Juicy impressions upon spending time with the Greys in the flesh
I'm going to try to word this in a vague enough fashion so as not to have Sun-Krad & Friends come for me. (For in the world of Japanese bands, even sharing the tiniest of details and impressions gathered upon being in the same room as their money-makers is an offense punishable with the bull of Phalaris.)
So I didn't interview Dir en Grey last week - another reporter did that.
I was much luckier!!!!111!!!
I was given a backstage pass by the local crew (who are friends). That means I got to spend several hours in the venue while the band rehearsed and the sound crew worked.
To be fair, most of it was boring. I sat at the bar through what felt like endless back and forths between the band's crew and the local engineers. Pump up the bass, turn down the bass, more this, less that, you get the picture. Pretty standard small venue stuff where the sound quality objectively sucks.
And in case you're wondering - no, the band didn't rehearse on stage while I was there. I suppose they might have played some songs in the morning, but it was mostly their crew playing the instruments and one guy making random sounds on the mic. Only Kaoru and Die came in at times to test things out.
BUT. I still got to see all band members (minus Shinya, more on that later), and even have some brief conversations. I know you want me to cut to the juicy details, and I will, just after this Kaoru gif.
I just had to post that. Gif by Kaito.
I remember that in the mid-2000s Die was branded the band's party animal. Well, I'm not convinced he ever was one. He was definitely the most outgoing of the band members I met that day, and also the only one who attempted to speak to people in English so everyone would feel included, but he still struck me as a very shy guy. Also, he kept making a beeline for the bar to get... mineral water. That he drank while scrolling on his phone, sitting at a table, alone. Local crew occasionally went and asked him things. Die just flashed people his 10000 megawatt smile and nodded, which in Die language probably means 'leave me alone".
In another note, no homo, but Die looks hella good. Even the bar staff turned their heads to look whenever he walked by in his red t-shirt and fluffy black slippers.
Kaoru is an insanely chill guy, and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he's a rockstar. He shook my hand and gave me a very manly pat on the shoulder. He was drinking beer in his backstage room with a guy from his staff. His room was an absolute mess. Clothes, towels, makeup, hair products, papers, at least two open suitcases. I stepped inside to greet him for a minute, and my dad instinct immediately kicked in: if I stayed for one more second, I'd have have told him to clean his room or I'll take away his Xbox.
By the way, he asked me if I wanted "something from (his) mini fridge" since he was drinking. I told him I was alright. I'll regret it forever. I could have gotten "something from Kaoru's mini fridge", which might very well have been code for the world's coolest drugs.
(I'm kidding you kids, Kaoru doesn't do drugs. Kaoru is a straightedge guy. Inside his mini fridge were only a few sad bottles of coke and possibly Shinya).
Barely knew this guy, but for some reason I was under the impression he was a bit of a cocky jock. I was wrong. Toshiya is an extremely nice and warm dude. And when I mean warm, I mean... literally. For some reason Toshiya had sweat dripping from his temples and his hand was clammy and wet when I shook it. So evidently I had my hand coated in Toshiya-brand sweat, but didn't complain. He said he remembered me, even though in the past I spoke to him for a total of 3 seconds. So... unless yo boy Toshiya has photographic memory, he obviously didn't. But he was trying to be nice. Chitchatted with us and said that he was sad the weather was bad or else he'd have liked to go drink wine outside. I regret not telling him to just go get something from Kaoru's mini fridge.
KYO
Kyo gives small animal vibes. Sorry to everyone who thinks he must be incredibly intense or the kind of guy who lunges at you with his unhinged stage persona and a blood-stained knife. He doesn't even give half the intimidating vibes he sends off during interviews or on social media. Kyo is a small squirrel in an oversized hoodie who hobbles around with his eyes riveted to his phone. He smokes, holds his cigarette in a funny way and seems completely oblivious to the fact that the venue has smoke detectors that he might set off at any time. Also, at one point he was eating a banana in his backstage room. A BANANA. You're welcome, I know this is a mental image you'll cherish for years to come.
At one point I shook his hand and told him I was with the press, he obviously didn't remember me from last time. He thanked me for my "hard work", although I was doing no hard work at all. His handshake is still very firm and the guy's stare still very intense, but he quickly retreats to his business, which appears to consist of doing things on his phone, walking back and forth in a hallway and eating bananas in a room. Alone.
Was notoriously absent from the venue and its backstage. I asked staff if they knew where he was, but no one knew. Was Shinya in a room somewhere, negotiating good rates with Kyo's banana supplier? Hiding in Kaoru's mini fridge? We'll never know.
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