音楽と人- June 1995
Interview with Imai Hisashi
Translation: Lola
The completion of "Six/Nine" is a matter for congratulations but you boasted last December that you already had seven songs done, were you making it up?
No, they were in my head!
You said so full of confidence that 'Even if I say nothing, the abundance of songs overflows'.
Yeah, that's what it feels like. Really it's like...already with this song or that song I have lot of ideas and putting those ideas onto a demo tape is just one of various steps but...well, it all takes time.
And yet you still end up writing 12 out of the 16 songs much to everyone else's chagrin.
...but the first song 'Loop' and the last song 'Loop Mark II' are more or less just a different mix since the way I made the song itself changed. In general the last song is the crowning piece, the problem was that when I decided on it I didn't know if Acchan or someone else had said that they'd do it *smiles*.
What?
Well 'Somewhere Nowhere' was also one of the last of the last and when I said 'I put the sound in, that's it for today', I felt that in the end it didn't feel right, it seemed to cover up 'Loop'. The rhythm played was cool but simple so I decided that ok, maybe I'll do one more song.
That's rather last minute *smiles*.
Everyone was shocked *smiles*. Because we had one minute left to finish *smiles*.
Hahahahaha. Even if the way of making this album is typical of a rock band, it's quite techno in style isn't it.
That was consciously done from the beginning. 'Loop' is also made to sound like an ambient piece. When it was still in the early stages, I decided that I wanted something like a ballad, like 'Illusion', it was with that sort of ambient element that I wanted to play it.
I wonder was this influenced by the sound you listened to these past two years?
Yeah, I think so.
Was your plan from the beginning that you wanted something new and cool after "Kurutta Taiyou"?
Maybe I thought something along those lines around the time of "Kurutta Taiyou". But I didn't use such heavy words, it was more like...I wanted to escape from it. It was already something new...but I think I wanted it to be a little more than that.
What did you want to escape from?
Hm, what indeed...I don't really know but...with "Darker than Darkness", there was again that guitar sound that when I played it, it just...was a little off, I've always thought that.
You didn't want to do the same thing.
Yeah...well, I thought I wouldn't make a song like that again...I guess that's my answer.
This could then give rise to new opportunities in sound right?
...as long as it's not pop, anything but that...how can I say it better? I have no idea *laughs*.
Does that mean you said 'It's time for a new sound'?
Yeah, yeah.
B-T is also original usually and I think given that "Kurutta Taiyou" had an epoch-making sound, thereafter it was established as being B-T's sound. You want to change that way of seeing B-T right? 'We're not just that!'.
Yes, that's right. So...since playing something with a heavy mood or heavy feeling is already something we can do easily, I think I want to rework something else.
Are you proud? Especially after LSB(1), it was once again a chance for your career, a chance for B-T to be known.
...well, I don't know whether or not it's a matter of pride but...well ok, it is.
It's like you can't do the same thing twice, can't even repeat the same words as me.
Even if I did the same thing, it'd be cool. But well, I can't *smiles*.
Around the time of 'Uta', Sakurai declared 'I want to do something that is unlike anything B-T has ever done' but how do you feel about it Imai? Do you share his way of thinking?
Yeah, I wanted a change too. I think variety is interesting.
I wonder, is it because by nature you hate doing the same thing twice?
No, it's not that I hate doing the same thing *smiles*, it's that I like doing different things.
Ah, and here we see one of the quirks that make Imai Hisashi.
*smiles* But we all hate doing the same thing forever.
Sakurai also said at that time 'Perhaps Imai didn't say it himself but, his personal will to change can be seen in 'Uta''. Is that really so?
Yeah, I definitely wanted a change. But I also didn't want to change the essence of the song, so the guitar riff that really came naturally only altered it, but didn't change it.
You desired a natural change, but it's not just your natural talent that affected the change, it's also because you're hard working. Do you think the rest of the band has the same level of devotion? The truth.
I am hard working but of course I think the band has...an amazing way of working too.
When you think of your musical tendencies, like ambient or industrial, it's not even that those are the band's style but now more and more this is the image you're associated with.
