nobody’s hell like mine

Toshiya says in the last 4 years he has begun to doubt/question a lot of things around him. For example, the colour black looks black but actually contains all colours. Its not how it seems on the surface, and its more interesting to approach everyday life with this awareness.

In terms of making the album, he has times when he doubts whether what he is doing is correct, and even questions whether everyone else is right, and only he is wrong. In the end what you believe is right or wrong always comes down to intuition only.

Joe then says he recently did a 3 hour show with a group of philosophers discussing Descart, and the concept of 'Cogito, ergo sum' (I think therefore I am), and how you can only be sure of your own self. But Toshiya counters this by commenting that cogito, ergo sum assumes the existence of an ideological self without proof, and so it is contradictory. Joe agrees. His philosopher group were discussing that if you start with Descart, you can gain satisfaction with what you have, but ultimately your range will be quite short. But if you start with firm assumption of wider ideas, like 'This is black!', you can then start to disect your ideas and explore them more/question them more. Toshiya adds that you can't fully grasp that which you don't demand to start with. Joe continues, as you take small steps forward you are likely to come across this kind of dilema at some point.

Joe starts by looking at Kaoru, laughing and saying he messed up (Re:wind→ At the start of Toshiya's interview, Joe mistakenly introduced Toshiya as the fInal member to appear....Followed by a collective '????!!!' from Kaoru torikos everywhere, haha). Kaoru asks Joe if something is wrong with him, and Joe replies its just because he is nervous havIng all 5 members to interview, and he asks Kaoru to help him calm down, haha.

Kaoru said he arrived at the studio during Kyo's interview, so he didnt hear what Die and Shinya were saying.

Joe reminds Kaoru about his appearance on his own channel before the album release, and asks him to explain a bit more about Isolation, with the increase from 13 tracks to 14 tracks.

Kaoru says he made Isolation without checking with the other members in advance, it was never entered into a vote like all the other songs. He started making it when all the other songs had gone into mixing. When he saw it taking shape, he let the other members listen, and asked if they could include it on the album. Everyone agreed.

Joe mentions that Kyo talked about seeing the full album talking shape after the last 3 or 4 songs came in towards the end. Kaoru expands on this by saying the last few songs were brought into the picture suddenly, so they really helped the album take shape in an instant.

Joe says it must have been a struggle up until then, worrying about which direction the album was heading. Kaoru replies, it wasnt a struggle as such, but its true, he never really knew how the album was gonna turn out. In fact, he still doesn't really know if it really reached completion, but he actually kinda prefers it that way. If he finishes an album with a sense of completion, it feels like he isnt really challenging himself. He prefers the feeling of wondering whether he could do more, or do it differently etc.

Kaoru says there may be some people who find the sound of this album unsettling, and some people might wish for the kind of dramatic song developments that Dir have done in the past, but that would make the songs sound the same as always. Kaoru didnt want that for this album, he wanted it to feel different, unsettling, and difficult to describe in words. However, because he had spent so much time in close proximity with these songs over the last several months, its hard for him to really see if they meet his expectations. He is too close to them, so he still doubts himself.

Joe asks Kaoru if he heard Kyo talking about 'Downer Downer' (According to Kyo, the next Dir album will be 'Downer Downer'). Kaoru did hear it, and says that this album is still the entrance to 'Downer', its not that dark yet. He thinks its a soft, easy to listen to album. Joe laughs, and questions whether thats actually the case, haha. But Kaoru insists, this is only the start. There is more to come yet!

Q&A corner!

The first question/comment is from a 2nd yr junior high school student, who says Dir's music gives them the drive to study and try hard. Kaoru is happy and thankful to hear it, and says that the student will probably be able to attend lives by the time 'Downer Downer' is out. Any earlier, they would have to attend with their parents.

The next comment is from a fan who says they became a Dir fan last year, so this is their first time experiencing an album release. They have been listening to the new album non-stop.

Next, someone asks Kaoru what the most difficult song to make was? Kaoru answers that the most difficult ones are ones that didn't end up on the album, but as for the actual album tracklist, MOBS was probably the most difficult. It was difficult avoiding his usual habbits in the song progression. How to really draw out the current Dir en grey, instead of just doing what he personally likes was challenging.

But the fact that this album was released means the possibility of an interesting future for Dir en grey.

Joe asks Kaoru for a final message to viewers before switching the paid section. Kaoru says 'Should I point to the link and ask everyone to sign up?'....but there was no link 😅

Highlights from the other interviews

Kyo had me laughing, zoning out and not hearing Joe's question. Joe had to tell him to pay attention.

Toshiya and Joe just discussed philosophy for 10 mins.

During the paid section messages from Miya, Reo, and Kamijo were played to the members.