Who were some of the artists—Japanese, American, or otherwise—who influenced your musical development? Who are you listening to now?
There are many musicians that I have been influenced by and their music. So it's difficult to name a few. In a good and/or bad meaning, I've been influenced by all the music I've listened to. Listen to many, but don't have a particular one that I've been listening to recently.
In some circles, you're still described as a "pop" musician. How would you describe your musical style now?
I think I make all kinds of music, so I don't think I can explain what kind of music I make . . . and I don't want to make music that can be easily explained.
How did you come to work in video, particularly with videographer/filmmaker Koichiro Tsujikawa?
About ten years ago, I started synchronizing my music with videos for my shows. In the beginning there were sampling and collages involved, but a bit after that I started making videos with Koichiro. He was a friend of mine (he's my friend’s little brother's classmate) and was previously a graphic designer. He's had interesting ideas, and I thought it would be interesting if I made some with him, and things went well. Ever since then we've been collaborating together.
Your music seems mathematical in some regards. Is there a sense of assembling to your music?
For Sensuous, sound and sound don't crash . . . I made it so that the stereo position, frequency range, and time axis didn't clash with each other . . . and made it so that each sound and the vibrations of the sound vibrated clearly. By doing this, differently styled grooves were created.
How does the concept of "collage" work its way into your music?
When a musician records, using Pro Tools and/or Logic has become the standard digital recording process. Within that, if you consider the process of cutting and pasting audio files as collage, then nowadays it’s very normal. Regarding sampling records and combining them, I haven't been doing much since my Fantasma record.
You have continuously reimagined your sound, from Shibuya-kei to the release of Point and onward. Pardon the cheesy pun, but would it be fair to say Point was a point of departure?
I don't know what/when the departure point was for me. But for Fantasma I used a collage of samples . . . I created and used more of my own sounds in Point.
Do you ever feel like we're all approaching the end of music as we know it?
Music reflects and changes in each generation, so I don't think so.
I'm curious. What prompted the label switch from Matador to Everloving?
Matador wouldn't release my record, and Everloving did.
How important is the Japanese market to you compared with the international market?
I don't really think about for what people/country the music is for, but how to reach as many people as I can to listen to it.
How do you spend Christmas in Japan?
Work . . . laugh . . . I'm not a Christian. |