Morrie (Creature Creature) x Atsushi Sakurai (Buck-Tick)
Text : Eriko Ishii

Decadence, its eternity

"I think that my wish to become eternal is very strong" (Morrie)
"It's the feeling of being attracted to that which becomes songs. And I could sing that several times" (Sakurai)

Well, no explanation is needed. I'd like you to read carefully each word, each sentence. Creature Creature = Morrie who, after have left his noble marks as Dead End~solo, has come back on stage after 11 years and Atsushi Sakurai of Buck-Tick, band that has just entered its 21st year of career. The god of gothic and the decadent satan meets here

- Can you tell us how was your encounter.

Morrie : Well we made our debut at the same era, and our record company was also the same one. But we met in the real meaning when I was once invited to a radio show. That was the first encounter.

Atsushi : That's right. At first, the 5 members of Buck-Tick were doing a radio show, and we were told that we could invite a guest that we liked. But when Morrie-san and Joe-san really came, I was so ecstatic that I said something impolite.

M : Really ? What did you say ?

A : Ah, em, well, if you have forgotten then (laughs). It wasn't right, in my head I thought : "that wasn't my intention, what I'm saying isn't right".

M : Hahaha. But you know, I haven't kept at all bad memories. I remember well the situation. Sakurai-kun and also U-ta were talking, right ? And the three others didn't say one word.

A : Since that program ended very quickly (laughs).

M : Then, as I was doing my solo career and my second album was released, I was again invited to a radio show.

A : Yes, yes, I remember that. You were invited to the Nack-5 radio, and we two chatted.

M : Maybe we haven't seen each other since then ?

A : Since then... actually we saw each other somewhere in a pub. Anyway it dates back more than 10 years.

M : Right. I mean, I hadn't yet thanked you Sakurai-kun. Last year a best album for my solo career was released and Sakurai-kun wrote a text on it.

A : Oh well, don't mind about it, really (laughs).

M : It simply surprised me. And I was glad that you wrote something like : "I wish that you go on singing". When I hear that Sakurai-kun have listened to Dead End and my solo works, I'm so surprised.

A : Ah, really ? Well I quite... like, you know (laughs). I quite like a lot !

M : Hahaha ! But Buck-Tick or Sakurai-kun has his own world, right ? There is a precise Sakurai world.

- It's the same concerning you Morrie-san. I think that your both lyrics made of you the pioneers of Japanese gothic rock, and I wonder how, 20 years ago or so when these things didn't yet exist, you could establish such vision of the world.

M : Emmm... How was it in the old days. I read many horror and SF stuffs, so I think that this kind of image appeared densely. And when I was young, how to say... impulsive stuffs like, let's demolish everything, could appear in the foreground. So it was impulsion, and instinct for all the rest.

A : It's the same for me. When I think about it, no lyrics have really inspired me. At the beginning I read various persons' lyrics, but after all they were not mine. So I'm like Morrie-san, it was instinct. Only instinct.

- Your both lyrics especially have something that can't explain "which kind of facts occurred", this illusory side takes a great part.

M : As far as I'm concerned, since it's in an abstract sense I can understand to be interpreted that way, but my lyrics are all concrete.

- Ah, really ?

M : Yes. Like, I had a very terrible quarrel with my wife (all : laughs). The beginning is that. Then as I listen to the music several times, keywords, or words that will become lyrics appear in my head. And if at that moment I'm in the middle of a very terrible quarrel with my wife, inevitably this kind of facts appear passing through my filter. So, even if it looks fantasied, the process of creation is really close to reality. This is something usual, right ? But I mean... to begin with, I've never talked about these things with another vocalist (laughs).

A : I understand (laughs). But it's the same for me.

- In the process of writing the lyrics, do you consciously avoid as you can words of reality ?

A : No, I don't really do that. Realistic words can be interesting according to the way you combine them. And I don't neither use words that no one knows.

M : You know, in the end what would be ideal for me is to obtain something like incantations that have no sense. Since even if the lyrics are uninteresting, if the music is good then we can listen to it. But concerning the Japanese music, it often occurs to me that even if the music is quite good, it's weakened because of the lyrics. Well I guess it's a matter of taste. But in the contrary, I'd like to know what is the current tendency in Japan.

- Emmm, nowadays there are lots of type of songs that pour out worries and pain.

M : They pour out their worries ? Ha-, and what do these people do by pouring that out ?

- They pour it out, but let's do one more step forward, I think that it's about this kind of thing.

M : So in the end they are positive ?

A : Nfufufufu, yes.

M : Well I won't say that I don't understand that but... how to say, after all it's a happy end ? (laughs).

A : It seems that they prefer that. If there isn't this "but let's hold out", no one would probably listen to them (laughs).

M : It's always been like that since before. This way they try to please people. But I prefer what is unhappy, since before.

A : Ah, just like me. I understand that.

M : Whether it's movies or novels, I like when the end is unhappy in the worst way. That's really my taste. In the case where it ends happily it looks false, like if they lie to me. This is something like an instinct that I've cultivated since I was a kid. That's my nature. I can't do anything against that. But people look for happiness, somewhere they look for hope, right ? Of course, I myself have my own hope, but when it ends by "let's hold out"...

A : We'd like to say : "pay us back the money !".

