ROCK AND READ 35: Tatsuro, Aprile 2011

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-----Prima Parte----

14th Anniversary

profile
Born August 21. Blood Type A. Vocalist of MUCC, which formed in 1997. [The rest is ticket info.]

As the final live for their tour “Chemical Parade,” which followed the release of the album “Karma,” and as a special live to reflect on the band’s history, MUCC will hold a two-day live at the Budokan for the first time in May.
In relation to this live, this interview was taken place to comprehensively go over “Karma” and the past 14 years, but the earthquake happened in the middle of of the photo shoot on the day of the interview (refer to p. 224).
This interview session became an event that Tatsuro and the other staff will never forget……..

*This interview took place on March 18 after the earthquake.

Everyone is still very much a kid. I’m sure I’ll still be giving someone a kancho [1] with both hands even when I’m 40 years old.

–Today is March 18. Just one week after the earthquake.
It has already been a week? I don’t get nervous at all with a small aftershock. Maybe I’ve become numb.

–That afternoon, we were in a studio five stories up in a building built on reclaimed land doing a photo shoot, and as a result [of the quake], we waited on doing the interview but…… Tatsuro-san, you were quite calm despite the violent shaking.
Not really. It was the first time I ever took cover under a table, during make-up. I thought, “This is bad!”

–You may have felt panicked, but I thought, this person isn’t one to show it on his face.
I may be like that. Yeah. I am aware of that. I may be thinking, “Wah!” but I am calm. When we were leaving the studio, the soles of the shoes my stylist prepared were pretty slippery so I was thinking, “These slip. Conversely, these shoes are more dangerous!” as we were evacuating. I was scared and I thought I was scared, but I just didn’t panic. Rather, I’m more afraid of ghosts.

–As in you find things of the unknown more frightening?
Yeah. When it comes to a huge earthquake…… there’s no meaning in resisting. When you can think of it like that, you can remain pretty calm. But, at the time when it was shaking, you couldn’t tell what was going to happen. On the way home, there was more information…… On top of that, it seems we were driving through the roads with the most traffic, so it took me 9 hours to get home, even though it’s in the same city.

–Your parent’s home is in Ibaraki-ken. You must have been worried?
I was worried, of course, and I did call, but I couldn’t get a hold of them. But what I thought was amazing was that even if I couldn’t call, if I had access to wi-fi, I could access Twitter. In my case, my older brother also uses it, and he wrote, “The whole family, including my parents, are safe” so I think that helped me from not panicking. YUKKE might’ve panicked, thinking about his personality. Like with airplanes, he’s afraid to fly because he’s afraid it’ll crash, but I ride them thinking, “if it crashes, it crashes and there’s nothing you can do about.” In other words, I give up easily (laughs).

–There must be good cases and bad cases for being like that.
Yeah. This personality is a double-edged sword (laughs).

–Even after the earthquake there have been numerous aftershocks and there are many problems arising, so it seems difficult to say that we will be able to go back to our everyday lives. Are you one to be able to keep calm, despite this situation?
Yeah. I give up easily and I can think “what happens, happens.” Things that can be resolved will be resolved somehow. I won’t get my hopes up high but I won’t be in deep despair. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m throwing everything away. I certainly will work hard, but I think that “how you become is the result of hard work” is also, in the end, part of “what happens, happens.” Maybe I can remain calm because I can think of it that way.

–You may be someone others can lean on at times like these.
No, I don’t know about that. In the end, I didn’t have a clue what I should take with me when we were evacuating that time. And, you know how I was dressed kinda weird. I only had a third of my hair pulled back, and I had make up on. So I thought, for starters, I need to take makeup remover wipes with me (laughs).

–Depending on the situation, you may have had to evacuate dressed like that.
Yes. Even so, I had my hair & make-up artist’s brush and spray inside my bag that I prepared thinking, “I must take these with me” (laughs). It’s like, “Hey, there are more important things to take with you!”

–Regarding the makeup for the photo shoot, it seems different from both the past and present. What were your thoughts behind it?
Were you surprised? You know how we’re doing two lives at the Budokan in May? I wanted to show the two extremes in association with that. To me personally, the formal look and the kimono and makeup look are both in association with the MUCC from the past and not the current MUCC. And while I leaned toward how we were in the past, I also mixed in the nuance of “how I would arrange it now.” I wasn’t planning on doing that kind of stuff with the makeup in the beginning. I thought I should just have black around my eyes like we did in the past, but then I thought it would be boring to just wear the same makeup that I thought was Visual-kei makeup back then even if the concept was the past. So then I thought, it might be better to take a more modern approach where you can’t really tell which genre it fits in. I thought not being able to see any sense of genre would be better than having the makeup be only Visual-kei.

