"We Are X" LA Screening Q&A with Yoshiki & Stephen Kijak

“We Are X” is an amazing documentary about legendary Japanese rock band, X JAPAN directed by Stephen Kijak. It premiered at Los Angeles’ Nuart Theater on October 21, 2016 and we published a review of it shortly after. (This can be found HERE.) Following the screening though there was a special Q&A session with Yoshiki of X Japan and Stephen Kijak himself. This article is a transcription of that Q&A with most of the contact intact. A few losses were made regarding some of the questions and the first part of one of the answers, but we think that fans of X JAPAN who were not able to attend the special screenings that had these type of events will enjoy this!
 
Moderator: (Asked Stephen a question about the film process of “We Are X”)

 
Stephen: … always an essential challenge, less so with a band like The Stones obviously, who everyone knows about. But with this, I think that the decision that I made was, in a way, to almost try to convince myself that I was inventing them as I was making the film - that it was a kind of drama and I was creating some kind of fictional universe. I tried to make sure the film just felt like, a really tightly crafted dramatic film with all the ups and downs, peaks and valleys, the rhythms, the vibe, the look; everything that would satisfy me. As long as I was getting off on it (laughs from the crowd) and I felt like, “This is going to be an awesome movie” I just have to have that gut instinct about it. I figured we’d be okay with both sides of that spectrum. And obviously coming from my perspective, it was an advantage for the non-fan to come into this amazing world.
 
Moderator: So Yoshiki, you gave Stephen a lot of access you know, and you really put it out there. Did you feel any hesitation in making this film, because there are moments of levity and there are a lot of heavy moments as well.
 
Yoshiki: Yes, at the beginning I didn’t want to make this film - at all. My agent approached me to create this documentary film several years ago and I said, “I can’t do this, it’s too painful.” Then eventually people convinced me, and once I opened the door I just decided to open the door all the way. So I gave Steve access to all and any footage of X JAPAN.
 
Moderator: Is it hard for you to watch parts of this film?
 
Yoshiki: Yes, it’s still hard for me to watch - still.
 
Moderator: How do you feel now that it’s out there though? Is it cathartic in any way?
 
Yoshiki: I think it’s good, I mean, the process of making this film was kind of therapeutic as well. You know, there’s a thing called “Last Live” before our band broke up; we did a show in the Tokyo Dome. It was about a three hour show or something like that. Then after the Last Live, I was contacted by Universal Music and they asked me to release a DVD. And I said, “I can’t because I can’t even watch the first five minutes without breaking into tears.” So it took almost two years or something, or even more, to edit. I mean I couldn’t edit so I had an editor cut it down. So if I can’t watch that Last Live five minutes, how could I watch the entire story of X JAPAN? It was pretty hard….
 
Moderator: This is a question for either of you - Why do you think it was important that this story be told, and be told now?
 
Stephen: Why is it important to be told now? Well, this actually kind of surprised me - caught me off guard actually, after the film was made. This is something you say a lot (referring to Yoshiki), that I wasn’t really too clued in on, was that part of the motivation for you was that, you felt that this film could actually help people, save people, save lives. It just had a core of inspiration to it. And I was just scrambling around just trying to tell a story and get all the pieces in the right place. But it was really after the fact, actually after our second screening at Sundance, that a woman came up to me who worked with troubled youth and kids who were at risk for suicide. She said she thought the film could be a tool that she could use to teach them or help them in some sort of therapeutic way to show them through creativity a path out. And so for that reason alone, and I’ve seen this effect as you meet more and more fans, they really do adhere to this kind of, slightly religious attachment to this band. But you see why - because there really is a real conduit through Yoshiki and the music to a kind of salvation for a lot of people. It’s really palpable when you talk to them and especially when you’re at shows. It’s just a great time to introduce the world to a band like this. I think the barrier is starting to come down between cultures and different kinds of music. I think especially younger people aren’t as prejudiced in terms of what they’re listening to and how they discover music; they’re not being dictated to as much. Like you said in “Art of Life”, let’s tear down the walls.

Moderator: Absolutely. So do you have any stories of fans or people who’ve said that this movie has helped them or moved them?
 
Yoshiki: Yes, the reason for me to decide to get into this project was people told me this film can save people. This film can give people courage to move on. So, that’s the reason I created this film.
 
Moderator: One of the themes I love about this film is sort of the idea you mentioned, the word “salvation”. The idea that rock ‘n roll is “salvation”. How does rock ‘n roll help you power through some really tough times?
 
Yoshiki: Yes, I used to play classical music before my father took his own life. So, it is still hard to talk about - very depressed, very angry. But you know what, on the rock ‘n roll stage you can just scream, you can break things, jump into the audience or whatever. But if you did that on the street, you’d be arrested (laughter from the audience and Yoshiki).
 
