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➤The whole interview is divided into 8 topics, and the translation is divided into 4 parts. This is the last part, including the 6th to 8th topics.
※The five members were interviewed separately and then edited into a video, so the words spoken by each of them are not necessarily coherent.
※[ ] are timemarks.
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{tocify} $title={Table of Contents}
06. Overseas [43:40]
- - Opportunity to Go Overseas [44:30]
Die：I think the biggest reason is that the Internet has become so popular that people overseas can learn about Japanese culture.
Kaoru：Someone in Germany told us that there are many people waiting for DIR EN GREY to come.
Toshiya：To be honest, I was skeptical about it. Of course, I appreciate what they say, but I still think to myself, “Eh, do you really know us?”
Kaoru：I refused several times. That person came to tell us that they were ready for a venue of about 3,000 people. No, wait a minute. "We can’t go to that kind of place,” “Wouldn’t it be too exaggerated?” “You value us too much,” even though I said so.
Die：I heard that all the tickets were sold out in a few minutes and there were so many people gathered in places we had never been. I wonder what the hell was going on?
Toshiya：We went to Germany in such a half-believing state and were greeted by a very, very large number of people.
Kaoru：Not only from Europe, there are people from all over the world as well. It was the first time we held LIVE overseas, in Asia, and the audience came from different places, so I felt a bit numb.
Shinya：Isn’t it easy to go abroad now? This was not possible at that time. Maybe that’s what people overseas think. If you miss this time, you don’t know when you’ll see it next.
(*Yes Shinya, you’re right! 🥺)
Kyo：It’s just like “If there are people who support us like this, let’s go there.”
- - About Overseas Fans [46:46]
Toshiya：Whenever I saw the audience singing in Japanese, I felt that they are really conveying frankly.
Kyo：I don’t know how to convey what I’m singing, and I can’t sing in the local language, I can only sing in Japanese. But when I think of the people who try as hard as one can, studying and looking up information to find out what I’m singing, I think it would be nice if they could pass some time. I guess that’s how it is.
Kaoru：Although we don’t intentionally aim for overseas, people who will like us will like us.
- - Life on the Overseas Tour [48:11]
Die：In the case of the U.S., the tour bus can accommodate up to 12 people including members and staff. We had to go all over the U.S. with one bus, but of course the Japanese managers and staff were hardly there.
Shinya：Basically, it’s “Bus→Venue→LIVE”, and then “Bus→Venue→LIVE” keeps going on. It’s much better than in Japan that I’m already in the venue after getting up.
Kaoru：We don’t talk much in Japan. It has been like that for more than 20 years. But when we were on the overseas tour, I could talk to the members quite often because I stayed with them all the time. After all, there were only members. It’s nice to be able to talk to the members, so I think it’s good to have overseas tours regularly.
🤣🤣
Kyo：I don’t get out of the tour bus. I was in my own bed, about a tatami space, the height is probably only this way (Kyo gestures with his hand), like a box, but separated by a curtain. I stay in it almost all the time, even when I’m resting.
Kyo：I’m still interested in some history, and although it’s nice to see all kinds of scenery and live a healed life, I don’t really care… If I’m in the mood for a short trip to enjoy myself, it’s not DIR EN GREY.
(*Screen caption: Unlike European double-decker tour buses, American tour buses are single-decker.)
- - Future Approach to Overseas [50:03]
Shinya：Even if we tour overseas now, we can’t reach the scale that we have in Japan. That’s why I want to try a Hall Tour like the one in Japan, but it’s really hard to do that.
Die：Now we’re mostly touring on our own. I’d like to do a tour like Fes, a tour with several bands, and so on. Personally, I’d like to do that again. It’s not impossible, right?
Kaoru：But compared to the old days when we went overseas, when we performed in larger venues and had a large audience on stage, there is almost nothing like that now. Of course, it’s the same in Japan. It’s very rare. Basically, as long as there are fans, we’ll go there.
(*I think Kaoru is trying to say that they rarely go to big music festivals these days.)
Kyo：I hope not to go (overseas) as much as I can. In this day and age, I can sing even at home, like when my younger sister asks, “Can you sing for me?” I will sing seriously at home, really.
Kyo：It doesn’t mean I hate fans, Daisuki desu. ❤
🤣🤣
Toshiya：There was an interview during our underground period, and I still remember very clearly what I said then. “Anyway, I want to keep stumbling forward”. No matter what happens, I/we will not stay there forever. Even if I/we really can’t move forward, at least I/we will fall forward and feel like I/we can move forward again.
Toshiya：I won’t do it if I don’t have to. Hahahaha, I’ll quit. But there are people still waiting (for us), so I will continue to do it.
...
07. Transition [52:50]
- - The way to convey music in the future [52:53]
Shinya：There was no change in the way the music was produced. However, even if Corona has subsided afterwards, I think there are a lot of issues that need to be considered when it comes to the way that LIVE is organized.
Toshiya：In any case, the rules will probably become stricter and stricter in the future, both for music and film. That way, there is a clear distinction between what we can and cannot do. On the contrary, what we really want to show and what we own will be shown on the internet. Negotiating with each other, and then continuing to create. We can only move forward in that direction.
Kaoru：If you say that the production itself has changed, I think it has not changed. But what’s the point of making a song if you can’t do LIVE? There are a lot of voices like that, but basically I still think that in the end.
Kaoru：In this case, what we create is definitely different from what we did before. Isn’t the value of “wanting to convey something” a bit tiring? I sometimes think so. Well, but we have to adjust step by step and move in this direction, and that’s all we can say now. We have to create a place where we can express ourselves.
Kyo：After the Corona is over, you probably won’t be able to go back to your old world, whether it’s in terms of feelings or anything else. So you have to be flexible to deal with all kinds of things. If you think about it positively, it might be a good time, a good opportunity. After all, we never know when something is going to happen, and there is no such thing as an absolute, everlasting thing. Because of this, I often think that I must do everything 100%.
Die：We’ve done this before, with members picking their own lists and then playing on video sites*. Of course, the members are listening at the same time, with fans and members, this is also a form of LIVE, very LIVE-feeling. “I want to see LIVE” and “members also want to do LIVE”. I listened to the songs chosen by members with the same feeling as the fans. However, I really want to be on stage because I can only feel the atmosphere like that when I am there.
(*Die is talking about the “Audio Live Stream 5 Days” broadcasted on YouTube from 2020.05.02 to 05.06.)
...
08. Transition
- - What does DIR EN GREY mean to you? [57:00]
Kaoru：Maybe it’s the property or the value that I’ve been holding on to. Among everyone who listens to our music, I think this is the time to confirm our existence. In the case of Corona this time, we did make some rules using the internet. But the response I got at that time made me realize that DIR EN GREY is a part of our lives, and I felt that there are many people who consider DIR EN GREY as an important presence. At that time, I also understood our value and existence.
Kaoru：I can’t quite tell you what DIR EN GREY is when I’m asked. But seeing that everyone is watching us, I think it’s great that I can keep going.
Toshiya：I really started out alone, but I have since met many people. So, to me, DIR EN GREY is, in a word, a medium that connects me to the world in a big way.
Shinya：More than half of my life is spent in DIR EN GREY, it is my life.
Die：It’s like the meaning of living. It is… It’s what I’ve bet everything I have.
Kyo：It’s already part of my life, and now it is.
(*Edit: Although both Shinya and Kyo said that DIR EN GREY is his “life”, Shinya actually used the word “人生” (jinsei), which means the process from birth to death, more like “lifetime”; while Kyo used the word “生活” (seikatsu), which is closer to the meaning of “daily life”.)
(END)
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