2nd post by Ray (English ver.)

Hello everyone.

I’m Ray from DEVILOOF.

I have started writing a column on note.
As this is the first time I’m writing, I would like to reply to as many questions as time will allow.

・Once again, what kind of band is DEVILOOF?

I feel that DEVILOOF is a band that incorporates Japanese elements into genres from underground music scenes common throughout the world such as visual kei, deathcore and death metal.

In addition, I think our twin vocalist lineup, which is rare in the visual kei genre, is also one of DEVILOOF’s strengths.

Though… our songs are already strong enough since they are a fusion of deathcore and death metal, lol.

・Encounter with DEVILOOF

When I first came to know of DEVILOOF’s existence and watched its music video for “Ruin”, I was stunned. I thought to myself, “Such a band actually exists in the Kansai region?”, lol.

After some time, an offer came for me to participate as a supporting guitarist for DEVILOOF which marked the start.

With the offer came an invitation for me to join the band so I immediately met with the band’s bassist, Daiki, and talked about various things.

The me of that time was a little aloof and I thought, “I don’t want to join if there isn’t a member I can respect and can think of as a rival”, lol.

When I first met and talked to Daiki, I was self-taught and could sing to a certain extent so I told him, “I haven’t heard of many visual kei bands with two vocalists so I want to compose and sing songs which feature clean vocals.”. It became interesting so I joined and…

Became DEVILOOF 7strings Guitar & Vocal Ray.

・The reason why I took up singing

I’ve always loved to sing and have been singing since I was a kid. lol

At the beginning it was all nursery songs, but somewhere along the way I started singing Enka.

Before I’d realized, I was singing heavy metal while I was still little, lol.

・The reason why I started playing the guitar

There were people around me who had started playing instruments like the guitar or the drums but for me, the greatest factor that inspired me to start playing the guitar was…

When I watched videos of guitar heroes such as Chris Impellitteri and George Lynch.

My family home was in a village so I basically spent my days blasting and playing metal music until late at night, lol.

If I were my parents, I would have hated it. That’s how loud I was, lol.

・About the Spotify Playlist

Songs I listened to when I first started playing, songs by guitarists who inspired me, songs that I simply like, songs from games I’ve played so far, etc.

It’s more like an assortment of songs, lol.

I’m not sure how many songs I ended up adding into the playlist, and there are still tons of songs that I would like to recommend and songs that inspire me, but I thought it would be too much if I added them all so I left it at just that many, lol.

DEVILOOF Member’s Playlist01 Ray

・Equipment

Guitar　ESP HORIZON III (Ray Model）

Amplifier　Fractal Audio Systems Axe-FX III

I also want to talk about power supply and types of cables but I think it will take too long if I went into all the details so I’ll stop here, lol.

・Looking back on this year

I think it has been a rather stifling time where some have lost someone important to them and stress continues to accumulate as people face various restrictions.

I’m writing this in the middle of October and frankly have no idea about the future…

However, I think the world will still be on alert even after this article gets posted.

While concerts are starting to return, I honestly don’t think the current environment is one where both the audience and the musicians can enjoy a satisfying concert.

As with concerts, I hope that everyone around the world will be able to return to their normal lives as soon as possible.

Including myself, I think many people have become more aware as to how fortunate they were to have been able to live their usual lives.

When the time comes where concerts can be held as usual again, I think many bands will put their utmost into their activities to make up for the time they were not able to perform.

In the midst of all that, DEVILOOF will continue to present the individuality of DEVILOOF.

Whatever happens, we will always be on your side.

It is hard to put what I want to say into words, so I might not have been able to express myself well, but it’s okay as long as I’ve managed to convey even a little of what I wanted to say, lol.

Well, I think that’s about it for this post, lol.

If there is a next time, I want to talk more about the equipment I use, which might be a topic more for guitar maniacs.

Well… it would probably become an article just to satisfy myself, lol.

Thanks for reading!

Everyone, stay alive.