M : Yes really. In your lyrics you also talk about Eros and Thanatos, but without any doubt Thanatos is the strongest. The death drives strongly appear. I think that, in the end, the fact that this grotesque side, these drives for basic attacks appear by creating, is something right. Since it's about the Thanatos which exists at the origin of humans beings. But from the moment that your attacks are oriented to the exterior it's alright, but when you do that too much and reach your limits, such energy returns to you. And when this need to attack comes back to you, it's something harsh. You become masochist and you start attacking yourself. You can't say anymore that people are to blame, you tend to think that after all you are the one to blame. At that moment, what is waiting at the end is inevitably death, you have no other choice than to die. Then, how can I survive without committing suicide... Talking in an extreme way, it's about this kind of problem.

- In the lyrics of you two, the word "death" often appears, but I think that you don't simply admit death. There is something else than that, how to say.

M : ... You mean that there is something behind death ?

A : ... In my opinion there is nothing (smiles). But I think that from the moment that you still only play with that as words, it's still alright. It's not a serious attitude to say "play", but there is an indulgence. Indulgence that the words themselves hold.

M : After all Words are words. Even if you say "death", you won't die.

A : But if you consider it seriously, it can become even more realistically dark. That's why I tend to change it in a more romantic expression.

M : Sakurai-kun, from time to time you have hope. Especially with your solo work. "Ai no wakusei" for instance is a very positive song according to the way one gets it.

A : That's true. Somewhere I've voluntarily left hope there. I thought that maybe I can't get a balance if I don't do that at least once.

M : That's what happens in the end. Like I said a moment ago, if you go on destroying what is around you, or yourself, what waits for you can only be death. It's easy to say : "then I should just die", but then there's absolutely no sense. After all, at each period there is always somewhere something that saves you.

- But then, I wonder why this hope is linked to the word "death".

M : Probably, and this is linked to that wish for death, somewhere I wish to become eternal. Even if it's about things of everyday life, I make them even more abstract, and by rendering them common, I want that way to make myself eternal. I think that Sakurai-kun's tendency is also of this type.

A : Yes (nods).

M : After all I want to make that abstract, and erase the smelling of the everyday life. I think that my wish to become eternal that way is very strong.

- To become eternal... it's a very convincing phrase.

M : That's death drives. That's Thanatos. I'm not interested in ephemeral things, I myself want to also become eternal.

A : Yes. I can't speak as good as Morrie-san, but... It's the feeling of being attracted to that which becomes songs. And I could sing that several times. Maybe that's to be eternal. Like I wish to die successively, that only once isn't enough (laughs).

M : And you can interpret it in various ways. I like a lot Souseki's "Kokoro" (note : heart) and I often read it. But each time I read it, I wonder : "Why did 'Sensei' commit suicide ?" I read it once every several years, and each time I think : "why did he commit suicide ?". And the fact to investigate that thoroughly each time has become a kind of life work.

- Ahahahaha !

M : This is also about free interpretations. I don't know at all what Souseki-san thinks about. But it's a story which makes me want to know more, and that's probably how are convincing novels. So, each one has his own interpretation, and it would be good that they could enjoy various stuffs, and feel their life more or less fully.

- After you talked about people's life and life work my question could seem sober, but what usually your life cycle in New York looks like ?

M : My life cycle. Well, it's different according to the periods... these last months I've been doing recordings. But in my usual life where I don't think about all these things, well in the morning I have breakfast with my wife, together. And I'm the one who prepares it.

- Hee. So you are someone quite meticulous ?

M : Hmm, well I can be meticulous for some things, and not for other things. But the Japanese are probably more meticulous. People there are far to be meticulous (laughs). For example, I make tee for the breakfast, and I'm someone who rather likes to respect the time of infusion. According to the type of tea, I measure the exact time. But the American don't do that, they don't measure the time.

A : What a sacrilege ! (laughs)

M : Yes (laughs). If you have to drink it, rather making it so that it's delicious. That's how I've inevitably become the one who makes it.

- I'd like to ask you, you were saying that you can't like the happy ends. I understand that but, as far as I'm concerned, I'd like to think that a marriage is a happy end.

M : Yes, that's right.

A : Yes, I understand that.

- While you are living your married life, how do you go on keeping your personality ?

M : Maybe a balance... Hmmm, simply said, maybe it's like staying together while repeating unhappy terrible quarrels some times.

A : I of course wish the happiness for my family. But my personal taste for movies, novels, and also music, goes inevitably for what is simply sad, dark, painful. I think that my private life and the items that I like can be completely different, I still like Dead End and Morrie-san, and this has absolutely nothing to do with marriage.

M : After all, what caused to us a shock when we were young remains eternal. Moreover, inside each of us there is a heavy story, so it's not about an emotion af today or yesterday. I also have stuffs that I've liked since before, that I still like, and that I'll always like in the future. If I don't have these stuffs, then I would be someone who likes passing things, that don't last.

A : Yes, you're right.

M : After all every one has inevitably something that is irreplaceable. The more you gain experience, the more you know what suits you, and this comes naturally. That's probably why our way of expression has become like that. The fact that Buck-Tick releases constantly albums, and that their world becomes more and more dense, is at the same time something normal, and that deserves a really great admiration.

A : ... Thank you so much (smiles).