ARENA 37℃ - PERSONAL INTERVIEW (DECEMBER 2012)
"What is SuG to you?"
With "What is SuG to you?" as theme, the SuG members will reveal the meaning of SuG for them now, and their feelings as members.
Takeru - Vocal
To me, SuG is.. well, maybe the closest word would be “a family”. It’s my first original*1 band, and it’s my first time being together with people for such a long time… However, I’m not saying that SuG has the best member ever. Because, it means I’m also a great person. Family means it’s also part of me.
I don’t think now is the our best time either. Me included, we have a lot of issues. There was also a time when our fire faded, and we were complicit about it. Before, if something happened we would talk together, but I thought the band would go more smoothly if I just kept silent about it, so I just did my stuffs and hoped everyone understood. However, my effort wasn’t enough, and I was bad at depending on other members, so it was becoming hard to understand each other’s intention. Because we’re humans, we need to communicate with each other properly. So once again, we had talks like “this didn’t go well” or “we have to do more of that”.
Because I want to do this with everyone, I (ended up) saying harsh things like whether they have the will (to do it)… Not only with instruments, everyone has strong personality, so again we had a talk about the style that was created because such people got together being our ideal.
There was time when I just kept things to myself too much. People talked a lot when only I came out as representative… I did that in order for SuG to be more well-known, but I was misunderstood, and was hated. If it were like that, since the beginning I would have done it alone and taken all responsibilities. What saved me were the albums “Thrill Ride Pirates” and “Lollipop Kingdom”. Even though they hated me they liked SuG’s works, and I honestly thought that I definitely couldn’t make it alone…. My role is to create our image and arti direction, and it’s not good if there is no such person, and that is enough. I don’t want to change the current balance, but rather I want to raise our standard. If the other members were not there, I would have no other choice but to do things by myself, and if SuG disbands I don’t want to be in a band anymore. We reached this decision gambling on whether SuG can still do bigger things. If we don’t become the real deal, we won’t become popular. After confirming each other’s intention, we changed our feelings and will do things from zero again; something like a miracle happened. I believe in it, and I’m glad I do.
Translator’s note:
*1 he means, not a copy band
Masato - Guitar
To me, SuG is something that gives me a lot of first experiences… I think, once I became an adult, I don’t have that much first experiences. For example, in primary school for the first time i entered a club, ate school lunch, learned to cook, there were a lot of things I experienced for the first time. Similarly, recording music, shooting a PV, I accumulated a lot of experiences. Then, gradually I started thinking that I wanted to do more of this and that…
I think it’s a band that has members with conflicting personalities. That’s why even if we take one kind of music, we can take take challenge in a lot of things. We don’t want to pursue (only) one genre or do a lot of things halfway. I think (in this regard) everyone is greedy.
I think, because of SuG I could do my best in a lot of things. Even my private stuffs that seems to have no relation to the band, I want to make use of them for SuG, and I hope I can use it for something. When I just started being in a band, I didn’t have this way of thinking. But as I thought, when I made a song out of something I have absorbed, or when I thought of a guitar phrase, I want the member to be the first one to listen to it. To always have some thoughts about SuG is because SuG is such an important thing to me. I’ve lived my life like this because of SuG, so SuG is like a mother figure for my actions, for me to do something…. I have such feeling. By the way, since I’ve always been together (with “mother SuG”) all the way through primary school, I can perceive our next step as (going to) middle school ne (laughs).
Yuji - Guitar
To me, SuG is… a band (laughs). No… but really, it’s a band like no other. Now we have fans who support what we’re doing, so it’s like we do things freely, but when we just started we almost didn’t have any fan, and rather than thinking of our songs we thought of how to get approved by people, so with time we became more like us.
For us, it’s not only about the songs, but also the way to show them, the total package. I think not many bands are doing this. But, on the other hand SuG can’t be on the same track with bands that only focus on one aspect either. That’s why, I think if we become better on what we do, we will be unrivaled. I mean, for example, for bands who are pursuing a certain genre, normally they go to studio all the time and practice, and give a lot of live performances. Compared to such people, we really don’t practice enough. However, we put our presence in a lot of things, and we compete with our ideas…. It’s a completely different method, but I think it would be great if a band can do well in both. If we can become better with our current style, I think we will have no weak point. That’s why I want us to become such band. A lot of musicians and artists said that they like SuG, so even if they are not a fan, I would be happy if people listen to our songs or go to our live performances and think, “SuG is good.” If we can become such people, I think we can have much more confidence.
