Fish Tank 60
Interview with Sakurai Atsushi
Translation: Lola
What were you doing at the moment of the March 11th earthquake Sakurai-san?
It was around 2:46pm right and I had planned on leaving at exactly 2:50pm so I was heading to the entrance, just grabbing a few last things before I go.... When it actually hit, I couldn't keep my eyes off the television.
We've never experienced shaking quite like that before.
I almost thought I was going to die...because we felt it even in Tokyo and then I had the thought that it's probably waaaay more scary for the people in the Touhoku region...really some of them lost everything that day.
It even caused chaos in Tokyo because cell phone service was disrupted so how did that affect you?
Sometime past five pm I finally got word from work. Our activities for that day had already been cancelled, we had actually planned to do a live in Osaka and since at that point it didn't appear damaged I wondered...will we go through with it? But as the situation worsened, I knew in my heart we could not.
We were bombarded by images on the television.
A concert was out of the question. There's no way I could possibly sing given the situation. So I said let's cancel the show. But because there were still people who had waited for the Osaka show, and even others who were already gathered at the venue for us I very much wanted to go and I wanted them to be fair about it. So I told them that.
It was after that that we discussed charity goods and we did the cell phone backgrounds and within two weeks we ended up raising close to 2, 460 000 yen.
What happened is not something you can just gloss over in your mind. My goal is to do as much as I can...as a single human being...there's no other reason or pretext for my actions. So first I wanted to raise money for the victims of the disaster even if it's only a little to help them out. I told everyone that and then they told me they'd like to do something too which made me happy. If we were going to do fundraising though, they wanted it to be related to Buck-Tick in some way so then I wondered what to do from there. That was the push I needed to do something.
You did manage to tour up till the show in Nagoya, so let's talk about that.
The sound has been amazing.
From Shinkiba up until Nagoya, does anything stand out in your mind?
...the show in Shinkiba was incredibly enjoyable. It had that live house feeling.
You see things really well there right. So everyone can enjoy it together.
I have the impression that it went incredibly well too. And after that in Sendai the audience was super into it. Then there was the birthday celebration I got in Nagoya.
I thought you celebrated after Nagoya too and had a party on March 7th....
Were you the one who arranged that for me?
You mean you didn't know it was me?!!
Hahahaha! *smiles* Of course I was happy to be able to drink and celebrate with everyone like that.
In February you performed for the 'Ongaku to Hito' event as well.
It was a unique event *smiles*.
Well~ I suppose it was.
What was interesting for me too was getting to know people who I knew nothing of before.
Who did you talk to at the after party?
I talked to Shima-san , the vocalist of Kegawa no Maries the whole time *smiles*.
Did you have a passionate discussion about vocals?
We touched on that a little bit yes but, well, we talked about a lot of things. For my part I thought he was a very interesting person.
The two of you have such contrasting performances.
We had some debate about our thoughts on that front. Because for him, it's nothing but a career *smiles*. I found that interesting.
Now you have a little bit of free time before the autumn lives, so what are your plans Sakurai-san?
I think we'll manage to do some recording by then. Also making preparations for the postponed shows from 'Utakata no RAZZLE DAZZLE' and DIQ. And then...I know it might not seem like it but I am doing my best too *smiles*. That being said, I think I'd like a little vacation.
Then you can recharge a little over spring and summer.
Yes, otherwise I'll just burn out.
It's the first time you'll be doing DiQs in Hiroshima and Fukuoka.
Yes I thought I'd like to do the DiQ in various places for once.
Finally would you please say something to all those who are awaiting the postponed lives and the DiQ.
Once again I would like to express my deepest sympathy for those lost in the earthquake. Also I would like to convey my most heartfelt thanks to all those who participated in our charity fundraising. Now I'm preparing to make sure the lives are good. I am thinking of various things that will be fun until the DiQ so we must meet! Thank you very much, everyone!