[translation] BORN - various quotes from vif-music

Various quotes from here. All over the place.

Ryoga: BORNは俺にとっての全てです。

(during the MC) "BORN is my everything."

Ryoga: 解散についてすごく悩みました。でも仲が悪くなったとかじゃなくて、むしろメンバーの仲はすごくいいんです。解散の話をしたことによって、よりみんなの仲が良くなった気がする。

I was very worried about disbanding. However, the relationship [among the members] is not bad at all, rather our relationship is very very good. Ever since talking about disbanding, I feel that our relationship has become even stronger.

Ryoga: 「ライブで言って良かった。自分たちにはファンの涙を受け止める責任があるから」

(after the live) "I'm glad we could announce it at a live. It was our duty to receive the tears of the fans ourselves."

K: 当日を迎えてもまだ実感がないんですよ。ファンの子に伝えて初めて実感するのかもしれない。今は怖いです。

The appointed day has come but it still does not feel real. I wonder if it will start to feel real when we tell the fans. Right now, I am scared.

K: 自分たちでちゃんと生でファンに伝えようっていうのも自分たちで決めたし、BORNは最後の最後まで男らしいなと思います。

We have decided together that we will tell the fans properly face to face, I guess that's how BORN will be manly until the bitter end.

K: 前に、「BORNに何かあった時はちゃんと言ってください」ってファンの子に言われたこともあったんですけど、その約束は守れたんじゃないかな。

I have been told by fans before that "if something happens to BORN please tell us properly", however, it seems like I could not keep that promise.

Ray: BORNが好きって言ってくれる子も、他にも好きなバンドがいると思うし、これから好きになるバンドもできると思う。そのバンドをどんどん応援してあげてほしいです。「このバンドも好きだけどBORNも好きだったな」ってどこかで思い出してもらえたら嬉しい。

I think that the fans who say that they love BORN certainly also have other bands they like and will have other bands that they like in the future. I want you to shower these bands with your support. I am very happy if you think sometimes "I love this band, but I also loved BORN just as much".

Ray: 解散してもBORNの曲は残ります。もしかすると何年後かにiPodでシャッフルしていて、聴くことがあるかもしれない。そういう時にスキップされないバンドでいたいな。

Even if we disband, BORN's songs will remain. Maybe in some years time when you put your iPod on shuffle you will listen to them sometimes. When that time comes I wish that we are a band that you won't skip.

TOMO: うちは元々、メンバー同士で飲みに行ったりしていたんですよ。前は1対1とかだったんですけど、解散が決まって、4人みんなで行ったり、美央も含めて5人で行ったりするようになりました。隠し事がなくなったというか、腹を割って話せるようになったと思う。

From the very start I often went drinking with the members. Usually it was just with one member or whatever, but when we decided to disband we were four, and we also took Mio along so we were all five. There were no secrets, and we could talk very openly.

BORN ViSULOG interview excerpt

Original here! ^-^



―― Please tell us about the highlights from the MV
猟牙： There's a tarantula involved.
―― A real one?
猟牙： Yes, a real one. They're cuter than I thought. They're fluffly like a cat and I kind of want one now.
Ray： I gave the tarantula a kiss, TOMO let it go inside his mouth, and K let it crawl over his body.
K： Yes yes.
TOMO： When it clawed its legs into his nipple it looked like it was rock climbing (laugh).
K： When the claws touched the skin it hurt more than expected......
猟牙： When it did that it was like a cat showing its claws, that was cute, right?!
―― TOMO-san, letting it go inside your mouth was pretty hardcore......
TOMO： Yeah right. It was the first time for me tasting spider.
猟牙： Those scenes were really hardcore.
―― Your body must have stiffened, right.
Ray： Oh, and it was the first time that BORN were wearing Japanese clothes, that was also a highlight.
TOMO： This time we have two patterns of costumes.
猟牙： We wanted to express righteousness and wickedness as two sides of "poison".

[interview] Ryoga & Mamo @ barks

Short conversation from here between Ryoga and Mamo about the BORN x R-shitei 2-man.
Enjoy~
Please don't repost, thank you (･ω･)

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Mamo: I want to do it again.

Ryoga: Yeah. It being our first twoman, it felt unexpectedly free. Being beat-up in the end was nice. Since we do have mutual fans and we have known each other for a long time I knew we would get along well. I am glad we were accepted so well.

Mamo: I only saw about half of BORN's live from the side but I thought we couldn't win against such a heated atmosphere. Our maximum was when we played "Saba (RADICAL HYSTERIA)". That was really the top!