Chiyu - Bass
To me, SuG is the reason I’m in Tokyo. Even though I moved to Tokyo when I was with my previous band, when that band disbanded and I formed SuG, I thought that this would be my last band. That’s why I have strongest emotional attachment (towards SuG). And it’s also the band that lasts the longest… That’s why, I won’t stop.
Since the beginning, people working with SuG have been enjoying our work. They said that we’re expressing things in more ways than others, and the balanced feeling so that we don’t become too artistic, and we that we have interests in all related fields such as music, videos, novels and other works. Even our MVs are of high quality, and Takeru is able to take a different direction (for our MV) even though they’re shot in the same place, and that is our strenth. That’s why, we always come up with something new, and every time we can get new stimulations.
During our hiatus, I want to create more interesting responses. Personally I want to watch around myself carefully and realize my ideas. I also want to polish my bass skills and increase my phrases repertoire, and I want to make songs that can be pivotal for SuG. That’s why I think that leveling up the skill of each and every member is important. I also want to go for voice training. I don’t want to lose the feeling of live performances, so I want to still give it in one way or the other. I’m thinking of making original songs and singing while playing my bass. And when I come back to SuG, I think it will be good to have songs in which Takeru and I can sing together… It’s meaningless if things stay the same after we come back, so I’m looking for freshness, and things with impacts. I don’t have the intention to just come back like that.
Shinpei - Drums
To me, SuG is a part of my life, and also a band which made my dreams come true… Well, not all my dreams, but I think a lot of people who are in a band want to make a living with music. And since SuG has fulfilled that dream, it’s the most important thing in my life. However, when it was decided that we would, unfortunately, go on hiatus, it was like I couldn’t protect SuG. I think, it’s because I’m not strong enough. Even more so for me, because I’m the one who has known Takeru the most, and still I couldn’t change it; it really irritated me. And I’m really sorry for having thought of disbanding once.
That’s why, I want to turn this hiatus into a positive thing, and come back. My weapons are, after all, my music and my drums, so I want to support a lot of artists, make myself known and increase my skill. I want more people to know me as a drummer. Some people still think of SuG as “that dazzling, gaudy band”. But, if I go out and appeal myself, people may think “so they are also playing music seriously” and it’ll become a good thing for SuG. To be honest, I was feeling so secure being with the other members for 3 years, so I want to get back the “hungry mentality” that I had started to lose. That’s why, after going on hiatus, I’ll be like, “please tell me if anyone needs a supporting member”. Because I think SuG can still aim even higher.
With "What is SuG to you?" as theme, the SuG members will reveal the meaning of SuG for them now, and their feelings as members.
Takeru - Vocal
To me, SuG is.. well, maybe the closest word would be “a family”. It’s my first original*1 band, and it’s my first time being together with people for such a long time… However, I’m not saying that SuG has the best member ever. Because, it means I’m also a great person. Family means it’s also part of me.
I don’t think now is the our best time either. Me included, we have a lot of issues. There was also a time when our fire faded, and we were complicit about it. Before, if something happened we would talk together, but I thought the band would go more smoothly if I just kept silent about it, so I just did my stuffs and hoped everyone understood. However, my effort wasn’t enough, and I was bad at depending on other members, so it was becoming hard to understand each other’s intention. Because we’re humans, we need to communicate with each other properly. So once again, we had talks like “this didn’t go well” or “we have to do more of that”.
Because I want to do this with everyone, I (ended up) saying harsh things like whether they have the will (to do it)… Not only with instruments, everyone has strong personality, so again we had a talk about the style that was created because such people got together being our ideal.
There was time when I just kept things to myself too much. People talked a lot when only I came out as representative… I did that in order for SuG to be more well-known, but I was misunderstood, and was hated. If it were like that, since the beginning I would have done it alone and taken all responsibilities. What saved me were the albums “Thrill Ride Pirates” and “Lollipop Kingdom”. Even though they hated me they liked SuG’s works, and I honestly thought that I definitely couldn’t make it alone…. My role is to create our image and arti direction, and it’s not good if there is no such person, and that is enough. I don’t want to change the current balance, but rather I want to raise our standard. If the other members were not there, I would have no other choice but to do things by myself, and if SuG disbands I don’t want to be in a band anymore. We reached this decision gambling on whether SuG can still do bigger things. If we don’t become the real deal, we won’t become popular. After confirming each other’s intention, we changed our feelings and will do things from zero again; something like a miracle happened. I believe in it, and I’m glad I do.
