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The Freedom of Expression: Vol 15 - Guest: Aiji. (2023/02/26)

K: Hi, we are live with The Freedom of Expression on our niconico channel. I'm Kaoru from Dir en grey.

J: And Good Evening, I'm Joe Yokomizo.

T: I'm Tasai from Tokyo Sports.

K: So today we have a guest. Its Aiji from LM.C.

A: Pleased to be here.

(*This first short 'rotation' exchange kinda went over my head a bit*)

J: So, obviously its the first time for me to meet you Aiji, and its the first time for Tasai to meet you, but you are good friends with Kaoru. Kaoru can you give Aiji a quick introduction for us?

A: Can you introduce me?

K: Well, he's a guitarist.

J: Haha, even I know that.

K: Uh, compared to last month's guest, he is a very reasonable guy. Haha

J: Last month's guest was unbelievable, haha. It was like being hit by a storm, I couldn't believe it! Oh, look, in the comments, people saying hi to Aiji...oh, and 'Aiji ♡'. Well, we're gonna talk about a lot today, and I'm sure the viewers might know a lot about Kaoru and Aiji's relationship, but just tell us about when you first met, and how long you've known each other, that type of thing.

K: From when we first properly spoke to each other?

A: Probably since about the year 2000.

K: Hm, yeh, probably.

J: So you've basically been friends for over 20 years.

A: Was that before you guys debuted?

K: No, no, we had already debuted by then.

A: Ah. So back then we were both contracted with ESP for our instruments, and it was one of the people from ESP who properly introduced us. That's how it started.

J: I see. Do you meet in private much?

A: Now and again, yeh..

K: Yeh, recently. When we first knew each other we didn't really used to meet up much.

A: But still, its maybe like once or twice a year.

J: Oh, so not like once a month or something? haha.

K: No no, haha.

A: We met up last month, right? At the start of the year.

K: Yeh, before that it was about six months since we last met up.

A: Yeah.

J: So what was it that first caused you to start meeting up in private?

A: Well, the after the person from ESP introduced us, we just used to go to bars when the chance arose, and stuff.

K: I used to go to bars a lot back then, haha.

J: Well, yeh. You are bandmen.

K: Like, if we went to our favourite places, we knew there might be someone we know there.

J: Ah, I see, yeh. What were your first impressions of each other?

K: Oh, that goes back even further, haha.

J: Oh, so there was history between you before you properly met?

K: Well, we did taiban events together.

A: That was probably around 1996, or so.

K: Dir en grey didn't exist then.

J: Oh, it was before Dir en grey?!

K: Yeh, the band before Dir en grey. It was at a taiban event in Kansai, and Pierrot were the lead band, billed as a band from Tokyo. Our band had just formed, and we took part too. So for the rehearsals back then, they used to do it in reverse, like, the lead band would rehearse first. And during the set change, he walked by me, and I said 'Ah, good morning!', but he just replied with, 'Hmph', and looked away!

A: Uh, I think I've talked about this 50,000 times already, but I talk with quite an indifferent, matter of fact tone, I tend to appear quite cold. I was worse back then.

K: I was like, 'This is what they're like from Tokyo?!'

T: Haha, that's funny.

J: Ahh, so you didn't really like him at first?

A: I get reminded about this all the time.

J: Haha, fifty thousand times. Look, some comments saying 'You became good friends', 'I wanna hear this story thousands of times'.

K: Haha

J: Its like, it gets more ??? each time.

A: Yeh, haha, I'm a veteran now.

J: Aiji, what was your first impression of Kaoru back then.

A: Well, at that time, when we were doing taiban events, I didn't really take any notice of anyone.

K, T, J: Aghhh, haha.

A: Its like, the band I was in, 'Pierrot', we didn't even go to after parties. We really just used to keep to ourselves, so back then we didn't pay attention to anyone, even the bands other than Kaoru's old band. I don't really remember what people were like.

J: You weren't very social?

A: Right.

J: But didn't you see him on stage, since you were at a taiban event?

K: Yeh, but you don't really watch all the other bands when you do those kinda events.

