【Music school MI JAPAN】OB & OG MEJIBRAY MiA
Worrying is a waste of time!
If you are serious about what you do, you should proceed with your head held high.
[Profile]
Right in the eye of the typhoon of the Indie Visual-Kei scene, MiA is the guitarist of「MEJIBRAY」. On June 18th 2011, MEJIBRAY started their activities. Characteristic for the band’s guitar are aggressive but clear melodies and a heavy sound.
For starters, please tell us about why you layed your hand on the guitar at all.
「For me, it all started as I listened to Do As Infinity and heard their guitar sound. That must have been around my second year of middle school. It might be unexpected, but I really liked the songs Nagao Dai created. And so I tried playing Do As Infinity songs, but since I wasn’t capable at all when I just started, I had no choice but to actually take guitar lessons.」
And then, why did you decide on MI JAPAN?
「I was searching on the internet for “learning guitar”, and suddenly found myself on the homepage of MI JAPAN. That’s it!, is what I thought. I hadn’t heard of MI JAPAN before that though (laugh). When I first started with MI, I was attending the『summer sessions』. My teachers there were very friendly and made me really enjoy playing the guitar. When I first started off with playing Do As Infinity songs on my own, I had found it really boring (laugh).」
Worrying is a waste of time!
If you are serious about what you do, you should proceed with your head held high.
[Profile]
Right in the eye of the typhoon of the Indie Visual-Kei scene, MiA is the guitarist of「MEJIBRAY」. On June 18th 2011, MEJIBRAY started their activities. Characteristic for the band’s guitar are aggressive but clear melodies and a heavy sound.
For starters, please tell us about why you layed your hand on the guitar at all.
「For me, it all started as I listened to Do As Infinity and heard their guitar sound. That must have been around my second year of middle school. It might be unexpected, but I really liked the songs Nagao Dai created. And so I tried playing Do As Infinity songs, but since I wasn’t capable at all when I just started, I had no choice but to actually take guitar lessons.」
And then, why did you decide on MI JAPAN?
「I was searching on the internet for “learning guitar”, and suddenly found myself on the homepage of MI JAPAN. That’s it!, is what I thought. I hadn’t heard of MI JAPAN before that though (laugh). When I first started with MI, I was attending the『summer sessions』. My teachers there were very friendly and made me really enjoy playing the guitar. When I first started off with playing Do As Infinity songs on my own, I had found it really boring (laugh).」
Though these songs aren’t very difficult in technical matters, you weren’t able to play them instantly, were you? (laugh)
「I wasn’t (laugh). But the『summer sessions』made me enjoy playing the guitar very much, and in order to attend『MMS』, I had the teacher Yoshiaki (?) teach me in playing Metal music. I learned how to play Ozzy Osbourne’s 「Crazy Train」and Deep Purple’s 「Burn」, and with『summer sessions』, I also learned Jimmy Hendrix’「Purple Haze」. I really got into technical songs as I enjoyed playing them more and more.」 |
GIT or else are bringing forth lots of technical players like Paul Gilbert. I think, there are many people who believe that you can’t do good teaching when the pupil is not good yet.
「Definitely. In the beginning, I thought I’d have lots of hurdles in my way, but my teachers adjusted their teaching to my personal level. Though I couldn’t play a thing, they said “Well, isn’t it great that you want to give it a try?”, and made me go one step after another.」
They opened up routes that are manageable even for beginners.
「That’s right. They even set up the learning schedule so that one won’t forget the enjoyment of playing the guitar. If there was a specific song I wanted to play, my teachers would explain to me how to play the guitar in that song, they pointed out the sweet parts in the songs we played during practice, taught me specific ways of playing, and so on. It all made me feel, that it is possible to master the guitar after all.」
Since you began attending MI, what was your life like in terms of music?
「In middle school, I was playing every day for about 6 hours. Then, in my third year of middle school, I got together with classmates for a band. As a copy-band, we played in Livehouses and on the Yamaha Teens Music Festival. It is only natural that there were lots of people who aimed at becoming professionals, but being there - it may also be thanks to the private lessons with my teacher - made me think, “I might aim at becoming a professional”. That must have been after taking lessons for about one year. Starting from there, I didn’t only live in order to survive anymore, but I decided I’ll become a professional.」
So you were already determined in middle school.
