X Japan: Glam-Metal Legends Set to Conquer North America by: Angela Zimmerman
X Japan is one of the biggest bands in the world, and I mean that literally. If you aren’t familiar with X Japan, here are a few things worth knowing: They have sold 30 million units worldwide. (30 million!) They hold the attendance record for selling out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome 18 times. (18 times!) The founding members Toshiki Hayashi and Toshi Deyama have known each other since they were four years old. (Four years old!) In the late ’80s, they pioneered a highly influential, stylistic movement called Visual Kei. After playing a riotous set at their first-ever US show at Lollapalooza last month, X Japan is about to embark on their inaugural American tour, which will commence this Saturday, September 25th at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre and and hit small venues in select cities, giving previously uninitiated fans an opportunity to see this famed glam-inflected metal-rock band play live in an intimate capacity.
Later this year, X Japan are going to release their first album in 14 years. It will also be their first album written in English. Despite the whirlwind schedule of such a high profile musician, Yoshiki found the time to talk to Crawdaddy! and offer insight into all sorts of things that make him and his band such an enduring phenomenon.
Crawdaddy!: Lollapalooza was your first ever US gig. Tell me about that experience.
Yoshiki Hayashi: We were very excited to play that festival. Also, we were a little nervous because we didn’t know what kind of reaction we would get. But appearing at Lollapalooza gave us more confidence, because… of course, there were some of X Japan’s loyal fans [in attendance], but towards the end, people in the audience doubled, tripled, quadrupled, so [for] those people who came towards the end of our show, this was the first time they had seen X Japan, and they even started singing—they might not have known what they were singing—but they started singing. And that was very moving, thinking that music really can break through barriers. And at the same time, I thought, “X Japan just might work.” So Lollapalooza gave us a lot of confidence.
Crawdaddy!: In regards to new listeners: Can you discern a difference in the American response to your music, as opposed to the reception you get in Japan?
Yoshiki: Yes and no, because people in Japan already know who X Japan is, but here in America, people say “X Japan, who’s that?” But I’ve believed from the get-go, and still believe, that music has no boundaries, that we can still touch people’s hearts.
Crawdaddy!: Is there a city or venue you are most excited to play on your forthcoming US tour?
Yoshiki: Well, every single venue! Of course, Los Angeles, because I’ve been living here more than 10 years so it’s like playing my home town. Also Chicago, because that was the first appearance we did in America, and also New York—I used to live there for a little while. Also, Canada because I have friends there, and of course San Francisco, because I did a video shoot there with Roger Taylor from Queen.
Crawdaddy!: When is the last time you’ve played to crowds of under 10,000?
Yoshiki: We did one show in Japan about two years ago where we played to about 2,000 people, but we broadcast the show to the movie theaters throughout Japan so probably 100,000 people saw the show. It was a special show… but a normal show with under 10,000 people? Maybe 15 years ago.
Crawdaddy!: What are some emotions you’re feeling in regards to adapting your set to a new, foreign audience?
Yoshiki: It’s a big challenge that at the same time makes me want to do even more. But it’s a good challenge. We did the same thing when we first started X Japan in Japan; every day was a challenge, but we did it. Now, we have more confidence than we did when we first started.
Crawdaddy!: What are some of the methods you use to manage the stress and pace of a grueling tour schedule?
Yoshiki: We didn’t manage this well at all the first time, which is part of why we broke up! So this time, I don’t know yet!
Crawdaddy!: How will the production of your show adapt to theater setups as compared to huge stadiums like you are used to in Japan?
Yoshiki: We are going to play with the same energy level, or even more, because we won’t have the help of the biggest lighting or the biggest pyrotechnics, so we’ll want to express ourselves even stronger. These shows will be more about the music than the production. It’s like going back to basics; you don’t have that much help from the production side, but we are very confident.
Crawdaddy!: You have filled a 55,000 person dome 18 times. After literally getting as big as it gets, tell me how you keep your live show fresh and dynamic.
