Translator: Alex Highsmith
[[note: cher de memoire is their first photobook. i translated the answers according to what was written.. they sometimes didnt answer questions, so youll notice there is slight incosistency between one person to the next.. lastly, i dont know how true everything is (tetsu has some crack, sarcastic answers) so take it with the humorous grain of salt that malice mizer has always had!]]
What could be called both a long and short 2 years have passed since Malice Mizer appeared before your eyes. This time, we have created "Memoire" in the form of a book, so that you might be able to deeper understand our interior. Along with the CD and our live performances, please consider this book to be part of that larger whole. The Malice and Misery inside you will grow wider and larger we think.
Tetsu
Commentary on his Lyrics
kioku to sora
When I first heard this song, I was reminded of a time when I was 10 years old, and I felt that the obscure death of nuclear war was very close to me, from movies like "kinjirareta asobi" and "hadashi no gen" and my own grandfather's death, and I was very frightened by this.. remembering that neurosis I fell into I wrote the lyrics to Kioku to Sora. Actually, the person singing the song is the dead man from sadness, zenchou, and seraph. The song takes place in that kind of setting.
eege kai ni sasagu
The setting is a girl on the Aegean seaside remembering a love of long ago. The lyrics describe "everything" as being sad, but what she most clearly recalls is that her lover went into the hands of another, and that is dreadfully painful and frustrating. And so the sadness is this kind of "friction" between men and women.
gogo no sasayaki
If I sum it up simply I would... but I will not. I will leave it to your imagery. When you have a deep aching in your core, listen to this in a dark room.
miwaku no rooma
People are bound by miraculous chance encounters. But that miracle is the prelude to a farewell, which will break, interrupt that encounter. It is an empty, fruitless thing.
seraph
It is the response to sadness, zenchou, and kioku to sora. The last scene is brought to an end here. It's a happy end, but I have plans to continue the story further, and like in Sadness, zenchou, and kioku to sora, in the upcoming lyrics I will write about this couple, his personal stuff, her personal stuff, and also the world around them as well. Doing so I want to describe their existence in clearer detail. Their fairy tale is still continuing. Look forward to it!
"Movies and Me"
--When was your first encounter with moovies?
Tetsu: My parents really liked them, so when I was young I was aware of the movies flowing on and off the screen. My oldest memorys are of "kinjirareta asobi."
--How old were you then?
Tetsu: It was my second year of middle school.
--When you were young what kinds of movvies did you watch?
Tetsu: Kung-Fu and Action types. I was a kid, and naturally kids like those types of movies, so after I had finished watching it I would pretend to become Jackie Chan. Lately, though, I still have this habit of imitating the heros, but my focus has changed from their figure/form to the emotions and way of life of the characters. In that sense I identify with them better. (laughs)
I get so drawn in that it has even become a hindrance to my life after I watch a movie.
--(laughs) The movie must really resonaate in you for it to have that much of an effect. Not something that is just generally interesting, or sad, or something that affects you only during the time you watch it.. it would have to be something with a deeper message I think. What kind of points do you look for in a movie?
Tetsu: Everyone has a different perspective on what makes a movie good. Mana, for instance, is attracted to the imagery, sound, and camerwork. Then there are some people who are pay attention to the way a movie is made. For me there are two different criteria.. first, simply that after I am done watching the movie something of it remains inside me. I only watch foriegn movies, but when the connotations and phrasing of an actress' words, for example, if she says "I love you", that can be looked at in many ways and contexts. Country and region, her personal life, and depending on the context of the scene it can be very interesting. That is my second thing I pay close attention to. In the same way I am reading foreign books translated into japanese and looking at the locution in them too.
--If you have any movie reccomendationss, please tell us.
Tetsu: Quentin Tarrantino's "True Romance". The leading characters' struggles with love resemble my own. Their lives are not like mine, I think, but I found something incredibly provocative about it. Anyway, I too want to make a movie... but that's a whole nother story...
Mana
Album Concept
To revive The nostalgic memories that lay in the depths of all our hearts is the aim of Malice Mizer's "memoire". For "de memoire" I wanted to express this nostalgic sound.
kioku to sora
The tempo and beat steadily change, and rythmically I think this is a really interesting song. We added classical undertones and used a pipe organfor the main melody.
eege kai ni sasagu
I've never been overseas, but I really like the scenery of the Aegean Sea, and I wanted to express that some way or another with this song...
