The Rhythm Section of DIR EN GREY (GiGS Bass & Drums, 2010)
I finally got around to summarizing the 2010 interview with Shinya and Toshiya in the GiGs Bass & Drums book, and honestly, it's one of the most charming DIR EN GREY interviews I've ever read.
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Before DIR EN GREY existed, Toshiya's band was falling apart. He heard that Kyo's band was also close to breaking up, so he went to see them at a taiban and suddenly asked Kyo if they should start a band together.
According to Toshiya, he's extremely shy. He and Kyo exchanged phone numbers, while Kaoru stood nearby witnessing this unexpected proposal.
At the time, Toshiya had only really spoken to Kyo. One day Kyo told him to come to Tokyo. When he arrived, Die was there too and introduced himself in Kansai dialect.
Toshiya originally thought they were forming an entirely new band. He didn't realize that most of Kyo's existing bandmates would stay and that he'd simply be joining as the new bassist.
Their first meeting was arranged at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Osaka.
But only Shinya and Toshiya showed up. They have never spoken to each other before.
Kyo had warned Toshiya beforehand that Shinya didn't talk much, so Toshiya would have to carry the conversation.
Under immense pressure to think of a topic, Toshiya settled on... driver's licenses.
He had recently gotten one because he thought it was a bad idea for only one band member (Die) to be able to drive during tours.
To Toshiya's surprise, Shinya became completely invested in the subject.
They spent the entire meeting talking about how to get a driver's license.
Neither of them remembers discussing music.
Shinya eventually got his license.
Their first rehearsal together was scheduled in Nagano in January 1997. Toshiya waited for the others in a snowy parking lot. Eventually they arrived in a van.
On normal tires. In the middle of winter. In Nagano.
Toshiya's immediate thought was basically:
"These guys are idiots."
Instead, he politely said:
"That's amazing."
He remembers thinking they were completely anarchic.
The van struggled through the snow all the way to his parents' house, where they spent the night before rehearsing and playing a live show the next day.
That night Shinya saw Toshiya perform live for the first time. Toshiya was playing support guitar in another band.
According to Shinya, even though Toshiya was only a support member, he stood out more than anyone else on stage.
Shinya's reaction was:
"Wow. I'm going to be in a band with this guy."
Over the years, Shinya and Toshiya ended up spending a huge amount of time together working on songs.
Toshiya would come up with ideas intuitively.
Shinya would carefully write everything down.
Toshiya was impressed by this, although he refuses to call Shinya a genius because he was also one of the people who drove to snowy Nagano on regular tires.
It was often just the two of them refining songs in the studio. Shinya remembers that Toshiya would constantly react to new ideas with an enthusiastic "Omoshire!" ("This is fun!" / "Interesting!"), something Toshiya immediately admits he really did say all the time.
As musicians, they describe their relationship as surprisingly uncomplicated.
They say they rarely talk about music outside of actually making it.
Even when DIR EN GREY formed, they never sat down and discussed a grand artistic direction.
They basically decided:
"Let's make fast songs."
Toshiya jokingly says it all started with Shinya's "tsutatsutatsuta" drumming.
When asked about Shinya's role in the band, Toshiya says that whenever things become tense, everyone teases Shinya and somehow the atmosphere improves.
He compares him to a healing item in a video game.
Then he says:
DIR EN GREY is probably still continuing because Shinya is there. Whenever something goes wrong, everyone relies on him.
Shinya, meanwhile, describes Toshiya as extremely reliable and hardworking, someone who practices constantly and somehow manages to draw attention even as the bassist standing next to two guitarists.
The interviewer points out that Toshiya seemed to make a lot of friends overseas (apart from Die), giving the impression that he was one of the more sociable members of the band.
Toshiya disagrees.
According to him, Shinya is actually much more sociable.
Because Toshiya was not confident in his English, Shinya would often help him understand conversations, explain what people had said, and tell him what he should say in response. Toshiya says that Shinya always made an effort to speak English and communicate with people overseas, and considers him the most sociable member of DIR EN GREY.
The interview ends with the two of them talking about their rhythm section.
Rather than competing, they try to support each other's strengths. Shinya describes bass and drums creating "waves" together. Toshiya says he wants to alternate between being a rhythmic foundation and stepping forward melodically depending on what the song needs.
The interviewer jokingly suggests that if they develop this chemistry even further, they should perform a bass-and-drums solo together live.
Toshiya immediately responds:
"What are you talking about?"
When the interviewer insists that these ideas shouldn't stay hidden in the studio, Toshiya laughs and says it's only fun because it's just the two of them doing it privately. Besides, both he and Shinya get nervous easily.
Shinya agrees, though he points out that he'd still prefer that over being asked to do a drum solo by himself.
Toshiya then says he'd actually like to see Shinya do another drum solo someday.
For two people whose first conversation was about driver's licenses at KFC, they've built a pretty remarkable musical partnership.
This photoshoot is kind of like my roman empire. I know there's scans of it out there already, but wanted to scan it myself after getting the magazine. I've added the interview text and translations under the cut, please enjoy!
With the Budokan live just around the corner, Dir en grey are charging ahead at full throttle.
Getting this far must have taken more than ordinary effort…
Huh?! But you didn't have any guts as kids?!
In their first theme interview, this month we talk to vocalist Kyo and guitarist Kaoru.
– Kyo and Kaoru, would you say you have guts / fighting spirit?
Kyo: I don't have any (laughs).
Kaoru: When I was in elementary school, I was on a soccer team. But I hated practice. Summer was hot, winter was cold (laughs). I really liked playing soccer, and I was pretty fast – a decent player – so I was always put in matches. But my team had a rule: if you didn't show up for practice, you wouldn't get a uniform. So I never got a uniform of my own. I'd just borrow someone else's uniform and start the game.