J: Oh right, I see. Well, even so, I bet this is a development you didn't expect, to be sitting next to each other and talkIng here, after starting like that.

K, A: Yeah

T: So how did you get from where you were in 1996 to the ESP person introducing you properly? Did you see each other a second or third time anywhere?

K: Well, we did a few taiban events even after Dir was formed, didn't we?

A: Yeah, and it was when you became Dir that we really didn't talk at all....Free Will-san is scary, right?

J: Lets save that talk for later, ok? The dark side of Free Will.

T: Haha

J: This sounds like limited contents material.

K: Haha

J: You all wanna hear about that, right, guys?

T: I cant wait for that.

J: Haha, right? At last, the moment will arrive when we'll know all about that dark side, haha. Someone writing in the comments, 'Its the boss!' (*I think they are talking about Dynamite Tommy here*

A: Will I be ok getting home tonight?

J: Well, I think you'd better be careful on your way home.

K: Haha!

J: I mean, I think you'll make it out of here ok, but I cant say whether you'll get home ok.

A: That's the issue.

J: Yeh, making enemies with Free Will.

A: I'll be careful.

J: Anyway, Aiji, do you talk much with the other Dir members?

A: Well, Toshiya is my kōhai from our hometown. (*To K*) Has he told everyone his hometown?

K: Yeh.

T: So he used to be a roadie for Pierrot, in the early days. He helped us out a lot. So yeh, I've known Toshiya for a long time.

J: I see. Right, well, today we are here with the guitarist from LM.C, Aiji. We have alcohol here, so should we do a toast, Kaoru?

K: Yeah.

J: Viewers can join us for this if you have alcohol at home, well, soft drinks are also fine. Or just pretend, its all ok. Ok, Leader, give us a little toasting speech.

A: Hang on a sec, Kaoru, wasn't it your birthday last week?

K: Oh, haha.

A: I thought this might be better (*Pulls out a bottle of wine from under the desk*)

J, T: Ohhhh (*clapping*)

K: Oh, this is nice.

A: Right?

T: So kind!

J: You've come a long way from saying you had no impression of him.

A: I brought a snack too (*pulls out expensive looking bag from under the desk*)

J: Ohhh, lets get rid of all this cheap stuff on here.

K: Hahaha

A: Kaoru, you like wine from the Napa Valley, right? This wine was recommended to me by a bar staff last year, so I tried it, and it was delicious. It has quite a distinct taste, so it might be that you either love it or hate it, but I like it.

J: Ok, so shall we open it?

A: Should we get Kaoru to open it? He's used to it.

J: Are you? I had the impression you are more into shochu. Do you really drink wine?

K: Haha, yes, I do.

J: For some reason I thought you were a shochu drinker, haha.

K: Where's the corkscrew, in the bag?

T: Ah, this is a heartwarming development.

J: Yeah. (*To T*) We didn't bring anything, did we?

A: Well, I just thought if there's a possibility of being here for 3 hours, we might need it.

J: Oh, it might end up that long!

A: I'm just using a bit of time up here.

J: Haha, its ok, don't worry.

A: But this is a rare sight, Kaoru opening the wine. The way you use your hands is quite erotic.

T: Haha

K: Huh? Erotic?

J: Haha. Well, this is a development no-one expected, nevertheless, its a happy one.

A: Kaoru's method of opening wine is quite unusual.

J: Well, that's very 'Dir en grey'. Look, people writing in the comments, 'Erotic Erotic!'

A: Haha.

J: Oh right, yes, so we have these cards up here behind us, a bit like how brothels in small towns hang photos of all the girls up outside.

T: That's what you think of this Joe?!

J: I've been thInking that the whole time, haha. But anyway, if you see any themes on these cards here that you'd like us to talk about, write it in the comments, and we'll put the themes to these two. Haha, someone wrote 'Shut up Joe'.

T: Yeh, the light is reflecting a bit on it, but its like this (*Holds cards forward a bit, out of reflection zone*)

J: Ah, the space at the bottom is empty, so we could use that as the 'Dark side of Free Will' space.

A: Oh, dangerous!

J: We could write it by hand and just put it in.

