Original text: https://www.jungle.ne.jp/sp_post/208-lynch
Interview by IMAI
Translation by Emma @ cultic.co

“A never-before-seen landscape lies ahead”

lynch. will release their best-of album in commemoration of their 10th anniversary, “10th ANNIVERSARY 2004-2014 THE BEST”, on March 11th. The band was formed in August of 2004 by Hazuki (vocals), Reo (guitar), and Asanao (drums). They put an emphasis on their charm as human beings, bringing together a lineup that was truly drawn to one another: Yusuke (guitar) joined in 2006, and Akinori (bass) joined officially in 2010 to create the current five man lineup. This “complete” version of lynch. never strayed from their focal point of live shows even as they switched over to activities under a major label, running riotous in the scene. While 10 years may have seemingly gone by in an instant for the members of lynch., it may have also been a period of time packed with a multitude of experiences as well. As if to demonstrate all of the hours and confidence accumulated by the band, all 36 songs included in the album boast stunning quality from start to finish. This album includes new recordings of songs from their indies era, as well as recent songs, each worthy of being referred to as an “anthem” where heavy sounds and beautiful melodies co-exist. I carried out a long interview with the members of lynch. in the wake of the completion of their new album that can surely be called a commemorative monument to their history. What I felt more than anything as they looked back on their progress over 10 years was that the band has their eyes set not on the past, but the future. The members of lynch. always aim for the stars, and there is no doubt that they will reach greater heights in the future.

“I was very drawn by the music Hazuki was putting out, so I felt that we two (Reo and Asanao) would flesh that out. That was our initial musical concept.”

●You touched on this in your MC during your 10th anniversary live show held at Shinkiba STUDIO COAST last year on December 27th, but Reo, you were 30 years old when you formed lynch. Were you perhaps prepared to call this your last band?

Reo: No, I thought every band was my last band. If you can already see yourself in your next band when you’re starting one, your current band isn’t going to last very long, for one. Also, I feel like when you draw the line about how long you’re willing to go on, that band is finished. I feel like if I want to do it, I should do it no matter what my age, and my way of thinking is there’s nothing that a person can’t do. In the music scene a long time ago, people would say things like “if you don’t blossom in your twenties you have no future”, but now the line between major and indies bands is not as stark. You can even make recordings on your own in this age, right? With the passage of time the freedom to choose how you do things gradually expands, so in that way we had a chance of making it.

●Was your vision as a band clear from the start?

Reo: First and foremost, I wanted to continue in a band for a long time with members I wanted to work with. So, incidental to that, I just figured it would be fine to decide the details based on the greatest common divisors between the members. On the other hand, if you decide “It has to be this. Please join me if you agree with this specific concept”, if what you want to do changes from what you wanted initially, it naturally leads to members leaving or disbandment. My methodology from the onset was to start with the people.

●Hazuki and Asanao, you formed lynch. with Reo. How did you two feel at the beginning?

Hazuki: On the contrary, I was thinking I would make this my last band. I’d had a few other bands before lynch., but each one disbanded after about a year without reaching the level where we could play a show on our own. Reo was a local senpai, he was famous at the time. Being able to form a band with a star like him made me feel uplifted, like maybe I’d finally have my day in the sun, and I thought hell yeah, I’m going to make this band succeed.

●How about you, Asanao?

Asanao: I… didn’t think I could keep it up. So at first, I was just trying to keep going through with our activities (laugh).

●Is that because your image of bands was that they all disband eventually?

Asanao: That’s right. Since that was true of many bands around me, that’s how I perceived them.

●When I ask, it seems all three of you were thinking different things… (laugh) Did you have an actual conversation about what kind of music you wanted to make together?

Reo: One of the reasons I invited Hazuki to form a band was a major premise in regards to our sound. I was very drawn by the music Hazuki was putting out, so I felt that we two (Reo and Asanao) would flesh that out. That was our initial musical concept.

●At first you started as a vocal/guitar/drum trio. Is there a reason your bass players weren’t official members?

