音楽と人- January 2014 -Excerpts
Interview with Imai Hisashi
Text by Kanemitsu Hirofumi
Translation by Lola

Stomp your feet and light up the dark!

Up till now, BUCK-TICK's approach has been considered to be associated with certain key words like "band sound" and "gothic" hasn't it? So will the new album follow along those lines or will you do a complete 180......?
I think I'm fairly change oriented. Of course there are songs that seem like straight up guitar sound but......to say it simply, I guess the songs go in more of an electro direction. At least that's the sense you'll get when you hear it.

What do you think prompted you to go in this direction?
I mean it's something I want to do because it's the kind of song I want to listen to.

(After Imai says the concept of the new album is surrealism)

Even within "surrealism"(1), I would think there are various ways of expressing it in words.
I had tried to formulate which words would fit myself and I was thinking, defiance and rebellion. Anarchism. But foremost with the strong nuance of saying, "NO!" to things. Because the thing is, Sakurai-san is the person who then incorporates these things into the songs.

Is it that BUCK-TICK is rebelling against being labelled for having a certain set image?
I guess that's part of it too but, it's also because rebellion's the fundamental attitude behind rock. I think that even came out recently in our song choice for the lives like hey, my needs aren't really being met here because basically I'm not a nice guy ok? And don't you dare forget it! *smiles*

Ha ha ha ha, sounds to me like your inner rebel child making an uproar.
But well, I think our needs are just better met when we do things that are provocative *smiles*. Because those things are the most fun. And you know because I've been thinking that, I might not always be able to come up with new things.

This transition of BUCK-TICK's, as far as electro surrealism is concerned, is a change that also brings "SEXY STREAM LINER" to mind.
That one's different too. I'd say it's somewhere in the environs of "SEXY STREAM LINER" which for me, I feel as though in my mind, I had a hell of a time making it but then when I think it over, I do realize it's because of that album that I was able to do so much afterwards. But if I hadn't made that album, then of course I wouldn't have felt so refreshed afterwards. So this time, I am consciously trying to express that in a tangible sense, I want to summon up my full strength to make songs to the best of my ability.

[...]

So what you're saying in other words, is that you want to express things more consciously because your recent digital work has not been representative of your style.
I mean I'll do something cool with BUCK-TICK but, of course I do want that to be reflected in the sound. So I'm going to keep steadily sharpening my awareness. And I guess, if I was going to use a single word to express that, it'd be "surrealism". And you know artists of that age would just come out and say, "I'm telling you, this is art!", as they'd treat their critics and commentators with contempt. That's the feeling I'm going for.

What is an existence that you feel you would term as "surrealism", Imai-san?
I find Dali(2) amazing but, my favorite is Giorgio de Chirico(3). There's even a lot of pieces of Magritte's(4) that give me the chills.

If we take Chirico then, how is it that his work gives you the chills?
I guess because it gives me this feeling of nostalgia. Like having a dream that is unsettling, and actually if I had to pick one or the other I'd say if anything it's much closer to being a nightmare. And yet, it's the kind of dream that makes you feel like it'd be nice to have again.

Is that how the album will feel as well?
Well, I guess you'll see after you listen *smiles*.

Notes: (1) Surrealism is a cultural movement that sprang up in the 1920s. The main goal of this movement when it came to art and writing was to attempt to reconcile the condition of dreams and reality which had previously been in opposition. When it came to painting, this lead to the development of techniques that were meant to let the unconscious be expressed.
(2) Salvador Dali.
(3) Chirico is even referenced in one of Imai's songs from Lucy, "SWEET BABY SWEET".
(4) René Magritte.