Kagerou and D'espairs Ray

Kagerou and D'espairsRay, are two bands who have previously set foot on French soil, but they returned to delight their fans. Together, they besieged the Trabendo.

The first event that the band members attended was an autograph session at the famous Hard Rock Café. Some people in the queue waited patiently from early morning for the band to arrive, but the queue became much longer in the last two hours before the members were scheduled to appear. The environment was easy-going, fans gathered, chatted, some tried to cut the queue, but it did not really matter as everyone still received their autographs from the band. Puzzled onlookers stopped and wondered exactly who the gathering crowd were waiting for.

Finally, a few minutes late, Shizumi (kagerou), Zero (D'espairsRay), Hizumi (D'espairsRay) and Yuana (kagerou) arrived amid the raucous cheers of the crowd. After the impromptu introduction the fans only had to wait a few moments more before the doors of the Hard Rock Café opened to allow them access to the band. After the autograph session the fans still had the highlight of tomorrow's concert to look forward to: the live (see report).

THE INTERVIEWS
kagerou

The interview with the band was scheduled for the morning after the live concert. Daisuke and Shizumi arrived wearing sun glasses and looking very tired. The pair were not very receptive after spending most of the previous night awake.

The interview started with a short introduction of the JaME website, before we plunged into the main questions.

Is your new album, Gurou Shoku, a new style for kagerou?
Daisuke: Gorou Shoku is a continuation of what we done before.

Even so, the style seems to be a little less violent than your previous works?
Daisuke: Yeah, that’s right.

Zetsubou ni Soyonara was filmed in Paris, do you have any interesting stories or comments about the shoot?
Shizumi: It was cold, very cold.

Could you please tell us more about your next maxi single?
Daisuke: The topic of the single is "big cities" for example Tokyo or Paris, where people only think about money and "speed". With this song, I try to urge them to seek hope for a better life.

Which style will the song be?
Shizumi: A ballad.
Daisuke: But there will be more speed songs too!

What was your state of mind during the Rock am Ring, compared to you lives in Japan?
Daisuke: It was as usual. We do not change our attitude, because if we do so, then we would not be kagerou any more. It is kagerou that we want to show to the audience, whether they are Japanese or not.

Did you adapt your performance for the European audiences? For example, a song like Idol (Our translator did not know the song so Daisuke added the rest of the title to help him) kurui no shinrigaku, contains a part where the audience is expected to sing/shout a sentence while the band stop playing, but you still perform it?

Shizumi: We performed the song as usual.

Do you think this made a difference to the audience?
Shizumi: If we do our part performing as usual, then the fans are not compelled to sing, they do what they want, following or not.

Do you prefer large halls, such as the Shibuya Kokaido where you recorded your last DVD, or smaller ones like live houses?
(There was a long pause before either member answered this question)
Daisuke: We don’t have any preference, but I think we prefer the small live houses just a little more.
Shizumi: As long as we can perform, the venue doesn’t really matter!

What are your feelings about the "Coupling" tour...? (They look at each other, searching each other's expressions for an answer)
Daisuke: It went well, I can tell myself: "Ah, we really did something good!"

From the beginning of the interview, Shizumi has been consulting his dictionary, as he seems to be attempting to learn a little of the French language; I ask him if he'll be willing to do a long speech, next time he returns once again to perform in Paris?
Shizumi: (laugh) As I am a drummer, I will always express myself though the rhythm of the drums.

Shizumi, You are a very expressive drummer, which is surprising when one first sees you on stage.
Shizumi: Merci beaucoup (Thank you very much).
You are welcome!
Daisuke: Yes, I think so too (laugh).
Yes, Daisuke you were the drummer in your former band (Fatima), when I first saw you.
Daisuke: (surprised): Ooooh!
Shizumi: Have you visited Japan?
Yes, and I saw you.
Daisuke and Shizumi together (surprised): Ooooh!

Thank you very much for this interview. Have a safe journey back to Japan. And thanks once again for a great concert!
Daisuke: I love Europe, it's great.

Europe loves you too! (They, both have big smiles)



D'espairsRay

The D'espairsRay interview takes place in the next room with Karyu and Zero. They look in better condition, but sadly the interview will be shortened because they are very late...

Why did you add two mixed songs to the regular version of your CD but nothing to the collector's version?
Karyu: In the collector's version, there are photos and in the regular one there are mixes. The collector's version was for people who already knew the band whereas the regular one was for those who wish to discover us which explains the additional mixes.

Yokoyama Kazutoshi made the mixes, we know of him through his work with Lucy or Aki (ex. Laputa), how did you come to work together?
Karyu: He is one of our friends, we had a drink together and little by little we decided to do something together.

Would you like to make something more electronic?
Karyu: We do not really think about making electronic music, but if whilst composing songs, the work tends toward that style then we will do it. But if there is another influence we'll go in a different direction. Nothing is definite.

Why did you wait five years to release an album?
Karyu: We didn't really think about making an album, we just compose songs like that, which makes us release maxi-singles and mini-albums instead. Then it became favorable for us to release an album, so we did it. But it could have been sooner or later. We released BORN with a good number of songs, but then it wasn’t the good time for an entire album.

Do your lives in Europe or America effect or change your style?
Karyu: To write songs is our priority and we see it as "giving a part of us". We do not change especially to please people. That is why we don't want to adapt our songs for different audiences. We just want to pass on our own feelings and emotions.

Did you prepare yourself differently for the reaction from the European live?
Karyu: I was amazed by the audience and its vitality, we were not at our best, but we did well though.

What was your favourite aspect of the French concert?
Karyu: What surprised me the most was the audience, they were so excited! They are very open-minded this allowed us to perform a really good show.

So you are ready to come back?
Karyu: Yes of course!! (big smile)

Do you have something that you would like to say to your fans?
Zero: We went through America and Europe, and I think in France the audience is very enthusiastic, therefore we think we gave our very best performance during the lives in Paris.
Karyu: I love the atmosphere in Europe, I really want to come back, and I would like to ask our fans to wait for us!

Thank you very much!

Translator: Joe
Thanks to Free Will Europe, Sweet Child, kagerou and D'espairsRay.