Reo: We were looking to have an official member as a bassist, but there was no one who made us think that this person was who we wanted to work with. So in that case we thought it’d be best to start playing shows even if we have a support member and gain some experience as a band. I said that no one should ever join “for now”, because anyone who comes in with that mindset will end up leaving soon.

●Rather than wait for all of the lineup to be determined, you chose to start taking action first.

Reo: We had songs, as we all had experiences from playing shows. Live shows are something that you improve upon the more you do them. To put it another way, you can’t improve on something you’re not doing. And I felt that if you spend too long doing stuff behind the scenes, you start to falter, so if you’re ready then you should make your appearance to the outside world right away.

●How long of a prep period did you actually have, including time for writing songs?

Reo: We formed in August of 2004, and our first live was at the end of December, so about four months. But while all three of us came together in August, I’d reached out to Hazuki a while before that.

Hazuki: I’d written the songs a fair bit before that at least. In my previous band I wasn’t allowed to write the songs, so I had a stockpile since I wanted to make some on my own. We played songs like that with lynch..

●Your first live was an event appearance at Nagoya CLUB QUATTRO.

Reo: The host of the event invited us, telling us they happened to have a slot. For us, we wanted to give it a trial, so we joined under the condition that we were listed as a secret band.

●What was the reason you wanted to be a secret band?

Reo: During the period from 2004 where we started playing shows to 2006 when Yusuke joined, we never made any media appearances. When you’re brought up in media, they always mention that you’re “ex” whatever band. We refused all media appearances so that we could get rid of that. And more importantly, when people saw us live here and there at events they’d think our band was cool, and then find out what band we were in before. Rather than market ourselves as individuals, we wanted to market the band name.

●You wanted to start with a clean slate, with no preconceived notions?

Reo: That’s right. Also, there were age difference between the members. Since I’d started in bands before, I was also concerned we’d be called “Reo’s band”. I didn’t want that, I wanted all members to be treated equally, to say that the three of us made lynch..

●So even if there are age differences, it’s not a relationship where members need to take that into consideration and end up unable to say their opinions.

Reo: Right, it’s not like that. I invited them in part because they’re not like that.

Hazuki: Even my response when I was invited was “sure, if you let me make all the songs” (laugh).

●Hahaha (laugh).

Hazuki: We’re pretty to the point. (laugh)

Reo: Even I just said “sure, that was the plan”. (laugh)

●That shows how much you valued Hazuki’s talents.

Reo: Right. I was like that about Akinori too. Since I felt he was good.

Akinori: Yeah, Reo deals with me and other young bands in a very easy-going way. I thought it was normal for older bandmen to act more cocky, but when one approaches you with this much politeness it’s actually kinda scary… The first time I met him I was like “he’s not like the others… I gotta watch out…”. (laugh)

Everyone: Hahaha (laugh).

●Yusuke, what was your impression when you first met Reo?

Yusuke: I listened to the CDs of the bands he played in before too, so I was like “it’s THAT Reo!” I don’t remember it that well, but I think it was very formal.

Reo: Although I was trying to be polite and welcoming then too. (laugh)

●I heard that Yusuke was originally invited as a bassist.

Reo: As we were looking for a bassist, we stopped our live show activities at the top of 2006. During that time we were taken in by some false information that Yusuke used to be a bassist. (laugh) We went to see him play and reached out to him.

●You were taken in by false information… (laugh)

Reo: Because of that we first had him bring a bass and join us in the studio, but it didn’t go too well. But seeing him play the guitar had left an incredible impression on me when I’d seen his previous band. So I thought let’s make it so we have a twin guitar setup instead and asked him if he’d join us.

●You felt something special when you first saw him live.

Reo: That’s right. He’s totally different to me, and he had something that neither I nor the other two (Hazuki and Asanao) had. I sensed we could definitely work that as an advantage.

●What did he have that the other two didn’t?

Hazuki: He’s feminine. When we were just a trio we seemed kinda nasty (laugh), so you could say he added some color.

Reo: Up until then it was like “that’s a manly band!” (laugh)

●Hahaha (laugh).

