Interview with Shuuen NO Rasetsu

Shuen no Rasetsu is a new band consisting of some familiar faces from the late 90s and 2000s visual kei scene. They are scheduled to start their activities with a gig at Shibuya’s TSUTAYA O-WEST on January 14th, 2020. JaME sat down with them for an introductory interview to talk about how their return to the stage came about, their upcoming release and what we can expect from them in the future.

Could you please introduce yourselves?

Sai: I’m the vocalist of Shuuen NO Rasetsu, Sai.
Masuo: I’m the guitarist of Shuuen NO Rasetsu, Masuo.
Chihiro: I’m the guitarist on the left side of the stage for Shuuen NO Rasetsu, Chihiro.

Could you introduce the concept of Shuuen NO Rasetsu please?

Masuo: The concept for our music is fusing good old visual kei and current styles.

You have a pretty impactful name, could you tell us about its origin?

Masuo: When thinking of the name, I thought of the “Shuuen” part, and Sai thought of the “Rasetsu” part. We took the best parts of what we had thought about separately and put them together. “Shuuen” means the end of life, or the last moments, and “Rasetsu” is a demon god in mythology. (note: put together these loosely translate as “demon of demise”)
How do you feel it is impactful?

It does look like a very old-school name.

Sai: That’s what we were aiming for! While there are many bands with roman alphabet names nowadays, we thought of bringing in some 90s flair with a kanji name. There’s not many bands with such names nowadays so we specifically aimed for this effect.
Masuo: I specifically didn't want to use a band name that is common today.

How did you three meet and form this band?

Sai: The three of us are originally friends and we get along well in our personal lives. We used to all be in bands in the past, and we thought that if it was the three of us, we would be able to make some interesting music together.
Masuo: You said three, but actually the five of us, including support members are good friends. I used to play with our support bassist Shun in the band CalorZe. He then went on to play in Vidoll, and now he plays bass supporting us in Shuuen NO Rasetsu. The drummer Yuichi currently plays drums for many artists (such as Asa from WagakkiBand’s solo project, Suzuki Anna, Kra or Ayakashi no Kiko), and he is supporting us on drums. We hang out a lot together in everyday life, so I am very happy to be able to make music with them. With these awesome members we’re going to make awesome music and play awesome shows so please look forward to it!

Sai and Masuo, you haven’t been in bands for over 10 years. Why did you decide to make a comeback now?

Sai: It’s been a while since I have stopped being in a band, but when I was thinking about when I enjoyed my youth most in my life, I realized that it was when I was doing music. I liked the me that was doing music, and it was a world I admired, so I felt that I wanted to do this one last time with everyone.
Masuo: To be honest, when I stopped being in a band, I didn’t do music, and I didn’t even listen to music anymore. But because these guys were inviting me to join them, I thought if it is with them, I want to do it one last time. When I was in a band previously, making music videos or providing your songs for karaoke, for example, weren’t that common, so I thought that it would be great to be able to do things that I couldn’t do before with this band. That’s why I made the decision and came back to music.

Chihiro, you’re the only one who isn’t revealing your band history. Could you tell us a bit about what kind of music you have been doing up until now?

Chihiro: I have also been doing visual kei bands until now. I’ve also known Sai for a long time, so when he invited me I was eager to play together with him.

So as at least some of you haven’t been active in the scene for over 10 years, were there any changes you were surprised by? Any culture shock experiences?

Sai: To be honest, I don’t really know any of the current bands (laughs). So I haven’t experienced any culture shock. I don’t really want to compare ourselves to anyone, I just want to do the music that I want to do.
Masuo: I also don’t think about other bands and just want to do what we want, and I also want the fans to have fun at our shows, the same as in the past. But there were some things that surprised me. For example, the fact that music videos are now seen as a sort of business card for bands, so some things that weren’t common in the past that are common now are giving me a bit of a culture shock.

You are going to play your first gig at Shibuya TSUTAYA O-WEST on January 14th, 2020. You will also release your first single yubikiri that day. Could you please tell us a bit about the single?

Sai: We have condensed all the thoughts that we had doing music up until now into yubikiri, and in that way you could call it a masterpiece of a sort. Please look forward to it and come see us.

What about the guitar team, is there anything we should pay attention to while listening to this song?

Masuo: This song has become our music video, and I think we have hit the mark in creating an ultimate orthodox visual kei song with it. That’s what we were aiming for and that’s all there is to it. I think if you listen to it you will know that it’s orthodox visual kei.
Chihiro: The guitar is pretty intense, but also easy to listen to. I think it’s a song that’s suitable for a single.
Masuo: Overseas readers might not be familiar with the word “Yubikiri”, so let me add an explanation. “Yubikiri” is when two people lock their pinky fingers when making a promise. For example, when lovers swear eternal love. For example, when friends make a promise. For example, when you promise something special with your parents or siblings. In such occasions, people lock their pinky fingers and make a promise, an oath to each other. This is a custom that has been in Japan since very old times, and you call something you do in an important time “Yubikiri”.

 
Sai, could you tell us a bit about your lyrics, for the listeners who don’t understand Japanese?

Sai: There are different themes depending on the songs and their atmosphere. I write all of the lyrics, and most of them are based on my experience. I also strive for dramatism in my lyrics.

Fans who are familiar with your previous bands might expect a pretty old-school sound from your songs, but the preview of yubikiri we can listen to on YouTube sounds surprisingly modern. You talked about mixing old-school and current sounds in your music. How do aim to accomplish this? What kind of sound can we expect from you going forward?

Masuo: The three, or rather five, of us, including the support members, have got here doing the sort of music that only we could be doing, and we are hoping to continue doing something that only we are able to do.
Sai: Just because it’s old-school visual kei, I don’t want all of our songs to just be screaming. I want to bring singing to the forefront and emphasize the melody, and make each song something special that only we could create.

yubikiri is only planned to be sold at gigs. Have you thought of making it available to buy from overseas?

Sai: If there are many requests, we would consider making it available for mail order.

What are your goals as a band for 2020?

Sai: 2020 will definitely be our year. That’s all there is.
Masuo: In January, we will play our first show, so please look forward to our activities. One thing I know for sure is that we don’t want to do anything ordinary.
Chihiro: First of all, I want to make a successful first show.

If you were to go overseas, what countries would come to your mind?

Chihiro: I’d like to go to Thailand.
Sai: I want to go around Germany and France.
Masuo: Let’s see, Germany, France, Austria, Indonesia, Thailand… Also the USA, and Russia and Ukraine… Basically, I want to go all over the world!

Finally, please leave a message for our readers.

Masuo: For those people who came to know about us here, saw our music video and found out about us, if you’re living outside of Japan there might not be much information about us. But please know that we are always thinking of you. And I would be happy if you also thought of us.
Chihiro: We will go on to make more good songs going forward, so please look forward to them.
Sai: I will put all of my thoughts into each song and each lyric, so please receive them.
Masuo: I would like to thank all fans from all over the world who are already supporting Shuuen NO Rasetsu. We will continue answering your expectations from now on. I would also like to give a shout out to all the people who have been inspired by visual kei to start their own band activities. I wish that we can stand on one stage some day. I am looking forward to meeting you.

JaME would like to thank Shuuen NO Rasetsu for this interview opportunity.