Ah, it seems so.
Is this why you had the desire to do something new? Then decided 'This looks interesting'? Because you didn't want to be hindered by having a certain band style?
...well, I guess you could say it's a handicap but...because I'm playing it, it becomes interesting to me you know? So in regards to this album, no, I don't feel hindered.
Because with Schaft, the style expressed is completely free of preconceptions, you could do anything so when it came time to write this album, had you already resolved to make a change? By putting your heart into the band?
Yeah. Suddenly my starting point for writing Buck-Tick songs changed completely. I know in my mind that there are things people can't do with the high hat and percussion but the amazing thing is, if I put my heart into it with Buck-Tick, I can.
But of course you have to do what's humanly possible.
Yeah. But I think that those songs, the ones that people don't want to do no matter what because they think they're impossible *smiles*, those are the ones I play.
*smiles* So it's not really impossible is it?
Right.
When I listen to Buck-Tick, I think that out of everyone in the band, you need to take a break sometimes in order to let your super avant-garde side out.
Mmhm.
So if B-T were only two people, perhaps the music made would completely change.
Yeah, I think so. It would change if that happened *smiles*.
So perhaps it's a good thing for B-T that you take breaks.
Well, a break really...isn't anything to be puzzled over. But I'd worry if I was writing a song and...I had no idea what to do, that'd really make the others nervous *smiles*.
Was there any particular cause for worry this time?
Time. At first, once I've decided that say, a song will be 4 minutes 15 seconds long, then I decide the tempo and put in the rhythm. Then I put on my watch *smiles*, and until the rhythm ends I keep an eye on it, then if it happens that the song is 5 minutes and 20 seconds, I say 'Do it over again!'.
Ah, so you decide the length of a song at the beginning. Is this a change from the usual?
I'm not sure when exactly length became such an important issue...I think I began to worry about it in songs sometime after 'darker than darkness'. I realized that until now, my songs have had an A melody and a B melody, again and again I'd return to the A melody, playing the B melody twice. Then I'd put in a guitar solo, next I'd omit the A melody and play the B melody, repeating the guitar solo twice, then the ending. I've done that pattern often in pieces. That's what recently I've really wanted to get rid of.
I see. But by deciding on the length of song first, doesn't that just make things more difficult?
Yeah. Even moreso because I don't use a computer to do it *smiles*.
Wahahahahaha!
I have an amazing watch *smiles*.
But that just takes more time *smiles*. But really, the way of grasping the song itself is with the band sound at its centre, I think your way is bad. As with that comes a rapid sound change.
Fufufufu. Is it really that bad?
Yeah I mean, when you change your methodology and start going by minutes, it's strange. Don't you think it's strange to some degree?
No, strange...what do you think is strange about it?...s'not strange at all! *smiles*
It's not?
...no, the thing that's strange is that you say it's strange *smiles*.
Ah, maybe it is a bit odd for me to say that.
Kukukukukuku.
Incidentally, with which songs were you able to think 'this is original'?
'Kimi no Vanilla', 'Kodou', 'Somewhere Nowhere', 'Aikawarazu no [are] no katamari ga nosabaru hedo no soko no fuki damari' and 'Detarame Yarou'.
I wonder, is there a fusion here between techno and band sound or are you walking down a fine line between the two?
It seems like that...with 'Uta' and 'Love Letter', but there's also that rock feeling to them. But if I only played rock then tried to play classical, in the end I'd think it wasn't cool.
That's where your sense of balance comes into play.
Yeah, song by song.
Even so, why are you worried about playing something that is classic rock?
Because that sort of song was in 'darker than darkness'.
No, no, that was still new wave. Now the style is more like 70s rock no? Hey, when the Stones did their first public concert in Japan didn't you fall asleep, even though you were in the front row? Then said something like 'I don't get it, where's Led Zeppelin? Were they good?'.
Hyahyahyahya! I did fall asleep because I was really tired *smiles*. Didn't I also say regarding Led Zeppelin that I didn't like them as much as Anii does but they were good? I even have one of their CDs.