Image-wise, I created the song thinking of the elegant image of a blue ocean, a white sky, and white buildings.
gogo no sasayaki
Wanting to add a new atmosphere to Malice Mizer, I used a bossanova rhythm. The imagery is of a wide garden, the rolling grass before you, and a western style garden set set out as you sit drinking tea in the afternoon. That is the image I had when creating the song.
miwaku no rooma
Rome is a very calculated city, and a place of amazing art I think. In my own understanding of it, I tried creating this song. The place to listen for is where the 2 synth violins intersect to make a single melody.
seraph
I think its very easy to listen to. The integration of the instrumentation and the lyrics came out wonderfully I think. As a final song for the album I think it came out very good.
"my wonderous passions"
--Mana, we hear you have a collection oof hats. About how many do you own?
Mana: About 15.
--The ones you use on stage are really elaborate, but how do you go about choosing your hats?
Mana: For the ones I use on stage now, I first buy something with a suitable shape, then I personally add something like an aritficial flower or bell. But right now I'm really bored of the ones I have, so I want a new wonderful hat from a fashion show or something.
--What else are you interested in?
Mana: I have an interest in video games too. I like playing the games, but beyond that I also have an interest in the game music, the visuals, and the story the programmers make up... I really love to interpert those things in my own way.
--By the way, we heard a rumour that yoou can sniff out and discern the difference between over thirty different spices. Is there a certain type of cooking you've been into lately?
Mana: Right now I am studying indian curry. You use chicken for the meat, (in india it is used in religious related dishes) and then add yogurt or something to soften the meat, and then use my 30 spices. I am currently studying the very delicate, specific spice mixing needed. If even the smallest mistake is made in the blending, you can't eat it.
--What materials do you use?
Mana: The foundation is onions. For curry everything is based on onions. You have to dilligently fry it for 30 minutes to get a delicious taste. Whether its good or bad depends on how you add the onion. ...in the future I'd like to do music and open a curry store. (laughs)
--You've already shared many sides withh us, but I hear you also like horror movies?
Mana: I don't have any interest in the movies that have come out lately, but I like Italian horror films and psychological horror. On the other hand, I hate the American slasher-flicks.
--Why do you like Italian horror?
Mana: There is something suspicious, beautiful, mysterious abou tthem. The music and visuals have their own unique atmosphere. There is a side of Malice Mizer's sound and visuals that have been influenced by it.
--Lastly what would you like to say to everyone?
Mana: From everything I've said, you may all think I'm an otaku. But otakus obsess over only one thing, while I am a person with wide array of interests. From many different genres, I am able absorb the best essences and broaden my own music's sound, I think.
name: kozi
de memoire
This instrumental number was created as the introduction to the world of "memoire", but with the 3 reoccuring melodies and the melody that then comes on top of them, it feels as if you are going round and round down a spiral staircase, being sucked in. The melodies of beauty and sadness mix here I think.
At the initial stages, we wanted to try putting in a bunch of different sounds, but with the solo piano it felt profoundly sad and lonely, like an italian horror movie... so we left it as is. With this song, you should be in your room in pitch black watching the white sandstorm of your tv, listening with head phones.
kioku to sora
Among the album, this best shows Malice Mizer's classical, elegant, medieval-european gothic sound. It develops aggressively, with this racing feel to it too, and its a song I like. In the recording we didn't mix in the guitars, and with the only the synth sound playing we all thought there were problems. It was difficult because we didn't think to add the solo violin phrasing till the very end. Using the pipe organ throughout, I feel like we got the effect we wanted, and the world of this song became wider in essence, so I am happy.
eege kai ni sasagu
Personally this is my favorite song in the album. At the beginning stages of this song too, we felt it sort of putted along changing suddenly, but we all did this and that to arrange it better, and we built it into to a gentle, good feeling I think. It personally gives me the image of the Aegean sea, with the expansive strings, intro, and B melody arpeggio... I think we expressed it really well. When I listen now I think the two guitars' tone and balance came out well too. (that is my first point of reflection) When we finished adding the vocals (a rough mix) and I first heard the song in the recording booth, the latter half had come out much better. Mana casually closed his eyes and felt the same thing. (laughs)
gogo no sasayaki
In the flow of songs on this album this one is like a pause for coffee time. And we did finish it rather quickly, but the bossanova rhythm does create a really fitting atmosphere. The first half has an innocent feeling which rises into the feeling of the chorus, but when I listen to this first half now I find it too extremely lonesome, musically. (my second point of reflection) Though I wanted a bit more time to work on this song, its the early afternoon and time to drink tea.
rooma no miwaku
The violin phrase has a medieval european scent to it floating about at the chorus, on this sad song. On this song I had a really hard time figuring out how to express the sound of a real violin using my synth guitar. Muting a lot and using small subtleties in the picking I got a close sound, so I recorded it while sitting in a chair imitating the sound of a real violin, taking the whole sound into my body.
seraph serenade
The "medieval european mix of beauty and sadness" of Malice Mizer has a different atmosphere here, more akin to a "modern european mix of suspended beauty and sadness". The composition has the atmosphere of an epilogue to this tale I think. The imagery is that you are on top of the clouds, with the with air expanding before you, both arms spread out, as the singing voice of an angel downpours onto you. From the beginning I didn't put my best into the guitar so we used synths to thicken the sound. We wanted to make the song unlike any other bands out there, so we had this general idea of adding a lot to the song. We accomplished it, and this is the thickest song soundwise. There are more keyboards and piano than synths, my little pinky is all cramped.
