Interview with SUGIZO, INORAN and RYUICHI

Having arrived in Los Angeles, LUNA SEA settled in at their hotel for some rest before the concert in Hollywood the next day. Although the three men looked slightly jet-lagged, SUGIZO, INORAN and RYUICHI kindly took some time out of their hectic schedule for a follow-up interview. We discussed the band's recent and upcoming activities.


First of all, how was the Bochum, Germany live?

RYUICHI: It was very exciting. The audience had a strong presence and showed their power. I was very happy the audience had learned our lyrics and could sing along with us in Japanese. It was so unexpected, and I really enjoyed that.

SUGIZO: I was very happy to see fans from other countries, like Russia and Brazil, had come to the live. They waved their countries’ flags and asked us to visit. It was very nice to see that.

INORAN: It’s been about ten years since we’ve done anything as a band, so seeing the audience for LUNA SEA was extremely wonderful. I felt overwhelmed by the audience’s reaction.

What were some memorable experiences for you while staying in Germany, other than the concert? Did you manage to see the city much?

RYUICHI: For me, I felt that it was very clean. There was no garbage on the streets. And, the character of the people in Germany is kind of like that of Japanese people. They are very serious.

SUGIZO: I had always thought Germany was serious about the environment, in making it better. That's a strong impression I got about the country, but… (shows a picture of a smoke stack on his cell phone) I took this picture from the hotel. It was a shock to see something like this in the city. I thought environmentalism is an important issue in Germany, so seeing the smoke was surprising, and it raised some doubts about how serious this issue is there.

What are your expectations for tomorrow's concert? Do you have anything special planned?

SUGIZO: Tomorrow will be our first show ever in the United States, so we'd be very pleased if it produced a sense of togetherness between us and our fans - that's the expectation I have. The live will be something like “the best of LUNA SEA.” Tomorow's show will also be shown in theatres in Japan in 3D, something that's new for everyone, and we're looking forward to it.

RYUICHI: It will be shown sometime next year, although we don’t know the date yet.

SUGIZO: (in English) It's our movie, so it’s exciting for us!

Are there any confirmed plans to do future concerts in Los Angeles, or elsewhere? What cities would you like to perform in?

RYUICHI: At this time there are no plans to do other shows, but as LUNA SEA we want to come back. It there are offers to tour in the US or Europe, we are always open to the possibility of returning. I’d like to play in Paris, Rome, Athens and New York.

You've arrived here in time for the holiday season: have you found the way Christmas is celebrated here to be very different from the way it’s done in Japan?

RYUICHI: The traditions are different. Japan is more Buddhist, and the States focuses more on the Christian aspects. And also, the Christmas celebrations in Japan are shorter. I think in America, Christmas starts right after Thanksgiving, or sometimes before. I stopped in New York before coming to Los Angeles, and it seemed to have more Christmas spirit there, maybe because it's colder.

Any plans to enjoy Hollywood before leaving?

SUGIZO: (in English) No time! (laughs)

RYUICHI: I want to eat Japanese food here, and go to Koreatown for Korean BBQ, and eat a hamburger!

If you’re in Hollywood, you should try Pink’s. It’s a famous hot dog stand.

RYUICHI: Is the food good? And you can take-out?

Yes, many people like it.

RYUICHI: I’ll eat it tomorrow in the dressing room! (laughs)

Regarding your news to re-release LUNA SEA, why did you choose to cover this particular album?

RYUICHI: The sound we have now has a similar feeling to our first album, so we wanted to do that one.

SUGIZO: It’s sort of like returning to our origins. After ten years, we have to recreate ourselves, and going back to something as original and basic as our first album is part of the process. It’s very important to be able to recapture that feeling, and to recreate it with our current skills to show how we’ve improved over the years.

How did you get the idea to do a free concert?

(The others look at INORAN, who has remained mostly silent thus far. INORAN gestures for them to answer.)

SUGIZO: We wanted to give something back to our fans from around the world, like a present.

RYUICHI: And Santa’s sled is too small, we can’t all fit into the sled!

SUGIZO: So we all got together and decided the best thing to do was to invite everybody to a free show.

You’ve also released news about a blog - is anyone in particular in charge of the blog, or will you be taking turns posting in it?

INORAN: It’s a secret! We can't tell you anything more right now, but please look forward to it.

For INORAN, we have one more question: we’ve heard that you’re very interested in art, do you particularly enjoy European art?

INORAN: Not just European art, I really like things that have historical and cultural value. I'm very interested in such things.

Finally, please give a message to your fans in Los Angeles.

RYUICHI: First, I'm very pleased to be in Los Angeles. The fact that we are here to do a show is great. It's been ten years since we've done anything as a band, so tomorrow is sort of a restart of our band. I'm looking forward to this very much.


JaME would like to thank the band, Takeshi Asai and Paul Chu for making this interview possible.