Saturday 19 September 2015

The GazettE Club Zy. personal long interview: RUKI (Part 1 of 4)


Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4




The GazettE will release their latest album "DOGMA" on August 26th. They will also start their nation-wide tour "the GazettE LIVE TOUR 15 DOGMATIC -UN-" on September 5th and "the GazettE LIVE TOUR 15-16 DOGMATIC -DUE-" in December.
Club Zy. Will feature RUKI, Uruha, Aoi, REITA, and Kai in personal long interviews, starting today!

First in the series is Ruki on vocals. What does he want to project in the album "DOGMA"? We hope you can also feel his feelings.







Creating an album with 'DOGMA' as the theme required a long period of time.

Q: The album 'DOGMA' really took a lot of time to make. When did you first have the idea of making an album with 'DOGMA' as its theme?
RUKI: The first time I proposed the title 'DOGMA' to the other members was more than a year before, if you count it from the release date. After everyone got focused on the theme, only then we started composing the songs.

Q: I didn't expect you to start it so early...
RUKI: Even though I have my own concept of 'DOGMA' in me, first of all I simply wanted everyone to share their respective views on the new album, and so we had talks, something like "let's present the songs everyone make for the album", and based on that we had our first songs selection. Then, since I've had this idea in me, I told the other members, "Actually, I want to make 'DOGMA' as the title of our next album". The other members were like, "is it okay if we proceed with this theme". And after we talked to each other, finally we decided to follow through with 'DOGMA'.

Q: After going through that process, next time you met to select the songs, you had to link the songs everyone had composed, which are required for 'DOGMA', and kept brushing them up since then. And so, I felt that you've had quite a few songs selection process (until you decided on the final one).
RUKI: While my reason was "what should I do to fully get the concept of 'DOGMA' which was still unclear (at that time), the others focused on "what kind of songs are required in this album called 'DOGMA'?"Refining the contents required a lot of time.

Q: So I guess it was a good thing that the theme 'DOGMA' came up quite early (in the process).
RUKI: That's right. Since the theme was decided quite early, I strongly felt that everyone's intention quickly became linked to the word 'DOGMA'.

Q: I also think that 'DOGMA' is an album which has strong 'live ' feeling. Was that your intention since the beginning?
RUKI: In the beginning, everyone only had the rough feeling of "wanting to make an album with different ambience" or "something that had a band-like feeling to it".


The concept which is there deep inside me. 'DOGMA' is something that narrates it.

Q: 'DOGMA' means doctrine or creed in religion. Did you want to link some religious views in the album 'DOGMA' as well?
RUKI: It's more like, the parts which established my roots, I guess. It's not like my own belief in the band, but more like I wanted to portray 'an absolute thing' in this album. And in order to do that, I think 'DOGMA' is the most suitable word for it. That's why, it's not like it's linked to any religion. It's more of, something like my own beliefs.

Q: When I first listened to the song 'DOGMA', I ended up thinking that you linked the relationship you had with your fans to some religious views?!
RUKI: If you interpret it as the mutual symbiosis between the band and the fans, in which the fans returns the contents presented by the band, then it is quite similar. But I didn't have such intention.

Q: You had a live performance on March 10th, titled '13TH ANNIVERSARY [13-THIRTEEN-]' at Nippon Budokan. In the beginning of the performance you appeared high above the stage and sang as if to agitate the audience. When I saw that, I thought you looked like a sect leader addressing your followers. 
RUKI: Indeed, it was a performance portraying the atmosphere of 'DOGMA'. That time, the concept of 'DOGMA' had started to take shape, and I wanted to make a performance which lets the audience have a taste of 'DOGMA'.

Q: Are you aware of that kind of relationship between the band and the fan which is linked to religion?
RUKI: How to say. Even though it's written as 'DOGMA', it's simply just the things that I often think about. Something like the concept that is there deep inside me. 'DOGMA' is something that narrates it. However, it's not that I don't understand the kind of relationship that you talked about.

Q: But in reality, don't you think that the actions and words of the members affect the fans in various ways?
RUKI: That's true.

Q: Are you aware of it?
RUKI: Not really. Like, even if (my thoughts / feelings) doesn't get conveyed, it's alright as it is. Even if I say something really fundamental, it's not like my feelings will be conveyed 100%, so I think it's obvious that there's always a gap between my feelings and the fans'.
But of course, if I narrate something like "right now I'm in this condition" in a song and they could grasp the thoughts and feelings in it, then I would be happy. But it's ok to not be aware of it or think about it, and simply just enjoying the sound. It's really up to you..

Q: But, the fans who like the GazettE's vision would want to think thoroughly about the lyrics weaved (into each song) wouldn't they?
RUKI: That's true, but it's also up to them... Even I, when listening to other people's song, I interpret the lyric on my own (and relate it to my own feelings?). And I think it's okay for the fans to do that too.

Q: That I thought "the relationship of the band and  the fans is as deep as a leader of a sect to its follower" is also only my own interpretation of it.
RUKI: I think it's alright

Q: So 'DOGMA' has a lot of meanings in it, doesn't it?
RUKI: That's true. Maybe there are fans who, when listening to the album, think "is it about us?". And actually, there are songs which make you feel like that as well. It's simply "if when listening to this album you can link your feelings to it, then it's fine". Something like that.


During the making of the album, I wrote my feelings and thoughts into lyrics as I spent time with the other members, so our feelings are unified.

Q: Do the members share the same view on the lyrics of the songs in DOGMA'?
RUKI: During the making of the album, I wrote my feelings and thoughts into lyrics as I spent time with the other members, so to some extent our feelings are unified. However, before putting the thoughts into lyrics, it was difficult to share my thoughts in words. And that's why, including the different interpretations of the song (*TN: I don't really understand this part), I thought about how to match everyone's focus, and that's why we had several phases of songs selection process.

Q: In case of the GazettE, don't you have this major aspect where you express negative feelings like 'anger' or 'rebellious spirit' and turn them into strength?
RUKI: Depends on our emotions during the recording, whether it's 'good' or 'bad', the final product will be completely different. In our case, when our mentality is not so good, the songs end up being suited to us more.

Q: So it's easier to create something when there is darkness in your heart.
RUKI: Right. Even in lyrics with dark atmosphere, it's not like every time I write it with my heart broken. My way to express 'darkness' when my heart is really broken would be really different from when I have a good feeling. But since we have limited time and environment to create (songs), it's a matter of timing and how to control your feelings while writing songs and lyrics.


Translated by Val. Original interview here.


Jump to: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Also read: RUKI | Uruha | Aoi | REITA | Kai

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