–And, were you able to achieve the visual you were going for?
Yeah, probably (laughs). Lately, I like the feeling of not being able to sense genre. So I wore a kimono over regular clothes and wore non-sensical makeup. Like, you know there is definitely something wrong, but you can’t tell what exactly is wrong. Like a one-person mismatcher. If I just wore Japanese-style clothing, it’d just become cosplay, and that’s not what I was going for.

–To not just do what you did in the past, but to do it in a way that you would now. That must be connected to the second day at the Budokan, where you will be doing a history live?
Yeah. We don’t intend to completely recreate our past selves. On our 10th anniversary, we did a live called “HISTORY OF MUCK” with a concept for each old album, and I remembered that today before coming here. I think we did a live with songs from “Antique” and “Aishuu” at O-WEST. That was from the simple reasoning that we had played those songs many times at O-WEST back then. But after we finished the live, I regretted it, “Why did we do it at that stage?”, and I suddenly remembered that this morning.

–Where was this regret coming from?
The people who had the opportunity to see our lives back then were a very small crowd. Yet there were others who wanted to see it but couldn’t, so I thought why didn’t we choose a bigger place.

–So, [you're saying] it wasn’t necessary to associate the specific stage with the past?
Yeah yeah yeah. Even though we’re playing our old songs again, only a limited number of people could see it. Afterward I regretted it, “Why’d we do it that way?” I thought, it’s important to do it at a big place, especially when you’re going to do something like that. Also, we just recreated the past that time, and I kind of felt bad for our fans. I think we did something wasteful. This time, we don’t intend on simply recreating the past, and we’re doing it at the Budokan, so everyone who wants to see it should be able to.

–So the regret from back then isn’t linked to the concept of this time’s history live at the Budokan?
Yeah. Because I just remembered it this morning (laughs). I thought, “Ahh, come to think of it, something like that happened,” before leaving my house. There are a lot of cases where things come together for me after the fact. This must be an outcome of what happens, happens and things will only happen as it should.

–That things will come together even if you don’t intend them to?
Yeah. Because our band name MUCC was chosen in the moment. We weren’t even thinking about how it’d link to “69″ or “Rock,” and we had no idea it’d lead to “MUCC day” (laughs). In the end, it ended up being a pretty good band name. We realized that after the fact.

[1] kancho = an action where you fold hands with your index fingers sticking out and shove your index fingers up someone’s butt

Fonte : [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (1/6)

-----Seconda Parte----

I think MUCC was just lucky (laughs). I really think we were fortunate. Because we haven’t experienced any hardship.

–Even the name was a product of coincidence. Still, I’m one to want some kind of drama behind-the-scenes, so I’d like to believe that there was some kind of inevitability.
I understand how you feel, but I think MUCC was just lucky (laughs). I really think we are a fortunate band. I think over half of whether a band continues lies on “luck.” I also think timing is another big factor. Since it’s the same with your encounter with people. In our case, if any one of us had been born a year later or earlier, we wouldn’t have ended up this way.

–Yes. If YUKKE-san was your senior, then things must have been different.
Yeah. If our encounter had been different even by a day, the story would have been different.

–When you think about it like that, what would you say was MUCC’s biggest fortune?
I wonder what it is? Probably the fact that cali≠gari is our senior. That cali≠gari is our senior from our hometown. I think it was huge that they were Miya and YUKKE’s direct seniors.

–As in you learned the how-to for playing in a band from them. You mentioned something like that in the past.
Yeah. I think that was really big. Because cali≠gari has a sense of genre that isn’t like the traditional Visual-kei……. I think they were slowly going through a path that no one has ever gone through. They created something of their own. We were able to easily walk through the path that they had created. We are all aware of that and there wouldn’t be the MUCC now without cali≠gari. I think that was our biggest “lucky.”

–On the other hand, cali≠gari’s Ao-san may be lucky, having MUCC say that about them.
No, no, no (laughs). But really, I think we were fortunate. Because we haven’t experienced any hardship.

