2009/10/02＊Chihiro

『Relatively true to my character. My longest entry so far.』

To those of you always expecting idiotic and dirty jokes from me, it might be wise to just skip this one. You won’t get laughs out of it.

“Cold H¹ e.p.”… was it? To everyone who bought it, I thank you. To everyone who came to the events I was in charge of at Shinjuku Tower Records and Shinjuku HMV, I thank you. To all those who went to the locations with the other members, I thank you as well. …If I act as the considerate band representative who’s being so thorough in his flattery, it’ll raise my public esteem, right? How’s that? I see. This is Chihiro.

I didn’t really want to particularly announce this. We were on the verge of the 9/30 events and I found that I had a lot more to say than I thought I would, but I’m writing it now.

I’ve changed my drums.
I’ll no longer be using Ludwig’s Vistalite.
From now on, I’ll be banging on Yamaha’s “Birch Custom Absolute”.

I’m truly, honestly and extremely happy and sincerely thankful that my former set, the “Blue Demon” as I liked to call it, had people who loved it as much as I did. It was worth using it. I must sound like the devil’s advocate when I say this, but that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

After getting into talks about an endorsement with Yamaha, I spent three months from spring until summer just seriously brooding on the matter. To be honest, there is some resistance to changing my set even from my own part. When I bought the Vista, I boldly thought it’d forever be my favorite. … but in the end, I only used it for two years.

However, as I’ve gathered more experience in concert, recording and other such work, I’m constantly getting more demanding about how my drums sound. As I grew more and more needy regarding the details of the sound, I realized this would be a good opportunity for me to do another honest self-assessment. After thinking about where I stand and my past as a drummer, taking into account my outlook hereafter, no matter how many times I thought it over, the conclusion I came to was Yamaha. Although there are a great number of splendid people, too, Japan is still a hugely underdeveloped country when it comes to drummers. It wasn’t originally in our culture, see. As a Japanese drummer, I wanted to work together with Yamaha who insists on having everything “Made in Japan“; with Yamaha, who made “Recording Custom” known worldwide.

Until now, I was using the Vistalite while placing importance on appearance but now, as I’m paying more attention to sound, I’ve stopped bringing fashion into music.

And with that, I already recorded “Cold Edge” with Yamaha. This might be something you wouldn’t notice or pay any heed to unless you were a drummer, but comparing it to the sound of Termination～VAMPIRE, you have to admit that the range is remarkable. The lows on the kick and so on. For better or worse, the Vistalite can’t put out more than well-rounded middles, so I always had to rely on the mix or PA… something everyone does, sure, but it had its various negative handicaps.

Mmm.
I shouldn’t really be saying that, though.

As a musician, I think about how to mesmerize and satisfy my audience, without saying anything, without supplements, just with the sound of my instrument alone. Well… the Japanese are a race who dislike change but even so, saying that the Vistalite has become established as the color of 9mm, hearing “won’t you go back to using Vistalite?” from fans, I’ve realized I just don’t have the energy to deal with that. The girl who said “I like the blue transparent drums better” to me, she was doing so in all seriousness. Like, high school baseball level serious. However, I also changed my set in all seriousness. Although we clashed because we were both serious, it can’t be helped. Because ,hey, we were both being dead serious — there wouldn’t have been a war if it wasn’t for that.

…

…Taki and Takuro changing into brand new guitars, Haruki Murakami writing depictions about sex, horror movies openly showing massacres… even though I’m not making making that many waves, why does it always result in repercussions with me…? I really don’t get it. “Living sure is such a bother” it makes me think, to be honest. But, it’s also reeeeeeally fun.

Well, this sure has been an annoying, formal, damn sultry entry, but all of it is my true feelings.

And with that, from now on succeeding the “Blue Demon“… joining Chihiro Kamijo will be the “Blue Devil” of Yamaha. Please give 9mm your continued support.

Ah man, I let too much of my true feelings show because of my drunken momentum. To top it off, this is way too long. Even though I myself wrote something like “I hate people who are too sultry” somewhere. That must be because I am one of those people myself.

What’s that, I’m trying to look too cool??
Alright alright, I hear you. ◯nko. ◯nko.

Do you put the “chi” from “Chihiro” inside that “◯” perhaps? The “ma” from “Yamaha“?² Well, let’s think about that in groups.

(Attachment: Yamaha)

¹ “H” = “sex”
² “chinko” = “dick”, “manko” = “pussy”