THe PiNK SpIdER
PSYCHEDELIC VIOLENCE OF WORDS :
1. What makes a band visual? Is it solely about dressing up to present a particular image?
Aciel :
IMAGE is a big part of being visual. "Visual" refers to the perception of the eye, not the mind. The best examples of Visual bands are in the "Visual and hard shock magazine" called SHOXX.
A friend of mine, who is an X Japan fan, says that the term was first coined from X Japan's name : "Psychedelic Violence Crime of VISUAL Shock" on their album, "Blue Blood". Crossdressing and wearing make-up like women in males was a new phenomenon that X may have begun. Because there were bands before X who wore make-up as well (like Seikimasu) but they were the KISS-type.
Visual to me, is a band that is dressed to shock. The most obvious are the bands which wear women's dresses and clothes (crossdress) and wear make-up like women. They pluck their eyebrows, wear mascara, lipstick, foundation, things that a normal bloke just wouldn't do.
And they may wear these dresses or clothes to indicate a certain ROLE on the band. Like sometimes, the vocalist is dressed like a prince. And there is a member who is very effeminate who can compliment his role. Or sometimes, it is the vocalist who is effeminate. I have read once that this image of males crossdressing (TO SHOCK basically) was to imply androgyny. To appeal to both males and females. Whether it is true or not, I am not sure but I do know that I don't like these type of bands or guys.
The last most distinguishing aspect of Visual band is how they behave or present themselves on stage. Malice Mizer is a good example. They had pretty stage sets to accomodate their themes. Another one is Guniw Tools. But no all Visual bands are like this because Luna Sea present themselves as a normal rock band on stage (sans the pfazzaz).
Tim :
Visual Kei is not exactly a music style genre, so you cannot point to some music style and say, "That's visual rock", although there are exceptions. Visual Kei is more like a branch of fashion. So for most part, it is safe to say that the visual image is what defines a visual band. To quote the article UNVEILING the "VISUAL KEI" Part I, Visual bands are "rock bands that place a strong emphasis on a flashy visual appearance."
Now for the exceptions of Visual bands that are not only defined by their image, but also by their music, it might just be my limited knowledge or coincidence. but I do find that some bands' music style totally unique and fits only with their visual image, which leads me to believe that their music also defines them as a visual band. Bands such as Malice Mizer and Lareine has a very unique feel to their music which I have never encountered before.
2. In your opinion, in order that a band be labelled as visual, is it a matter of degree or otherswise? Matter of degree : E.g. light/heavy visual in terms of image, number of members in the band choosing to be visual etc.
A : Good question. Number one, they have to be in Shoxx. Shoxx magazine has to like this band because of their Visual aspect and Shoxx magazine will show this by consistently featuring that band. Because Shoxx is very picky about which bands they consider to be Visual and they also have their favourites.
Yes, I suppose that there could be some degree of Visual like what Tim was saying. Because Shoxx have featured the band SOPHIA and SOPHIA is hardly what I would consider to be a Visual band.
Glay are also Visual because they have been featured in Shoxx in the past, even though now Shoxx basically does not like to feature them. Glay could have a new single or video but Shoxx doesn't even feature them on the cover of the magazine. Unlike Luna Sea, even when they released something new, Shoxx put them on the cover of their magazine. but NOT Glay. So that's what I mean when I say that Shoxx had its favourites. Not to say that Glay is NOT Visual, I suppose they are, but Shoxx doesn't care much for them. And Shoxx is a very important Visual rock magazine.
It could also have to do with Glay. Glay don't go out and say that they are a Visual rock band. It's just Hisashi and recently Jiro who like to wear make-up. They wear make-up to appeal more visually to the fans (Hisashi has admitted this).
T : The degree of visual appearance does not make or break a band. Also, I think it is better to break down things into 2 parts. The genre that the band wants to take up sometimes decides the light or heavy use of visual element. Like Shazna took on a happy, glamorous image while Dir En Grey took on the dark, gothic image. But both these bands involve heavy make-up.
Then there are the light and heavy visual appearance, bands like Glay, I consider to be on the light side of Visual Kei because they use visual elements (i.e. make-up and clothings) only secondary to their music. it's a complement to them. Bands like Malice Mizer uses visual element side by side with their music, with a tremendous amount of emphasis on make-up and costume.
