Making a discovery through producing and living in a pandemic

——Takuma, you made your latest album, Last Afternoon, in this pandemic. What effect did covid-19 have?

Takuma Watanabe: Right after the pandemic hit, I started working on two film scores. The director and I would have meetings over Zoom and whatnot. I tried out many things. It was a situation where I had to adapt and act with my instincts. What influence did that have on the album? Well, I’m in the middle of checking the feedback on that.

——So, you’re figuring it out as you go.

Takuma: Right. I want to place importance on organically coming up with things like, “Let’s try this out” whenever I speak with my friends. For instance, I want a friend to send over an audio file of them performing and mix it with a track I’ve prepared or put together audio tracks recorded in different places. I feel like such experiments could be fun.

——Perhaps you’re able to come up with new approaches because we’re in a predicament today. What about you, Yayako?

Yayako: I’ve never lived in a time where we had to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid touching other people. What I experienced during the first state of emergency announcement influenced me in particular. For example, I have a ten-year-old child, and he tells me things like, “I’m going to make [something] out of clay. Watch me until the end.” Usually, I would make excuses and not go along with it because I’m busy. But when the announcement was declared, I had a lot of time to spend at home. I thought, “I’m going to watch what my kid makes without thinking about anything else,” and I felt this indescribable sense of liberation. It made me question why I had been trying to live life so fast.

——You could stop in your tracks and think?

Yayako: Kids live their life by focusing only on what’s in front of them, right? They’re the very [embodiment of] “be here now.” It might be over-the-top to say sharing that joy is priceless, but it made me realize how important it is. Also, we have an old piano at home, and I sometimes practice playing it with my son. It’s not to achieve anything. I feel joy when I press down on the keys, and the sounds reverberate inside me. It was like my five senses were sharpened in an environment where other information was chipped away. Though it’s far from perfect, I write, and I would be happy if somebody read my writing and felt something. I had been unaware of the importance of living and writing, making sounds with a piano, and watching my kid breathe in front of my eyes. I mean, these are basic things in life.

What’s Takuma Watanabe and Yayako Uchida’s source of creativity?

——That’s a huge realization.

Yayako: Also, what left an impression on me regarding work is no art, no life, a show on NHK Educational TV, which I’m a narrator of. It introduces self-taught people who make artwork that can be called art brut (outsider art). For instance, there’s this grandpa who’s a barber and continues to make masks. Masks of different types cover the walls. But he doesn’t make the masks because he wants to show them to someone. For the grandpa, the process of making masks is what’s important. I think it’s the same thing as eating and sleeping for him.

——Art is a part of their lifestyle for people like him.

Yayako: Yes. Upon seeing such people, it made me think, “What does it mean to express something, anyway?” So, I want to ask this, Takuma: where does your motivation for being creative come from? Mine is quite all over the place, but can you trace the root and create work?

Takuma: For me, the very process of creating is fun. Once I finish a piece, I already start thinking about the next thing. Releasing a complete piece of work to the world is a different process from creating something. It’s like I’m not satisfied with it. How can I make my creation land [where I want it to]? That’s what I worry about all the time.

Yayako: How do you view the act of playing your music live?

Takuma: Personally, the songs I release as an album are complete at that point. It’s fun to play live, but it’s hard to replicate the songs off an album, and there’s music that’s suitable for different events and formats. I want to treat live shows as spaces to create too. I want to document that to release it as an album.

Yayako: As an entirely different thing.

Takuma: Yeah. For me, the act of creating is my motive. When I was a kid, I wanted to become a magician. Like performing music, you need skills to do magic, no? But as I got to know the context of magic, my interest shifted from polishing [my magic] skills to building magic sets. I would come up with original magic tricks and write an explanation about how they work too. I feel like that process is quite similar to [songwriting].

——Both magic and music are illusions. Both can change the setting in an instant.

Takuma: I also use a computer to produce music, but the primary tool I use to write songs is sheet music. I like how an image emerges whenever I write or read sheet music. Writing notes onto sheet music is simple, as you can do it if you have manuscript paper and pencil. But beyond the musical notations awaits a different world. That’s the intriguing part.

“I believe in fate”- Yayako Uchida

——It’s interesting how Watanabe-san’s well of creativity stems from magic. Yayako, do you have any sources regarding creating things?

Yayako: I completely go with the flow. Like, I started singing and reading [my work] aloud when I met Takuma-san, and I started writing when Michio Akiyama read my letter and said, “Try writing an essay.” I’ve been doing things passively and with little ambition, but I believe in fate. It’s fun to gain inspiration from that, and I always expect the unexpected to happen.

——Your origins lie in your encounters?

Yayako: Yes. Everything starts with meeting people.

Takuma: You even have a book called Kaikenki (published by Little More) (laughs).

Yayako: True (laughs). I write picture books as well. But I can only write a story after being shown the drawings first. I don’t have the urge to write a story from scratch. I don’t have the desire to express anything. That’s why I think it’s cool when people have something sacred like Takuma, like “This is what I genuinely want to make.” I can’t ever be like that, so I admire it.

Takuma: I have an obsession, though, like “If I don’t have this, then what can I do?” I can’t sit still when I’m not working on something.

Yayako: Like a workaholic?

Takuma: I wonder. I think a part of me is like that, but making music of my own, not for work and someone else, is like a daily routine. Continuing to do this every day differs from studying or practicing. For example, unless you play the piano every day, you’d no longer be able to play it. But I don’t enjoy playing it every day for that [purpose]. So, I recently let go of playing the piano.

Yayako: What! That’s shocking to hear. What do you mean you let it go? Did you become uninterested?

Takuma: Hmm. I feel like I no longer adhere to the role of a pianist.

Yayako: How long have you not played it?

