We're just a few days away from X JAPAN's reunion concert at Tokyo Dome! What better way to get psyched up for this sure-to-be legendary live than to hear from X JAPAN members themselves? X JAPAN's bassist Heath, who first joined the band on the 1992 album "ART OF LIFE," sat down to talk with JRR earlier this month about how he came to join X (and clears up quite a few rumors about it in the process), his solo works and activities with Dope HEADzand Lynx, and how he feels about playing with X JAPAN again back in Tokyo Dome. You won't want to miss this exclusive interview!JRR: Thank you for accepting Jrock Revolution’s interview request. HEATH: Entirely my pleasure. JRR: Congratulations also on the X JAPAN reunion. HEATH: Thank you very much. JRR: Before we start the interview, please let me explain that a lot of JRR's readers are more recent foreign Jrock fans and not all familiar with the people who've been around from the start. Most of them know X JAPAN as a band, and these fans don’t know so much about the individual members; this interview is to introduce you to everybody who reads our site. So please pardon us if we ask questions that most other fans and everybody in Japan know the answers to. HEATH: Yes, that's fine. JRR: Unlike the other X JAPAN members, you're from Kansai (Ed. Note: Western Japan, the region around Osaka) and not Kantou (Ed. Note: Eastern Japan, Greater Tokyo area). Is that right? HEATH: Yes, I'm from Amagasaki, in Hyougo prefecture. JRR: You originally started playing in the Kansai area, too? HEATH: Yes. My first indies band was there, then moved to Tokyo later on. JRR: That was PARANOIA? HEATH: Yes. JRR: You left that in 1988, then you were in Tokyo in 1990. What did you do in between? HEATH: I played in another band with some friends, but that didn't last for very long—only until 1990. After that, I decided to go to Tokyo and did that in 1990. JRR: What made you move from Osaka to Tokyo? HEATH: At that time, Japan's rock scene basically was Kantou, and anyone who was anybody was in the Kansai region—those who were talented and popular and really wanted to make it big went to Tokyo. I wasn't in a band at that time, just on my own as bassist, but I thought that maybe in Tokyo I could find a chance to make it big for myself. JRR: Also in 1990, you met X after the final concert of their ROSE & BLOOD tour at Nippon Budokan. How did that happen? Did someone introduce you? HEATH: Yes. A friend of mine happened to be a friend of HIDE’s, as well; my friend said, “Since they have a live, want to go watch?” The live that he took me to was that one. JRR: What was your first impression of them? HEATH: When I first saw them, it was at that live—what really impressed me was that the whole concert was like a story. It was very dramatic. During those three hours [of the concert], there was one story after another. Naturally there were points that were especially emphasized; however, because it was one long and ongoing story, it was very interesting. I remember that I felt that X would stay in my heart. 

JRR: Is there any band in Japan right now that you'd like foreign fans to listen to? HEATH: Yes, there is. (Points to a poster on the wall.) JRR: THE UNDERNEATH. They are already performing in the USA. HEATH: I think they are making really great music. JRR: Have you been to their lives? HEATH: Not yet, but I had a chance to listen to their master CD. I really think that it's great music. JRR: THE UNDERNEATH is a very new group? HEATH: They are new as THE UNDERNEATH, but all of those guys have already had long careers. JRR: Back to your own music: something else you did was Dope HEADz, with PATA and INA[from SPREAD BEAVER]. Nothing is happening with that, but there hasn't been any break up announcement, either. HEATH: No, we didn't disband. We’ve suspended activities with that, so maybe one day, if we have the chance again, we might do something again with that. JRR: We asked PATA about that, when talking to him, and he said something like that, too. So how about you really do it? HEATH: (Laughs.) Okay; we'll see. JRR: What you will be doing next is Tokyo Dome. Tokyo Dome is actually where you played your first live as member of X JAPAN, isn't it? HEATH: It is. JRR: What did that feel like, your first music major league live at Tokyo Dome? Instead of the usual way, moving from livehouses to increasingly larger venues, moving up immediately to Tokyo Dome. HEATH: Actually, what I thought then while on the stage was that it wasn't really different. Whether it's playing in a livehouse or Tokyo Dome, what you do doesn't change. Whether it's fifty people or fifty thousand people, you've got to do your best in any place. Regardless of the numbers, you should always try for 120% perfection. So there isn't any feeling of tremendous pressure in my memory for that. On the other hand, what impressed me that night was the fans’ reaction—how they welcomed us, the intensity of that. But that wasn't pressure; that was a pleasure, to realize that people wanted X so much, had waited so long. The overwhelming screaming and cheering when we came out. JRR: How do you think the upcoming lives will be? HEATH: I'd like to know that, too. At this moment, it's not something I can imagine yet. Also, I think that even if I would try to imagine it, the actual nights will probably go beyond anything that I could imagine. Ten years is ten years, after all, and while I think that many of our old fans will be there, there'll also be a lot of new ones. Sometimes in my [fan] mail—the youngest fan I've ever gotten mail from was an elementary school student—I get messages that say things like, “I've only known X after the break up. The only way I've seen you perform is on screen and never in reality. I'm looking forward so much to seeing you now.” JRR: I look forward to seeing that again, too. JRR: During those ten years, you've still been in contact with PATA. HEATH: Yes, we meet occasionally. JRR: How was it to meet YOSHIKI and TOSHI again after ten years? HEATH: It didn't feel like ten years. Well, first YOSHIKI, PATA, and I met, but [with YOSHIKI] that really didn't feel like meeting again after ten years; it was more like “long time, no see.” Then I met TOSHI in the recording studio, and that was like, “You doing okay?” Almost like there hadn't been that ten year gap at all—the old connections were right there again, without any awkwardness. 