A: We are gonna take these out as we talk about them, right? So if we put Free Will in all the empty spaces, we'd have to talk about it by the end.

T: Hahaha.

A: Shall we have this wine then?

T: You two have the first try of it.

(*Kaoru pours two cups of wine*)

J: Ok, Aiji, would you like to say a congratulatory toast?

A: Ok, Happy Birthday Kaoru!

T, J: Happy Birthday!

(*They drink*)

A: What do you think?

K: Mm, its nice.

A: Its kinda a unique pattern, right?

K: Pattern? haha.

A: Its quite unusual though, right?

K: Mm yeh, its nice.

J: There are loads of birthday messages coming in for you Kaoru.

K: Thank you.

A: So if you broadcast once a month, this is the first one since your birthday, right?

K: Yeah.

A: Ah, the conversation is gonna get lively today then. We gotta go one level up.

J: Yeh, it'll be good today, haha.

K: Are we gonna run to three hours again? haha.

J: Oh, by the way, I brought this too. (*gets snack out of bag*) Its corned beef.

T: It looks like it will go well with red wine.

K: Its Kuroge Wagyu

A: Yeh, it tastes really good.

J: How thoughtful of you!

K: He really knows me.

T: Last time, Toshi-Low was peeling my mask off, so compared to that, this kindness is really appreciated, haha.

K: Hahaha.

J: Aiji is like an angel!

A: I don't bite, so you can relax.

J: You'll be like the angelic legend of the show, Aiji. You are the angel in the face of the devil.

K: (*Finishing unwrapping the corned beef box*) 'Hand made, exquisite corned beef'

J: Show that to the camera, Leader.

T: (*reading comments*) 'An angel has descended', haha.

K: (*busy opening box*) Joe, talk for a bit.

J: Oh, ok..

K: Oh, hang on, I got it out...oh wow.

A: It doesn't look very appetizing just like this though.

K: Haha, do we eat it just like this?

A: Yeah, well, open it up..like how you would open a pucchin purin.

J: A pucchin purin? haha. That's an original example.

K: This is a really hard block.

A: Tip it out onto the plate.

K: If its all on one plate, does that mean its for one person?

A: Well, it could be, or we could break it up and share it out?

K: Yeah.

J: You really are an angel Aiji (*K gets a plate for Joe*) Oh, for me too? Thank you.

A: Joe and Tasai, have some wine too.

J: Oh, yes please. Someone commented, 'It looks like terrine'

A: Yeh, it has that look.

J: 'Aiji is so thoughtful', and someone else wrote, 'He's like a girlfriend'

A: Oh god.

J: 'A corned beef slicing angel', 'Tomorrow I'm gonna drink to corned beef', haha. There is a question for you too here, Leader. 'What snacks do you like when you drink at home?'

K: At home? Well, cheese and stuff.

A: Hm, this might not be very visually entertaining.

T: No no, this is good.

J: No, its good. This is a relief for us.

K: Haha.

J: The staff are really relaxed too. The staff were so tense last time!

A: Was it intense?

K: I've never seen them so uptight.

J: Yeh, its been a while since I last saw them like that. Ahh, this is great though, the difference from last time is huge.

T: Haha, someone wrote 'Joe, no skimping' (*K passes him some wine*) Oh, thank you.

J: Ok, I'll just read out the show information. So, we are requesting messages and comments from viewers, so please send lots in. Your thoughts, any questions, comments, future requests, anything is ok, so please send them in. People on twitter can use the hashtag TFOE. Now, I'm sure you know, but the first part of this show is free for anyone to watch, but the second half is for members only. If you become a member...

K: (*busy with the corned beef*) Oh, so this is why we have forks.

J: ...you can watch the live broadcasts in the archives for one year, and we also have members only videos for you to see, so there is a link at the top of your screen now, thanks for pointing, Leader.

A: Oh, you can do that pointing here?

K: Yeah.

J: Yes, that type of thing is ok.

A: Cute!

J: Anyway, if you click this link you can become a member and watch to the end. Oh, this corned beef looks delicious. I wondered why we had forks.

T: Yeh, Aiji really is thoughtful.

