Exclusive interview with Merry

Merry has recently released their latest album, PEEP SHOW, in Europe and will perform two lives in Germany and Paris in December. The band has increased their activities, signing to a major label in Japan, and is now branching out to overseas audiences. Today, we will talk to them about their goals for the future and more.

Can you introduce yourself for readers that don’t know Merry yet?

Gara: I’m the vocalist, Gara. I like to sing as though I’m burning up!

Yu: I’m a guitarist, Yu, and the band leader.

Kenichi: I’m a guitarist, Kenichi. I’m glad to see you!

Tetsu: I’m the bassist, Tetsu.

Nero: I’m the drummer, Nero, an idol type! (laugh)

Why did you choose the name Merry? What are you so 'merry' about?

Gara: When we were thinking about our band’s name, we wanted just a simple familiar name but we didn’t want to be tied to genres. Our motive is of sheep, coming from ‘Mary had a little lamb.’ Sheep have a cute image, but their eyes are scary like they have something deep inside. Now we play in the visual kei field and we have something hidden inside us, like various genres. We named our band for this reason, not for the the meanings of 'funny' or 'cheerful' or for merrymaking.

Nero: Once we played with an American band in Japan. They said "We thought you were a poppy, cheerful and naughty band like ‘merrymaking’, but you are very punk and rock!" I like this kind of gap in a meaning.

How did you start the band? What kind of ideas did you have at the beginning, and have these ideas changed during the years?

Nero: We were gathered by vocalist Gara.

Gara: I wanted to make a new band, ‘Merry’, and gathered necessary members, who agreed with my vision to make the band, one by one.

What kind of band did you want to make?

Gara: I wanted to make a band that has a firm concept and strong visuals, and is stimulating without being trapped by musical genres.

Do you have different musical backgrounds from one another or do you come from the same visual kei rock?

Nero: We all played in the same events in each different bands. We played different music but in the same field.

Kenichi: We played in our respective bands, though we were like rivals to one another.

Tetsu: "An enemy yesterday is a friend today." (laugh)…..Let me see.... "An enemy yesterday will be a friend tomorrow?"

Gara: It was like a team was playing baseball in their half of the field and another team played soccer in the other half. (laugh) We all knew each other and said ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good bye’, but that was all.

So, you all had the same concept and started as a band from the beginning.

Gara: The members had certain experiences in each of their bands, and we were talking about our ideal band, sound- and performance-wise, but we didn’t realize how much we could link it to our image until we saw our first live video.

Yu: What we were going to do, no one had done before, so we didn’t have any model.

I looked at your profile and was surprised that you did so many secret lives and drew a lot of attention to the band. Was that your strategy?

Gara: Yes. We played only secretly at first because we were an unknown band, so we had to give an impact.

In Merry’s music, there are many elements, as a CD jacket shows various words such as ‘melancholy’, ‘moment’, ‘impulse’, ‘obscure’, ‘popular’, ‘retro’ etc. I thought your music is new style blending various music of punk, shock rock and old popular music, etc. Is it gradually made as you play?

Kenichi: I think each member’s character mixes and we make songs accidentally. See, there is a member who likes popular songs.

Gara: That’s me. (laugh)

Kenichi: I like core music.

Nero: I like heavy metal.

I think there's someone who likes jazz and blues?

Yu: Yes, that’s me.

So various elements mix into Merry’s music.

Gara: Kenichi likes maniac music, Nero likes hard two-bass, I like beautiful melodies, Yu likes instrumental music such as jazz...and Tetsu likes ramen (noodles). (bursts out laughing)

Gara: Sorry, Tetsu listens to any kind of music (Gara keeps laughing).

Kenichi: (laugh) I think he is the most maniac.

Gara: Oh, boy! I can’t say anything after ramen! (laugh) Well, anyway, he is the most maniac.

In your music, we can hear many jazz and blues elements. Yu, as you said, likes jazz and blues. Did you put these influences into your music and therefore, turn your songs into this style?

Yu: Actually I like it, but if we play jazz and blues straightly, it would be nothing but jazz and blues. Putting jazz and blues into Merry makes a new style of music, I think. It’s interesting to mix jazz and blues elements into our music and to be wild in lives.

The music is made by mixing elements and is accepted by current young fans.