Takuma: I think I haven’t played it for over half a year.

Yayako: Wow! I spoke to Ryuichi Sakamoto over the phone the other day (as seen in Shukan Bunshun WOMAN published by Bungei Shunju), and he said that he used to think of his concerts as practice. He told me he had a cocky side like that. Because his stamina is declining now, he shyly said he plays as much as possible because he wouldn’t be able to unless he practices every day.

Takuma: I started playing the piano late.

Yayako: What age was that, again?

Takuma: Around 16 years old. In the world of classical music, it’s too late. Besides, to me, the piano is the same as a typewriter. It’s one tool to write music. If my fingers move just enough to press the keys, that’s fine with me. The time I spend touching my computer keyboard is increasing as of late, and it’s not that different from touching the piano.

Yayako: I see. So, is COMBOPIANO over?

Takuma: It’s not over (laughs). I would have to ask (bandmates) (Kazuhisa) Uchihashi and Senju (Muneomi), but even if we’re not active right now, we might get together again at some point. It’s like making a movie; people come together quickly, make something by sharing ideas, and go separate ways once it’s finished like, “Thank you.” I don’t hate that sort of relationship. I don’t constantly have to be doing things with someone else.

——Is it easier to do a solo project than a band?

Takuma: Yes. But I can’t play the piano well enough to perform with Uchihashi and Senju. I need to practice a bit.

——Perhaps you could join them with [an instrument] aside from the piano. If you were to start sighboat again, I feel like it would be distinct from your past work.

Yayako: I want to try doing it again.

Takuma: Did we release our second album in 2010? Since then, the three of us have been through various changes. I’m interested in how that would manifest in the sound.

Yayako: Even if we’re not like, “Let’s make an album!” if we’re like, “Let’s try making one song remotely,” then we might make something lighthearted and fun while each of us lives life separately.

Takuma: We don’t have a characteristic unique to sighboat, in a good way, so we should play what we want whenever. I think we’ll have an approach that’s different from before. I want to try something that has no connection or relationship to our two previous albums.

Yayako: I’d love to join you on that adventure!

Takuma Watanabe
He studied composition and music technology in 1997 at Berklee college of music in Boston. In 2007 he joined the world tour of David Sylvian performing with synthesizers and computer and played 28 concerts. In 2014 he founded a string ensemble with computer technology which has been giving public performances of contemporary and drone music. In 2010 he started his film composing career. He has performed or collaborated with, Jonas Mekas, David Sylvian, Joan La Barbara, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Akira Rabelais, Félicia Atkinson, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto amongst others.

Yayako Uchida
She was born in Tokyo in 1976. She is involved in the world of words and sounds; she mainly writes essays, but also translates, writes lyrics, plays in a band called sighboat, and does narrations. She is also a mother of three. Her recent publications include a book co-authored with neuroscientist Nobuko Nakano, Nande Kazoku Wo Tsuzukeru No? (Bunshun Shinsho). She has translated picture books including Ping (Poplar Publishing), Blanket & Bear, a Remarkable Pair (Hayakawa Publishing), and Maman (Pie International). Her essay series, “BLANK PAGE” can be found in the quarterly magazine, Shukan Bunshun WOMAN. She is also a narrator on the NHK Educational TV Program, no art, no life.

Translation Lena Grace Suda

The post Takuma Watanabe x Yayako Uchida [Part 2]: Exploring the source of the pair’s creativity appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

Takuma Watanabe is a musician who works across genres, including contemporary music, pop, and film scores. Meanwhile, Yayako Uchida wears many hats—including that of essayist, translator, and actor. The two, who used to work together as part of the musical group sighboat, reunited for the first time in a long while for this conversation. This is the first half of the resulting two-part interview. In part one, we discuss Watanabe’s new album, Last Afternoon. The album features bassist Masato Suzuki, who was also a member of sighboat, and other leading Japanese string players such as Seigen Tokuzawa and Atsuko Hatano. The wide range of guest artists featured on the album also includes American vocalist Joan La Barbara and Akira Rabelais, a composer and software developer known for his collaborations with Bjork and David Sylvian. Additionally, the album was mastered by Jim O’Rourke. How did this album come about, and what did Uchida think upon listening? TOKION takes a closer look at the mysterious sound of strings and electronic music melting together.

How sighboat was formed

ーーIt seems it’s been a while since the two of you last talked like this.

Yayako Uchida: I lived in London from 2012 to 2018, and I haven’t seen Takuma since moving to England—so we haven’t seen each other in about 10 years. It’s been so long, so I’m a bit nervous. Like meeting an old lover. (laughs)

――So, you two started making music together after performing at an event?

Yayako: That’s right. There was a [Jean-Luc] Godard event where I was supposed to do a reading of a movie script. But I wasn’t that familiar with Godard. I didn’t know what to do, so I tried listening to the albums of the artists who were playing at the event. And then I was struck by his music, so I asked, “Will you collaborate with me?” I did a reading, and Takuma, you played the piano for me, right?

Takuma Watanabe: Yeah. After that, we started to perform at other events together, so I asked her to do readings and sing a bit. Through that, I started to think that maybe we could make some sort of music together. At first, I thought Yayako could do a solo project or something, but then she said she wanted to do a band.

Yayako: I definitely don’t want to be solo. (laughs) I wanted to get Takuma or Masato [Suzuki] involved somehow.

――Then you guys started sighboat and released two albums. What did you think after trying out music, Yayako?

Yayako: I’d always admired music, but I personally grew up listening to fairly popular music. When I was in elementary school, the first album I bought was “License to Ill” by the Beastie Boys, and after that, I was listening to stuff like Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But Takuma and Masato had a totally different relationship to music. So I wondered how to keep up. But I was a total amateur, so I figured I’d be myself and have them use me as an ingredient in their cooking.