–You’re going to be that blunt about it!
Well, we are working hard, of course, but we’ve seen people who were struggling much more than us. Compared to those people, our hardships aren’t even hardships. It’s so with cali≠gari and La Vie en Rose.

–Still, you didn’t just simply walk the rail laid by your seniors, and you guys must have had your own strategies?
Yeah. But it was mostly based on intuition. All of us act on intuition.

–But that doesn’t mean all four of your intuitions lead to the same answer?
Miya and me are usually the ones to have a “vague hunch.” Like, we sort of feel a certain way. In Miya’s case, there are a lot of times when it’s complemented with some kind of backing. He says stuff like, “It seems there’s a trend like this approaching in the music scene, so I think we should do it like this,” and he’s acting upon a mix of what he’s thinking and his intuition. But in my case, it’s just a hunch. It nothing but a feeling. I’m deciding, “it’s like this” on a vague sense of balance. But I think the others must believe in my intuition. I also go along with Miya’s because I admire how he’s thinking things through and has a hunch with some support. I think the others are also going along with it because they think so too.

–Does that mean you haven’t had many regrets relying on your intuition?
Ahh, yeah.

–You haven’t experienced any I -was-wrong’s?
We did of course…… I do regret it like, “I was wrong!” and I do think reflecting on your mistakes is important, but I think it’s meaningless to be tied down by them. I think, “Why didn’t I do it like that that time?” is the most useless conversation. I think, “If doing that was a mistake, then just don’t do it next time.” Like, let’s move on. And I just consider it as having “paid a high price for the lesson” to learn that.

–You really do give up nicely.
Yeah (laughs). Because it’s the most useless thing. You’ve already paid the price so you should just apply that next time. There’s really no other choice.

–So, apply the motive toward recovery?
Yeah. If you’re going to be that fixated on it.

–Were you always like that? For example, even if you tripped and were last place in a race or if you got a bad grade because of some silly mistakes, you were a kid that didn’t think much of it?
I didn’t care at all. My transition was fast in the past too. I hated impracticality.

–But, I don’t think Tatsuro-san is a very practical person.
Yeah. I don’t think I’m very practical. I just hate impracticality so I think, “Why are we doing this now?” I start to wonder, “Is this something we have to do right now?” Of course, there are times when I think, “I don’t have to do this now, but it’s fun so it’s okay,” but that’s a matter of values.

–So it’s different from wanting to get on with life easily?
It’s different from wanting that. What I get most frustrated about is…… for example, I have my own time schedule for the day planned out in my head. I have to go to the office at X o’clock, and I’ll finish my work at around Y o’clock. Then, I’ll have a few hours before I have to go to the next place, and there’s a store open during those hours, so I’ll do some shopping there. I think up a schedule that’ll go pretty smoothly beforehand like that. But then, I get to the office and right when we finish, someone says, “Sorry, but do you have 30 minutes?” and asks to hold a meeting on the spot. That’s when I think, “Ehhhhh!” (laughs). Like, “why didn’t you tell me about it earlier?” That makes me pissed (laughs).

–With MUCC, there are times when other members are late to those said meetings and the work is delayed.
Well, there’s that, too (laughs). But I recently learned a trick. When I really want to go somewhere by a certain time, or when an unplanned meeting comes up, I forcefully end the meeting. With skillful words (laughs).

–What an intellectual crime (laughs).
Well, you know how there are some things that you can’t answer on the spot. When I judge it’s one of those, I ask, “We don’t have to do this now, right?” Like, “If we still have time, then wouldn’t it be better to go home and think about it on our own and then come back to share our opinions?”

–I see. So instead of rushing to a conclusion, you rush to judge whether it’s necessary to reach a conclusion on the spot or not.
Yeah. If it’s necessary to make a decision now or not. I think about if it’s necessary to continue the conversation or not.

Fonte : [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (2/6)

-----Terza Parte----

I think it’s good we chose to do this on our 14th anniversary. We’ll reflect on our past on our 14th anniversary, and then I’d like to see “something toward the future” during our 15th anniversary.

–With a personality like that, you must find the ongoing discussions between politicians on the news about the earthquake frustrating?
No, those are people who are much smarter than me butting heads to reach a conclusion, so I guess there isn’t any other way (laughs).

