After announcing their maxi single [JEWELS], they are holding [BLACK JEWEL & WHITE ROSE] tour which includes 10 performances in 8 places nationwide. Their final performances, both in Hibiya Yagai Concert Hall and the additional live at NHK Hall are immediately sold out. This is the visual kei rock band, アリス九號. (alice nine.). Unlimited to the boundaries of visual kei, these men play pop and rock sound, and they announce a maxi single, [WHITE PRAYER] to be released in June 6TH. We sneaked into alice nine.’s dressing room and did a coverage on all of these members with great personalities.
■ Instead of introducing yourselves, I’d like all of you, except for the person addressed, to introduce your fellow members one at a time.
Shou: When the atmosphere becomes uneasy, Nao-san or Saga-kun will make way (lol).
■ Well then, please introduce Nao-san.
Shou: Wait a minute. We haven’t settled on how we are supposed to do this.
Tora: Which would be the best way to introduce the others (lol).
Tora: Speaking of Nao-san…
Shou: Mania (lol).
Tora: Punctual.
All: Ah— (agreeing).
Shou: He is bringing the A blood type characteristics into alice nine.. Saga-kun is an AB-type, everyone else beside Nao-san are pretty much O-type-ish, so we act impulsively. Even though that’s how the band’s atmosphere appears to be, but whenever it seems like we’re about to do something based on our mood, Nao-san will be like, “Wait, isn’t it supposed to be like this?”. There were times when he pointed us back to the road… something like that.
Tora: I don’t suppose those times existed (lol).
Nao: It’s inexcusable to not arrange the folders in your PC appropriately. I like making hidden folders within a folder so that no one can find things I don’t want them to find (lol). Well, no one sees it, but I want a place where no one else but me knows its existence.
■ Secretiveness?
Nao: Secretive, or rather, my inner self, my inner face.
Shou: Unexpectedly, you have a hardboiled feature as well.
Tora: I wonder if he’s really hardboiled?
■ They are saying really good things about you.
Nao: Isn’t it okay if you say the opposite things as well?
Shou: If you wish us to.
Nao: Okay then, pour it all out!
All except Nao: … (silence).
Nao: Eh?
Shou: No, there’s no limit to that. It becomes really hard to gather all the things we want to say (lol).
Saga: Speaking of Nao-san, he eats a lot, and purges a lot.
All: For sure (agreeing).
Saga: Maybe his metabolism is good.
Shou: Whenever he is about to do something big or important, he always goes to the toilet first. Before a live, everyone would gather and yell together, “Yosh! Let’s go!” And then we’d be like, “Where’s Nao-san?” “In the toilet.” I’ve lost count of how many times this kind of conversation took place. Well, it’s not really a bad thing, though.
Hiroto: He diligently makes preparations, arranges everything, and asks around to check on stuff.
Shou: He’s the type who knocks down a stone bridge.
■ As expected, these are good things you’re saying about him.
Shou: What are you expecting? (lol)
■ Okay then. Next, please introduce Shou-san.
Saga: He writes song lyrics. He’s the guy who assembles words.
Shou: You’re being somewhat formal.
Hiroto: He usually writes in the credits (lol).
All: … (silence)
Shou: By any chance, am I the type that is difficult to introduce?
Nao: Recently I’ve finally gotten him into [Gundam SEED] (lol).
Hiroto: That’s what you’ve got in mind about Shou?
Nao: I was so happy!
Shou: Nao-san told me, “[Gundam SEED] is very interesting, you know”, so then I tried playing the game and found it exciting. And recently, I watched the original work on DVD.
Nao: Tora-kun is the one who has recommended it to me, though. The game was released recently, and I’m playing it while communicating with everyone, but I’ve made everyone like it and watch the original work as well!
Shou: It’s generally an anime, but it has quite some philosophical parts too, so it’s a good talk.
■ It’s because there are also parts that were created aiming toward those adults who have watched the earlier version of Gundam when they were kids, right.
Nao: With this, it seems like there will be good lyrics (lol).
Shou: In my role as a band member, is it okay if I write that kind of lyrics? However, I come second after Nao-san in being an otaku.
Nao: No no, I’m losing against Shou-kun (lol).
