Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
The GazettE have released 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!
Last in the series is the drummer, Kai. He will talk about the birth of 'DOGMA' as well as their current tour.
When creating a work, it's not that you can release it to public if it still doesn't have a clear direction, is it? And that's why, first we should refine our foundations properly.
Q: I heard you started working on 'DOGMA' quite early.
Kai: We had our first song selection meeting in June last year. There we thought about, "What kind of album will we make?"
Q: As you started in June last year, that means you took quite a long time in making this album.
Kai: Yeah, we took a long time in making this album. At the same time, we did a 3-parts fan club only nationwide tour, titled 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS', and personally I think we needed to do that in order to 'redefine' (saiteigi) this existence called the GazettE and our music.
Q: Was that because you felt the need to go back to your roots and styles in making the album 'DOGMA'?
Kai: More than that, it was because we didn't want to rush in coming up with a new work. When creating a work, it's not that you can release it to public if it still doesn't have a clear direction, is it? And that's why, first we should refine our foundations properly. And at the same time, for a long time the members had had this 'redefinition' thing in mind, like "We want to have a tour where we look back on our journey so far", and then we had talks like "Then, let's do it now", and then we went and did it.
Q: When did you come up with the theme 'DOGMA'?
Kai: At first we didn't have a set theme and all of us just presented the kind of thing we wanted to express and did first song selection stage. And was it then, that RUKI brought up the title 'DOGMA' and showed the image which is related to the CD jacket artwork. And then we decided on the core theme of the album 'DOGMA'. After that we had a couple more song selections, and finally reached this lineup. By the time we gave our '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance on March 10th at Nippon Budokan, the song lineup was ready.
We thought that there is no meaning unless that performance at Nippon Budokan became a preview of the future vision that we want to delve more into with this album.
Q: You really take a long time in making this album.
Kai: Quite a long time, yes. Moreover, we pushed it until the time limit. We did songs selection until February this year, and while focusing on the theme 'DOGMA', we thought of the order of songs, and we kept repeating the process until we reached a full picture of it.
Q: As the theme 'DOGMA' became clear, you made the selection even more strict, I guess?
Kai: We all received the keyword 'DOGMA' quite early in the album making process, so we composed songs while focusing on 'DOGMA' as a theme. And that's why, by undergoing several songs selection process, we could come up with a clear vision as to what we should depict in 'DOGMA'. And in our last songs selection meeting, the songs all had that clear vision in them.
Q: How would you interpret the word 'DOGMA', Kai-san?
Kai: I interpret it as 'the essence of the GazettE'. To say it bluntly, I thought that the atmosphere in the GazettE's live performances has a bit of 'religion'-like feel to it, and I think that the album 'DOGMA' will depict it even clearer.
Q: In the beginning of your '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance on March 10th at Nippon Budokan also, RUKI-san sang from high above the stage and excited the audience. That time he really looked like a leader of a religious sect.
Kai: The concept image of 'DOGMA' was already reflected since our Nippon Budokan live performance.
Q: And I felt that when I got the album 'DOGMA'.
Kai: We ourselves didn't feel like making that Nippon Budokan live performance into an anniversary. We thought that there is no meaning unless that performance at Nippon Budokan became a preview of the future vision that we want to delve more into with this album. And personally I also had the same feeling. And that's also why we performed several songs from the album 'DOGMA' in that live performance.
Q: And your performance at Nippon Budokan became the starting point in depicting the concept image of 'DOGMA'.
Kai: It's more like, it was a good occasion to present the thing that we had been doing behind the scene. Last year, we did a 3-parts fan club only nationwide tour to perform the songs that we had released until now, titled 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'. The '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance can be interpreted as the final of that tour, and of course it can also be interpreted as our 13th anniversary live performance.
And moreover, on top of that we also wanted the performance to be the starting point the thing that the GazettE will release after, which is 'DOGMA'.
Q: And all of you shared that same thoughts.
Kai: Yeah. None of us wanted to simply give an anniversary live performance.
I'm certain that the image concept of 'DOGMA' was after we did 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'.
Q: I guess the number '13', with its underlying meanings, is something that matches the GazettE.
Kai: I think so. Doing a live performance in our 13th year is something that we decided on quite some time ago. But like connecting to the concept of 'DOGMA', it wasn't like we thought about '13' as the centre of everything. It's only a coincidence that they overlapped. That's why, in our activities it's not that we're really particular about the number '13'.
Q: So rather, it was the result of good coincidences.
Kai: Yeah.
Q: You spent last year doing 'saiteigi' (redefinition) tour. Did you get a lot of influence by looking back at your journey so far?
Kai: It was also like that for our fans, but more than anything, for us, literally it became an experience where we redefined our existence and music. Had we not done the tour for the whole year, we wouldn't have even thought of making 'DOGMA' as an album that shows the GazettE's true essence. I'm certain that the image concept of 'DOGMA' was after we did 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'.
Q: And depend on the era, the tunings for your songs also changed.
Kai: Or rather, depending on the era, the tune, everything changes (laughs). Until now, the GazettE would release some works, then we would go on a 2-3 months nationwide tour to promote the work, and after giving the final performance, we would go making the next work. We kept repeating that cycle in a fast pace.
And because of that, even if we wanted to completely express everything in that work, we weren't able to do that. And by doing the 'saiteigi tour', we could express the things that were left at that time. And in a good way, our feelings were reset, and we could proceed with the making of 'DOGMA'. It was a really good opportunity.
Translated by Val. Original interview here.
Jump to: part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Also read: RUKI | Uruha | Aoi | REITA | Kai
Last in the series is the drummer, Kai. He will talk about the birth of 'DOGMA' as well as their current tour.
