Gazette Interview Neo Genesis Vol.21

Please share the impression you had of the person sitting to your right when you met for the first time.
Okay, starting with Aoi-kun. The person next to you is Kai-kun.
Aoi: Why do I have to start (laughs). When I first met Kai-kun...
Ruki: You thought he was a skeleton?
Reita: Kai-kun, why does that make you embarrassed?
Aoi: When we first met, I had given him an MD with one of Gazette's songs at the time on it. Then he made a face like, "That's sudden!" and left looking like he had stolen it.
Kai: I didn't do that (laughs)
Aoi: He did that, and when I asked, "Kai-kun, you're joining us, right?" he was like, "No, I'm still thinking...".
Reita: Like he was being pressured by other bands, too (laughs)
So your first impressions weren't very good?
Aoi: Rather, I didn't really have any. But Ruki had brought him along, so there wasn't any helping it.
(laughs) So next to Kai-kun is Ruki-kun.
Kai: Ruki was very kind.
Ruki: What did I do?
Kai: Even though we hadn't talked that much, you gave me a wallet chain.
Ruki: Ahh, I did. So it's just that I gave you something!?
And what was Ruki-kun's first impression of Uruha-kun?
Ruki: When we first met, he was onstage with his makeup on, so I got the impression that his face was totally white and he had a big back. Well, he had a delinquent older brother kind of image. His car was like that, too.
Uruha: Hahaha...
Ruki: But he seemed really nice, so I was thinking, "I'm not sure~". Since he had that makeup on I thought he couldn't be that normal, but we were actually able to talk normally.
So he was different from that image, huh. So, next to Uruha-kun is Reita-kun.
Aoi: Wait a second. Your first impressions would be a looong time ago.
Reita: Yeah, at that time the band didn't have anything to do with it.
Uruha: It was during middle school. My first impression was that he was like a monkey. He was small and dark.
Reita: I was really tan.
Uruha: And he had a buzz cut. He was really agile, and expressed things with his whole body.
Reita: Like (Ninety nine's) Okamura, huh?
Uruha: Yeah, yeah. Like a clown.
(laughs) Okay, Reita-kun, what was your impression of Aoi-kun?
Reita: Right, we met just after new years.
Ruki: I remember that.
Aoi: You don't have to talk (laughs)
Reita: I think you were wearing a red and white sweater?
Ruki: Yeah, and it had a knitted reindeer on it.
Aoi: Cause it was winter.
Reita: Then when we met again, you had on a fur coat.
Ruki: It was a long coat, right?
Reita: Yeah. I thought, "Damn, this person has nice clothes" (laughs)
So a gorgeous feeling, huh.
Aoi: No, I don't think gorgeous...
Reita: The prices were reasonable (laughs)

Please tell us the personality of the person sitting to your left.
Okay, starting with Aoi-kun.
Aoi: So why is it always me (laughs). Umm, Reita is naturally funny. When a live starts, he creates the atmosphere.
Reita: Of course.
Aoi: He's shy and tries to be cool. But he's a good guy, and hard to get close to.
(laughs) How about Reita-kun of Uruha-kun.
Reita: He has no conception of time. I don't think he's ever heard the phrase "Time is money". I guess he goes by his own pace and is in his own world. Today was the same (he was late), too...
Uruha: Wait, are you mad?
Reita: No, I'm just saying that's how far you're in another dimension. But, he's a good guy.
All: (laugh)!
Now Uruha-kun about Ruki-kun's personality.
Uruha: He's dumb. Not stupid, but dumb. The difference being that he's a specialist in his own areas, but other than that...
Ruki: Isn't that the same as stupid?
Uruha: Well, he's a good guy.
(laughs) Now Ruki-kun of Kai-kun.
Ruki: I don't know his real personality well, but basically he has good manners. Though I've been starting to wonder if the real him isn't hiding somewhere behind that.
All: Ahahaha!
Ruki: I guess he's actually a very nervous person? He worries too much and gets nervous.
Okay, Kai-kun of Aoi-kun.
Kai: He's really methodical. Especially with keeping his surroundings clean.
Aoi: That's not true. My room is dirty.
Kai: No, you notice really small details. Like when I'm doing something I'll start cleaning up because I think "Aoi-kun's gonna get mad."

