| 1999.10.20 |
5th album [with Unlimited Records/mustard]-HEAVY GAUGE, is released. |
| 1999.11.20 |
Glay win the Grand Prix at the Yuusen Taishou Awards. |
| 1999.12.6 |
GLAY Official Fan Club HAPPY SWING presents [THE MEN WHO SOLD THE WORLD]. Produced by Teru. |
| 1999.12.12 |
[GLAY UNPLUGGED LIVE] in Osaka. Presented by FM802. |
| 1999.12.13 |
GLAY Official Fan Club HAPPY SWING presents [UNPLUGGED in Nippon Budokan]. Produced by Jiro. |
| 1999.12.16 |
GLAY Official Fan Club HAPPY SWING presents [RESONANCE VOL.1]. Produced by Hisashi. |
| 1999.12.17 |
[POETIC EVOLUTION], by Mori Yukinojo, is released. This album features Teru, Hisashi, and Takuro from GLAY as well as other famous Japanese artists. |
| 1999.12.23 |
[The Millennium Eve]-GLAY, LUNA SEA live in the Tokyo Dome. "A Christmas present for the people who love live a lot." Opens: 16:00, starts: 18:00. |
| 1999.12.29 |
GLAY Official Fan Club HAPPY SWING presents [Horeta onna wa toshi ue night]. Produced by Takuro. |
| 1999.12.31 |
[GLAY LIVE in MESSE "COME TOGETHER"] in Makuhari, Chiba. |
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[HEAVY GAUGE]
TAKURO: We had a plan to make our album heavier than our usual albums but we changed (our mind). We changed our direction when I saw the audience's faces in Makuhari. I already spoke about it in another interview when we released this album.
HISASHI: Our hotel room was strange.
JIRO: Is it okay to talk about small details?
TA: We had a 200 000 audience but we had only small stories.
JI: We had many plans for the EXPO. We enjoyed the EXPO because it was our first time to do such a thing.
TERU: We tried many things, such as appear on live radio shows which aired in the EXPO. I think it's good to have many memories. Not only the live.
-Right after the EXPO, you released [HEAVY GAUGE]?
TE: We had a campaign for [HEAVY GAUGE].
JI: (For) about 3 weeks. All of the members moved together.
TA: We talked for 10 hours in a day anywhere.
TE: All of us became irritable.
HI: Our amusement was when we went to personal computer shops (personcom) and bookstores, and go on the Internet. Inactivity. We read all the magazines which were sold at convenience stores except (title of a mah-jong cartoon).
TA: Thanks to reading, our talking ability improved. "Hi. GLAY quiz: On December 31, where will we have our countdown live? You can choose from the following 3: 1. Makuhari Messe; 2. Gambari maase ("we will try hard", sounds like Makuhari Messe); 3. Blah blah blah. We are artists but we say such silly things to each other.
TE: We used such experience for our PV effectively.
TA: Of course. I tried hard because the other members didn't talk.
JI: I tried to talk because TAKURO always talks a lot. I felt bad.
TE: In the end, TAKURO talked impatiently.
TA: We haven't changed since our indies period. But we are very lucky to have met each other and in this period, we met a lot of people, such as local radio station people.
HI: To be honest, I felt an uneasiness because when we released [HEAVY GAUGE], GLAY changed a lot. I wanted to know the impression of the songs.
TE: What can I say? A listener said, "I can't listen to GLAY's previously-released songs in the car but I can listen to this album." When I heard such an impression, I had a strange feeling. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing.
JI: This time, we had a tie-band with LUNA SEA. We realized that LUNA SEA's fans also listen to GLAY's songs. It was an experience for us.
-You guys are honorary citizens of Hakodate.
TA: I am grateful.
JI: This time, we also got the plaque which TAKURO wanted to have. (Laughs)
TA: Yeah, really. I already had a Yuusen Taishou in '99 and at the end of the year, I had a ceremony at Melpark Hall.
JI: All of the members said, "Thank you very much." After saying that, we had to play soon. One of the staff said to me, "Please stand by." Then click made a sound, "kachi kachi." Before long, the intro started. We didn't (even) have time to hold our guitars.
TA: At the time, we received a medal and a trophy. It's like the absence of a musician.
JI: TERU tried throwing the medal (while) trying to go to the mic. (Laughs)
HI: I realized it was no good when my body was positioned like a discus-thrower. (Laughs)
TE: It was no good. (Laughs)
JI: I had a trophy. Anyway, I put it beside me. I didn't feel its value.
End of 1999~opening of 2000
-Then the end of the year came soon after.
TA: Yes. We had a live which we produced 4 times.
TE: Each of the lives has its own personality, which each member has.
TA: When I did the tie-band with LUNA SEA, it was really great. I was really happy because SUGIZO and I always said, "We want to do something." Then we had a tie-band with LUNA SEA.
TE: We had a good time. After the live, I talked a lot with J. I heard that J wasn't keen on doing the tie-band with us. But they are professionals. They did very well. If we had a huge audience and appeared on TV, the band is the band forever. That's why J held hands at the last stage. All of the GLAY and LUNA SEA members appeared and on that night, he spent time with us.
TA: We were quite busy because we could have taken our offtime (during) this season, but we did our own produce lives.
JI: No wonder we were busy. Because in such a short period, we did 4 lives.
HI: The main live was the tie-band live as a result. The livehouse's name is Yaneura ("attic") but the located is the basement. TAKURO is Yaneura.
JI: On the 31, the Record Taishou and the Kouhaku and Countdown lives. We were quite busy. We almost travelled by train because there were big traffic jams and we couldn't afford to be late.
HI: We tried our best to not be late at our countdown live.
-Will lives affect GLAY's activity in the year 2000?
TA: I don't know. We are human. Maybe experience affects me. But we don't know what it is. After seeing the result, we will realize it.
TE: I think that [HEAVY GAUGE] is in itself, one of spirit. It indicates our intention. That's why our tour, where were play [HEAVY GAUGE], reflects what we want to do.
JI: I hope to have a concert where the audience and the players resonate from a deep point because [HEAVY GAUGE] is a very valuable album. |