--What is the time that you have most iimpressions of?
Kozi: My third year of middle school.
--Why?
Kozi: It was time I played around and relaxed the most. I would go to cafes in the afternoons and drink tea and stuff.
--You didn't like to study?
Kozi: Hated it. I went to school to relax with my friends (laughs) But, sports were my strong point so I liked P.E. Also, it wasn't long to the sea, so I would like skip class and go there...
--What did you do there?
Kozi: Just talk and smoke. At night there was a public park where cars would gather (they had young couples in them on dates). We'd chuck firecrackers at the cars and run away... or we'd go to the sea and throw little rocks at the fishermen.. after we'd often go to the bike shop, do some preliminary investigation (that took precise teamwork), and then we'd steal a bike and sing as we rode along... we did a lot. Those days, I didn't think of anyghing at all, but they were very fun. Right behind my house was the ocean, so all the time in the middle of the night I would go out to it alone, and as I stood there on the beach I'd think to myself "aa, the ocean is vast.. as the moon rises the day sinks.." while also throwing little rocks at the fishermen (laughs). They were those kind of days...
name: yuki
kioku to sora
This song is the oldest on the album, so in many different ways it has deep memories for us. When I first heard it on a demo tape, it was a previously unheard atmosphere for Malice Mizer, but I strongly felt a sort of fond reminscence in it. The song smoothly goes along without getting lost. I had seen another new side of mana, and the world of Malice Mizer had grown one step clearer with this song, I think. Concerning the bass, I had problems with a nuance mana wanted on this one phrase. Also, I wanted a low bass sound for this song so I used my unique main bass.
eege kai ni sasagu
To make the image of the song more vivid I focused less on a technical approach and more on adding nuances throughout the song. For instance, how to play the parts I personally felt strongly about, the strength of the picking, if I should play with my fingers on a certain part, how to make something moving and expressive come out...
gogo no sasayaki
I think I got the bass sound I was aiming for on this song. How to make the first half of the song feel "alive" was my problem. When I do a slide, the sound of my fingers on the fret has a good feeling. For the latter half I added effects to the bass and a wide, expanded feeling came out I think. Also, with the fret slides and stuff, the movement of the song goes along vaguely, giving a floating, suspended feeling. It has a live accoustic feel I think.
miwaku no rooma
Just because you are recording doesn't mean the songs are all arranged neatly in a line. The phrasing scurries along with different parts, but for live performances I wanted to play it with lots of feeling, so we tried playing it in a more straight, linear form. When I hear it, I think its an interesting song in many different ways.
seraph
This song's bass and guitar in synch almost the whole time, making is very straightforward. Wanting a light bassline I relied on my senses in a lot of places. For the sound, I thought of the whole song's mood, and decided to add a chorus effect the entire time.
"Drawing and Me"
--We heard you have a huge interest in drawing and art. Do you have any favorite painters?
Yuki: The fantasy painter of Paris Dimaru Dimashio [[not sure who this is]] and Gustaf Klimt. I like Klimt's famous painting "Kiss".
--What parts of that painting attract yyou?
Yuki: The wonderful colors that are like a flood of gold. With paintings and the like it is hard to express what parts you like in words. But as is the same with music, while the composer puts his own feelings and thoughts into his work, depending the person who views the work, what is expressed and felt is different for everyone.
--Even you do your own art, don't you?<
Yuki: I have a lot of rough sketches of people. But I also do some abstract/fanastical stuff as well.
--How long does it take you to finish oone?
Yuki: There are ones that take only 2 hours and there are ones that take much more than that. Depending on my feelings at the time what I want to draw is complelety different, so the time needed changes too. That's the same as music too.
--Do you have any pointers for when youu draw? Also, do you have any advice for someone who is thinking of starting to do art?
Yuki: I am bad myself so instead of thinking "I can't do this", if you just paint something following your own thoughts and feelings you will be fine.
[[here is a picture Yuki drew; it has a hand that is rising out of a tree trunk while holding up a mask.. I will try to scan it in later]]
--Please explain this picture for us.
