the GazettE Sound Analyze Book – Ruki

I: First of all, please tell us again what made you want to be a vocalist?
Ru: Two bands before, Uruha and Reita were there too by the way, I originally was the drummer! During that time I included the vocals when I worked on songs and turned into a vocalist (lol), our vocalist at that time changed to the drums then. However, without hitting the drums anymore, we decided to quit the band (lol). But it also didn’t really feel as if I was a vocalist for some time! Because we also didn’t have many people who watched us. My eyes were opened… around the time of our first Shibuya AX (2004), I guess (lol). At that day, standing in the middle of the stage was what I imagined from the beginning, I think.
I: First live at AX? Even though 2 years have already passed since your formation? (lol)
Ru: That’s right, but our management at that time was strange! We didn’t know whether we had a live or not until we reached the venue and the CDs weren’t ready at the release day either. When I called the CD shops and asked whether the GazettE’s new single was already out, they replied with: „No, it was postponed“ (forced smile). It was around the time we released WAKAREMICHI, but we tried to handle that situation with all our might, so it was’t really about being a vocalist, right? We had more urgent things to worry about. Our audience decreased in that time too! After that we joined a new management and they told us quite a lot of things.
I: About the songs?
Ru: Also about the songs, and also about the band. Until then we didn’t decide for a set list until the actual day, right? Somehow. For events too, we even changed it while we watched the rehearsal of other bands. Our manager got angry at us for doing this. We were told to think about the set list one week in advance, and also about the MC. From there the feeling increased that we had to work properly.

I: When you created songs, you included temporary vocals, but did you actually like to sing?
Ru: I liked to sing. I also went to karaoke a lot during middle and high school. I think most songs I sang were melodious, right? Like V2, the songs that were done by Yoshiki and Komuro Tetsuya. I also entered session bands as a vocal! If I have to categorise myself, I was a drummer who was used to being a vocalist and I remember how much fun I had standing in the middle of the stage for those session bands, right? (Based on questionnaires) Because drummer often have the image that they „can’t be seen“, right? (lol) But I didn’t think about becoming a vocalist. In high school I distanced myself from visual kei, and was more into HI-STANDARD, Nunchaku or Japanese hardcore. I went with those styles, but after I graduated, I was invited by a friend and started again with visual kei. But that was after I got used to writing songs, right? For example for my singing, I used my original thoughts.
I: When did you start with writing lyrics and songs?
Ru: That’s also strange, but I started writing lyrics in the beginning of middle school! Around the time I started listening to LUNA SEA, I kind of got used to writing, right? I tried out what kind of ideologies I wanted to go with, for example.
I: What kind of lyrics did you write?
Ru: I remember writing something like „desert and rose“ in the beginning (lol). I don’t remember why I wrote it, but NIL which we released later, somehow has a close image to „desert and rose“. I wonder why? It looks like going back to one’s puberty?! (lol) The type who walks in the rain without using an umbrella (lol).
I: There are times like that! (lol)
Ru: Although I was lost in listening to songs, right?
I: There are also people who write lyrics even though they don’t proceed with music, right? But that was different for you?
Ru: Yeah. I don’t know whether I wanted to start my own band at that time, but from the moment I first wrote a song, I also always wrote temporary lyrics! But during middle school I had no equipment (to record), right? That’s why I recorded cassettes in overlay! (lol) I even played the drums on top of my futon. Afterwards the ringing melody came out by the drums and the bass which completed the song. But the first time I created beautiful lyrics was for WAKAREMICHI! Although, because I didn’t know how to write proper lyrics yet, the sentences were way too long, weren’t they? Before that, I already had songs, but no lyrics! That’s why I sang what came into my mind during lives (lol). It may have been suitable, but it didn’t became a complete work. I didn’t really feel any importance for them and just sang about things that suited the song. That’s why… you could say that lyrics equal your ideology, right? The point is, while SLAM DUNK was popular, kids who didn’t even know the word dark, got to know about the fears of being an adult or rebellious things. If I have to compare it with something, it is as if you wake up on a bike, right?
I: To write proper lyrics, I think you had to study and search for something.
Ru: In the beginning you don’t really know about the individuality of the lyrics, do you? That’s why I thought about lyrics like the ideology of a song, but later I got used to listening to hardcore, right? There I mostly used English, or many kanji composition, so I got used to research with a dictionary! I liked to read dictionaries. From then on always, I learned many words. I also researched 四字熟語 (four-character compound word), which came up in one of hides songs. In the beginning I learned by watching others to improve my writings, right? And I watched a lot of movies too. I gave attention to the end result being like this, the title being like that and how the story was build, right?
I: Speaking of the generation, while I was able to grasp an ideology coming from the source of the so called visual kei, I catch a lot of songs from Japanese bands which have lyrics that are really easy to understand, like melodious punk for example.
Ru: Ah, those are slowly proceeding to the core, right? It would have been great if I had stopped with HI-STANDARD, but since I got to know Nunchaku, I started to listen to hardcore from my town. Unexpectedly those lyrics weren’t sorrowful! I also liked the feeling of harmony. I didn’t know anything about heterogeneity at that time, but it was different to the genre of the Komuro family (Komuro was also a producer who supported other artist and those were called the Komuro family). At that time, when I liked a band, I wanted to say that I liked them the most (lol), I also collected all information about them step by step. You could say that I turned into a maniac (lol). So that’s the cause that made me into one (lol).
I: There are already a lot of people who started with an instrument and with a band, but how do you feel about that?
Ru: My feelings didn’t really change. Because I remember that I also started because of the bands I was into, I thought that others also listen to the GazettE and might think the same. I don’t really know what kids have to do to become a band-man nowadays, but for me, you could say that I liked the culture itself of the genre I was into. I was also into the clothes they wore, and liked to pursue their roots, that’s why I researched what CDs they liked, and bought them! I’d be happy if they’d listen to the GazettE like that too, right?

