Vif A9 Personal Interviews #004 - Hiroto
A9 Personal Interviews Part 4 is with the guitarist, Hiroto. The journey up until their comeback, lives, music, goods… Even if we talk about certain topics from a range of things, during this interview, we can feel that he approaches A9 with sincerity and never-ending passion. Precisely because they are at the point a year later after “having fought many battles”, the words that he says are overflowing with power. Also, as a concrete goal, we were able to hear straight from his own mouth the name of that stage.
The tour has already started but first, please tell us your honest thoughts about the live on August 23rd.
Hiroto: In times where changes occur quite rapidly, I think that one year is quite a long time. In terms of my feelings at the moment the curtain dropped, I did have the intention of giving it all my best even if for example, there was only one person in the audience, but I thought it was amazing to have that many people there and being able to play music for them all. I thought that it was a really fortunate thing.
How did you feel the moment you saw the crowd?
Hiroto: I was like “Here it comes!” (laughs). And from then, as we played each and every song, I thought that “here” was the right place. That the things we should be doing were “here”.
After the live, did you feel that you had made a complete comeback?
Hiroto: Honestly, I thought that we still couldn’t say we had made a complete comeback. We had never had a year of blank space before, so I thought that it was such a long time. I felt each and every song with my body, but just like athletes, the feeling won’t come to you unless you go 3, 4, 5 times harder than that blank time. No matter how well you prepare yourself, if you don’t actually do a live, you can’t get that feeling to come back to you. Although it’s more than adequate if you have the members, the staff, the crew, the audience and to a certain extent, you’re in perfect condition, and if we are talking about high standards, although I can say we made a comeback, it felt like it wasn’t a complete comeback. I thought, in a positive way, that this band has more to show.
What did you feel in regards to the audience’s reactions to the new songs?
Hiroto: You can’t tell from playing it just once. Once we started the tour, the response was great. Simply put, I thought that for the first show, we still weren’t able to fully grasp the feeling of the sounds at that place.
So you feel like you get more of a response now than when you did at PIT?
Hiroto: That’s right. I’m sure that at that point, people just wanted to hear the songs properly, and it was also a moment for us where we needed to properly showcase these songs, so no matter how much you imagine and plan out how a live show, there are things you will never know about until you actually play it. But both us and the audience managed to get the hang of it quickly, so it feels pretty good now. I feel that by just doing one tour, things are going to change a lot. For us, the biggest change for us was a change in feelings. Honestly, in this last year, we’ve had to fight many battles to get here, so we have a stronger mentality, and we can also see the things that we should do and the path we should go down, so I think that the songs we’ve played up until now and the lives themselves are different. I think things are going to be changing quite a lot.
Watching the live, you looked like you were having a good time playing.
Hiroto: It feels great when the 5 of us play together. And of course, since during the solo session I was free to play to my preferences (laughs). Last year, when I was talking to a certain senior and said to them “I’m really nervous about our 10th year anniversary live”, they gave some really good advice. Since the venue was outdoors and there was a chance the weather would be bad that day, I said things like “Honestly, I don’t want to get my guitar wet” (laughs). They responded with “There’s no point in thinking about it. You never know what will happen in the future. When something does happen, there will be some discoveries you can only make when these things happen. For example, if the power gets cut, there will be something valuable there waiting for you, so as long as you always try and find these valuable things, you’ll be fine”.
Hiroto: Ever since then, things have gotten really comfortable, and I’ve come to be able to enjoy any sort of moment. I keep wondering what will come my way at this moment. For example, say if a member is probably at their wit’s end. If I start getting bothered by that, it will immediately be reflected in the sounds, and I would also start wondering what I can do. Just by getting closer to them and looking them in the eye would be enough to start changing things for the better. So it sounds like a lot of fun (laughs)
You notice quite a lot of things around you.
Hiroto: I think perhaps maybe I’ve come to be able to notice these things. During lives, there are moments when I’m able to see everything. There are moments when it’s as if I can see everything external to me, so I know what will happen next and what I will do next. This sort of thing has only happened four or five times in the past, but I’ve come to be able to experience something similar to that, and when I do, I am able to look at each and every audience member in the eyes. When I get into that mode, things will start turning toward the better.
But there are times when you “look each other in the eye”.
Hiroto: A lot of the audience members always think “I’m probably just mistaken”, but if you think we exchanged eye contact, then we definitely did. The place where you can experience that in real-time is at lives, so I really enjoy each and every moment.
So, please tell us which moment hit you the hardest; which scene left an impression on you.
Hiroto: Of course “Subete e”, but also, “Kaisen Zenya”. We started playing this song on the FC tour two years ago, but the lyrics and the world it presents is one that is really full of determination. For the members too, it’s a song where parts of it where composed while thinking about the situation we are in now, and as you can tell from the title, it’s really powerful, and it’s a song that had grown a lot when we played in during last year’s tour, our longest tour to date. Although we played it after one year of absence, it just went above and beyond. When the chrous came, I thought “We will be okay now”.
I certainly did feel a lot of power.
Hiroto: I thought that if we were able to release so much power in just this one moment, we would be okay.
By the way, according to Saga, after the live on August 23rd you “turned off your phone and went to the beach”.