Moderator: So that ties into what I was going to ask about - I love all the stuff in the film that was about how musically important X JAPAN was and how “in your face” they were. And I think there’s a quote that said basically, “Music can be separated into two chapters, before X and after X.” How did people react to X JAPAN when you first came out since it was so extreme, so different in Japan? How was it accepted? Or not accepted?
 
Yoshiki: At the beginning people were like, “What the fuck?” (laughter from the audience and Yoshiki). I couldn’t even get a cab or anything, you know what I’m saying? (laughter continues). People didn’t even think we were human, we were just crazy - especially because of our ideas, you didn’t see blonde hair, pink hair in Japan. Now, you see those people everywhere (laughs).
 
Moderator: (Asked a question in regards to the amount of archive footage and how Stephen was able to process it)
 
Stephen: It was one of the hardest edits I’ve ever had to do. I mean, it was about 30 weeks in and we still couldn’t crack it - really tough. But yeah, it really is just a process of slowly going through everything. I tend to really like handling a lot of my own archive and I will sit there and go through it for hours and hours and hours….I would make you (referring to Yoshiki) listen to the things I liked. I would always apply that kind of, you know, the art of the mix tape. I think was a very special - and getting the flow right and wrapping it up in the right package. I think of the films that way. That’s an aesthetic that guides me; they kind of have to feel a certain way, like they have to be tracked right and the emotion, the vibe has to flow. I mean, after a point you know what your A, B, and C story is so you really just wanna go with the feeling after a point - getting it feel as much like their music. And you know, you drive as much from the artist as you can and you want to transmit what is special about them through the film.
 
Moderator: Awesome - So Yoshiki, you gave Stepen access to X Japan’s entire archive. Is there anything you considered making off limits that you didn’t want to go with?
 
Yoshiki: Well, when we were at Sony records a long time ago when we first debuted, my mother thought I was not going to live long. So she told Sony record people and also management, “Just videotape anything that you can while Yoshiki is alive”. But you know, I’m still here (chuckles from Yoshiki and the audience). But that sort of thing just kept going on and on and on so, we’re even shooting right at this moment as well (chuckles again from Yoshiki and the audience). Then, of course there is some privacy you know, but pretty much everything - I gave Stephen everything.
 
Moderator: One thing I think would surprise a lot of people who have seen you play live which I now have, is mentioned so much in the film, is the pain that you struggle with. Because it does not show when you play live - there’s joy on your face and there’s no pain. You don’t seem like you’re in pain. How do you bring it on stage every night while dealing with all that?
 
Yoshiki: I mean, you know physical pain is nothing compared to mental pain. So, actually when I’m on stage even though my body is feeling pain, I’m really enjoying it. But after finishing the show, I go to the hospital.
 
Moderator: So with the internet, the internet is when you went away for about 10 years or so. When you came back, the internet had exploded and suddenly now all these people around the world who may not have known about X JAPAN, knew about it. Can you talk a little bit about how the internet sort of made you an international sensation years later?
 
Yoshiki: Yes - the first time we tried to come to America, as you saw in the film we had a press conference at Rockefeller Center. Well first of all, we didn’t speak English - at all, pretty much (chuckles to himself). Then, nobody knew who we are. X JAPAN was still going on in Japan but then we broke up and then 10 years later we decided to reunite the band. People knew us. People already found out about us through the internet, pretty much all over the world. It was kind of quite shocking - yeah almost like, how do you say, it’s a “too good to be true” thing.
 
Moderator: Steve, how did you first find out about this band?
 
Stephen: When my producer called me and asked me if I would like to make a film about X JAPAN.
 
Moderator: When did it hit you that you were working with such a phenomenon?
 
Stephen: Well, it just takes a couple of click of the Google and you start to see the hair, start to see the costumes, you look at a few videos, you see the crowds. But it doesn’t quite hit you, I mean we met shortly thereafter - it really happened very quickly, and we met and it just seemed like it was going to be a really good fit. I mean, the story had all the dramatic elements that were gold dust to any filmmaker. It was the kind of narrative you couldn’t invent if you tried. But then, probably a week after first getting a phone call about it, I was side stage watching them warm up for Madison Square Garden by playing two sold out shows at the Yokohama arena and that’s about 18,000/20,000 people. Everybody jumping with X glowsticks and the building shakes, and they burned the place down with pyro. I mean, your jaw just hits the floor like, “What have I gotten into?” (laughs from the audience). Oh my goodness, really, it just made me feel really stupid that I had never heard of this band. You know you think you know everything there is to know about music and you realize how little you really do. And it gave me a key to open a door, it just opened a door to a vast world. And once we saw that, I thought, “It was fantastic, it’s going to be something special.”