Yu: The music itself should be like that, I think. We don’t play just old classical style, but play mixing it with something new, making a new genre and changing more and more until we do a full circle.

In your songs, there are strong messages.

Gara: I intend to be a man of 21st century! (laugh)

You write various lyrics to do with love, inner feelings, messages for the young, political messages, etc.

Gara: Yes, I just write what I think. I have to release what I want to sing and convey by myself, so I’m trying to write what I want to say. I don't touch on what I don’t know.

Gara, you write most of the lyrics. What inspires you and what have you been influenced by?

Gara: I write as I want to. Of course, I always note interesting words, but basically music is most important for me. After the members make the music and I listen to it, I get a good first impression, then I write most of the lyrics.

So you listen to the music first?

Gara: Yes. Then the melodies are added and I’ll make lyrics.

Do you have experiences where unexpected lyrics were added?

Nero: Of course I do, because he seems to try to write more than what we expect.

Gara: For example, the four other members would give me music saying they made a sorrowful song. I'll either choose to make it as sad as I can or I change it into a totally happy song. If the music has a strong image, I would make as it is, but most of the time I change it.

Is there any song which was changed a lot?

Yu: Almost all of the songs. I often unconsciously imagine the lyrics, and then am surprised at the lyrics Gara makes, but it is interesting for me.

Gara: I’m intending to use my radar everywhere and every time.

Yu and Kenichi, you both do the majority of the song writing for Merry. Is there any friendly competition between the two of you? What drives you both?

Kenichi: I have a feeling like that. When I am stuck and can’t make songs, I listen to Yu’s music. If it is a good song, which wakes me up like ‘I’m like that too!' (laugh) Then I can make a better song sometimes.

Yu: Me too. I feel like that. We have a certain time to make songs and I’m curious how many songs the other members make. (laugh) We can stimulate each other.

Do you find a balance with each other? Like, this member made that type of song, so I'll make this type of song?

Yu: Yes, I certainly think like that on my own like ‘Last time, Kenichi made this type of song, so I’ll make these kind of songs this time.’

Nero and Tetsu, you also write songs. How is it for you?

Nero: I don’t care about making music on my own so much. Drums are a rhythm instrument, so I put my originality into my songs, such as very interesting rhythm which only drums can do.

Tetsu: Me too. I try to put my taste into my songs as a bassist.

Nero: I make songs naturally. Within, we are all Merry and we can do anything.

I wonder if it's hard to select songs.

Nero: It’s very hard. (laugh)

When you arrange songs, do you arrange your instrumental part by yourselves?

Nero: I try not to destroy the atmosphere of original songs. Like I play hard in some parts and play soft in others. Because we are a band, we have to think about other members' chance to show their playing, which I try to keep in balance.

During the arranging, do all of the members think that Merry’s music is like this and try to approximate songs to it?

Gara: When the melodies are added in the songs, no one interrupts each other and we think of how to play the melodies. Then, I create the lyrics, and we do more, so we need much more time than other bands. The time in which songs are made, arranged, and finally completed, is very important for us.

Overseas, people sometimes express your music as ‘melodic acid jazz rock’ or ‘angura kei’. What do you think about this?

Yu: I think it’s good, because it sounds cool.

Gara: I don’t care about that so much. You may call our music whatever you like. (laugh)

Nero: I try not to be tied to words.

Gara: Actually, we are called lots of things such as hard rock, ska-punk heroes (laugh) because we have many elements.

When I listen to your single CDs, I get a very different impression from each song.

Gara: Yes, you might just say we aim to make it that way. We use the title of our song for the name of our singles since we came to a major label. Before, we put a different title on maxi singles which included three songs with one big title.

Yu: Each single has three songs, regarded as albums, like one album has three songs.

So do you put totally different songs into one CD?

Gara: Yes. Two guitarists make maniac songs, to which I put Japanese melodies, which become new songs. Nero’s heavy metal and my Japanese popular songs mix together, which become new songs too, and same thing happens in jazz. Basically, I’m Japanese so I like beautiful melodies.

In the new single, Call ing, you sing enthusiastically. I’m very curious how foreign listeners will feel listening to this kind of Japanese melodies. We commonly listen to Western style music, but I can’t imagine how they'll respond to such Japanese style music.