In order to be a visual band, it is not necessary to have a certain number of band members to be visual, as long as there is one who exhibits what is recognized as Visual element, then that band could be considered a visual band. Like the case of Shazna, Izam is the only one who has that visual appearance, but Shazna is considered a visual band, while other groups has all their members visual and they are considered visual as well. So quantity is not the issue, but the quality.
3. What separates a visual band from a non-visual band in terms of music and image?
A : Let's go with the extreme normal against extreme visual - Mr Children vs. Lareine. Mr. Children dress like your everyday blokes, look like normal blokes (they don't pluck their eyebrows or wear make-up and dresses). They believe in selling their music without having anything much to do with their image.
Lareine, on the other hand, is a band which consists of 4 members, one of which dresses like a prince and the other 3 dress like women. Extreme role-playing here. All the members wear make-up, yes, even the princely bloke. They all wear costumes and seem to have a role in the band. VISUALLY, you can tell which one applies to the Visual field and which one does not.
In terms of sound, that doesn't really matter much. You can't say that just because a band has a pop song that it's NOT visual. Shazna has a lot of pop rock songs and they are considered to be a Visual band. Yes, because Izam has role in the band. He is supposed to be a girl, OH YES, you better believe it. That's why he wears make-up like a girl and dresses like one. There is role-playing there.
You could say that Glay are also Visual but their music is rock. So having pop rock songs doesn't mean you're not visual. My friend says that Gackt and Malice Mizer are POP acts. From what I've seen, I agree.
So music styles doesn't cut the Visual field. You could be a pop singer like Gackt or a rock band like Luna Sea, but you're still VISUAL. It has to do with image.
T : On one very simple level, if you see make-up and great costumes, then that's visual, if not, then they are non-visual. The image of Visual bands are always dramatic. You see a lot of leather and metal for Dir En Grey which represents their gothic image while for Lareine, you find a lot of beautiful long dresses. elegant hair, flowers and fairies.
For the music between the visual and non-visual, it is hard to tell as I have mentioned before. I mean, as big and unique as the visual legend X Japan was, they are a rock band. But then comes the exceptions such as Malice Mizer or Lareine where the line between "visual music" and unique image blurs. I use "visual music" in quotes because there is no such phrase in Jrock, at least not in all my readings have I encountered such a word, but this is the only way I could think of to represent the sounds of some visual bands.
4. Can a band start out as non-visual and then proceed to being visual later?
A : I don't think so. If SPITZ (a non-Visual rock band) suddenly wore dresses and make-up, I think they would be considered more of a joke than a serious Visual rock band. The same goes for Mr. Children.
The way I see it, a Visual band can make the transition from being Visual in their early days to looking like normal blokes as they get older. Not the other way around. Like Luna Sea, they went from extreme visual to almost non-Visual (except for Sugizo) but I've never seen anywhere that a non-Visual band like Triceratops has any inclination to dress like women.
The thing is, I think that as a guy gets older, he gets tired of putting on make-up and dresses. And he also MATURES a bit.
T : Well, you never know. But usually, in most of the cases, the reason for a band to want to be visual is because they want to grab attention, to get that shockl factor to the audience so that the audience will remember the band better, As bands get more attention, they slowly drop the visual image. The only thing that I could come up with that's remotely close to the scenario that you have given me is that when you are an indie band, you don't have a lot of money to spend on costume and make-up and you tend to be more glamorous when you become famous later and you have the money to dress lavishly.
5. In your opinion, based on their history in the Jrock circuit, is Glay a visual band? Why or why not?
A : It's very debatable even though I've admitted up there that Glay are Visual. See, Glay right now don't give me the impression that they want to be dubbed a Visual rock band. I've always looked at Teru and Takuro and they are close to normal-looking blokes.
In short, they don't look Visual - not to me anyway. Plucking eyebrows is all they are guilty of most of the time and Teru once tried to quit that habit to try looking completely NORMAL. Yes, he grew out his eyebrows.
Another thing is that Glay tried to steer clear of Yoshiki's influence. They tried to make it on their own and they decided not to dress like typical Visual rock bands. Except Hisashi.
Hisashi makes Glay Visual. He plays out a role and assumes the identity of a woman. Jiro wears make-up too but it's not because he wants to be perceived as a woman. Hisashi is EXTREMELY Visual in Glay but he pales in comparison with some of the Visual people in Shoxx magazine and since I don't look at Hisashi, I never get the feeling that Glay are a Visual band.
GLAY (KUCHIBIRU) - Are they a visual band?