Hazuki: Maybe it was a good chance to better approach our female fans. (laugh) Also, his playing is like that, too. It seems to add color, or rather it added almost a keyboard-like element. I couldn’t do that, and Reo felt like it was good.

Reo: His playing is very fascinating, it has sensuality.

●Yusuke, did you show your character off from the start?

Yusuke: It took time at first. I’m not someone who just charges ahead with things, so there was a long time where I was fumbling around and wondering how far I should bring it out.

●When did you break free from that?

Yusuke: I’d already broken out when we released our single “Adore” (2008). When I made the delay phrases in the B side “an illusion”, since it was one of the techniques I’d long since liked, I started to feel like “if I can do this in lynch., then I should keep it up”. From there I came up with tons of arrangements and ideas. I feel like I became relatively free from that point.

●You were able to feel comfortable with using the techniques you specialize in.

Yusuke: Right. Even there hadn’t been anything to encourage me, I might still be hesitating now. Since I had an opportunity, I was able to keep growing afterward.

Reo: Since our bassist when Yusuke first joined was still a support member, I think it was really hard to achieve balance. I think he worked hard to figure out his style in that situation.

●It was four years after Yusuke joined that Akinori joined officially in 2010. Why did it take so long to settle on a bassist?

Reo: That was also simply because there wasn’t anyone who made me feel like I wanted to work with him into the future. There was also the fact that Hazuki had been playing the bass in all our music during our indies era. Hazuki was the one who first brought up Akinori’s name.

Hazuki: The big things were that he could play better than I could, and on top of that, he was young. I got close with Akinori through fishing, but when he showed me his bass playing at my house here and there I thought he could really play. (laugh)

●You became friends through fishing before bass. (laugh)

Hazuki: Fishing came first. (laugh) It was just then that we’d started talking about what to do about a bassist, so I brought him up like “there’s one guy who’s young and seems like he can play”, and here we are.

●Apparently you spoke about fishing when you first met, too.

Hazuki: I think it was before a show, but our first meeting was the worst. (laugh)

Akinori: I was just a… rude amateur who asked him if he liked fishing without introducing myself. (laugh) I thought I had no “in” with him aside from fishing, so I was trying to leave an impact… I was in a different band at the time, so I thought I would take the plunge, befriend him, and steal all of lynch.’s good ideas for us, but the conversation ended with him treating me like I was a rude jerk. (laugh)

●But in the end you became friends.

Hazuki: During the after party that day, our support bassist at the time was talking to Akinori about fishing. He showed the picture of the fish he caught to me, too, and, it was amazing. I thought damn, he’s that good…?! And remember that he asked me if I liked fishing… That was it. That picture was his lifeline, or maybe it even saved him. (laugh)

●So his talents as a fisherman rather than a bassist led him to joining. (laugh)

Hazuki: That picture was a black bass, so he was saved not by his bass but by his bass. Although the spelling is the same. (laugh)

●Thank goodness. (laugh)

Akinori: That’s for sure. (laugh)

Everyone: Hahaha. (laugh)

“In the end, a band is made up of people. What’s important isn’t their technical skill or reputation, but knowing that someone can do something because of who they are. I think that’s what makes a band.”

●At any rate, the five of you came together in 2010 and lynch. became a complete band.

Reo: We were finally complete. Timing-wise it was just before our major debut, so I felt very aware of it, like “we can fight without hesitation in bigger venues now”. I sense that we never let good timing pass us by with each decision, like we seize chances well.

●Akinori, did you fit in well with the band at first?

Akinori: I went back and forth on how I should do things since I joined. Since Hazuki had been playing the bass up until that point, I thought I should show off my individuality since I joined as a bassist… So at first I thought I would do a lot of things in an individualistic way, but then something was just off. Since the biggest thing was that the band was now a full five members, I was always thinking about how to fit in well as a bassist and as a piece of that puzzle. It was an opportunity to think about the position of a bassist that I hadn’t had in other bands.

●Hazuki, did you have an image of the bassist you wanted?