Gara: English sounds cool in some music and if I sing the same melodies in Japanese, it would give a different nuance and impressions of the songs.

Japanese bands can go overseas more easily now than in the past. Before, they tried to sing songs in English but now foreign fans listen to songs in their original Japanese. As anime and manga go overseas, Japanese music is heading out too, and Japanese language seems to sound fresh, I think.

Gara: Not only language but also melodies and instruments are the same all over the world.

Tetsu: I agree. Japanese sounds fresh.

Merry is regarded as an ‘eroguro’ (erotic and grotesque) band. Why did you choose to be such a style?

Nero: Since we did secret lives, this was for extra impact. For example, when we see a horror film, a strong impression remains. But we play intense melodies unexpectedly on purpose.

Tetsu: We wouldn’t do it if we thought it was bad. We took pictures and it looked good.

Gara: Among us, ‘eroguro’ is an image of the Taisho and Showa periods in Japan. Pictures drawn by Suehiro Maruo are grotesque but very beautiful, which reflects our band’s music. We can do things that are diagonally opposite and not limited to only one side. We wear the same costumes and makeup, which makes our unification and establishes our own world.

Yu: We wear the same suits that we have from the beginning when we took our first artist photograph.

Overseas, Merry is introduced as a band which wears dark suits and light makeup, not showy costumes and heavy makeup like most visual kei bands. Is this idea all of yours?

Nero: Yes. All five make one band.

Merry has been through various looks these past five years. Are your visuals decided based on the music you're releasing at the time or is it just your current whim?

Gara: At first, it sometimes depended on our feelings, but we decided based on the music we were releasing at that time basically…..let me see...I’m not sure we really decided. Was it natural? When we make music, we have a certain concept, so we try to approximate it to the music.

Do you create a concept for each album?

Gara: We create it. But this time when we made PEEP SHOW, we felt this album was a really conceptual one after we went on tour.

Yu: When we released JAPANESE MODERNIST, we all wore military uniforms, which was our strongest concept.

Gara: Music, lyrics, world view; all of them were very conceptual. Even we chose the place to perform fitting to this concept.

Nero: To be persuasive, we all went to a Japanese shrine concerning wars to study about past wars. We performed our live in the place to make a speech next to the shrine. JAPANESE MODERNIST is put in the album of Modern-Garde, which was a very conceptual album. In other words, we made concepts after we decided songs.

JAPANESE MODERNIST is an outstanding song. It’s a song about past wars, isn’t it?

Gara: Yes. But I sing about it not by pushing something like in a lecture, but in cursive style of my own.

Yu: The song sounds like you are shouting or calling.

Gara: We haven’t experienced wars, but among our fans who came to see our lives or buy our CDs, there are some fans who came to know about past wars by listening to our songs. As we made JAPANESE MODERNIST and studied Japanese history, we understood it a little more so we hope our listeners will learn about it too.

It's so dramatic; the shouting really stabs you in your heart and moves you. Some of your album jackets, such as Koseiha Blend, are designed by the eroguro comic artist Suehiro Maruo. How did you get to collaborate with him?

Gara: It was because we released albums in eroguro style, so we didn’t want to make a normal album jacket; we were looking for something with impact. Tetsu liked Maruo and I read such comics often, so we really wanted to ask him to draw our jacket so we barged into his house one day suddenly and asked him. (laugh)

They give us a strong impact.

Nero: He draws original Japanese things in war time, which are eroguro but very beautiful and are from his own world.

Gara: He drew posters and flyers of Shuji Terayama’s performance and he (Shuji) is a world famous playwright.

Kiyoharu produced your first album, Gendai Stoic. How was it to work with him?

Nero: It was a good experience. We were doing our best just to make our musical pieces. Kiyoharu said "Make pieces that sound so cool that even you will listen to them after five years!" He looks on ahead and aims so much higher. He is the best as a rock artist.

Why did you meet him?

Gara: I was just a big fan. (laugh) I thought about it and wanted to ask Kiyoharu to produce our album. Tetsu is also a local of Nagoya, so Kiyoharu is a great senior to Tetsu.

