|
(SHOXX August 2002) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NAO : Hmm, that was in Secondary 2 wasn't it? In the beginning I never knew anything about Izumi. I had this friend, with whom I was good friends with at that time. One thing I could never forget about him was the fact that he would bring different kinds of candies and gum to school every morning without fail. I probably wanted to taste some. *laugh*  NAO : I would ask him to let me try some but he would always reply ' Sorry, but these are not mine,' Then I would ask him whose are they and he would simply say ' Izumi's'.IZUMI : It just so happens that on my way to school everyday I would pass by a really grand looking candy store. I would buy about YEN200 to YEN300 worth of candy before school every day. So, what was it that 'sparked' up your friendship? NAO : I would say I was the one who was the persistent one in the start of our friendship. *laugh* IZUMI : Seriously though, I've never heard of Nao's name before and when I actually realized of his existence it was also the time when he would constantly come to me asking for sweets. *laugh* So your relationship back then was merely on a "candy-giver" "candy-snatcher" level...when did this change?  IZUMI : At that time we didn't have anything in common so we were never really friends. Anyway, I started to develop an interest in drumming but I never thought of forming a band. I was just starting to learn how to play the drums when I heard from some boys in school that there was a band that was short of a drummer. Somebody approached me about the matter and asked if I'd be interested in drumming for them. And guess who was there when I went to check them out...Nao.So you were like "Hey, isn't that the guy who always comes to me for sweets!!?" IZUMI : Exactly and I was shocked. I mean, he didn't look like he was a bandman and a bassist at that. I always thought he was more of an athlete than a musician. NAO : Hey, I am a gifted guy you know *laugh* Before I started playing for the band I was actually active in soccer. But isn't your school in Hokkaido (which is the coldest perfecture in northern Japan)? How do you play soccer in winter?  NAO : That wouldn't be an obstacle for us. Soccer practice will still go on as usual, even if it means that we would have to play in the snow. Plus for a Hokkaido boy like me I always thought that playing soccer in Tokyo during summer with the temperature at a high of 35 degrees celcius would be far more unendurable than playing in the snow. That would just be too hot for me.What about you Izumi? Did you do sports? IZUMI : I played a bit of ping pong (table tennis). At one point I even had a dream of becoming Japan's best ping pong player but that all went down the drain after losing in my first game. I straight away gave up on that and concentrated on making music. *laugh* Why did you chose to play the drums? IZUMI : Actually I am the eighth drummer in my family. My uncles, cousins and even my father were drummers. I guess it was sort of unavoidable in my case. There had always been a drum set in my home so when I thought of starting up a band I just thought to myself that the drums won't be so bad... What about you Nao? NAO : Well, my older brother was a bassist and just out of the blue one day he come up to me and say "Hurry, play the bass". In the beginning I have to admit that I was actually forced into playing it. He drilled me like crazy until I would sometimes cry because I didn't want to play anymore. Then one day I realized that I had become better than my brother. *laugh* Can you tell me more about your band back in high school?  IZUMI : At that time we had a copy band and we only played Yellow Monkey's songs. I personally felt like I was restricted in that band and I realized that I would go no where as a drummer. I started to think that I should enrol into a Technical College and study the basics of music and drums to grasp a good foundation. After I graduated high school I went to Tokyo and got into a college and that was the end of our copy band.