Takuma: Speaking of which, Masato and I had a sort of composer’s meeting. We asked, what kind of music would suit Yayako?

Yayako: Oh, I didn’t know that!

Takuma: After we made the first album, Yayako said she wanted to make music that was a bit more rock n’ roll. So when we made the second album, Masato and I discussed approaches that we hadn’t taken in the previous album, and we featured guest artists like the guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi and drummer Senju Muneomi.

Uchida: Oh, I see. Looking back on it now, I think I got to have a really valuable experience.

The “seamless universe” depicted by Last Afternoon

――Some time has gone by since then, and now, Takuma has just released his new album, Last Afternoon. What did you think after listening to the album, Yayako?

Yayako: I thought: For the past 10 years, I’ve been drifting in a big sea. What I mean by that is that I have three kids, I write essays and do a bit of creative work, but basically, I’ve lived my life as an ordinary person. I’ve spent a lot of time in the mindset of always thinking about people other than myself. When I listened to Last Afternoon, I realized that although we’re the same age, and were born and raised on this earth for the same number of years, Takuma has faced solitude. And rather than drowning in it, he’s able to pump what he needs from the well of solitude.

――The well of solitude?

Yayako: This is a bit of an abstract thought, but because my family has grown, I’ve always been part of a family or the surrounding community. So the rhythm of my life makes it difficult to feel solitude. Takuma is an artist, so it’s like he can infinitely keep digging deeper into the well of solitude. As a result, when someone like me, who has a different rhythm of life, listens to an album like this, we can become aware of a world on a completely different dimension, and there’s a sense of freedom in that. But the feeling isn’t just gratitude, like, “Thanks for opening the door to a world I didn’t know.” At the same time, there’s another feeling, something like an immeasurable fear.

――What kind of fear is that?

Yayako: It’s the feeling I get from Takuma’s solitude. He also made a music video this time, right? That video was also somewhat creepy or uncomfortable, with a gloomy and dark atmosphere, but there’s also something faintly cheerful about it. It’s not the rock bottom of despair, nor is it full of hope. It feels like a back and forth between the two. Anyway, the large scale and the way it’s unlike anything else—I interpreted that as solitude. To put it a little better: independence. I felt that Takuma has a strong spirit.

――I see. You really listened to it deeply. What did you [Takuma] think as the artist?

Yayako: Let’s try asking the artist! (laughs)

Takuma: Well, is there anything more to say? (laughs) In the past, I’ve often made music for some sort of occasion or in collaboration with others—people like Yayako, Kip Hanrahan, and David Sylvian. So, it’s probably only recently that I’ve started to take the time to make what I want on my own. In that sense, this album may be introspective in some ways.

――That introspective aspect may be connected to the sense of solitude that Yayako felt.

Takuma: For this album, I ultimately recorded eight songs that were left over from the songs I’d been composing since about 2014. I’d been doing a thing where I’d wake up every morning and write down at least one bar of notes on a music sheet. So, I didn’t have a specific concept, but it was like the creation itself became my motivation. I had four string players, Yuko Kajitani, Anzu Suhara, Seigen Tokuzawa, and Hiroki Chiba, perform the songs I wrote, and the tour was one of the major triggers for making the album. I actually wrote some of the songs while imagining what the performers would sound like.

――You formed a string quartet in 2014. Are those four the members?

Takuma: Yeah. At the time, I was studying Johann Sebastian Bach, so I guess it was formed out of a personal motivation to teach myself counterpoint, or to do a study of it.

Yayako: I see! Sensei, when you say counterpoint, are you talking about a method?

Takuma: (laughs) Yes. It involves making multiple melodies that are in harmony with each other. For example, one person plays the bass, and the other performs the inner parts of the melody.

Yayako: Bach came up with counterpoint?

Takuma: It has origins in early hymns and church music. Bach didn’t come up with it, but his works are the culmination of it. In the two years after starting my quartet, I think I achieved certain results through the music that came out of my studies, and I’ve also used that knowledge in my film score work. After that, my interest in composition underwent minor changes, and I began to focus on things like textures and moods. In the process, I became more interested in what kind of sound would be generated when string sounds were put through a computer.

Yayako: This album sounds digital at first, but after it passes through your body, what remains is an organic feeling. It’s as if these completely opposite worlds are actually connected at their core, and it moves back and forth between these worlds freely. So, when I was listening to the album, I thought, “What’s this organic feeling I’m getting?” When I learned that you wrote the songs in your daily life, and that you were thinking about the performers on a personal level, it made sense to me.

――I get the impression that it [the album] is wavering on the border between two worlds. The album is titled Last Afternoon, and it has the atmosphere of dusk—when the worlds of night and day melt together.

Yayako: That’s true. Like those worlds are seamlessly connected. The songs are mostly instrumental, and then halfway through, you hear Joan [La Barbara]’s voice. It’s striking, but if you look at the overall structure of the album, it’s consistent. I’d always thought that instruments and voices were two different worlds, but they seem to be seamlessly connected here, so I felt taken by surprise.

Chance encounters with the collaborators who helped with the sound

――Earlier, you mentioned that you became interested in the texture of sound. The sound and mixing on this album are unique. The sounds are mixed in a strange way, like time and space are distorted. Is there anything you were conscious of in terms of the sound?

Takuma: I wanted a work that was derived from the mutual interference of the sounds on the score and the sounds generated from the computer. Then, I wanted to distance that from academicism and form, and bring it to life in my own way. So, there was a period when I felt like I was walking alone in a pitch-black tunnel. But within the context of contemporary music and electronic music, I found some lights here and there that became hints. If I walked towards them [the “lights”], I’d make a small discovery. [This album] has a sound and timbre that was created through that process of walking.