T : I definitely consider Glay to be a Visual band. During their indie days. they did use make-up for that feminine look that's a "must have" element in Visual rock bands and even now, Jiro and Hisashi uses make-up to get that shock factor from their fans, and Hisashi's occasional use of feminine clothing earns them enough cred to be a Visual band on the lighter side of my Visual scale.
6. We don't see a proliferation of visual bands in the American and British music industry. In fact, visual bands are virtually exclusive to the Japanese music industry. Is this an attempt to create a unique identity for Japanese music?
A :Visual Rock may be a Japanese phenomenon but I think it stems from a lot of Western influences. Like '80s hair band days in America - try TWISTED SISTER. And '70s punk and glam rock in Britain. Japan is still basking in old Western styles of music.
T : It is simply a cultural factor. Visual Kei involves, most of the time, taking elements from the opposite sex, since almost all band members are male. Japanese people are okay with the idea because it is a part of their culture. To quote from the article I quoted above Unveiling the Visual Kei Experimentation with Female Culture, Celebrations of the Empowered Individual, "In Japan, however, the traditional art form of Kabuki produced generations of male actors who played female roles, looking so delicate and moving with such gracefulness that it was hard to distinguish them from real women. Today, one sector of Japan's pop-rock "visual kei" movement duplicates the skills of their forebearers in the world of Kabuki and suceeds in doing what their Western counterparts could not do : Tap into the influences of female culture to create a truly appealing visual art form that enjoys widespread popularity."
But to the people of US and UK, they will simply brush it off and consider Visual Kei to be a perversion of adult male sexuality simply because they don't have the background. Plus what I experienced most living in the US is the homophobic factor. People might be okay with the Visual Kei idea, but they are afraid others would think that they are gay, so they act as if the element in Visual Kei to be the most perverse thing they have ever seen.
7. Do you think that there are any reasons for bands to go visual?
E.g. Rebel against the norm by men dressing up as women, identity crisis etc.
A : I'd say both. Because Hakuei of Penicillin is definitely what I'd consider to be CONFUSED. He initially started out dressing and looking like a woman and then he became a handsome bloke sometime in '98. But with Machine, he went back to crossdressing like a woman. Some things that I've seen about him or know about makes me believe in what I am telling you right now. I'm not out there to insult, it's just my honest perception of him.
The rebelling reason is also true. I think when X Japan started Visual, it was to steer clear of the norm and start something new. Other bands followed suit and dressing to shockl involves some sort of rebelling purpose here.
T : Bands go Visual for the attention that is generated by the shock of the audience seeing them that way. Plus "pretty boys" - boys with thin brows, delicate features are what's hot in Japan now, so naturally, you would want to look as hip and cool as possible and if going Visual would bring that, then Visual they go.
Most of the guys in Visual bands are normal with NO identity crisis. I mean, as pretty as Izam looked, he is absolutely normal. He was married, but got divorced and now has a new girlfriend. But... there's always the exception. I don't know but I am pretty suspicious of Mana of Malice Mizer. I said I am only suspicious, I am not saying that Mana has an identity crisis, it's just that... I don't know and since I have no evidence, I wouldn't make a judgment, but either way, Mana still has a great image.
8. There has been a prevalent discrimination against Visual bands and they have often been labelled as men in drag, transvestites, freaks of nature etc., provoking reactions of disgust. Do you think this is a fair label of the Visual bands? Why or why not?
A : Yes, this is a fair label because Japan is a very decent society. The Japanese don't really advocate their guys dressing like women. My friends - who are all Japanese - get turned off by the image of Visual bands, so you can't say that it's a Western way of thinking.
I have to agree with them. I don't need to see the bands I like in women's clothes. The bands I like in America all look like blokes. And the guys I like in bands in Japan like Teru, Takuro (Glay) and J (Luna Sea) all look like GUYS. I like the way they look NOW, like guys, and I HATE TO SEE J in Luna Sea's EARLY period, when he wore make-up and dressed terribly. I cringe! I would rather see him as a man.
I can't blame the Japanese because I understand their disgust. You don't need to look like that to present good music. Music is about sounds, not about image. And that's why I like the bands I do in America and Japan.
T : Well, it depends on where you ask this. If you ask this in the US, I could tell you, it's not a question of fairness or not. You could only pity those fools for such narrow-mindedness. If you ask the question in Japan and if people still label them as fags, then it simply means that Visual Kei is not for them, since they obviously would have the historical knowledge of where Visual Kei borrowed its ideas from, so I would imagine that with the knowledge, it's easier for them to accept the image. But everyone has their own taste, and indeed, Visual Kei might not be for everyone simply because it's so radical.
