2020.08.23 sukekiyo talk event at Nakano ZERO - report
There were 3 long tables on the scene with 5 seats behind them, seats were quite spaced out. The louder music signaled the event will start and then the band members were walking on the stage (from the left side) and took seats.
From the right to left: utA, YUCHI, Kyo, Mika and Takumi, who also became the moderator of the talk event.
Takumi asked everyone about their thoughts of the DRIPPIN' tour, the event was held in place for the cancelled final show.
Mika said that now the idea of the standing show with people squeezed together going hard feels unreal. The tour was interesting.
Kyo said that as usual he doesn't really remember the shows, he was performing A LOT, sukekiyo right after dir, he felt his body got weak and he would become breathless easily, so he quit smoking, he can breathe much easier now. Then, talking about stay at home period, he said that when he is busy he has many things he wants to do, but then when he is not busy he just doesn't move. His day would be like 'game, game, sleep, wake up, game, forget to eat, game, eat something, sweets, game'. And his body is weak because he doesn't do any training, his breathing is not good. But he doesn't feel like moving, he only moves in the game.
Yuchi said tour was fun, they were very lucky with the timing, almost got it, just the last show in Shibuya got cancelled. As it was only one last show he felt shocked when it got cancelled.
utA: ....can't remember anything... but I remember eating good stuff with everyone. ... (silence follows)
Takumi (trying to help): we were playing new songs and so on?
utA: Ah but the mizutake (??) in Kyushu were great!
He also said he regrets that Tokyo show didn't work out.
Next, Kyo told us a funny story. At the venue in Fukuoka (Tsukushikaikan) the smoking area backstage was located somewhere higher and he could see fans from there. He also told us that he went to eat shrimp tempura for lunch (Kyushu is famous for seafood), he was really looking forward to it. He couldn't remember the shop name, but it was a type where you get freshly fried stuff one by one, like a course. He enjoyed everything and then the main, the shrimp, but then a squid came last and he was like 'wth?' (because shrimp was the main). He got irritated, but that squid turned out to be delicious. He said that Fukuoka is 'イカの街 - the town of squid'😂 and after that lunch he was watching fans from the smoking area.
Takumi said that he feels sad as Tsukushikaikan in Fukuoka is closing down, his hometown is near so he has many memories there. He also felt the tour was very good, the atmosphere and new songs, especially last Nagoya was good.
Kyo: Ah but the ZARAME donuts (donut shop in Nagoya) I wanted everyone to eat were sold out, the bacon ones, so I got irritated, really felt bad. And then the tour finished with that...
(not being able to get the donuts he wanted...)
Takumi: food is so important.
Yuchi said something about Nagoya becoming the tour final even as it wasn't planned like that.
Kyo: Where were we supposed to play in Tokyo? (others tell him Shibuya) Ah I wanted to take you so we could eat Nabe Jiro in Meguro. So irritating. I wanted everyone to try.
Takumi: So what was everyone doing during 'stay at home' period?
(he asked each member starting from the right, utA)
utA: watching TV.
Takumi: what did you watch?
utA: stuff I recorded. He also said he was eating and gaining weight and got worried about that. Especially now he's getting older so it's easier to gain weight. He was also working on music.
Yuchi said he didn't do anything special, he was working on music etc. He said they have enough material for an album.
Takumi asked him about his RR interview and they talked about the photoshoot. It was held around May, when it already started to get warm. Takumi said that photos are quite striking.
Takumi: then Kyo, you said you were playing games?
Kyo talked more about Fortnite, playing with 4 friends and how he gets killed really quickly, even if he waits for the number of enemies to decrease before he comes out. I didn't understand all of it tbh. But he finished saying he also was cooking and watching movies.
Mika was of course working on music, but other than that he's also into some retro games, the type young people don't know/play. PC engine mini, GRADIUS and R-TYPE. When not working on music he was playing those games.
Takumi finally took care of all the things he was always leaving for later. He wanted to organize and declutter his equipment, he was writing reviews and selling a lot of stuff online. But them he also ended up buying some new stuff 'not sure if I can use it with sukekiyo but I always wanted to try this', so in the end he didn't really downsize his equipment. 😂
Then suddenly came a question from Kyo: does anyone here play Fortnite?
