Neo Genesis Vol.26 Kai Interview

- First, out of all the instruments out there, why were you drawn to the drums?

I guess I was drawn to them because they stand out. I think they're the instrument that lets you express yourself with your whole body, and even when I was a kid I couldn't keep my eyes off them.

- At what age was that?

During middle school. My parents listened to jazz a lot, and had learned the jazz piano before. I was raised in that kind of environment, and they also took me to recitals and jazz club sort of places.

- You went to jazz performances in elementary school?

Yes. I didn't understand anything, though.

- Then you saw jazz drums live.

I thought they were amazing. Of course, there was also the saxophone, guitar, bass, and vocals, but the drums caught my eye first. Then I told my mom that I wanted to try playing the drums. She had always tried to get me to play an instrument and had taught me piano, so she said "Okay, give it a try". During middle school I was taught by her friend who was a drummer.

- You had played soccer too, right?

Yes. Honestly, if I had to pick, soccer was what I was really interested in, and the drums were a hobby. But that changed when I started a band.

- Since you played sports, you used your whole body a lot...so is that why you were interested in drums? Since you don't move a whole lot playing the bass or guitar.

(laugh) That's true. Basically, I thought the drums were the most showy and cool.

- Were you given a drumset?

No, no, not at all.

- Then how did you practice at home?

At that time I used magazines and things. I didn't have money to use a studio, so I would hit turned over frying pans and stuff (laugh). The only time I used a drumset was when I used my instructor's, but I knew how they were layed out, and knew where the high-hat and cymbals should go.

- So how did you set it up?

The actual drums were all magazines, for the pedals I would pretend that I had one on the floor and just make the movements, and for the high-hat, the ladder on my bunk bed was at the right height, so (laugh). That's why there are marks on it even now (laugh).

- The signs of your practicing are still there, huh.

Also, there was a part hanging off the back of a chair and was about to break, and I used it as a ride (cymbal). So basically I used and broke things all over the house (laugh). I also made holes in pillows and things like that.

- What was the first song you copied?

LUNA SEA's "JESUS". But even though we were copying it, I would always just not practice the parts of songs that I didn't like. So when it got to that part, I would arrange it how I liked it. And I would change that part and play it differently every time.

- So you didn't copy the whole thing exactly?

Not at all (laugh)

- Do you remember how you felt the first time you played with a band?

I remember. I was bad at playing a real drumset, but when we all just went at it playing together it was so much fun that I would want to go to the studio the next day as well.

- So at that time did you think you would want to always play the drums?

I don't think I did at that time. But after we had all gotten together and practiced, we started talking about doing it seriously. Then school began to get in the way. Because I wanted a job so I could buy a drumset, and I wanted to practice. I had no interest in going to school, so I was the only one who quit. In my second year of high school.

- You were the only one who quit?

Yes. When I realized I was the only one I was like, "Uwaa~!", but there was no turning back. And actually, we had begun to stop getting together as much. So I thought "Well, fine then" and decided I would look for new members. But I didn't think I was good enough yet, so for about a year I practiced as hard as I could.

- But you were the only one after you quit school, right?

(laugh) Basically school and practice switched places. Normal high school students woke up in the morning and went to classes, and I was practicing. I wanted to create distance between me and the people who had started practicing after graduation. I wanted to show that I had merit....I had a job, but I wanted to use the money to buy a drumset, so I practiced at home instead of at a studio. There are people who say that you can't practice if you don't go to a studio often, but you totally can.

- Using the method you talked about before?

No, I had enough to buy just a snare, and once I had that there were tons of ways I could practice at home. A drumset isn't everything.

- So you had a lot of different ways of doing it?

Yes, depending on my mood.

- And how did you practice?

For example, I would write out the sixteenth notes myself and label them with R and L, or right and left, and move around accents. Or I would move accents on a sixteenth note that I used a long stroke on, there were a lot of ways to do it.

- But I don't think you could do that if you weren't completely set on it. And you were alone.

I didn't really see it as being alone, though

- So you were completely into it, then?

I was totally absorbed in it. When I told my mom I was quitting school, she did try to stop me, because wouldn't any parent? We started arguing a little, and since I was a kid I was set on quitting. My parents eventually gave up and said "Whatever, then. You've already decided, right?" Because at that time I was so decisive, I didn't want them to see me just lazing around the house. I would have hated it if they said "You quit school and now you're just playing around".

- And that continued for a year?

Yes, it did

- Even though when you're 16 or 17 is when you want to play around the most.