――Was the inspiration you got from Akira Rabelais and Jim O’Rourke important in terms of the sound?

Takuma: That was huge. I collaborated with Akira in about 2018. I met him through David Sylvian. When I was with David on his tour, after the Cologne show, David told me, “There’s someone I want to introduce you to.” I asked him, “Who is it?” and he replied, “Akira,” so I thought he was Japanese, but when I met him, he was an American composer. We had tea together, and at the time, I was a bit homesick from the exhaustion of touring and the fact that I had been away from Japan for a month or two. So, I was whining, or grumbling, to Akira. (laughs) And he listened to my grumbling with a calm smile. When I looked at his website later, I found that he was an artist with this amazing worldview, and I felt embarrassed. Later, I got in touch with him because I was interested in his ideas and the music software he was developing, and I’ve been in contact with him since. I’m inspired by how he connects to music. Jim, of course, has an amazing way of focusing on sound, doesn’t he? It makes me realize what I still need to work on.

――Jim’s mixing is unique, isn’t it?

Takuma: Although the sound may seem a bit small by today’s mastering standards, I was truly amazed at the master data he created. It was in the right volume, without losing any of the dynamics of the strings or the nuances of the music. It reminded me that the depth of his involvement in sound is quite deep.

Yayako: Can I say something a bit off-topic? I don’t know much about Jim…

Takuma: Didn’t you meet him once?

Yayako: Yeah. I met him once backstage at some event. He suddenly asked me, “Are you Yuya Uchida’s daughter?” Then he said, “I like him,” and listed off movie titles that even I didn’t know. (laughs) Like, “Yuya was awesome in that Nikkatsu Roman Porno film,” or stuff about Toshi Ichiyanagi’s Opera from the works of Tadanori Yokoo and the Flower Travellin’ Band. I felt a certain warmth in being told all kinds of things about my father, who I’d been estranged from, by a musician I’d met for the first time.

――Jim really loves movies.

Yayako: Also, I went to David Sylvian’s show in Paris.

Takuma: Oh yeah, you came.

Yayako: You were homesick at that time, too. (laughs)

Takuma: What! Was I really? (laughs) I do remember wanting to eat Japanese food—well, I suppose that’s homesickness. (laughs)

Yayako: But his performance was perfect. I thought it was interesting how he has a feeling of instability about him. By the way, wasn’t the reason David found out about you because he happened to hear sighboat at a café in Kyoto?

Takuma: That’s right. When David was in Kyoto for a concert, he went to a café that was playing sighboat. Apparently, he asked, “Who is this song by?” That’s how he stumbled upon the album I’d released at the time, and he asked me to join him on a world tour. It was really fortuitous.

――It’s amazing that the music they were playing at the café led to an offer. It must have made a strong impression on David.

Takuma: Apparently, David was looking for people to join him on a world tour at the time. At first, I thought it’d be more like a guest appearance with a laptop rather than a band. Ultimately, it was decided that I’d play some songs in my repertoire, so I joined with a piano and a laptop, and I had a lot of fun working on the arrangement of original songs with Steve Jansen and other band members.

Yayako: When you introduced me to David in Paris, he shook my hand and said, “If it weren’t for you, Takuma and I would never have met.” That really left an impression on me.

Takuma: Meeting you was big for me as well, Yayako.

Takuma Watanabe
He studied composition and music technology in 1997 at Berklee college of music in Boston. In 2007 he joined the world tour of David Sylvian performing with synthesizers and computer and played 28 concerts. In 2014 he founded a string ensemble with computer technology which has been giving public performances of contemporary and drone music. In 2010 he started his film composing career. He has performed or collaborated with, Jonas Mekas, David Sylvian, Joan La Barbara, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Akira Rabelais, Félicia Atkinson, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto amongst others.

Yayako Uchida
She was born in Tokyo in 1976. She is involved in the world of words and sounds; she mainly writes essays, but also translates, writes lyrics, plays in a band called sighboat, and does narrations. She is also a mother of three. Her recent publications include a book co-authored with neuroscientist Nobuko Nakano, Nande Kazoku Wo Tsuzukeru No? (Bunshun Shinsho). She has translated picture books including Ping (Poplar Publishing), Blanket & Bear, a Remarkable Pair (Hayakawa Publishing), and Maman (Pie International). Her essay series, “BLANK PAGE” can be found in the quarterly magazine, Shukan Bunshun WOMAN. She is also a narrator on the NHK Educational TV Program, no art, no life.

Translation Aya Apton

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The post Takuma Watanabe x Yayako Uchida [Part 1]: On Last Afternoon’s musical universe and the background of its production. appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

We asked TAAR and MASAtO, the core members of the project, about the creative process, which included co-writing a song —a practice that is not so common in Japan. How the open process can improve listening skills in music, and the impact of subscription-based music streaming services on listeners’ relations to music.

–How did you end up creating a song with the Clubhouse app?

MASAtO: I have been discussing with TAAR about making a song together, and we reached a point where we wanted to find a singer. Then, we thought maybe we could find a singer using the Clubhouse app.

TAAR: Clubhouse is an app that the general public can join and I thought that I could organize something similar to an audition. I didn’t want to say that it was an audition per se, as I thought it would sound too high-handed. I talked to MASAtO, and we decided that we would first gather people in a room and propose making a song together.

MASAtO: We created a room on the app, and named it “Who wants to make a song together? (Singers welcome).” We weren’t planning to make a song right away. We never imagined that we could use social media that we were not so familiar with, and make a song. However, we could actually make a song in about 4 hours.

–While you were making the song, I think there were many listeners.