Shou: In the field of game, I’m the best otaku. It is impossible otherwise.
■ You play games during standby time?
Shou: It’s a standard. I hate waiting for people, so if I don’t play games or tamper with my phone, I won’t be able to wait for, let’s say, a recording session or something.
■ If someone asks you “What’s your hobby?”
Shou: Clothes and games.
■ Something that you definitely won’t lose against other members?
Shou: That will be game (lol). No, that’s wrong. When it comes to action games, Tora-kun and Saga-kun are definitely experts. Regarding information about the game itself, I won’t lose.
Nao: The amazing thing is, during the tour when we practically live each day together, even though his stamina is usually the weakest, in the bus when he starts playing game, he spends more time staying completely awake than everyone else!
Shou: Surely. I really love games, and when I play games while I’m on a ship or on a bus in a long distance journey, even when my ears are buzzing, I won’t get sick at all.
Nao: Speaking of which, Hiroto-kun will be sick the instant he switches on a game (lol).
■ Next, please introduce Saga-san.
Tora: If we’re talking about Saga-kun, it can be concluded that he hates losing (lol).
Hiroto: In just about everything.
Shou: And because of that, his nose has grown really tall.
Hiroto: Taller than most people.
■ Something that he won’t lose against the other members?
Shou: I think that applies to everything. For example, when Tora-shi does a cool performance during a live and makes the audience go “Waaa!”. Saga-kun will step forward from the back (lol).
Saga: In everything, it’s no good if I win all the way from the beginning. I prefer to lose once, and then crawl up from there.
Hiroto: Are you a Saiya-jin or something! (lol)
Saga: Whenever there’s a hindrance, I’m going to cover it. And then I also like to exceed everyone else.
Shou: That’s why you are Saga.
[Shou is making a pun, 沙我 and 差が has an almost similar pronunciation = “saga” and “sa ga”. In Saga’s previous comment, he said, 差があって、それを埋めていく (“Sa ga atte, sore wo uzumeteiku” = Whenever there’s a hindrance, I’m going to cover it.)]
All except Shou: Ah… (strained laugh).
■ Isn’t the rhythm team’s position usually a little bit on the back for aesthetic reasons?
Nao: But in a different meaning, we’re one step ahead of everybody.
Saga: Eh?
Nao: Relatively we’re the ones who get worn out.
Saga: What do you mean by that!
Nao: Hey.
All: (roars of laughter).
Saga: I think that the rhythm team has the power to clear the way toward the place where no one else has reached out to.
Shou: In a good way, he is not reading the situation.
Hiroto: After clearing the way, he’s the only one who gets in a slump (lol).
Saga: I’m already in that condition right now (lol). There’s a feeling like, “It won’t do if I don’t go!” Like, “Oh no, I can’t change this situation!” And then it will be like, it was fine even if the situation didn’t change. The fact is, when you’re reading the situation too much, you’re not reading anything at all.
Shou: This has become an introduction that is thoroughly impossible to understand (lol).
■ Well then, Tora-san.
Nao: Two-toned.
Saga: Aren’t you just saying what you see (lol).
■ Is he the kind of guy who changes his hairstyle frequently?
Hiroto: I suppose he’s the one who changes his character most often.
Tora: Even though my mother told me, “A man who changes his hairstyle often tends to cheat on his girlfriend/wife, so please stop it!”.
■ But you’re actually not like that?
Tora: I wonder about that?
All except Tora: … (silence).
Tora: Hey you guys, why aren’t you saying anything!
All except Tora: … N-no, he’s not like that. He’s really not like that.
■ Just now, for some reason, it feels like you’re making them say that…
Shou: But of course it doesn’t stop right then and there. As might be expected from the name Tora, he is like from the feline family. He leaves abruptly on a whim.
Hiroto: The next thing we know, he disappears in an instant.
Shou: After we finish our work, we’ll be parting like, “Good job today!” And then, “Eh, where’s Tora?” “He went home already.” He’s really fast.
■ You’re not good at being in a group of people?
Tora: I guess so.
Shou: He had always seemed like a real loner from a long time ago, but now he’s not like that at all. That’s because his band sense is steadily becoming stronger in alice nine..
