Fool's Mate January 2011 Gazette All Member Interview

 

Full member interview for the Single „Pledge“

On the 26^th of December in Tokyo Dome, the incredibly gripping love ballad was born.

In this dramatic issue, they're talking about their thoughts about the new single.

„I'm grateful that we're able to spend such a great time with all of you. When we're doing a live, when all of you are well, I think that I can give my best from now on too. The tour continues as long as we're standing on a stage, I think, and because I can feel all of your happiness, The GazettE will never cease to exist”

The live report on the next page will be the final stage. Ruki spoke these words at the encore of the live at Yokosuka Arts Theater. While there were many incidents, they came to see the end of the long tour and that is why he was able to say this.

“Thank you for tagging along until now. Let's take this awesome power with us to Tokyo Dome and I think we'll be able to destroy that venue. Let's do that with everyone! 'Thank you', see you, thanks”

At the time this issue is published, Tokyo Dome will be the only show left. And they will also probably play the new Single 'Pledge' that will paint this venue into an even more touching event. Because this is an interview where all 5 of them talk about the full aspects of the new single that includes 'Pledge', I think it will increase your expectations for the Single and Tokyo Dome. (Words by editorial staff)

I: The new single 'Pledge' is quite a suitable ballad for winter isn't it?

Ruki: To be honest, until we finished 'Pledge', there were a few meanderings. In the beginning we chose a different song. At the song selection meeting for 'RED', we also had a song that carried the draft title 'Again'. For the Single in December we actually wanted to go with this song, and even started the preparations, but as the days passed, it didn't quite proceed well, so we decided to redo it.

Aoi: Because if you adjust it afterwards... We just decided for another song as we brought the redone version with us (lol)

Kai: We really didn't use parts of 'Again' until the very last moment (lol)

Everyone: Yeah (lol)

Uruha: But with the reconstruction it certainly got better, right? It became a song with more charm than 'Again'

Reita: I also had no resistance against redoing it and the outcome wasn't bad either. By redoing 'Pledge' it became the best ballad of the ones the GazettE made until now, I think. Even though we didn't had any time this time (lol)

I: As always I tip my hat to you for your ambitious attitude regarding music.

Aoi: Well, in this kind of situation you can't say 'This isn't good tho?' right? (lol)

Ruki: Oi! (lol)

Aoi: Just joking (lol). But sure enough, there isn't one irresponsible person in producing music in theGazette is there?

Ruki: In our case, words of compromises arise fights, so something like 'This will be enough, because we don't have time' won't be said by any member.

I: What about the lyrics?

Ruki: Because I like winter ballads, I included the seasonal feeling. For that ballad it was the first time without a bed end. I was aiming for phrases that surpass words like “eternity” or “I love you”. Such words are already heard too often, and therefore no longer have the value they used to. Without using these words easily, I became aware of my own expressions and wrote them down. “Lyrics that are easy to understand, but not cheap”, that was my motto.

I: You're entrusting your listeners with these thoughts, right? As you where recording this song, what were the single things you were striving for?

Uruha: As we reconstructed the song, the making of the guitar parts were difficult. For “Again” the A melody was quiet and therefore easy and clean… With such a feeling the development was easy. But for “Pledge” Ruki had the image of a rock ballad stuck in his head, and wanted the flow to keep a certain power. With the alteration of the sound I guess the change of pace was kind of difficult? First a clean A melody, then a distorted tune… I wasn’t able to do such an comfortable thing (lol). That’s why we decided to add expression to the phrases, but that was difficult.

Aoi: Also because we had the concept of a Rock Ballad, we didn’t want to approach the song like we did for “Guren” or “Cassis”… Especially for the sound we aimed for a typical The GazettE rock feeling.

I: The long guitar solo is also worth hearing it.

Uruha: In the beginning the song was much shorter. That’s why Aoi and I included a guitar solo. It wasn’t “who will play the solo?”, both of us just didn’t say anything (lol).

Aoi: The moment we included the solo both of us stayed in silence (lol)

Uruha: Yeah (lol). After that it came up. Such a atmosphere as if you entered a maze (lol). After that, after each played a solo, Ruki expressed his opinion that we would harmonize together.

