[Favourite sayings? I don’t really know any sayings. None! “One good deed a day” (1) or something…… Or at least one good meal a day. Yeah right. (laughs) “Tomorrow is another day.” (2) “The child matures even without the parent.” (3) Am I wrong? What kind of thing is that, a favourite saying? ……Oh, I like books that are a collection of sayings and things like that. I like a book that can be read all in one shot. The kind of book you can pick up and leave off any time.]
– Those collections of sayings, are they something you read just in case you need them?
[Yeah. I do that when I want to get a few hints. The ones I read and respond to end up influencing me quite a bit. It’s because I’m the kind of person who listens to other people’s opinions a lot. Though, I end up thinking “I don’t like that phrasing” pretty often, don’t I? But, phrasing is only one side of things. I can rearrange that, and the content’s still OK, right? Most Japanese say phrasing is very important. They think saying things at the right time, in the right order, in the right situation controls things, so they say not to speak if you can’t keep track of all that, and to blend in whenever possible. I have times when I think “I don’t want to say that to him,” or “This is a nasty way of putting things,” but I get things said anyway. I like to hear as many different opinions from as many different people as possible. I look at things calmly and judge for myself. I think it’s wrong to reject a perfectly good idea just because it was phrased badly.]
– That’s a great thing to say, but it must be very hard to do sometimes.
[It is hard. I can’t always do exactly what I intend to do. I’m only human.]
– “Favourite sayings” doesn’t really sound like a very concrete term, but more of a basis for judgement of thoughts or actions, wouldn’t you say so?
[I don’t think that sounds quite right. Lately I’ve applied “Keep it simple, keep it simple” to things, like my thoughts. I’m making everything simple. When I’ve got too many things piled up, I get rid of some to keep it simple. After that, I think I’ll make it simple inside my head too, starting with my feelings.]
– Is that becoming important to you now, as tetsu the artist?
[Is it? Well, I think I’m making recording itself simpler. In the physical sense. For example, I’ve got over 100 bass guitars now. Playing every one of them just to find the one that goes best with a tune would be too much. Plus, I’d have to find the right amp to go with that bass too, wouldn’t I? And then what about the speakers? Testing all that out would be a huge workload. Rather than spending all that time, I’ve started feeling that I’m better off focusing on just recording a good take. A while back, I spent a lot more time on producing the sounds. I kept about 50 instruments ready in the studio. Now, though, I’ve got my priorities straight. I feel like I really know what’s more important now.]
– For an artist, “Keep it simple” is a good motto to live by, isn’t it?
[Yeah. It applies to everything, really. It applies to making music, it applies to machines. I’ve always been able to simplify things. But now, I’ve made simplifying into a priority. I think it’s becoming a bit of a my boom (4)for me.]
– But do you feel you’ve had a “my boom” with sayings in general, or is that something different?
[Let’s see…… A “sayings boom”…… Well, I guess “Tomorrow is another day” isn’t it?]
– Are you that type, then, tetsu-san? I can see you as a “Tomorrow is another day, so let’s leave things be for now” type.
[I’m probably not a “Tomorrow is another day” type of person. I’m more of a “Hit a stone bridge running” (5)type. (laughs) In my late teens and early 20s, even now, a lot of people have said that to me. I think it’s because of my positive way of thinking about things. I go around thinking everything is good, so then even when I don’t know what to do next, I carry on that way, using it to my advantage. So, there might be times when it would be too weird to carry on happily, but I wouldn’t bet on it.]
– You have such a positive way of thinking, but do you ever think that you aren’t really that optimistic on the inside?
[No way. So, I don’t really know about that “Tomorrow is another day” thing from before. I think more like “Do what you want to do the way you want to do it.”]
– Is there a particular instant when you felt that way?
[An instant… Well, there was the time I went to a friend’s funeral. I had never experienced anything like that before. There hadn’t been any funerals in my family at all. So, the first funeral I ever went to was for that one classmate. I thought about how strange it is, seeing a dead person. As in, “Why won’t he wake up? Why won’t he move?” Then I realized how incredibly fragile humans are when it comes to death. So that’s why I think it’s important to do what you want, how you want, before you die.]
– So that was a turning point for you?
[Way back, when I was in elementary school, I already knew I didn’t want to be another ordinary salaryman (6). That friend of mine died just a bit before graduation, when I was in third year of high school. That’s when I thought hard about doing exactly what it was I wanted to do, which was to start up a band. I got really serious about it for the first time. But, I wasn’t especially trying to go pro with it yet.]
– Well, this last question isn’t related to favourite sayings at all, but what’s your goal for 2004?
