This interview was originally published in Japanese on thefirsttimes.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.

the GazettE – 20th Anniversary Best Album Interview

the GazettE has completed their 20th anniversary best album, the GazettE 20TH ANNIVERSARY BEST ALBUM HETERODOXY-DIVIDED 3 CONCEPTS-. This is a 3-disc set divided into three concepts: “SINGLES,” “ABYSS,” and “LUCY,” containing a massive 47 tracks total. The track selections were made with live performances in mind, and the collection effectively conveys the three musical elements that form the core of the band’s sound. In this interview, we spoke with all five members about the album’s contents while reflecting on the band’s 20-year history.

It’s Significant That We’ve Kept Going for 20 Years Without Stopping

Q: This 20th anniversary best album comes as a 3-disc set. Looking back on these 20 years, what impression do you have?

Kai (Dr): Well, reflecting on our activities, I think the fact that we’ve kept going for 20 years without stopping is really significant. I think it’s something only these five could have done, and it’s been a fulfilling 20 years. A relationship where you can say anything to each other is rarer than you’d think, and that applies to our work and songwriting too.

Reita (Ba): Yeah, I don’t really have a strong sense that 20 years have passed, but before I knew it, 20 years were gone. Looking back, it’s been quite a journey. Especially when we did those long tours—there were times we did 71-show tours, so you’d be counting down how many were left, and it felt like it would never end (laughs). But once it’s over, it feels like it flew by.

Rei (Gu): Over these 20 years, we’ve had our ups and downs and learned a lot, growing as a band through our experiences. I think we’ve grown most through touring and live performances. We still consider ourselves a live band.

Ruki (Vo): We didn’t really have the luxury of looking back while we were actively working, but lately with the best album and the 20th anniversary, we’ve found ourselves revisiting our roots and reassessing what we’ve done, then evolving into something new. In terms of actually feeling it, even though we’ve been doing this for 20 years in the band, I haven’t really felt that length of time. Of course, 20 years is a long time, but it really does feel like we just blinked and got here.

Back Then, There Were Barely Any Bands Playing Heavy Music with Dropped Tuning Like We Do Now

Q: This is a basic question, but what kind of music did the GazettE want to make when you formed in 2002?

Ruki: Songs with enka-like melodies and aggressive, high-energy tracks. Most of those were intentionally created for battle-of-the-bands shows at live houses. Of course, there was the trend of the time too. But we had to beat whoever was popular at the live house—that was the initial direction. We were building our own weapons to stand out against different rival bands. Visually too. We always had to surpass whatever bands were popular at the live houses back then. Our motto was to make a lasting impact on everyone in that venue and carry it forward to the next show.

Rei: There were a lot of skilled musicians around us, so we had to keep up. Since our playing wasn’t that high-quality technically, we focused on raw energy and production.

Reita: Back then, there were basically no bands playing heavy music with dropped tuning like we do now.

Q: So in the early days, you just wanted to beat everyone else no matter what?

Ruki: Yeah, it felt like we were in constant battle. Which is the natural mentality, of course.

Reita: We were all about the raw energy (laughs).

Ruki: It wasn’t really about making music together in harmony—we were kind of cutthroat about it. We were desperate, really. We’d even watch the other bands’ soundchecks on the day and change our setlist accordingly.

Q: What about musical influences?

Ruki: I was mostly influenced by my older brother, so 1990s Visual Kei had a big impact. It was a genre I didn’t know about before that. After that, I’d listen to Western music that members of bands I liked were into, and explore whatever they recommended to expand my musical horizons.

Rei: We definitely received that influence.

Ruki: I think everyone in this scene goes through that. After that, we started digging deep into single genres and exploring various styles.

We Were Taking Things In and Fusing Them Together

Q: When you mention enka influences, what do you mean?

Ruki: At the time, there was a lot of enka elements in what was trendy in our circle, so I’d listen to stuff like Anzen Chitai.

Kai: We were listening to Sada Masashi too (laughs).

Rei: Visual Kei at that time was absorbing all kinds of influences, and new bands were shining because of it. We were doing the same thing—taking things in and fusing them together. Enka elements matched well with Visual Kei, and a lot of bands were incorporating it.

Ruki: When our genre was popular, mixer stuff was also in the spotlight. That influenced us too. I was already into that genre anyway. We were all students and listened to it the way people listen to J-POP. Visual Kei was just one part of that. As we started playing, the feeling was “wouldn’t it be better if it was heavier?” All the members were listening to similar music, so we tried different things and here we are.

