ROCK AND READ 036 [DELUHI] - Leda
Preface: I've been sitting on this one for a while, but I'm happy to get it off my shoulders.
DELUHI Disbandment
Leda
DELUHI
Born June 9th. Blood type unpublished. The guitarist of DELUHI, formed in 2008, on an activity pause since December 2010, and this year their disbandment was announced in April. The other members are Juri (vo), Aggy (b), Sujk (ds). Best Album "VANDALISM" will release on July 27th. Leading up to their nation-wide tour –"DELUHI LAST TOUR –VANDALISM-" final at Shibuya O-EAST on July 27th, an additional show on August 7th (Sunday) at Shiuya's CC Lemon Hall has been announced.
www.deluhi.com
DELUHI, who has been on an activity pause since the end of last year,
suddenly published this year on April 1st a disbandment notice on their OHP.
Even though they said "We'll definitely be back" during the suspension,
there must be many shocked fans, during those months,
each member had his own agony, conflict, and determination.
Now, once again from leader, guitarist Leda about the particulars in how to arrive at the disbandment,
also with his thoughts about DELUHI, we had a deeply thorough conversation.
*****
Even if we were to do it as three [people], even if a new member were to join, it wouldn't have the same impression as the current DELUHI's four members.
Q: Personally, I've been watching from the very first live, so when I heard about the news of DELUHI's disbandment, I thought it was such a shame. Although there are comments on the official website, could you please explain why you came to that decision?
Leda: Speaking very broadly, for a while after we began our activity pause, the bassist, Aggy, decided to quit… Then when thinking, "How does the band move on from here?" because it wouldn't be the four of us, we agreed that to disband was the best decision.
*(Activity pause = On October 15, 2010 DELUHI announced an activity pause with their one-man tour "BLITZKRIEG -Another Departure-")
Q: In the first place, you said the reason for the activity suspension was that you could see how things would turn out, even if you were to continue "like this." What did you mean by that?
Leda: The difference between each person's motivation and skill… As for motivation, facing the stage, the way of acting as an artist and the approach towards music… it's not the case that all four members had the same aspirations. There was a slight gap. For the time being, the activity pause became an episode for each member to think one by one about the value of music activities, and how important DELUHI's music activities were to them, and to rethink their position.
Q: Following that, after the nationwide tour's performance at Shibuya O-EAST's Decmeber 1st, there was a period of "thinking."
Leda: That's right. However… when the four of us saw each other, it didn't feel like "we ought to get going again." Of course, in my own head I was thinking I wanted to resume at that time, but on the stairs before the meeting with staff and members alike where I wanted to explain that, Aggy broke the ice with his intentions to withdraw. I think that was the end of the year.
Q: That immediately followed the end of the tour, right?
Leda: Yes. All of December was full of commotion… So, it was a surprisingly difficult start to the year.
Q: So, after he announced his intentions to everyone, when did you conclude that "it's not DELUHI if it's not these four members"?
Leda: Even though Aggy confided in us, "I'm stopping," of course at that time, I couldn't just say, "Yes, I understand." So, three of us thought carefully about what kind of band DELUHI is and how Aggy fits into it, and we said to Aggy, "Please think it over one more time." But after the new year, his decision hadn't changed. Then, finally everyone agreed that Aggy would quit after all… After that… I don't have a clear memory, but we finally decided around the middle of March. We had a lot of time to talk until then, and… the final decision was put off until the last minute. When talking about the disbandment and how to do it, I still thought, "We're breaking up… all the same," and so on. I constantly worried about if I should finish this discussion with Aggy's withdrawal, or the disbandment. So the disbandment, or the live that became Aggy's withdrawal, I'm sorry to leave his feelings hanging, but I'll talk about the disbandment for a little while. In such circumstances, when the limit to make an announcement is approaching, we had another discussion that we would break up.
Q: From late-February to mid-March, Leda was a guest guitarist on GALNERYUs' tour. After that tour's Akasaka BLITZ performance, didn't you say on stage, "I'll do my best"?
Leda: That's right. Although we still hadn't made an announcement about a release yet, we'd made a Best Album.
Q: How do you think would be a good way to interpret the flow of that conversation?
Leda: Even if we continued activities or broke up, I wanted to release a Best Album. If we went farther back in time, before that we'd talked about maybe releasing a European version containing our previous works on it. So that we could go abroad on tour. In any case, there were a lot of old works and things I wanted to record. That's why, while we're in the process of recording it didn't matter how things turned out. In other words, around February or March there was a turning point in our activities, so even regarding DELUHI we started various things again.
