OC Member of the Week: rottingroot

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OC Member of the Week: rottingroot

Written by Risu Thursday, 08 October 2009 16:20

Starting October, we will be featuring a different OC.com registered member every other week and asking them about their personal experiences with Dir en grey! Please keep on checking your inboxes because you may never know~ you might be the next featured OC member!

Have you ever wondered what it is to be like a guy and be a Shinya fan? Has anyone given Shinya proper credit for the talent he has despite his fascinating Haiiro no Ginka columns? Do you think you could ever make sense of Shinya's drum set? Probably we could answer some of these questions with our next member feature.

Please welcome rottingroot, who kindly shared with OC his knowledge about drums by creating a model of Shinya's current drumset. Learn more about how this 17 year old Colorado native, who dreams of becoming a pastry chef, discovered Dir en grey and why he thinks discovering the Dir en grey has made a "profound difference in his life".

"They changed my view on music for the better, and I came to accept that good rock music has no language if you can feel it in your heart"

1. Please tell us something about yourself. Are you in a band? Do you play any instruments?
I've been playing the drums for seven years now. I've been asked to play in many bands, but I have stage fright o_0. Maybe one day I will overcome this fear, but until then, I'll follow in the footsteps of Dr. Nemunemu.

2. How did you find out about Dir en grey?
In 2006, I had read about them in a magazine, but I wasn't too interested in them. Then in 2007, I was at a friend's house and she was playing Beautiful Dirt really loud, and I was very confused by the fact they weren't singing in English. I said to her "But how can you understand them?" But up until that point, I was completely interested in them, secretly ^_^

Before I researched Dir en grey, I had an image in my head of what they looked like: kind of clean cut and an almost adolescent look.

3. What was your first impression of Dir en grey?
Very jaw-dropping haha. Before I researched Dir en grey, I had an image in my head of what they looked like: kind of clean cut and an almost adolescent look. But when I Googled images of the boys, it showed a lot of pictures from their Visual Kei days, so I assumed that's what they looked like in 2007, so I was even more enthralled.

4. What were your first impressions of the members?
When I saw Kyo, he immediately scared me haha. I saw a video on YouTube of him on the Rock am Ring tour, and he was ripping his mouth up; it kind turned me away from Dir en grey altogether. Though it didn't, I am very fortunate that he doesn't cause self harm to himself anymore.

Kaoru- kun, he looked a lot like my dad so I felt a sort of comfort when I looked at him (*-*)

Die, kind of reminded me of alot of 1980's hair metal bands. Though i thought he was the most attractive of them all.

Toshiya, I thought he always looked mad, and he was very muscular. Like a jock haha.

Shinya-san, I felt like he was the member of the band who thought he was "all that", like he was above all the other members, but I've always thought he was an awe-amazing drummer.

"People may say that Shinya may not be the greatest drummer, or the fastest, but in my own opinion, I think you have to be a drummer to see the talent inside of him."

5. Who is your favorite member? Why?
Shinya, because he looks so calm and collected when he drums. It's like he's mastered everything on the drums, and all he has to do is make music now. I know a lot of people say he isn't the greatest drummer, or the fastest, but in my own opinion, I think you have to be a drummer to see the talent inside of him. Take certain songs like Doukoku to Sarinu, that tom- tom and bass drum beat is totally coordinated and steady, while also sound fresh and new. Reiketsu Nariseba, he definitely shows us that he can be a metal drummer with his blast beat in the end. And Glass Skin, with his alternating hi- hat and ride cymbal pattern, it proves he's very agile and patient. I don't mean to sound so technical, but when it comes to Yamo- chan, I feel that I have to dig deep to describe him.

6. Has your view of each of the members changed over the years? What questions do you still have that are still unanswered about the members?
I wouldn't say my views have changed, except with Totchi. I met him in 2008,and he was so nice.
As for questions, I guess I would ask Shin- chan, "What bass drum head do you use?"

I think that the next question is, "what will Dir en grey come up with next?" or more likely "what CAN they come up with next?"

7. What was the very first Dir en grey album or single that you bought?
Withering to death.

It was my favorite album for the longest time, then I started to listen to Diru's older music, and I started to love that also.

8. Please rank Dir en grey's albums from your most favorite to least favorite.
One starting at my favorite:
1. Withering to death.
2. Macabre
3. Uroboros
4. Gauze
5. The Marrow of A Bone
6. Vulgar
7. Kisou

9. What are your favorite songs? Why?
Mou, that's a very hard question! but I will try my best:
Garbage
Red Soil
Taiyou no Ao
Mask
Children
Kodoku ni Shisu, Yueni Kodoku.
New Age Culture
Pink Killer

"Watching them live was one of the best nights of my life. It felt like I was floating and I also met a few new friends"

10. Have you ever seen a Dir en grey live? If so, please share with us some great memories that you have of any Dir en grey live that you've attended!
My first Dir en grey live, in December of 2008, wasn't a very good start haha. There was a lot of drama between my friends and tickets and money and blahblahblah, so I went alone with two tickets in my pocket and my ticket, so I was out 50 bucks. But at the concert, I could tell you, it was one of the best nights of my life. It felt like I was floating, and I met a few new friends. Also, I got to meet Totchi and Shinya, and I felt very blessed to have had that opportunity, and all the drama that happened before the concert didn't matter anymore.

11. What is it about Dir en grey that has kept you a fan since 2007?
I think it's the question of "what will Dir en grey come up with next?" or more likely "what CAN they come up with next?"

They've covered so much ground in there musical adventure that it seems that they haven't got a whole lot of new material to work with, but like many times before, they prove to us that they still got a lot of tricks up there sleeve.

"I never really noticed that the fanbase was predominantly female and nobody has ever given me a hard time for liking Dir en grey. But I think the Dir en grey fanbase is chock full with controversy"

12. Is it hard to be a fan of Dir en grey since the fanbase is predominantly female? What do you think of the Dir en grey fanbase?
I've never really noticed the fanbase being predominantly female, to be honest, though I do notice it now that you mention it haha. No one has ever really given me a hard time about liking Dir en grey, so it's not really a big deal. I think the Dir en grey fanbase is chock full with controversy. Sometimes it is hard to be a Dir en grey fan because everyone is fighting over things that don't need to be read that much into, such as Kyo's lyrics. I can't tell you how many fights I've seen where one person gives there own interpretation of a song, while the other is saying "No one knows why Kyo wrote the song, he writes what he feels" or so forth. It's a very confusing fan base to say the least, haha.

13. How did you find out about Orchestrated-Chaos.com? What would you like to see more in Orchestrated-Chaos.com?
I was looking for some information on Shinya's drum set, and i saw that Orchestrated Chaos had a section from Rhythm and Drums magazine about Shinya uploaded, and it was the only website that had the scans of the pictures, so I was immediately attracted to OC for running such a up to date site and I was thankful to Risu for uploading the pictures that I asked for, which I felt was a very generous favor to me.

14. Do you have any plans for the future?
I will be graduating high school in 2011, then I plan on going to the Culinary Institute of America for a major as a pastry chef. But from there, I'll just go where ever life takes me.

15. Do you believe that Dir en grey has touched or greatly changed your life? If so, in what way has Dir en grey touched or changed your life?
I do believe that Dir en grey has had a profound affect on my life. They changed my view on music for the better, and I came to accept that good rock music has no language if you can feel it in your heart.

16. A message to other Dir en grey fans.
Let's keep on rooting for the boys, and let's have fun while doing it!