–Maybe my example wasn’t fitting. Like, I’m sure it takes a lot of time before reaching a conclusion about your next single.
In those cases……. In our case, each member submits a song. I think this is a good thing for MUCC recently, but a member’s strong opinion isn’t reflected on to our work as much. I think that’s a good thing. Each member prepares a song, so we’re all attached to our own songs, and that can prevent us from comparing our song with the other songs without bias. I think it’s good that we have a third-party, like someone from the agency or the person in charge of the tie-up, step in and choose which song is good flatly.

–So, the objective view is more important than the underlying feelings?
For that part of the process. Or else we won’t be able to make a flat judgement.

–Does this mean you guys don’t know or don’t have a grasp of what part of MUCC is working most effectively right now?
We can’t look at ourselves objectively. We have an idea of how we should be seen and how we want to be seen, but we aren’t certain about how we are actually being seen.

–From how you guys are completing “Karma” and bringing up your history in May’s Budokan lives, I feel like you guys are objectively looking down upon yourselves and understand your needs.
No. That is from the simple thought, “We’ve got two days, so we should do a lot of stuff and play around”…… Also, we’re at our 14th anniversary. Next year is our 15th anniversary. Usually, you’d go about doing a history live on your 15th anniversary. This is also a subsequent event, so it’s not something we planned on doing from the beginning. But I’m glad we get to do this at our 14th anniversary. 15th anniversaries are just a stepping stone toward the 20th anniversary, so I want to see “something toward the future” during our 15th anniversary. When I realized that, I thought bringing up the past on our 15th anniversary is something really negative.

–Summarizing it makes it feel like it’s going to end.
Yeah. So, before we move on to the next stepping stone toward our 20th anniversary, we’re going to reflect on our past at our 14th anniversary, and beginning next year, we’ll start running toward the future.

–And it’s not like you’re trying to bury away the past.
Yeah. We’ve changed a lot with “Karma,” so I think we can show the two extremes, and I think we can show how we haven’t changed, too. Even if we do completely opposite things, there are still some matching points. I thought that was kind of interesting.

–Are your plans for what you’re going to play pretty solid now?
No, not yet. We’re still brushing it up. Picking out the must-haves lead to a big number. Instead, we’re picking out the “we’re definitely not going to play this, right?” ones and we give the “I don’t know if it’s necessary but I want to play this” songs a try and then decide. That was pretty fun.

–So you’re taking a negative poll?
Yes. And we’re seeing what we end up with. There are also parts we can’t see until we start building the setlist. I’m sure we’ll make adjustments based on whether it fits in or not. So, we’re still deciding. Most of the people coming to see us are people who don’t know the old MUCC. I think they’re mostly people who are going to come so they can hear the songs that you can’t hear live now, so I think it’s necessary to make the live enjoyable to those who don’t know our old songs. That’s why what we want to accomplish becomes more than simply recreating our past. Recreating the past also leads to “why bring down the level than where we are now?” Instead of doing that, I want to play our old songs and bring it up to the level of our current work. Also, I think there are some songs where we can do stuff that we didn’t even think of doing in the past, or we wanted to but weren’t able to, or couldn’t think of doing because we didn’t have the knowledge.

–Yes. But, that doesn’t mean you’re going to neglect the people who have been following MUCC from the past in real time?
Yeah. We appreciate them, so I think it’s important to include songs that they’ll particularly enjoy. But it can’t be that alone.

–And you don’t mean that you’ll simply arrange your old songs into a “Karma”-like arrangement?
It’s not a matter of arrangement. We won’t change the arrangement. It’s more how we show it, like with the staging.

–So, how you present the song?
Yes. There are songs from our old work that I think are still good now and there are songs where I think, “I wouldn’t write lyrics like that now, but the lyrics are good because it’s full of the atmosphere of how things were back then.” While there are songs where I think, “I’d like to sing it like this now,” and will change how I sing it, on the other hand, there are songs where I think, “I’d like to change how I sing this, but it’d be better to sing it as I did in the past.” In other words, you feel a number of different feelings when you hear your favorite band play their old songs, and we’re doing the same with our own songs.

–How will it come out when our current selves play it. That kind of curiosity is the motivator?
Yes. But, for this Budokan live, we are taking action after thinking it through. It’s not just intuition. The balance and feel is still important but on top of that we’re thinking about our past mistakes and thinking…… When it comes to producing better work, there are times when it’s never enough no matter how much you think.

–But, while there are people who are going to see your old songs be played, there are also people who love “Karma” and don’t care for the songs from a period they don’t know about.
Yeah. There’s that too, so that’s why it’s necessary to do a live that will be enjoyable even if you don’t know the songs. I hope we’ll be able to present it that way.