K: Mm, its delicious.

J: Is it? Tasai, is this why your didn't eat your bento earlier?

T: No, no. I just didn't eat it, that's all.

J: Ahh, a comment saying, I want to eat that!'

T: Mm, its good!

A: Can I say where I got it? You know the area Jiyugaoka? There's a wagyu shop there, so if you search for Jiyugaoka and wagyu, you'll find the name of the store.

J: Oh, this tastes really good! What is this?! Ah, a comment saying, 'The closeness between Kaoru and Aiji is great!' Look at this loved-up scene between them.

T: Its like a private birthday party, its great!

K: Haha, thanks.

J: Someone said you look like a married couple. What do you guys talk about in private? Music?

K: No, not really...probably about the dark side of Free-Will or something.

J: Hahaha

A: No, but we talk about anime and stuff. I ask him for recommendations of recent good animes, and I always enjoy whatever he recommends. Last month when we met up, he recommended 'The Witch of Mercury' to me, and I watched it, its great. I cant wait for the next installment in May.

K: Right? (To Joe*) Its Gundam.

J: Oh, Gundam? I see. Someone asked, 'Aiji, do you watch anime?'

A: Yes, I do.

K: He (Aiji) doesn't read manga, he just watches the anime.

J: Is there a reason you don't read manga?

A: Yes, there is. I'm the type of person who likes to pay close attention to the content as I read, so I could just concentrate on reading, but you get messages on Line or stuff about work and stuff, and then you get distracted, and have to come back to it later. But then if I've read three pages, I'll always have to go back to the previous pages to recap, and I just never end up finishing. But with anime, you just get it all nicely in a 20 min episode, its more efficient. I need efficiency in my life. I'm always checking how efficient everything is.

T: Haha, wow.

J: That's the baseline for all your actions?

A: Yeh, that's the type of person I am.

J: Ok, well, the director is telling me to get on with the topics, but to be honest, compared to last month, I think we are doing just fine. haha. Ok, well, we're gonna talk with Aiji a lot more later on too, but first have a look at this.There are various topics hung up here behind us, and we will choose some of them to talk about. (*Kaoru is holding the cards out of the glare*) Thank you, Leader. If you see any topics here that you'd like us to choose, please write them in the comments. Ok, Leader, or rather Aiji, what should we choose first?

A: Hm, I don't know, any is fine.

J: Ok, Leader, how about you choose?

A: Well, actually, I want to hear some stories from Kaoru, so how about this one? 'First band'.

J: Ok, lets talk about this.

K: I'll take the card out.

A: We can put Free-Will in the empty space.

K: Or I could just write it on the back of this one, and put it back in.

J, T: Haha

J: You wanna start with that darkness? We should finish with that. Ok, the first topic, First bands. You wanted to ask Kaoru about this, Aiji?

A: Yeah.

K: My first band was when I was in high school i think. It was at like a cultural festival, and we were a cover band.

A: Oh that's pretty normal.

K: Eh?

A: Well, 'cause its the same for me.

K: Oh right, haha.

A: I thought it might have been more exciting, like a lightning strike or something.

K: Well, I think there were about 3 bands playing that day at the school, but one of them had members in it that weren't actually students. I mean there were students in it though too, but with these older guys, they were so much better than us. It was like, 'What?!'. Its kind of a painful memory for me.

J: Ah, you thought it was a bit unfair? Do you have any specific memories of that band, like live errors or anything like that?

K: Well, this school was kinda like a distance learning school, it was a vocational school, so there were no big open spaces like a gym, and so we had to perform in the classroom. But there are no curtains in school classrooms, right? So we stuck cardboard up over all the windows, and put up a kind of faint light, a bit like that one (*points to a light behind the camera*). And before this, we'd just been practicing in a local studio, so I didn't have my own proper amp to perform lives with. All i had was this really tiny one at home, and I just brought it without thinking. So we were stuck with rehearsal level volume for the performance.

J: Ahh, the sound would be quiet, right?

K: Yeah.

J: Ah, I see. You need a bigger amp for a proper live performance.

A: And you won't have had a PA..