Hazuki: Since the role of the bass in our songs was already completed for me, we talked quite a bit about that together. Compared to now, at first Akinori strongly felt like he wanted his sound to be heard, and there were a lot of balances thrown off because of that. I talked to him like, “if you do that then this is what happens”, but at the time he didn’t seem to understand. He seemed to be thinking “what is this guy talking about?” (laugh)

Akinori: Hahaha… (bitter laugh)

●At first your intentions didn’t come across clearly.

Reo: So up until “INFERIORITY COMPLEX” (2012), there were a lot of discussions between Hazuki and Akinori.

Hazuki: With us recording over and over and putting out new music, he’s become quick on the uptake.

●Even if you clashed with the band there, you never thought you wanted to quit?

Akinori: That’s right.

Reo: He was stubborn.

Hazuki: Although it would’ve been pretty interesting if he’d said he wanted to quit then. (laugh)

Reo: If he’d quit just after he’d joined, in a flash… (laugh)

Akinori: That might’ve been legendary all on its own. (laugh)

●”The phantom member”. (laugh) Did you feel strongly prepared when you joined?

Akinori: I felt like I had to do a lot because I was joining. So inside of me, my enthusiasm was a total mess. I had a lot of battles with myself. Even if I didn’t do anything they’d keep on improving, and the start line was different for me from the start. I had to dash to catch up from a position where I was one or two steps behind, but the other four members were already starting to pull ahead even further. I was desperate to keep up at first, while I had a lot on my mind.

●Even if you were wondering what Hazuki was talking about. (laugh)

Akinori: No, no. (laugh) I started to understand that around EXODUS-EP (2013)…

Hazuki: That’s really recent. (laugh)

Akinori: It is. (laugh) Around then I felt like “Hazuki, I was being so unreasonable until now, I’m really sorry!”…

●And now you’re quick on the uptake. (laugh) By the way, Asanao, when the band became five members, did that give you confidence that this band would keep on going?

Asanao: Umm… (lengthy consideration). Now I feel like it must continue, but I’m not really sure when my feelings changed that way… Everyone has responsibilities to the band, and to the fans and the staff around us. Maybe it changed when I started thinking of these things.

●Did you have confidence that you could advance in this band?

Asanao: Not confidence, but I feel like the things that lynch. have done haven’t been a mistake. Maybe I can only think that now that 10 years have passed.

●Do you still think that bands are something that come to an end eventually?

Asanao: Um… I don’t not think that, but… They don’t come to an end that easily.

Reo: It really isn’t strange for a band to come to an end at any time. It’s because I think that way that I put in the effort. People don’t put in effort for things they assume will last forever. I think we have a stronger awareness of that fact than other bands.

●During these 10 years, has there been anything that threatened the continued existence of the band…?

Hazuki: Thinking on it now, the period a short while after “INFERIORITY COMPLEX” might have been precarious. Since we were in a situation where we needed to find what we wanted to do, or where we were wondering what we should do next. At the time I didn’t think of it that way, but now I wonder if it might have been dangerous.

●Have you broken free from that now?

Hazuki: Now there’s nothing like that at all. We want to do something and work tirelessly toward it. At the time we didn’t have that, so it was tough to have to think of what to do.：

●What caused you to end up in a situation like that?

Hazuki: At the time we were really comparing ourselves to the times. We were very concerned about our position and relationships in the scene. First there was the whole “visual kei” thing, and from there we worried tons about all kinds of thing including whether or not to wear makeup and musicianship issues. But we broke free from the idea that because the people around us are one way, we have to be that way too, and started doing what we wanted from “EXODUS-EP”. Then it got really easy.

●You overcame that with “EXODUS-EP”.

Hazuki: We did. I started thinking that worrying about it solved nothing. I realized that dropping the makeup and doing things with a natural/relaxed attitude doesn’t necessarily make them cool. I had thoughts in my mind like, oh, we play rock music so I need to wear t-shirts and jeans, but now I know that’s not true. Things have gotten considerably easier since I realized that.