–So it’s not necessary to preview or review your songs before going?
It doesn’t matter either way. When people go see a movie, there are people who read the program beforehand and then there are others who read it afterward, and there may be people who check the trailers before going. It doesn’t matter either way. I think it’s fine to go to a live without knowing our old songs and discovering, “Ah, I like this song” and have that lead to checking out an album from that period

Fonte: [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (3/6)

-----Quarta Parte----

If they’re facing us, then it’s fine. Since we’re facing everyone. “Karma” itself is an album like that.

–I see. So that history live is on the second day, and the first day is the summary of “Karma.” It is going to bring an end to all that has been done since last October at the Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo.
This will definitely be the “current MUCC.” Ya-on [=abbrev. of Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo] was a special live and there was a storm…… After that, we did a live house tour, and we kept getting new ideas about what we want to do about the performance and staging as we went to different places…… At the end of this flow of things, we wanted to show the complete version of “Karma.”

–From Ya-on to live houses. Then from a Europe tour to an Asia tour, and finally to the Budokan. I feel like part of the process has been skipped in between.
It might’ve been nice to have had a live at STUDIO COAST. This album was fitting for that place. But I think it’s nice to suddenly have a Budokan live. If we want to do a live at COAST, we can always do it. I thought it’d be interesting to slam a Budokan live into the mix. Also, we’re not just doing songs from “Karma” on the first day. We went into rehearsal one or two times, and we’ve been putting together the setlist for the second day, and there are songs that we want to do but can’t fit in. If we can’t fit them in for that day, then we can spill it onto the first day. We were slipping in some of our old songs in with our current ones during the “Karma” tour. Our leader suggested, “Let’s just do our old songs from that kind of nuance” (laughs).

–From his support-based intuition (laughs). And how did your straight intuition respond to that?
“Sounds good” (laughs). So, there might be some people who’ll say, “You didn’t say you were going to play songs like that!” among the people who are only going to the second day to hear our old songs. But actually, we’re beginning to disclose this information in interviews, so it’s not like a huge surprise and is like, “Isn’t it your fault for not reading our interviews?” (laughs). I like seeing people’s regretful expressions at times like that (laughs).

–Do you think, “In your face.”?
Yeah (laughs). I think, “Isn’t it your fault for not extending your antenna?”

–But I think it’s quite natural to think that the current and past are separated between the two days.
That’s true. But what you can’t forget is that no matter which day, it’s something the current MUCC is going to do with our current way of thinking. It just happens to be the standards for choosing songs is different. We’re the same people on both days so in that sense, it’s basically the same. Though, I’m not sure what kind of balance we’ll end up with yet.

–Is there a chance that songs from “Karma” will be performed on the second day?
I don’t know. But…… probably not. If we’re going to add songs from “Karma” on to the second day, then we shouldn’t be adding the songs [we couldn't fit into the second day] onto the first day. At least that’s what I think (laughs).

–That’s true. But if you put it in a different way, everything you have cultivated in “Karma” will be reflected on to the live even if the songs aren’t performed.
Yeah. At the same time, once we make the setlist, we might reach a point where we think, “Thinking about the quality of the live, I want a song from ‘Karma,’” so I can’t say that we absolutely won’t. A live’s quality is influenced heavily by the setlist, so I have to say that it’s set in stone.

–I think each audience member’s degree as [a "fan"] is different. But it’s not necessary to think that you can only enjoy one of the days or that you don’t have the right to enjoy one of the days.
Yeah. That’s not necessary at all. As long as you’re facing us, it’s fine. Because we’re facing everybody. “Karma” itself is an album like that.

–Yes. The fact that you were able to release “Karma” as your new piece during your 14th anniversary was partly why you were able to do such a thing, right? It might’ve been different with “Kyuutai.”
No, I don’t think it might’ve been that different with “Kyuutai.” “Kyuutai” and “Karma” are different musically, but in terms of lives, it too was an album where we were facing the audience and created a sense of unity. In the past, we had a lot of albums where we were like, “We’ll do our thing on our own, so you go and do yours,” but it’s not like that now. So, we thought it might be interesting to incorporate the atmosphere of unity we’ve acquired now into our old songs that we wrote with such a stance.