Aoi: Wasn’t it more like: Ruki was troubled (by the situation), so he said: “Play it together!” (lol)

Ruki: hahaha (lol). No, it wasn’t like that! You two played a great solo together, so I wanted to use it.

Uruha: And then, I first recorded it alone, Aoi heard it, thought about his own solo and recorded it too. At this point, we didn’t decide for a twin lead for the second half yet, but every solo of the first half felt kind of light-fingered, so we thought that we had to go for the melody for the second half. We constructed the melody from start to end.

Aoi: This Guitar solo gave us some troubles, didn’t it? For the part I played alone, the scale of measurements was too short for playing something like a ballad solo. To finish it in this scale was difficult. Even if I thought that I produced something great, there where cases it didn’t harmonize with Uruhas solo.

Kai: That was done at the recording place. It’s been a while since I saw something like that… the shape of everyone sitting in front of their computer, exchanging data, while working at a recording place (lol). In regards to the drums, there was a big notation this time. For me I’m basically hitting the drums unemotionally. For ballads you include strings and piano and the guitars are adding different shades too, that’s why I prefer to not add another shape to the song with the drums . While I embraced such an approach for “Pledge” too, I thought about cleverly adding phrases, which had an open interval/ gap. I worked with such an attitude, but as we did the Prepro it just didn’t feel right. That’s where we had one notation. That was the way to release the sound (sound reflection). Especially the snare. Until now we released the tone with Anbi (sorry I don’t know the eng word) or Conpu (same…), but regulating the snare and releasing the tone brought a really great gap. That was a really big discovery, wasn’t it? As a result we were able to build a frame with the drums and the bass for the song and that satisfied us.

Reita: For Ballads, first of all it’s essential to not disturb the vocalist. That’s why the root notes are the most comfortable for the bass. But because we’re a band, it would be pointless if it were the same as a J-Pop ballad, so we made the B melody and the refrain pretty active. For this part, even if it just the bass is playing, the song would be good in some way, right? ... Something like that (lol). Even if the bass is simple, it pointed out such outstanding phrases.

Also, for Prepro I’m always playing 8 minutes, but because of the place I decided to interweave 18 minutes. That was something where I also felt the image of a band I think.

Ruki: The way I sing never changes, but I was particular about the quality of my voice. I recorded it in anticipation of the mastering, I guess? As I did the mastering, I put strong conp (sorry no idea) in it, so that it ended up in a nasal voice. That’s why, for the steps of recording I did it with a voice quality almost too thick. That went well and for the 3 songs of the current single and the voice quality came near to my raw voice.

I: For the next one, “THE TRUE MUDEROUS INTENT”, you included a girl’s voice. It’s a song combined out of aggressiveness and style.

Aoi: You could say that this song was inspired by “Filth in the beauty”. Because “Filth in the beauty” exists, “Agony” that was kind of similar to it exists too. We haven't done such a song with a hybrid kind of touch to it since then. We wanted such a type, a song that we could use live, I think.

Uruha: As for the idea, there are some common parts to “Filth in the beauty”, but we had the sense that we could still go further, right? “Filth in the beauty” also has a female vocalist, but that one was closer to a band! You could say that this song is really undecided (lol). You get the feeling that it doesn’t fit to a band, with a soulful woman standing in a row with a band, right?

Aoi: It doesn’t have an approach like “Filth in the beauty”, we thought that a twin vocal-like touch would be great. In the beginning there was even more female singing parts, but Ruki said that was a little too much and adjusted it (lol).

Reita: This song might not be something you hear for the first time. But we aimed for a song that no one could copy and we’re confident that we managed to do so.