[Goal? ……Well, I guess it’s Reset and Next. For both my work and my private life. There are a lot of things I’d like to go back to square one with, look at them with a fresh eye. I’m turning 35 this year, aren’t I? I think I’ve finally reached a typical 25 year old’s mentality (laughs). I think I’ll follow some good advice, and take shortcuts where I can find them, since I’d like to be more efficient.]
-Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
– Those collections of sayings, are they something you read just in case you need them?
[Yeah. I do that when I want to get a few hints. The ones I read and respond to end up influencing me quite a bit. It’s because I’m the kind of person who listens to other people’s opinions a lot. Though, I end up thinking “I don’t like that phrasing” pretty often, don’t I? But, phrasing is only one side of things. I can rearrange that, and the content’s still OK, right? Most Japanese say phrasing is very important. They think saying things at the right time, in the right order, in the right situation controls things, so they say not to speak if you can’t keep track of all that, and to blend in whenever possible. I have times when I think “I don’t want to say that to him,” or “This is a nasty way of putting things,” but I get things said anyway. I like to hear as many different opinions from as many different people as possible. I look at things calmly and judge for myself. I think it’s wrong to reject a perfectly good idea just because it was phrased badly.]
– That’s a great thing to say, but it must be very hard to do sometimes.
[It is hard. I can’t always do exactly what I intend to do. I’m only human.]
– “Favourite sayings” doesn’t really sound like a very concrete term, but more of a basis for judgement of thoughts or actions, wouldn’t you say so?
[I don’t think that sounds quite right. Lately I’ve applied “Keep it simple, keep it simple” to things, like my thoughts. I’m making everything simple. When I’ve got too many things piled up, I get rid of some to keep it simple. After that, I think I’ll make it simple inside my head too, starting with my feelings.]
– Is that becoming important to you now, as tetsu the artist?
[Is it? Well, I think I’m making recording itself simpler. In the physical sense. For example, I’ve got over 100 bass guitars now. Playing every one of them just to find the one that goes best with a tune would be too much. Plus, I’d have to find the right amp to go with that bass too, wouldn’t I? And then what about the speakers? Testing all that out would be a huge workload. Rather than spending all that time, I’ve started feeling that I’m better off focusing on just recording a good take. A while back, I spent a lot more time on producing the sounds. I kept about 50 instruments ready in the studio. Now, though, I’ve got my priorities straight. I feel like I really know what’s more important now.]
– For an artist, “Keep it simple” is a good motto to live by, isn’t it?
[Yeah. It applies to everything, really. It applies to making music, it applies to machines. I’ve always been able to simplify things. But now, I’ve made simplifying into a priority. I think it’s becoming a bit of a my boom (4)for me.]
– But do you feel you’ve had a “my boom” with sayings in general, or is that something different?
[Let’s see…… A “sayings boom”…… Well, I guess “Tomorrow is another day” isn’t it?]
– Are you that type, then, tetsu-san? I can see you as a “Tomorrow is another day, so let’s leave things be for now” type.
[I’m probably not a “Tomorrow is another day” type of person. I’m more of a “Hit a stone bridge running” (5)type. (laughs) In my late teens and early 20s, even now, a lot of people have said that to me. I think it’s because of my positive way of thinking about things. I go around thinking everything is good, so then even when I don’t know what to do next, I carry on that way, using it to my advantage. So, there might be times when it would be too weird to carry on happily, but I wouldn’t bet on it.]
– You have such a positive way of thinking, but do you ever think that you aren’t really that optimistic on the inside?
[No way. So, I don’t really know about that “Tomorrow is another day” thing from before. I think more like “Do what you want to do the way you want to do it.”]
– Is there a particular instant when you felt that way?
[An instant… Well, there was the time I went to a friend’s funeral. I had never experienced anything like that before. There hadn’t been any funerals in my family at all. So, the first funeral I ever went to was for that one classmate. I thought about how strange it is, seeing a dead person. As in, “Why won’t he wake up? Why won’t he move?” Then I realized how incredibly fragile humans are when it comes to death. So that’s why I think it’s important to do what you want, how you want, before you die.]
– So that was a turning point for you?
[Way back, when I was in elementary school, I already knew I didn’t want to be another ordinary salaryman (6). That friend of mine died just a bit before graduation, when I was in third year of high school. That’s when I thought hard about doing exactly what it was I wanted to do, which was to start up a band. I got really serious about it for the first time. But, I wasn’t especially trying to go pro with it yet.]
– Well, this last question isn’t related to favourite sayings at all, but what’s your goal for 2004?
[Goal? ……Well, I guess it’s Reset and Next. For both my work and my private life. There are a lot of things I’d like to go back to square one with, look at them with a fresh eye. I’m turning 35 this year, aren’t I? I think I’ve finally reached a typical 25 year old’s mentality (laughs). I think I’ll follow some good advice, and take shortcuts where I can find them, since I’d like to be more efficient.]
-Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
Translated by Natalie Arnold.
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