Shou: Hi everyone, this is Shou from Verde. Today I'm welcoming a senpai of many years who I can't help but to love and respect, Hizumi!
Hizumi: Thanks, I'm Hizumi, it's nice to be here.
Shou: We're getting closer to the February 13th two-man live, TWIN RESONANCE II, with NUL. at Koenji HIGH, so I'd like to talk highlights and behind-the-scenes. First, I looked up that the concept behind your band NUL. includes the meaning [of the name] "zero" or "not applicable"; that you decided not to choose a concept. Was there a reason behind that decision?
Hizumi: When I decided to start a band again, I went with the meaning of "not applicable" for NUL., and I wanted to do something no other band is doing. The band's made up of 3 members, and I thought I'd like to try something unusual. So I gave it the name NUL.
Shou: I've also had the impression the band is genreless, or that you have a sound that isn't found anywhere else. It's like that industrial sound that I like, or like the "color" you put into every band you're in. When you sing I think it just automatically has that "scent" to it.
Hizumi: (laugh)
Shou: Has there been anything about being conceptless that's turned out to be a good thing, or on the other side, has there been anything that's made it difficult?
Hizumi: There have definitely been more difficult parts than good. When I first started NUL., Masato and I were in the field of visual kei but we wanted to be comparable to regular rock bands for regular listeners. So we did that, but of course the fans first come in from that original field [of visual kei], and so we've gradually diverted from what we aimed for. There's been that, and of course there've been times where we've been unsure of what to do.
Shou: I've heard that you invited Kishi and Mastao to NUL. by saying that you'd be doing things they can't do in their main bands. Can you give me a glimpse at what kind of specific ideas came up?
Hizumi: I wonder... I don't really know what counts as Kishi's main band, but Masato has defspiral. When you make a band, you end up as characters, in a way. I wanted to try something with NUL. that he couldn't do there. In short, if there's something he really wants to do but in terms of his image in defspiral he can't, I told him to do it here. It could serve as new stimulation, and I'd like it if the band could be that sort of place for him.
Shou: When I was in high school, I happened to buy tickets to a Transtic Nerve live, and I liked defspiral, so it felt like a nice coincidence that you'd start a band with one of their members. Masato's approach to guitar in defspiral is also very different, like his range, and I've thought that his approach in NUL. is just different.
Shou: In 2010 you were forced to take a long hiatus due to the condition of your throat. How did you keep hold of your motivation or creative drive during that time?
Hizumi: Naturally I had to step away from singing then. Even if I'd persevered in singing, I probably wouldn't have been in a very good place mentally, so I went in the direction of design. But that wasn't really different from what I was already doing internally. Until then I'd been expressing myself through singing, and this was just expressing myself through graphics. It was just a difference in the output. I was just worried about my throat and didn't think it would've been a good idea to keep singing. I started there.
Shou: It sounds like what motivated your comeback was a certain senpai saying that it wouldn't bother anyone if you reached out - could you talk about how you felt at that time?
Hizumi: Where'd you dig that up from? (laugh)
Shou: From like online interviews...
Hizumi: Right, right, right. You pulled stuff up from a lot of different places, huh?
Shou: Yeah.
Hizumi: (laugh) I knew that I'd be in the way if I started a band without being able to sing, so for a while I was worried about that and couldn't start anything. Then a someone said what you mentioned to me, so I decided I'd try it. I made up my mind about it.
Shou: The first time I heard NUL.'s music it felt completely unwavering. I'd personally listened to D'espairsRay since the beginning of your indies period, and more than anything I got the impression that you'd just seriously evolved. Like it was saying, listened to this polished new song!
Hizumi: I appreciate so much that you'd say that.
Shou: I want to talk about the D'espairsRay comeback. If there's anything you can say about the circumstances or timing of the decision to return I'd love to hear it.
Hizumi: The very first factor was being approached to appear as D'espairsRay at the festival CROSS ROAD Fest. When I put out the song "Awakening" with NUL. The biggest thing was that I was able to overcome a personal hurdle I'd been aiming for. Then I thought, what should the next step be? And that's when I was approached. Of course I was still carrying some trauma over D'espairsray - that I had to give up on the dream I had in the middle of it. I was curious about trying to take on that challenge again. So I decided to do it.
Shou: That's so great. So what saved you, was the music you made yourself.
Hizumi: Yeah, that's probably right. I have songs I sing for myself. Well - there are songs I sing for people too, but the ones for myself are really important to me. D'espairsRay is more of a structured thing, but NUL. is where I can put expressions of my own humanity, that are more down-to-earth, into the sound. And it's digital, but I'm still aiming for a more human feeling.
Shou: Being able to have such a wonderful conversation as a fan of D'espairsray - my palms are pretty sweaty.
Hizumi: (laugh)
Shou: I went to the Closet Child secondhand CD shop in Ikebukuro and bought all the versions of "SEXUAL BEAST," put them on MiniDisc, and listened to them daily.
Hizumi: I appreciate that.
