Suicide Ali Interview Available for Download on Soulseek and Interview Transcript

The Suicide Ali interview is now available for download from my account on Soulseek, as well as some of my past works with Bad Transitions including the BLOOD interview done last February. My SN on there, like everying thing else I use in the world (Except forums) is akilatem. Feel free to go ahead and grab these interviews. The Richard Cox and Mitsukazu Mihara interviews will be uploaded soon aswell.

For those of you who do not have Soulseek, or want to post text of the interview on a website, here is the transcript. If you are going to post this on a website though, please ask my permission first, and gimme your addy so I can send that to the band members themselves!


Roger - Please introduce yourselves
-Goshi: The people listening to the radio, good afternoon. I am vocalist Goshi.
-Yuu: I am Suicide Ali guitarist Yuu.
-Hiroshi: My name is Hiroshi. One of the popular names. I am playing the guitar part.
-Yuu: I am Suicide Ali drummer Hisashi. I have no penis. Ok?
-Hisashi: No, I am real Hisashi!
-Yuu: Sorry, I'll study.

Roger - What are the Origins of Suicide Ali?
-Goshi: It was more than a year ago. Out of all the ideas I was thinking about, there was one that stood out as a good image, and a really cool concept came from that. At the time I just thought, ‘this could be kinda cool,’ but now I’m confident that it really is very cool. I told Hiroshi all the ideas I had in my head. How many hours did that take…? Well, anyway, it took a really long time to explain it all. Actually, it was a very one-sided discussion. But he understood my thoughts very well, so I was happy. So we said then and there, “Why don’t we work together?” and it began from there. But working to bring the image together took me about half a year, so I kept him waiting for a long time, but somehow he waited patiently and never left me behind. So we wrote 3 songs and decided to bring in more members, which took another half a year. It’s been 3 or 4 months since then, and that brings us to today.

Roger - What past musical projects have you guys done?
-Hiroshi: First Goshi and I discussed a visual image and world view for a new band, and as a result, we decided to make our music available through our homepage until all the members were brought together. We’re still working on writing songs while we look for good new members. I think there are a few things that some Americans have misunderstood – we weren’t “born” out of any other band, and we didn’t all come together until recently, when we formed this band. For now, we’re just working toward our first live show and perfecting the image and visual aspects of each member.

Roger - What Inspires your music?
-Goshi: Just observing people. I watch the flow of people walking along the street, wondering what kind of life this person lives, what they plan to do that night, what kind of sex they have… I have fun imagining stuff like that.
-Yuu: I get inspiration from the dreams I have when I sleep. I try to keep them deep in my memory. As for more musical sources, I like music from the “good ol’ days.” I listen to a lot of hard rock. That’s where I get my inspiration.
-Hisashi: I get my inspiration from negative emotions of things like books and paintings. Musically, I love 80s hard rock. Especially Motley Crue.

Roger - Where does your visual inspiration come from?
-Hiroshi: I usually combine the ideas Goshi gives me with the ideas in my own head, which come from my own favorite movies, anime, and bands. After bringing our ideas together, I try to blend them with Suicide Ali’s concept, and I guess that’s where it all comes from. Where do your ideas usually come from, Goshi?
-Goshi: I look at Salvador Dali paintings, and ideas start to flash in my mind.
-Yuu: I don’t get my inspiration from anyone in particular, but I guess maybe the usual stuff inspires me and I don’t realize it.
-Hisashi: As for me, my image is a sort of halfway point between male and female. Basically, glamorous – except I’m not quite that shiny.

Roger - Who writes Suicide Ali's music?
-Hiroshi: Up until now our songs have been primarily written by Goshi and myself, and he writes the lyrics. When I’m about halfway done with a song, I have each of the other members listen to it, then I pass it on to whoever comes up with a good idea for finishing it. That’s how I’ve done it so far. Recently Yuu has been writing new songs that are a little different… Yuu, how would you describe your method?
-Yuu: When I write a song, I basically just finish as much of it as I can, as well as I can, and leave the vocal melodies up to Goshi. I just point out the parts I think are most important, tell him to do his best, and leave the rest to in his hands.
-Hiroshi: So Goshi creates the melodies.
-Yuu: Right.