Then, what about Nao? NAO : After I graduated high school I led a nomad life for a while *laugh* One day, while I was wandering about I received a phonecall. It was from Izumi. Just thinking back about that phonecall makes me want to laugh. He started off the conversation with "Hey, long time no see" and without any exchange of 'How are you?' he asked, "Naoran, what are you doing now?". Instead of replying him I actually choked on my own words *laugh* Then Izumi told me that he was in a band in Tokyo which happened to have just lost their bassist and was wondering if I would be interested. He said, "Of course I'll let you hear our demo tape first,". I was seriously baffled and asked him how. He replied," Well, over the phone of course..." and proceeded to let me listen to their songs via the phone *laugh* IZUMI : Ah, that happened alright. No matter what, I had wanted to make him listen to the songs. Plus, I was in desperation at that time. NAO : Although it was over the phone the reception was exceptionally good and I was able to hear the songs clearly. I thought the tape was really cool and told Izumi what I felt. You're saying that you made your decision to travel to Tokyo on the spot after hearing the demo tape? NAO : No, I thought about it overnight. I also discussed it with my family and friends but what made me make up my mind was what my elder brother said to me. He said "If it's you, you surely can succeed" and that was enough to make me go. I headed off for Tokyo two days after Izumi's phonecall. Wow, that was fast. I mean you must have had to prepare some things for the trip. NAO : I wouldn't say that...I just pack up one bag and left. And my bass... ...eh? Did I already have a bass back then? IZUMI : Yeah you had one but it was dismantled into pieces. It wasn't a through neck...it had lots of bolts on it I remembered. You took the bass apart and stuffed it into your bag but the head was sticking out. NAO : I remembered that my family was pestering me to buy a casing for it *laugh* But I hated to have to carry bulky luggages. So I told them that Izumi's in Tokyo and he'll surely help me get something for the bass later on. So you relied on Izumi a lot? NAO : Yup. Even when I was thinking about a place to stay in Tokyo I assured myself by telling myself that I could always stay over at Izumi's *laugh* IZUMI : I was lucky because I had an uncle in Tokyo who owned a ramen store and he told me that I could stay in the room on the second floor of his shop. No need for monthly rental fees. It was about 12 tatami wide so the two of us had a lot of space. NAO : Plus I didn't even bring a lot of things over to Tokyo *laugh* Anything interesting to tell about your life as roommates? NAO : Both of us weren't very good at managing our lives, no future planning, nothing. So everytime we receive our allowance from our families we'd be so excited and everything is forgotten. Without even thinking of things that we might need we would straight away go out for some yakiniku (roasted meat) *laugh* IZUMI : Times would come when we would run out of cash totally and have nothing to eat. *laugh* We had on and off part time jobs but it was hard to juggle that with time for band practice. NAO : Yup, we had our hard times. IZUMI : We would go through our life one day at a time, thinking of what we need only one day before it *laugh* I guess I can imagine how hard it must have been for the two of you. NAO : This is a bit off topic but Izumi was really mean last time. He knows that I get scared easily so often at night after saying Good Night to me he would turn off the light and say "Naoran, do you hear that...it sounds like footsteps..." We split the room into half, six tatami each, but at night I would slither my way over to Izumi's half and sleep next to him *laugh* How long before Kagrra was all of this?  NAO : About two years I think.IZUMI : It all started out with me and Isshi. I actually met him in the college I went to in Tokyo. After Nao joined us we had some performances. After a while we disbanded and went our separate ways. Nao returned to Hokkaido. He was feeling rather homesick and decided to go back and he worked for a while to collect some money. So you guys had to start all over from a blank piece of paper. Nao : Well, first off I had worked in Hokkaido for half a year and managed to collect about 140,000 YEN but after buying my flight ticket to Tokyo I was left with 120,000 YEN. I still had some extra cash so I decided to buy some clothes until, without realizing I had used up all of my savings. This time I thought I'd bunk in with Isshi instead *laugh* Wasn't that a luxurious life! *laugh* Staying together with Isshi would mean that you were definitely going to continue with the band wouldn't it? NAO : Of course. IZUMI : Things weren't going very good for us since we were short of guitarists. So we had to start searching for prospective new members but unexpectedly our guitarists came almost instantly. You are speaking of Akiya and Shin aren't you? IZUMI : We made some flyers to be put up in some music stores in town saying that we were seeking for guitarists and the phone call we got was from Akiya and Shin. They told us that they were from the same band. Wow...it seems to me like you guys were fated to be together. IZUMI : Yeah...a lot of things happened but in the end we ended up together. Now can you tell me what are the good points of each other. IZUMI : Of course from my view I think Nao's a very excellent bassist. And then, although I am Kagrra's leader I feel that every member of Kaggra has the qualities that would make them fit to become band leaders and that includes Nao. NAO : Izumi has matured a lot spiritually compared to before and I admire that as it is something I don't have. As a drummer he has improved a lot and has developed many new techniques, he is a very good friend of mine but in a positive way I see him as a rival. Lastly, what is the one thing you want the other to change about himself. IZUMI : Hmmm... Well, he likes to meddle in other people's affairs and sometimes he goes over the line. I guess that's the only thing that you know...he should...hmm *laugh* Nao : Nah, Izumi doesn't have any bad points. Ah, that's so sad for Nao. Just like a primary school boy tries to gain the attention of the girl he likes and then when she falls for for him he ignores her and starts to pick on Izumi instead... NAO : Aa, yes yes. But then that would be so tiring to the heart... *laugh*  note : take a good look at what is on the blackboard behind the duo |
(c)2001-2004