#gr20

translation from Garish Room #20

What were you thinking about during the Gazette World Tour'13?

Uruha: We haven’t been abroad for a long time, I have already managed to forget all past impressions, and there was no benefit from the old experience. "Oh? And it seems ok to me...?" (laughs). I just noticed that 6 years ago I went to Europe with only one guitar and one set of pedals. This time I had almost the same set of equipment, as in national tours. Compared with the last time we managed to play concerts in a great ambience, and my motivation has increased noticeably.

What a good effect. Before going on tour, you took part in two festivals: russian KUBANA FESTIVAL and japanese SUMMER SONIC.

Uruha: KUBANA FESTIVAL was very good. Since it is a fairly large open-air festival, there gathered about twenty thousand spectators. The beginning of our performance was after 23 pm, but in Russia the sun sets for a long time, so at about this time it went down. In a way, it was the best time to speak (laughs). In addition, the mood of the audience was "burning", and mojo didn't stop out for a minute. And at SUMMER SONIC my favorite Western performers often play, I always get a sincere pleasure. To all other things, this time we were satisfied with our performance, and the reaction of fans was good. Getting out of your comfort zone and accepting a challenge from outside is a precious chance. Thinking about such things, I think that I want to continue to perform at festivals.

We are looking forward to your performances with impatience. Let's talk about the world tour. The first part of your tour brought you first to Mexico, and then to South America.

Uruha: As for South America, I had a feeling, that we were baptized at the moment we arrived in Mexico. At the airport, a lot of people gathered, it was something awesome. When we first started talking about the tour in South America, we were in such moods: "I heard that musicians in Brazil are greeted very warmly, but are the foreigners really aware of the Gazette?", "Do they listen to us there?". But when we arrived and received such a stormy first reception, we didn’t know what to think: "How could we get such popularity here?". Perhaps, the reception was too passionate, even scared a little (laughs). I don't know is Mexico supportive of Japan, but the fans of the Gazette were filled with passion (laughs).

It seems that they are quite heard about you. However, travelers are often cautioned about Mexican water and food.

Uruha:  Yes, we were strongly advised not to drink tap water in the hotel. But I'm such a person who is annoyed to take precautions all to one. In the room, mineral water was left in advance, but I used tap water when brushing my teeth, for example. 

Come on! But this is somehow disgusting...

Uruha: Nothing like this. Similarly, I quietly took a shower in the hotel. I didn't feel the slightest indisposition, because on my day off I went to the ruins of the Teotihuacan pyramids. I think, Teotihuacan is an energetically powerful place. In these pyramids at once there is an alien quality of production (laughs).

Well, you say, quality ... (laughs). Concerts were just as awesome?

Uruha: It's not the word. Unable to feel the mood, the audience tried their best, and it looked so innocent. Everyone listened to their feelings and enjoyed it in their own way. In this sense, I felt the difference of cultures and mentality. I often recalled the situation in the Japanese hall, while I was abroad. But still, bringing the thought to the end, although all countries have fun in different ways, in each of them there is an incredible enthusiasm.

How interesting.  After Mexico, you went to Chile and Argentina, went deep into the continent.

Uruha: I knew in advance something about public safety in Chile. In fact, throughout the city walls of the houses are painted graffiti, and the smell of danger is directly in the air.  But despite this, we got a lot of pleasure from the concert.  The concert venue in Chile was built during the Japanese Taisho era; it looks like it was meant for boxing matches and it looked like a mini version of the Budokan. It looked majestic, the lighting and other details were quite old, but nevertheless the play platform was extremely convenient. So I can say that in Chile the mood of our tour was able to catch the right wave.

I think you have gained invaluable experience thanks to concerts and even weekends spent in these unexplored countries.

Uruha:  However, Argentina, following Chile, was even frightening. They say that there are blocks where even children carry weapons. In Argentina we had shooting, but the director who chose the location for the shooting said: "We will take photos on the outskirts of the city on the border with the slums." I was shooting on the bank of a river, and it seemed that it was only necessary to go over it, and you would immediately get into trouble. "Why here?" (laughs). We shot in a hurry, but at the height of the shooting the local coordinator said suddenly: "It won’t end well”,  and began to repeat: "Beware of the local". And at this time, while the coordinator was waving his hands: "Everything is good! Finish! ",  the operator continued to shoot (laughs). Now I can remember it with a laugh, but at that moment it was really scary.  

It's good that everything turned out okay. The last battle of the first half of the tour was Brazil, known for its hot temperament.