K:.No no, nothing at all like that. And that other band who had older guys, they had a truckload of big equipment, I was like, 'Oh my god'

J: Haha, what was your band called?

K: Oh, what was it?

A: This is rare info.

T: Do you remember, Kaoru?

K: I think it was 'Disteria' (*<--- This is the pronunciation only*)

T: Why that?

K: I just came up with it myself.

J: So, were you the leader of that band too?

K: We didn't have a leader.

A: But you must have been quite a central figure, forming a band, and renting a studio, and such.

K: Well, yeh, I had to start by just getting some people at school to start liking bands. And no one had any instruments or experience, so when one guy was looking at a magazine once, and saying the bass player looked cool, I said to him, 'Ok, you should try bass'.

J: Haha, you got him in. Bring them in one by one.

K: Yeh, and after him, there was this guy in my class who looked like he might be into heavy metal, who I just sneaked my way closer to him, haha.

J: Haha, were there rumours?

K: Haha.

J: Which songs did you cover?

K: Well, we couldn't do anything too difficult, we did BOØWY, and stuff like that in the end.

A: You did BOØWY?

K: Yeh, well we played some songs that each of us liked.

J: Aiji, what about your first band?

A: Well, I had two or three bands on the go at that time. I don't really remember which was first. Back then I did ???, and while doing that I formed bands with friends from the same school. I think I formed two or three at the same time.

J: Do you remember the band names?

A: Not all of them, but one of them was called, 'Julia'. It wasn't something I came up with though. That's all I remember, I don't remember the names of the other bands. I don't know why it was called Julia.

J: Do you remember what songs you performed?

A: Uh, I was a vocalist back then and we did songs by ZIGGY and stuff.

J: Ah, like 'Gloria'

A: Yeh, and 'I'm getting blue'.

J: Someone commented they want to know the band name spellings of Julia, and...what was it...Dis..teria?

A: I think Julia is just the normal spelling J U L I A.

K: Mine is D I E, spelled like the word 'die', and then those two dots, you know like in ZI:KILL? And then STERIA.

A: That's cool! You've been cool since then!

K: I'm not cool now, if I had to choose, I'd have to say I'm not.

A: Oh look, someone wrote DIE:STERIA in the comments.

K: Yes, yes, that's it!

A: It has a cool air to it, right?

K: No it doesn't, haha.

J: Ah, but this is quite rare info. Is it supposed to be in lower case or upper case letters?

K: Upper case.

J: Ah, so that comment before was correct. Ah, if you write Julia in kanji, it suddenly takes on a kinda lounge bar feel.

K: Haha

A: Yeh, its suddenly different..

K: Ok, I'm gonna choose a topic to ask Aiji. Hm, how about 'First live'? I already talked about mine, but I wanna hear about Aiji's.

A: Well, it was with one of the bands I formed with high school friends. I can't remember if we played it at a live house or a culture festival first.

T: You were the vocalist then?

A: Yeah. We were actually really popular, we had about 200 or 300 people come to see us.

T: Wow!

A: So of course, we made quite a bit of profit that time. The after party was fun!

J: Someone asked, 'Were you doing vocals and guitar?'

A: Ah, no, only vocals at that time.

J: 'Did you have an extravagant after party?'

A: No no, we just went to Tsubohachi (*izakaya name*), it was with no alcohol. We were still high school kids.

T: No alcohol at Tsubohachi.

J: 'Someone wrote, 'Its that Nagano charisma'

T: When did you start playing guitar?

A: Well, I started thinking about it while I was a vocalist, because my vocal range is quite lImited. The songs and bands I liked back then, those singers all had a big vocal range, and so I thought that with my range, it was gonna be difficult to turn this into a proper career. And also, I didn't really like the sound of my own voice. I listened to my voice recorded on a cassette tape, and it was a bit of a shock. The voice I was hearing in my head, and the voice on the tape were so different, and I just thought this is never gonna work, this voice is not gonna be popular. So, when I actually decided I wanted to be a musician, I started to pick up the instruments. I think it was just around the time that I graduated high school that I began playing guitar.

T: Did you plan to become a pro from the start?

A: When I started guitar, I did, yeh.