Hiroto: Up until that show, I was really busy (laughs). I did my solo live, I was a support member for Toshi (X JAPAN) and at the same time, I had to prepare for this show. I decided to just fade away for a bit, so I declared “I’m gonna go all out tonight, so tomorrow I’m going to disappear”. I did actually go to the beach, but I didn’t switch off my phone. Something starts once a live is over, so there were many things that I had to confirm, so that’s what I did.
But I’m glad you were able to go to the beach.
Hiroto: I went, but it was so windy it felt like a typhoon. The winds were picking up the sand it was like that trauma we experience when filming the “Daybreak” MV (laughs)
(laughs). Do you usually go there to swim or to just look at the view?
Hiroto: I had hoped to watch the sunset while listening to my favourite songs and just do nothing for the whole day. But it was not peaceful at all, the waves were high and there was sand everywhere it hurt (laughs). But I was able to feel refreshed.
Since you are involved in designing the goods, have you received any opinions on the unique packaging of “Ginga no Oto”?
Hiroto: I got some opinions saying “I listened to the songs before, but since you paid so much attention to the packaging, I really love it”, and that made me feel relieved. If we were only talking about the sound, the power of expression of the hi-rezo data that we sent through the crowd-funding system would be much more superior, but with CDs, it’s not only about the value of the CD as an object, but also the quality of sound on the CD. For all the things that we make, we like to investigate all the possibilities. If we are to walk on our own feet, then we have to take responsibility for the things we express. That was the first step, so knowing that what we are trying to express got through made me glad. To those who haven’t yet shared their opinions, I want to hear them (laughs)
Do let them know, everyone reading at home.
Hiroto: For example, with the CD release, the sound changes depending on the factory it is made at and the materials used for the CD, so having completed the data is not enough, I think that we have to take responsibility for everything to the moment it reaches the customer, so I would like to declare that now.
And the goods this time are quite amazing too.
Hiroto: The hardest part was completing the design for the main motif. The goods team also started off in a brand new environment, so after much searching, when the iPhone case was complete I was like “Great, it’s here!”. So I am quite fond of the design.
Hiroto: Since I have the opportunity to talk about it now, I will. The motif for last year’s FC live was a butterfly, and the butterfly is symbolic of resurrection and being born anew. This time, I wanted to express the full circle of the concept A9 originally had; combining Japanese styles with Western styles, so that’s why I made the current design. There are butterflies and lotus flowers… I think you will understand if you looked up the meaning of lotus flowers, but it suits our current situation to a T. If I had attempted to give any kind of explanation things would turn quite serious so I kept quiet about it.
There are many different meanings associated with it.
Hiroto: Before I knew it, I came to take on the position of someone who makes things, and when I wondered why that was the case, it’s because I want to connect music and people with physical things. People can be linked with music at lives, but when that time is over, you can associate these goods with the past. I want to provide things that will serve that function. It’s not that we are obviously selling goods because we’re holding a live show, but I want to make these things something more meaningful and valuable, so after talking it over with the members, we gave the goods the proper title of “MIDNIGHT GALAXY”.
I don’t think that there are many artists that give this much thought into their goods.
Hiroto: Thank you very much!
By the way, there is something I wish to ask. During Saga’s interview, he mentioned that A9’s dressing room was really dirty, and that the main culprits were Tora and Nao, but when I asked Tora about it, he said otherwise (laughs)
Hiroto: Hahaha (laughs). Though Tora doesn’t carry things around with him, he just leaves his unworn clothes lying around. The venue staff pick up his strewn clothes and before you know it, his clothes are neatly hanging on the clothes hangers. So I guess Tora would say he isn’t the dirty one, because by then, his clothes are already on the hanger (laughs)
So there are people picking up after him (laughs)
Hiroto: What Saga is probably saying in regards to Nao was when we were at PIT, Nao left without taking the equipment that he brought back home with him, so me and Saga had to take care of it (laughs). That’s why I think Saga said that. Usually, Nao doesn’t really leave his things lying around, but sometimes he does this sort of thing.
According to Tora, when you all arrive at the venue, you place your bags on the tables and your things spread out everywhere.
Hiroto: That’s definitely true. First, I look for a spot with a power outlet and set-up my PC there, then I place my pouch and sunglasses at a certain space to establish my own territory. No matter where I am, I always do this exact same thing. To people watching me, it might seem like there are a lot of things lying around, but in my case, it’s all neatly placed.
I see (laughs). You all have different ways of filling up space with things (laughs).
Hiroto: So it must look like a real mess when all of that is mixed together (laughs). The dressing room at PIT really was terrible. On the first day, the members also get their share of goods so the place was just overflowing with things even moreso (laughs)
I’m looking forward to hearing Show’s opinion next (laughs). So finally, what kind of band do you want A9 to be?
Hiroto: I think there is meaning just in the fact that the five of us were able to make it up until this point. Although it sounds obvious, there isn’t another group of people like us out there, so by being more aware of that fact, I think that if we investigate the kind of things only the five of us can make, there will surely be something waiting for us. So without caring about what others are doing or the trends of the time, I would like to wholeheartedly investigate what the five of us, together with the people that respond to us, can do. Also, I’m gonna go ahead at say it, but this is the first phase after our comeback, so I want to follow through and return to the stage at Nippon Budokan.
I am glad to be able to hear such words.
Hiroto: It’s still a long way ahead, but that’s the first target. To achieve this, we need each and every person, and I want to let out my sounds on that stage again together with everyone.
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