I: You are an unchanged orthodox listener, aren’t you? (lol) Do you have a feature that is very likely for your lyrics?
Ru: Ahh. Something that has been consistently there is, that I think about how to do the ending, I think. How the punch line should be and such. That’s why, even if I look at old lyrics, I feel embarrassed about a wrong spelling or word, but what I was aiming for, didn’t change. Also that I want heart-warming parts, even in rough songs. You could call it bittersweet, maybe? Around that time we had the best days of J-POP and that might have been something that was deeply ingrained in myself, right? CHAGE AND ASKA for example too, rather than the refrain, I preferred the middle part. Basically it might have been because I liked J-Pop, but… that might also be because I grew up on the countryside, right? (lol)
I: Does growing up on the countryside have an influence on the lyrics?
Ru: Not really (lol). In front of my home there was a mountain that didn’t look as if people were living there. I’m not talking about feeling the sorrow of the sunset, or the melancholy of Japan, while writing lyrics on a bridge close to my town… When I first wrote lyrics, it was close to a bridge behind a mountain, though (lol). If it were a park, everyone could just pass by, but there is no one on a mountain, that’s why I was able to get lost in thoughts there. In the evening I took my notes with me, looked out for something like a tree stump, sat down and wrote.
I: However, you indulged into such a world because you created lyrics, right?
Ru: Yeah. I think that might be my roots, but you can say that I included those overflowing feelings into my lyrics.
I: It’s nice to write at home, but to especially bring them outside is interesting, isn’t?
Ru: The point is: There are times where you get soaked by the rain, right? In that environment I placed myself to write, right? That’s why, if I write a song for winter, I put the air conditioning on very cool for example. I still do that, by the way. If I write lyrics at home, I imagine landscapes before my eyes and the room needs to be dark. If other sounds enter, I won’t be able to concentrate, right? It was the same for NINTH. I wrote the lyrics, while getting a solid image in imagining a landscape, colours or something similar.
I: When you worked on the lyrics for NINTH, I heard that you ignored messages or calls from the other members. They said that this hasn’t happened before and that you were more indulged in writing lyrics than ever.
Ru: I was concentrated, that’s why. Because it is an album where I wrote about myself a lot, it also made me mentally unstable and I wanted to write lyrics in that state. That’s why I didn’t feel like having funny talks, or talk about work in general. I didn’t want to include other elements. That’s why I caused troubles for the people around me, but I didn’t sleep until I made it and did it earnestly. While living your daily live, there are days you feel more positive, right? Even in days with continuous bad mood, there might be one day were you feel better, right? In regards to my feelings, if it weren’t for such a day, I probably wouldn’t have been able to write UNFINISHED. Because that one contains those feelings quite a lot. That’s why, when I calm down, I don’t feel like continuing that trend anymore and change the lyrics countless times, right? Because depending on the day your thoughts differ. But it wasn’t as if I planned to ignore them!