Tetsu: He is the charisma of Nagoya. (laugh)

Gara: He built a golden age with his band years ago and he still keeps working in the front line, so he knows the way we are going. He advised us, like "You would be better to do this." Even though we didn’t know and asked him "Really??" We consulted with him often. (Then Gara turns and asks the other members) He didn’t cut corners at all, did he? As for songs, and as for releasing albums, not only making good songs and releasing, but also when it came to the style of our costumes, he never compromised. "Don't just wear suits; wear good suits," he said. He was always aware of being looked at by others.

Tetsu: Also, we learned how to be a band.

Nero: He did his best in everything. For example, we had been a indies band, so even though we wore suits, we seemed poor from Kiyoharu’s view. He brought his accessories for us, saying "Put on these."

I read this episode somewhere. You borrowed Kiyoharu’s accessories for a shooting, didn’t you?

Nero: Yes. He never compromised in such things and said "If you can do better, then do it."

Gara: Kiyoharu was categorized in visual kei before, but his visual was not such showy makeup and costumes as common people say. He said "Visual kei is cool just because cool people do it. If you work in visual kei style, you have to be cool." He still keeps this view even now.

Nero: What’s more, songs of the visual kei artists whom we had heard were marvelous, even more than their outward appearances.

Gara: hide of X-JAPAN was deadly cool.

What’s the concept of your newest album, PEEP SHOW, and how did you come up with the name?

Gara: About this album, we gathered good songs to make an album without naming the title right away, because we wanted to destroy our image which we had been thinking of by ourselves. We wanted to show that if you look at us from different directions, our songs and appearance would be different, and we play different music, but finally they all become Merry. We named this album PEEP SHOW which means ‘peephole’ like ‘Why don’t you peep at us from various directions?’ We usually play in live houses, so you can see us from a different direction every time because of your different view points or different live house. You peep us while the peephole becomes smaller and smaller, then you can see the base of Merry. So the meaning is 'Please look deep inside Merry!'

Nero: It is close to a strip show or circus, I think. They show their performances and we show our music.

How did the song writing and recording of PEEP SHOW go?

Yu: The title of PEEP SHOW was determined later and then the concept was determined. When we wrote the songs, there wasn’t a concept at all, so we made songs naturally. Before, we used to make the concept first and then we'd make the songs but this time, we made them naturally, which resulted in songs we have never done. Our music might be changing now, and I think even if we aren’t aware of it, our music does this on its own.

You wrote the songs first and then the concept was formed later?

Yu: Yes. We gathered selected songs together and then we decided on the concept, so songs were made beforehand.

Did your recording go smoothly?

Nero: Well, when we became major, our environment became better. (laugh) We can play as we want in a large studio with trusted staff. When we had been in indies more than three years, which is quite a long time, we had to make everything by ourselves. So, thanks to our staff, we can make various songs now.

Gara: Before, we made CDs by ourselves, and now a record company is taking care of us so we can leave such work totally to them. That way we can concentrate on music more while Victor Records is selling our CDs.

Where did the idea come from for three instrumental songs?

Nero: The first song of our album is always an instrumental song. The other two songs were originally made by Linus, who plays all of our electric instruments.

Yu: We gathered songs, and the concept of PEEP SHOW was determined, then for the new interesting attempt to show this album deeply, we tried to put instrumental songs into the album.

Nero: And all of the eleven songs on PEEP SHOW have a strong character. To put songs like background music as an tiny interval makes the world of next song more intense.

Gara: It’s interesting. On this kind of input music, Yu and Kenichi added guitar sounds while koto sounds were also added to put in a Japanese taste so we could make various fusions. So, when we make a song, we listen to it and it feels fresh and new.

These two instrumental songs are totally different.

Yu: During our lives, there are intervals of background music and so this new album, PEEP SHOW, is close to our real lives.

Now I’ll ask you some personal questions. Gara, weren't you scared to poison yourself by spitting out ink on stage? And isn't it disgusting?

Gara: (laugh) It’s not ink but Bokuju (Sumi/Indian ink). If I care about that, I can’t do anything. (laugh) I’m all right thinking like ‘Rocker, stubborn person, all of them will die when they die.’ (laugh) On the stage, I’m excited, but once I go back to my dressing room, I say ‘Uaaaaaaaah-----------!’(laugh)

I saw that on your live DVD of Hibiya Yagai Ongaku-dou that you do calligraphy on the stage, which is interesting.