「Right. Then, I attended high school, and at the age of 15, I passed the audition to be the support member of a major band with a loud play style, named Panda xiongmao. In MI, I attended『MMS』until my first year of high school, but as I turned a second year studend, I switched to the regular MI course I had already attented for a year.『MMS』had been one-to-one lessons, whereas the regular lessons were group lessons. But because tours and recording don’t leave any spare time, I had to quit MI after all. In the last time, I had switched over to training sweep and harmonic playing. It helped me being able to play songs I couldn’t play before. 」
Didn’t playing in a major band train you quite much?
「They were double the age of myself, so it truly all felt like learning new things. The staff from the recording company was very strict, they said, “The former support was way better”. But thanks to that, I also got trained mentally, I learned not to take it so personally. Before, I had great confidence in myself - for better or for worse - but there, it suddenly got smashed in one go. Nowadays, I find the experiences of that time helpful. I was supporting for about half a year. After that, I became a member of a band who did extremely catchy music. So I have only been following the music taste of the band I was playing with.」
「Definitely. In the beginning, I thought I’d have lots of hurdles in my way, but my teachers adjusted their teaching to my personal level. Though I couldn’t play a thing, they said “Well, isn’t it great that you want to give it a try?”, and made me go one step after another.」
They opened up routes that are manageable even for beginners.
「That’s right. They even set up the learning schedule so that one won’t forget the enjoyment of playing the guitar. If there was a specific song I wanted to play, my teachers would explain to me how to play the guitar in that song, they pointed out the sweet parts in the songs we played during practice, taught me specific ways of playing, and so on. It all made me feel, that it is possible to master the guitar after all.」
Since you began attending MI, what was your life like in terms of music?
「In middle school, I was playing every day for about 6 hours. Then, in my third year of middle school, I got together with classmates for a band. As a copy-band, we played in Livehouses and on the Yamaha Teens Music Festival. It is only natural that there were lots of people who aimed at becoming professionals, but being there - it may also be thanks to the private lessons with my teacher - made me think, “I might aim at becoming a professional”. That must have been after taking lessons for about one year. Starting from there, I didn’t only live in order to survive anymore, but I decided I’ll become a professional.」
So you were already determined in middle school.
「Right. Then, I attended high school, and at the age of 15, I passed the audition to be the support member of a major band with a loud play style, named Panda xiongmao. In MI, I attended『MMS』until my first year of high school, but as I turned a second year studend, I switched to the regular MI course I had already attented for a year.『MMS』had been one-to-one lessons, whereas the regular lessons were group lessons. But because tours and recording don’t leave any spare time, I had to quit MI after all. In the last time, I had switched over to training sweep and harmonic playing. It helped me being able to play songs I couldn’t play before. 」
Didn’t playing in a major band train you quite much?
「They were double the age of myself, so it truly all felt like learning new things. The staff from the recording company was very strict, they said, “The former support was way better”. But thanks to that, I also got trained mentally, I learned not to take it so personally. Before, I had great confidence in myself - for better or for worse - but there, it suddenly got smashed in one go. Nowadays, I find the experiences of that time helpful. I was supporting for about half a year. After that, I became a member of a band who did extremely catchy music. So I have only been following the music taste of the band I was playing with.」
What was it that you truly wanted to do, MiA?
「Since my third year in high school, I wanted to be a studio musician, a support member, do arrangements and such. Joining a band after successfully supporting them, was decided really spontanious, I wanted to play with a for me perfect band. A band that perfectly responds to my desires. … But at that time, it was said all the time that “Fast playing is forbidden”, which alone was a bit stressful for me (laugh). But then, after that catchy music band broke up, I got approached by MEJIBRAY.」 And with this, your previously hidden desires could break free. 「Definitely (laugh). The person who approached me, planned things like “Placing special emphasis onto fast guitar playing”, so I finally had the chance to play just the way I wanted. It’s a shame to quit with a band just because you can’t do what you like, you should try creating yourself a place where you can make it. Besides, back in school, I listened to Visual-Kei as it comes along with Metal, so I wasn’t opposed to that either.」 |
What are your favourite guitarists, MiA?
「My favourites are Syu (GALNERYUS, SPINALCORD) and Leda (ex.DELUHI, UNDIVIDE). Going more superior, there would also be Takasaki Akira (LOUDNESS), Fujimoto Taiji (ex.DANCER, †яi¢к) as well as Shiija (ex.Gargoyle, VOLCANO), etc.」
Some of these people mentioned are not unrelated to forming MiA’s guitar play in the last few years, right? (laugh)
「Exactly (laugh). I used to copy GALNERYUS, and I bought Syu’s book 『Syu:100%BOOK』for research. But actually, I couldn’t copy 100% of these songs yet back then (laugh). As for me, I like every genre that can amaze me, but if it doesn’t require much technique, I can’t sympathize with it all too much.」
Well then, what do you think about learning at MI, looking back at it now?