What dramas or movies have you seen lately?
Reita: It's a foreign drama, but "LOST". I've only seen the first season, though.
Ruki: Eh~?
Reita: People get pulled in by puzzles. We want to know why something turned out the way it did.
Kai: But you didn't want to watch it at first.
Reita: I really didn't want to watch dramas that continue so long. But then I wondered if that itself was what was interesting about them. And it was. With LOST and Prison Break.
Ruki: I like Prison Break. I also definitely didn't want to watch long dramas. I thought, "Just stop already". It's so long, and there was also a second series...but then when I watched it once when everyone was watching it, and I completely got hooked on it. To the point that when work was over I'd go home and watch it instead of sleeping, and go to work the next day like that. I don't think of it as a drama as much as a huge movie.
Uruha: I like "Blood Diamond".
Leonardo DiCaprio was in that one, right.
Uruha: I watched it because my sister recommended it, though.
Reita: Isn't it kind of rare for you to listen to your sister?
Uruha: She told me about it after we had done something that had to do with jewlery. I thought she was tricking me, but I watched it and it was soo good. It really made me think.
Kai: I saw "The Prestige". I love movies with a twist, so I was really looking forward to it, but I looked forward to it too much and I was kind of disappointed...
Aoi: I...don't have anything~

Please tell us about your hometown.
Ruki: The air tastes good. There aren't any people.
Reita: It's open and there are a lot of farm and rice fields.
Uruha: The convience store parking lot is big.
And what about Mie?
Aoi: The scenery is beautiful. It was even in a magazine a while ago.
Kai: Even though it's Tokyo, there's a huge temple close by, and my school was in there~
Aoi: Like a temple elementary school?
Ruki: Where the hell did you live?

How do you wake up every morning?
Ruki: With the manager calling me on the interphone.
Aoi: With the manager calling me saying, "I'm here now".
Reita: I'm woken up like that, too.
Ruki: Today, even though the manager was there, after he called on the interphone I fell asleep again. After that the plumber came so I woke up, and it had been about an hour. I was like "Oh crap!", but when I looked at my phone no one had called, and when I tried calling he didn't pick up. So I took my time getting ready and when I went outside, the manager was out there sleeping.
All: Wahahaha!
Reita: That's amazing!
What about Uruha-kun?
Uruha: With the morning light.
Reita: You're such a liar~ (laughs)
How much of a country kid are you (laughs)
Uruha: The sun's light really comes in strong, though
(laughs) So what about Kai-kun?
Kai: Vibration
All: Heh...(laughs)
Kai: I've realized recently, but rather than have an alarm go off in my ear, it's easier to wake up to vibration.
Aoi: (coldly) Is that so.

What do you do when you're depressed?
Reita: I sleep.
Ruki&Kai: Me too.
Aoi: I sleep until I can't anymore.
Reita: Whenever I wake up I'm usually okay again.
Uruha: I drink. Then I get violent and go to sleep.

What faces do you use in cell phone messages?
Aoi: I don't.
Ruki: The sparkly one.
Uruha: The one I use the most is the one that looks like smoke.
Reita: Ah, me too. I use it when it's a "hmph!" kind of feeling. Like, after saying "I'm tired~" I don't want to use a sad face or sweat drops, so I go "hmph!" (laugh)
Aoi: Who do you send that kind of message to?
Ruki: I've gotten one.
Aoi: You've been around each other this whole time!
Ruki: Then I sent back "I know--!"
What about Kai-kun?
Kai: I use the one bowing on the ground.
Aoi: The ones with symbols, huh
So does that mean you apologize a lot?
Ruki: I guess it does?

What is your ring tone at the moment?
Aoi: A regular ringing.
Reita: I have one like that, too
Uruha: The sound of water dropping, and whatever came with it.
Ruki: I have a warning sort of siren.
Kai: (Looks at his phone to check...and plays it)
Ruki: Like the sound on the black tea commercial.

If you could do a collaboration with anyone in the world, with who and what kind of collaboration would it be?
Reita: A PV with Steven Spielberg. I love Jurassic Park.
Uruha: Eh, it would have dinosaurs?
Reita: I would like it to have an outer space feeling.
Ruki: I would want Bjork to sing in a chorus.
That's extravagant.
Uruha: In the same way, I would want to be a member of Slipknot.
Kai: A person named Mike Portnoy (drummer of Dream Theater) is very into drums, so I would like to make a drumset with someone like that.
Aoi: I would want to with a car seller. Cars today tend to look the same, so I want to do a collaboration and make a really cool one. And become rich.
Ruki: Oh?