Gara: I have a concept of not speaking on the stage, because I want to get rid of everything which doesn’t need to be added to the atmosphere of our band. I didn’t feel that it was necessary to speak in that atmosphere. Though whenever I do speak, the audience seems mostly glad but if it destroys the atmosphere, I would rather keep silent. I also wanted to see how much I would be able to succeed by only singing and playing purely without speaking.

Gara, you consider Kyo of Dir en grey as your senior and mentor. What are some valuable things you have learned from him?

Gara: He is the person who gave me the prompting to start a band and he teaches me spiritual things. As a vocalist in a band, as a musician that writes lyrics and makes melodies, as a human, I learn many things, and the biggest thing is to learn them as a vocalist.

Yu, I heard you play various instruments such as piano, trombone, flute, saxophone, clarinet, etc. Why do you only play the guitar for Merry?

Nero: Eh!? Yu, really?

Yu: (laugh)...It was a Japanese joke. (bursts out laughing) Except that I had played piano when I was a child.

Gara: Almost all of those instruments are for a brass band, so it sounds possible. (laugh)

Tetsu, where did your long hair go? Why did you decide to cut it and why did you do this on stage?

Tetsu: My hair should be in the earth now. (laugh) I had had long hair for about ten years and I wanted to change my hair style. While I treasured band’s image and I tried to find the timing to cut my hair and then I did it. So, I cut my hair on the stage of a fanclub event around my birthday.

What was the audience’s reaction?

Tetsu: They shouted ‘Kyaaaaahhhh-----!’ (laugh) But it was fun.

Nero, I heard you say you want to be a president, is it true?

Nero: (laugh) In Japan I can’t be a president, but a prime minister. (laugh) I mean I would love to do something in politics. In Japan, there are politicians who were once comedians, athletes, etc. So I thought I could be one too, but from the music business. (laugh)

Do you want to change the Japanese government?

Nero: Well, maybe. I have few complaints.

Gara: Please take care of him, from all of us. (laugh)

Nero: I’ll do my best. (laugh)

In your live DVD of Hibiya Yagai Ongaku-do, you played an awesome drum solo.

Nero: This year, we’ll release an even more awesome live on DVD on December 20th, which is colloboration with Wadaiko (Japanese drum) called ‘Drums vs Wadaiko’. This DVD will include songs from PEEP SHOW and will give a different impression. We want to do a Yagai Ongaku-do live every year.

How many pairs of glasses do you own?

Nero: About ten pairs. In our lives when I hit drums very hard, my glasses are blown away often. I stand up and tread on them and then my glasses go to the grave. (laugh)

During your lives, do your glasses fog up?

Nero: That’s a professional secret but I’ll tell you. Mine are only frames and they don't have lenses, because if they take photographs of me with normal glasses, the light reflection makes my eyes invisible.

Gara: (laugh) It’s not a secret at all because you explained the details!

I’ll ask about your new single which will be released in December. The third single, Call ing is like a song where you just keep calling. Why did you decide to work with BALZAC in the song Hi no ataranai Basho ~ Hi no ataranai Yami?

Gara: I've always liked BALZAC and went to see their lives. Once we played in an event together and made T-shirts together, so Merry gets along with BALZAC very well. This time we’ll release this single on our fifth anniversary, so we asked them to join us and help out and they accepted.

This song is speedy, heavy and thick in sound.

Gara: It’s a BALZAC tune and I’m so happy about it.

JAPANESE MODERNIST was remixed by TAKESHI UEDA of THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS and became an awesome song. Why did this remix happen?

Nero: I’m a big fan of them. THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS is a charismatic loud rock band in Japan and they are pioneers of going overseas. They were more punk in their first era and gradually became digital rock and kept on evolving. Unfortunately, they stopped their band’s activities but all of us really like them. Now that we have become a major band, at the same Victor Records as TAKESHI of THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS, we asked him and he accepted. We gave him all of our songs saying ‘Please choose any of our songs.’ He then chose JAPANESE MODERNIST, which was actually inspired by THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS. This remix was made remarkably well.

How did you feel when you listened to this remix for the first time?

Nero: I was totally blown away. He is a pioneer who made digital rock a major thing in Japan and the remix was really authentic so we were able to accept naturally.