I’ve been really motivated. Syu, Shinichi Kobayashi (Jigoku Quartet) and Oomura Takayoshi (C4 and else) are doing the next courses, isn’t that simply amazing? Wanting to play like that, made me like fast playing. Besides, the pupils in MI are very fast as well (laugh). I think, the level of the pupils there is really high. And since the standart is so high, the chance to start a band afterwards is high as well. If I find some spare time, I’d like to go there again for lessons in engineering, PA or DTM.
From what we heard, it seems like attending MI really formed your present self in music related terms.
「That’s right. It is no exeggragation to say, MI JAPAN formed my play style. I’m sure that the phrases and riffs I use now, are all based on what I learned from my teachers, I simply added my personal style to it. Lately, I’ve been playing for others apart from MEJIBRAY as well, but it always comes down again to the theory I learned at MI.」
Amonst the people reading this pamphlet right now, there are surely some who are hesitating, do you have anything to say to them?
「I’m the type of person who thinks, hesitating is no more than a waste of time. If you are serious about doing something but you still hesitate, you might as well do your decision already (laugh). There are times when you make the wrong decision, but it all forms your character in the end. What I’m saying might be unreasonable, but if you want to do something, you must corner your goal efficiently. No matter if you’re worried or feeling down, time will keep proceeding mercilessly, you know. That’s why I think you need to keep your head high and try giving the best results.」
Aren’t you having any anxieties?
「I don’t. There might be anxieties hidden somewhere, but I’m keeping it tight so I don’t feel any anxiety, pressuring myself that I have to keep going. And what I now say is specially directed to the readers, you always have to be self-confident. You have to do what you want to do before you can even get worried, and the result will make you grow. You might fail day after day, but you have the strength in you to get over all obstacles. Worrying is no more than a waste of time.」
「My favourites are Syu (GALNERYUS, SPINALCORD) and Leda (ex.DELUHI, UNDIVIDE). Going more superior, there would also be Takasaki Akira (LOUDNESS), Fujimoto Taiji (ex.DANCER, †яi¢к) as well as Shiija (ex.Gargoyle, VOLCANO), etc.」
Some of these people mentioned are not unrelated to forming MiA’s guitar play in the last few years, right? (laugh)
「Exactly (laugh). I used to copy GALNERYUS, and I bought Syu’s book 『Syu:100%BOOK』for research. But actually, I couldn’t copy 100% of these songs yet back then (laugh). As for me, I like every genre that can amaze me, but if it doesn’t require much technique, I can’t sympathize with it all too much.」
Well then, what do you think about learning at MI, looking back at it now?
I’ve been really motivated. Syu, Shinichi Kobayashi (Jigoku Quartet) and Oomura Takayoshi (C4 and else) are doing the next courses, isn’t that simply amazing? Wanting to play like that, made me like fast playing. Besides, the pupils in MI are very fast as well (laugh). I think, the level of the pupils there is really high. And since the standart is so high, the chance to start a band afterwards is high as well. If I find some spare time, I’d like to go there again for lessons in engineering, PA or DTM.
From what we heard, it seems like attending MI really formed your present self in music related terms.
「That’s right. It is no exeggragation to say, MI JAPAN formed my play style. I’m sure that the phrases and riffs I use now, are all based on what I learned from my teachers, I simply added my personal style to it. Lately, I’ve been playing for others apart from MEJIBRAY as well, but it always comes down again to the theory I learned at MI.」
Amonst the people reading this pamphlet right now, there are surely some who are hesitating, do you have anything to say to them?
「I’m the type of person who thinks, hesitating is no more than a waste of time. If you are serious about doing something but you still hesitate, you might as well do your decision already (laugh). There are times when you make the wrong decision, but it all forms your character in the end. What I’m saying might be unreasonable, but if you want to do something, you must corner your goal efficiently. No matter if you’re worried or feeling down, time will keep proceeding mercilessly, you know. That’s why I think you need to keep your head high and try giving the best results.」
Aren’t you having any anxieties?
「I don’t. There might be anxieties hidden somewhere, but I’m keeping it tight so I don’t feel any anxiety, pressuring myself that I have to keep going. And what I now say is specially directed to the readers, you always have to be self-confident. You have to do what you want to do before you can even get worried, and the result will make you grow. You might fail day after day, but you have the strength in you to get over all obstacles. Worrying is no more than a waste of time.」