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12Mar
Have you ever thought that some dreams might be a impossibility? Dare to dream big my friends because sometimes even the seemingly impossible may be in your future. At no time was this more evident than when interviewing Steve Laity the newest member and keyboard player of the rock band Guitar Vader.
Where are you from? What kind of background do you come from?
Steve Laity [Guitar Vader]: I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. I come form a family of teachers and musicians. I guess that’s why I’m doing both of those same things!
Where and when did you first learn Japanese? When did you first visit Japan?
Steve: I started studying Japanese in 2000 which was also the year that I first visited Japan. I started taking classes within one month of returning. Japan is truly an awesome place and its amazing how one trip changed my whole life.
What brought you to Japan prior to becoming a member of Guitar Vader?
Steve: My brother was living in Japan at the time. I was at a part of my life where I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, so my brother invited me to visit him in Japan and it was a great experience for me. However, before ever visiting Japan I was a Guitar Vader fan.
Where and when did you meet the members of the band?
Steve: I’m going to guess that I originally met Ujuan and Miki after one of their concerts in the summer of 2002. They were headlining a show in a famous live house called Shinjuku Jam in downtown Tokyo.
Would you please tell us the story of how a keyboard player from Las Vegas becomes a member of the Japanese rock band Guitar Vader?
Steve: I get this question a lot. I have always been a fanatical fan of all of my favorite bands. After seeing Guitar Vader in 2002 I began to send emails to Ujuan on a semi-regular basis. I was always asking him why Guitar Vader has so many great catchy keyboards lines on their CDs but they don’t have a keyboard player available for their concerts. Originally, I had the idea that my brother (Guitar Vader fan) could play Keyboards in the band. He was a professional musician at the time in Tokyo, so the idea had merit. Fortunately, that never happened and about 2 months after I moved to Tokyo I got a phone call from Ujuan. He said that if I could play the parts then I could join the band. I bought some keyboards and here I am. I think the real reason I am here though is because I was really trying hard to help the band through promotion and CD sales. A band is like a company. There are two parts, one you have to be able to play your part and two you have to be dedicated to making the band better through any means possible. I hope that I am accomplishing both.
What was your first live performance with the band like? What were your thoughts?
Steve: My first live performance went pretty well actually. For the most part I didn’t make too many mistakes and I felt fine. I was in a little bit of shock actually. I kept looking over at Ujuan tuning his bass and saying “I can’t believe this is happening!” The second performance was when I got really nervous and made some mistakes on stage. I got a little worked up when a long time Guitar Vader friend came and stood right behind me during the sound check to see if I was playing everything perfectly. Luckily, he said I was doing a good job, but I never really got over the feeling of being watched so intently. That was when I really realized what it meant to be playing in Guitar Vader. I never take any show lightly.
How have Japanese fans of the group responded to your initiation as a member? Positive? Negative?
Steve: Japanese fans have always been really friendly and positive. So far there haven’t been any negative reactions that I know of.
How much participation do you have in the actual song writing? Are you allowed to write your own keyboard music and ideas and present them to the group, or are you given sheet music to work with initially?
Steve: Ujuan and Miki do most of the writing. This is the way it should be because if I were to change anything then Guitar Vader wouldn’t be Guitar Vader. I am able to add my own ideas to the keyboard parts and suggest changes though. The band has a certain way they like to do things but they are always open to my ideas. I haven’t had any impact on the original music creation process except for constantly telling Ujuan to put in a lot of keyboard parts. However, they do give me some freedom to work my own ideas into existing songs for the live shows. I don’t use any sheet music, I just listen to tracks from the band or the CDs themselves and then play them by ear. Everything is memorized.
Do cultural and language differences get in the way of understanding your fellow group members? Fans?
Steve: I like to think of myself as a decent Japanese speaker, but when I am speaking to Ujuan or Miki I always get really nervous because they are my heroes. There are some cultural differences. Things are done differently in Japan rather than the U.S and that has taken some getting used to. I try to stay out of the way unless I am asked to do something for the band. We all get along very well. We all have different musical preferences but at the core I think they are all the same in some way. Talking with fans is sometimes difficult for me. It’s strange because I feel like I am one of them so when they ask me for an autograph or something I always feel a little strange.
How has joining one of the greatest bands to come out of Japan changed your life?
Steve: The experience has helped me a lot. It’s great to finally be on the other side of things and see how being in a band really works. I have been witness to all of the passion that goes into making a Guitar Vader cd as well as performing on stage. It has added a lot of joy to my life and also a larger work load. Other bands give me more respect because I am actually out there playing just like them and not only trying to get them to sign a contract. No matter what happens this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.
03/12/2005
Link:
http://www.anusaya.com/interview/steve-laity/