Through the eyes of Merry (メリーの目)
Playback Part 5 - "Special Time"
written by Kenichi / published in Fool's Mate Vol.259 May 2003 / translation by eurydike
At the time Merry got together, I was still in another band and I would never have thought that I might join them afterwards. I didn’t feel well in my old band anymore though, because the musical direction it was taking wasn’t what I wanted to do; this uneasiness resulted in my leaving this band which meant a new start for me.
Immediately after I had left, I went to Tokyo. The distance between Osaka and Tokyo is said to be endless, but for me it didn’t feel that way at all. I enjoyed to imagine what my new band will be like while I was on the way. "This music, this appearance..." – once you start thinking, you can’t stop. I didn’t have special expectations for Merry [Note: I don’t think he knew he would be in Merry back then already, but that’s how he writes it ^.~]. It was rather like starting something from zero. And that was why I drove very harsh. On the day when I moved from Gunma to Tokyo I got caught by the police and had to hand in my driving licence.
However, because of my shyness, I never had many friends, that’s why I started playing in session bands in order to be prepared to meet the other (band) members. After all, I can say that I really enjoyed these session bands. I was troubled that the band members [of his next band] wouldn’t get along with each other. I had to talk about it to my friend Daruma, an artist (Crystal Boy), whom I had called before whenever I had problems in the bands I was. First thing he asked was: "Are the band members already decided?". And I pretended to be strong and answered "Yeah, almost" to make him believe everything was settled. After a while Daruma said: "I actually wanted to introduce you to some people...". That was my chance to meet the guys from Merry. I was glad. They were people who said that individual personalities were the most important, and that’s what I had been waiting for. I knew that if I joined them, they would be different from the band I imagined (laughs), but it would be something that included me...so, I went to meet them with tons of expectations swelling in my chest. I went to the place Daruma had sent me to, found Gara and Yuu there and realised that I had met those two before. With Gara I had been at some event and we had even spoken to each other a little bit, but that hadn’t been anything special. To Yuu I got introduced right there [at the place he had been sent to by Daruma], but I don’t remember this anymore. I know that he had seemed to be a cool guy to me, but I don’t remember what I had been talking to him anymore. Perhaps we didn’t talk a lot because the two of them hadn’t really been interested in me. One thing I remember though is that they said: "We’re thinking about calling the band either Merry or Zakuro" and I didn’t like the name Zakuro at all. Then they took me to the studio where I got the following impressions: Their songs were a perfect fusion of hentai and pop melodies; their drum sound was very skilled and loud; their guitar sound seemed to be a mix of pop and rock which made it very special and new and they had a handsome bassist with long dishevelled hair. I enjoyed myself. At this point in time it wasn’t decided that I would join, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this band. When finally the five of us had definitely got together, the first Live was approaching. Finally, things were about to get going.