Ryoga: Really? I thought "Yanderu kanojo" [Sick girlfriend] was a really good song. You know, I think that R-shitei is kind of a kirakira ["sparkling"] band, but when you started out, your band image was much darker, so even now you sing about these harsh things. I think that's quite an extraordinary style for a band.

Mamo: We actually aren't kirakira, but I wonder if we seem like it?

Ryoga: Yeah. You scream things like "Shooout" and stuff. We don't do that. In the past we told our fans "we hate stuff like tesensu and saki", so they only do kobushi and headbanging even now. By the way, speaking of being sick, are you worried about anything right now, Mamo?

Mamo: I've been worried sick since I was born.

Ryoga: And what's it you're worrying about?

Mamo: Right now it's wanting to sell more. Be more popular. How about you?

Ryoga: I'm also worried sick. Because everything goes up and down violently. I'm fine when I'm together with everyone, however, especially when I'm alone I'm thinking about stuff like "I should quit making music". Well, that's extreme. I get angry at myself for not being enough. There's also KIFUMI who has retired, so there were many ups and downs for us. However, since I lose my way on regular days, I won't lose it on live days because I'm all tense/nervous. I saw R-shitei's rehearsal today I thought "Wow, these young guys know how to have fun". I don't try to flatter you, but you're really good. I think that R-shitei is like an insane idol band.

Mamo: That's a new representation. But you're right.

Ryoga: Your fans throw you hearts and do saki but compared to your crazy music, these reactions looks like irony.

Mamo: Well I guess the insaneness of our fans is unbeaten, right. Well but, even though we played "Saba" today and were "flattered" by BORN's fans, when we asked who would come to our Zepp performance in Sapporo, no one replied. That was a little downer (laugh).

Ryoga: Eh. Really? I see...... [...] Of course. You also have a live tomorrow, right. [...]
[sorry, I will add this part later when I'm at home, I'm currently at work and can't really concentrate >_>]

Mamo: Yeah. BORN will also be on tour soon, right. Do your best! We will certainly perform together again!

REITA - SHOXX Vol. 246 Interview excerpt about the World Tour 2013

Interviewer: Speaking of lives, you will be participating in this summer's "Summer Sonic" again, and you will go on a world tour we mentioned earlier that you will carry out before the national fall tour.

REITA: It's already been 6 years, the time went by so quickly...

Interviewer: After your last Europe tour, you and also the other members said "we don't want to go to Europe again", but  I'm quite glad that you seem to have changed your mind (laugh).

REITA: That's not true, doing lives overseas is certainly not unpleasant. Simply said, there were some troubles with the meals and with the organisation of our traveling, that's all (bitter laugh). And our timing probably wasn't the right one either.

Interviewer: What do you mean by that?

REITA: After that, for a while it seemed that many bands went over there, wasn't it like that? When it comes to this, we are extremely eccentric (laugh). That hype has calmed down a little now, and it seems that (Visual kei) isn't such a big boom over there anymore. Nevertheless, it seems that despite this, there are still many people who are waiting for us to come. Therefore we were like "Let's go soon!". We will certainly make new experiences that we wouldn't make in Japan. We have also become a little more grown-up, therefre I feel like we will also be able to enjoy the troubles and the things we are not able to predict now.

--
Translation by Toki. Please don't repost without permission. 

RUKI - SHOXX Vol. 245 Interview excerpt about the World Tour 2013

Interviewer: [...] By the way, you're ready for your world tour now covering 7 countries and 9 cities, but it'll already be 6 years since last time, right? Why are you doing a world tour now?

Ruki: Until now, we had the strong feeling that we didn't want to be a part of some momentary trend, but now the trend of going overseas is gone and also for the growth of ourselves [as a band] we thought this would be a good point in time. Visual kei is a popular part of Japanese culture overseas, but I feel that Japan is essentially quite different. One could probably say that we want to change that. I don't think we want to assume the leadership, but we want to be proud. When we went [overseas] 6 years ago the lives themselves were good, but the division was exhausting and we couldn't make any really good memories, so we didn't really feel like we should go again. Personally, before now there wasn't anything we could gain from going overseas [again] and we couldn't really feel the meaning of going. So we didn't really focus on doing that. But now our CDs are being released overseas and there are more and more overseas fans attending our lives. We also developed that ambition of playing at a big overseas festival. Now it felt like "we should go now in order to gain something from it". While saying that we are a globally popular band, I think we can't just not go overseas at all, right? From now on we will probably also focus on that. But that doesn't mean that we will put our emphasis on overseas or that we will center our activities around going overseas. The reason for that is that we want to be a band that is properly active in Japan. And not only within the Visual kei scene, but we really hope to be noticed by a broad audience. I think we really aim to be this kind of band. Before going on tour overseas, we will release our new single "FADELESS", therefore I think I'll be able to talk about various things again when that time comes.