Ruki: I too like this song. For the lyrics: it’s connected to “VERMIN” with the “angry style”. That’s to say, the “angry style” songs from “LEECH” onward are all following a story that happened in our surroundings. After declaring the anger in “LEECH”, another person is appearing. In “HEADACHEMAN” yet another person has its appearance. Then in ”VERMIN” I sing about “in the end the black curtain was this guy”. But after completing “VERMIN” there was a new detection. It was like a film with shocking turn of events (lol)! That’s why “THE TRUE MURDEROUS INTENT” was really the last, and I sing about the intention to kill

Kai: For the drums, the melody is different, but has a similar touch to “Filth in the beauty” and that’s why we thought it would be great if we could produce something new again… That’s why I wanted to change the drums a little too and without using the high hat except for the refrain, and also the Crash Cymbals.

I: eh, really? No ride, but Crash?

Kai: Yes (lol). While hitting on 2 crashs, sometimes I also hit China (lol). If it’s for this, even if it’s getting rougher, it probably won’t be noisy I thought. Instead I prepared all kind of crash cymbals and selected the best carefully.

Reita: If I say that I didn’t do anything with the bass, it’s the truth (lol).But that’s because it’s in unison with the guitars for the most part. I do think it would have worked for older songs but as I included phrases I got the feeling that it sounded cheap. In this song I go deep to support the bottom. That’s why I really like the tone of the bass. Deeper deeper… I aimed for such a tone, but going deeper can easily end up in becoming faint. It’s as if you end up spreading just deeper tones. That’s pointless. Above the core being in place, there is necessity to be able to go deeper. I wonder if I did a good job, realizing that.

Uruha: For me the A melody left an impression. In the beginning I played it with clean tones and hadn’t included the heavy feeling of the arpeggio yet. But in the end Aoi let out that he wanted to make it rougher. We added distorted tones and tapping and such. As we listened to it, it seemed totally different! That’s what we thought (lol). To suit that, I changed to a gross feeling, right?

Aoi: Well, for that song, the melody of Rukis singing totally didn’t come (lol). If the vocals aren’t decided, there’s no way the guitars can, right? Right before the recording we finally did the melody, and found the right approach. But with this situation that it was just in time, we somehow did a great one, I think. We're the type of people who wouldn't do anything if not a gun is held to our heads (lol).

Everyone: You could say that (lol)

Ruki: I thought it seemed quite difficult to come up with a melody for this song, so I postponed it. As soon as I approached it, though, I did it. For such songs I always progress slowly, but that one I did in one day. That’ why I told me to just do it earlier! (lol). I really like the A melody of this song. The guitarists created a strange world together. This wickedness is really great, isn’t it? (lol).

I: The third song “VOICELES FEAR” moves from a soft introduction part to an aggressive hard tune, right?

Uruha: This song already existed since the selection meeting for “SHIVER”. It was put aside after the Prepro, but as it was decided that we should use it this time, we were already tired of it (lol). So we changed the A melody completely and did major changes for the way we start that song too. As the song started I thought: “Ah, it’s that kind of song” and wanted to betray the (old version of the) song instantly. I wonder if I managed to give it a good form.

Reita: After we arranged and revised the intro it really became cool, right? You could say I had the feeling that just with this intro the rest would already work out. For this song Uruha tried to add some bass, but so to say, the play became pretty undulated. That’s why I said that it’s such a nuance, but not really like this. To sum it up I didn’t want to do it that tasteless. Based on that, I made chords with a high position, discussed it with Uruha and modified them. Next to us Kai was recording the drums (lol).

Uruha: Yeah. In the beginning, the A melody was vulgar. We didn’t want that, but we wanted a pretty and hard taste. We wanted to use the space cleverly, I guess…. Therefore we thought about guitar phrases, which have a delay and take turns in flying past each other

I: That means that the A melody is played completely by Uruha-san?

Uruha: No, I wouldn’t want that at all. I told Aoi, that I wanted him to play it and that’s why he played for me.

I: You wouldn’t have been able to produce such a taste, if it came down to: “If Uruha is doing this, I can add other things!” I think.

Uruha: Yeah. We talked a lot about it so we could prevent something like this.

Aoi: It’s not limited to this time only. With this it won’t become a mess, right? If you properly think about the song, the answer comes naturally.