Roger - Were the current Suicide Ali songs written for Suicide Ali?
-Goshi: I can’t write a song unless I can see images in my head to create it from. So all of our current works were created based on the world view and outlook of the band, and then put into their final musical form.

Roger - Has the band run into any difficulties?
-Hiroshi: One thing that’s always been really difficult is how lonely it can be as a band member. There are times when you really want to be with someone, but we’re still in a position where that would be pretty much impossible. So I think being unable to share a relationship with someone is the most painful thing.
-Goshi: I wanna do a live show soon!
-Hiroshi: In our present situation, there are a lot of circumstances that force us to focus strictly on band activities in preparation for starting to get out and play live shows, so I hope we can present the band to everyone as soon as possible.

Roger - Has Suicide Ali gotten many girls? Alot of Sex?
-Yuu: We have lots of girls! On a good day I can have sex 5 times. I can last 24 hours, though.

Roger - What do you guys do in your spare time?
-Hisashi: I like to relax with a coffee in one hand and just not think about anything. Having Motley Crue playing in the background is the best.
-Goshi: I’m a real Dandy. Very chivalrous. I also watch movies and read books. Recently I’m really into philosophical and psychological stuff too.
-Hiroshi: I watch a lot of Yahoo streaming video, and I also like Japanese comedy. I like playing games too.

Roger - What is your favorite alcohol?
-Yuu: Whiskey. I don’t drink weak alcohol, because it tastes like crap.
-Goshi: You just like the fancy stuff.
-Yuu: As for brands, I drink a lot of Old Parr and Hennessey.
-Hiroshi: I like Keika-Chinshu (a Chinese olive liquor). Keika-Chinshu soda-wari is my favorite. Do they have those in America?
-Yuu: Probably.-Hiroshi: You think so? How would you translate that?
-Yuu: Soda-wari? Hmm… it has soda mixed in for carbonation, so… it’s like a cocktail, right? Yeah, cocktail. It’s like a cocktail.

Roger - What did you think of the 3 Matrix Movies?
-Yuu: I wasn’t really interested. I think Hisashi said he wasn’t really interested in the Matrix either.
-Hiroshi: The first one was really interesting. The main character started out weak but ended up really powerful. I got kinda worried when he went flying at the end.
-Yuu: Did you see the sequels?
-Hiroshi: I did, but… well, in the second one, the highway scene was pretty cool…
-Yuu: I haven’t seen it at all, so…
-Hiroshi: Smith shows up a lot in it.-Yuu: Smith?
-Hiroshi: Other than that there’s not much to say about it.
-Goshi: Isn’t that the second one?
-Hiroshi: That’s what I said, the second one. Anyway, that’s my opinion.

Roger - Do you enjoy videogames? What are some of your favorites and why?
-Hisashi: Metal Gear Solid. It’s interesting to see how good you can get at making your way through it. Hiroshi, you like RPGs, right?
-Hiroshi: Yeah, I do.
-Goshi: Which RPGs?
-Hiroshi: Like, the Final Fantasy games. Goshi, you’ve played those too, right?
-Goshi: Yeah. Final Fantasy 10 was great. I couldn’t stop crying.
-Hiroshi: The story was really well done. It was interesting.
-Goshi: Sin is really strong.
-Hisashi: It was good, wasn’t it?
-Hiroshi: Yeah, it was good.
-Yuu: You’ve played it?
-Hisashi: Yeah. I beat it.
-Goshi: I thought I’d never beat it.
-Hiroshi: It makes you feel like you’re immersed in the fantasy world of the game. It’s a cool feeling.
-Goshi: You don’t sleep. You get so into it, and before you know it, it’s tomorrow.
-Hiroshi: I play action games on occasion too. There’s one called ICO… it’s really… how would you say it?… I guess you’d call it a fantasy world. It has a really simplistic feel to it. It’s really fun.

