SECTION 2
KAKUSEI [AWAKENING]

1. Jibun no Ibasho wa Bando ni
[My Whereabouts are in the Band]

The first time had anything to do with a band was around the end of when I was 17.

Even so, many of my friends were in bands, and they knew that I played the drums, so they would ask me, "Won't you come be our backup?" However, I always declined.

They were all at a lower level than me, so I didn't want to play for them. That was my real motive. Because of this, I thought bands were stupid.

However, there were also friends I said "Fine" to, and without cutting them off, I started to drum for them.

When I went to rehearsals, the performers were as bad as I had thought they would be.

"What the hell is this?"

Until then, I had only performed on stage as a member of an orchestra. But there were vast differences in technique between an orchestra and a band.

"Is it all right to perform like this?"

I would go into the actual performances with these feelings. That was the time of the "band boom," and big amateur band events happened frequently.

The audience in these events numbered in the hundreds. Compared to orchestra audiences, who were more than a thousand people, it was tiny. To me, even as my first time as a performer at a live, I was not nervous at all.

However, the excitement of the audience at these lives was completely different.

If we simply just stood on the stage, there would be shouts of joy. The eyes of everyone who was watching would sparkle with anticipation.

The performance would begin. The crowd gets excited and rushes towards the stage. There are even some people who get up on the stage. The excitement and power coming from the guest seats advances up onto the stage.

Vocals and guitar and bass and drums. Just these 4 people, not losing power, have to push them back with this power of music. If they are pushed back, they will advance once again. There is a power and powerful collision like this and a huge undulation of the crowds, and it unfolds upon the stage.

"Awesome! What's this! Just what kind of band, with just 4 people, can make people feel like this?

The performances are really bad. They're definitely not at a high level. So in spite of this, why is the audience excited?"

I was overwhelmed. This thing called a band was really cool.

It was totally different from classical music, and it was a whole new world.

During the performances, I began to search.

What was this power? Why did I feel so excited all over?

I began to see the answer little by little.

The orchestras that I had played in until then had many people playing the same instrument. There was a first violin and a second violin…and there were times when they didn't play the same part together. From the number of people needed to play one part, they added people, and there were a lot of times when you couldn't play because your part wasn't needed.

However, a band wasn't like that. There are only 4 people. Also, all the instruments are different. If one person plays wrong, it's all over. You can't make mistakes.

It means this: in a band, every person has a heavy responsibility. That responsibility exists equally among everyone.

If I thought it through and investigated this thoroughly, it made me very happy.

If I hadn't, I wouldn't have played. If I hadn't, I would have stopped.

From when I was very young, I had been searching for a place where I could belong. I wanted this place to not be a copy of anyone else's place.

In this group called a band was the first time that I found the answer.