Kai: This song was… really difficult (lol). The drums of Uruhas demo had strange places where the set accent to the beats was 32 parts off-point and such. We started the work with “Are you sure it shouldn’t be like this…?” (lol). Even though we organized it, it took a lot of time, right? (lol) As a result we ended up understanding the song. But this time Uruha lost the understanding of the song. We changed the opening and the ending drastically. The result was good, but we were twisted around someone’s finger (lol). At the main recording too, Uruha said something like “Actually, the kick-of the song would be better like this…” (lol). But because we’re doing this trial and error method, we were able to create a really god song I think.

Ruki: As the title says, the lyric of this song is about the time I destroyed my throat, right? It’s because I just wrote it at that time. I had polyp, so you could say I carried a high explosive bomb.

It’s always there, in the so called gear… that’s what I was writing about. I concentrated on the feelings I had as I was knocked down with an infusion in the hospital. Because I took really strong medicine my head started getting dizzy. But even then it didn’t get any better. It really made me melancholy! Because it was the first time I instantly felt like this, I thought about using it (for a song). But, if you read it without knowing about my throat, the lyrics leave space for many different imaginations I think. It’s okay to interpret it like you want it.

I: I see. Starting with “SHIVER” the 3 singles and the coupling songs made the content complete. I felt the powerful energy of the GazettE, who produced top-quality works on such a tight schedule.

Aoi: For the members that was the thing we had to endure I think. If we make compromises because there isn’t enough time, we will betray the people who’ll listen to us. On the other hand, if there’s enough time for the recording, we might be soft on every part of the songs. You could say that we can concentrate because there is no time. With this schedule there’s no choice as to produce convincing things right from the start, that’s why the motivation for the band is great too, I think. With this effect we produced a series of 3 singles we’re proud of.

Uruha: Yeah. Because it is mortifying to produce unconvincing things. It’s just, I believe Ruki is also thinking like that, but it doesn't feel like you have to make an effort for rearranging your own songs. Because it's fun you don't get tired of it. Therefore the single producing was done in a real tight schedule, but it wasn't troublesome. Including the coupling songs we got a hold of a work we can be proud of, that's why I really want you to listen to these 3 songs.

Kai: I had my worries about the time we decided for production, but now that we finished it, I'm happy with these 3 songs...I can't of something else other than this. Each of these songs isn't divided by title or coupling song. It tool nearly half a year and feels similar to an album... It was difficult, but there's a huge sense of accomplishment, right?

Reita: yeah, these 3 were really produces in busy times. But, especially because there was no time, to abandon our own music to external persons, producer or organizer is a no-go. We know that we'll regret it afterwards. Therefor I don't want to produce music as it fits best. If music is done with such an attitude, something like failing at Tokyo Dome could happen and nothing would be left for us. They're not something like commercials for our way to Tokyo Dome, but every song has its own meaning,and even after this I'm glad we made these 3 songs.

Ruki: It definitely was difficult, but it was great too to have lives and recordings at the same time. Because there are things we can't ignore at lives, but we don't have to bother about while recording. For lives you express with your whole mind and because it's like a trial of strength, we were able to have a balance (between concentrating on just the songs & expressing everything on stage). In the past we got really tired when we had recordings and lives at the time, but this time it wasn't like that. If you think about as: 'there's no other way as to do it', you're able to unexpectedly work hard, right? It was a pretty tight though (lol).

For these 3 songs this time, we first wanted to change something and made 'SHIVER'. After completing 'SHIVER', we thought we wanted something heavy after all and so 'Red' was born. The time we worked on the ballad, at the same time as Red, we had the feeling that we could make something even better and redid it. If I look back to it once again, time-wise it was pretty strict, but because it came quite naturally there was no feeling of stress, right? Therefore, previously we were thinking about a general direction of the band and made music in this spectrum. But since 'SHIVER' came out this spectrum got wider, and for things we didn't like until now, we got to like them. In the past we wanted to create something within 'greatness of the GazettE', but now we came to work more freely. That's why making music is becoming even more fun right now. In this sense it was a satisfying production and I have the feeling that it's the result of many things we learned.

Edited by golden_kimono (twitter) thank you honey ;;