Reo: People are cut out for different things, and sometimes they’re just the right person in the right place. Hazuki proposed that we all have a conversation about it together, and from there we decided to go back to our starting point, and make our next release after doing a careful self-analysis, and what came out of that was EXODUS-EP. I think Hazuki’s judgment at the time was correct.

●Each member revised himself.

Hazuki: We each have our own role, so I thought we would work in those roles with all our heart.

●And this was when you understood what Hazuki was saying about the bass, right, Akinori?

Akinori: Because it was when we found a clear goal, and our morale rose when we all worked towards it. And then I naturally started to see what I was meant to do.

●Did your live performances and role change from there?

Akinori: I also worried about that, and I tried many things to figure out what kind of demeanor I should go with. But when I tried to play in a cool manner, fans asked me if I was okay and told me it wasn’t like me at all. Then I understood that when I was playing as I am, that was when fans had the most fun watching. If I bring my feelings to the surface during shows and play with an emotional feel, everyone enjoys it, so I decided that’s how I would do it. Everyone tells me it’s better when I’m rather candid during shows, so I’m very grateful.

●From the member selection there has been an emphasis on the people, so it’s likely best for the band if you act in a way that comes naturally.

Reo: I think it’s just a matter of not having to make any strange displays to stand out and not having to focus on things that aren’t your forte. In the end, a band is made up of people. What’s important isn’t their technical skill or reputation, but knowing that someone can do something because of who they are. I think that’s what makes a band.

●So it was starting from “EXODUS-EP” that the band started to become aware of that fact?

Reo: I think that’s around when we were able to actually feel that ourselves. We were able to be clear about things that we’d just been having vague thoughts about.

“Since this is all packaged into one thing, we’re already starting our work on making “2015-2025″. My feelings are already shifting in a way where I’m ready to do the next thing and the thing after that.”

●In your best of album, “10th ANNIVERSARY 2004-2014 THE BEST”, all songs included from “EXODUS-EP” were remixed. Why is that?

Hazuki: For “EXODUS-EP”, the sound we were going for was completely identical to that of our next release, “GALLOWS” (2014). The recording methods and all that were almost identical, but we just had a different engineer. I felt that the engineer we had for “GALLOWS” better suited the sound we were aiming for, so I wanted him to do the engineering for the songs from “EXODUS-EP” as well. I was sure they’d be better, so I made an unreasonable request of the record company.

●I was wondering why you’d remix a relatively recent release. So that’s why.

Hazuki: Right. On the other hand, when it comes to releases prior to that, the recording style and sound we were after is different from “GALLOWS” so I thought there wasn’t much point to remixing them now. All of the songs from our indies era are rerecorded, but the songs from after our major debut are established as they are, so we basically left them as-is (excluding “EXODUS-EP” songs).

●What were the selection criteria for indies era songs?

Reo: When we were talking about what songs we wanted to put on it, Hazuki first suggested one. And then each of us would be like, if we’re going to add that, then let’s add this, and we kept adding on.

Hazuki: We don’t constantly put out singles so we don’t really have any so-called “hit songs”. So we naturally selected songs that were important to the band.

●For a total of 36 songs in the end…

Reo: What’s interesting is that not one of us was thinking about reducing the amount of songs… (laugh) What we were concerned about was how to fit them in to 74 minute CDs.

●Is that because each song was needed to talk about your 10 years together?

Reo: Right. They’re all indispensable.

●Were there any songs you were insistent on being included?

Reo: Because we talked about it together as a team including staff members, I don’t really remember who suggested what.

Yusuke: Most of the songs I wanted on it were among the initial candidates, so I feel like I didn’t really give my opinion too much…

●What song would you say is your favorite, Akinori?

Akinori: “I’m sick, b’cuz luv u.” All of the bandmen around at the time, including myself, were shocked… It’s a weird way of putting it, but it “took the world by storm”. (laugh) So I was moved when I first played this song live (after joining lynch.), and I was very happy when we rerecorded it. It’s a song so important that I wonder what would have happened if it never existed.

●”I’m sick” was remixed as well, but is the remixed based on the version on your live-limited single “ANATHEMA” (2013)?