Shou: It was so cool - there's a culture of doing cover songs for paying customers in what's called a session band, in visual kei. I sent an inquiry to the official D'espairsRay email address about whether I could perform "Fascism" and "murder freaks." And I got a reply that it was fine as long as I didn't do some sort of poor arrangement of them. When I met you and told you about that, you said it was probably you who'd written the reply.
Hizumi: I think it was probably me.
Shou: That's a good memory. How many bands had you been including D'espairsRay?
Hizumi: Just two. I did one in my hometown, then Karyu came through on tour with his former band. We met that way. He told me he wanted to start a band in Tokyo and asked if I'd come join it. And since he didn't have a drummer, I took the drummer from my previous band -
Shou: That's where Tsukasa came from. I see. You're elites among elites.
Hizumi: No, not at all. (laugh) I couldn't scream originally.
Shou: Oh, really?
Hizumi: I couldn't whatsoever. I started from, "how do you even shout?" Then before I knew it.
Shou: You have such an image as someone who screams.
Hizumi: That's from working on nothing but that.
Shou: When I first encountered D'espairsRay it had such an impact on me. I immediately went and bought white contact lenses.
Hizumi: (laugh) That was the impact?
Shou: You'd wear stuff that looked like alice auaa., stuff that you can't really buy...
Hizumi: Like with the parts that hung off the sleeves.
Shou: I bought white bandage tape from Matsumoto Kiyoshi [a drug store], wrapped it around my arms, sprayed it black, and did lives with it hanging off my arms. I really admired you. Later, D'espairsRay participated in a tour with Bullet for my Valentine - you went like actually hard rock? When you started going overseas you went heavier but with a more refined sound, kind of like Nickelback. Later in your career.
Hizumi: Earlier on we made music where we added in the things we wanted to do. But when we went major we got a producer who had us making music where we took things out instead. So things were more put together. We'd wanted to go overseas since the early days and since we had that in mind from the start...
Shou: You had that clear vision from the beginning. You had the clear concept from the start that you wanted to circulate overseas. Were you orchestrating things with that aim?
Hizumi: More than aiming, there weren't a lot of bands then playing shows overseas. So we were aiming for overseas... well, saying "for overseas" sounds a little strange but we were aspiring to go that route. I've heard a lot of talk from the people around me so I'm not sure but, maybe the start was saying we wanted offers from overseas. Just saying so is free, so you might as well.
Shou: Right, if it's something you're aiming for, might as well. It's the law of attraction, as well. What about beats or culture from overseas, did you... kind of work in reverse because you wanted to play overseas, by incorporating those elements?
Hizumi: Maybe. When you go to different countries you see how the senses of rhythm are pretty different from country to country. You'd have songs where a crowd would be really into it, and other songs where they weren't at all. I learned that it was pretty important to cater to the sense of rhythm suited to the country.
Shou: NUL. also has some music with a fairly oriental sound that I thought was really cool.
Hizumi: Was it "KaliMa" or one of those?
Shou: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Hizumi: Yeah, well. That's like that. (laugh)
Shou: What kind of music did you listen to in your teens?
Hizumi: How should I describe it... I just listened to like the music that was selling in Japan, like the top 10. Like B'z. Or Kome Kome Club.
Shou: Did you polish your sense of pop music then and incorporate different rhythms and elements as you went to arrive at your current style?
Hizumi: I guess that's right. When it was decided that I'd be a the singer, I liked very "Japanese" melodies, and melancholic melodies. I've always wanted to sort of draw from that.
Shou: I think D'espairsRay and NUL. are both, for people who mainly focus on the melodies in songs, really clearly easy to listen to and get into. Did you go down the route of Nine Inch Nails or zilch?
Hizumi: Oh absolutely. The whole band did.
Shou: I've got that impression, along with the beautiful melodies and your sexy voice.
Hizumi: (laugh) "Sexy voice"? Me?
Shou: It's sexy, sexy, sexy.
Hizumi: That's the first time I've heard that. (laugh)
Shou: That's what the fans (Shou) say. You all think so, right?
Hizumi: Really?
Shou: Finally, do you have anything to say to both the fans who have been following you for a long time, and those who have only recently started? Please offer something for all the fans worldwide who're waiting for you.
Hizumi: I'm moving forward in both NUL. and D'espairsRay. Both bands have their appeal, and both offer a different kind of stimulation. I'm personally trying to put all kinds of things together, so I'd appreciate it if you'd come see that version of me.
Shou: TWIN RESONANCE II on February 13th. My project to play with other musicians where I really feel a resonance. That's February 13th at Koenji HIGH. Please come see the resonance between Verde and NUL.
Hizumi: We look forward to seeing you.
Shou: Thank you for taking the time to be here today.
Hizumi: Not at all, thank you.
Shou: Both as a fan and an artist, having this talk with you has been memorable. Please, everyone, go see NUL. live and catch D'espairsRay's revival live to see Hizumi's style and enjoy some great music.
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