interviews + 11 Ark and Ray interview
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First interview for asia on new album Ark and Ray.
(yes, this is the interview in the GB special booklet in 4 languages,
in case u didn't get that book i'll type it up here ^^;)

Since the end of last year, L'Arc~en~Ciel has been immersed in recording a new
album and they at last have given birth to what should be a major event for 1999,
their two headed monster albums "ark" and "ray".
As everyone in Japan knows, their career, originality, and also their continuous taking on enormous 
challenges that defy all expectations, has put them deservedly at the top of the current scene 
( i agree~~)
Word of L'Arc~en~Ciel is of such magnitude that it has now spread throughout all of Asia and their latest
efforts will see simultaneous release not only in Japan, but in six other countries : Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

To say that the albums' sound is superb is inadequate.  Included on the albums are six titles
released last year, starting with the three singles whose simultaneous release took listeners by surprise, "shinshoku-lose control-" "Honey" , and "kasou".  Also on the albums are singles that followed, " DIVE TO BLUE", " snow drop" and "forbidden lover" and the current hits " HEAVEN'S DRIVE" and " Pieces".  But this is more than just a " best album".  New tracks written especially for the album have wonderfully
vibrant robustness which, when intermingled with the dark hues of the singles to that our ears know so well, creates a sound which will be a legend.

The rhythm section interplay of tetsu on bass, ken on guitar and yukihiro on drums is steady and unique, and floating over them is hyde's enigmatic vocals.( hehe i like that term enigmatic! really describes hyde's voice..it's like..almost hypnotizing!)
Each track possesses an essence of its own, and the whole irresistibly intertwines to reveal a perfect balance.  Born in 1999 "ark" and "ray" are the birth of a rock classic, it is sure to be, along with the name L'Arc~en~CIel, the talk of generations yet to come. ( hehe yeah i'm gonna tell my kids in the future!)

---When did you come up with the grand plan to release two albums at once and how was it conceived?
tetsu: It took a year for the concept and six months to make it.  Really, though, it was a natural process.
Last year we released 7 singles and 6 of those songs are still not in an album.  Putting those six songs in an album makes it end up like a greatest hit release.
Releasing it this way is meant to avoid that.  We thought it would be a bit more balanced with the singles spread out over two albums.

---why are u releasing two seperate albums and not a double album?
tetsu: The Smashinb Pumpkins have a double album, right? It's so long I couldn't listen through it.  It's just that even for artists I like,
double albums are hard to listen to.  So, by releasing each album separately the listener can buy and listen to the one he wants.  you can first buy the one
you want, give it a good listen, get to know it, and then buy the other album if you like. 

hyde: but that approach is too laid back, the first pressing might run out.  Really, you need to buy both at the same time. *laughs (good marketing ne..) 

---was everyone in the band in agreement about making two albums?
ken: at first i thought " what are you talking about?" *laughs
yukihiro: yeah

---who first brought it up?
ken: *points to tetsu
tetsu: it was an idea that came up when there were no songs, nothing at all.  It was my suggestion,
but I still worried about whether we could really do it.  I thought if we take that route I'm really going to have to work hard! *laughs

ken: deep in mind i was unconsciously calculating about what kind of songs should we write.
tetsu: if the reaction had been " no way!", i would have forgotten it right there.

--- nobody was against it?
tetsu: well at the time there was no basis for opposition, i mean, we still didn't know what was coming *laughs

--- how hard was it? did it catch you off guard?
tetsu: well, i always write around 14-15 songs when we write for an album, so i thought we'll do it somehow.  i felt that
if we couldn't write anything once we started and had no decent tracks, then i'd be ok to release it as a regular album and anyway, 
we could still think about it after we started.  i took that sort of easy attitude about it.  anyway we did it! *laughs

---did you feel overwhelmed by the pressure to write so many songs?
hyde: for me the feeling was like it always is when we begin recording and the number of songs i wrote was the same as usual.  Nothing was really 
different, it was made according to deadline.

tetsu: I first brought it up so i thought i had to give it all my ability, but writing songs seemed the same as always.

yukihiro: everybody was writing songs so i thought i had to start writing, too.  if i didn't, everybody would have thought i was neglecting my duties! *laughs

ken : i thought it wouldn't really happen.  We had up to two weeks to write songs after the tour, but i thought,
first i'll take a break and ended up going out. *laughs

tetsu: we said we each would bring our contributions for candidates to be put on the album and the first day we got together we had absolutely nothing right?

ken: yeah..it was a pretty uncomfortable vibe *laughs

tetsu: everybody was saying " i dun have any songs yet", so naturally our A&R director was upset a little.

hyde: usually the case is that even if we say " haven't done it" at least ken has written a couple of songs, but that day even he didn't have anything.
i said " you must be joking, where did you hide them? " up to the last moment i didn't believe him *laughs I think once we were faced with that reality it spurred us to write.  We were saying " noway. we can't do the double album like this"

tetsu: we proceeded with a sense that we would finish the writing in 98

ken: for a moment, i was overwhelmed at the nmber of songs i had to write but i thought i just had to get down and write out one song at a time.

---yukkie's songs, which are interspersed throughout the albu, have their own unique dramatic approach and contribute to its overall agreeable tone.
hyde: they are really inspiring.  even at the demo tape stage yukkie had the lyrics. 
i thought " awesome! english lyrics!" when he gave me the tape he said it was ok to make changes, but i said " it's great, we're not changing anything" *laughs. I sang them without any mistakes or missing a single word.

yukihiro: wow, please go on talk about more good stuff ^^ *laughs

tetsu: totally yukkie-like.  I think they're different from the type i write.  i think an album is more cool
when yukkie's songs are in it.