Roger - Do you have any random insane stories that have happened to Suicide Ali?
-Yuu: I don’t think anything like that has really happened… but we do have a major announcement for you guys. Hiroshi?
-Hiroshi: We will finally be bringing in a bassist. This is really major news for us. With all five members, we can finish creating the world of Suicide Ali and go on to play our first live show. I think we’ll be uploading all the details on our new bassist at our homepage very soon, so please look forward to that.

Roger - Where did the name "Suicide Ali" originate?
-Goshi: “Ali” is Arabic for “supreme,” or basically “perfect.” So altogether, the name means “the perfect suicide.” But it carries stronger implications than just a band name; it’s more like the title to a long novel containing everything we want to express as a band from now on.
-Hiroshi: I think everybody goes through their entire life wondering what they should be doing, and searching for their own reasons for living. Another way to put it is that we’re all looking for our own personal ideal way to die. That was the idea we had in mind when we turned that concept into our band name.

Roger - What are your current activities in Japan?
-Yuu: We don’t have any live shows scheduled yet, so currently we’re writing songs, getting together as much as we can, and making preparations for our first live. We’ve made plans to start recording, so I think we’re moving along pretty well.
-Goshi: I want to play a live show soon!

Roger - Will you make PV's? What kind will you make?
-Hiroshi: I really want to make one. If we can, I want to make it in a desert or something, and give the image of us traveling through various places.
-Goshi: I’d really like to go to a desert. We should definitely make one in a desert.
-Hiroshi: The image of a desert would be perfect for Suicide Ali. But then, if we threw in some occasional shots of something like a forest, I think that would make for a really interesting contrast. And that’s the kind of thing that would fit perfectly with our concept.

Roger - What do you not like about the current Japanese music scene?
-Hiroshi: Tickets to live shows are really expensive.
-Goshi: They are really expensive.
-Hiroshi: There’s so much good music out there. It really sucks when you can’t go experience that at live shows.
-Yuu: I think, here in Japan, Japanese music is kept very separate from the music of other countries. They’re kept separate on the charts and everything, and it’s like they’re two entirely different things that can’t even be looked at in the same light in the Japanese music scene. I can’t stand that.
-Goshi: I feel the same. There’s so much great music in the world.
-Yuu: The fans are totally different between the Japanese and non-Japanese music scenes, so it’s like the two groups can’t accept each other in Japan.

Roger - Do you have any plans for America? Will you tour here?
-Yuu: Our plans for America… well, if you guys listening to the radio right now like even one of our songs, and would like to see us perform, we would love to go there and do a live show.
-Goshi: I wanna go there!
-Yuu: I’d like to just visit there normally too.
-Goshi: Me too! You’ll be my guide, right?
-Yuu: Me? I’ve never been there. Well, except passing through on the way to Mexico.
-Goshi: Can you speak the language?
-Yuu: Oh, I can speak it pretty well. But only body language.
-Goshi: Well, that could be a problem.
-Yuu: I’m very adaptable.
-Goshi: Then maybe I better stay in Japan.

Roger - When will your first CD be released? How can Americans buy it?
-Goshi: I think we’ll release a single with just one song before we release an album. We’ll work it out so you can order it from our homepage.

Roger - What are your goals?
-Goshi: It’s really hard to just name one thing. I guess I want our works to be popular on a global level, and I want us to become established. I don’t want our music to just come and go. I want to leave a mark on the world somehow. Even if no one understands the words, I want our message to be conveyed across language barriers. I want to be able to move the hearts of people all over the world.

Roger - Do you have anything you want to say to your new American fans?
-Goshi: We’ll do our best to write good songs, make good videos, and meet up with you all, so please be waiting for us.
-Hiroshi: We’ll definitely go to America someday, so look forward to it. Keep supporting us.
-Yuu: There isn’t much information available on our band yet, but keep checking our homepage.-Hisashi: We’re only just beginning, so get your friends to listen to Suicide Ali’s music. Finally, to all of you in America: I love you!


Special Thanx go to Becky for translating and writing this up!

-Roger