--
Translation by Toki. Please don't repost without permission.

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 4]

-- Please tell us about this time's album recording. What was difficult about it, and what were the parts that you turned your attention to?

Kyouki: For me it was "-kikei-". We didn't record this song the ordinary way. We turned our attention to to what extent we were able to put emotion into it when recording. The other songs were recorded quickly compared to it, but this song I just couldn't approve of, no matter how many times we re-recorded it. It took quite some time.

Haru: To me, it's all of the songs. We used different equipment than we use at lives when we recorded. Therefore I was really worried regarding the sounds. Because it was our first fill album, I absolutely wanted to create something me myself can approve of. So when I felt "this isn't what I wanted" after finishing recording, I recorded it again. I did a lot of trying and making mistakes.

Roku: For me it was "Kanashimi wa meguriyuku kisetsu to nemuru ai" ["Sadness is the returning seasons and sleeping sorrow "]. Because it's a ballad I was worried about creating the sounds. I made lots of use of "clean" (?), but of this alone there are three different kinds. I also used the instrument itself for different purposes when I was recording. I was really dussing over this. Because it's a ballad I wanted it to convey a sense of cleanliness.

Hisame: For me it were the two songs "Kodoku ningyou shoukougun" ["Lonely puppet syndrome"] and "Keihou dai-39-jou dai-1-kou 'shinshin soushitsu NO koui WA kore WO baSSESU'" ["Criminal Law, Article 39, Paragraph 1: 'An act of insanity is not punishable'"]*. Because these two songs are complete live songs, I also wanted to convey that rough live sound on the CD. So I played all the other songs seated, but these two songs I played standing.

Kyouki: Eh? Really?

Roku: No way!? I didn't know.

Hisame: I didn't really mention it, but yes, it's true (laugh). When I played them seated I though "it sounds wrong" and it just didn't feel right.

-- This was a recording episode the members also just learned about (laugh). What about Rui?

Rui: For me it was "Kairi-sei douitsu-sei shougai" ["Dissociative Identity Disorder"]. This song got finished comparatively recently but I was really worried about the arrangement of the drums. At first, when I listened to the demo I received, I thought about it on my own, but it just didn't come to me clearly. So I asked for the others' help when we were at the studio and we did the arrangement together. We tried various things in order to find out what would sound the best. In the end, worrying was unnecessary and it sounds even better now than I had imagined, therefore I'm satisfied.

-- Okay, to conclude, please tell us about your ideal image as a band, and your goals as players.

Kyouki: I just want to keep our point of view as a band. And just a little, I want many people to listen to Grieva's songs. And as a vocal, I don't just want to become good at singing, I want to put emotions and my heart into the songs as well. Therefore, I don't just want to pursue skillfullness, but also how to express myself.

Roku: I just aim to be a cool guitarist who is playing the guitar standing on stage. I want to become a guitarist who has this certain aura.

Rui: I think at the moment I'm playing quite furiously, but when I look at the recorded lives, I feel like my movements are still quite small. Therefore, I want to becoma a strong and intense drummer, visually and sound-wise.

Haru: I love technical play and I also aim at improving my personal technique. But as a live band, I also want to put out that Grieva-ness more and more. That's why I want to play a different kind of guitar every time. I want people to say "it's different" and "it's interesting" when they see me.

Hisame: I want to become someone who is respected more than someone who respects someone else and aims to be like them. I think more than being "the best", wanting to become a "unique" bassist is much better.

--
* Translation of the Article here.
Translated by me, please don't copy without permission （・ω・)
Original interview in Japanese here: http://visual.musicshelf.jp/interview/id1153/ 

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 3]

-- Well, your first full album "Oni to kage" is being released on February 13 but you've already made a presale on February 2 at your oneman at Meguro Rock Maykan, right? Before hearing about the album, please tell us about your ompressions of the live, how were the reactions?

Kyouki: The reactions were incredlibe. The live was also very Grieva-like, intense and furious, it was satisfying.

Hisame: On that day, we hadn't planned to do an encore at all. But then, we heard them shout for one.

Kyouki: Because we really didn't plan it, we played every song that we have.

Hisame: But the voices were really loud, and our manager also said "won't you do it?", so we just did it. We just played the songs from the main part all over again.

