Why X Japan
disbanded.....
On
September 22 1:00pm, X Japan held a press conference and
announced that they were officially disbanded.
After 17 years, they have finally decided to separate, because of
their creative and directional differences.
The Press
Conference
Yoshiki>
Uh, Thank you for coming here today........ Uh, As of today,
September 22, X-Japan will disband. Uh, Actually, Toshi, who was
our vocalist, told us he wanted to leave X-Japan on April 20 of
this year........... the reason being, creative differences
and.... directional differences. We tried to talk him out of it
but .......................... excuse me
......................... he had made up his mind so we respected
his decision and ...... accepted his withdrawal..... after that,
the rest of us discussed this situation many times as we
conitnued recording. The withdrawl of a member, who was with us
for 17 years since the start and who was also my good friend, was
very hard on me ..... At that point we thought of finding another
vocalist, but X-Japan has many songs which were written with his
vocals in mind, so continuing on from here would have called for
major changes..... I've thought it over manytimes, but at this
point I've determined that disbanding could not be avoided......
to all the staff, the people at the record companies, the people
of the media, and above all, the fans who were our emotional
support, I'd like to say "Thank You" with all my heart.
Thank you for everything up to this day.
When did you decide to disband?
Yoshiki>
about 2 months after (Toshi'swithdrawal)...... I've thought about
it many times and uhhh... It was after his withdrawl, after April
20, uhh.. without him, uhm... you see, I was still working on
editing his vocals. The remainder of the record.... uh, we were
still recording.....and uh, during that time, I was chagrined, I
was sad... and well I couldn't bear that situation...... that's
what it was. About 2 months later, I decided.
Why did you choose September 22?
Yoshiki>
First of all, I decided on today, because...the album that's going to be released... there's live album that's going to be released right? The recording for that kind of stuff was all I could handle, so I wanted to finish that before I thought of anything else.. and..it wasn't any situation where I could come back (to Japan) so it was delayed until today.
What are the differences with Toshi?
Yoshiki>
Well, for us, it wasn't that...diff... X-Japan is after all.... the hard part of us which was originally there, we combined the hard part of us and the soft part of us, and we planned to continue in the same way, but...... I wonder, uuhm I didn't really ask him for details at that time so, if he thought about it long and hard and decided to do this, than those words (of withdrawal) seemed to have explained everything so yeah.... I guess it means his musical tastes have changed.
Will there be a concert after this press conference?
Yoshiki>
Right now, uhm, I am still speculating with the rest of the members.
There are plans for a new single to be released, but when will it be sold? Is this the last single?
Yoshiki>
Yeah, uhm, to tie up loose ends after his withdrawal.... with those intentions, I asked him to work with us on a final recording, if I wrote one last song. And so I got him to agree to that. That's why, probably, this single will be the last X-Japan single. As for the relese date, nothing is set, but I think it'll be in November... of this year.
What are the members going to do now?
Yoshiki>
Uhm, at this point, uh..... the final single,
and....we are busy speculating whether to have a final concert or
not. Uhm... he has already left, but... but we still have some
recordings to do... whether it be the Live Album, uhhm, well,
that Live Album was the main thing, but be it the vocal editing,
or some other recording, we had things that had to be done... and
well... after he left, hearing hisvoice everyday when we were
recording was too much to bear... I personally couldn't bear it
so... I talked to the other members and decided (to disband)
Is there a reason why Toshi isn't here today?
Yoshiki>
The reason why he isn't here today is, he has
already left so, he's no longer a member of X-Japan... from April
20.
What was X-Japan to you, Yoshiki?
Yoshiki>
Well, I've been doing it for 17 years
so.......... well it's like my whole life.
Comments from each member:
Pata>
uhhhhm, well, I am very greatful to all the fans and all the staff who've supported us till this day. It would be nice if we can see each other again someplace.
Yoshiki>
Yeah... well, uhm, I think X-Japan has come this far because of the fans. We've been selfish, had alot of accidents, and caused alot of people to worry, but thank you very much for cheering us on. I'm very greatful. The fact that we had to disband must make you (the fans) discontented, but please understand.
Hide>
uhh.... we've had our fans wait for so long, I apologize for that. Uhh.. we've been very selfish, but uhm... I'm sorry for this last selfish act, and thank you very much.
Heath>
Uhm, even for me, uh, I have lots of memories of X. Uhm, just like the fans, I would like to continue to love music, love X, and hold on to my dreams and expectations and continue making music. Thank you very much.
THE END........