Tora: You’re being sympathetic because I’ve just gotten into games lately (lol).
■ You’re the kind that dislikes something before having tried it, right.
Tora: I’m pretty much like that.
Shou: He didn’t play games in the past, but he has started doing them recently and become better than everyone else.
Hiroto: He finds new games faster than the rest of us.
Nao: And then he spreads the news to the rest of band (lol).
Shou: Aside from that, it’s not something he normally does, but he’s really good in impersonating people.
■ Now that I got to hear about that, I don’t think I can ask you to do it.
Tora: No no! You wouldn’t understand if I got into a character, would you (lol).
■ An impersonation that you’re good at?
Hiroto: Relatively, he can totally imitate something soon after seeing it once.
Shou: If you get lucky, you can sometimes see him do it during encore in a live, so if you want to see that, come to our lives.
Tora: I’ll do it at the day when the tension is high.
Shou: In music, he properly recognizes the pitches and plays them by ear. Impersonation was not that kind of recognition, so it’s really informative.
Tora: But I’m not particularly an impersonating actor (lol). When you’re doing impersonation, all you have to do is imitate the pitch and the movements of the mouth, so even though your voice type isn’t similar, you will definitely look the same.
Shou: Imitating the movements of the mouth, in terms of music, that will be deciding the voice from the look of the face.
Tora: Why do I like doing impersonations, huh?
Shou: You’re unexpectedly skillful doing it.
Saga: He is like Yomiuri Giants’ Motoki.
All except Saga: … (silence)
Saga: Eh??
Shou: Motoki is kind of questionable. He’s quite the expert of hitting the ball to the opposite field…
■ Okay, lastly, please introduce Hiroto-san.
Nao: He’s the guy who sweats. He’s gleaming (lol).
Shou: I suppose he’s the most sports-minded one.
Hiroto: … (silence).
Nao: You’re making an unhappy face (lol).
Tora: But recently I’ve come to think whether he’s not the most mysterious one.
Shou: He does surprise us pretty often.
Saga: I’m really spontaneous myself, but he’s spontaneous in a different sense. Different genre.
Shou: Well, he’s not normal.
Hiroto: This is so weird—. As soon as I’ve come to the point where I’m in a band with Saga, I get the feeling that I don’t get told I’m [spontaneous] as much as I used to (lol).
Shou: You’re not spontaneous, though. You seem rather straightforward, kind of starry-eyed too.
Tora: I think that you’re the kind of person that won’t become any different if you keep growing just the way you are now (lol). Can we say that he seems like a genius?
Shou: Ah—, he does seems so.
■ So does Hiroto-san like to daydream and such?
All: (roars of laughter)
Hiroto: Well, I do.
Shou: Ah, he unexpectedly does like to do that.
Hiroto: But I do love gazing at the starry skies.
■ Do you ever long for something unrealistic?
Hiroto: I want to be able to properly explain those unrealistic things in theories. … Somehow I’m gradually getting starry-eyed, huh.
All except Hiroto: (roars of laughter)
Hiroto: What the hell is going on with this atmosphere?
■ Do you believe in supernatural phenomenon?
Hiroto: No, I don’t believe in it.
Tora: But he dreamed of his future where he became a Spiderman (lol).
■ Is there any of the members that has strong supernatural sense?
Hiroto: Isn’t it Tora-shi?
Tora: I used to have strong sense when I was a kid, but now not anymore.
Hiroto: There’s no such thing as ghosts! That’s because a person who believes in ghosts is a coward! It draws human’s fears… with that said, can we stop this kind of conversation!
All except Hiroto: (roars of laughter).
Hiroto: I want to be Spiderman!
■ Have you watched [Spiderman 3] movie?
Hiroto: I’ve watched it 3 times. Please spread Spiderman around from this point on!
Tora: I have no idea what you mean by that (lol).
Hiroto: Everybody go watch the movie!
■ You were formed in August 2004, but back then, what kind of music did you plan to do as alice nine.?
Shou: We thought we’d just search what kind of music we wanted to do along the way. Soon after we were formed we did lives, and during those lives we felt what the audience wished for. In this cycle we receive feedback, and in it we were doing our activities recklessly. In terms of the concept, we had the vague stance where we thought it would be good if we could create music that contained values for us as Japanese people. However, at that time we hadn’t quite decided yet.
