During 'Saiteigi tour', it's like I came to understand "So this is how I felt at that time", so it wasn't that difficult to focus on those feelings.
Q: You always put your feelings at that time into songs. But, people's feelings change along with time and experience, don't they. And therefore there is a chance that the feelings you have for 'DOGMA' will change in the future too.
RUKI: If I listen to 'DOGMA' again one year from now, I might think "This isn't it" (laughs). But that's just how feelings are. And that's what it's like to move forward. It's obvious that my feelings now would be different from my feelings a few years, or some ten years ago. And that's how people grow.
Q: The GazettE had released a lot of songs until now. And since you've been in this band for 13 years, I think there must be some changes in the feelings you had for your songs. And since the 'saiteigi' tour which you had last year was centred around your old songs, how did you feel when singing them?
RUKI: During 'Saiteigi tour', my feelings reverted back to how I was when we made the songs. Or rather, I sang the songs like, "So that time I sang the songs with this kind of feelings". Since the beginning, I often put my feelings at that time into lyrics. During 'Saiteigi tour', it's like I came to understand, "So this is how I felt at that time," and so it wasn't that difficult to focus on those feelings.
Q: I see.
RUKI: But, the older the song is, just like "a child putting his feelings into lyrics", even though I put those feelings in the current me, no matter what I do there will still be an obvious gap between now and then. If I try to reproduce it in normal live performance, I will have to embrace that gap while singing and so, I might not be able to 'get' the feelings.
Q: Even though your feelings now are different from what it was back then, sometimes you have to respond to the fans' request for old songs. Isn't it difficult to keep that balance?
RUKI: I don't mind performing those songs if the fans want to listen hear them. But, as the singer, "I won't be able to sing with the exact same feelings as written on the lyric" (laughs). It's like getting told to write a composition while including sentences I made when I was in kindergarten or primary school. However, I can understand and try to answer the fans' request for us to perform our old songs. The interesting thing is, the older the song is, the more I have to change my feelings. My way of thinking when I was in my 20s is way different from when I enter my 30s. Further, even if there are things which I used to think "This is really bad!", now there are way worse things than that, and so I won't feel the same about that thing anymore. I think, feelings change over time like that.
For the '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN]' live performance at Nippon Budokan, we made the beginning and end linked to 'DOGMA' and had it unfold with (that concept) as its foundation. And the songs performed there was like a continuous flashback of it. We made it with that kind of story in mind.
Q: In the '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN]' live performance at Nippon Budokan on March 10th, you showed the mixture of the 'past, present, and future' of the GazettE.
RUKI: For the '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN]' live performance at Nippon Budokan, we made the beginning and end linked to 'DOGMA' and had it unfold with (that concept) as its foundation. And the songs performed there was like a continuous flashback of it. We made it with that kind of story in mind.
Q: I feel that it's kind of a start for 'DOGMA'.
RUKI: It was the place where the story of 'DOGMA' started. And since there was also the theme of '13th year', we thought about how to present it.
Q: Although the title is '13 years', since inside your mode had switched to making 'DOGMA', it's obvious that your feelings have turned more towards your new album.
RUKI: That would be the case.
Q: How did the GazettE view its 13th year?
RUKI: This band actually doesn't really celebrate things like 'anniversary of something'. It's like we just answered the fans' requests. This kind of (celebration) actually isn't consistent with the foundation of the band. Rather, we never liked the concept of 'nth year'. But, for our 10th anniversary, the members had this feelings of wanting to draw a line, and so we did it. But, when we were asked, "What are you going to do for your 13th anniversary?" , to be honest, we were like, "How should we express it?" and didn't really have a concept. It's just that, since we had 'Saiteigi tour' which was aimed at our fan club members, and when we were asked (about the anniversary live) we have started making 'DOGMA', and we understood that there were no other occasion to give a live performance, so we were like, "It's been a while so let's show ourselves to the public".
Q: But in the end, 'Saiteigi tour', '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN]' and your new album 'DOGMA' have become interconnected.
RUKI: Rather deliberately aiming for it, since we did the performances while thinking about our future activities, they became well connected naturally.
We want to incorporate the desire born from the release of 'DOGMA' to our next development. And we want to reflect each and every activities and incorporate them to our 12 pointed starts.
Q: In your Budokan live performance you showed a 12-pointed star and announced that you will make various movements from now on. As you've only made a few announcement until now, will there be new developments in the future?
RUKI: We finally released 'DOGMA' after 2 years, so there are still many things left unexpressed. We created 'DOGMA' with a clear concept in mind, but there are things that didn't fit the frame, and so by making 'DOGMA' now we have more things that we want to express. Usually, people make a few singles and compile them into an album, and then go on a tour with that album, and once it's finished they enter a new project. When we did followed that pattern, after everything was over we were like, "That time should have done this", or "We wanted to expand that world even more". We've got desire to do many more things.
This time, just like what our announcement hinted at, first we released 'DOGMA'. After that we'll be going on 2 tours and changes will be born out of them, and we want to create more changes along with time. We want to incorporate the desire born from the release of 'DOGMA' to our next development. And we want to reflect each and every activities and incorporate them to our 12 pointed starts. That's why, we're also looking forward to how we will express ourselves in the future.
Translated by Val.
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