X JAPAN - EXPERIENCE - YOSHIKIインタビュー × examiner.com その１

For Yoshiki Hayashi, this Saturday (Oct. 11) will go down in J-rock history as one of the biggest bands in Asia makes their debut at Madison Square Garden. Formed over 30 years ago, X Japan first gained notoriety in the mid-'80s by ushering in the visual kei movement, a style that continues to evolve through other Japanese megastars like L’Arc~en~Ciel (who headlined the World's Most Famous Arena themselves in 2012).

At the center of it all is X Japan's founding member, Yoshiki. An equally talented songwriter, heavy metal drummer and classical pianist, he is both the heart and soul of X Japan, and, having lived in Los Angeles for two decades, the ideal mouthpiece for the band's American tours, which started with a bang in 2010 at Lollapalooza and included a sold-out gig at New York's now-defunct Roseland Ballroom.

In this exclusive, expansive interview, I spoke with Yoshiki about how the group's original hopes to play the Garden in 2008 were dashed by personal health and management troubles, his favorite, anime, manga and X Japan songs, and his experience working with legends like Stan Lee, KISS, and the Emperor of Japan.

How did this concert for Madison Square Garden come together? I know there were plans to do this in 2008; can you talk about this history?

Our band reunited around the year 2008. We did our reunion concert in Tokyo Dome, three days or so, I think. At that time, we were also thinking of performing [shows] outside of Japan, and Madison Square Garden was one or two of [the ideas]. But for some reason they didn’t happen, so since then, that venue was always in our minds. A few years ago, we decided to try schedule Madison Square Garden. I think we were kind of confirmed last year.

It’s a long road.

Yes. Well, considering that X Japan was not doing anything—I mean, the band broke up around the end of 1997, so when we reunited we had almost 10 years of a break. We started doing a bunch of arena shows, and then we started touring the world when we went to 16 countries or so. Considering this, the [last] six or seven years have been tours [laughs].

Are there plans for X Japan to play any other concerts for the remainder of the year?

Not now. We just announced our shows in Japan, this place called Yokohama Arena, so we [performed] there Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. It’s kind of like a prelude to Madison Square Garden and a kickoff to [that] show, about 10 days before that. As of now, Madison Square Garden is the only American show, but [depending] on how it goes, we may start another world tour. We’re just talking about it right this moment.

After plans for the original Madison Square Garden performance of 2008 was cancelled, X Japan came to New York to play Roseland Ballroom two years later. What was the reason behind playing a smaller venue?

In 2008-2009, we had this management, so we were planning Madison Square Garden in America in New York, and also planning on playing some venue in Paris. Those were all cancelled because of some problem with the management. In 2010, we had new management, then since we were doing just only one show in New York, in 2010 we did a North American tour starting in Los Angeles, and we went to Oakland, Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, and New York. So, we went to tour in America instead of us doing one place in America. That’s how things changed. Same as Paris; instead of doing one place, [in 2011] we did a small tour in Europe. We played in London, Paris, Utrecht, and Berlin. Before 2008, we were thinking just one show in New York and one show in Paris, that’s it. But we kind of split it apart.

How was the decision made to play Roseland?

Before X Japan broke up and after the reunion, we kept playing these huge places like the Tokyo Dome, which we played five times to 65,000 people. We kind of wanted to go back to basics, like how we started in the clubs, how we started playing intimate shows to 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 people. So Roseland was perfect…I loved that show.

I went with a friend and he was amazed. Many new fans were born that night.

Well, that’s good [laughs].

We saw one young couple in the crowd—I would imagine they were Japanese. They brought their toddler, maybe a two-year-old boy…

[Laughs] Oh my God.

He had these big headphones on to protect his hearing. We were thinking what kind of parents would bring their child to this kind of show.

[Laughs] Oh my God.

A lot of stuff happening in the crowd that night.

Yeah, the crowd in New York was amazing.

We love our rock shows here. Interestingly enough, I noticed that the week you’re playing this October, the last time in Roseland was during New York Comic Con week. Is that the same kind of reasoning with the timing of the Madison Square Garden show?

Yes. Actually, right before we decided the date, we also talked to New York Comic Con, so they actually are happy to sponsor our show. It didn’t have to be during New York Comic Con week, but I was hoping it would be, so it’s perfect to be right in the middle of it.

Will you be making an appearance at the con?

Yes. Actually, I will be doing it with Stan Lee. I’m going to be appearing at New York Comic Con on October 10th, the day before the X Japan Madison Square Garden show.

He’s an amazing guy. I’ve interviewed him before. He’s in his nineties now, but he has so much energy.

[Laughs] I know, I know. He’s a true legend and he’s amazing.

Recently, you wrapped up the first leg of your Yoshiki Classical world tour. Are there any plans to do a second leg maybe next year?

Yes. Because the first leg was a pretty rough test, I’ve been talking to my agent for the second leg for the Yoshiki Classical tour. But right this moment, the first priority is X Japan and the Madison Square Garden show. Maybe I’ll think about it after that.

You played a lot of cities on that last leg, but unfortunately New York was not included. Was Carnegie Hall unavailable?

[Pauses] How do you know about that? [Laughs]

Intuition!

I went to 10 countries [on the first leg], I think. Yes, we were talking about Carnegie Hall. Most likely, the path to Carnegie Hall may be one of those places I’m going to be performing.

I hope you can make that dream come true soon.

I’d love to. Carnegie Hall is also as important as Madison Square Garden.

If Yoshiki is going to do a classical show in New York, it must be at Carnegie Hall.

Yes. I would love to do that.

I want to talk a little about your approach to songwriting. So many X Japan songs have English in them. When you originally wrote them, did you have someone translate them from the Japanese, or is that something you have total control over?

For the past 10 years, I speak more English than Japanese, even though my English is not perfect. When I write lyrics, I actually write in English first. For some of the tunes I composed, I wrote it in English and then I just translate to Japanese [laughs]. I write English lyrics, mainly, more than Japanese lyrics.

You’ve been living in Los Angeles for some time now.

Yes. I go back and forth between Japan and America. I think I’ve been living almost 20 years here in Los Angeles.

What things do you like the most about living in the U.S.?

It was kind of an accident, because 20 years ago I came here to go to a recording studio, so that’s the reason. It’s like, I can go to a grocery store or something like that—it’s impossible to go to that kind of place in Japan. It’s kind of nice to have freedom [laughs].