■ Afterwards, two and a half years has passed since the moment you were formed. Is there anything that has changed along the way?
Shou: Both the stance of wanting to do the kind of music that the audience wishes us to do and creating songs as a feedback to that are important. But the thought of wanting to convey ourselves, to value the sound that we want to produce and the things we wish to share has grown strong. I think that, without getting too caught up in the concept, we’ve become more flexible.
■ Aside from yourselves, have you felt any changes happening to the situation around you?
Shou: The number of people that we’re involved with has increased more than before. Regarding the thoughts, assistance and everything that these people have given to support us, I feel that we have to explore our own music even more thoroughly and to become more professional.
■ The lyrics have been Shou-san’s responsibility. When you’re writing lyrics, are there any specific themes?
Shou: For me, the theme is always to make the lyrics easier to understand, for the sake of expressing the image of the song to the people listening to it. I myself don’t have much difficulty because, when I listen to the demo, all I do is expressing the scenery that I see within the song.
■ The songs compositions are done by alice nine., but how was the process in bringing the basic melodies?
Shou: With the exception of [JEWELS], all the melodies were brought by me. This time, [WHITE PRAYER] had none. The melodies of the previous work, [JEWELS], were first made by Saga-kun. It was interesting even with the certain characters or restrictions, but normally we were able to think of melodies with the thought of “I definitely want to say these words”. That way, the members are very grateful for being allowed to work freely the way we want to.
■ Recently there are more singles that contain 2 songs and 1 instrumental or just 1 song, but alice nine. released a maxi single with 3 songs. Furthermore, all 3 songs became the title songs. That in itself is not unusual, and I get the impression that the quality of all songs is high. But do you have a certain liking in maxi single form?
Shou: Since we’re a band that has various kinds of songs, so if we released only 1~2 songs, someone who has just listened to us for the first time would end up thinking, “Ah, so they are this kind of band”, right? We have that kind of concern. If we can put in 3 songs and let people listen to them, it’s possible for us as the song writers to convey what we want without causing any misconception. That’s the sense of security we get by doing so.
Nao: The number of people who purchase our releases including our albums has also increased, so we feel that we want to make them listen even if it’s just a single. We want to make the people who listen to our singles feel it would be great to get a hold of our other songs. That’s why, until now, we’ve made singles in which it didn’t seem weird if all songs became lead songs.
■ I’ve gotten the impression that your releases and lives happen so fast. Notwithstanding the songs that you released now, are you in a situation where you’re steadily gathering up new songs?
Shou: No, not at all… (bitter smile).
■ Just now you told me that you’re not facing much difficulty in writing the lyrics, but are you having troubles in composing?
Shou: During the song selecting meeting, everyone will be choosing songs. We choose the songs from the demos with chords, rhythms, and arrangements already decided, and then everyone completes the songs by including the melodies. We do a lot of song making like that, but basically that’s our song pre-production.
Hiroto: We always do our best every single time, never doing it unwillingly, so we don’t stock up.
Shou: There’s no such feeling as, ‘let’s store some songs’.
Hiroto: We may have decided on a song to be the lead song of a single, but all other songs that don’t get selected can be released too at the time. Whichever is fine.
■ The tour cycle has also left a fast impression in me, but is alice nine. a live-based band?
Shou: That’s right. After all, I think that the main reason why the band could come into existence is because, between the audience and ourselves, we’re playing throw-and-catch. But long before that, I didn’t feel it as much as I do now. We were still very much unworthy. We felt like, is summer really so seldom?
■ Do you feel like, more than having time to rest, you want to keep making songs and do lives?
Shou: Lately even though we have 2~3 days of recess, on the contrary—because it was right after the tour ended—we became uneasy (lol). We spent the entire time thinking, ‘since I’m having a break, what’s the best way to do things?’
■ When it comes to musical activity, don’t you have some recognition of it as work?
Tora: To have that kind of recognition is probably fine, but we have never thought of it as work. It’s my character, but when I think about work, there will parts where I’m going to be cutting corners. It’s because I will be thinking that I want to have fun while working. But if I’m doing something that I personally like, I will be doing my best with all my might.