Kyouki: This wasn't a really natural encore. Deciding on which songs one would play during an encore beforehand feels kind of different. Therefore I'm happy that we could do such an encore, and I think it was a good live.

-- Because they were voices that wanted you, you were happy, right?

Hisame: We were terribly happy!

Roku: I think now we are ready for our next oneman. When we decided to do this oneman live, that was like the first step in order to connect to the next one, I think. Before the live we were anxious and restless but by trying to do it, we also got many reactions.

Rui: Last summer when we started our activities, we immediatly had a free oneman at Rock Maykan but at that time we were stiff from nervousness. So we reflected upon that a lot. However, half a year has passed since then and I think we could have our revenge. We were able to show a more mature Grieva live, I think. It has not been decided yet when the next oneman will take place but my desire to do it like that for the next one hsd grown.

Haru: Because I feel like we were able to establish Grieva musically better than when we held that oneman last August, I personally was really looking forward to it and it was a live that gave me lots of motivation, too. Roku has already said that, too, but more than a live that would leave behind a clear result, I wanted it to be kind of a starting line. Saying this, I think that it really was our first step.

-- "Oni to kage" will be your first release as Grieva, but now that you completed it, how do you feel about it?

Kyouki: When I got the package in my hands for the first time, I was truly happy. I was also really particular about the jacket design, and I also wanted to reflect our views in the booklet. That's why I also want everyone to have a good look at it. As for the songs, this album should kind of represent our first release, that's why we were very motivated when we made it. Shouldn't every song sound like it could have been released as a single, or shouldn't it be like a best of album? That's what we felt when we were working on it.

-- When listening to it, it really sounds dense.

Kyouki: So far there haven't been many dense albums, right?

-- Yes. One doesn't know which song could be taken away from the album if one had to choose.

Kyouki: I wouldn't want to take any song away. All of them just match.

-- I see. How did you go about the recording of Grieva's songs?

Kyouki: Me and Haru made the songs but after we made the demo tapes we had all the members listen to them and worked out the arrangement together. So when Haru made the song and the demo, I added the melody and we handed it over to the members. Because we did the arrangement together, all credits go to "Grieva".

------

Translated by me, please don't copy without permission （・ω・)
Full interview in Japanese here: http://visual.musicshelf.jp/interview/id1153/

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 2]

-- What about you, Hisame?

Hisame: I wanted to be in a band since about middle school. In High school, I joined the light music club. The friends I made there liked Visual kei and I also liked Visual kei from early on but I've never been to a live. So these friends took me along and I went to see my first live. This had enormous impact on me and I thought "I want to do Visual kei!". I only started playing bass after I joined the music club but when I played bass I really got into the feeling and the sounds. From then on I went to see lives in order to become a bassist.

Haru: I originally liked and listened to western music and started guitar because of it. I listened to various kinds of songs, but a friend recommened a Visual kei live to me that I went to see and came to yearn for the intense parts of Visual kei. My inspiration to play guitar was western music, but my motivation to be in a band has been Visual kei from the beginning. Unlike in other genres, the sense of unity in a band is somehow greater in Visual kei [than in other genres], isn't it. I really like that about it.

Rui: In my case, I came to listen to the J-Pop that came on TV during middle school, but a friend who was in a band was looking for a drummer. An really, ever since I was a grade school student, we had a drumset in our house and I was taught the basics by my parents and could play a little. So I said "well, I will play [the drums for you]".  Taking part in this was how I started being in bands.

-- Having a drumset in one's house is a rather rare circumstance, isn't it? Were your parents having you playing music as well?

Rui: Weeell, I really liked music but, I never played anything seriously.

The drumset my dad had was originally belonging to an aquiantance who said "when I throw it away, you can have it", and so we inherited it. Therefore that drumset got quite past its best times, and I already disposed of it, since it became useless. This was the story of how I first got in touch with playing drums.

Kyouki: You're part of the elite now, eh (laugh).

-- Cerainly! It's just normal to be worried as a drummer if you can't place a full drum set in your house.

Rui: When I think about it now, I was really blessed.

-- What about Roku?

Roku: When I was in middle school, a friend made me listen to DIR EN GREY's "six ugly" and I started to like them. We started to talk about taking part in the middle school graduation live and so I was in my first band. I was doing drums back then, but somehow it didn't really suit me. As for drums, there are special guys like Rui but normally one can't place a drumset in ones house, so one can hardly ever practice. That's why I thought about what I could have in my home and chose guitar. I bought a cheap guitar and practiced in my home. So I became a guitarist without a realy motivation.