Moderator: Yoshiki, now that you have a wider audience, because of this film, the internet and the reunion of your band, are there future plans for X JAPAN to tour, record, or conquer America again?
 
Yoshiki: As of now, I have my solo concert. I have a Carnegie Hall show. I am performing with the Tokyo Philharmonics Orchestra this coming January 12th and 13th. Then X JAPAN is playing, as of now, in London at the Wembley arena on March 4th. Then we’re supposed to release the album on March 3rd - a day before Wembley.
 
Moderator: That’s very exciting - I know you’re very excited about that Carnegie Hall show.
 
Yoshiki: It makes me nervous a little bit (laughs from Yoshiki and audience). It’s like, as we talked about the reunion after 10 years. After we broke up our fans kept supporting us, unconditionally. So, it’s like, our fans gave us a second chance. (voice cracks) That’s why I’m here - why X JAPAN is still here. So I think we’re going to try, one more time for a world tour - or more, we want to keep going. We didn't even think about this when we broke up, then Toshi got brainwashed (laughs from the audience), then hide passed away, and there was no way we can reunite the band. But because of our fans - because of our fans we are here and also this film is here because of our fans.
 
Moderator: Which is amazing. Gene Simmons, who I know you’re friends with - actually can you tell the story about KISS? Gene Simmons is in the film and I know he played with you in Japan but it’s KISS who first got you into rock, right? And that was your first concert…
 
Yoshiki: Yes, after my father passed I was really angry and I was looking for something. But I was listening to classical music. So every month my father, when he was alive, he bought me a vinyl like Beethoven or Chopin or Schubert. After my father passed away, my mother did the same thing for me. So one day I went to the record shop; I was going to buy another Beethoven No. 9 or something like that. I passed the section, there was a strange looking people album cover and I asked the clerk, “What is this?”. And he said, “It is a band called KISS.” And I asked, “Can you play it for me?” Then there was this song called “Love Gun” and I thought, “This is cool!” So instead of buying Beethoven, I bought the KISS album, this record. Then, right after KISS came to Japan. I asked my mother, “I want to see a concert.” but she didn’t know what she was getting into (laughs from the audience). So she took me and my brother, I think my brother was 5 years old or so (more laughs from the crowd) then she was wearing a kimono, she bought sushi for us (even more laughs). Then the fire started and I started screaming and she asked me, “Yoshiki, what kind of place did you take me to?” (laughs from the fans). Then, anyway, I just came back from Tokyo a few days ago. Actually, I have a festival that I organized called “Visual Japan Summit” then I invited Gene and we played together. It was so strange but so cool you know, the band who got me into rock, now we’re performing together. That’s like, dreams can come true if you just keep believing.
 
Moderator: That’s so awesome! And what’s so cool is probably what KISS did for you, X JAPAN did for a lot of the bands who played at that festival who look up to you so that’s really cool. I want to leave some time to have questions from the fans, the audience. So please raise your hand and this gentleman will come over to you with a microphone.
 
Nuart Staff: We only have 5 minutes so just a couple questions…
 
Female Audience Member 1: I’m a little nervous here...I just want to say thank you so much for making music... (breaks into tears and trails off inaudible)
 
Yoshiki: What? (audience and Yoshiki laugh)
 
Female Audience Member 1: I said, thank you very much Stephen for making this movie, because I know it’s been very hard. And thank you for making it for all of us and thank you Yoshiki for allowing them to make it. I have a question but it's not about the movie, is it okay if I ask you? (receives confirmation from Yoshiki) Is there something you haven't done yet that you would like to do? Is it something music related or something you haven’t launched or created yet? Because I know you have done a lot of things so it could be more personal related - like jumping out of an airplane or skydiving 5,000 feet in the air.
 
Yoshiki: I will just stick to music instead of jumping out of an airplane (audience laughs). Yesterday we had some directors asking me if I was interested in acting and I said, “I have zero interest.” (audience laughs) Again, my fans gave us another chance so I’m going to use my energy to create music and then perform a great show. If I want one thing, I create wine so...I’m gonna create vodka too (Yoshiki and audience giggle). Actually, you know what, I want to do Japanese kimono thing. I just came from a fashion show in Japan but those things are my hobby - music is my life.
 
Nuart Staff: So sorry, we only have time for this last question…
 
Female Audience Member 2: Are you happy now? (sounds of “Aww” from the crowd)
 
Yoshiki: Are you asking me? (laughs from the crowd). I’m talking in front of this amazing audience, of course. (applause)
 
Stephen: Thanks so much for coming out tonight everybody, it was really great to have you.
 
(Lots of applause from the audience)

-Christina (JRockinLA)