jkleinJRockRevolution was glad to have a chance to catch up with MUCC right before one of the stops of their recent mini-tour in the U.S.
Read on for the conclusion of our two part interview! [We talked a lot!]
PART II
JRR: What is the latest CD that you’ve purchased?
Miya: Trivium’s CD.
YUKKE: Perfume’s album.
JRR: Do you like idols?
YUKKE: No one in particular, but in general, yes.
SATOchi: I didn’t buy anything recently, but I rented a CD by Kakuta, a K-1 fighter. He was the mentor of Musashi. He sings Enka in the CD.
Tatsuro: CD that I’ve purchased…?? I don’t usually buy CDs, I either rent them or get them from people… The most recent one that I rented and liked is a dance mix album of Ghibli Studio songs mixed by DAISHI DANCE (DJ), called The Ghibli Set.
JRR: What are you into right now?
YUKKE: I like to write in our blog* (laughs). (*Note: http://ameblo.jp/mucc–69)
Tatsuro: What I am into now…?
YUKKE: Caribo? (Japanese gummy bear brand)
Tatsuro: That’s too sad to say…
YUKKE: Manga café?
Tatsuro: I always go there so it doesn’t count.
YUKKE: Bowling?
Tatsuro: Totally not into bowling.
SATOchi: Darts?
Tatsuro: No. Maybe the movies? Sometimes I watch a lot and then stop for a while, and repeat. Recently I’ve been watching a lot again.
JRR: What are some recent movies you’ve watched and liked?
Tatsuro: Dark Knight and WALL-E.
SATOchi: I’m into sauna.
JRR: Do you have it at home?
SATOchi: No, I go to sauna places.
JRR: Do you like to sweat?
SATOchi: I love to sweat.
JRR: Do you do muscle training?
SATOchi: I love muscle training!
JRR: What do you do to train?
SATOchi: Billy’s Boot Camp/Tae Bo exercise.
JRR: Do you do it everyday?
SATOchi: No, just whenever I feel like moving, I do the training and sweat, then I get into a hot tub and sweat some more (laughs).
Miya: I like to look at the cars here that are not available in Japan.
JRR: Do you drive in Japan?
Miya: Yes.
JRR: Do you look at the American cars?
Miya: No, not exactly; I like to look at the big cars, the US version of some Japanese cars, etc, since cars in the US are usually much bigger than Japanese cars. I like looking at those big cars.
JRR: If there is one power that MUCC has to change something in the world, what do you think that is?
Miya: Our music.
JRR: Is there anything in the world that you’d like to change?
Miya: I don’t want to change anything. I like it the way it is.
Tatsuro: There isn’t anything that I’d personally like to change.
JRR: Is there anything you think would be better if it were different?
Miya: It’d be good if the flight between Japan and USA only takes two hours, or if there are other ways to come to the US, like by train.
YUKKE: Me too.
Miya: Also it’d be good if we can have some days off.
JRR: Don’t you have any day off?
Miya: Not really.
JRR: How about SATOchi-san? Are you satisfied with the world as it is?
SATOchi: Yes, I like it the way it is.
JRR: That’s good.
SATOchi: Thank you (laughs).
Tatsuro: There is a lot of land owned by nations, right? I think it’d be better if they are owned by all the nations, so they don’t have to fight over the lands. They can just do rock, paper and scissors to decide who owns what (laughs). So if they lose, they just have to say Oh well, it’s all luck. Maybe by a raffle. No, raffles can be rigged, so rock, paper and scissors are still the best.
JRR: How about video game?
Tatsuro: No, because the stronger one will win, so something that is purely luck-based is the best. Coin toss is good too.
JRR: When Americans think about winter, the first things that come up to their minds include Thanksgiving and Christmas. What is winter to you?
Tatsuro: There are always a lot of live events at the end of the year, so it feels very festive, and then there’s the more quiet and relaxing time off for New Year’s. It’s a happy time; we have lots of fun at the end of the year, then we rest at the beginning of the year. I enjoy both times.
YUKKE: End of year parties, New Year parties, etc. I don’t really do winter sports or such, like I’ve never skied before.
JRR: Would you like to try it?
YUKKE: Not really interested. I’ve never even seen an actual skiing slope.
SATOchi: I get to go home to my parents. New Year’s the only time we get to go back to our hometown Ibaraki prefecture. We circle around the table and eat hot pot.
JRR: Will you eat toshikoshi-soba*? (*It is a tradition for the Japanese to eat soba noodles on New Year’s eve, and “toshikoshi” means to carry over the year)
SATOchi: No. (laughs)
Miya: It’s a time when I notice things that are warm, such as my own body temperature, since the surrounding is so cold.
JRR: YUKKE, do you tend to get bounded by unseen forces easily when you’re sleeping? Are you able to see “things?”
YUKKE: (Laughs) Yes, I get bounded quite easily, but I don’t walk around and see ghosts. It was really bad in New York, though.
JRR: You said you heard voices?
YUKKE: Yes. Usually if it’s not too strong, I can get out of it easily, but the presence in the hotel in New York was really strong, and he was saying something in English. Last night there was also something bounding me but it wasn’t as strong so I got out right away. SATOchi wasn’t so lucky last night, though. What was it? He got bounded by a female presence, and that presence said “Wait” to him.
JRR: “Wait?”
SATOchi: I kept on thinking what she wanted me to wait for, and thought, No way I’m going to wait, so I tried to fight it off but just could not get out of it. In the end, I said “Sorry.”
YUKKE: (laughs)
JRR: Did that make the presence go away?
SATOchi: Well, generally I don’t have the special ability to sense supernatural beings, so maybe it was my imagination.
Tatsuro: What are you talking about?
YUKKE: If that’s the case it wouldn’t have told you to “wait.”