-- It's been 7 months since Grieva started but, how well do you guys get along?

Kyouki: I think quite well. Everyone portrays their own individual persona as well.

-- Would it be okay for you to explain everyone's persona?

Kyouki: Ehm, first we have kamite* guitarist Roku. He's the guitarist with the stylish movements. He's someone with a cool way of enchanting people. Shimote* guitarist Haru is the one with the many technically refined guitar solos. But while he is enchanting with his sounds, his moves are also intense. Bassist Hisame's persona is androgynous and his staging is mysterious. Hisame is someone who will show you a unique smile during a live. Rui is surely the wild one among us. He's playing drums while rocking hard.

Roku: (While pointing on a picture of the interview) I'm a lot like this persona. Judging from the appearance, my persona and its looks are quite equal.

-- I see. As an interviewer, it's helping a lot that all of you have very distinct hair colors (laugh).

Kyouki: We get told this a lot (laugh).

--
Kamite = Guitarist on the right side of the stage
Shimote = Guitarist on the left side of the stage
Translated by me, please don't copy without permission （・ω・)
Full interview in Japanese here: http://visual.musicshelf.jp/interview/id1153/

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 1]

If you're listening to Grieva's songs, you'll be tickled by nostalgia. So it's not surprising that their band concept says "we're the successors of the good old times" and that they have the aura of a kotekote* Visual kei band, such as the ones that formed the second half of the 90ies.
[...]

Restoring the good old times of the Visual scene

-- Because this is our first interview with you, please tell us about how you guys got together as a band

Kyoki: Grieva's start was when me and Roku said we wanted to start a band. At first we thought about what concept we want and suddenly we thought of "reviving the good old days". It's something that doesn't exist right now and so we came to start a kotekote Visual kei band. We started looking for members who also sympathized with this concept and, moreover, who want to aim high together with us, because that's what we thought would be nice. That's how we five gathered. We wanted to become a band that leaves a shocking impression on the (current) Visual scene. We went to various live houses and went by word of mouth in order to gather everyone.

-- Speaking of "restoring the good old times", by "good old times" you certainly thought of the Visual kei of the second half of the 90ies at once, right?

Kyoki: Yes, that's right. We wanted to revive the impressions that we've received of that era.

Haru: I also love the Visual kei of that time and I also listened to it. Therefore, when I was invited to do this band together, I simply thought "this is going to be fun".

Rui: Grieva appears to be kotekote and to be a band with lots of violent songs, but because I've never been in a band like this before until now, I immediately thought of DIR EN GREY, a band that I loved listening to when I was a student, when I've heard of the plans to form such a band. I thought "wouldn't it be fun to try doing the same violent 90ies Visual kei again now".

-- Among your generation, DIR EN GREY was certainly the center of everything, right?

Kyouki: That's right. But as for the music, can't you hear that it's going against the current? Even if it wasn't real time, I was also listening to bands like X JAPAN or LUNA SEA, because you can also listen to them afterwards. Nevertheless, without restricting ourselves to DIR EN GREY, we wanted to revive the music and the style of that awesome era.

-- The longing to be kote-kei must therefore be really strong?

Kyouki: Nowadays, there are almost no kotekote Visual kei bands around, right? Of course it has also become less popular.

-- Nowadays, there are many colorful and sparkling bands out there, right.

Kyouki: But for us, Visual kei is that kind of style. "THIS is Visual kei!", this is our ideal. I have a feeling that having such a style now is going to be really interesting. The way it is now, Visual kei will die out someday. That's why we wanted to create a band that everyone, no matter who, will recognize this kotekote band as Visual kei.

-- Right now, how are the reactions of your fans?

Kyouki: People who've been listening to the 90ies Visual kei are like "this brings back so many memories". On the other hand, fans from the younger generations say "I haven't heard something like this before".

-- There's a wide variety of fans, it seems.

Kyouki: There are people of various ages, yes.

-- I see. The conversation is going well, but now, tell us about why you have started with making music. What has been your motivation?

Kyouki: When I started listening to DIR EN GREY, my attitude towards music changed. It's like I woke up. I thought that I also wanted to be in such a cool band and I also wanted to express myself by music as awesome as that.

-- Have been a vocal from the beginning, Kyouki?

Kyouki: Yes. I also have musical instruments and can play the basics, but I'm definitely a vocal.

--
* kotekote kei = couldn't describe it any better, so here's a link
Translated by me, please don't take without permission （・ω・)

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 2]

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 3]

グリーヴァ / Grieva VSHELF Interview Translation [Part 4]