Q: What band made you decide to go in the heavier direction?

Ruki: We were listening to lots of things, so it wasn’t really one specific catalyst. But at the time, bands like Slipknot had an impact.

Rei: Slipknot’s influence was huge. We watched videos, checked the tuning, and found out they were using drop B tuning. We realized, “If you drop it this far, you get this kind of sound!” We never thought of dropping the tuning that much—we didn’t know how to make things heavier, so we just copied what we saw (laughs).

We Were Trial-and-Error About How to Create Our Own Originality

Q: While incorporating various elements, did you have a strong desire to create something original?

Ruki: Not really in the beginning. We were too busy just being in a band. But we did try not to lock ourselves into a specific concept or musical formula.

Rei: Even so, while we were incorporating different elements, we were constantly trial-and-error about how to create our own originality.

Q: Then after your successful one-man show at SHIBUYA-AX in 2004, you had Nippon Budokan in 2006 and Tokyo Dome in 2010. It was a period when you were rapidly climbing. What were you thinking during that time?

Ruki: We were working really hard. As for the sense of climbing, I’m not sure what I was thinking about that. But we became more stoic about music and production than when we started the band.

Kai: I think people around us were pretty aware of what was happening. We didn’t want to lose to anyone in the same scene, and simply put, we wanted bigger venues. For us, we wanted each tour finale to be in an even bigger space than the last. That was our motivation back then.

Reita: Since many venues were new to us, there was a sense of enjoyment, but mostly we felt like we were desperately hanging on for dear life.

Q: What about overseas live shows? You did a European tour in 2007 and have done world tours several times since. Did you originally want to perform outside Japan?

Rei: Not at all, honestly.

Reita: We were asked if we wanted to do a show in Europe, and that’s when we learned fans existed overseas.

We Have to Be Able to Deliver Consistent Performances No Matter the Environment

Q: Do you feel a difference in how Japanese and overseas audiences react?

Ruki: I don’t think there’s a special difference, and it makes sense anyway since they’ve listened to different music and have different culture. To put it simply, Japanese audiences have a certain way of moving—head-banging patterns, when to jump, stuff like that. Overseas audiences, at least from our experience, have no set pattern—lots of different styles. Japanese artists can do a ballad and get a respectful listening silence, but overseas audiences might go all-out singing and getting hyped. That’s kind of the difference, though of course it varies by country.

Rei: Things don’t always go as smoothly overseas as they do domestically, so mentally we can’t let ourselves lose. There are equipment limitations, and things don’t always go as planned, but in a way, that’s what makes it interesting.

Aoi (Gu): The environment isn’t as perfectly set up as it is in Japan. In that sense, while it’s not like formal training, we have to be able to deliver consistent performances no matter what kind of environment we’re in.

Q: How do overseas audiences receive the GazettE’s music?

Ruki: I’m not sure, but maybe they’re taking it in as Visual Kei culture from Japan. That said, when we’ve done overseas interviews, they’ve mentioned it’s a sound that’s pretty unique overseas.

Q: Has touring overseas influenced your songwriting?

Aoi: Not really. If we were going to be influenced by overseas trends, we might as well not be Visual Kei. Visual Kei has its own unique melodies and harmonic sense. If we’re going to be bound by a genre, we should stick with Visual Kei rather than chase other styles.

Q: You’ve also performed at events like ‘LOUD PARK 14’ and ‘KNOTFEST JAPAN 2016.’ How did it feel playing at those loud/heavy-focused festivals?

Aoi: It was a niche genre event, but we were surprised we could pull it off.

Reita: We want fans of all kinds of genres to know about us. More than anything, we really want people to come see us live.

Ruki: We’re grateful to be invited to festivals with all kinds of bands. We’re not trying to match the festival’s vibe—we’re always thinking about how to be ourselves. We’re clear about why we were invited and what role we’re filling. In a way, we enjoyed the gap between how we look and how we sound.

“ABYSS” (DISC 2) and “LUCY” (DISC 3) Were Selected With Live Performances in Mind

Q: Let’s talk about the best album. What direction did you want to go with the content?

Aoi: We wanted something clear that could represent one of our live shows. Since “ABYSS” (DISC 2) and “LUCY” (DISC 3) are also the titles of our live productions, we selected songs with live performances in mind. We shared the songs online, so it was easy to swap things around when needed.

Q: Even just listening to “SINGLES” (DISC 1), I was struck by the variety of songs.