Q: And then the disbandment announcement, on April 1st. Although there were people who thought it was a joke in poor taste, such a thing wouldn't be announced as a lie. Although the disbandment has been decided, the band is still continuing for now. In that sense, it may still be difficult to say, but it has been at most 3-4 years since the formation. It's a very short period of time. A lot of people would have been hoping for DELUHI to become a big band, and in fact it looked as though you were on your way to meeting that expectation. What has DELUHI been for Leda?
Leda: Hereafter, it'll probably change to my life's work. Even if everything turns out alright, there are also parts that won't. That's why we stopped activities, but I thought it was a band that could grow even more, and I thought it would be a longer-lasting band… To the scope that thousands of people (in Tokyo) have rallied and stopped all at once… There's no doubt that it's the centre of my life. So, whether I was making songs or doing anything else, I used all of my time for DELUHI. In my music life, it was the first time I was the "leader," so, it was a band where I was constantly thinking about the band.
Q: I'd like to go deeper into the story from before. What kind of worries did you have before the final decision to break up?
Leda: Even if we were to simply become three, or add in new members, I can't imagine a DELUHI other than the current four. That's all. For example, when comparing our very first work with our current works, I can tell that it's totally different. Between our early days and now, there are really different things in our musicality, emotions, and the direction we are facing. Within that, under such circumstances, rather than trying to "re-do" DELUHI in its current condition, I'd rather start over again in a band that has advanced from one, and has begun sprouting a little.
Q: What did the other members think?
Leda: Everyone had the same opinion, "If it's not these four…" So the overwhelming majority thinking was the same thing. Also, "Is it alright?" Then, in the end, I was the judge but it wasn't only up to my discretion. Only Aggy said, "Breaking up is different, isn't it?" (lol)
Q: Even if he left, he wanted DELUHI to continue.
Leda: Yes. I understand his feelings, because I've left bands several times myself, but since a band walks alongside someone's life, you have to take responsibility for it. That said, it's different from saying that you can force doing things that you don't want, and keep going. Well, supposing someone else joined after Aggy, it's possible that the new DELUHI wouldn't be what the fans are looking for, and I think it'd be terrible if even the new member said "Aggy was better." Bearing that in mind, I've thought about whether it would be good to carry this DELUHI, although I thought, "We'll definitely be back!" There was a lot of conflict. However, it's been nearly two months since the announcement1, and I think now that it is better to choose to disband.
It was just three years, but three years… for a band that's changed our lives so much, of course there are a lot of things left to do.
Q: What do you mean?
Leda: My heart's cleared up from the haze. It was just three years, but three years… Over that time, of course there are a lot of things left to do for a band that's changed our lives so much. But, now it seems like there's nothing more for DELUHI to do, so I feel like the band has "completed" sufficiently. That's why I feel positive about doing the best I can until the end.
Q: I see. But did you get a lot of sorrow2 from the fans?
Leda: No, surprisingly not. I thought they'd have a lot more to say, even to me, but I think they were able to understand very well from the official announcement and what we wrote in our blogs. I wrote everything crystal clear3. It was a time where I thought it was good to be so serious. Because we have been working honestly, I guess some relationships built on trust were borne with the fans. Of course there are also a lot of people whose opinion is that it's a waste, which is a nice thing.
Q: At the time of the activity pause last year, you said somewhere something to the effect of, "If we go in the current state, we may be a band that can hold a live at CC Lemon Hall. But any more than that is difficult. That's why just once, I want to reconsider our activities here." When I heard that, I thought you were working looking towards the future more nervously than everyone thought.
Leda: It became surprisingly delicate, and there was a haphazard miracle. Speaking of how to decide on DELUHI's activities, at first I talked with the manager roughly about the schedule from this year to next year. "I want to do something like this in summer," or "I want to put out this kind of thing in winter. With a tour alongside, I'd like the final to be held in a place like this." It became more and more concrete. I was able to reflect on my own views a lot, and that I could do it and the strategics, were fun. Each and every achievement… there were also things I couldn't accomplish. For example, tickets didn't sell out at the O-EAST live* (January 2010). Even regarding things like that, I can do it while making course corrections each time. Since I was always thinking about things like that, when we stopped activities, I thought it was a waste.
*O-EAST live = 2-year anniversary oneman live held on January 9, 2010 called, "Yggdalive."
Q: From all sides, it leaves the impression that you were working very earnestly. On the other hand, in the end there wasn't a formal full album. Although it might be better to say you intentionally didn't release it.
Leda: No, that's not the case. We just didn't release one. It was sometimes difficult to take a long production time, and Juri's throat was sometimes in a bad condition, too.
Q: However, you mentioned that you wanted to release a full album at the right time and place.