MASAtO：When we were making the song, I think there was a steady flow of about 80 to 90 listeners. Once we opened a separate room in the end to listen to the song, there were around 200 people. The difficulty of making a song with Clubhouse is that when the musicians are concentrating, they become quiet. In order to make the process entertaining, we had to assign someone to keep talking. It was important to divide the tasks.

TAAR：In that sense, I think it worked out well that we, as producers, initiated the project. We played our role as producers, and never stopped working on the song while ensuring that someone was talking.

MASAtO：We needed to make sure that there is no pause in the conversation, and that prompted us to reduce the time to do anything elaborate or become indecisive. We felt pressure to pass on whatever we created as fast as we could to other musicians.

TAAR：When you co-write a song with other people, the process itself has a unique atmosphere. It’s similar to working with studio musicians as we try not to be idle, even for a moment. I think that is why we could make a song in such a short period of time.

–To raise your hand to write a song together, I thought you needed confidence.

TAAR：When you are making a song, confidence affects the quality of the song, and we ended up with high-quality output. The participants had high musical literacy.

MASAtO：While we tried to be as inventive as possible with the short loops, which are the shortest units in the song, we asked TAAR to make the final decisions for the overall song, and I think that was critical. We chose a process that does not lead to discussions, and that is why we could finish a song in a matter of 4 hours. If someone had started to ask “Please put my sound first,” we would not have been able to finish anything.

–Since you had artists from different genres of music, did you learn how others composed music?

TAAR：When I received the recording of the first 4-hour session in the Clubhouse room from MASAtO, I discovered how the synthesizers were overlaid. We never made music together before, so it was interesting to learn his habits and approach.

MASAtO：Later, we created a Clubhouse room for mixing. When I heard the mixing by TAAR, it was done in a way that I never imagined, and I was also impressed with his skills. Music producers usually work on their own, looking at their computer screen. So, they tend not to know what others are good at. In that sense, it was an ear? (sic)-opening experience.

TAAR：When we use the Clubhouse app, we usually make an excuse saying, “Perhaps, the listeners are interested in learning about this,” and spread some information that people would normally pay to access.

–When you shared the process of making the song, weren’t you concerned about plagiarism?

TAAR：No, we were not worried at all. The whole process felt like a jam session. First, I laid out the basic chord progression, and presented a format where the participants could feature send up their ideas.

MASAtO：We didn’t make any of the parts used in the song. The parts were pretty common and have been used a lot. We combined those parts, and turned them into something original. That’s why it’s not worth plagiarizing any of the parts.

Thanks to Listeners’ Discerning Ears, We Can Share the Songwriting Process

–I thought it was innovative to share the process of making a song with the listeners.

TAAR：As for me, it’s so much more interesting to see how music is created, rather than listening to it. That’s why I wanted to share how much fun the process is. And, I thought that it was a new way of experiencing music. For example, “KanJam Kanzen Nen-Show,” the program on TV Asahi, has a popular segment that is dedicated to explaining the technical aspects of songs. That’s why I thought people would enjoy learning about the process of songwriting. It’s as if you are working in an open kitchen, and people can observe the entire process of cooking something.

MASAtO：We actually played the song about five times, when hosting the Clubhouse session for 4 hours. The rest of the time, we were going back and forth about making the song. In spite of that, most people listened until the end, and enjoyed the process. TAAR is a highly artistic club musician, and I thought that he was not going to share anything that was not complete. I was under the impression that he selected the songs that he featured very carefully, and would say that he only works with musicians of his choice. I didn’t think that he would go for the “open kitchen” style of songwriting. For me, I found it interesting that someone like him decided to be part of such open process.

TAAR：I don’t think we could have done the same thing, five or ten years ago. Since subscription-based music streaming services started, there is a divide between the listeners of the latest music, and the famous older songs. Listeners have become connoisseurs listening to the famous older songs, and the contemporary musicians do their best to make songs that are better than those. This has created a synergy, to improve the quality of music as well as the listeners’ skills, in the last three years. We see more people listening to music without putting music on a pedestal, as it is something to be admired. That makes things easier for us.

MASAtO：We see quite a few media coverage that focuses on the psychological part of the musicians when they make songs. However, a program such as “KanJam Kanzen Nen-Show”, which provides explanation for songs, is popular. It helps people to become better listeners, with discerning ears. Then, the musicians realize that they need to make good music, and it creates a productive cycle.

TAAR：When you learn about the process of making music and listen to the final outcome, I think it actually improves your listening skills.

MASAtO：We can now listen to several thousand new songs every week via streaming, and our appreciation for each song diminishes comparatively. However, our project allowed the listeners to experience the songwriting process, and create a deeper connection to the song. I am sure it was an enriching experience.

TAAR：In the process of making the song, I started to feel the desire to create a situation where listeners can have a deeper connection to the song. This is something that I didn’t feel in the beginning.

Clubhouse is Similar to a Park, a Public Space Where Everything is Fluid

–I saw that the you made the stem data of “Clubhouse (feat. CHICHO CARITO and Mitsuki Aoyama)” public, and launched the #ReroomProject to remix the song. I heard that ☆Taku Takahashi participated in the remix project.

MASAtO：We asked Taku to set up a room in Clubhouse, and create a project to finish a remix in 4 hours. In this room, anyone could raise their hands and say, “I want to play a guitar” or “I want to play a flute.” Once the participants send the data to the owner of the room, the owner gets to decide where to add the data in the song.

–Do you plan to use Clubhouse as a tool to make music?

MASAtO：I would like to use it, but we are discussing if we can create an open space to make music that is not just on the Clubhouse app.

TAAR: This time, we wanted to create a place like a park where we could share music with the general public. Compared to Zoom and Discord, participants can come and go in Clubhouse; it’s an app with fluidity and openness. There is very little time lag on the app and the conversation is clear even when different people are talking at the same time. It’s an excellent communication tool. I think I can find ways to combine it with other tools, and incorporate it in my work.

