The FLARE

Interview and text by Yuuichi Masuda

This is The FLARE's first appearance in Zappy. They are a unit composed of Sugizo, the former guitarist of LUNA SEA and Yuna, a vocalist who has done various things. We asked these two about everything from the reason they formed to their new release whose title is a Native American word meaning cannibalism.

- I understand that you have in fact known each other for a long time.

Yuna: It's about 7 years now. I was still a teenager back then and so he kindly listened to all the worries that come with that age. (laughs) Sugizo was like a good older brother to me. Of course from the beginning I had wanted to work with him and when he asked me to my feelings quickly solidified. I guess it felt like "The time has come."

Sugizo: I was always looking for a singer who I could work with. When I was a solo artist I was singing and doing it all myself but in the end it seemed like my singing was destroying my feelings and means of expression. I'm not truly a singer. So I was looking for someone who could be called "my voice." His qualifications... well first of all the fact that he's a good guy. (laughs) But the best thing about starting to create music with Yuna is the fact that our reasons for creating music overlap. Why we are doing music, what we want to do through music, how we want ourselves to develop, those essential areas are the same. That is to say, our motives are the same.

- "Uetiko" is a work with a strong message. I suppose your motive is something like, for instance, "Communicating something through music," "Exploring music for the sake of finding the power to communicate something."

Sugizo: Yes. That's what's most important. Yuna is ten years younger than I am and I thought it was really incredible that he could have the kind of feelings he does at such a young age. When I was that age, all I wanted was fame. (laughs) But as I went on I gradually realized that music isn't something you make for yourself alone. I suppose it's like what's really important is using yourself as a medium to share something important. I've felt that way from around the end of LUNA SEA. I suppose you could say that Yuna is the same "type" of person.

Yuna: In truth I, too, wasn't finding that "type" of person in the people around me. It was very important that we were similar in our idea that having lived a while we both had something that we wanted to continue hold important.

Sugizo: For instance, what Bruce Lee created was a philosophy of being a warrior. We are trying to chase after the same thing for rock.

Yuna: I don't want to chase after something spiritual like that timidly. It has be rock and roll, because that's what I’m best at.

Sugizo: Because songs are born out of a drive. Then adding lyrics you believe in completes them.

Yuna: Lyrics that pierce you as you sing them. With that alone there are many expressions that are heavy with responsibility. I am someone who cannot sing unless I have, after fully understanding the issue, completely gone over the question of what stance I should take. If I had not studied things like American history I would not be able to sing this. I don't want to be in the position of a lecturer nor do I have a solution for the addiction to war. But I think I can understand the truth and find something that I can do. I suppose I’m singing to arouse that kind of reaction.

Sugizo: Because understanding the truth is painful but necessary. I want to continue to chase after a groove that allows us add in that kind of thing while playing rock. At the same time, as we've played shows we have come to understand that, as expected, the two of us tend towards sad melodies. It seems like the theme is how can we warp a pretty melody. (laughs) With "Uetiko" we used the technique of rap. This is actually the result of eliminating the melody in that section in order to communicate what we wanted to. I think that it essentially became an explosively sad style. (laughs)

- Well then, what are your thoughts on 2005.

Yuna: I want to do shows to the point of death. After all, we're a rock band. So I want people to come to the shows. I think that's the fastest way to understand us.

Sugizo: I don't know what we are if we don't play shows and if we don't continue to play shows we won't be able to see the light. That light feeling one gets from being a live band is something I definitely want continue to perservere even to death.