JRR: Do you carry any lucky charms for protection? 
YUKKE: Yeah I have a lot.
JRR: So I guess they are not working?
YUKKE: No, they didn’t work.
JRR: In some random videos, and also in your blog, you and SATOchi are seen banging each other’s heads with the drum cover for fun. Does that actually feel good?
SATOchi: (laughs)
YUKKE: Yes, actually.
JRR: Doesn’t it hurt?
YUKKE: It doesn’t, really. You kind of lose your conscious for a fraction of a second.
SATOchi: When there’s something that troubles you, doing that makes you forget about it.
YUKKE: Yeah. It really doesn’t hurt as much as it seems.
JRR: Would you recommend the fans to try?
YUKKE: Yes, absolutely. We really put in all our strength when we do it.
JRR: Has Tatsuro and Miya done it too?
Miya: Yeah we have.
Tatsuro: It does surprise you with the loud bang it makes. I don’t think there’s any other band out there that plays something like that.
JRR: Maybe you get bounded when you’re sleeping because you hit each other’s head too much.
YUKKE: That could be true (laughs).
JRR: YUKKE, how often does the soccer team you produce play soccer?
YUKKE: We haven’t been able to compete at all because all the players are musicians, so our schedules usually don’t fit together, or if someone has to do recording or a live in the days after the game, it’d be bad if they get injured, so we haven’t been able to compete.
JRR: Do you play any positions or are you just the producer?
YUKKE: I also play.
JRR: What position do you play?
YUKKE: I play mid-field.
JRR: Does SATOchi play as well?
SATOchi: I don’t play…. Yes I do play. (laughs)
JRR: What position do you play?
SATOchi: I play forward, the most energy-demanding position. I love to sweat (laughs).
JRR: What does the mid-fielder do?
YUKKE: It serves to assist the transition when the team goes from defense to offense. (tries not to laugh)
JRR: Does it make you sweat?
YUKKE: Yes, it does.
JRR: If you can be a superhero, what super power/superhero would you want to have/would you be?
SATOchi: I want to be like the Hulk.
JRR: You want to be green?
SATOchi: (laughs) No, I just want the super strength that he has.
JRR: And then sweat a lot?
SATOchi: Yes!
YUKKE: I want to be Goku (of Dragon Ball).
JRR: You’re both blonde.
YUKKE: Yes, that, and he can fly.
Tatsuro: I want to be able to control the time. Wouldn’t that be cool?
SATOchi: Yeah that’s a good one.
JRR: What would you want to do if you could control the time?
Tatsuro: I want to go back in time and kill all the superheroes when they’re still babies. (laughs) And take over their powers.
JRR: Do you dislike kids?
Tatsuro: No, I like kids. I am just relieving them of all the pressure they will have being superheroes.
Miya: I don’t really want to be any superheroes, but I’d like the power to squash the world with my fingers.
JRR: The level of God!?
Miya: Well, it’d be cool to be able to wipe everything out.
JRR: Rock stars have the image of drinking often. Who can drink the most out of the four of you?
YUKKE: I think it’s me.
Miya: Recently I started thinking that maybe I can drink the most. I haven’t had the chance to drink like crazy recently, but there hasn’t been a time where I lost my consciousness being drunk. I’m weak at times but I realize that I can keep on drinking after puking, than it’s a continuous cycle.
JRR: Who is the hardest to handle once drunk? What is he like when he is drunk?
Tatsuro: YUKKE. He bothers people.
YUKKE: Not really, I just self-destruct.
Tatsuro: But actually, even though we’re talking about who’s the strongest, it’s only within MUCC, I don’t think any of us is actually strong. When we compare ourselves to those who can really drink a lot, we can’t compete against them at all. It becomes more of a duration, or drinking pace issue. It’s more about what way we prefer to drink.
YUKKE: There’s a dimensional difference (between those who can really drink and themselves).
SATOchi: Everyone says they drink at their own pace yet we all get drunk and fall asleep in the end.
Tatsuro: No I have my own drinking pace. I usually start drinking oolong tea and chasers midway.
JRR: The year 2008 is almost coming to an end. Is there anything you’d like to finish before the year is up?
Tatsuro: Not really. We’d like to finish recording/mastering the album but there’s just no way that we can finish it within the year.
Miya: I do want to finish recording.
JRR: How would you sum up this past year?
Tatsuro: It was a year of taste of chaos.
JRR: What are your plans for the year 2009?
Tatsuro: I’d like to take on more challenges in the New Year.
YUKKE: Every year increasingly I feel the importance of health, so I’d like to get by with the least amount of sickness and injuries next year.
JRR: And not to be bounded by supernatural presence?
YUKKE: I don’t mind about that.
SATOchi: I’d like to do a lot of touring in Japan next year.
Miya: I’d like to finish recording and mastering the album.
JRR: Lastly, please give a message to your American audience.
Miya: This year for the first time, we are headlining our own tour in America; even though it’s only two places, we are very happy to be able to come. Next time, we’d like to tour more places, so please stick around and come to our show when we’re close by.
ムック/MUCC’s new single ‘空と糸’ (Sora to Ito), produced by ken of L’Arc~en~Ciel fame, was released on January 28th. The title track is an ending theme for the television series ‘さまぁ〜ず式’ (Sama-zu Shiki).
Also, MUCC is releasing a new album called "Kyutai" on Mar. 4. It will feature their most recent singles Ageha and Sora to Ito, and will have 13 tracks total. The limited edition type A comes with a DVD with footage of their concert at Irving Plaza in NYC on 12/7/08. The type B limited edition comes with a DVD with document footage.
Interview by: Christina
Photos by: Lizzy Layne and Dave Duarte
Special thanks to: MUCC