"I would like to move the hearts of many people." ~Hyde

The following is a partial translation of the Hyde Discord Tokyo FM radio interview. Please, keep in mind that the translations posted here are done by fans. They are not official, and I don't know enough Japanese to say how accurate they are. Also, sometimes those translating are not native English speakers, so I clean up the grammar for better understanding.

Why did you use a crucifix in the background during your former tour?

Hyde: Maybe for a sense of beauty. Rock and religion combined together--that feels best to me. To tell you the truth, I'd like to shoot a PV in a European church.

(Speaking of the “American sound“) It's a dry sound but heavy?

Hyde: Yes. I really like bands with a heavy sound. But inside me runs the European blood for the melody. Though I thought of something like Marylin Manson, it wasn't fully an American sound. So, I structured it on the dry sound of L.A. with the influence of European New Wave. I felt it was best that way...

What did you do in L.A.?

Hyde: (laugh) Actually, it was stoic (dull?). It didn't change much from doing it in Japan. Wake up in the morning, in the interval I'd do the arrangement with KAZ for the next song. It was really stoic. But, in the last part for the TD, since we didn't work only in the evening, we did a bit of shopping or inline skating.

Are you good at inline skating?

Hyde: I can lose myself for hours (laugh). After reaching Santa Monica, I really wanted to slide, it's awfully good. I do it alone, but I thought of teaching KAZ. At first he went, "Why not skateboard?" But I said, "Inline skating it's definitely better." (laugh) "At our age, if we skateboard we might break some bones." After trying a few times, he really got into it (laugh). Once into it, when we’d go somewhere he’d say, "Could we slide here?" But, when we got back to Japan, even though we’d say, "Ah, here we could slide," we only talked about it (laugh).

That's amazing. I heard that Mick Jagger, wherever he goes, always runs 5 km every morning. Even you?

Hyde: I can't do that. (laugh)

While doing the L’Arc album AWAKE, your awareness towards music changed. Even for the tour you thought about a story and a concept that became an anti-war theme. Even this new album has a theme, religion, that could mean "a wish for peace." It seems to me like religion and anti-war go together. In short, it feels like you wanted to hit that theme hard with this album.

Hyde: Without AWAKE I wouldn't have been able to do FAITH. Because there was AWAKE, I could explore things more in depth…Clearly L’Arc is a band of 4 people. So, doing something this deeply might be impertinent. It might cause anger. I don't want that…Among four people there might be someone who says, "I don't like all this religion." If you hear something like that, you have to take it into consideration. But the existence of [AWAKE] made it possible for me to search deeper…It's like a stair…

Also, after AWAKE, I noticed the existence of peace and love. While doing FAITH, actually the deepest part was the existence of love that made it possible to cross over or transcend death, being able to welcome it…that's the most important thing. The religious theme is a deception. The deepest part is this one. So, the times when you accept or don’t accept death, there's like a contradiction, the world seems small. All things…even the universe appears small. Love makes you feel big. Usually when you like somebody you might think that's a small love, but actually your existence is becoming really big…I realized this while doing the album.

So, was there a feeling that you wanted to settle?

Hyde: To settle, I wanted to express my own emotion. There are situations where I think, "I don't care about such a small thing." But also situations like, "Compared to love, money is useless!"

War and religion are respectively so, but unfortunately, this society is all about money. You reach an opinion about life and death by making money. In this period, I think it's very difficult for something like this to echo inside a heart. But, then, while listening to this album I thought that it's incredible what music can do.

Hyde: Yes. Even for me…though I've done three solo albums and been with L’Arc for fifteen years. If there wasn’t this big current, I'd never be able to make this album. Inside me really...in the end I want to make music with a meaning.

Did this album feel like an achievement?

Hyde: Yes, really. Finally, the way I'm going, because I realized the music I could make. That was a turning point for me.

Did you have this awareness while making it?

Hyde: No, no. Until it was completed I didn't understand it. Only, I wanted to pour out everything until I have time.

After this album?

Hyde: After this album, maybe I’ll go to a nice place? (laugh). When I was young, though, I wondered, "Will I have an impact?" I was obviously uneasy. Right now, I receive love from people that are kohai (younger), but inside I can't help feeling uneasy. Though at great pains I'm at this stage, I really dislike being considered just a person who sings a song.

I see. Do you think you can change the world with music?

Hyde: What a question! (laugh)....Strictly speaking, I don't think so. But, I would like to move the hearts of many people.

For Hyde what is life/birth?

Hyde: ...something touching.

What is solitude?

Hyde: Maybe people that don't know love.

What is the world?

Hyde: What is...it's difficult. What's the world?...I don't know.

(thanks to the ARK)