Leda: That time didn't come… If we didn't have an activity pause, we'd put out a full album around this summer, and hold a tour after that whose final would be at CC Lemon Hall… and so on, I thought about various plans following that, too. However, I was also scared that there would be considerable mental anguish to realise the release. After all, I don't want to release something to the world that has low quality. So on that face, the hurdles would have been very high. Because our skill improvement would have to be considerable, our will and feeling towards the band would have to be also. It's rather difficult.
Q: Although I'm sure there must be many memorable moments in DELUHI's activities, can you give any examples?
Leda: What kind of things are there? Although there are many things, now, I just thought about playing badminton in the parking area while travelling on a summer tour (lol). Besides that, after the shows, when the curtains closed and we left the stage, I hit the members many times (lol).
Q: The words themselves may be important (lol), but regarding the lives that's how strict you were.
Leda: Right (lol). From then, when we made "Yggdalive,"* I was really harsh. I did my best just to make a mini-album, but it took too much time recording the vocals and I had to go back and re-do the guitar solos. Because of that, there was no time to record in the studio, so I didn't sleep and frantically recorded until morning at home. That time was really painful~
*"Yggdalive" = Second mini-album released November, 2009.
Q: You said so at the time, too. In such a difficult situation, having listened to such guitars, there was also a side where your virtuosity was appreciated by the staff yet again.
Leda: I don't know about that, myself. Besides, speaking of the early days, it was our first outfit. I didn't know if it was okay to do the laundry. So it's an indecent story, but I didn't wash at all. I did dry, though. Because it didn't actually smell. But, one day, when I put it in the water and tried to wash it, the water suddenly turned brown. I pulled away at that time (lol).
Q: I wonder how dirty it was (lol).
Leda: Oh, yeah (lol). From there, at January 8th's O-CREST first oneman, I used a V-shape Navigator guitar, but at the time the scope of our activities was still small, so for the normal live, I didn't invite ESP people at all. Well, I asked them to come to that oneman, but when I showed my guitar in the dressing room, it was too scruffy. Also, the neck was almost broken, the front pickup was broken and clapping, so it was riddled with damage. So, it was supposed to be hospitalised soon. I was also told recently that, "At that time you were obsessed (with activities)."
Q: That first oneman is memorable.
Leda: That's right. Although it ended up being sold out, as to how many fans would attend we didn't know, so we distributed flyers all over the place, on rainy and windy days. Even up 'til the day of the live. There are a lot of stories surrounding lives. For example, the return from our first expedition to Osaka, we made a road mistake on the highway and went towards Gifu and finally arrived in Tokyo in the early morning. We were caught in a huge traffic jam when the upper limit became 1,000 yen on holidays for the highway for the first time, and it took us 14 hours to get from Tokyo to Nagoya (lol).
Q: Hahaha. But for you4 DELUHI is a band where you experienced many things one by one. Now, the final tour* starts from July 1st, but in June just before that a coupling tour* with Matenrou Opera was also announced.
*Final tour = "DELUHI LAST TOUR -VANDALISM-" starting July 1st.
*Coupling tour = "Symphony from Japan 2011" two-man tour with Matenrou Opera starting June 1st at Fukuoka Drum Be-1.
Leda: I think the two-man tour in the autumn of 2009 with Matenrou Opera became very meaningful to both bands, but I think it's only here that we can fulfill that "Let's do it again someday!" promise physically. Once the one-man tour from the beginning of July is over, DELUHI will be gone… We only have now.
Q: Just by looking at the schedule, it's clear that it was decided on the fly. By the time this issue is released, this tour will have already ended, but what kind of presence does Matenrou Opera have?
Leda: I guess, they're comrades 'til the end5. Starting with that kind of relationship, I think it's really great that we could aim for the top side-by-side in the same scene for the last 5 or 6 years. Unsurprisingly we're on the same wavelength, and to some extent the music we like is similar, too. Sono often said that, "These are two bands that would be suitable in a two-man," but I think that's exactly the impression. I told them, "I'm leaving the future of the visual kei metal scene to you from now on!" (lol) Like a unique route, I think it's becoming a scene where doing the type of music you want to can be recognised. For us too, we wanted to incorporate so-called visual-kei elements, but there were also things that we can't do.
Q: But what one imagines from the so-called visual-kei scene, apart from the outward appearance, didn't apply to DELUHI. Rather, you avoided those things.
Leda: Yes. For instance, when working, I was able to draw a clear line for more individuality. But there were some songs for a while which we had choreographed for. Incidentally for the Best Album, rather than making new songs, I think people would be happier for us to do old, unreleased songs, so I dug up songs from those days, but in the past those were songs that Juri did choreography for. I think we're doing those songs for this tour too, though.
Q: Songs with choreography!? I don't remember them at all.
Leda: You probably didn't see it. Around the beginning, there were songs that we only did 2 or 3 times at taiban-style events.