Yuki: It's untitled. I drew it with the emotions of the time I did it, so I can't explain it now. Moreover, though, I wouldn't really want to. If I were to say something though, it was a time when I fell into my own self-loathing, and feelings of sadness and emptiness and other things I can't well explain with words were very strong in my life. The picture says the rest. People who view this work have different feelings depending on the person, so I will be happy if you would write your thoughts on a postcard or something and send it to me. (forward it to Midi:Nette)
name: kami
de memoire
Like descending down a spiral staircase, you reach back into your memoires... that is the image the guitarists had when they made this song, it seems.
kioku to sora
The most Malice Mizer-ish song. For me it is my favorite. First, at the intro, the guitar is playing a 4/4 beat, and we daredd to mix in a 3/4 beat giving it a really flowing, pretty rhythm. From the beginning I thought it was awesome. This song really develops as it goes, and we used a lot of different patterns and I think it all came out great. I personally love these difficult kind of songs. The reverse snare in the A melody really fits the song I think.
eege kai ni sasagu
When I first heard this I thought it wasn't like Malice Mizer at all.
Mana told me he had made the song with an image he had of the Aegean sea, so I too thought of what image the Aegean sea gives me and applied that to the song. This type of atmospheric song was really difficult, and I thought a lot about things like "how I should express this part" and "how the instrumentation and vocal melody and lyrics co-exist" when I did the drumming. The last part with the drums and the vocals was really moving I thought. This is another song I really love.
gogo no sasayaki
Basically, its a bossanova rythm. I first naively thought bossanova would be really easy--that was a big mistake! It was very difficult and I had problems getting my own feelings to come alive in it. When we did finish it, I felt a really good mood had been created, and that I could finally relax!
miwaku no rooma
On this there were a lot of parts where I really got into while playing. Its very rhythmic, and I didn't want to break the instrumentation's image through my own zeal... keeping that in mind I was able to play the song while keeping it's image inside of me. I like the strong chorus and aggressive vocals. Also, on the part where Tetsu sings "tokimeki ni" the guitars were really good I thought.
seraph
As everyone says this song is a new style for Malice Mizer. With a melodious ambience and climax, we paid most attention in Seraph to the dynamic changes from sadness to happiness. The vocals and drums have a life to them. Unlike the other members I played this song fully based off my own feelings and how the song progressed according to the instrumentation... at the climaxes I had a hard time figuring out how to make it expressive. I tried to give the spirited feeling I had when I hummed along to myself as I played. I think the chorus' snare roll really fits the song. Like "eege kai ni sasagu" and "seraph", I was happy I was able to express myself in my own way.
Overall
There was a lot of colliding between every member on this album. They'd say to me "play the drums on this part this way," or I'd say to them "do the guitars it this way"... so all 5 members views and opinions were added in. On Seraph when Tetsu sings "tsurete itte", I had a live tape from long ago where he had sung in a certain expressive way on it, so I remembered that and searched for that tape, and told Tetsu "sing this way!", which gave him a lot of troubles on that part.
Well, from the way I see it, this was a learning experience for us. We saw our own lacking points and realized that we still needed practice. However, I will never forget the emotion of that day when we finally did complete this piece of work.
Lastly, there is something I'd like to say that we really wanted to do more on this cd but we had money problems, time limits... but we tried to minimize those as much as possible. That's pretty much my only regret. However, I am very happy the members and I were able to share our own ideas with you. We too think we made a good cd, and we are happy simply if you listen to the cd and are feel our expression...
[[there is a picture of kami sitting on top of the old malice mizer van, which has been partly smashed up in an accident. kami wrote the following message in his own handwriting]]
Our Van
Kami: This van has a very deep memory for us. After I had joined Malice Mizer I had already had a lot of experience doing shows with other bands. I loved this van, and enjoyed taking it in to the car wash if it got dirty. The tragedy happened on 4.29.94. I heard there had been an accident and I went to see.. when I got there a cruel scene was laid before me. I can't even find the words when I remember it now. It was very sad. Thank you for all the memories. Rest in peace.
Memories of the tour
On the way back home to tokyo, somewhere around nagoya, rain suddenly started to fiercely downpour. It was so hard we couldn't see anything from the front window. It was very frightening. As we went on for a bit it started to clear up. At that time a rainbow came out.
A long time ago I told everyone how I once saw a rainbow on top of a rainbow. "That's a lie", said my teacher, saying it was impossible. But suddenly one appeared here. We stopped the car and went out to see it. Charmed by the site we almost crashed into the car in front of us and had to slam on the breaks. I was scared to death!
Epilogue
I think another side of Malice Mizer has been born inside you, but our ideal is that it is endlessly, daily, every second expanding within you. The forthcoming Malice Mizer will go beyond your predictions and exceed your expectations, I promise. To the people who have warmly watched over us for these 2 years, and to all our fans we are deeply grateful. We hope the Malice Mizer in your own body is filled...
~tets