I: We already talked about the fact that you like to read dictionaries, but in doing this, did you accumulate vocabulary?
Ru: That’s already accomplished in listening to many different things, right? People who are good in writing lyrics just have it in them. For example I also like the solo project of the vocalist of the band Tsubaki yashijûsô (Nakada Yûji) and also like how Tamaki Kôji writes his lyrics. In having many different things, the way you grasp things changes. That’s why, for example when there’s something like a cassette, without calling it a cassette, you compare the form, or the size with the rotation of a gear. In regards to TV, too, you won’t say Cathode ray tube, but something with forth square for example. In using metaphors, you feel cultivated, right? I have a lot of cases where I wrote from a third person view, but in the beginning I used more phrases, didn’t I? For example, even if I decide to say „a butterfly is flying“ you can change the way to say it, right? When I researched words, I happened to see a lot of those cases.

I: Since new music came up in Japan, people doing their own song production, or better said singer and songwriter increased, didn’t they? Just, with becoming an industry with complete division of the labour, the lyrics of the people, whose names were still known from the previous generations, left an impression, right?
Ru: Yukinojo Mori is like that too, right? He is special, so I definitely understand when people like him and want to ask him to write lyrics for them.
I: For creating lyrics, are there other crucial things?
Ru: Except a PC, right? I wonder…, Rather than things, it’s the place, right? And also the feeling of the light is important. I wonder how I wrote lyrics before. I thought about trying out joss sticks, but unexpectedly I lost my concentration (lol). In the middle I just slipped into a trance. It is important to choose a place where you can write for a long time. Too bright and blinding won’t do it! And also it needs to be quiet. When I write in the studio while singing, it would be troublesome if there are explosions from the booth next door (lol). Now I’m curious what others need to write (lol). Like chamomile tea?
I: There are people like that, right? It’s not limited to chamomile tea, though, but for example a certain drink you need. Or when you write by hand, it won’t work except for that pen or paper.
Ru: I admire people, who can write by hand, I guess. I use the PC, but for that one I am picky until the very last! For the point size for example.
I: Depending on the size of those letters, the nuance changes, right?
Ru: Yeah. In that matter the lyrics turn to cards, while having that in mind, I look at the lined up, finished lyrics and change the space between the lines or the size of the letters. That also takes a lot of time! When I think about the time I started being a vocalist, I definitely got better, didn’t I? (lol)
I: I think you’re really picky in regards to the lyrics!
Ru: For example, if I suddenly sing a demo, whether it is about the ending of the song, the way how I extend, or rather than cutting down the number of the bars, there are cases where a subtle dislocation suits the song better. We’re reproducing that at the real recording, but it takes a lot of time to do so. There are also times where we aren’t able to reproduce that! Same for lives. During lives there are days were everything is perfect! Somehow we won’t get tired, the ending of phrases or such and our performance went well too. But that’s what we’re always aiming for, right? For the GazettE, the songs have a nuance and a nuance of repeated beats, which makes the manners to sing difficult! To be able to sing them in every single live, I had to improve my skills. I already had experiences in doing so, but… to give priority to the feeling of the pitch, the volume of the voice, or the nuance, at lives for example, we leave everything to our ear-monitors. However high or low the sounds are, we made them in a way that we are also able to hear falsetto or shouts, to be able to hear whether I was releasing the sound I thought I would. For the vocalist the throat is important, but in that matter the ear is important too. If the condition of the ear-monitor is bad, I got the impression that many people ruin their ears with it! I had times like that too, when a staff told me that my voice was very loud that day, I noticed that I had used more strength than necessary because of the condition of the ear-monitor, right?

I: For your songs you need a lot of different voices, but is there an advice for practices you could give our readers?
Ru: I often improve my skills during recordings. It’s not even funny anymore how often I’m recording. It’s not really a practice, but I wish for a certain quality and do it until I reach it. That’s why I still have times where I ruin my throat! I want to learn how to do it before going on tour and repeat it again and again. And also to keep your throat well. After all, if you ruin your throat, that day, no matter how much feelings you put into your voice, you won’t be able to perform well.
I: It’s also important to distinguish, right? In your case it would be the placement of the words, which you used for the rhythm of the song and the suitable voice, right?
Ru: Ahh. In that case Hip Hop…would be easiest to explain this with. I think I’ve learned a lot of Eminem’s way to speak very fast! I’m also doing that. If I increase the BPM (beats per minute), I confirm which speed would be suitable. I also think that the older I turn, my interest in blues or jazz, or other genres with straightened singing will increase, but for now we won’t do it. We’ll do that kind of music that is possible right now. That’s why I don’t think about making our music more grown up. But facing the future and listening to many different things will be a gain for yourself, right?