Q: Such an episode tells the dawning of DELUHI. You could say it was trial and error (lol). For a breakup tour where such songs will be presented after a long time, at the present moment what kind of content do you want to do?
Leda: Combining new and old, I'd like to summarise our activities up 'til now. From June to July is pretty packed, but I want to do as much as I can, so there's nothing left out.
Q: Tickets have already sold out at various places, but there's been an additional show decided for August 7th at CC Lemon Hall.
Leda: That's right. However, the purpose is to have additional performances, but while the breakup tour final which was decided to be the O-EAST live, a great number of tickets were applied for at an early stage. If this is the case, it's possible there are fans who, even though it's DELUHI's last tour, will want to see it but won't be able to. So we decided that because we wanted to avoid that. Speaking of why the venue will be CC Lemon Hall, I performed at an event and wrote in a blog, "I want to do a one-man live in a hall someday." Also, when we resumed activities, I said I'd take everyone to a much wider stage, so I felt that I wanted to make that one wish come true. So the goal wasn't to have it sell out, but I thought it would be nice if even one person who thinks so much about DELUHI could watch, because as of that day DELUHI will cease to exist.
I think I want to make a band. But I want to take my time and look calmly for what I want to do.
Q: At this tour's venues, the Best Album we just talked about, "VANDALISM," will be sold in advance. Do you have anything to say about it?
Leda: Even though it's a Best Album, there are a lot of things to do, like recording, retakes, and remixing. There are several songs on which we have to re-record the drums, and I also have to re-record the guitars quite a bit. As for vocals, we are re-recording only on songs where we just changed the arrangement to be more dramatic. For example, "Yomi no yuzuriha," or "Vivid Place." Even for people who have our previous releases, there will be something new to enjoy. The title "VANDALISM" means "to destroy," after all. So without breaking the atmosphere, we did our best to add some new things.
Q: I'm looking forward to it. Incidentally, what will you do after the breakup? It's a story I'll follow wherever it goes.
Leda: I feel like I've already heard this question about a million times (lol). I think I want to make a band. But I want to take my time and look calmly for what I want to do. So, honestly, now DELUHI's activities have been really busy, so I don't want to do that. After all, I only have one body.
Q: Of course. What will your name be from now on? "Leda" is the name you went by when DELUHI began.
Leda: That's right. For example, if someone were to ask, "I'd like to ask for DELUHI's Leda," I'll probably work under this name for a while, but in the future it may disappear. But it's not something that can be confirmed now.
Q: I think there are a lot of options for the future, but there are many people who hope you will be active as a guitarist.
Leda: I'm really grateful for that. Relating to that, I'll release an instructional DVD*. It'll introduce phrases, and demonstrations around DELUHI songs. Basically, it goes in line with this Best Album. The solos have been re-recorded quite a bit, so I'll show off the techniques I used there. It's something I want to do now as what DELUHI's Leda can do. Then… "Please make a band with the remaining members," was in a lot of emails received. But not in 100% of them. Because then the breakup would have no meaning. That's why we're working as DELUHI until we can't… Just because we've disbanded doesn't mean we're going to end on a weak note.
*Instructional DVD = "VANDALICKS," releasing in the beginning of July. From July, it will be sold at live venues. More details can be found on the Official HP.
Q: I'm looking forward to the end at CC Lemon Hall, but I feel there are things you cannot say honestly.
Leda: But, the one-man at the hall will be fun. If we've reached our place as DELUHI, I'd be happy. Because it's really the last live, I want to do something really special… I'll do my best not to cry. We're not planning on releasing that day's live as a DVD, because it'll be adorned there with our crowning glory.
***
Translator's Notes:
1As stated in the interview, the disbandment announcement was April 1, 2011. This interview appeared in ROCK AND READ 036, which was published June 24 of the same year. Realistically, this interview would have been held at the end of May or very early June.
2The phrase used in the original Japanese was 悲痛な声 hitsuu na koe, which would translate more literally to "sorrowful voices". This doesn't quite sound natural in English, so I made a small change and turned it into the fans' grief as emotion.
3The literal translation for the original Japanese, 包み隠さず tsutsumi kakusa zu, is more like "is not hidden", but in the full sentence this is very awkward in English, so I switched the perspective to make it come off more natural in English, and a bit more appropriate for a spoken conversation.
*Following Aggy's MC at the April 19, 2019 DELUHI 10th Anniversary live, this statement and what Leda has said concerning DELUHI's disbandment could be questionable.
4The interviewer addresses Leda by name here, as is typical in polite Japanese.
5Matenrou Opera's Yuu and Yo were in DELUHI's antecedent band. At the time of this interview, Yuu was Matenrou Opera's drummer. DELUHI's antecedent band was called GRAVE SEED prior to a name change in 2008.
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