Since early this morning, we had a photoshoot for the pamphlet of our spring tour★
I didn’t take a picture of when my hair was long… (laugh)
The place where we did the photoshoot was fun and had lots of antique accessories.
Please look forward to see it♪( ´▽｀)
Posted from my iPhone
It’s been close to two weeks since the earthquake, but even now the media are still showing us extreme conditions and sadness, and in the meanwhile,
I’ve been wondering
what can we do?
or rather, what should we be doing?
Of course, I think doing a performance seemed like a suitable option,
but after reading messages from various people including those in the affected regions…
It’s particularly because there are fans among those who were affected by this disaster
that we came to the conclusion that as much as possible, we should probably remain “the same Alice Nine as usual”.
What’s necessary right now is to put all of this behind us, right? There must be some other ways to express our grief…
More than just that, isn’t it important to protect the place where those who are going through hard times will return to?
I think there are many different feelings.
But, I believe that each and every one of those emotions can be linked through Alice Nine, through our music.
I’ve gotten serious again, but anyway, I want to see everyone’s smiling faces again soon.
That’s all I had to say.
I’m truly looking forward to see you during the tour.
This is Nao.
Everyone, are you alright?
Since writing a lot of anxious thoughts will get me nowhere, sorry I stopped updating this blog.
Tonight is yet another unsettling night.
And we hear a lot of sad news.
In the middle of all of this, I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do to help out.
Right now, I’m doing my best doing those things.
And I’ll keep on being careful.
Everyone, please take care!
Let’s do our best together!
I’ll pray that those who lost their lives rest in peace,
and hope that a lot of people will be found safe
and will be rescued as soon as possible.
The date has already changed,
but here’s a small something from me for White Day…
It seems that
white has the meaning of
“Bringing happiness”.
Like a single ray of light shining through the clouds.
And like a flower, I hope a smile will bloom on your face…
-hiroto-
I only understand the destruction and grief caused by the earthquake from what I’ve seen on TV.
Having never experienced a major earthquake myself,
I guess I can only comprehend about 10% of the fear and sadness the victims are experiencing in real time.
This is so frustrating too.
There is such a huge gap between the place where I am now
and the devastated sceneries I see on TV.
Even though I see people crying, I just feel more and more helpless.
Nevertheless, there are things I ought to do now.
I cannot think that actively understanding what’s happening
is someone else’s business.
I think it’s quite difficult
to ask your neighbors for kindness at times of need.
But if I understand that something like that could also happen to me some day,
if in turn I become a victim,
I want to be someone who has sympathy for those I encounter.
I want to be someone who understands and shares other people’s suffering.
I, who can’t do anything, really aspire to be like those people who’re working day and night to rescue others.
Even now, there must be people who are suffering in the dark, people who are awaiting rescue,
people who are searching for their family,
but somehow, I hope we can move forward.
If we can overcome this even just in our hearts, for sure it’ll spread positive energy around us.
At least that’s what I believe.
Major earthquake in eastern Japan.
Though I may be in the metropolitan area, I felt the ground shake considerably when the earthquake occured.
Luckily, few things in my house were damaged, and I myself have not been injured and am doing well.
I think that the situation of the areas that received a lot of damage and who still haven’t recovered even basic utilities, as well as the feelings of the victims
are beyond imagination, and cannot be comprehended through TV or the media.
I’ve been doing whatever I can to share information, appeals, ect. on Twitter.
I think you’ll understand for sure if you’ve been reading this and if you’re someone who’s experienced going music or going to a live,
but I think that when many people are working together toward a common goal, each person’s power is great enough to withstand the threat of the earthquake.
Among the devastated areas are places where we often go on tour, so I honestly care a lot.
I think there must be people out there who are still worrying all day, or who can’t see this blog or other media.
Just a little,
if only just a little,
let’s all join our efforts,
and let’s be as one so that those who’re afflicted can receive the strength to look forward if only just a little!!
Tomorrow is another day.
be as one.
-hiroto-
To those who are suffering from the off-the-Pacific-coast of Tohoku Earthquake and its impacts,
my heart is truly aching with worry.
Personally, the information was quite complicated and I myself couldn’t quite process and make sense of everything, so during the chaos, there were also problems with the servers and I tried to keep myself from tweeting a lot, but all the members – including me – are doing well.
The words of encouragement I received, not only from Japan but from around the world, have truly given me strength. Thank you.
However, there are still aftershocks and we can’t guess what sort of damage will be caused after this, but I’m praying from the bottom of my heart that there will be no further damage, and I think we have to work toward this goal.
For the sake of protecting – even just a little – the people in those important places.
I’ll be doing everything in my power too,
and I’ll be looking forward to be able to see you all again, smiling as usual.
It’s been a while since I updated.