What is something that you can't buy it now, but someday you want to?
Kai: A house.
Ruki: A house for my parents.
Reita: A house I think.
Uruha: A car maybe?
Aoi: A company.
Reita: So, bribery? Cool (laughs)

What do you think is going to happen this year?
Ruki: A short hair cut.
Uruha: Smoking ban.
Ruki: That's already here!
Since you can't smoke in taxis anymore, huh
Uruha: That's true
Aoi: So it's already here, then (laughs)
Reita: Lowered gas prices.
Ruki&Aoi: That's not happening.
Reita: The democrats are moving, though.
Ruki: It looks like it'll change from George Bush.
Aoi: Not it looks like, it will change.
Reita: His term is over.
Ruki: It looks like Hillary will happen.
Kai: Of course, the GazettE will.
Aoi: We will, huh. Or rather, we are.

What's something you want to do in private this year?
Aoi: I want to go overseas. L.A. maybe. I could go to Korea for a short vacation, too. When I travel I like it to be for vacation, so first I want a vacation.
Ruki: I want to take pictures. I talked with a cameraman who said I'd like it if I tried it.
Uruha: I want to find a sport I can do during the summer. Maybe something like futsal that I can do indoors.
Ruki: Alone?
Reita: So why would it matter if it was summer or not?
Kai: I want to play futsal, too. I've turned down invitations from my friends so many times.
Uruha: Then I won't do it (laughs)
Reita: I think swimming.
Ruki: You definitely won't do it.
Reita: There's a sports gym nearby [OK and this part I don't know. If anyone knows what ループー is, prease tell me *severely confused*]...
Aoi: So couldn't you just go to a pool?
Reita: There is a pool (laughs), so I thought maybe I should try it. I want to go "It feels soo good~" like Kitajima Kosuke. And I don't know how to breathe right, so I want to learn that, too.
Wasn't your swimming style just to put on a mask and crawl?
Reita: Yes. I could go 25 meters without breathing, but I really want to learn how to swim properly.
I'm sure everyone would like to watch you practice.
Reita: I'd come up with a frantic expression.
Aoi: That'd be pretty pathetic (laughs)

Please give some pointers on how to sing Gazette's songs in karaoke.
Ruki: Gazette's song are pretty hard~
Reita: I went with Uruha and a friend to karaoke, though. My friend tried singing "BEST FRIENDS", but messed up the rhythm halfway through, so I started thinking maybe it is kind of hard (laugh)
Ruki: Well, what's wrong with it being like that? People shouldn't try to copy the singing, just sing it in your own way.

What is the first thing you do when you return home?
Ruki: I turn on the lights and take a bath.
Reita: Turn on the air-conditioning.
Uruha: Turn on the TV. Then quickly change into a jersey.
Aoi: Turn on my game.
Kai: Either the TV or computer.

What do you do to relax when you're tired?
Aoi&Kai: Sleep
Ruki: Take a bath then go to sleep.
Reita: Eat, then go to sleep within 30 minutes.
Uruha: Drink
Kai: All you do is drink (laughs)

What is something you want to ask the fans?
Ruki: That's a different kind of question.
Uruha: Is everyone going to school like they should?
Reita: At what kind of times do you listen to Gazette's CDs?

What do you think is the greatest luxury?
Reita: Falling asleep again. That feeling is incredible!
Aoi: That's true. When someone calls you on the interphone, and you go back to sleep.
Reita: That feels good!?
Does it annoy you when someone calls on the interphone?
Aoi: It does (laughs)
Uruha: For me it's an onsen. Relaxing in hot water, then having a beer afterwards.
Kai: When I can drink sake from the afternoon on.
Ruki: For me, going to Hawaii was a luxury. The atmosphere of having a drink at night and looking at the scenery from the terrace of the hotel. The wind felt good, and listening to rockabilly on my iPod...
Did you get roomservice?
Ruki: No, I ate beef jerkey (laughs)
Reita: At school, when it closed for a while because of influenza, and I could sleep more. That's amazing.
Uruha: It is, huh~
Ruki: When the sports festival was cancelled because of rain.
Uruha: What part of that is a luxury? (laughs)
Ruki: Isn't it nice to wake up expecting to have to do something, then being able to go back to sleep?
That's kind of insignificant, though
Ruki: Hahaha. ...Ah, but I already said Hawaii!

