The FLARE

Translated by Emily

We hope that this song becomes the trigger for you to find out the truth for yourself.

2nd single Uetiko now on sale.

The FLARE was formed in the summer of 2004. It is a unit composed of Yuna, who was known as an isolated vocalist on the indies scene and Sugizo, who made a name for himself as a guitarist and composer for the rock band Luna Sea and has since both completely destructed and constructed his approach to the media of music. I asked them now that they’ve played many concerts and their form has become more definite, what kind of message is contained in “Uetiko.”

- I understand that you two have known each other for seven years. Why did you decide to form a group now?

SUGIZO: Well essentially, I wanted to work with a singer. I’m not a true singer, so when I sang, there were parts where feelings took precedence and I realized I needed a good singer to sing a good melody.

YUNA: Sugizo was, in private, like a good older brother to me and at the same time I had him do production work and such when I was a solo artist. Because of that, up until this point I have seen what kind of thoughts he approached this thing called music with, and what kind of feelings he formed in his lyrics. I also felt that he was a person whose way of thinking was very close to my own, so when he asked me to sing for him, my answer was already decided.

SUGIZO: I think the most important thing is that your music matches your thoughts and feelings. As far as that goes, I can communicate with Yuna on an emotional and intellectual level, so I have a sense of ease when I make music with him. As far as music goes, we started out from our desire to do funky music like Marvin Gaye and Curtis (Curtis Mayfield) whom we both like.

- I think that Yuna likes the music of the 60s as well. I heard that that was the case even before you met Sugizo. What was the trigger for that?

YUNA: It started when I got into Lenny Kravitz. I traced his roots and got into people like Marvin Gaye, Janis Joplin, John Lennon: so-called 60s musicians.

SUGIZO: When we start talking about this kind of stuff, I really feel the age difference. (laughs) Lenny Kravitz as an introduction to rock music! I had already debuted at that point. (laughs) But it’s like I said before, when you’re working together, there’s nothing like liking the same genres and having the same roots, but that's not the basic element. I think the most important thing is the emotional and intellectual connection. At the beginning, the idea was to expand on our common interests and there was a point when, for the time being, we were focusing on funky music, but as we played more live shows we were able to see a lot of things and the range of what we were able to produce as The FLARE expanded, I think. I guess as we played shows the kind of sound we wanted became clear. That’s why, lately, there’s been a bit of a darker flavor and the foundation is a more explosive guitar sound. If you’re going to talk about one or the other, I think that rather than feeling that The FLARE has become Americanized, I would like our sound to be heard as having a European sense of grief.

YUNA: The current single, “Uetiko,” is a song that Sugizo has had inside of him for a long time. Then during the summer concerts, he added lyrics. The subject matter really symbolized war and the current age but we weren’t sure how we wanted to put that out as The FLARE.

- I understand that “Uetiko” is a Native American word that means cannibalism.

SUGIZO: Yes. It’s a word that means invader. This song was born of a desire to have more people read a book by Joel Andreas called Addicted to War. It’s a comic in form, but it clearly shows how America has, from the time of its foundation, expanded by invading other countries. If I were to say what I want people to learn from listening to our music, it would be that I would want them to look beyond what is available from the limited media and try to discover the truth for themselves. I don’t want them to think that they can’t change anything on their own. I think that a positive spirit or perhaps an optimistic viewpoint can, little by little, change the world. That is why at the end of this song there is an optimistic message included. [That's why] I put into the lyrics the last words that Jesus Christ said while hanging on the cross.

- It’s a song with a strong rhythm so the music impacts a listener, but if one really pays attention to the lyrics as well as the music it’s a rather jolting song.

SUGIZO: I understand what you’re saying. (laughs) As a musician, I’m happy that you felt something from the music. My true wish is that listeners will enter into the song and reach the meaning of the lyrics. Because I think that’s the trigger.

- I understand. Yuna was the composer and lyricist of the song coupled with this, “Don’t forget you ~ I’ll never and ever.”

YUNA: Yes. This is a song I wrote before The FLARE was formed. Because "Uetiko" is a song with a rap section and a bit of a British noise feeling to it, we decided to pair it with a song that had a matching funky and groovy feeling and as a result, chose this song. In making this single, we really kept live performances in mind.

SUGIZO: Although it’s essentially funky, there’s an elegant guitar part in it too. The adjustment of the base was very difficult for this song.

- The third song is Lou Reed’s “Sunday Morning.” This song really feels like being saved.

SUGIZO: It does. The flow has a nice feeling. He is an artist that both Yuna and I like. For a long time I’ve thought that if I ever did a cover, I would like to do a Velvet (Underground) one. I wanted to try and cover this song sometime. Although the melody is very gentle, the lyrics are very surreal. Please look up the Japanese translation of the lyrics sometime. I really like that hidden element where, although it seems very gentle at first glance, if you look deeper it’s crazy.

- I get it. You’ve also added the music videos for “Inner Child” and “Forgive” to this release.

YUNA: I thought it would be nice if there was something to experience with the sense of sight as well. The taste of the videos is completely different but I think they are videos in which the impact of The FLARE of each specific time has been deeply felt.

- “Forgive” was directed by Michiyo Hachiwaka-san who made many of the unique collages by hand. It is a very psychedelic video.

YUNA: It is, isn’t it? (laughs) For “Forgive” we put a Japanese style melody over a melodious melody that was based on Motown that Sugizo brought in and in order to refine it into a The FLARE style song, we used the sitar and strings were used with an Motown image. Because of that we wanted a very particular video so we decided to ask Hachiwaka-san. The truth is we also had Hachikawa-san direct the “Uetiko” music video. “Uetiko” is a serious song whose music is deeply linked to a message and leaves a completely different impression from “Forgive,” but lately I think that variety itself is “The FLARE.” I will be happy if, with “Inner Child” as the central pillar, we can express the messages and hopes of each particular time as rock and reach our audience.

SUGIZO: Ambient music is something that is very big for me. The artist I liked best is called The Orb. They go back to the old Gong and Pink Floyd and the roots of the so-called psychedelic and acid progressive rock. I suppose that although the psychedelic movement that began in the sixties has changed its garb, the shape has remained the same. I guess that I, who have been shaped by that movement, wanted to try that kind of trick in a pop song. “Forgive” is that song. As one can listen to both “Forgive” and “Inner Child” on this single, I want to communicate our message to more people, even if only one. Please listen to it.