–In other words, you’re going to turn those inwardly facing songs and direct them outward?
Yeah. Well, but that depends on the song’s vector. I bet there are some songs from our past that we can perform like that.

–In that sense, “Karma” and “Kyuutai” may seem like complete opposites but are also like siblings.
Their -ism is similar. They are musically different, but how you enjoy it or the sense of “Let’s have fun!” is similar.

–Were you aware of that mutual point?
No. It’s not a matter of realizing or not; we didn’t even direct our attention to it. At the time of composing and production, we probably aren’t really thinking about that. I think we were like that in the past and we’ll continue being that way in the future. We’re more focused on creating what we want to create or putting things into shape. It’s a matter of how that sounds as a result. But with lives, we think, “let’s share this song together.” In that one place. The mutuality between us and the audience is the songs, and the place to share it and enjoy it is at a live. I think there are differences like that. Well, there are some songs where we compose thinking, “this song will lead to this kind of atmosphere,” but there are some songs we don’t know until we actually play it live.

–When you think of it like that, where do you think “Karma” fit in with MUCC’s history?
Hmmmm. As an…… accent.

–”Accent”?
It’s hard to say now, but I don’t think it’s something so big like a turning point. It’s not like we’re at a fork in the road and it’s not like we’re turning back around. Well, it’s just a passing point. When MUCC is finished, it’ll probably be an accent to everything we’ve done. I’m sure there will be stronger accents that’ll come along as we continue in the future, but thinking about where we are now and Karma’s degree of surprise, I’d say it’s quite an accent.

–I’m sure you guys have changed directions and you’ve also self-defining pieces. But in the end, once you go past it, they were all the same passing points. Is that how you feel?
Yeah. In the end, we did a lot of stuff along the way and that’s how we learned

Fonte: [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (4/6)

-----Quinta Parte----

Even if I have to put up with something or get stressed out, I’ll forget about it after one night’s sleep. Like, oh well (laughs).

–I see. Your first Budokan live was also held on your 9th anniversary, which is similar timing-wise as this live on your 14th anniversary. That time didn’t have the meaning “to make your 10th anniversary be about moving toward the future,” right?
That was simply an issue of timing. We couldn’t wait until our 10th anniversary (laughs). But I’m glad we did it at that time. On our 10th anniversary, we did a live at ZEPP and had the “real Mukku” come (laughs) and I don’t think we could’ve done that kind of playful stuff if we did a live at the Budokan. I think our 9th anniversary was more solid. Our 10th anniversary was kind of like a festival.

–After this solid 14th anniversary, will your 15th anniversary next year also be filled with playfulness?
I wonder what’ll happen? We haven’t been thinking about it at all. It’d be a lie to say that we haven’t been thinking about it at all. I think our agency is thinking about something (laughs).

–An objective idea?
The smart people think about it deeply and shares their ideas with us, “How about doing something like this?” And then we’ll irresponsibly turn it down saying, “That’s boring,” or take their ideas as a hint and expand it with our own ideas and make it our own (laughs). There’s many ways of doing it.

–I feel like I’ve seen many different sides of you during this interview (laughs). Even if you haven’t thought about your 15th anniversary, words like “toward our 20th anniversary” comes out naturally. Is this from your feelings that if you keep going naturally, then there won’t be an end?
Yeah. I think we’ll actually do it. It’s more like, “let’s do it!” I haven’t thought about it deeply. But if you’re doing something without a thing in mind and are thinking about the end, then things that could continue won’t anymore. Isn’t that right? I think things will come to an end naturally. Doing things while thinking about the end is pointless. So if we are going to reach an end called 15th anniversary, then I think we should think about it as the beginning of a new and bigger end.

–In your previous interview, you said, “While there is a possibility that Karasu will disband, I don’t think MUCC will.” I agree, but I find MUCC’s intermittency a bit odd. There isn’t a passionate sense of unity or something dramatic like a “forever existing bond.” Everything is just normal.
Someone else said something like that. Something like, “I’ve seen many bands that have formed in the shape of local friends getting together, but MUCC has this unique atmosphere that is the most smooth.”

–Ahh that’s it. It’s not like there is a strong unity and it doesn’t seem like you guys are especially great friends…… But your guys’ relationship is not too dry.
Yeah. Looking at bands like Girugamesh, they too are like us in that local friends got together but I feel they’re completely different from us. I think we have a nice distance between us. I like it.

