This is a translation of a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in PATi-PATi, July 1996 issue. This is the first interview that Itou Aki held with ken and tetsu, respectively. He is the writer of many of the interviews that appear in these magazines, so it is quite interesting to see these First Impressions This was reprinted for the Box Set of The 15th anniversary in formation. The translation is based on the reprinted version.

BEGIN INTERVIEW

If L’Arc~en~Ciel were a great bird upon the stage, its left and right wings would be the guitarist, ken, and the bassist, tetsu. What are they thinking, right now? Where do they intend to fly?

*****

We discuss his return to Tokyo after spending a long time away: the season had changed.

ken [But you know, I went around the whoooole country in my my leather jacket. No matter how hot it got. And I’m wearing it today too, see? (laughs).]

During the tour, he received fireworks from a fan. Having wanted so badly to set them off, he spares no effort in recounting the episode, his expression like that of a child describing his summer vacation voyage. That emotion effortlessly draws everyone around, myself included, into Joy.

ken [The live was over. We travelled at night, in our bus, so when we got to the hotel it must have been about 1 AM, I guess. The hotel was exactly directly in front of the beach, so I went over to a pier or something nearby, and I had about 50 rockets, WhizzzzzzBANG! Kept launching them like that. And then, I could see somebody in the hotel window and it looked like they were waving to me so I figured it meant “Yay, this is fun,” so I went “Allright!” and got even more enthusiastic, and then later on I got complaints from the front desk. We were on tour! Doing stuff like that lets me forget how busy I am and get my mind off things. Because I’m really that busy (laughs).]

It is as though he was born with a switch inside him that can turn negatives into positives. That switch makes itself known, through his music and all of his life’s work, without his even noticing it.

ken [But you know, it wasn’t even like that before. Exclusive? It gets to be like that sometimes, it does. Even in music, there have been times where I just couldn’t not use distortion on my guitar. And then, it got to the point where I was to listen to a whole bunch of CDs, and right now I just need to listen to the ones I like and absorb them completely.]

ken [Interviews? I really like them. Because, you know, there’s no other place where I can have someone listen to me talk and go on and on and babble about whatever I want, like this (laughs).]

ken [I get bored easily, you know. But not with the band, I’m sticking with that… It’s not like I’m making myself stick with it or anything, really, it’s just that it’s so much fun, and it stays fun. I guess it’s like, since we’re going to do this, we might as well have fun doing it.]

When it comes to guitar, he takes back his self-proclaimed easily-bored status.

ken [I have no idea why I haven’t gotten bored with it, it doesn’t seem to me like I’m any good at it. I don’t listen to other people (laughs). But when I do listen to others, they say some really great things. I know how good that feels, so maybe that’s why I can’t stop.]

Some people can naturally “feel good” and promote that Joy in a a gripping, pleasant atmosphere. That is my first impression.

*****

L’Arc~en~Ciel took off on a two-week journey for the sake of their nationwide tour. In mid April, they began their travels in the north, coming down south in a reversal of the cherry-blossom front (1). It is said that all their travel was done by bus, at night.

This interview was held on the 14th day of the journey, on the day they returned home from Shikoku. The first conversation concerned their travels. (Of course, I was the one to bring it up) He spoke on the subject of long trips, which he does not enjoy.

tetsu [I’m not comfortable being away from my home for weeks at a time. Because then I can’t see the people I want to see any time I want to see them. I like the actual lives, though.]

Is it not difficult to pass the time, particularly during these long journeys? Naturally, I had to ask him such questions.
tetsu [No, not at all. I have so many things to do until the live starts.]
It is said that such is always the case, even as the number of lives increases.

What a serious person. That is my first impression.

It may also be a side effect of the strong impression he makes by carefully choosing his words and speaking them at his leisure.

tetsu [What I’m into, lately? Buying CDs. That’s always been the case, though. Lately, I’ve been listening to globe and DREAMS COME TRUE (2) a lot, backstage. globe release about five singles per album, don’t they? There’s no doubt that those are fun songs, right? (laughs).]

He seems very careful, and though he is quiet, he seems like a good person. That is my second impression.

Charmed by his kindness, I ask him a sillier question: Do you sing along?

tetsu [I sing the whole songs, actually. KEIKO’s part. My falsetto is high (laughs).]

10 PM. His first Tokyo night in a long time. Once this chat is finished, he will have work to attend to.

tetsu [Tough? ….It really…. isn’t. Because, this is what I need to do to have people listen to our songs. That’s why I don’t mind doing interviews like this, either, yeah.]

The end of the end. I tried asking him this question: -If you had a day off, what would you do?

tetsu [Play with my friends.]

-And if you had a week off?

tetsu [Play with a lot of friends.]

-If you had a month?

tetsu […..I’d play with even more friends.]

-Are you the type to constantly stay in touch?

tetsu [Well, no, not exactly. I get told “You never ever call!” Even though I want to treasure all my friends.]

The interview is over. He is holding two weeks of fan letters (It seems that he reads them all in his spare time). He heads to the recording studio to work on TD.

The next day, the new song was finished.

Words – Itou Aki
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. The cherry-blossom front is the phenomenon that occurs across Japan every spring. Cherry trees, which are common all over the country, bloom first in the southernmost islands, followed by progressively northern areas, in a northward Front pf pink flowers. Go back.

2. DREAMS COME TRUE is a Japanese pop band composed of Nakamura Masato and Yoshida Miwa. They formed in the late 1980s and are still active today. globe is another Japanese pop band, but as they only formed in 1995, they were a new phenomenon at the time of this interview. The group is composed of Komuro Tetsuya, singer KEIKO, and rapper Marc Panther who is, in fact, French.
Go back.