Despite being sat on the top floor in one of London’s most affluent hotels, flown over for a premiere of documentary film We Are X – as well as headlining Wembley Arena – he’s immeasurably humble. This is definitely a rockstar with his feet on the ground…

“Heavy music began in the west,” he continues. “We took a lot of influence from there and tried to combine it with our influences from the east. Me and our singer Toshi started this band a long time ago in 1982, and it was always our dream to go overseas.

“I will continue for our deceased members [guitarist] Hide and [bassist] Taiji – they both had a strong ambition to see the world and all I want to do is keep their dream alive and celebrate their legacy. I want them to become even more famous, because they were such amazing musicians…”

“But back then, the walls were much higher for a group like us to break outside of Japan and into the world market. But those walls have come down or gotten lower thanks to the internet – people can listen to pretty much anything from anywhere. There’s also been a change in our mentalities; people have become more versatile in their tastes.”

Made in Japan

Now comfortable headlining venues like Tokyo Dome or Madison Square Garden, the symphonic metallers have not only managed to break out of one of the world’s most self-contained music scenes, they’ve also thrived in doing so.

Part of X Japan’s success Yoshiki attributes to the unusually orthodox methods he utilises to create. In fact, when he’s in writing mode, the fewer instruments around him, the better…

I write every single instrument to the score! I don’t use any musical instruments; I just write

“I’m very strange,” he laughs, “I write every single instrument to the score! I don’t use any musical instruments; I just write. My band members used to hate me – at rehearsal I’d be handing out everyone’s parts, even the drummer!

“For me, it’s fun to just pick up a pen and score away. When you are using an instrument, you are limited to what you can play on it or might always gravitate towards a certain style… But without one, there’s no limit. You could write for an entire orchestra! You might always gravitate to a certain style and doing it this way helps you break out of the boxes.”

And breaking out of boxes exactly what X Japan have been doing for all these years. They started a revolution for Japanese music that continues to this day – and Yoshiki is proud to see ‘visual kei’ newcomers Babymetal getting similar adoration from the western world…

“I actually went to see Babymetal when I was in London - they played The Forum,” he remembers.

“They’re an amazing live band and just so cool. In rock ’n’ roll, you don’t need to follow any rules. As long as it’s heavy and edgy, that’s all that matters!”

Here, the multi-instrumentalist talks us through the 10 records that changed his life…

The We Are X original soundtrack is out now on Sony Legacy.

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