–Do you put in effort to keep it like that?
Effort? No. In the end, isn’t it just good to be as we are? I think if we put in effort to do that, then there’ll eventually be a wrinkle somewhere. Effort to maintain a relationship seems a bit negative. That means someone is [in the band] forcibly. I think there are parts where we’re all putting up with something to maintain our relationship, but I don’t think it’s something that’s unbearable. I think it’s a positive endurance, like, “I’ll put up with this in respect toward this part of who he is.”

–I think it’s impossible to maintain an balance for something like having each member put up with the same amount. So why do you think it is that you are able to accomplish something so close to that? It doesn’t come across as though you guys are trying really hard to maintain traffic.
We aren’t maintaining traffic. It’s just…… I don’t know why but even if there are something things I have to bear or if I’m stressed about something, I can forget about it after one night’s sleep (laughs). It doesn’t disappear completely but I become indifferent. I can’t stay angry or frustrated for long. So I just think oh well (laughs).

–So Tatsuro-san is a person with a personality like that. Maybe that is one of the factors that MUCC can naturally continue.
I can’t tell myself. But if I was the type to get stressed out by having to put up with a lot of things, then I would probably explode and take it out on one of the members. If there was someone like that among the four of us, then things might have been different. But I see up close that the others are working hard without complaining. Like Miya has a heavy workload musically so I’m sure he’s really busy. So even if there are things that make me go “Uwah!” I think, “Well, it can’t be helped.” I don’t think to complain about it.

–All four of you have an “it can’t be helped” attitude toward each other in a positive way. And there isn’t a lot of acting involved for your roles as “MUCC’s Tatsuro” or “MUCC’s Miya.”
Yeah. Also, for example, I think there is more work behind the scenes for vocalists in other bands. But in my case, I don’t think “I’m the one with all the work, it’s not fair.” I think it can’t be helped since I’m the one who chose this position. So all in all, I think we are able to balance it out. Looking at the rhythm guys, seeing how they practice a lot alone before recording, I think they must be having a tough time. And they start recording earlier than I do, so they have to prepare earlier, too. When they’re recording, it seems really tough and Leader is also a sparta so it seems worse (laughs). Well, I am also busy with writing lyrics so in that sense, I think we all have it tough about the same amount, like it all balances out. That also has to do with it.

–I think that how each person’s role is fitting to his own aptitude is also a part of it. This kind of quality is too much of a coincidence so it won’t be useful to juniors who want to know “how to stay together as a band for a long time.”
That’s true (laughs). But I don’t get asked that much. I think it’s just that our start was different. For example, if a band that formed in Ibaraki disbanded and they came out to Tokyo and formed a band with a new group, it probably wouldn’t stay together forever. Our case isn’t a help to anyone.

Fonte : [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (5/6)

----Sesta e ultima Parte----

After this earthquake, I’ve come to realize how powerful music can be. I thought, music is never going to disappear.

–If the beginning was different and if you stopped playing music, do you think your relationship would remain the same?
I don’t think it’ll change. I think we can say “good luck” to each other naturally. I don’t think it’ll create any bad feelings…… Yesterday, I happened to have some time before going home, so I called SATOchi and asked, “There have been some earthquakes recently, but how’ve you been?” and as he was telling me, “I’ve been doing this at home,” I rang the doorbell to his place (laughs). He was like, “Hey! Don’t just come unannounced!” (laughs). And I was at SATOchi’s house for about 30 minutes but I said, “I’m bored so I’m gonna leave” (laughs).

–You’re like a middle schooler (laughs). It’s amazing how that kind of relationship hasn’t changed at all. In the 14 years, your surroundings have changed so much. There are less of your colleague bands, some of your juniors have disbanded before you, the disbanded senior bands have regrouped, and there are less music magazines. How do you feel about this flow of time?
I think about it. It really draws my attention. It’s not like there aren’t any bands around me that are coming to an end or are driven into a hiatus. And if I say this, people will tell me I’m terrible but…… Lately, I like to go out to eat with those kinds of people (laughs). And I enjoy talks like, “What are you going to do now?” And what amazes me is that they’re all thinking about it. When I hear that, I also think I have to work hard.

–But you aren’t asking so that you can think I’ve got to work hard, right?
Yeah, I’m not. It’s just from curiosity (laughs).