When creating a work, it's not that you can release it to public if it still doesn't have a clear direction, is it? And that's why, first we should refine our foundations properly.
Q: I heard you started working on 'DOGMA' quite early.
Kai: We had our first song selection meeting in June last year. There we thought about, "What kind of album will we make?"
Q: As you started in June last year, that means you took quite a long time in making this album.
Kai: Yeah, we took a long time in making this album. At the same time, we did a 3-parts fan club only nationwide tour, titled 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS', and personally I think we needed to do that in order to 'redefine' (saiteigi) this existence called the GazettE and our music.
Q: Was that because you felt the need to go back to your roots and styles in making the album 'DOGMA'?
Kai: More than that, it was because we didn't want to rush in coming up with a new work. When creating a work, it's not that you can release it to public if it still doesn't have a clear direction, is it? And that's why, first we should refine our foundations properly. And at the same time, for a long time the members had had this 'redefinition' thing in mind, like "We want to have a tour where we look back on our journey so far", and then we had talks like "Then, let's do it now", and then we went and did it.
Q: When did you come up with the theme 'DOGMA'?
Kai: At first we didn't have a set theme and all of us just presented the kind of thing we wanted to express and did first song selection stage. And was it then, that RUKI brought up the title 'DOGMA' and showed the image which is related to the CD jacket artwork. And then we decided on the core theme of the album 'DOGMA'. After that we had a couple more song selections, and finally reached this lineup. By the time we gave our '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance on March 10th at Nippon Budokan, the song lineup was ready.
We thought that there is no meaning unless that performance at Nippon Budokan became a preview of the future vision that we want to delve more into with this album.
Q: You really take a long time in making this album.
Kai: Quite a long time, yes. Moreover, we pushed it until the time limit. We did songs selection until February this year, and while focusing on the theme 'DOGMA', we thought of the order of songs, and we kept repeating the process until we reached a full picture of it.
Q: As the theme 'DOGMA' became clear, you made the selection even more strict, I guess?
Kai: We all received the keyword 'DOGMA' quite early in the album making process, so we composed songs while focusing on 'DOGMA' as a theme. And that's why, by undergoing several songs selection process, we could come up with a clear vision as to what we should depict in 'DOGMA'. And in our last songs selection meeting, the songs all had that clear vision in them.
Q: How would you interpret the word 'DOGMA', Kai-san?
Kai: I interpret it as 'the essence of the GazettE'. To say it bluntly, I thought that the atmosphere in the GazettE's live performances has a bit of 'religion'-like feel to it, and I think that the album 'DOGMA' will depict it even clearer.
Q: In the beginning of your '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance on March 10th at Nippon Budokan also, RUKI-san sang from high above the stage and excited the audience. That time he really looked like a leader of a religious sect.
Kai: The concept image of 'DOGMA' was already reflected since our Nippon Budokan live performance.
Q: And I felt that when I got the album 'DOGMA'.
Kai: We ourselves didn't feel like making that Nippon Budokan live performance into an anniversary. We thought that there is no meaning unless that performance at Nippon Budokan became a preview of the future vision that we want to delve more into with this album. And personally I also had the same feeling. And that's also why we performed several songs from the album 'DOGMA' in that live performance.
Q: And your performance at Nippon Budokan became the starting point in depicting the concept image of 'DOGMA'.
Kai: It's more like, it was a good occasion to present the thing that we had been doing behind the scene. Last year, we did a 3-parts fan club only nationwide tour to perform the songs that we had released until now, titled 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'. The '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' live performance can be interpreted as the final of that tour, and of course it can also be interpreted as our 13th anniversary live performance.
And moreover, on top of that we also wanted the performance to be the starting point the thing that the GazettE will release after, which is 'DOGMA'.
Q: And all of you shared that same thoughts.
Kai: Yeah. None of us wanted to simply give an anniversary live performance.
I'm certain that the image concept of 'DOGMA' was after we did 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'.
Q: I guess the number '13', with its underlying meanings, is something that matches the GazettE.
Kai: I think so. Doing a live performance in our 13th year is something that we decided on quite some time ago. But like connecting to the concept of 'DOGMA', it wasn't like we thought about '13' as the centre of everything. It's only a coincidence that they overlapped. That's why, in our activities it's not that we're really particular about the number '13'.
Q: So rather, it was the result of good coincidences.
Kai: Yeah.
Q: You spent last year doing 'saiteigi' (redefinition) tour. Did you get a lot of influence by looking back at your journey so far?
Kai: It was also like that for our fans, but more than anything, for us, literally it became an experience where we redefined our existence and music. Had we not done the tour for the whole year, we wouldn't have even thought of making 'DOGMA' as an album that shows the GazettE's true essence. I'm certain that the image concept of 'DOGMA' was after we did 'NAMELESS LIBERTY DISORDER HEAVEN', 'PULSE WRIGGLING TO DIMSCENE', and 'GROAN OF VENOMOUS CELLS'.
Q: And depend on the era, the tunings for your songs also changed.
Kai: Or rather, depending on the era, the tune, everything changes (laughs). Until now, the GazettE would release some works, then we would go on a 2-3 months nationwide tour to promote the work, and after giving the final performance, we would go making the next work. We kept repeating that cycle in a fast pace.
And because of that, even if we wanted to completely express everything in that work, we weren't able to do that. And by doing the 'saiteigi tour', we could express the things that were left at that time. And in a good way, our feelings were reset, and we could proceed with the making of 'DOGMA'. It was a really good opportunity.
Translated by Val. Original interview here.
Jump to: part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Also read: RUKI | Uruha | Aoi | REITA | Kai
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