Mirror Twins
*** translator's notes are in [ ] brackets
Another me reflected in the mirror
"Romanticist and Realist"
"Conservative and Aggressive"
In the individualistic group of Fatima, the top 2 (!?), Sanaka and Lay, recognize each other, and bond over their "contrastive personalities." This time, these two talk so as to inspect the differences between themselves. Up till now they haven't joined together in such a fashion. Now, even fumbling with words, their breathing is exactly the same ....
SHOXX: In the first place, how did you two come across each other, what attracted the both of you to each other?
Sanaka: Truthfully, we're siblings.
Lay: The shocking truth is finally coming to light.
Sanaka: We've hid it, but we're actually twins.
SHOXX: Ooh ... Born from different mothers?
Sanaka: Hahahaha! If that were true, we wouldn't be twins now would we?
SHOXX: (laughs) So, who was born first?
Lay: It happened on highway 16.
Sanaka: Oh, that's a good place to give birth, isn't it?
SHOXX: What about highway 16?
Lay: Coming from Yokohama, it passes through Hachiouji, Saitama and Chiba, and always during the dead of night around 2 A.M, I would pass by this same guy around the Saitama area. We were both on motorbikes.
Sanaka: I would be coming from Kashiwa while he would be coming from Hachiouji, and for some reason the both of us had tied balloons to our motorbikes.
Lay: That's right! (laughs)
Sanaka: That was an extremely original idea, and I had thought for sure no one else would ever think to do such a thing -- and then here comes a guy with a balloon tied to his motorbike! I was like, are you serious!?
Lay: (huge laugh)!!
Sanaka: Every night we'd see each other, and soon we both became aware of it.
Lay: And then, one night, I came to the place where we would always pass by each other, but he wasn't there. I was thinking, What's going on? He's not here ... I went a little bit further along and saw that he had fallen.
Sanaka: I had fallen?
Lay: And so I asked, 'Are you ok?' And when I came close, his long hair fell loose in a rustle.
SHOXX: Oh like a girl's! How amazing!
Lay: And so we talked a little bit, and we found out that we both liked bands.
SHOXX: Wow, what a fast development.
Lay: It was just that kind of meeting.
SHOXX: And from there you two have had a long friendship, but why have the two of you been together for so long?
Sanaka: At first I thought that we would share common features together, but after that initial contact I found that was completely wrong. We're exact opposites. Perhaps the largest thing that we have in common is the fact that we have absolutely nothing in common.
SHOXX: How about music wise?
Sanaka: As far as musically, we're both very different.
Lay: I feel that our musical tastes are further apart now than they were in the beginning. Back then the width of our music wasn't so wide, but since we've done various things, differences have steadily appeared. Though my tolerance level has grown. His origins are in the metal scene, while mine are in the punk scene. They're compeletely different!
Sanaka: First off, I've completely detached myself from antagonism, and as such, I can't listen to punk music.
Lay: And I can't listen to metal.
Sanaka: Bands like the Sex Pistols, I just really can't listen to them. If something is good, I just don't know.
SHOXX: For people who like metal, punk probably isn't very satisfactory, huh.
Sanaka: I think the fashion is cool, just not the music.
Lay: Metal isn't very stylish.
SHOXX: I get this image of sweat-soaked long hair ...
Lay: Also, I feel like it's a little bit about showing off, with things like huge guitar solos!
Sanaka: (laughs) Those are some basic tenets of metal, aren't they?
SHOXX: I dislike when scenes have those 'must do' tenets, but what can you do about it. And so, with the exception of music, what's the largest difference between the two of you?
Lay: Our personalities.
Sanaka: Lay is a realistic person, and I'm an unrealistic person. That's our first difference.
Lay: For example, decisions that are made about the band is another place where this is shown.
Sanaka: He's aggressive, and I'm fairly conservative. With me, I get defensive pretty easily.
Lay: He crosses a stone bridge by tapping on it. [ Japanese proverb that denotes an overly cautious person. ]
SHOXX: Realistic and unrealistic, aggressive and conservative .. anything else?
Lay: Positive and negative.
Sanaka: Those became the three pillars of our character development.
Lay: We both hate human beings, but if he sees something horrible in reality he's the type to avert his eyes, while if I see the same thing, I'll react with, 'That's how it is.'
Sanaka: I can't accept things like that, while Lay looks them straight in the face.
Lay: He goes to an unrealistic world, sort of like Disneyland, and while I remain in the real world, horrible things don't tend to affect me. My point is we feel the same about certain things, but the way that we deal with them is completely different.
SHOXX: Ooh. So Lay-kun, have you been to Disneyland?
Lay: Now and again.
Sanaka: You don't really seem like you'd have much fun there.
Lay: (laughs) Well, people who really like Disneyland, don't they usually have certain ways to have fun. For example, when everyone gathers for the parade, the rides are pretty much open and free for all. You could ride Space Mountain as much as you'd like (laughs).
Sanaka: That way of having fun is heresy. I'm the type of person who likes to be up front for the parade, because that way the characters come close to you.
Lay: Hmm. I like how Disneyland handles thing thoroughly. You're not supposed to litter, and you can't see the outside world from inside the park.
SHOXX: What are your blood types?
Sanaka: We're both A type.
SHOXX: You're both A type, yet you're this different from each other.
Sanaka: I don't know why, but the other three members are all B type.
Lay: I guess we seem like we're A type (laughs).
SHOXX: And so, is there something that the both of you respect?
Sanaka: You could say this about all the members, but everyone has their own ideas and ways of expressing them, and we don't often say things like, ' He's really awesome ' to other members. Instead it's more like, ' I'm really awesome. ' I'm the best, kind of feeling (laughs). On the stage we're free to engage and interact how we feel is the best way. We leave each others charactes to themselves. This is something that we both respect, but I believe that each member respects this as well.
SHOXX: How about regarding Sanaka's lyrics?
Lay: I prefer negative lyrics.
Sanaka: You don't like pretty things.
Lay: Right, right, right. Human beings are dirty, aren't they? But thinking like that is negative. Still, I do like The Blue Hearts (laughs).
Sanaka: The Blue Hearts are pretty positive, aren't they.
Lay: I think that Sanaka's lyrics gradually become easier to understand. His lyrics are basically negative, and I like that type of thing. But not just his lyrics, I also usually find his serialization, Dandadida, to be interesting. The fact that he can do such a thing without studying shows that he has to have some talent.
SHOXX: He can't study ... (laughs).
Sanaka: hahahaha ...... (small laugh).
Lay: I probably know way more kanji than he does.
Sanaka: I'm terrible at writing. It must be pretty apparent that I haven't studied much.
Lay: But it still doesn't explain how you can write your lyrics with such a writing style. It just goes to show that time spent studying in school is shit.
Sanaka: Hahahahhahaha!
SHOXX: So with all that teasing, can you tell us a little bit about the upcoming show at Tokyo Kinema Club.
Sanaka: This time we're going to use the atmosphere of the actual live house. I'm leaving emphasis on the fact that this isn't your average live house. We'll be using things such as the set and the lighting as our weapons I imagine.
SHOXX: People that like that type of atmosphere will definitely like that mood that comes out of such a performance.
Sanaka: Right, I don't think it'll be like your typical popular show. What's important will be how we will utilize the space different from other bands who have used it before.
Lay: ........ Wouldn't it be better to say something more exciting? We will exceed all of your biggest expectations! ... Something like that.
Sanaka: But if you give too much away, they'll become uneasy.
SHOXX: Ah! That's where Sanaka shows his conservative side.
Lay: So you understand us now? It's exactly like that (laughs).