That's true (laugh). But all of my friends were going to school.

- So were you really rebellious?

Yes, I was.

- Do you think that you're here today because of that one year of practicing?

I want to think that, but actually the people I've met might have had the most influence.

- Like meeting the members?

The members as well as others. I've just been very influenced by the people I've met so far.

- No matter how much talent or skill you have?

I think there are a lot of people like that as well, though. I think if you look you could find middle school students who are better than me. But there's also just luck, and the fact that sometimes you can't get by just with your own accomplishments. That's why I can't say something like I'm where I am now thanks to that time of practicing.

- So if the 17 year-old Kai-kun saw the present Kai-kun, what would he say?

"Wow, awesome" (laugh)

- Like, "My dream was realized"?

Well, I was a kid at that time, so I had tons of confidence. If I think about it now, I had strangely huge confidence that I would go really far.

- I guess there are a lot of people who had plenty of groundless confidence that they would become pros.

That's true. It is strange. So I think if the 17 year-old me saw the present me, he would be like, "Yeah, I knew it". (laugh)

- But if it wasn't like that, you probably wouldn't have been able to keep practicing so hard. I really think that people who play the drums are amazing. You have to pay attention to so many different things at once. I don't even understand how you would work with just the cymbals.

(laugh) I don't really understand the feeling of it being amazing. Because when I first saw a drumset, I knew I could do it. Guitars have so many chords, and you have to move your fingers a lot. But all you have to do is hit the drums and they make sounds (laugh). Of course, once I started doing it I realized how hard it can be.

- Hard in what way?

I realized that drums are an honest instrument. The sounds you make when you play with confidence are completely different from the sounds you make when you're nervous. It's easily given away.

- It's an instrument that totally gives away your feelings?

I think so.

- So is it similar to singing?

Yes, singing also completely gives you away. But whether that's good or bad, it is a feature of acoustic instruments. Isn't that their selling point, though? Your voice is also an unprocessed instrument, so there's no meaning to it if you don't express that. For drums too, if you don't do that then all you're doing is hitting them. It's boring you know, just hitting them.

- I see.

So there is that, but even now, that simple "If you hit it, it'll make sounds" way of thinking hasn't changed.

- And the fun hasn't changed, either?

No, it hasn't. If I start disliking it, I would just quit right? Even now it's fun whether I'm playing live or recording.

- Then if you were to tell people who have just started playing instruments the good point of drums, what would it be? It's a part with a lot of responsibility, though.

Yeah, but I don't think that's the way to think about it. If you start playing them feeling like that, you'll just lose to the pressure.

- Though even if you forget the lyrics to a song, the music can still continue. But if you make a mistake while drumming, doesn't it all stop?

If they thought like that, everyone would get too nervous and give up. If I was teaching someone that didn't know anything about them to play the drums, first I would teach them how fun it is. The instructor who taught me did the same. I sat at the drumset and had no idea what I would have to do, but he just said, "Today you can just hit it however you want." He sat to the side and read a book (laugh). So without understanding anything, I started hitting the toms and realized, "Ah, so this makes this kind of sound." I did my best for a while, then it was like, "Okay, today's lesson is over".

- So there wasn't any kind of objective?

Not at all at first. At the time I didn't know anything about what 8th beats or anything were, and I just thought, "Drums are so easy~" and started from there. I was talking about luck before, and if I go back to that, wouldn't it start from just one meeting? If I wasn't saved by that teacher, I would be living a completely different life now. No matter how much I say I love drums, if I was just like "I can't do that!", I might have given up halfway through.

- It was good that you met then. Also, this might be a simple question, but are the drums an instrument that changes your personality after you learn them? Did you change because of the drums?

Not really. Actually, I think my personality is expressed through the drums.

- Aren't there a lot of drummers who are the moodmakers, or who are able to make things exciting? There are also a lot of very different personalities. So that's why I thought it might be because of the instrument?

I don't think that has anything to do with it, though.

- There are also plenty of people who are teased a lot.

I wonder why that is (laugh)? I do think there are a lot of people like that, though. But for me it was who I met, so I think it's other people who can change your personality.

- I see. This is an abstract question, but what are the drums to you? Something that expresses your personality?

They're like another part of my body....people rely on their eyes, talk with their mouths, and use gestures to communicate, right? It's like that. There are things that you can only express with your body, things that you can't convey unless you talk, and things that are given away with your eyes. Just like that, I think there are things that I can only express with the drums. For example, when people say, "My life changed after I started listening to Gazette", it means that they listened to our music and felt something. I often get letters saying, "I love Kai-kun's drumming", which means that that person felt something from my drumming. If they didn't, the word "love" wouldn't come into it. I think it's because they got something out of a phrase. But that's something that couldn't be felt if it wasn't for the drums. It couldn't be communicated by talking.