No, no, you're just saying they're good because I asked but you were already set in your opinion before you began to listen to them.
...but, I don't hate them at all, I think they're cool! I do.
So then you listened to classic rock?
No, if it's old I never listen to it.
*wry smile* Even though you don't listen to it, you often have classic taste.
You mean like with the riff in 'Uta'? Because I played an open chord you think I must have meant to put it in as something classic? I didn't.
In other words, you're saying that you weren't trying for a 70s sound, it just happened accidentally.
Yeah.
This could only logically happen with you. You just happened to discover classic rock *smiles*.
It's funny isn't it? *smiles*
You're pretty pleased with yourself this time.
Yeah, I like the album but...I didn't think it'd take so long.
Sakurai: *bursts out laughing* Imai-chan, Imai-chan, Imai-chan! I wanted to tell you that!
By the way, what's the meaning behind the album title?
I used the letters S and N right? Because their shape is the exact opposite of the other. At first, I thought I'd simply put 'S/N' but people couldn't really get what it meant so, I figured there was a little something missing, I wanted just the right words to fit *smiles*. The numbers 6 and 9 are also the exact opposite of each other in shape, they fit together.
Is that why there are 15 tracks in total, to fit in? *smiles*
No, that would just be pretentious *smiles*.
It's a bit too late with a title like that.
Hyahyahyahyahya! You'd have been happy if there was a hidden track at number 69 wouldn't you? *smiles*
But you can't do that, you already did with 'darker than darkness' *smiles*.
Hyahyahyahyahya!
It's been two years since your last album with B-T, do you think having double the time between albums made a difference?
Perhaps it did though it felt like a terribly long time. It's not that I wanted to rush to put out an album, it's just that I didn't think it'd take two years. I want it to be something people listen to carefully...not just buy then throw away.
So do you think the sound would have been the same had you made it in one year?
No, it couldn't have been. I think it couldn't have been the same even if you just cut the time by two months. I think you'll see that if you listen properly.
I think had you done it a year ago, it would have been too close to the end of 'darker~'. Let me ask you though, what is the greatest reason for your need for this newness?
Isn't it because I'm always growing?
Wasn't that what Schaft was for? A need for diversion?
Not entirely. Even after Schaft...there were still a ton of songs I wanted to play but that doesn't bother me you know. I like it. It's just that when I'm going to work on something, it takes way too long. There's not enough time for everything I want to do.
Upon reflection, you're quite admirable *smiles*.(2)
Hahahahaha!
By the way, how do you feel about Sakurai's lyrics this time?
Huh? *smiles*...I like them.
That's it? Do you think they've changed?
Yeah...we have, together as a band.
*snickers* You just made Sakurai collapse beside you. The point is with Sakurai's desire to change, you're both suddenly on the same wave length. There's a strange power in that, which comes across in your work. You're really coming together as a band.
Quit saying it's strange *smiles*.
But I like your strange ways. It feels like your band style comes out at the last moment in a song.
I see.
Right, now, forgive me but there's one more thing I must ask you about.
But you've already asked me so much *smiles*.
What's your excuse for not playing guitar in Hoshino's songs? *smiles*
...Hide sucks! Tss. *smiles* But I also didn't play in Hide's songs because the thing is, I forgot. Even though I finished putting in all the guitar parts in mine, Hide was still putting in his keyboard parts in his so I just thought that ok, I'll put in the guitar parts for him quickly after. Then it was all done and I realized that 'hey I didn't play in Hide's songs!' *smiles*.
*snickers* Does Hoshino play in your songs?
With the exception of 'Kagirinaku nezumi', yeah. When I listened to the album version of 'Rakuen', I thought for sure 'ah, I'll play this guitar part' but then I noticed that the recording was already finished *smiles*.
That's what you get for forgetting. Any thoughts on the live?
I'll have to try to remember to put Hide's songs in *smiles*.
You're so mean if you don't play them *smiles*.
Hyahyahyahyahya!
(1) LSB was a tour of three bands: Luna Sea, Soft Ballet & Buck-Tick.
(2) I find it interesting that the interviewer suddenly switches to a very humble form of speech here.