Shoxx 234 - Ruki interview part 1

RUKI INTERVIEW
Beautiful Murky 
Part 1

Interviewer: Finally, the vocal recording for DIVISION ended the other day.

Ruki: Yes, we just finished last week.

Interviewer: The work done until now gives the impression that it continues without arrest, isn't it?

Ruki: mah, basically yes. It's just that there are really lots of difficult songs in this album. Maybe it's better to say that I made them difficult. *laugh*

Interviewer: By the way, last month during an interview Kai said "this time, before recording started, Ruki, the engineer and I reviewed things talking among us. Maybe it was harder for Ruki than for me."

Ruki: This time lots of songs are structured in a very intricate way. From this point of view, it was necessary a certain period of preparation even from the start of drum recording. Usually when we make songs, there's not the melody that becomes the 'impressive melody line'. There are usually melody A and melody B. In this case, there is even melody E, so it turns out like 'ABCDEE'.

Interviewer: There are various developments, aren't there?

Ruki: Totally. When we were making them, we always said at a certain point "eh? where do we put this?" and we had to verify every time.

Interviewer: Strangely, you fist said 'I made them difficult' but this album receives the effect of the previous album TOXIC, could this be an inevitable transition?

Ruki: ah, there could be even lots of points like that? Who knows.

Interviewer: Anyway, the gab between the previous work until DIVISION was the shortest one in the GazettE's history, wasn't it?

Ruki: Without any doubts. There were never a gap that short between two albums *laugh* However, there were lots of moments during which we asked ourselves as first thing if it was better to release a single or not in this moment.

Interviewer: and then?

Ruki: In the end, after an album like TOXIC we wandered what kind of songs a single should have in it. In that moment, we didn't make any songs for which we could say "absolutely, it has to be these songs!". At first, we thought for a moment "so, shall we make a minialbum?", but then we said "no, only that would be a bother", so this time we wandered instead "and if we make two at the same time?" and in the end "then, why don't we make a full-album".

Interviewer: Seems that the subject reversed completely *laugh*

Ruki: Nonetheless, already from the beginning inside of me, the idea of a single wasn't there. Because we said that even if we would have released a single, then could we do a tour? In the end we thought "no, we can't do this."

Interviewer: If we have a look around, there are lots of bands that do a one-man tour after releasing single. For the GazettE it wasn't the right situation to do it to the best of your ability, was it?

Ruki: Anyway, regarding TOXIC world, we completed it during the previous tour. So I thought it would be better to do a new album and then show its world. Even if by saying it there wasn't such a practical gap.

Interviewer: Deciding was good, but which were the circumstances?

Ruki: We easily decided to release an album, but during that phase there wasn't still all the songs. There wasn't even songs for creating a single and making the album from the first song was like I was basically choking myself. Before starting, I thought that probably I couldn't do it but, to say the truth, it was beyond my imagination. *bitter smile*

Interviewer: Despite that, I think that a certain vision was consolidated inside of you from the beginning. It should have been during the interview of the previous work TOXIC, you already said something like "I want to create our next work as soon as possible", didn't you?

Ruki: At that moment, I didn't know what and how I wanted to do clearly, but maybe a part of me was already thinking "I want to move on".

Interviewer: The motivation per se was that maybe you were in an excellent situation, wasn't it?

Ruki: Yes. After recording during the previous tour 'VENOMOUS CELL', this type of sensation increased even more.

Interviewer: So the reason that took you to this was the possibility to analyze yourselves?

Ruki: Something like that, toward TOXIC I had in my head the idea that it was probably incomplete.

Interviewer: TOXIC incomplete? As a listener, I'm full of admiration for how it was quite venomous.

Ruki: Well, the thing was to compare our work to what deep inside of me was saying "I wanted to do more like that..". Besides, when I was creating it, I did it thinking that it was the best. However, when the tour started, there were lot of things that I understood examining them.

Interviewer: I see, the artist's insatiable spirit showed itself.

Ruki: For this reason, I thought that for this album I wanted contents that could shake even more than the other one.

Interviewer: This time, the type of direction that will shake everyone, what aspect will concern -concretely speaking?

Ruki: How can I say it? First of all, in TOXIC weren't there extremely digital elements? Thinking about that period, I strangely didn't have the feeling that it was incomplete. This time I wanted to examine it once again.

Interviewer: It's very interesting.

Ruki: Before hearing it, if I say something like that in advance, it could be like "eh? are the GazettE become such a digital band?" again. *laugh* But it's not like that. Basically, the thing is that I wanted to evolve even more the fusion of digital elements with the sound of the band even compared to our previous work.

Interviewer: In your case, the sound that often was inside of you, you addressed it towards the band in order to have a good feedback from them. It seemed good thinking to reflect on this sound in such vivid way for this album too.

Ruki: If we talk about that meaning, the sound that was inside of me that time it wasn't the one of the band to say the truth. Because in the first place, the sound of the band I can't usually hear it if it's not inside of me. However, since I wanted to change the sound I had inside of me and harmonize it with the sound of the band, a lots of dilemmas came up one after the other and indecisions of what we should do too. It really became a struggle. *laugh*

Interviewer: Moreover, even if we say 'digital' as a single word, this word crosses different ways and even the coexistence of different genres like electropop or hardcore techno. The Ruki who became aware with this album, what type of person was he?

Ruki: I'm always told I'm repetitive. *laugh* I've noticed that among the last generation Lady Gaga is really popular instead of serious guys who are in a completely opposite direction. What I like and listen don't even have lyrics, they are just songs like "and here.. where's the refrain?". I often listen to them before a live.

Interviewer: If they hear that, they could make assumptions.

Ruki: Hearing that kind of sound through headphones I asked myself in the end "aaah this resonance is excellent." however, expecting this kind of resonance from the band is impossible from the start.

Interviewer: Because the origin itself of the sound is materially completely different. I think this is normal.

Ruki: However, a thought emerged inside of me: "is it real that it's really impossible to create?" If I have to say if I seriously tried to do it, well I haven't. So this time I thought "all I can do is do it now" and this was the first time.


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