This remix song is very shocking and dramatic. His idea of this arrangement is great. By the way, how did BALZAC choose the song?

Gara: I really like BALZAC and Hi no ataranai Basho is a song that we made from their influence, and it gave us a chance to get to know each other. We wanted to colloborate with them in this song because of our fifth anniversary.

Call ing is a song of melancholy with retro and popular ballad influences while Hi no ataranai Basho is a song of speedy rock. Your selection of these two songs represents that Merry has both aspects. The normal version and the first-limited version are different, and first-limited version includes digital remixed JAPANESE MODERNIST and Hi no ataranai Basho which was played with BALZAC. As I listen to these three songs in first-limited version, I’m surprised at the wide range of your music.

Gara: I agree with you. This single represents the present Merry, because TAKESHI and BALZAC, people who we have respected always, worked with us and I’m very happy. I really want you to listen to the first-limited version. In the normal version, we play Hi no ataranai Basho alone, so if you listen to both single versions, you’ll know how BALZAC arranged this song. These two CDs are very good, I think.

What’s the most important factor in Merry?

Gara: Of course, our songs and lives. We five members gather to make good songs and to do good lives. We can’t think of anything else. And after our lives, I want to drink good alcohol together. (laugh)

What do you think of your Japanese fans? And how do you imagine your European fans to be?

Tetsu: About Japanese fans, their attitudes are different according to their locale and I like to see it when we're on tour. At the same time, I can’t imagine how our European fans will react so I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Yu: It’s interesting to see how fans as far away as Kanto react; next, we’ll go beyond the continent to Europe and I’m very curious at how different the fans there will be.

You seem to have quite a lot of male fans, don’t you?

Gara: Yes, they are increasing. I guess because Nero is muscular. (bursts out laughing) We are happy about it. In Japan, we still have places where we haven’t played our lives yet, and if we play overseas, I can’t imagine what kind of people would come to our lives. But I don’t want them to be nervous; I want them to move freely. In Japan, we play freely, and we let the audience be free, as long as they don't get injured or cause any trouble. You don’t have to adapt to others, just be free. Even in Japan, I see some foreigners in our lives.

Yes, quite a number of fans come from overseas. By the way, you must have heard stories from bands who have played in Europe. What are your expectations for the upcoming European concerts?

Nero: I expect a good experience for us. In Japan, there are a few places where most of the audiences are newcomers. Most places are mix of former fans and new fans. To play in a place where there are only newcomers will be a good experience for us.

Tetsu: I’m interested to see how they respond when we throw ourselves at the audience with our music.

Kenichi: It will be a great experience.

Gara: I think their reaction would be more real than in Japan.

Tetsu: I’m afraid there might be booing.

Oh, no! I don’t think so. On October 27th, PEEP SHOW was released in Europe and then you’ll have lives in Germany (December 1st) and in Paris (December 3rd), so people are looking forward to seeing you. I think you’ll have an enthusiastic welcome in Europe.

Gara: There is a store in Hamburg, which sells clothes such as T-shirts of BALZAC. The store’s name is SHOCKER EUROPE. We made T-shirts collaborating with BALZAC and sold them for a certain time last year in Japan. As we’ll go to Europe, T-shirts will be sold again in Germany. If you like, please buy and wear the T shirt, and come to our lives! The store has also our catalogues, etc.

Finally please give a message to your foreign fans.

Nero: Our seniors, friends, and many bands have done lives overseas. Merry makes original works which we only can do and we’ll play as usual, oh, no... better than usual, so please feel free to come and enjoy our lives.

Kenichi: If there are fans who like our band, even just a few fans, I want to go for them and do our best.

Tetsu: I like European music, so I’m looking forward to seeing the culture and place where my favorite music was born. And, I’m looking forward to seeing how the audience who grew up there will react to us.

Gara: We’ll do our best crazy live! Be ready! Don’t get left behind!......Well, you may do as you like. (laugh) Anyway, I’ll do my best, so please receive my everything and give me back yours, which is felt best at lives. I want to feel that. Because we will be stimulated by a foreign culture, our overseas lives will be a good experience for us. What’s more, I want to enjoy beer and sausages. (laugh)

Yu: In a different country, I want to make a statement without using words. I’m very happy if you’ll feel Merry through our music.