Uruha:  In Brazil it was very cool. And when we arrived at the airport, and when we arrived at the concert hall, there was such a crowd of fans that even the barriers were bent. It seemed to me that we really became stars (laughs). And since the ardor of the fans differed even from Chile and Argentina, it kind of got in the way (laughs). The concert turned out to be terrific. The Brazilians themselves are such, however, there was an impression that they did not know what to do when the concert began. But they were having fun... it seems (laughs).

It seems that they perceive rock music completely unsophisticated. It seems you really enjoyed the tour of South America.

Uruha:  Yes, very much. At first it didn't make a special impression, but it's worthwhile to stay there for a long time, and you become attached to it. By the way, Mexican food was disgusting. It's freaking spicy. Seeing some green paste, I decided that this is an avocado, but it was unrealistically burning (laughs). I would not say that I have moved to a new level of perception of spiciness, but it can't be conveyed in words (laughs). But you know, I want to try it again. Because such a spiciness will be well with beer. When the tour of Central and South America ended, I realized that time had flown by like an instant. I still desire to come there again.

Probably, the matter is that this place perfectly approaches to Uruha-san. Returning home from Brazil and not having time to rest, you went to the second part of the tour -  the European round of the battle began.

Uruha: On the day of the return and the day following it, we were free, but we flew to France very soon. It was hard. However, I was able to continue the journey due to the fact that I came home and relaxed a bit. In addition, the tour of Europe was different from the South American part, and I went there prepared. After arriving at the place, we took the bus, then went to the hotel, then to the concert stage, played a live... This repeating cycle looked like a normal Japanese tour and was pretty dull. Unlike in South America, where a shock shake from each event lined up in a whole chain, and memories of which were deeply imprinted in the memory, in Europe we quietly peacefully swept through the cities (laughs). Just Europeans are sufficiently courteous, so they did not gather in crowds, and there were almost no cases for fans to come to the hotel. And at the entrance to the club, I felt some kind of invigorating feeling. It's not that European fans strictly follow the rules, it's all a mentality. In the beginning, at the airport in France there were several welcoming people, but they all stood at a distance and waved to us. Something like Japan and very different from Central and South America (laughs).

Due to the fact that you immediately went from one part of the world to another, you even more felt the contrast. In the foreign tour, you have to move between cities. How did you spend your time on the trip?

Uruha: I listened to music, played games. In addition, we filmed every concert, and during the bus crossings I watched these videos. The bus was luxurious this time. It was just huge,  there were beds, both on the first and second floor there was a place on the likeness of the lobby, quite wide, with a sofa, table and TV. We connected a video camera to it and watched concert records together. It was a real house on wheels, very comfortable.

This, probably, is experienced only abroad. When you went to Europe 6 years ago, there was a fashion for Japanese anime and visual-kei. What is the situation there now?

Uruha:  Last time we had an event in the anime store. So closely they associated anime and visual-kei. But this time we didn’t notice anything like this. And there were no fans in the cosplay outfit.

In other words, this time it was the other way around, and it can be said that all the spectators who came were exclusively fans of the Gazette?

Uruha: Yes. The difference was visible clearly. Everywhere before the beginning of the concert, the voices were unanimously called the Gazette, and during the live people were having great fun. The so-called "cultural boom" calmed down a bit, but we felt the love to the GazettE by our skin. However, it didn’t seem that in Europe all the “forces” had flocked to the concerts, so we thought that we probably wouldn't gather more people. It must be cause we came for the second time. In Central and South America we were greeted very warmly,  but there are still a lot of incomprehensible things, and, probably, if we come again, then such a raving delight will not happen. In this sense, it is important every time we step on the rake.

What a deep thought. The Gazette World Tour'13 helped you to realize a lot.

Uruha: Right. Since the last time, we ourselves have grown up, and our view of things has changed. This time we treated each country not only as a place where we give a concert, but as a country itself. For example, when we traveled around Central and South America, we clearly felt the difference in cultures and customs and paid attention to public safety. When we arrived in Mexico, we found a crowd of demonstrators and saw, as in an instant, people with shields lined up in a row. Thus, in countries with such a different situation, the fans of the Gazette still came to our concerts. If to look at this from the side of price policy, the tickets were very expensive, and the fans had to work for several months to come to the concert. And they did it all the same ... Awareness of this prevailed in us. That's why, even if the fans behave like mad, we should accept this. I'm glad that we went on this tour already in the sense that I began to think about things that I haven't been able to notice before.

Returning from the tour, did you feel anything special about Japan?

Uruha: It is not surprising, after all, that the homeland evokes a sense of peace. Arriving at Narita Airport, I first went to the vending machines (laughs). Abroad there are almost no ones, so I felt calm just after looking at them (laughs).  I still have this impression that the spirit of the homeland is felt even in such familiar things.

translated from japanese to russian by haruurara-kazan on tumblr

translated from russian to english by me

How challenging can the GR20 be?