音楽と人 - March 2009
Interview with Imai Hisashi
Text by Kanemitsu Hirofumi
Translation: Lola
It's truly a masterpiece isn't it, this album.
It is a masterpiece. If I can play something that's pop like and catchy, then it's good. This is kinda a blunt way of saying it but, doing something good felt new to me. After that, I felt like I could look forward to the lives. That's the kind of atmosphere there was about it. There was nothing to tie me down.
What sort of things tie you down usually?
There wasn't any interference of don't put that here and don't do that there. Like with both 'Tenshi no Revolver' and '13kai wa gekkou' right, they both had distinct images from the early stages, one with a band sound, the other with a gothic theme and so I worked with those concepts and from those worlds, I made the albums. I wasn't confined by anything preset this time.
Were you consciously wanting to do an album that wasn't bound by a theme?
Of course.......I was conscious of it, somehow this time the song itself that's at the centre, the guitars, the rhythm, the melody and that's what felt new to me. I've said it before but, things that seemed overly complicated I thought were kinda uncool.
And now that you're doing complicated things, do you find it so uncool?
I didn't really intend to do this kind of thing...I mean I think it's kinda....old you know. It's kinda annoying and somehow, I do these super detailed things even though I hate it.
Detailed?
Yeah. How can I explain it in a good way......let's say if I talk about cooking, it'd be better to talk about particular dishes *smiles*.
Fuhahahahaha. You had me going there, but it all goes back to making seafood dishes!
Yeah, just like that in order to get that dynamism in rock, it's better to put all your strength into it right so......even though I hate making seafood dishes *smiles* it's good in doses. Of course it depends on my mood at various times but, seems like up till now, I'd do some noise sampling and what I'd end up using would be the detailed sounds. Because I'd think well hey, they're pretty good. So it's like having all these tiny dishes in a way *smiles*.
And those are the dishes that are a pain in the ass to make *smiles*.
That's why I thought it would be better to go for something simple with the band ensemble, because it's more powerful and has more feeling. That's what I'm interested in now.
Yeah ok. So leading up to this album, it seems like you regained the power of the band in your work, at least it feels that way to me.
Maybe so *smiles*. Well we've done a lot of different types of albums so......I think we've got a good collection.
Do you think then that this album will fit in with the rest? If there's nothing to tie it together?
I'm not worried about that at all but, I have been wondering a lot about what is a good point of compromise. Like at first, I insisted that I didn't want any B-side songs on the album but that didn't go over well and we ended up with a B-side as the first song. And even I have to admit that it worked out well for me this way *smiles*.
Where did you get the title 'memento mori'?
Sometime before I had begun composing, I bought this piece of art, a doll that was titled 'memento mori'. I had heard those words before but, I had no idea what it meant. So I looked into it. And it just fit, even the rhythm of the words was good. Before we went in to record, I went out to eat with everyone and when I told them about it, everyone agreed that it was good *smiles*.
Hahahahaha. I figured it was something that just happened by chance but, as for Buck-Tick, it's really well suited to Sakurai-san's way of seeing things.
Yeah. I wasn't thinking about that when I picked it but, that does make things easier.
Knowing the meaning of 'memento mori', what did it make you think of?
Death, and turning your back to it I guess, like pretending it's not there to avoid it but, when I thought about it a lot more, I perceived it as something extremely positive. I thought it was good you know. It felt honest to me.
Because we're all gonna die in the end so, might as well enjoy life completely.
Yes. I'm not saying to be prepared to resign yourself to heavy things, that's so wrong. I know that so I'm saying, enjoy life.
What was the member's take on it?
Mm. Everyone seemed to adopt that view and use it in various ways. Like in 'Coyote', I wanted to try it without using the kick or the snare sound and when I said that, the next day, before I could continue, Anii was already beating the hell out of his ashtray. Yuuta came with his upright bass. I thought it'd be fun to try the song with it.
As a band, you each have an active role.
Yeah. So of course we get used to each other's mannerisms and things so, like for me, I'm always searching for something more right. Like how to make recording more enjoyable and I think doing that makes us each change a little too. Especially this time, the whole atmosphere seemed to be one of excitement.
Would you say it's because the five of you seemed to be heading in the same direction?
Yeah.
In the title song, 'memento mori' you wrote this phrase, 'remember to die'.
Because I had that during the demo phase I think.
It's got the Okinawan musical scale that makes you want to dance and makes you sing, and because of that you can't help but enjoy it.
I know right. That's it, yeah. That's the point of it, eat, drink, dance, and laugh.
It's like, 'Que sera, sera'. But you even had that kind of feeling in Lucy, so do you think it's because those thoughts are quite strong in you Imai-san?
I wouldn't say they were strong, it's more that I'm comfortable with such thoughts isn't it?
Then in regards to things like death, you don't actually think about that a lot?
There are times I think about it. I imagine it. But that's not really a good feeling you know. Like it's coming for us all isn't it? Sometimes it strikes suddenly. Without warning.
Because of that your band seems to have a hedonistic outlook...like you can just dance, shake your ass, it's fun and makes you feel free and that's a powerful feeling.
Yeah, yeah. I mean that's part of the message for sure, and I think that it worked well as a theme.
But at the same time, it seems like it's also about 'love' like in 'Tenshi ha dare da', like we can see both extremes clearly in your songs this time.
Ah......'Tenshi ha dare da' is, well when it was finished that's the sort of form I wanted it to have, as a work of art, that's how I wanted it to feel. But somehow I feel that meaning gets lost somewhere.
I think you can say that it's in the album as a whole. Even though it might not come from the meaning attached to the title of death and life, I think love is expressed amazingly well.
I see what you mean, yeah. Somehow, when I think about it, I see that's how it came out. Seems that way with 'Umbrella' too. When I was working on it, I didn't intend on it being that way at all. Naturally I had a theme in mind for the lyrics. It just seemed like writing and singing about love and happiness fit now you know.
After 20 years, you're still as lively as ever.
Yeah. I haven't mellowed yet. Like I still fumble along, song by song. I think that's just how I do things. But because of that, I mean I feel like I can't do shit sometimes. And yet it's that very feeling that brings about discovery and freshness for me. That will never change, that's why our music has a universality isn't it.