What do you like to put on sunny side up eggs?
Aoi&Kai: Mayonnaise.
Reita&Uruha: Ehhh?
Uruha: I haven't heard that! I like salt.
Reita: Salt or soy sauce.
Ruki: Ehhh? I use Worcester sauce.
That's the most normal, huh
Aoi: No, no, no, no. Normal would be salt or pepper. Why would Worcester sauce be normal? Do you use it?
No, I use ketchup or mayonnaise.
Uruha: Ehhh?
Ruki: Ketchup and mayonnaise are good.
Aoi: That's what we put on our hamburgers at home.

What do you wish you had done when you were a teenager?
Ruki: Gotten my drivers license. I really wonder why I never did that.
Uruha: Seriously, why didn't you?
Ruki: And I had so many chances to go, too. I want to completely change that "If I have time to go to the driving school, I'll play instead" kind of thinking I had at the time.
Aoi: I would have liked to take the college entrance exams.
Ruki: That's a lie.
Aoi: I didn't graduate high school, though.
Reita: Aren't you getting the order wrong?
Aoi: I just wish I had been able to at least go to college~ Kinda thing. I'm kidding, though.
Kai: For me it's piano. My mom played, and we have a grand piano in our house, so I wonder why I never learned it. I tried it once, but then I gave up.
Reita: Because he's a thoroughbred.
Aoi: Well, it's not too late, so why don't you start now?
Kai: But the drums...
Aoi: Couldn't you do both~
Uruha: For me it's English. I wish I'd have learned it while I was at the right age. My English grades were always a 5 on the 5-point scale.
Ruki: ...I guess you can repaint the past, huh
Aoi: We can say that cause there's no one here that knows.
Reita: But I've never heard that from Uruha.
Aoi: Rather, I've never heard you speak English.
Reita: That came out of nowhere. [a joke: "nemimi ni mizu" means "out of the blue/out of nowhere". but instead of saying "mizu" he said water in English, lol]
Uruha: Ehh?
Ruki: Your timing of that was weird
(laughs) What about Reita-kun?
Reita: I went to an industrial high school, but I wish I had gotten qualifications from there. I didn't get any.
Uruha: Then why did you go?
Kai: Huh? Didn't you say once you were getting a permit to handle dangerous machinery or something?
Reita: I failed.
All: Wahahahaha!
Aoi: So it's not that you wished you had done it, you couldn't.
But didn't you say that getting a permit like that would basically guarantee what you did for life, so you didn't want to?
Reita: Yes. And now that I think about it, it wouldn't have been anything like that. And guarantees like that are important.
All: Wahahahaha!
Ruki: That's an adult way of thinking (laughs)
Aoi: No, that is important, though

What was your first part time job?
Ruki: A family restaurant.
Reita: You can work at places like that?
Uruha: In the kitchen, right?
Reita: There's no way you'd say stuff like "irasshaimase", right?
Ruki: I did say it. Like, "rasshaimase".
Reita: Bastard (laughs)
Ruki: I quit after a day, though
Kai: I also worked at a restaurant.
Reita: I made the cream at a bread factory. My hands looked like globes.
Ruki: It's the same now.
Reita: What do you mean??
Uruha: I worked at a flower shop. It was my friend's shop, and I worked there during the summer vacation and got a lot of money.
What about Aoi-kun?
Aoi: Rather than a job, it was more like helping out. In about 3rd grade I cleaned pearl oysters and got about 300 yen a day.

If you were to compete in the Olympics, which event would you do?
Uruha: I would want to do that half-pipe~ (in snowboarding)
Ruki: I want to do the ski jump, and turn around really flashy.
Uruha: Eh, turn around?
Aoi: Can you finish like that?
So you want to jump, then?
Ruki: Ah, actually I would want to do figure skating.
Reita: I would want to do the hammer throw. Take a good look at it, and it looks like if you don't let go of the hammer you could practically keep spinning forever.
Because of the centrifugal force, huh.
Reita: I would want to try it once. Throw it and yell.
Kai: I can't do it, but in things like judo it seems like it would feel really good in that one deciding instant.
It's okay, everyone's talking about things they can't do (laughs)
Aoi: I would want to do the 200 meter
Why that half-hearted? (laughs)
Reita: Isn't it 100?
Aoi: That's it (laughs) They run with such amazing expressions.
Ruki: "Wo~w, player Aoi is making an amazing expression!"
Reita: They wouldn't say that (laughs)