–As a fan, I am hoping that（YOSA &）TAAR×ANIMAL HACK will make more songs together.

MASAtO：I would like to do that. I think ANIMAL HACK is good at creating distinctive sounds, while YOSA & TAAR is good at creating ambience and details. I have a feeling that mixing those elements will result in a powerful work. I also have this wild dream of us co-writing a K-POP song.

TAAR：I would love to do that.

–Lastly, are you planning to release any work soon?

MASAtO：I don’t have any definite plans yet, but we are working on songs featuring a singer, and collaborating with a music producer on a separate project. We want to make our own songs but we are struggling, as it’s so hard to write lyrics about your own life.

TAAR：I am now producing two albums: one by YOSA & TAAR; the other by TAAR. I am also releasing some work that I produced. Please check my social media for updates.

TAAR
TARR is a DJ and music producer based in Tokyo. In 2012, he produced an album abstrk (limited edition and self-released), which sold out immediately. In 2014, he released eyes of you featuring ShigeoJD, followed by three digital EPs. He was selected as the resident DJ of MODERN DISCO, which launched in February 2015. He released Astronotes in Disco, an album about zero gravity drifting, in February 2017. In the Summer of 2018, he started YOSA & TAAR, a collaborative project with YOSA, and released their first album Modern Disco Tours, in March 2019.
Twitter: @TAAR88

ANIMAL HACK
ANIMAL HACK is a music producer duo based in Tokyo. They made their debut in 2016. The following year, their song “Franny” was selected as the theme song when Apple Store Shibuya branch reopened after a renovation. “Pressure,” which was released the same year, was chosen as one of the “100 best songs in the world representing 2018” by Apple Music Japan. In addition to their original songs, they worked with artists such as SIRUP and 4s4ki. They produced a song for Hypnosis Mic, a multimedia project, and created an official remix of “Kingyo Hanabi,” by Ai Otsuka. They also work on visual art and art projects as producers.
Twitter: @a_nima_l_hack
MASAtO Twitter: @masatoanml

As part of the Clubhouse project, remixes by AmPm and Frasco & SKYTOPIA were released, respectively on March 3 and March 17. A remix by ☆Taku Takahashi is scheduled to be released on April 7, and an EP with a total of eight songs including three remixes by YOSA & TAAR & ANIMAL HACK, TiMT, and Batsu, will be released in the same month.

Photography Yuji Sato
Translation Fumiko Miyamoto

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Morgane Gloaguen, director of 43 bis Creations based in Nantes in western France, began to think about current environmental issues during her career change. She has always loved DIY and interior production, what made her to launch the business is that she won the interior production contest for bourgeoisie. The idea is to turn a waste flower pot into a lamp, a suitcase into a shelf, and the metal part of a drum-type washing machine into a coffee table.

Joan Roca is also one of enthusiastic people about upcycle, the chef of El Celler de Can Roca which took over the first position in 50 Best Restaurants in the World in 2013 and 2015 from Noma in Denmark. He started the project called Roca Recicla, which reuses opened glass bottles of drinks at his restaurant into ashtrays, cups, vases, and figurines. In addition, his workshop gets attention because it actively accepts employment of women in exclusion risk due to long term unemployment and more than 45 years old in order to support reintegration into society. 

”not stuffy and boring” is the common consciousness of young entrepreneurs

In the UK, Lynne Lambourne, an interior designer based in Oxfordshire in southeast England, is actively working on waste issues in the interior industry. Producing interior goods and furniture using waste collected from landfills, and appeared a popular interior design competition program by the BBC several times since 2014. She continues to appear in The Great Interior Design Challenge in 2019, and won numerous awards including Grand Designs Live Interior Designer of the Year. The interior, which is decorated with items that were upcycled from second-hand and waste, is highly regarded along with her philosophy of sustainability. She is known as “Warrior of Waste”, and recently gardening incorporating upcycle ideas such as potting yogurt and egg packs transform into potted plants and using banana peel to care for the leaves of foliage plants. She also makes films for children on marine pollution issues including plastic pollution. In an interview with the web magazine Plastic Patrol, her aim is “to inspire then to want to be part of a movement for good but that is not stuffy and boring” she said. 

A common idea among companies that tackle waste problems is that they are not stuffy and boring, as Lynne says. That is also the factor that the new generation of entrepreneurs is driving to improve waste problems. There are certain restrictions on the action of upcycling waste, but it is also true that can be a trigger to maximize the creator’s creativity. In addition, consumers now seek emotional value rather than functional value such as goods and services, and have come to regard unique stories, concepts, and original  worldviews as added value. Now, it is likely to increase upcycled waste products demand.

The post The ethical-oriented state-of-the-art upcycle wave also allows the interior industry in Europe to be creatively reused in furniture appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

Playing and working together. This truly exemplifies the relationship between the musician-cum-artist Carsten Nicolai, who is also known by the name Alva Noto, as well as the fashion designer Kostas Murkudis. The two men, who have been friends and collaborators for 25 years running, make a great pair that have produced numerous artworks to date, including the items and installations of Kostas Murkudis. We created an opportunity to talk in order to hear what they had to say. In Carsten’s studio, where the two frequently work together, we follow along with the story from when the two met down to the present.

ーーCould you please start by telling us how the two of you met?

Kostas Murkudis (referred to as Kostas below): We first met back in 1995 when Carsten held an opening at a gallery in Munich. At the time I was living in Munich, and went to the opening at the invitation of my younger brother Andreas (Andreas Murkudis). He said he had someone he wanted to introduce me to.

Carsten Nicolai (referred to as Carsten below): I had originally met Andreas when we were living in Berlin. 