■ And that’s why you don’t feel like you want any break.
Shou: Right. There’s no need for it because we’re routinely doing something that we love.
■ How do you make decisions about your artist photos, CD jacket photos, visual image etc.?
Shou: Mostly I came up with the idea, then everyone thought about it, and then we broadened the concept. But there were also times when I wasn’t the one who thought of the idea.
■ Do you get a lot of influence from others beside musicians?
Shou: From the beginning, I’ve always thought visual kei scene is immensely exclusive. This is not meant as a criticism or anything, but if I look reciprocatively at each other, I was steadily absorbing the things that I considered as good, and because of that, I steadily end up secluding myself up in a minimum world. That’s the kind of impression that I got. Around 4 years ago, I wanted to be fully, completely involved in the visual kei scene. Because of that, I think it would be great if we could project various things in a band that takes into consideration certain appearance and image—a band that thought of oneself as good while looking with wide sight at a scene that had absolutely no connection with visual kei, at ordinary fashion and art, and in the mean time, kept doing music firmly.
■ That’s how it is as well within the topic of the so-called visual kei scene, but conversely, has there ever been a time when you feel like you’re being seen with a prejudiced image?
Shou: That’s for sure. From the very beginning, we’ve never meant to be this kind of band. So there were times when we thought, are we being looked at with an outsider’s feelings? Why are you so overly showy?, something like that. The society is overflowing with various senses of values, so I believe there are a lot of people with different thoughts. But because our appearance is showy, so to say, but this is not a genre where we varnish the surface over empty contents with our appearance; we’re doing music earnestly. That’s exactly why I think that this is a scene where we can pin down the correlating image and visuals to it.
Nao: It’s not just us, but there are a lot of showy people. However, as expected, because there are parts which are completely avoided by prejudice, it would be great if we could change those parts in general, bit by bit. That’s what I think. I have only been in visual kei bands, so I’ve also heard things like, “It’s necessary to stir up the scene, but the animosity between visual kei people is strong, even though it would’ve been great if they could cooperate more”. I want to let a lot of people know how to see and how to be seen, but isn’t that pretty difficult? That kind of worry exists, but I think I want to do my best to cooperate with everyone to stir up the scene, and to make more people listen to our songs.
Shou: Other genres become fairly stronger because “I like this scene”, rather than because “I’m a fan of this band”. I wonder if it’s a good thing to think this way even for just a little bit.
■ If we’re talking about visual kei and their appearance, perhaps there are people in it that have flashy image. However, from what I’ve virtually seen, I feel that even to this day there are those who, with greatly practiced enthusiasm, are firmly rooted in tough, sports-oriented vibes.
Shou: Yes, this is a scene that has many of those with sports-oriented vibes.
Nao: But now as it was in the past, it feels like those with sports-oriented appearance are quite diminishing. For us, to create music like we do, thanks to the people before us that have been working hard for us, even if you can’t see our appearance, there’s no such thing as a hierarchical relationship. That’s because we want to show our respects to those we admire and have made us start doing what we do.
■ When we’re talking about visual kei, it is not about the extent of the boundary line that was shared between everyone; I think that individuals that became strong will cross over the limits of a genre. With the DVD single that was released before, it feels that alice nine., without being confined in a certain stereotype, is a band that challenges new things. Nevertheless, what kind of activities are you planning to do from now on?
Shou: To steadily break that limit. This is a scene that is full of prejudice, so we want to steadily break that too—in a good way. I think we are a band that treasures our relationship with the fans, so at the moment we’d like to focus on creating music that only alice nine. can create.
Nao: It’s irrefutable what Shou said about music, but I want to let people know more about our personality as alice nine. from the music that we create. I think that, by no means we are doing things carelessly, so there are various ways with which we express ourselves, even though we don’t know what shape it takes. So that’s why we feel like trying to do a short drama or some sort in the DVD single.
■ From now on, will there be more melodies of a new alice nine. created by other members aside from Shou-san?
Shou: That’s for sure!
Translator's Notes:
* Saiya-jin: http://es.dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Saiyajins
* Yomiuri Giants:
a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Credits: akinojou
Original
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