When “The world of mercy” comes to your ears, especially for the people who have been listening to Dir en grey enthusiastically, without doubts there are several parts that feel fresh. In those parts, one of the big elements that brings that feeling to this new song is the bass line played by Toshiya. Actually, usually at performances when we meet after them, he asks for opinions or impressions from people around him about that day’s performance. You could say he does that to look for a confirmation response of how strict the world view expression, the band and himself is reflected in the surroundings but it’s probably also a way to improve the accuracy on stage. Of course, that’s a matter of speculation but basing on the statements from this interview, if you think how Toshiya faces DIR EN GREY, it seems natural to think so. A subjective approach with objectivity. I’m interested in finding that sense of balance. Born while facing the 「The Insulated World」, “The world of Mercy” as his words transmit, is an important work which opens the next door.
-「The Insulated World」 tour is still going on, so in that sense, the whole picture of the album may be visible from now but, at this point what kind of work do you feel that is 「The Insulated World」?
T: What could it be…. The things we have been doing…I don’t feel like if something has particularly changed in ourselves. If you asked me what kind of album it is, or to place it…. if I had to say something, that it is the 10th album. Well, I think it became something like a turning point.
-The original concept is not the same but, do you feel any difference from「ARCHE」?
T: There are differences. 「ARCHE」 was the desire of doing something once again with the impulse of the early days while for some reason or another, remembering the atmosphere of the band when really started running. I think we wanted to do something that wasn’t there, but I wonder if 「The Insulated World」was based on that, in the desire of doing something like the first steps again.
-What did you think about “The World of Mercy”, the next song chosen after 「The Insulated World」?
T: This single is probably like the last song of 「The Insulated World」. Like the last piece rather than the future of it. For me until now, we did a tour with an album, and then we would do the final tour in a bit bigger place, that would make the atmosphere of that album feel like it has finished. This time, while doing the tour, it feels like the album is bringing the own album to an end.
-Did you feel that “The Insulated World” itself was not completed?
T: I think it was completed but, while touring with the album, I thought that I wanted something that somehow ties it up. The truth is that "Zetsuentai" was supposed to be that, but it hasn’t been played yet live. At that moment, it felt like if a song to mark the end came.
-Can you find out why that happened? It feels like there is no example of that happening to you before.
T: There is not. But somewhere inside us, we wanted that implication. To do it in a single itself. What would it mean as a single? I think we wanted to do something nominal. We, and even myself might not have digested the album yet. That’s why it didn’t feel like a new chapter after everything has finished. The fact that the song is that long, if anything, it’s almost a coincidence and we didn’t intent to do it that way at all. If we were going to make a long song from the beginning, the approach might have been slightly different. I don’t it would have the current shape. When we were talking about the single, as there were two songs that reached the final stage, we put them together and we talked about how interesting it would be if we unified them. I guess that was the beginning.
-While traveling around with the tour presenting “The Insulated World”, I wonder if you have felt any difference from before?
T: I wonder…. more than differences, the truth is that there are a lot of moments like “Aa, I want to do more” or “I want to do it like this”.
-These thoughts are about bass play?
T: No, how could I say it…. It appears in the album booklet but, I think the Tower of Babel is one of the most symbolic pieces regarding 「The Insulated World」. Inside the Tower of Babel there are individual rooms and each of these rooms is a tune. As the Old Testament says, the Tower of Babel was built up by humankind as a kind of building heading towards heaven. I thought that subject is similar to our state. To Build and then it collapses, to build and then it collapses. But they just keep making it, going higher and higher right? They don’t know what they want to do once they get up there. I think that maybe they just want to see the view once they get to go there. Going up to a height…. maybe it’s really an arrogant thing to do. I don’t know though if it was destroyed (the Tower) because it caused God’s wrath or else if it was even possible to climb beyond that height. At tours, actually I’m like, at this song I really want to put out the world view more like this or that…. there are a lot of things (I want to do) but there were also many unfinished parts.
-That’s a point of interest to look for right? The way you express that world view, is it born because you are performing day after day?
T: From that too, but there is also an image problem. But as I said, until now a perfect embodiment hasn’t been possible to be done, it’s unthinkable.
-In other words, you still don’t know it’s complete or perfect form.
T: Yes. I feel that under such circumstances, we started making this single.
-For single production, I think that you had many options but, were you too engaged in the process of making the song?
T: I was but, I truly didn’t know what we were going to bring. At that time, I thought we were going to do something beyond this album. In the end, I couldn’t think of anything like “this is good”. So, I didn’t bring anything. In that situation, from the songs that were brought, two were chosen, when we were about to do it, I started to wonder if this wasn’t really the next step.
-Then, regarding the previous talk about the Tower of Babel, the work process became like that?
T: Work process…what could I say. To put it simple, changing the metaphor, it feels like a finished version of La Sagrada Familia. Or maybe the completed form of the Tower of Babel? Just as one would expect, will it be destroyed by a thunder or will it be overlooked so you can build it even higher? I think if it might be something like that.
-Once it is in the ultimate complete form, you can’t see what fate is going to follow to that thing itself.
T: You can’t see it. That’s why an album is released, we go on tour and in the final performance that will surely come, it seems like our judgement will be opened.
-What is the ideal final result?
T: The ideal? This is probably my own’s selfish thoughts but the ideal is pure white.
-It’s a quest. What does that “pure white” mean?
T: I’m not saying it on purpose, I want to leave it to the sensitivity of the person who took it.
-In my personal view, the field of vision becomes pure white, the things that were built up will collapse and go away in an instant…exaggerating, I feel like it’s either of these. Whichever way you arrive, it seems interesting. Could you say that in both cases you can’t see at all what it`s next?
T: That’s right.
-Things that are pure white may seem weak, aiming at living things… That’s not the case, it becomes like a new motivation.
T: Yes, That’s the atmosphere
-What was your impressions when you listened for the first time the two songs candidates to become the single?
T: Both were interesting and each one had parts that caught me. There was a feeling of how were we going to stuff them together but, in the end as both songs were mixed together maybe there were some parts that I couldn’t find. For both songs. So, as it changed to something chaotic, the idea that making something new would be more interesting changed. I think precisely because both songs were mixed together, the finished final form is this one.
-How do you feel about “The World of Mercy” being born from a mix?
T: That also changed and changed a lot, rather than an impression, I thought how you would listen to it. Until now, we have been doing some long songs so far, some people say that’s very DIR EN GREY-ish, I have been told that that is a very unique thing of DIR EN GREY. I don’t think that those things have changed.
-You can understand it that way. However, I dare to say that many people have the perception that DIR EN GREY first recognition is that they come with things that you don’t predict. In that sense, I think that whatever you do, the conclusion is that it feels like DIR EN GREY.
T: I see. But that’s why I thought it would be better to do something that you can listen to. That was my first impression.
-Is it truly like that?
T: Truth is…. Is it patience? It’s actually better that the flow goes like this, after all I think it’s beautiful, a flow that you like. How are you going to endure it?
-In other words, you play it with a flow that you like, until now, hasn’t it changed?
T: It feels like that. But, as setting the flow of the things is always necessary, the longer the song is, maybe everyone is thinking about where the song is going to move to, where is the flow going or when is it going to stop.