Kostas: After the opening he said “I”ve got some secret pieces I’d like to show you, come with me,” and brought us outside. I was surprised that he then held a secret, private exhibition in a parked car on a street late at night. 

Carsten: Yeah, that one was special. Wasn’t it a single massive drawing? 

Kostas: No, I think it was a lot of drawings (laughs).

Carsten: Ah, maybe so. I don’t really remember. 

Kostas: I remember it quite well (laughs). Carsten was hesitant about showing these works to the gallerist, and seemed to be somewhat lacking in self-confidence. But your works were absolutely beautiful and I loved them. I remember that you gave me those pieces as a present the following year after my first collection. 

――And from there your friendship continued to deepen.

Carsten: After Kostas moved to Berlin we just grew closer and closer. There wasn’t anything particularly special to it, it just happened naturally. 

Kostas: When the two of us would meet up we’d talk about art, work, girlfriends and friends, politics, and everyday happenings. These conversations would generate ideas in us. 

Carsten: Because we aren’t work colleagues, but personal friends. Since we have been acquainted for so long there are times when we meet up every day, and times when we don’t meet for three months or more due to work or travel. But when we return we make an effort to get together and talk about what we’ve been doing recently and what’s happened to us up to then. 

Kostas: I feel like we’ll go on forever in this way. Or at least for as long as we’re still alive. 

The collaborations between the two began via a natural course of events

――When did you begin collaborating with one another?

Kostas: I think it was in 1997 when we worked on a T-shirt for my second collection. I designed and printed a symbol with Carsten.

Carsten: Initially there were lots of pieces that involved printing on unique materials not used in fashion. Like paper textile dresses and the like. We’ve also test printed silk screens in this studio. Paintings that were abstract to me would be turned into abstract design pieces by Kostas. Only they were wearable. So it was in this manner that we evolved to a more experimental level of fashion. From there we photographed the pieces as art objects without any models, and came to take charge of the lighting and sound for fashion presentations and installations.

Kostas: Do you remember the Milano Collection from 2015? The fashion journalist Luke Leitch who watched the show wrote something to the effect that it was way too loud and that everyone in the venue was kind of freaked out by it, and that it messed up everyone’s ears. I couldn’t help but have a chuckle when I read that (laughs). It was incredible. 

Carsten: But if I’m being honest, they weren’t all that radical. The installations at the MMK Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt were much more radical. In a normal show the models walk the runway and it’s over in ten minutes, but in an art gallery space it’s totally fine if the people don’t move. That way they can better represent sculpture objects. 

Scenes of Japan as seen from their eyes

――You two are generally regarded as Japanophiles. When did you first visit Japan?

Carsten: For a concert in 1997. Since then I’ve gone to Japan at least twice a year. I stopped counting after my 50th trip. Because I’ll go about four or five times a year when I get to go often. I have tons of friends in  Japan, but they always say that I find more interesting things there than my friends in Tokyo do.

Kostas: It was 1997 for myself as well. I first came to Japan in the autumn at the invitation of a buyer in Japan. I had dreamed about going to Japan, so I figured there was nothing for me to do but go. The CEO was British, and they showed me around and went to Shibuya with me. But back then there weren’t any iPhones and there was no information in English. I remember bringing a map and compass with us and the two of us somehow found our way to the station. Now that I think about it, winter of 2017 was the first time we met up in Japan, wasn’t it? We did a live performance with Ryuichi Sakamoto at an event at the Canadian embassy. Where the Isamu Noguchi rock garden is located.

Carsten: It was a Glenn Gould tribute concert. Sogetsu Kaikan was an amazing venue.

――Do you have places you absolutely must visit when you come to Japan?

Carsten: I have to visit Kyoto, particularly the Japanese gardens. There are two Japanese gardens that I always just have to go to. These are Daitoku-ji’s Koto-in Temple and Shodenji Temple. I think that maybe Shodenji Temple isn’t as well known compared with other famous tourist attractions. The first time I visited Kyoto I walked around to try to make it to every single garden, where I found it by chance while I was walking around trying to find Ryoan-ji Temple. It’s right next to a golf course, so if you lose your way you’ll end up on the golf course (laughs).

Kostas: Well then I guess you better bring your golf clubs and shoes (laughs). Kyoto is a must-visit for me as well. I buy tons of kimonos at the markets and vintage shops, and like to spend a leisurely time visiting the temples and gardens.

Carsten: In Tokyo, I love the Nakameguro and Ebisu area, so I always stay there. It has great bookstores, and I love the atmosphere there. A while back it wasn’t the fashion area it’s now become, but it had a number of bars I really liked. I forget the names, but I think they must have either relocated or closed up shop. Tokyo is tricky. Even when you find restaurants and bars you like the pace is too fast there, and they tend to disappear quickly.

Kostas: The pace at which buildings get replaced is fast and furious.

Carsten: Truly. If I still have some spare time left I go to Ueno. There you can get a feel for the Tokyo of the 1970s. And I can’t leave out the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art. It was the first venue in Japan to hold solo exhibitions, and I’d love to meet the owners.

Kostas: I had previously gone to Kamakura by train with the fashion journalist Takeji Hirakawa. Everything from the buildings to the scenery and the atmosphere were just like something out of an Akira Kurosawa film. For the food as well, I got to eat my fill of not just sushi and sashimi, but also regional cuisines that give you a feel for the culture. I’m always looking to encounter places I’ve never been before and things I’ve never seen before. Now that I think of it, one time I went to a manga store with Nibo (Carsten’s assistant).

Carsten: It was Mandarake.

Kostas: Yeah, that one. It was incredible. Nibo didn’t seem to want to go inside, but I just said we’re going together and went in (laughs). I was glad to be able to see a part of Japanese culture, and an alternative scene, that is completely different from that in Europe.

