X JAPAN - EXPERIENCE - YOSHIKIインタビュー × examiner.com その２

Agreed. What kind of expectations do you and the rest of the band have for the Madison Square Garden show? Are you looking for a sellout, or some kind of increased awareness for the group? It’s such a big place, so what would you consider a success following this performance?

I think everything you said. It’s like we’re going to perform our most memorable show ever. Also, this is the first time we’re doing the full production. When we performed at the Tokyo Dome, our drum riser moved into the B-stage, or lasers and tons of pyro and everything. We’re bringing all those to Madison Square Garden. Actually, we’ve never done that outside of Japan. So we’re trying to get awareness—we are X Japan in America. Also, we wanted to—Madison Square Garden, I believe, has always been one of the places to go for a performance, a dream place for any rock band….Probably the show, for me, the reason is anything you can think of, a culmination of everything.

L’Arc~en~Ciel performed at Madison Square Garden as a headliner two years ago, being the first Japanese group to headline there. What kind of things does X Japan want to do differently in terms of promotion or outreach, and how do you feel about how they did?

First of all, I have enormous respect for the band L’Arc~en~Ciel, and I think they’re great...I didn’t go to their show, so I don’t know 100%. I kind of watched saw little bit of video, but X Japan’s strength, we make even Tokyo Dome a live house. We create a super energetic show, whether it’s 1,000 people or even 50,000 people. We are trying to make the Madison Square Garden show like a huge club, but also a theatrical combination. I know that L’Arc~en~Ciel deserve a Madison Square Garden show. I mean, it’s not the same band; they have their strength, and we have our own strength, too.

How do you feel about ticket sales right now? Are they in line with your expectations?

I think so. It’s not as easy as playing in Tokyo or Asia, but we just started heavily promoting Madison Square Garden, so we’re pretty confident that it’s going to be a big crowd.

Are there any American bands that you would most want to tour with?

Good question. I don’t know, I mean, it doesn’t have to be America; it could be someone from England or Europe. Let’s see, KISS may be interesting, or maybe like Muse—they have also a classical music influence as well. Or maybe someone heavy, like Slipknot. I don’t know [laughs].

Do you have any favorite X Japan songs to perform live?

Some of the X Japan songs are really fast, so I’m doing the same song I played more than 20 years ago. Even though I love those songs—songs like “X,” or “Kurenai” that I play fast on—I love those songs, but it’s not easy for me to play as a drummer. These days, I love our new songs, something like “Jade” or “Born to Be Free,” those are pretty new songs. These are good. Also, we will be performing a brand new song in MSG—I think we are planning at least two songs.

Can you give us the title of the new material?

One song’s called “Hero,” which we kind of did the music video shoot [in August] in Tokyo. I just got back from Tokyo and Hong Kong yesterday. Then there’s one or two more songs—we’re just trying to figure it out.

Is there an English lyric you’ve written that you’re proudest of?

[Laughs] Hmm. Well, I like the song “Jade.” Also, I like our song called “I.V.,” the theme song I wrote for the film Saw IV.

Regarding your recent Yoshiki Classical album which was released worldwide earlier this year, I was curious about your song “Anniversary,” which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the enthronement of the Emperor of Japan. What was in your heart when you set out to write this?

Actually, I didn’t understand why the celebration committee called me to compose the song. I was like, “What?!,” you know? Then I asked my mother….At that time, they didn’t give me any direction, then they asked me to compose, and when I asked them what kind of song, they didn’t say anything. I was like, “Should I play rock, should I play pop, or should I play something classical?” So I made the decision to create a piano concerto, because I thought that was appropriate rather than playing heavy metal, right?

What kind of approach did you take when you wrote “Golden Globe Theme”?

When I was asked to do this, I was like, “What?!” [Laughs] I actually didn’t know what to do at that time, so I kind of composed three different kinds of songs: One very classy, one very edgy, and one kind of in the middle….During the awards, they party. It’s different from the Academy [Awards], so people are drinking champagne and eating….People liked my choice of combination of a little bit of prestige and edgy.

I wanted to ask about your health these days. How are you feeling now, and will you still be wearing a neck brace when playing heavy drums live?

Yes. I’m been seeing doctors, even through my Yoshiki Classical world tour. I did a cortisone shot five times in my life elbow, and six times in my right wrist this year alone [laughs]. I think my body’s just deteriorating, but I know it’s a tradeoff, because every time I put everything in the show, even when I was touring classical music as well. Doing rock music, I put even more energy and everything I have into that kind of show. I know it’s not going to last that long, but I’ll do it till the end. The end may come next year or two years from now, but it may last five years. I won’t be touring 10 years, I don’t think so. I’ll do what I can, and the doctor said I need to wear braces, so I’m wearing braces for my right wrist when I’m not performing—when I’m not actually playing the piano—and a neck brace that I’ve started to wear for the drum performance as well.

Years ago, Alex Van Halen had a similar condition, and he would wear a neck brace during a few Van Halen tours. During the last few tours, I didn’t notice him wearing one, and I’m not sure what happened with him.

Wow. I’d love to see his doctor.

When you finally met KISS, when did that happen and what was that like?

I met them a long time ago. When I went to Gene Simmons’s house, I was asked to do a KISS tribute [1994’s KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved]. I did a song called “Black Diamond,” a kind of concerto. They were very nice. I met Gene and Paul [Stanley], then eventually, Gene invited me to some kind of party. Last year, last August, I happened to be in Tokyo and they were touring in Japan, so I went to see the show. We hung out after the show. It was so nice to see their performing skill. I went to see their show when I was close to 10 years old—my mother took me to see the show after I asked her. They were the first rock band and the first rock show I went to see. It was very nice to see them performing, and they’re one of my inspirations.

Would you say that KISS was the biggest inspiration to X Japan regarding the birth of visual kei?

I think that KISS is one of the inspirations. We also liked Iron Maiden, David Bowie, Sex Pistols. The visual kei aspect was a combination of all those genres, including new wave, heavy metal and punk rock. We combined everything into a kind of genre for visual kei.

Would you say that David Bowie’s look in the film Labyrinth was an inspiration?

I think so. I met David Bowie a long time ago; we interviewed together. I think that I met him personally before KISS, though.

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