JRR: Talking about old times, are there any of the old songs that you really want to play during the lives? HEATH: If I had to choose only one… “WEEK END.” JRR: Why that one? HEATH: There are some memories connected to that. That is… While playing bass, I never really sang chorus. For “WEEK END,” they said, “Come on, do it.” Then TOSHI gave me some special coaching for that, and then—without instruments—TOSHI, HIDE, and I practiced the chorus together. I really loved how it came together into harmony during our practices. JRR: That would be fun to see again. Incidentally, something different that was fun to see was your Myspace profile until that suddenly disappeared. What happened to that? HEATH: That actually wasn't me. JRR: That wasn't you? It did say “HEATH PROJECT”... HEATH: No, someone else did that without asking me. I even told people it wasn’t me when they said, “Oh, you made a Myspace profile, didn't you?” But they kept telling me that it was there, so I checked. And yes, it was there. But someone actually did that without asking. JRR: Have you thought about making one? Even PATA has one now, TOSHI made one last year, and YOSHIKI has had his for forever. So only you are missing. HEATH: (Laughs.) Let me think about it? Everybody keeps telling me that I should, but... JRR: Your foreign fans want you to for sure. And it's a very fast way to communicate. HEATH: At the moment, I don't have any idea yet what Myspace is all about. Even though it's been explained to me, I haven't really yet figured out how it works. When and if I do, and if I come to think that it might be fun, I might do it. But for the moment, I still have too many unanswered questions. JRR: Such as? HEATH: They’re not technical questions. They’re more basic—like, what is Myspace? What's it good for, what can you do with it? I haven't figured that out yet. JRR: For artists, it's something of a promotional tool, to announce events or music releases. Also, it’s a way to directly communicate with fans. HEATH: Do you know [Japanese social networking site] MIXI? It took me some time to figure that one out, too. JRR: Do you use MIXI? HEATH: I did for a bit, but I stopped. JRR: Since you are checking things online, did you look at the Jrock Revolution site? HEATH: I did, yes. JRR: What is your impression of it? HEATH: I thought that it was well done. (Laughs.) Well, I didn't look at all of the pages, but things like the interviews, information about bands, you can get all that very easily in Japan. But, even now, it's almost always only on paper. So seeing all that online on Jrock Revolutionmade me think that it's a very exciting site. JRR: Thank you very much. That's a wonderful compliment. And when you do something overseas, may we feature that, too? HEATH: Naturally. JRR: So what are your next plans then? HEATH: At this point, first of all, X. Someway, somehow. JRR: Someway, somehow? In what form? HEATH: I want to do something that goes beyond all expectations with X. And I still want to do things solo and with LYNX. JRR: That's a problem of time [scheduling]? HEATH: No, time [not having any]'s the problem. (Laughs.) JRR: Is that so? (Laughs.) Even with that, may we look forward to more things from you? HEATH: Please do. JRR: We'll take you up on that. And to come to an end for today, may we ask you for a message to your overseas fans and to the readers of Jrock Revolution? HEATH: Hello everybody on Jrock Revolution, this is HEATH. How are you? This was my first interview [with Jrock Revolution], but I think maybe you'll learn a little more about me from it. From now on, I'd like to deliver some great music—not only to Japan, but to everywhere—so please keep an eye out for it. This was a hello from HEATH. JRR: Thank you very much. 

完整采访！