Hazuki: The remix of that version is included. When we were working on “THE AVOIDED SUN” (2007), the album where this song was originally recorded, I had a lot of other songs stockpiled and this was one I’d come up with near the end. Then I had a realization that we should be doing songs like it. I figured all of them should be based on this song, and scrapped all of the stockpiled songs I had at the time. It was a song so impactful that I remade everything. So the time when I made this song was shocking for me too.

●It became one of the guides for the band.

Hazuki: Right. Personally, I was helped a lot by this song.

Reo: It was after we released “THE AVOIDED SUN” with “I’m sick~” that our activities started to go well. At the time I felt it put us on track, and this song is what gave me that feeling.

●When you compare it to the version recorded on “THE AVOIDED SUN”, do you get a strong sense of your own progression?

Hazuki: At the time I wanted do to something at this level, but I didn’t know the process to get there. I finally feel like I’ve reached the ideal I had at the time… For all of the songs.

● In the case of songs from your first album “greedy dead souls” (2005), such as “unknown lost a beauty” and “discord number”, did they evolve over time with live performances?

Hazuki: I wonder…? No, I don’t think so.

●So that wasn’t the case. (laugh)

Hazuki: In this era, that sort of “datedness” is a positive instead. It would be pointless to make these songs more modern. I feel like they are how they are, so we recorded live takes of songs like “discord number”. Because it wouldn’t add anything to record them again in the studio.

●So the newest version is what’s being performed live?

Hazuki: That’s right. I guess “pulse_” is the epitome of that. Even if we rerecorded in a studio now, I feel like it wouldn’t rival a live cut.

●I feel that demonstrates how the band is at its coolest in the present.

Akinori: That’s really how we feel as we do it. Everyone has their own preferences so I understand people who prefer a band as it was before, but if you end up like that as a band you’re only continuing by force of habit… I want to always pursue new heights and have people think that’s cool.

●When you watch the special video reflecting on the past 10 years included on the DVD, it’s interesting to see the changes up until now. I also got a sense of how truly relaxed the band is in the newer footage.

Reo: At the time, I think we’d really get worked up. I think the biggest thing is that we’ve lost the part of us that was hardened into armor to prevent anyone from seeing our weak spots, and that we’ve gained confidence that we can compete as we are.

Hazuki: I’m embarrassed (by the early footage), so I don’t really want to see that DVD myself. (laugh) But I think those that like lynch. should definitely buy the limited first edition.

●When you look at the completed best-of, do you feel like you’re looking back on the past decade?

Reo: When I see our songs arranged like this, I think we worked really hard… (laugh) But since this is all packaged into one thing, we’re already starting our work on making “2015-2025”. My feelings are already shifting in a way where I’m ready to do the next thing and the thing after that.

●You’re already setting your sights on the next 10 years.

Reo: I think it’s not just me, but everyone else too.

Asanao: I can’t see the future so I can’t say for sure, but I have the confidence I’ve gotten from doing this for 10 years. I have confidence that I can keep on doing it, so I feel like we’ll keep going steady.

●Yusuke and Akinori, you both joined midway, but did you get to vicariously experience 10 years of lynch. through the creation of the best-of, including your times as members?

Yusuke: By joining a little earlier, I’ve been experiencing it vicariously. Since he had his own bass playing added to past songs, I wonder if maybe this was most impactful for Akinori.

Akinori: At first we talked about only rerecording the bass for the indies era songs. I wondered if I’d created a bottleneck of sorts and made it hard for the band to put out a best-of. But then everyone told me that if we’re going to rerecord the bass, we should rerecord all of the other parts too, and I was really happy. Since we’re calling it our “best”, I feel like we’ve created something great under truly great circumstances.

●Can you already see the next vision for the band?

Hazuki: We actually have a lot of songs. Soon we’ll have to start with the final touch ups, so I want to move on to that quickly.

●You have a tour starting in March, first. (laugh)

Hazuki: I think we’ll be working on the next release at the same time as the tour progresses. If I may, I can’t help wanting to move on since the best of is older stuff… The new release will be cooler. Please look forward to our next release.