J: You really do everything properly, don't you?

A: Well, yeh, I mean, when I set myself an aim, I'm the type to figure out everything I need to do to get there.

K: Why did you choose guitar?

A: Guitar? Well, you need a guitar to write songs, and to be a pro the first thing you need to do is write good songs. So, rather than just practicing playing, writing was more important. I used to listen a lot to the guitar tones of my favourite artists, or guitarists, and I would be constantly trying to create my own. Then just writing songs...rather than just practicing guitar.

J: In other words, you had the mentality of a composer, and not just a guitarist.

A: Yeah. If I didn't do it that way, I figured I'd never get anywhere.

T: That's an incredible vision to have while you were still a teenager.

A: Yeah, I was a bit of an odd kid back then.

J: Who were you aiming to be like?

A: Well, my heroes were Buck Tick. I loved them! But I liked Hotei san too , and I liked PERSONZ. I used to try to imitate Honda san's playing.

J: Ahh, I see. Someone commented, 'There are not many high school students who go that far'.

A: Well, I was a bit of a cold person, I was prone to thinking about everything rationally.

T: What were you like at that age, Kaoru? Did you think everything through thoroughly?

K: Well, there was no-one who liked bands at school, so I had to start by brainwashing them into it.

A: That's important. Its always impossible to find someone to be a drummer.

J: Yeah, I guess not many people have a drum kit at home.

K: But back then, I used to listen to the type of songs that you never really heard on tv, and the others were a bit wary of that. So when I suggested BOØWY and stuff, they were ok with that. You know the type of things where they would be doing weird, angry poses on the record cover? They weren't so sure about that type of thing.

J: What did you make them listen to to persuade them to join?

K: Well, at first, kinda easy things, like Buck Tick..

A: But don't they pose like that on record covers?

K: Well, but I mean they'd all heard of Buck Tick. So I gradually led them in from that point. And then I would lend them live videos, and say 'Hey, isn't this cool?!', and stuff. That's how I led them into it.

J: Haha, someone wrote, 'That was your sneaky plan'. haha.

K: Haha.

J: Ok, well we still have a lot of cards up behind us, I don't know if we'll get through all of them, but we'll continue talking to Kaoru and Aiji with these in the next part. The first part is comIng to an end now.

A: That was quick.

J: After this we will begin the members only part, and we will hear all about that dark side of Free Will.

A,K: Haha.

T: This will be a good story.

J: Ok, here's how you can watch. The second part is for members only, so you have to subscribe if you want to see it. If you become a member, you can watch the live broadcasts in the archives for 1 year, there's the link. And we will also be uploading a members only video in the next few days. We are always doing different things in these videos, so please check it out. Ok, how to join. Kaoru just pointed to the link at the top of the screen , please use this to join. If you click this link, you will get a screen asking you to choose your payment method. Choose your preferred method, click 'proceed to payment', and then enter your details. If you haven't yet joIned, please do so to enjoy this broadcast to the end. Ok, before we finish, Aiji, do you have any announcements?

A: Oh, yes, I do. Our tour will start from next month. From March 14th to April 26th we will play 15 dates. So please check out our homepage for the details, and please come along if you can.

J: Any Tokyo dates?

A: Uh, yeh, the first and last days.

J: Can you give us a hint about the content?

A: Well, the tour is named Kaibutsuen 2. We put an album out last spring and toured, so this is like the second tour for that album. I'm hoping it will be more intense that last time.

J: Ah, lots of comments saying they are looking forward to this tour. Thanks for those. Ok, Leader, any announcements?

K: Oh, Tora no ana will start from next week. Joe, you'll be there for the Tokyo date.

J: Yes, I will join.

K: And then there is also Osaka and Nagoya. And then, the tour will start in April.

J: Have you started any tour preparations yet?

K: Well, we have some setlists, but everything else starts from now on.

J: Well, everyone, please look forward to that. Ok, we'll change over here. The screen will change for a moment, but the members only part will start shortly, so just wait there. Please join us for the next part.

#the freedom of expression #dir en grey #薫 #translation #kaoru #Aiji #LM.C

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