Magazines: Rock & Read feat. Aoi from the GazettE Pt. IV

Woo, part 4 is up! There is something seriously shocking to learn about Aoi in this one, so we won't spoil it for you, because it's fairly hilarious and disturbing all at the same time (*≧▽≦)♪ . You'll have to read on to learn more.

As usual, please do not post this entire English translation on your personal blog or website. Please link previews back to us, and credit us/let us know if you translate from us.

For a refresher, here are the links to the previous parts:

Part I
Part II
Part III

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I: What type of bands were you into?

A: Bands like Helloween, Megadeth. I listened to a lot of bands like them.

I: How did you make friends that were interested in music?

A: Around the third year of junior high club activities come to an end, and because everyone didn't have much to do, more of my friends started getting involved in music.

I: So you finally started to talk to everyone about music?

A: Yeah, and more friends were going “Come on, let's start a band!” Everyone would ask, “So what should we do?” I had no idea. So everyone started from square 1 that summer during the third year of junior high, and then afterward we formed a band.

I: Together with the kids you practiced guitar with?

A: Yeah, which is why our band had twin guitars, well we were a cover band and we covered bands like Ziggy. Oh! That's not from our generation! (Laughs) It really wasn't, but the band's bassist knew more about bands from that generation than us. He listened to a lot of cool CDs, but I don't really know why we covered Ziggy.

I: That's really unique for Aoi's generation.

A: Yeah, which is why, except for us, all the other bands covered Luna Sea. For some reason I can't play that kind of style—there's something about it that I can't do. My background is mainly in metal (laughs) and during that time Ziggy sounded kind of nice too.

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Follow Friday: Wonder egg

It's been awhile since we've done a Follow Friday, huh!

It's always fun wandering the cyberspace and finding an awesome new band, don't you think?

Well, one of our newest finds is Wonder egg, a wondrous (excuse the pun) band of the rock/pop genre.

Wonder egg consists of five members.

The current band members (from left to right) are Yu~dein, DJ Shachou, Yuki, Yone and Kimukimu.

The first three members are Yuki (vo), Yone (gt) and DJ Shachou (DJ) and are the founding members of Wonder egg.

We'd recommend this band to those who enjoy music from groups like UVERworld, flumpool, Ellegarden, GreeeeN and Remioromen.

The band has a softer rock sound but are still very upbeat. Another unusual twist is that they also have their own DJ who adds a unique flavor to their music.

Wonder egg is still a fairly new band, performing for the first time on April 22, 2009 at Shinjuku MARZ. Their first live performance was shortly after their formation in the same month.

Wonder egg members will also occasionally have street lives in addition to their live house performances.

The members also run their own online radio show called「We 家の食卓」(We at the home dining table) along with a video series called 「Wonder egg のくっちゃべり」(Wonder egg's noisy chatter).

The shows feature the band members, and the Noisy Chatter series mostly focuses on the antics of Yone, Yuki and DJ Shachou (along with some beer, usually some good food and an incredibly cute dog!).

The band's first single, 「光ヒラク」(Spreading Light), was released later that year in September 2009. In commemoration of their first independent project, they held their 「WONDER MARKET」event at Roppongi's morph-tokyo.

A second single, 「naked world」 followed in October 2010.


A PV, 「想い」(Thoughts, Affection), was also released with their「naked world」single.

For more information, be sure to check out these official pages:

OHP
MySpace
Youtube

You can also check out Yuki's, Yone's, and/or DJ Shachou's blogs.

For someone who is looking for fun and upbeat rock, Wonder egg is definitely a band to check out!

Those of you wanting to send fan mail their way, their email is wonder---egg@live.jp. They're a friendly bunch, so don't be shy!

You can also tweet to Yuki, DJ Shachou or Yone to tell them how much you love them and their work.

What do you think of Wonder egg? I personally like how upbeat their music is, and their lives also make them seem like a fun bunch to enjoy having a good time with.

Let us know what you think in the comments ⇓!

Also, if you're looking to keep track of our translations and such, be sure to check out our Twitter or Facebook. Or, you could just make it easy on yourself by following us via one of the methods to the side ⇨

Till next time!

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Magazines: Rock & Read feat. Aoi from the GazettE Pt. III

Hi everyone!

How many of you read the title and thought “Oh! About time!” nervous laugh

I checked the last time part 2 was posted and I thought “Wow, it's been quite sometime...yikes!” Anyhow, after letting it sit for some time I've finally have part 3 done! Hooray hooray! This time around Aoi tells us his motivations for getting into music, and many other things that came after that.

As usual, please link back to us and do not copy and paste this entire English translation to your personal website/blog/etc.

Without any further ado, onto Aoi and what seems to be his brother complex.

For those who haven't read the previous parts or need a refresher, the links are below.

Part I
Part II

Enjoy♪

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I: And now back to the original question. I would like to ask about when you first started music. Did you have many experiences in music back when you were little?

A: I had my older brother's used record player but I didn't have any records to play (laughs). Sometimes in kid's magazines there are supplementary vinyl sound sheets attached and so I'd listen to those.

I: Did your parents like music and did your sister and brother listen to music at home often?

A: My parents...well it would have been nice if they liked classical music but they were Enka* fanatics.

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