Yoshiki: A writer once asked me, “Why don’t you do 50 shows throughout America? Why only these seven?” I said to him that we would do that if we could, but we put our entire energy into every single show. Our stage is almost suicidal; we don’t think about the next day when we are performing. It’s almost like the show we are doing is our last moment; when we play, we play like there’s no tomorrow, every single show. Also, our shows depend on the audience’s reaction; we change the menu [set list]. We did this at Lollapalooza—we had one ballad we were set to play next, but I was feeling the audience’s reaction—they wanted a harder song, so I cut the ballad and we went to the heavier song. So, I changed the menu at that moment, and the rest of the band—they are so great; and the production people, they are also so great—we changed the set just like that, during the show, and everyone knew what to do. So, at an X Japan show, we are not just performing, we are creating the show at that moment together with the audience. What we perform is based on how the audience is reacting. That’s how we keep our live shows fresh.
Crawdaddy!: What are the band’s musical influences?
Yoshiki: Everyone came from very different backgrounds… Toshi, the vocalist, liked very mellow, traditional Japanese music, or something like Simon & Garfunkel, something like that. Pata, the guitar player, he’s classic rock, like Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa. Then Sugizo, the other guitar player, he likes trance music, more British new wave, like the band called Japan. Then Heath the bass player likes Rage Against the Machine. My background is classical music and combinations of all kinds of music. That makes X Japan.
Crawdaddy!: Tell me about Visual-Kei and how you pioneered that movement.
Yoshiki: These days, when people think of Visual-Kei, they think of how we looked in the beginning, very flamboyant, crazy make-up and androgynistic, that’s part of the Visual-Kei thing. But at the same time, Visual Kei is all about freedom in the way you describe yourself. When we started X Japan, we were in the category of speed metal, like Slayer, but it was a big no-no for bands like that to put make-up on. I didn’t like the idea that people were making all of these laws about what you could do in your band. I hated everything, so I did everything the opposite of what the “laws” were, and part of that was Visual-Kei. In terms of style, I liked Kiss, I liked David Bowie, I liked Sex Pistols, we had influences from Japan like Kabuki, so we were a combination of everything when it came to the look. When it came to the spirit, it was just us, the freedom of doing whatever you want. That’s what rock should be, but somehow, people made laws and they got stuck in those laws. I wanted to break those laws, and that’s how Visual-Kei came to be.
Crawdaddy!: What are your thoughts on ticket distribution here in the US?
Yoshiki: I don’t know, we’re just doing the first tour, so maybe I’ll know much more after several tours!
Crawdaddy!: Tell me about the process of making your forthcoming, first English language record.
Yoshiki: We’ve always wanted to make an English album, and growing up in Japan, it wasn’t easy. But making an album in English is part of our dream. We tried, before we broke up 12 years ago, but we couldn’t finish it. Now, we have a great reason to make an English album, due to the support we have from fans all over the world. I’m the only member who lives in America at this moment, and I have a studio in Los Angeles. Now with the internet, we can hook my LA studio up with our studio in Tokyo. The other members did come into Los Angeles to record, and when I was in Tokyo last month, I did some recording there, but about 80% was done in my Los Angeles studio.
Crawdaddy!: You’ve known your bandmates since you were a very young child. Tell me about the process of evolving your band together and the challenges your friendship has faced.
Yoshiki: There’s a fine line between the friendship and doing the band. Doing the band is much different… you spend more time with the band than you do with your actual family, and the band becomes as important as your actual family. Toshi and I grew up together; I met him when I was four years old in kindergarten. If I had the answer to this, we wouldn’t have broken up before. We learned things the hard way. When we broke up [in 1997] Toshi and I went our separate ways. We didn’t speak for seven years. I took for granted how great he was, because he was always beside me. After we reunited, X Japan [in 2007], I finally realized how great a vocalist he is, after seven years apart. All of us in the band are now closer than we’ve ever been before. X Japan is like a family, not just a music project.
Crawdaddy!: Which X Japan album would you recommend for the first-time listener?
Yoshiki: The upcoming album, for sure. That’s going to be the best X Japan album ever. Making X Japan albums in the past, I’d hear the same songs in the studio, over and over and over again, and I got to the point where I just didn’t want to listen to the songs ever again. But this album—even hearing the songs on it maybe 2,000 times—I’m confident this is our best album, this is the one people should hear.
Crawdaddy!: Do you have other creative projects/endeavors in the works? Film, gallery shows, graphic art, video game, etc?
Yoshiki: Pretty much everything! I’m working on a soundtrack for an animated feature that will be released next spring, there is a game project I’m working on, I’m producing a fashion show in Japan. I’m doing a lot of things.
Check out Yoshiki’s North American tour message [at youtube.com]