---were any of the song candidates left off the album?
tetsu: not a single song was left out.

ken: if we squeezed anymore we'd bleed *laughs

---so it seems like you are four individuals with four styles of songs.  ken's songs make me think that a secret agent is going to appear.
tetsu: that's for sure

---tetsu's songs have a sense of viewing wide open spaces, while yukkie's songs have a sense of minimalism (like space?) i can't put hyde's sensibility into a single phrase..*laughs
do you all have some kind of notion of one another's song writing style?
hyde : we do somehow, they're kind of like habits.

ken: they're each like stories.  but when we're writing our approach is not too
rigorously think about getting a balance between them.

tetsu: but what the four of us do is what naturally becomes L'Arc~en~Ciel

---turning to "ark" and "ray", how do they differ in terms of sound and feeling?
yukihiro: i don' tthink there's a clear distinction between them.

tetsu: maybe in a sense they're like twins.

hyde: in terms of sound, ark which begins with forbidden lover, has a sense of "wetness".
i think that " ray", which starts with " shi no hai" feels arid.  the former somehow has the image of the
beginning of a sea journey and the latter has a sense of rays of light bursting through.

---did you first decide on the two titles, divide up the songs and then settle the song order?
hyde: yes. we also thought about the imagery of the titles.  that took an awful lot of time

ken: we came up with an endless number of angles. in the end it felt like a 24 hour title deciding session.  we got into a state that none of us could take things
cool.

tetsu: dividing up the songs over two albums and the song order- we talked endlessly about why it should be done this way or that.  an exquisitely healthy balance.
at least as nutritious as "karuni: maguicchi" right? *laughts (its the name of a currently popular nutrition product, means " calcium 2 : magnesium 1 " haha)

---so why are they titled "ark" and "ray"?
tetsu: notradamus made a prophecy that an terrifying apparition will descend in July of 1999 at which time the four of us will board on an " ark " and look towards the " ray " of light.
Actually, it turns out that the terrifying appartion is the July 1st release date of the two albums! *laughs 
"we are the prophecy!" we're , all totally surprised ( hehe whatever te-chan!)

---throughout the album today's alienation and the hopes of people somehow seem to be sun as if they are different sides of the same coin. When you wrote the lyrics, where you conscious of the society?
hyde: in the back of my mind i am constantly aware that this year is 1999.  I mean, if it were, say 1978, what would there be to get excited about? 
1981 is OK too, but when i try to look back on tha time i don't feel 
anything in particular.  But 1999 is the year that has fascinated me ever since i was little ( yeah i was facinated too hyde..coz i spent 3 hours with you..haha)

tetsU: i'm full of anticipation.  i mean, what's going to happen?

hyde: i feel very emotional now that this is the actual year.  i am constantly thinking that the task of these words is to leave a message of the grand theme 1999.

tetsu: i've really looked forward to this since i was little.  Maybe it will be like " 2001 : A Space Odyssey" *laughs. But maybe not becoz in the movie," HAL", was born on December 1, 1992, was actually it was never really born.

hyde: the particular quality of each song decides where i will go with lyrics, but i always have 1999 as a hidden theme.  i listen to the composer's theme and
wait for inspiration.  when there's no inspiration i sing the song to connect it to whatever i'm feeling at the moment.  that's how i always work.
(what if u were thinking about Megumi huh? write songs like..what is love?)

---please tell us how u feel now that this major two album work has finished.
yukihiro: lets go to work on the next! 

ken: i feel wiped out becoz the work to which we have devoted ourselves one day suddenly ended.  i really can't objectively look at it yet.

tetsu: there's no time right now to closely listen to the album. anyway, good job everybody!

hyde: yeah, great job. it's been quite a while when you look all the way back to the single recordings.

tetsu: starting with " DIVE TO BLUE", back to the end of 1997.

---two years is a long time.  Sincere congratulations to you all for a job well done.  do you feel any emotions over the simultaneous release of ark and ray in seven countries including
japan?
tetsu: we've been getting fan letters ever since our indies days.  our previous record " Heart " was also released in five countries.
this time the release is simultaneous and in more countries so i guess it's on a bigger scale.

hyde: this is a different subject, but we're all asians, arent' we? i think its the perfect environment for it to be heard in.

--- your overseas fans are eager to hear from you, please send them a message ( YES!! LARUKU * WAVE WAVE * I'M HERE~~ YOHOO~)
yukihiro: enjoy the albums ! ( yes i do ^^)

hyde: because its a simultaneous release thsi time, all men are equal~ *laughs

ken: because prices are different among japan and other countries, it wasn't a simple matter getting to this point.  there may be a lot of imprefections,
but we all worked hard to make the simultaneous release, so please buy and listen to our CDs ( of course of course!)

tetsu: when our friends travel overseas they buy us bootleg versions(pirated/fake) of our records and souvenirs. But because this time the official version is being released the same time as in Japan we urge you buy that version.  Thanks! also we get overseas fan letters with really
great japanese.  But even if they're in english or only in chinese characters,we can feel our fan's kimochi ( or eh..what do we call that..feelings..yeah..haha )
we're very happy.

---after the album goes on sale you're undertaking your huge " 1999 Grand cross tour"
tetsu: this time we want to play big locations to be sure that tickets won't run out. i hope that as many people as possible come to our concerts.

ken: i think it would be good to do outdoor concerts. it has a festival atmosphere . i think i'm ready for a return to the wild ( hehe u sure do look like it ken-chan)

~end~

(hmm..so finally finished typing this interview up..so long!!
my fingers are numb now...-_-" hehe sorry if there were any typos in there....)