(there were maybe like 5~6 fans who raised their hands)
Kyo continued telling us about Baobao (??) and special skins Chuka manju, there are 4 types and on his team everyone is using the Chuka manju skins (Chinese buns). (there was another bit here I didn't get about those skins)
Takumi asked him how long does he usually play, Kyo said it's not decided but if longer sometimes he can start at 8pm and finish after 2, but not everyday. He doesn't always play with his team, he often plays alone, then he plays with kids and gets roasted because he's so bad😂
Takumi: anything new you want to try as sukekiyo in this situation?
Kyo said sukekiyo shows are not so different from the event, as everyone sits down and stays quiet. He does think about releasing new music, like 2 or 3 songs, being mean all of them on casette tapes. He asked us if we can listen to the tapes like he was hoping we can't😂
Yuchi said there might be some things they can try. He loves making music so he's hoping to release something new. He talked about how band and music is changing during the tour, the progresson how songs grow?
utA: the weird me wants to continue making hentai (abnormal) songs.
Takumi: we're looking forward to those.
Mika (something about unreleased footage)
Takumi talked about the digital release of their music, getting new people to listen to their stuff, of course getting some money as people play it. He also talked about editing the songs, he likes their old songs but said he doesn't like his own sound in some of them.
And suddenly we heard a LINE notification from Takumi's phone😂 Manager Takabayashi remided them the times is running out, but Kyo told us he wanted to make the event longer.
He said many people came for the event in such situation (pandemic), so he doesn't want to finish so early.
He asked us again: anyone came from outside of Tokyo area (地方 local areas)? Ah that's bit tough. But at least shinkansen should be almost empty now... and for people in Tokyo it is tough as well, there are so many people it's like cockroaches.
(😂)
If we play a seated show (hall show) would you come?
(all of us started to nod, clap and so on)
Well... if you don't it's not like we would do it again (ever??😱), I just can't trust people to come...
(Oh, Kyo, we would come, I'm waiting for the show announcement like my cat listening for the sound of the opening tuna can😆)
And again came a sudden change of topic😆
Kyo: I really love omochi (rice cake), always have, especially during New Year. I would always eat so many, but then only my face gets fat when I stuff myself with them. So it's better to be careful.
Yuchi remembered Kyo warned them about omochi when they were playing at Countdown Japan (2013), it was very close to New Year.
Takumi asked Kyo what's his favourite way of eating mochi. Kyo explained that 砂糖醤油餅 (rice cake with sugar and soy sauce) is the infinite way to eat mochi, you will never stop. Because it's salty and sweet, you add sauce and grill it, add sauce and grill it, eat on repeat. Kinda like eating chocolate and potato chips, salty and sweet, on repeat.
In the end, Takumi asked all members for a message to the fans.
utA thanked us for coming in this situation and said he hopes they will be able to do something. He will be happy if we can come to the shows.
Yuchi thanked us as well. He said that since Nagoya in February there weren't any events like this, where we can meet and both fans and band members get more energy. They are doing their best now creating new songs.
Mika thanked us for coming and said that seeing so many people come even in this situation he felt it was powerful. He's hoping for something exciting for them and us and said they will try to look for the possible options.
Takumi said it was the first time their show got cancelled so it was a big shock, it was hard to find a way to handle it and decide what to do, what to do for fans who couldn't come and so on.
Kyo:
... I don't really have a message... we had something like that with DIR EN GREY, it was the same. You all (members) said the good things. But, the fans who came and the fans who couldn't, decided not to come, who were scared, how do we decide which way is right? There are so many stresful things, it's not like anyone is wrong. Live the way you believe is right. People are following the rules, a year passes, and when we will look back, it will be like it's empty, this is the hardest. No one else can do it for you, you have to decide for yourself what to do, the time passes quickly. You will be watching Chibi Maruko-chan and then feel like you were watching Chibi Maruko-chan just the day before (but it was last week), so make sure every day is important. I'm not feeling happy usually, and when you're just staying home things start to get weird (mentally), but seeing everyone here as so many of you came, I'm simply feeling happy. I really want to play live soon.
知らんけど・...I guess?🤷♀️