Translator’s note:
*1 he means, not a copy band
Masato - Guitar
To me, SuG is something that gives me a lot of first experiences… I think, once I became an adult, I don’t have that much first experiences. For example, in primary school for the first time i entered a club, ate school lunch, learned to cook, there were a lot of things I experienced for the first time. Similarly, recording music, shooting a PV, I accumulated a lot of experiences. Then, gradually I started thinking that I wanted to do more of this and that…
I think it’s a band that has members with conflicting personalities. That’s why even if we take one kind of music, we can take take challenge in a lot of things. We don’t want to pursue (only) one genre or do a lot of things halfway. I think (in this regard) everyone is greedy.
I think, because of SuG I could do my best in a lot of things. Even my private stuffs that seems to have no relation to the band, I want to make use of them for SuG, and I hope I can use it for something. When I just started being in a band, I didn’t have this way of thinking. But as I thought, when I made a song out of something I have absorbed, or when I thought of a guitar phrase, I want the member to be the first one to listen to it. To always have some thoughts about SuG is because SuG is such an important thing to me. I’ve lived my life like this because of SuG, so SuG is like a mother figure for my actions, for me to do something…. I have such feeling. By the way, since I’ve always been together (with “mother SuG”) all the way through primary school, I can perceive our next step as (going to) middle school ne (laughs).
Yuji - Guitar
To me, SuG is… a band (laughs). No… but really, it’s a band like no other. Now we have fans who support what we’re doing, so it’s like we do things freely, but when we just started we almost didn’t have any fan, and rather than thinking of our songs we thought of how to get approved by people, so with time we became more like us.
For us, it’s not only about the songs, but also the way to show them, the total package. I think not many bands are doing this. But, on the other hand SuG can’t be on the same track with bands that only focus on one aspect either. That’s why, I think if we become better on what we do, we will be unrivaled. I mean, for example, for bands who are pursuing a certain genre, normally they go to studio all the time and practice, and give a lot of live performances. Compared to such people, we really don’t practice enough. However, we put our presence in a lot of things, and we compete with our ideas…. It’s a completely different method, but I think it would be great if a band can do well in both. If we can become better with our current style, I think we will have no weak point. That’s why I want us to become such band. A lot of musicians and artists said that they like SuG, so even if they are not a fan, I would be happy if people listen to our songs or go to our live performances and think, “SuG is good.” If we can become such people, I think we can have much more confidence.
Chiyu - Bass
To me, SuG is the reason I’m in Tokyo. Even though I moved to Tokyo when I was with my previous band, when that band disbanded and I formed SuG, I thought that this would be my last band. That’s why I have strongest emotional attachment (towards SuG). And it’s also the band that lasts the longest… That’s why, I won’t stop.
Since the beginning, people working with SuG have been enjoying our work. They said that we’re expressing things in more ways than others, and the balanced feeling so that we don’t become too artistic, and we that we have interests in all related fields such as music, videos, novels and other works. Even our MVs are of high quality, and Takeru is able to take a different direction (for our MV) even though they’re shot in the same place, and that is our strenth. That’s why, we always come up with something new, and every time we can get new stimulations.
During our hiatus, I want to create more interesting responses. Personally I want to watch around myself carefully and realize my ideas. I also want to polish my bass skills and increase my phrases repertoire, and I want to make songs that can be pivotal for SuG. That’s why I think that leveling up the skill of each and every member is important. I also want to go for voice training. I don’t want to lose the feeling of live performances, so I want to still give it in one way or the other. I’m thinking of making original songs and singing while playing my bass. And when I come back to SuG, I think it will be good to have songs in which Takeru and I can sing together… It’s meaningless if things stay the same after we come back, so I’m looking for freshness, and things with impacts. I don’t have the intention to just come back like that.
Shinpei - Drums
To me, SuG is a part of my life, and also a band which made my dreams come true… Well, not all my dreams, but I think a lot of people who are in a band want to make a living with music. And since SuG has fulfilled that dream, it’s the most important thing in my life. However, when it was decided that we would, unfortunately, go on hiatus, it was like I couldn’t protect SuG. I think, it’s because I’m not strong enough. Even more so for me, because I’m the one who has known Takeru the most, and still I couldn’t change it; it really irritated me. And I’m really sorry for having thought of disbanding once.
That’s why, I want to turn this hiatus into a positive thing, and come back. My weapons are, after all, my music and my drums, so I want to support a lot of artists, make myself known and increase my skill. I want more people to know me as a drummer. Some people still think of SuG as “that dazzling, gaudy band”. But, if I go out and appeal myself, people may think “so they are also playing music seriously” and it’ll become a good thing for SuG. To be honest, I was feeling so secure being with the other members for 3 years, so I want to get back the “hungry mentality” that I had started to lose. That’s why, after going on hiatus, I’ll be like, “please tell me if anyone needs a supporting member”. Because I think SuG can still aim even higher.
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