Q: Why does COMMUNA play various music from different genres
?
A: To make it clear , COMMUNA is not aiming a specific genre
. And even if I think of a specific genre , it will come out
only as a parody , probably . Apparently , COMMUNA's number's
seem to lack relevancy , but when you look deeply in it you
can find that there's a theme running through . Talking further
, not only by music but through other art works and even through
normal life time , COMMUNA can only be COMMUNA . It seems
to me that , normally , genres are made to make profits out
of it by the "biz" isn't it ? I'm not concerned about that
stuff
Q: What's the essential theme of COMMUNA ?
A: It's hard to explain in a simple way , but if I choose
a few words , it'll be something like "The providence of nature"
and "The nature of humankind". COMMUNA's numbers has aspects
like focusing on the really dirty part of human , and the
next second , shows a ridiculous optimistic view. And expressing
these elements that everybody has , at the same time , is
more natural to me , and not only the lyrics but also the
sound is affected by this thought .
Q: Does it mean you have a Jekyll-and-Hyde nature ?
A: [laugh] No way ! I can hardly find that kind of tendency
inside me . I think that I have the opposite nature to those
people , who wears a mask when they face other people . Basically
, I'm an honest man . And , if I appear to be so , it's only
when I encounter a person with bad intent . And since I tend
to bear it while I can , the moment it's over my limit , I
do get really mad at them . So if you only see that moment
, you might take it as I'm a double-face man . But isn't it
different from a person who wears a mask to hide their true
feeling ? So what I think is that , people who try not to
be inferior to others rather than to be individual , they
mind how other people think about them , are the ones who
has two faces . Probably they feel it frustrating to be a
good person , so their true face would be one with full of
bad intent and criminality .
Q: Does it have to be in English to express your vision of
the world ?
A: Well , that's not the point . There's not really a meaning
to sing in English , actually . When I was a kid , the music
I felt comfortable to listen were played by American and British
artists , so when I began to play , it was more natural to
sing in English . And if I point out another reason , I have
to say that , unfortunately , there's not a basis to accept
music like COMMUNA's in Japan . The Japanese pop-scene basically
started from imitating numbers that smashed big hits overseas
. So the scene itself lack the ability to accept new and original
numbers take place in the scene . They can't realize whether
the individual ones are good or not . So they try to sell
numbers that makes them feel that they've once heard before
. And there's a problem with the listners too . They tend
to choose CDs to buy not by whether they like it or not but
by the "name-value" or "how big the work is" . It's like Japanese
people buying classy dresses that doesn't even suit them at
a famous brand . So they are easily manipulated . In a scene
like that , it's hard to have motive to write something individual
in Japanese . So I hope it might work a little as an antithesis
to the scene by singing in English .
Q:Then , do you think that the Japanese music and culture
is inferior to those overseas ?
A: The answer is , it is definitely not inferior to those
overseas ! [laugh] Originally , Japanese words have been inherited
its' meanings by sensitivity , not by logics . It's truely
an wonderful and artistic language . I hope to write a number
in Japanese in the future . On the other hand , it is true
that Japanese pop-culture , compared to the Western , and
also to the most of the rest of the world , is getting immature
. Most art works in Japan merely represent " good-and-evil
" like in a textbook of morality and like a public slogan
" Cheer up and stick to it ! " . It seems that they don't
want to look straight at the reality , because of their weakness
and immature nature . As working as a sound-engineer for a
long time , I face to a scene in the studio like " .... it'll
do as long as singing " Hey man ! What's up ? Take it easy
! " the listeners won't care , man .... ". And when girls
say " I like the song . " , guys that don't even like the
song , think that they can get the girl as long as they agree
with it . Well , the latter part is a metaphor , but it's
how it works . They don't die for a number that truely moves
their soul . I feel that the situation is not just about music
, other fields like paintings and novels are quite the same
. The so-called artists try to take place in the scene and
try to manage with Japanese peculiar yankee*-mind . So the
" I won't let anybody to draw in my territory "-situation
is made up . That's really silly . Art scenes should be more
open and free to take part in . Then more people who are really
talented could express themselves . But the reality is the
so-called artists take a big part in the scene and ruin the
culture by getting united like a Mafia to get rid of the talented
. Cause they know their art works can't deal with the real-talented
. They are the ones who want to make big money out of it .
[laugh] That's why I say the contemporary art scenes are ruined
. *yankee -- peculiar Japanese gangster groups . They are
strongly group-minded , because of timidity , immaturity and
known to be not good looking . Inhabits more in country-side
rather than in cities . Tend to behave like yakuza , but can't
become a yakuza . Always dependant to some kind of authority
like the police , their teachers and their parents , who they
should be against to , logically , which looks like a paradox
.
Q:You said you always listened to music overseas , but who
were the artists that influenced you ?
A: When I was a kid , I was more attracted to fine arts
like paintings and photos rather than music . I took lesson
in fine arts but but music was only a hobby at first . I was
attracted to artists like Picasso , Jean Cocteau and Andy
Warhol who showed new conceptions . And the artists who made
my interest look forward to music was David Bowie and Brian
Eno . They were like the artists of fine arts I mentioned
, showed me new concepts that made me feel something transcending
the music itself . They made me feel like looking at Picasso
and Warhol . It was an exciting experience to feel that sensation
. And I was astonished by the bands known as New York punk
, Iggy Pop , British Punk and New Wave movement . And the
important thing is , that what I was influenced most was not
to their codes nor phrases , but to the way of expression
, " You can do anything you want through music " . Since that
I listened to all sorts of music , like African , Reggae ,
Arab music such as the third world music , chanson , bosa-nova
, British and Irish trad- music , America's country music
, traditional music of Japan and all over the world . And
at the same time , I was interested in electronic music and
listened deeply to club music that had dance groove . It is
true that this omnivorous of music is taking part to establish
COMMUNA's music . When you listen to various music , you realize
the interesting part and not-so interesting part of that genre
. And you get to know that the "art " is not the genre but
the work itself . This is not just about art , you know ?
For example , taliking about what do you want to be , it differs
by what kind of job , but the quality or the enviornment of
your job may be more important . Maybe you could get a job
you wanted , what if the working environment is awful ? Or
you're left to only boring duty for the rest of your life
, you can never satisfy with your job , do you ? If you like
brand-names and don't care about the substance , it might
be O.K. though . [laugh] But you have to be careful that ,
numbers that wasn't interesting at first turn out be interesting
or I realize it afterwards , does happen . So I never sold
my records and CDs . [laugh]
Q: COMMUNA's works show the attitude of defiance , and is
it owed much to the punk music ?
A: It's true that I want to take in my works new elements
and new techniques I've never heard of . In that means , I'm
punk . But don't have those tendencies like a common Japanese
rock-band , getting irritated to people and trying to menace
and threaten people . That's not what it means to be "punk
" .
* This Q and A is excerpted and translated , based on interviews
in the past