What was something a girl told you that made you happy?
Reita: You make me feel soo good.
All: (after a second) wahahaha!
Uruha: True...
It feels good like Kitajima Kosuke, right?
Reita: Of course.
Then, seriously (laughs)
Ruki: "I can relax"
Reita: "What do you want to eat?"
What situation would that be in?
Reita: It's not like I'm asking to be spoiled, you know? In a "Should I make something?" kind of way.
Uruha: I like "What are you doing today?"
Reita: Eh? You want to be asked that? (laughs)
Uruha: I want her to care.
Reita: Ah~ You want her to wonder what you're doing.
I understand that feeling. What about Kai-kun?
Uruha: Something like "Stop it"?
Kai: (laughs) No, like "It's fun (being with you)".
Aoi: I would want to be told "I like you", but not with phone messages or anything.

What kind of occupation would you like to try out once?
Ruki: Boss
Aoi: Manager
Uruha&Ruki: No way.
Ruki: If I was the manager of these members, I'd be pissed off everyday.
Aoi: If it was these members I'd definitely hit someone.
Kai: After talking to someone experieced in carpentry, it sounded interesting, so I would like to try that.
Aoi: It is interesting.
Uruha: I would want to be noticed for being the chef of a famous, beautiful restaurant.
Reita: A celebrity. Like how we're talking in this kind of way, whenever I watch variety shows the celebrities have to pay attention to who's doing what and what they're saying. I would want to try being in that kind of pressure. There's no chance I'd get any laughs, though.

What food makes you think, "The times I eat this are the best!"
Ruki: Foie gras
Reita: You're a celebrity, huh~
Kai: Crab
Aoi: Is crab that good? If you just went on a "crab spree", all you would get is crab.
Reita: That's because it's a "crab spree" (laughs)
Uruha: For me it's eel kamameshi.
Reita: Monjayaki. I can make it at home.
That's more economical. What about Aoi-kun?
Aoi: Steamed white rice.

What do you think makes up a popular guy?
Ruki: Maybe someone who's good at talking?
Aoi: Someone like Ruki-san would be popular.
It's true that people who can talk well are popular, though.
Uruha: I think someone with a strong impact when you first meet them.
Reita: Whenever I listen to Ishida Junichi talk, I think someone who imitated him would be popular.
Kai: Someone who can read the atmosphere?

Please give two of the first four character phrases you think of. It's a personality test.
Ruki: Fall seven times, get up eight. Once you suspect, everything is suspicious.
Reita: Enemies on all sides and happiness, sadness, anger, and joy are the only ones I know!
Kai: Ten people, ten colors. Someone loved by everyone
Aoi: I don't know~ Around the clock? With heart and soul.
Uruha: Do a good deed everyday, Once in a lifetime
The first one you said was your view of life.
Ruki: Oh, mine's optimistic
And the second one is your view of love.
Ruki: Ahh, mine might not be wrong (laughs)
Kai: Someone loved by everyone?
Uruha: That's you (laughs)

Please share your feelings when you hear, "Recording starts today!"
Aoi: Ehh, I don't wanna--
Kai: Noo!
Ruki: No--
Reita: Depression
Uruha: Troubled...

What is something you definitely do before a live?
Ruki: I put my hands together on stage [pray]
Uruha: Stretch
Reita: I read fanletters
Aoi: Play guitar
Kai: Clear my mind

What do want to praise yourself for concerning last time's recording?
Aoi: There's nothing to praise I think.
Reita: Rather than praise, I want to tell myself, "Let's work harder!"
Ruki: I learned a lot? That's all.
Uruha: I want to praise myself for finishing at midnight on the second day.

How would you recommend "Guren" to someone who doesn't know Gazette?
Uruha&Ruki: It's a good song.
Reita: Listen to it without thinking anything.
Aoi: Find it at the store and buy it.
Kai: It'd be good if you listened to it once.

What do you think you'll be like in 10 years?
Uruha: Growing a beard?
Kai: I want to be the same!
Uruha: Well, I guess I'll look the same, but I want to have gained more experience and be more intelligent.
Ruki: I want to be bigger [as in well known, lol]
Aoi: In ten years, I would want a kid. No, I'm pretty sure I'll have one.
Reita: Well, even if ten years go by, I still want to be saying weird stuff and laughing about it like this (laughs)