Thursday 15 October 2015

the GazettE Club Zy. Personal Long Interview: Uruha (part 1 of 4)


Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4




The GazettE will release their latest album "DOGMA" on August 26th. They will also start their nation-wide tour "the GazettE LIVE TOUR 15 DOGMATIC -UN-" on September 5th and "the GazettE LIVE TOUR 15-16 DOGMATIC -DUE-" in December.
Club Zy. Will feature RUKI, Uruha, Aoi, REITA, and Kai in personal long interviews, starting today!

Second in the series is Uruha on guitar. He will talk about his thoughts on various aspects of their album 'DOGMA'.




Among them, there were also opinions like, "You shouldn't put empty periods and instead just release materials constantly." But when thinking about, "What is needed for the GazettE?", that (constant release) wasn't one of them.

Q: I heard that the production of 'DOGMA' started quite early.
Uruha: The song selection process for 'DOGMA' started quite early. If I'm not mistaken... it was around June last year.

Q: Did you try something new by taking a long time to make the album?
Uruha: That's right. It's been quite a while since we released an album, so all of us had thought of taking time since songs selection stage.
As the band grows older, the "release material then go on tour" flow would come out no matter what, and often we just end up repeating that cycle. And when that happens, it gets difficult for us to create things with enough breathing room. And since there are things that we can only do if there's some time flexibility, we aimed for it.

Q: the GazettE want to break away from the routine of "releasing material then going on a tour".
Uruha: Right. Until now, no matter what, we had this tendency to fall into that routine. And that's why we wanted to break away from that kind of routine with 'DOGMA'.
Of course, we received mixed reactions from various aspects of this decision. Among them, there were also opinions like, "You shouldn't put empty periods and instead just release materials constantly." But when thinking about, "What is needed for the GazettE?", that (constant release) wasn't one of them.

Q: The environment surrounding a band, including the fans, always want a flow of "listening to a material, then getting a taste of that material on a live performance, then listening to the next material, and so on". This time, the GazettE didn't conform to it.
Uruha: Even though it's not like we'll run out of ideas if we get completely stuck in to that mindset, if we continue to force ourselves to make new things, sometimes it would be difficult for us to do things like incorporating new styles. And that's why, we needed a time to reflect on ourselves. And that was the time we used for making 'DOGMA'.

Q: In the previous interview, RUKI said, "After we finished making 'BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY', there was a time when I became empty of ideas". Did you also have that kind of feeling at that time, Uruha-san?
Uruha: It's different from "becoming empty". Since our formation, we, the GazettE had been putting our band style upfront when making our songs. 'DIM' became a major turning point, after which, in 'TOXIC', 'DIVISION', and 'BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY' we incorporated new styles in our songs. After that.. after we finished with 'BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY', we didn't have anything new that we wanted to try. I think that's what RUKI meant.

Q: I see.
Uruha: After we tried all the things we wanted to do, once we had a talk like, "So what should we try next?" To that, we reached an opinion, like, "Do the GazettE really want to continue trying things we're interested in at random and see how they reflect in our music?". 'BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY', the album that I mentioned before, was an album where, while evolving, we reflected on the GazettE's original style. By being able to go back to our original stance, next we asked, "Then in which direction should the GazettE head next?" and we had some anxiety about the flow that we put ourselves in.

Q: And that's why you put a period where you stopped song making altogether.
Uruha: Yeah. Until then, when we compared our pace of making songs and our feelings, I feel that our pace of making songs was a bit too fast. Even though we always had the desire to make something, we didn't want to present it while its form is still ambiguous, and it made me worried about the GazettE's future. And that's why we decided to take a break.


We are a band who don't just do as norm or as people order us to, but instead express ourselves freely, according to our own will.

Q: By taking long period, you were able to create 'DOGMA' which is an intensely deep album. 
Uruha: Once we have a clear direction, ideas come up quickly. However, if the cycle is too fast, there is a possibility that we won't have enough time to completely think over everything. And that's why we took a long time for this album...
When a band slow down their activities, it might create obstacles for them, or worse, it might make them stop altogether. Continuing this band is something that our lives depend on. That's how much we care about the band. And in order to continue the band, sometimes we have to change our pace, or break away from our routine. And to continue the band, that rest period was needed.

Q: It feels wrong if you just recklessly make something without having a clear direction.
Uruha: I'm sure we would've been able to come up with something. But it's not like the GazettE to do that. We are a band who don't just do as norm or as people order us to, but instead express ourselves freely, according to our own will. And that's why, for us the most important thing is to express what we want to do with our own volition.

Q: And you won't budge from that stance.
Uruha: We won't.


While we spent time reflecting on ourselves, we thought about what we think and how we feel. We wanted to get the answers by ourselves. And for that, we did the "saiteigi (redefinition) tour".

Q: Last year you embarked on "saiteigi (redefinition) tour", titled "NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN", "PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIM SCENE", and "GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELL". Did it have a major impact on the GazettE?
Uruha: When we were at loss about what to do next, when thinking about "What should we do next?", we wanted to confirm things like, "Let's reflect on ourselves and perform our old songs again", and "How do our fans feel about the GazettE's journey so far?". And that's why, all of us wanted to "once again pursue the music styles that the GazettE had done til now".

Q: As you've been together for 13 years, there might be generation gap among the fans as well.
Uruha: There are people who like "old the GazettE", and people who like "current the GazettE". It's something that we've been hearing for a long time. Until now, rather than listening to that kind of opinion, we had been focusing on expressing ourselves through new things. And because it had accumulated, we asked ourselves, "Now that we're spending time reflecting on ourselves, what we thought at that time? How we felt at that time?" We wanted to get those answers by ourselves. And for that we did the 'saiteigi (redefinition) tour'.

Q: Was the result of that tour also reflected in 'DOGMA'?
Uruha: Very much so. But it's not like we aimed for that. At first, we embarked on 'saiteigi tour' to reflect on ourselves. But the concrete feelings and desire earned by going on that tour contributed a lot to the making of 'DOGMA'.



Translated by Val. Original interview here.


Jump to: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4



Also read: RUKI | Uruha | Aoi | REITA | Kai


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