) 01 人間を被る / Ningen wo Kaburu 02 DIFFERENT SENSE 03 LOTUS

04 禍夜想 / Magayasou 05 腐海 / Fukai 06 鱗 / Uroko 07 Midwife

08 鴉 / Karasu 09 new song / Ranunculus 10 てふてふ / Tefutefu

11 VINUSHKA 12 DISABLED COMPLEXES 13 Beautiful Dirt

ENCORE en14 new song / Punk is not dead en15 霧と繭 en16 Sustain the Untruth en17 詩踏み / Utafumi en18 THE IIID EMPIRE

Saying that the venue is in a quiet place - it felt like a residential area and it was indeed quite quiet ;) But venue was close from the subway station so it’s not like I could see much of the area.

I arrived around 5:20 and got to buy a sticker from today’s show - pink one. The staff was saying something about different (new?) sizes of t-shirts, but I didn’t really checked.

I was at so called do-kamite, but not too far. Anyway as the floor was rising in the venue with every row the view was good. And it was easy to see all the staff waiting with video cameras :3

They keep opening with Ningen wo kaburu amd I think the song has good energy for that place in the setlist! Not sure if that was connected to the show being filmed, but I think everyone today wore the outfit from the arist photos.

With DIFFERENT SENSE I could feel more the difference between seated show - headbanging started here ;) And Kyo who urged us to sing with him.

Both DIFFERENT SENSE and LOTUS had videos with the footage from/connected to their MVs.

I already wrote before that I love what they do with the lighting during Fukai, it looked as amazing from the side. And we sang here too. “Aishite imasu ~ kokoro no soko ha…’

And there’s no chance that Uroko ever won’t be fun. And having your own little space meant that people could jump and headbang to everyone’s heart content. I love the transition from singing ‘anata no shidai de’ to slow headbanging to the super fast ending.

Midwife brought more headbanging. I think all band members stayed at their spots for 70% of the main set, but I saw Die looking like he wanted to come to the side ;) But the 'kasanatte’ call was amazing. Kyo kept pointing at different places in the audience to get louder response. Please release this in any form!!!

After Uroko/Midwife combo came a break to rest our necks a bit, very much needed 😂 and break felt good as Karasu was a change in the atmosphere. But headbanging was also present ;) from the visuals I loved the moment when there was a triangle with an eye on the screen amd Kyo stood with his hands lile in a prayer. And it was a good lead to Ranunculus.

I saw some people having fun with the use of this flower name in the song. But seriously if you would have heard the song and how emotionally charged it is when Kyo sings it I don’t think there would be any jokes about it. 叫び生きてろ私は生きてる Ranunculus

The more noticeable sound during the break was definitely after Ranunculus. It’s like a background music in a game when you would enter a dark room with some tiny creatures or magical insects xD

Just a moment before they started playing VINUSHKA Kyo stood behind his stand and covered his face with the eye ring hand - creating the third eye again. I loved the gold gentle light from the sides in the beginning before song got more violent. And Kyo’s 'koko ga shinjitu da’ followed by the urging 'kakatte koi’. We gave our all. 'Vinushuka’ and falling Little Boy will always be devastating to see and hear together.

The one point in setlist I wasn’t happy with was DISABLED coming so quickly after VINUSHKA. I mean how are you supposed to switch from one song to another? But placement in the setlist aside I love this song. And seated venue meant I could actually dance to it first time this tour ;)

DISABLED also brought all members (well except Shinya) to move more on stage. And PSYCHO KILLER!!!

I have to say that Die’s tights are quite impressive. Just that.

During Beautiful Dirt Kaoru was standing with one leg on Kyo’s stand for a time, Die and Toshiya were visiting opposite stage sleeves. I noticed Toshiya who was letting people in first rows touch his hand when he was passing to the other side of the stage, that was also very sweet :)

With the end of main set fans started clappimg and calling for encore.

Die came wearing tour t-shirt, Kaoru had colourful stripy cardigan, Kyo had MA1 jaclet again with PUBLIC IMAGE logo and pink GUCCI shirt that he wore before. He kept the make up on. (Sorry I’m not sure about Shinya and Toshiya despite them coming to the right stage sleeve xD)

I think just from seeing the song titles you can guess that encore HAD ENERGY. More headbanging, singing and shouting from us. Also more visits to the sides of the stage and sleeves during Sustain. There was calling to become one and questions if we are alive. I hope we proved it sufficiently ;)

There were smiles when throwing goodies, as I mentioned in the previous post Kyo passed one water bottle to the toriko family in the front and threw the other one and a towel to the audience. Other band members walked all around the stage from one sleeve to the other throwing picks and drums sticks. Toshiya dropped one on the right sleeve, he crouched to picked it up and teased a fan standing the closest to see if she would like to get it. She did get it ;)

A release, please.

#dir en grey #tour18 真世界 #仙台銀行ホール #setlist #attempt at live report #getting of the train now so that's it xd

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kirbydevpostarchive · 7 years

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HAL Laboratory

イシダ HAL_Laboratory

08/09/2016 10:43 AM

Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 1

Hi everyone, it took us a while to set up but now it's finally time to kick off the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon! And here to answer your questions is the man himself, Kirby: Planet Robobot's director Shinya Kumazaki!