The dream documentary project they are planning in secret

――The collaborative items for JAM HOME MADE you released last year are still fresh in my mind. If you were to do another collaboration set in Japan in the future, what would you like to do?

Carsten: Actually, we’re in the process of approaching museums in an effort to do a project together. Our idea is to go to Japan to gain inspiration from techniques from traditional handicrafts and the like as well as the culture. At the same time we would film a documentary, but one that would be different from mere typical documentaries. It would have a feel closer to that of making an experimental film than that of an exhibition.

Kostas: We would work together and hold conversations with people in the field, and film the whole process. The exchange would be that of a cultural conversation. While it would be a film, it would also be a performance.

Carsten: I feel that when I first went to Japan, it brought into view things that I hadn’t been able to see before. Because there has always been this “cultural feedback system” between Asia, particularly Japan, and Europe. For example, there are Japanese artists who have been influenced by the Bauhaus art movement, while the Bauhaus movement itself has been significantly influenced by Japanese culture. This cultural back-and-forth is always ongoing. And that being the case, it makes it extremely hard when you start to consider who did something first, and where the original came from. But I feel that this is indicative of this “cultural feedback system.”

Kostas: That’s exactly right. You learn about different cultures, and through that you give rise to new creations. It is of profound interest, and in some sense is a dreamlike scenario.

Carsten: We are still in the process of thinking through various ideas, but right now Kostas and Nibo are doing lots of research on handicrafts, techniques, and technologies. If this were to come about we’d probably be staying in Japan for quite a while.

Kostas: I would absolutely love for this to come about, but there are a number of open questions such as whether we would realistically be able to pull it off, and whether Japan and Germany would lend us assistance in this. But we don’t just want to go to Japan. We want to take a deep dive into Japanese culture.

Carsten Nicolai
Born in 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (currently Chemnitz) in former East Germany. Moved to Berlin in the latter half of the 1990s, and is currently based out of Berlin and Chemnitz. As an artist, holds installations and releases visual artworks, and is also active as a musician under the name Alva Noto. Has high name recognition in Japan through his collaborations with Ryoji Ikeda as the musical unit Cyclo, as well as with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Worked on the soundtrack for the film The Revenant in 2016, which was nominated for a Grammy Award, among others.

Kostas Murkudis
Born in 1959 in Dresden, Germany. Resides in Berlin. Served as assistant designer to Helmut Lang from 1986 until 1993, and established his own label Kostas Murkudis in 1994. Released collections in Paris between the years 1996 and 2001. Has also acted as the creative director and a consultant for fashion brands like New York Industrie. Has focused on his own label since 2016, and has been developing innovative textiles and wearable items. 

Photography Ina Niehoff

The post “We want to take a deep dive into Japanese culture” — The cultural theory contemplated by Carsten Nicolai and Kostas Murkudis appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

Different background from hers, New York-based Emily Bode is also one of the leading trashion designers. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, she got accustomed to antiques since her childhood by her mother’s influence. Her clothing and toys were handmade from used tablecloths and fabrics, and sewing was always her favorite hobby. After studying in Switzerland, she moved to New York where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Menswear Design and Philosophy from Parsons College of Art and launched Bode in 2016. She joined New York Fashion Week as the first women’s designer for menswear the following year, and was awarded the CFDA Awards for emerging talent by the American Fashion Council in 2019. Handcrafted from New Delhi and New York artisans using antique textiles expresses emotions left behind in the past through her personal story and historical studies. She gives a lively breath to not only textiles, for example, woolly stuffed animals turn into slippers, and jackets are made out of vintage old milk-bottle caps. 

Interview with her when she held a fashion show Fall/Winter 2020-21collection at Paris Men’s Fashion Week in January this year, “I thought it was normal to give life to handmade fabrics and make new ones” she said. Nowadays, the words upcycle and sustainable are more often used as a marketing method for a brand, yet in her case, she has a very pure feeling toward upcycle approach being habitualized as a part of her life. As a result, she rarely talks about environmental pollution and waste issues. The idea that manufacturing using old clothing is not special, is linked to minimize waste’s environmental impact. 

All about “Zero Waste Daniel” 

As well as Emily, American designer Daniel Silverstein is actively working on the problem of mass fabric disposal in the fashion industry. Although he joined the fashion industry as a knitwear designer for Victoria’s Secret, he was stunned by the huge amount of fabric discarded in the production process. “I found out that only 47% of the fabric was used and the rest 53% was discarded,” he said in New York Times interview. According to Fab Scrap, a company in New York City that provides pickup of unwanted fabric from local businesses and engaging the local creative community in reuse, 200,000 tons of fabrics are discarded that can be upcycled by New Yorkers annually, and in the United States it reaches 12.65 million tons annually. The total amount of waste by companies is about 40 times the amount by consumers, 85% of which is not reused but treated as garbage. Daniel felt that he was involved in the problem of waste disposal by putting himself in the fashion industry, so immediately left the company, and started Zero Waste Daniel in 2016. He asked the founder of Fab Scrap where to collect textile waste, and drove a heavy truck to pick up waste clothing from the large amount of garbage processed at the Army Terminal facility at Sunset Park. Casual clothing is sold through online platform such as T-shirts and sweaters, made from the textile waste by him gained popularity through word-of-mouth. He got the opportunity to exhibit and sell the products at the Climate Museum and Ace Hotel. His appearance at the American reality show also helped raise his name as well as the awareness of the problem of mass fabric disposal. 

The movement at the front by young designers in their late twenties to thirties is likely to accelerate in order to actively work on the problems of waste and environmental pollution. In France, the issue of companies accused of greenwashing is put on the agenda, which is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Consumers are required to make the right choices in a mass consuming society by deepening their specialized knowledge, rather than relying on the words and images of companies.

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