– You didn't go to practice at all?
Kaoru: No, sometimes – but whenever I went, I'd always think, "I shouldn't have come after all" (laughs).
Kyo: I also took karate in elementary school. I loved Jackie Chan. But you know, in karate you climb mountains barefoot. Even though it's a dojo, there are tacks and things on the ground – they'd stick in your feet, the stones hurt, and you'd have to climb ridiculously long flights of stairs. Then when you get back to the dojo, you'd have to sit in seiza and recite some weird saying: "Karate is blah blah blah…" I was like, "This isn't Jackie Chan at all!" So I quit (laughs).
– How long did that take?
Kyo: 3–4 months (laughs).
– Oh dear. No guts indeed (laughs). What about schoolwork?
Kaoru: Hardly at all (laughs). I almost never studied. But even people who don't study usually cram before exams, right? I didn't even do that. I'm not proud of it (laughs), but whether it was studying or soccer practice, I just couldn't do the whole "steady effort" thing.
Kyo: I never studied either. I think I did even less than Kaoru (laughs). The only time I really put my guts into something at school was during class – trying to see how well I could draw Gundam in my notebook (laughs).
– Getting there… (laughs)
Kaoru: Yeah, that happened to me too. In my case it was a desk – my desk was covered in manga doodles. I drew directly with magic markers (laughs).
Kyo (continuing): I carved Goku on the right side of my desk and Piccolo on the left with a carving knife. So my printouts and stuff were all bumpy (laughs).
– That in itself takes some guts, in a way (laughs). So when did you actually start developing guts?
Kaoru: I think it started when I began working part-time jobs. I did all sorts of things, but the takoyaki shop and the glass factory were intense. When it came to grilling takoyaki and packing glasses into boxes, I couldn't lose to anyone. Pro-level (laughs). And on top of that, it was 12-hour shifts. So I'd work 12 hours straight. Back then, I thought to myself, "Yeah, I really do have guts."
– Okay, the guts are starting to show (laughs).
Kyo: My part-time jobs… Sorting frozen food, moving company, central wholesale market, etc. I didn't get paid for any of them. I didn't do much work, so I couldn't just go pick up money. I was working for free (laughs).
– What a waste! So when exactly did Kyo finally get guts…? (laughs)
Kaoru: Maybe we developed guts after we started playing in a band.
Kyo: That's right.
Kaoru: Right. Even with my previous band, we did intense tours, so I'd sleep in the car the whole time. That meant I never recovered from fatigue. My body would be heavy, but I'd have to put on makeup and do the live show.
Kyo: In a cramped car. Me and Shinya were doing something like yoga – we learned how to sleep in weird positions (laughs). We never even stayed in hotels.
Kaoru: Yeah. Being able to stay somewhere with a sauna…
– So you cultivated your guts there.
Kyo: At the time, I thought if the band disappeared, I wouldn't be able to do anything else.
Kaoru: We did over 100 live shows in one year, right? But we were doing something we enjoyed, so it wasn't that hard.
– Did you take turns driving?
Kaoru: No, Die usually did the driving. He was pretty much the only one with a license. But Die was tired too, so he'd fall asleep while driving. Then he'd suddenly wake up with a truck right in front of him.
– Whoa! What the heck?! (laughs)
Kyo: So because it was dangerous, Die would pull over at a rest area or something and sleep. We wanted to get home quickly, but you can't just wake him up and say "you drive," right? So we'd all wait in silence for about four hours. We went through that hardship together – maybe that's why we can understand each other without saying a word.
– That era is exactly why you are where you are today. Good – a beautiful ending (laughs).
Dir en grey
Ultra-thin-waist Girl
1998.8.25
This time, the shoot features Kyo and Kaoru. During the pre-shoot meeting, the two said, "Since it's just the two of us, let's do something different." Ideas like "mummy and Dracula" came up, but the mummy idea was rejected because wrapping bandages would hide their faces (laughs). Kyo's suggestion was adopted: "How about Kaoru as Dracula, and I'll be the girl who gets bitten by Dracula? Shall we go with that?"
Now, the day of the shoot. The two appeared at the shooting location, SOHO'S (an Italian restaurant in Setagaya), fully made up. "I did my eyes a bit differently than usual today," said Kyo. Indeed, different from his usual intense look – slightly elegant, like a girl. Cute ♡ And the costume? Rented from Shinya. This is ... a 55cm waist!! The manager asked, "Kyo, can you fit into this?" What a enviably slender body !!!!
Kaoru wore a best suit and a mantle, topped with a silk hat – feeling completely like Count Dracula. Oh, so cool! But the prepared fangs wouldn't fit properly. "When I open my mouth, they slip…" he said, baring his fangs and pretending to bite Kyo's neck – click went the camera. But... when they looked at the finished photos: "...You can't even see the fangs (laughs)" (surprise). Still, doesn't it give off a great atmosphere? I think there are tons of girls who would say, "I wouldn't mind being bitten by Kaoru the vampire ♡"
Photographer: Mr. Hideyuki Yajima
Writer: Ms. Eriko Takahashi
Thanks to: Ms. Tomoko Shirakabe & Mr. Inoue , Mr. Hikaru Morita of East West Japan
These were signed polaroids you could win and it drives me insane daily that someone has these. And they've not been publicly shared. Kaoru about to bite Kyo's neck.. I'm so normal.
I forgot to post these but here is a mini stress-relief project I've been working on for a while: Five portrait studies of Diru members done in graphite pencil.
Anyays I'm going to go see them live this coming May. Time to hibernate for another century or so until I decide to post something again. Toodles.
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