クマザキ

08/09/2016 10:49 AM

Hello! Shinya Kumazaki here. Honestly, I'm amazed at the tremendous number of questions we've received from Japan, the Americas and Europe. Naturally I can't answer them all, but I'm hoping I can give you at least some of the answers you're looking for. Mr Ishida, please fire away!

イシダ

08/09/2016 10:51 AM

All right, let's get started. Here's the first question: How did you decide upon 'Kirby: Planet Robobot' for the game title?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 10:56 AM

Initially, we'd planned to call it "Kirby: HAGANE" ("hagane" is Japanese for "steel"), but as Popstar would be populated by robots, we then leaned towards "Kirby: Robot Planet". As titles go, this was far too literal and lacked impact, so we changed it again to "Roborobo Planet". One last tweak and the result was "Planet Robobot", which is in keeping with the playfulness of the Kirby universe. The name for the "Robobot Armor" also came up around this time.

イシダ

08/09/2016 10:59 AM

Interesting! I do think that "HAGANE" would have been perhaps a little too edgy for a Kirby game. Plus, I can see it being quite a difficult title to convey overseas. Now for the next question: What was it that inspired you to create this game, and how long did it take to produce it?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 11:03 AM

Since we ended up developing two Kirby games in a row using the same hardware - the first being Kirby: Triple Deluxe - this time, we wanted to do a completely different take on the world. At the same time, we were also hoping to attract a new audience. We thought a mechanized world would do well, since then it would be the polar opposite to the previous game's warm skies and lush scenery. The concept for the Robobot Armor was then proposed as a means of performing new copy abilities unique to the mechanized world. Regarding the length of development, we worked on Planet Robobot in parallel with other titles such as Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, and it was completed in under two years.

イシダ

08/09/2016 11:05 AM

When you were establishing this mechanized setting for the game world, how did the production team manage to strike a balance between the creative design and fun gameplay?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 11:09 AM

At the start, we shared our game design plans with the whole team - these were vital to the game. I began by working out the story and setting in my head, conveyed my ideas to lead team members and then the staff got to work, flexing their creative muscles to generate text, rough sketches and other resources. We worked to mesh the design and gameplay only in the final stages of the development process, and things were all very hectic during this period. We would schedule meetings with the whole team to keep everyone on the same page and fully bring out the team's potential, and this helped to motivate everyone even more in the finishing stages.

イシダ

08/09/2016 11:11 AM

It's so interesting to hear about the steps that led to the final product! I have to ask, was there a specific part of the creation process that you found especially challenging? And if you had the chance to redesign the whole game, would you want to improve any specific areas of it?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 11:14 AM

We were instructed by our producer to avoid any situation that might remind players of Triple Deluxe and I think that although this was a great idea, it was a nightmare to put into practice. We had limited development time and still had to make use of the assets from the previous game. Because we were using Triple Deluxe's engine, a lot of the gameplay felt similar, so I was constantly fighting to preserve the Kirby series' distinctive feel and yet produce something fresh and new. There were, of course, many things that I would have liked to refine or improve, but rather than regret not being able to address them, I try to use those shortcomings as motivation to look to the future and help myself do a better job next time. It's a continuous process that never really ends.

イシダ

08/09/2016 11:15 AM

In Planet Robobot, I got the impression that you included references to older Kirby games and tried to evoke the same feel as them. Are you quite fond of the earlier titles? Were there any parts of them that influenced the current title?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 11:20 AM

I don't believe that Kirby would still be around if it weren't for the older series of games. Meta Knight and the Fountain of Dreams, debuting in Kirby's Adventure, returned in Kirby Super Star (known as Kirby's Fun Pak in Europe), and many of Kirby's friends and foes from Kirby's Dream Land 2 reprised their roles in Kirby's Dream Land 3. We're still continuing this trend of including characters and locations from past games. There's a huge amount of charm unique to Kirby games and we've got 24 years' worth of it to tap into. By incorporating some of that into Planet Robobot, we hope that newcomers to the Kirby series will be able to enjoy the more retro elements of the gameplay just as much as the newer ones. If that happens to spark their interest in the older titles too, we couldn't ask for more.

イシダ

08/09/2016 11:21 AM

All right, one last question. I'm sure some of our readers are getting fed up with all the game development questions, so let's move on to a different category! We've been receiving questions from all over the world along the lines of "Is Susie Haltmann's real daughter?" and "Is Susie a clone or a robot?". Mr Kumazaki, would you mind clearing things up for us once and for all and telling us her identity?

クマザキ

08/09/2016 11:24 AM

Allow me to explain: Susie is not a clone; she is Haltmann's real daughter. I'd had in mind two story paths - one in which you finish the game and the story concludes comfortably even without knowing Susie's identity, and one that reveals more answers after you sink a lot of time into the game. But in Planet Robobot, the story is designed with just a small twist to surprise you when you find out Susie's last name. I initially considered making it so that Haltmann, in his loneliness, created a robotic Susie who believed she was alive, but that idea was discarded to avoid overcomplicating the story. At the time, I also considered a scenario with one final twist, where you discover that Haltmann was actually a robot all along.

イシダ

08/09/2016 11:25 AM

Wow! There you have it, fans - the definitive answer you've been waiting for! We've still got plenty of questions lined up for Mr Kumazaki, but I think we're going to call it a day here. Watch this space for round 2 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon!

#robobo #en #robobo en

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