- Yes, yes.

What I think is interesting is there are a lot of people in the world who don't hear the drums when they listen to a song, but for me, in the past I didn't listen to the song. One day someone said to me, "This song's lyrics are really great, huh", and at that time I thought, "Wow, people read the lyrics!?" (laugh).

- (laugh) Like, "They think about what they mean!?". That they percieved the singing like you did the instruments?

I didn't know in the past that people would listen to CDs and follow the lyrics. It was the music that I concentrated on, so in high school when I copied songs, I could remember the drum phrases but not the melody.

- You really had a drummer's mind, then.

Because of that, when someone told me "These lyrics are touching", I would think, "For me this drum phrase is touching" (laugh).

- Do you feel that way even now?

I think I do, yes.

- Then, after your long tour you must have taken in a lot of things, but right now what kind of time is your style as a drummer facing?

I wonder? But the basic things haven't changed. I want to have fun with it. So I guess the answer is somewhere above that.

- When I went to Yoyogi and saw you there you were shining, but I also noticed that you were very stoic, and that your expression and your drumming went together perfectly.

I get embarrassed when I'm told that, but (laugh) If I can make a good expression....well, it's hard to explain when it comes to my playing style. My goal would be for people to say, "Even if you look all over the world you won't find another drummer like this!", and I would want to think that myself, but I think that's pretty hard to do. Being able to say, "This is my playing style" is something you're only able to say when you have the confidence that you definitely have your own unique style, so I can't say it just yet. Because I still want to be able to grow.

- So you're in the middle of working towards your goal?

Though it might be impossible even if I work my whole life.

- But you're still aiming towards it?

That is what I'm aiming for. Though right now if it's something I've achieved, I am able to say that I'm Gazette's drummer.

- But aren't you in a position where Gazette having any drummer other than Kai-kun is unthinkable?

You can say that. But as far as my playing goes, you couldn't say "Gazette's drummer is the only one in the world with that playing style". Well, I don't think about it that deeply. I just think it would be nice if it turned out that way.

- So it's an instrument that's just as deep as you make it?

Yes, it's difficult. But I love it because I never start disliking it.

- Loving it and having fun are simple but essential, aren't they. Thinking about it simply, I think it's because that part doesn't change that you are able to overcome obstacles and keep going.

That's true.

- Then, what have you been doing lately?

Band-related?

- Both with the band and in private.

I haven't been doing anything in private (laugh). Maybe when I'm sleeping?

- Have you had a little break after Yoyogi?

Kind of, but it's a break called song-making (laugh)

- But even when you're doing all that, doesn't just playing the drums make it fun?

That is true. Since it's an instrument that lets out your honest feelings....for example, the atmosphere before a live when the members are kind of arguing with each other and the times when thing are going really well and we're all excited together are completely different. I don't think this only affects my drumming, but....for me, I even hate it when I see a staff member get angry before a live. If it's possible, I don't want to see that. I want everything to go well that day, so it's a pretty extravagant way of thinking. There are fans who tell me, "I think it would be better to do it this way", and because I want it to go well too, I'll take that in. Like, "When you play a ballad like that it hurts my ears" kinda thing.

- Heehh. That's pretty severe.

At first I would think "What the heck?", but whenever they actually write the name of the song they're talking about, it's always at the back of my mind when I'm playing it during a live. I've also unconciously changed it....But because there are always a lot of opinions, at the end if I have to choose what to believe, all I have to do is believe in us. And I think we have fans who will follow us like that.

- Then lastly, since you're in the middle of making new songs, can you give us an idea of what kind of songs we can expect?

As to what kind of songs they'll be, there are a lot of different feelings to them. But what I can tell you without hesitation is to look forward to them! They're cool!


---------

Kai is so inspirational~ I want to learn how to play drums, and he makes me think that i really can~ even though i temporarily don't have a drumset, lol.

Also, I'm finally using my Ameblog! I just have one litte introduction post done atm, but from now on I think I'll post in Japanese and English ^^ But since it's like 5am now I'm gonna sleep and add everyone who gave me their blog names tomorrow~ But if you want to add me, the address is http://ameblo.jp/kurishiko
And I'm still working on the layout and stuff, but it's really fun so far ^^v