9. Do you think the Visual image adopted by the bands overshadows their music?
Note : Some bands choose their image first before adopting the genre of music to fit that image.
A : I have to tell you this now, I don't believe in bands who don't take their music as seriously as their image.
T : No, it is very hard to imagine the sucess Shazna would have with their music if Izam dressed like a normal guy and singing those sweet songs. The image is like the icing on the cake and for some bands, the visual and the music co-exists, they depend on each other.
10. As Visual bands have a rather forbidding image to most people out there, do you think this hampers their break into international markets and restrict their success to only the Japanese market (besides the language barrier)?
A : Sure, it's happening in Japan, isn't it? Because it's very difficult for a Visual rock band to make it into mainstream popular music EVEN IN JAPAN. Malice Mizer experienced discrimination. So did Luna Sea. Luna Sea can go places now because THEY HAVE SHED A LOT OF THEIR VISUAL IMAGE. But given the choice between normal looking bands to a Visual band rock band, the Japanese really prefer the former.
Glay's appeal lies in the fact that their music is pop-rock i.e. CATCHY and easy to listen to, and they do not really assume the persona of a typical Visual band. Hisashi and Jiro may like to wear make-up, but only Hisashi subtly assumes the role of a woman.
T : Yes, absolutely and I am saddened by it. Visual Kei is not only an idea but also, it is performance art. I would much rather see a Visual band's "live" concert than seeing the best of the American singers perform "live". It is soo much more exciting to see a Visual band perform.
Also, most of the times, Visual bands have beautiful lyrics, but to someone who doesn't understand Japanese, it's gibberish. Now combine gibberish with, what non-cultural orientated people considers crossdressing, you can understand why Visual Kei is not so popular outside of Japan.
11. We see bands like Luna Sea and X Japan starting out as heavily-visual bands but invariably, they either toned down their image or abandoned it in their later years. Do you foresee a decline of Visual bands in the future?
A : I HOPE SO! I don't like the Visual aspect of Visual bands and I hope they learn that IMAGE is NOT AST IMPORTANT AS THE MUSIC. You don't need to look like a woman to convey good music to society. American and UK already KNOW THAT.
T : Whatever goes up must come down. Unfortunately, I so foresee a decline in the Visual culture in the future. Visual Kei only feeds off the shock factor from the audience and there will be the day when the audience gets all the shock out of their system, because then, Visual Kei would be normal to them, then people will abandon it for something else. Fortunately, I don't see it now, it's not at that point yet, so I am glad.
12. In your opinion, what could be the possible reasons for these Visual bands to tone down their image? Do you see it as an attempt to attract more fans to their music by adopting a more mainstream image?
A : Yes. That's true too. But also because they know that in order to be accepted fully into mainstream society, they have to MATURE a bit. They can't always be wearing dresses and make-up. Especially when they know that it turns off their own society. And again, in the case of Luna Sea, I think guys just get tired of wearing make-up and looking like women to assume a role. The mature side of them knows that the music is more important than the image.
T : I believe they are, like most bands, got into Visual just for the benefit of attention and popularity that it would add to the band, so when they achieve that, they tone down or just drop it. I mean, c'mon, it's a hassel to put on make-up and make the hair all weird before each show, it's time-consuming. But that's in my opinion one of the reasons for bands to give up their Visual image.
13. Lastly, with regards to Glay's new image (Teru and Hisashi going blonde and Jiro wearing his hair long), so you think that they are progressing towards being Visual?
A : No. Hisashi has always been like that. It's nothing new. For Jiro, there is some progression to looking Visual but he still does not wear women's clothes because he doesn't want to be perceived as a woman. Not like Hisashi. I think for them, looking the way they do is normal and that won't affect Glay's music or image. They look the same as they have 3 years ago. And since Takuro's the one who writes the music, I don't know how Glay can be affected by either Jiro or Hisashi. Glay to me is somewhere on the borderline between normal and Visual and I think that's where they are going to stay.
T : Well, going blonde alone is not considered to be too visual, but depending on what Jiro will do with his long hair, we will see. But overall, I get the feeling that Glay is not planning on going to the heavier side of Visual image, and their light image suits them just fine.
*Special thanks to Aciel and Tim for agreeing to be interviewed and giving fans an insight into the world of visual and non-visual rock bands.
*All pictures on this page are graciously provided by Aciel.