–I think it can’t be helped that people say it’s terrible of you (laughs). But it’s because you can’t imagine how the sense of crisis they’re going through feels like, right?
Yeah. But they aren’t all feeling they’re in crisis or in tragedy. They’re actually positive. That’s what I thought as I listen to them. There are a lot of people who are looking toward tomorrow. Despite being in a tough situation like disbanding, hiatus, or quitting a band, each person is doing that for the coming next day. They are like that more because they don’t want to stand still. They’re actually all moving forward. So every time I listen, I think “Good! [t/n: he's probably relieved]” On the other hand, if they seem to be unsure, then I can think about their situation more objectively so I can give them advice like, “Maybe you should do this more?” Or “I’d actually do this.” The music industry isn’t looking too well right now, so it’s understandable that a lot of stuff goes on.

–In the midst of this music recession, do you feel a sense of duty? Like, you have to be the leader of the next generation.
Nope.

–You don’t have to be that clear about it (laughs).
Well, I’m really not interested in that. I think each person has to work harder than before to increase the excitement; each band, each singer-songwriter has to create something good. If we do that, it’ll probably get better. Since despite all of this, good songs are still selling. It’s inevitable that the boring stuff disappears. I think that’s fine. There are a lot of problems but I think something that has firmly established itself won’t completely disappear. As someone in the music industry, I don’t think I’m supposed to say this, but for example, I think it’s close to impossible to completely get rid of illegal downloading. Of course, that is something that shouldn’t be forgiven, but we have to get along with such reality. In the end, we have to either go along with this current flow or stand firm with something and run with it. I think that’s all we can do.

–While in this recession, the earthquake has made it worse. I think there may be more people who will rethink continuing as a musician.
Yeah. But I became amazed by the power of music after the earthquake. When I was looking at a site on the Internet, there was this list, “At the time of an earthquake, evacuate with this and you’ll be fine” and as I read that, I noticed the iPod was also included. It said that listening to your favorite music can help you relax in a situation that can cause you to panic. When I saw that, I re-realized the power of music and I thought music will never disappear. Of course, that doesn’t mean all types of music will remain.

–There are a lot of people who say “music has rescued me.” Have you had any experiences like that?
Hmmm. I don’t know. I think whether music heals depends on the person. For example, I don’t really agree with the idea, “music heals, so I’m composing to heal people’s hearts.” It’s not something you create for that reason…… I think that by listening to your favorite song or voice, in other words getting in touch with something that has always been the same, that is what heals or makes you calm down. So for people who have kept listening to our music, we have become something like that, and I think that means we have to continue being something that doesn’t change. If that heals someone, it’s not something we wished for. Conversely, if we thought to create music to heal others, then that itself seems like a lie.

–In other words, that is the outcome, not the motive.
Yeah. That’s what I think. That’s why we have to keep making good stuff. And then, it should become someone’s something.

–Finally, as a band that has experienced lucky coincidences and followed the inevitable flow, what kind of band do you envision MUCC to be when you reach your 20th anniversary?
Our 20th anniversary……. Well, bands that are 5~6 years older than us are still active. Like Plastic Tree. So I don’t think it’s too far away. Well, whether it’s our 15th or 20th anniversary, I’d like for us to be a stupid band (laughs). I don’t want to settle down. I don’t think we need an overt sense of maturity, like I don’t want to be an adult. In reality, I’m still very much a kid.

–I don’t think so.
No no, I am. Leader is an adult in some sense, but seeing the way he takes on music, I think it makes him the most pure. I think music is a toy to him. So we’re all still very much a kid. I’m sure I’ll still be giving someone a kancho when I’m 40 years old (laughs). SATOchi will probably still be working out, and YUKKE’s hairstyle probably won’t change (laughs). Well, we may be in a higher position in this industry, but I’m sure our seniors now will still be our seniors then, and while our juniors may increase in number, it’s not like the number of our seniors will decrease (laughs).

–I look forward to it. I look forward to hearing about what kind of 20th anniversary you are envisioning at your 19th anniversary and how your photos will turn out.
I look forward to it too. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. For that to happen, I need “ROCK AND READ” and Masuda-san [=interviewer] to also continue.

My heart goes out to all of those affected by the Tohoku Kanto Earthquake.
This was an earthquake that has produced a lot sadness,
and I feel I have come to realize a little bit what is truly important.
I hope we can be of support.
Let’s work hard together-!
MUCC/Tatsuro

Fonte: [Apr. 2011] ROCK AND READ 035: Tatsuro (MUCC) (3/6)