Reita: It’s a disc that shows the band’s inner conflict, I think. Unlike albums, singles have to express the GazettE of that moment with just one song. But there are things you can’t express in just one track, and we’re aware of that too when selecting them. You can see the times reflected in the choices.

“SINGLES” Is Crafted to Reach People Who Don’t Know the GazettE Yet

Q: Every song on “SINGLES” has hooks and catchiness that grab your ear.

Ruki: I think the GazettE can be divided into three parts. “SINGLES” is music that’s been arranged so it reaches people who don’t know the GazettE yet. Rather than pushing our own world view, the priority is to make an impression on as many people as possible who don’t know the band, and then mix in the sound we want to show. In contrast, “ABYSS” and “LUCY” showcase the essence—the more niche, fundamental parts of who we are. We often expressed that side on B-sides of singles. At the time, we didn’t want people to judge the band based on just one single, so we’d make sure to show different sides. They’re all our songs, but when you divide them into three like this, you get this kind of distribution.

Q: So “SINGLES” is filled with songs that serve as entry points to the GazettE.

Ruki: That said, “Filth in the beauty” has that attacking quality where we fused Latin and loud elements.

Ruki: Right. That was a turning point for the band. That song has lots of elements in it. Rather than trying to do something huge, we did it to show our originality.

Songs That Align With the Unique Melodic Sensibilities That Flow Through Japanese People

Q: The album has such diverse songs, yet I felt a real consistency running through them all.

Ruki: I think they’re all songs that feature the unique melodic sensibilities that flow through Japanese people, built on that foundation. That’s something that hasn’t changed from the beginning.

Q: “ABYSS” literally translates to “abyss,” and you can definitely hear dark, mellow sounds throughout.

Ruki: These are songs that play important roles in our live sets—the kind we do in the middle section. The GazettE wouldn’t be the GazettE without them. We’ve condensed that into one disc.

Q: When you have many songs like this with a slower, more emotive feel, you might worry about things dragging, but each song is rich and takes a different approach, so it stayed interesting all the way through.

Rei: These songs were built over 20 years, so in that sense, you can really see different facets. We weren’t originally a band that played these kinds of songs. As we accumulated live experience, we found this world view suited us, it resonated with the members, and it kind of naturally emerged as the core of the band’s identity.

Q: The third disc, “LUCY,” is almost self-explanatory—it’s packed with extreme, full-throttle GazettE tracks.

Ruki: Yeah, it’s all live songs.

Kai: I thought we might get tired listening to it, but we discussed the track order carefully. We arranged them so they wouldn’t overlap or feel repetitive, making it easy to listen straight through.

Reita: We actually had about two more songs initially, but we cut them. We balanced it against “ABYSS” and made sure the quantity was something you could actually listen to. Since a lot of the songs have that uplifting chorus, you’ll finish listening before you get tired (laughs).

Q: Despite all these explosive, impulsive songs, the beauty of the GazettE’s vocals and melodies really stands out.

Ruki: Thank you. Our live shows are basically all heavy songs. But each year we’re adding weapons and thinking about different approaches.

Q: “LUCY” closes with “TOMORROW NEVER DIES.” It’s uniquely arranged with key changes and bright, open melodies.

Kai: Since we actually play this song at the end of our live sets, having it in this position gives it a nice sense of closure for the fans.

Ruki: It’s the last song from TOXIC (our 5th album). We were working on the phrasing during our Zepp Nagoya shows, actually. I remember doing the work in the green room right before the show, and we could hear the fans outside—that was something.

Q: This song has a positive message, doesn’t it?

Ruki: Yeah. We wanted something fitting for a live’s ending, something with a message. We felt we needed a song like that and actually wrote it. That’s why we still close with it now.

All Three Discs Are Well-Balanced and Present a Full Live Experience

Q: So, through this best album, what’s the most important thing you want to convey?

Reita: These three discs are distributed with great balance so they feel like one complete live performance. We really want people to listen to all three sides and come see us live. A live show is where you can experience all three of these facets at once.

Interview & Text by Ryosuke Aragane

Release Information

2022.12.21 ON SALE
ALBUM the GazettE 20TH ANNIVERSARY BEST ALBUM HETERODOXY-DIVIDED 3 CONCEPTS-

Profile

the GazettE – RUKI (Vo), Rei (Gu), Aoi (Gu), Reita (Ba), Kai (

Read the original Japanese interview on thefirsttimes.jp