It’s almost Niku no Hi1 (^-^)v
Everyone, February 9th is the release of GEMINI.
Therefore,
Since I want everyone to get to know our new album GEMINI better,
I guess I’ll do a rare song-by-song commentary. (laugh)
Those who don’t wanna see those spoilers, then just don’t look ヽ(*｀Д´)ノ
For now I’ll begin with the first 4 songs on the album.
“I.”
This is a song that already existed when I was about 18.
It’s probably the first song I ever properly composed in my life.
I would never have thought that I’d play this song from my youth, with Alice Nine, and the current time.
At first, I didn’t even feel like putting it on the album. (laugh)
This song has a connection with another song we did previously, “the beautiful name”,
but the way I perceive it is that it’s like “the beautiful name”’s episode 0.
Without Okano-san’s advice, we couldn’t have worked it into such a clear and compact format,
and thanks to Kume-san who arranged the strings for us, the final result fits 100% with the image of the song.
When you hear it, I think you’ll understand why the temporary title was “Final Fantasy”. (laugh)
By the way, during this song, the guitar in the right channel is Tora’s part, and the one in the left channel is Hiroto’s.
The opposite from usual. Which means that during lives…
“RUMWOLF”
When we first started working on the album, there were no cheerful songs at all.
We had gotten tired of listening and creating hard songs.
Hiroto, Tora and I often talk about how our current selves are rokkinpo1. (laugh)
But then we might betraying our fans’ expectations and be stranded during the tour,
so I quickly asked Hiroto and Tora to compose a cheerful song.
From that, we only kept the riff from the demo Hiroto brought us, and what came up is a song that’s kinda silly in a good sense.
Okano-san added more brass to that.
For sure, adding brass to that song gave it a peculiar character. I think it was a great idea.
But up until a few years ago, we would have strongly opposed to adding brass to the melody, like “Are you crazy?”. (laugh)
Now here we are, getting excited and amused about it.
Because it’s never been heard.
I hope every will shout the bridge’s chorus during the lives for sure (^-^)v
“Stargazer:”
It’s a song that began as a joint production with Okano-san.
To tell the truth, this song’s demo was made in about 30 minutes.
When we had a meeting to choose the songs that would be on the single we released in November 2010, after all the demos we came up with were rejected,
we were told “You guys don’t know your own good points”.
From this frustration, I created this song as if I was responding “Is it better like this instead?”.
If during those 6 years of existence we truly hadn’t been able to find what made us unique, then we had better to find it.
Therefore I wasn’t worried.
But, when I’m told about our uniqueness,
I admit we’re always being compared to the shiny, young band we used to be. I mean before VANDALIZE.
Therefore, it’s a fact that this transpired on the things we were doing currently, as doubts and dullness.
But with the lyrics, this song turned out to bear a deep meaning.
If this song became one that recaps all the experience we went through from then until now,
that feels heavy with those 6 years, it was thanks to the lyrics.
“4U”
This is the song we played for the first time at the Budoukan.
It’s a song that’s linked to the first song of the album, “I.”.
It already existed right after “VANDALIZE” came out.
Since I composed it on a clear day while I was singing and strumming on my acoustic guitar, it has a strange simpleness to it.
It’s me who plays the acoustic guitar on this song.
It was created with the intention of being a song with an important message,
so to tell the truth, it became the core of GEMINI.
I had a small meeting with Shou-kun about the direction of the lyrics.
We even discussed such things as in what position [on the setlist] and in what situation we should do this song during the tour. (laugh)
This is clearly a song for both yours and our sake.
So I hope you treasure it.
—–
1 Niku no Hi literally means “Meat Day”. However, the numbers 2 and 9 are “ni” and “ku” in Japanese. If you put them together, they sound like the kanji 肉 (niku) for “meat”. Niku no hi isn’t just on February 9th but on the 29th of each month too.
2 Saga explained on his Twitter that rokkinpo stands for “rock” and “chinpo” (the Japanese word for a certain part of the male anatomy) and means “someone who doesn’t have interest for rock music”.
The Akihabara station was decorated with a hon-maguro☆
(´┏＿┓｀)
I want to eat maguro!!
I just noticed it’s almost Christmas☆
We got a rought schedule again today!
I’ll drink some Yunkeru and do my best~☆
(´┏＿┓｀)
Good morning☆
Yesterday I finished work early and dashed out to the Kokusai Forum!
I went to the Lisani! live☆
And I mistook the time and arrived 1 hour before the beginning of the performance!
I’m always in good time!
That’s just like Nao-shi☆
(´┏＿┓｀)ｂ
I was glad I got to meet Yoshida Ana who’s been looking after us on Myu-komi☆
It was a very good inspiration just before the Budoukan, so Nao Nao-shi will work hard too!
v(｀┏┓´)v