4 posts tagged “purple sky”

I got out of work early today (*gasp*) and decided to take a walk around my neighborhood. I stopped by Barnes & Noble and picked up the latest issue of purple SKY.

Then I saw the Kra interview and after a few seconds of reading, I had to flip past the pages in disgust. Damn, how I loathe those short, one-sentence answers that Kra gave.

For example:

Do you feel anything odd when singing with women's language?

Not at all.

Care to elaborate, Mister Uematsu Keisuke?

What a waste of time and paper and printing ink.

Thankfully, the LM.C interview was freaking excellent! The KISAKI interview, to my delight, was also incredibly informative. I highly recommend getting the magazine if only for these two interviews alone if you're a fan of either artist/band.

Edit 1:

Oh, I just started reading this interview with J (ex LUNA SEA)'s ex-support guitarist and Foo Fighter's ex-guitarist Franz Stahl, conducted by Go of jrocknyc. Damn, it's turning out to be insanely awesome!

Edit 2:

And before any of you ask me to scan the pages (and I've gotten similar requests before), I'm going to just state my policy. I will not scan the magazine, at all. Because first, I don't own a scanner and second, I have no wish to rip purple SKY off. Just buy the magazine if you want to read it (at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Hot Topic, or online at the magazine's homepage).

If you can't get it at your home country, you should definitely contact purple SKY and request them to find a way to make the magazine available in your country. purple SKY is new and needs as much (monetary) support from us J-Rock fans as possible.

If you live in the US, you have no excuse not to buy it if you want to read it. Can't afford the $6? Then do what most people do, look at the magazine when you're at the bookstore and put it back on the shelf once you're done.

Due to request, I'm going to post a few highlights that particularly amused me or I found interesting from the KISAKI interview in the winter 2007 issue of purple SKY magazine. I definitely encourage you all to subscribe to purple SKY. Support the first major North American English language J-Rock magazine.

I really love the fact that a bit of KISAKI's personality came through the text and am glad to know he has a quirky sense of humor. We all know that KISAKI is by no means without flaws, but this interview made him seem even more real and down to earth. Kudos to Brian "boo" Stewart for conducting an excellent interview. Now without further ado...

On popularity with female fans

If an American band had as much of a female following as you do, it seems like there would be alot of fooling around. How about you guys, are you players?

KISAKI: (without a pause) I am.

Riku: (uproarious laughter)

K: Totally.

R: (laughter continues)

On La:Sadies (pre-Dir en grey)

Is Kyo the same man he was then?

K: You mean as a person? No, I think he's changed, but he's always been an individual. He was an intense guy and I can kinda imagaine how he got like he is.

Do you stay in touch with him?

K: Not anymore. I only stay in touch with Kaoru and Die. Kyo and me are (making buzzing noise and raises hands in the form of an X)

Is that right? Did you have a fight?

K: We didn't have a fight really, we just aren't on good terms.

So, why did La:Sadies break up?

K: Why did we break up? It's like I was telling you, yeah, I wanted to get to the top but I didn't want to go to Tokyo. I wanted to keep the band in Osaka.

On fan service

Does Phantasmagoria do fan service?

K: We do our fair share.

Is that to express your love for one another or just for show?

K: No, we do it with love. Well I do. Riku's another story....

R: (giggling)

What does he mean?

K: Riku likes men.

Is that so?

R: Yes, I'm bisexual.

Oh I see. Well how about it then? You two kiss right now, right here.

R: I would be totally OK with that.

K: I, would not. (laughing)

On music vs. sex

If you had to give up one of these things forever, which would you choose: Sex or Music?

K: (small voice) Sex.

Ah, you're a contender!

K: What about you, which one?

(smaller voice) ... sex.

R: Well then put me down for sex too.

That was just a small sample of the interview. There were a lot of other... juicy details I left out (I cut the bit when KISAKI elaborated on the La:Sadies breakup, for example. I was too lazy to type it all). You should go buy the magazine at a Barnes & Noble bookstore if you want more. :D

purple SKY (winter 2007)

My copy of the winter 2007 issue of purple SKY magazine finally arrived, 2 weeks after it got shipped. I was going to break down purple SKY's door if the delay had become any longer. XD

After I quickly skimmed through the table of contents, here are the articles that jumped out at me:

My copy of the fall purple SKY issue arrived today (purple SKY is the successor of jrock ink, the first English language J-Rock magazine). Since I did't have time to read it, I briefly flipped through to see what's covered.

purple SKY (fall 2006)

The fall 2006 issue features articles of the following nature:

MUCC interview
BLOOD interview
Plastic Tree interview
YOSHIKI at Otakon 2006
LUNA SEA albums
BUCK-TICK history
Gazette Nameless Liberty.Six Guns review
Live report on various indie bands (including 12012 and Phantasmagoria)
Dir en grey at Family Value Tour 2006 live report (written by Go of jrocknyc)
possibly a lot of other things I missed

This issue also has much improved layout design and uses glossy, thick paper. Quite nice.

I also noticed that the magazine subscription fee has gone up. Before the fall issue came out, the US subscription was only $12.50. Now, it's $17. Hmm... I might not renew my subscription for next year if the old subscribers also have to pay the new rate. At about $6 per issue, this is pretty damn expensive.