Squeeze Spirits
translator commentary is in [] brackets
4ge's Personal Interview
Squeeze Spirits [SS]: First off, I'd like to ask about your childhood.
4ge: Yes, I don't remember it!
SS: Uh . . .
4ge: That's a lie (laughs). When I was a kid I had long hair. It was dreadful long hair.
Lay: I don't know what you're talking about. Why long hair?
4ge: Somehow, I hated the feeling of being touched on my head. I really hated it when people would say, 'Good boy, good boy' and pat my head.
Lay: It wasn't because it was cold? (4ge's hometown is Nagano)
4ge: Ah, right, right. Like this, 'My ears are cold, so I'll hide them' right? (laughs) To prevent them from frostbite and stuff like that (laughs) ... well, it wasn't like that! I don't really remember, but from what my parents say, if anyone patted my head I'd start to cry, I really hated it. It seems like I wouldn't let scissors or anything like that get close to my hair. And so I entered elementary school with long hair. When I look at pictures of myself when I was younger, it's like, 'is that a girl?' ....?
SS: You didn't cut your bangs either?!
4ge: That's right. My behaviour was sort of like ... peeking through the gap between my bangs (laughs). I think that that's the longest hair I've ever had in my whole life.
SS: For a 5~6 year old, that's pretty extraordinary...
4ge: Afterwards, I was a grandma's boy. Both of my parents worked, so I spent a lot of time with my grandmother.
SS: What kinds of things were you interested in when you were in elementary school??
4ge: Elementary, Middle and all throughout High school I was in the ski club. At the school that I went to, it was sort of standard to be on the baseball team and to be in the ski club.
Lay: Seriously?!
4ge: We didn't have stuff like basketball (laughs).
Lay: But you had baseball there?
4ge: Yeah (laughs).
Lay: But baseball (if snow was to fall), you wouldn't be able to play it!! (laughs)
4ge: Well in the winter we all did ski club!!
(everyone laughs)
SS: So when it became winter you'd all join the ski club!
4ge: Right, right. But you can't ski in the summer, right? So when it turned to summer, we'd all join the baseball team (laughs).
SS: So depending on the season, you'd change your club activities, huh? (laughs)
4ge: That's right (laughs). And then all of us, the people from ski club (baseball too) would do muscle training together in the summer. Well, that boring school life is how I spent a part of my life (laughs).
SS: Did you listen to music?
4ge: I started listening to it for myself about halfway through elementary school probably. Originally, my dad was in a jazz band. And so ever since I was little, I've been very close to music. But just because of this, it wasn't ever like I was saying, 'Oh, I'm going to make a band' or 'I'm going to play the guitar.' I simply liked music, and I went with my dad to jazz lives. It wasn't that I particularly liked jazz, I don't really know about that, but I did come to realize that I liked sound. And it wasn't just because my dad had wanted to take me, but because I had really wanted to go and see what it was like. I don't really remember it that much though. . . . I don't really remember much until junior high (laughs).
SS: So you remember high school?
4ge: . . . Dimly around that time (laughs).
SS: I got it (laughs). Well then, when was the first time you got a guitar?
4ge: The first time I bought a guitar was in my third year of high school. At that time, I'd gone over to one of my friend's house who was probably in a band, and borrowed his guitar just to play it. I didn't really especially want to play the guitar or anything though . . . Somehow, I looked around at the various band magazines my friend had laying around, and I saw that guitars were surprisingly cheap. I hadn't really wanted a guitar, but I had always thought they'd be pretty expensive. But I saw that my friend had bought one and so I thought, 'Ah, I'll buy one.' I liked music too and so I decided I might as well try it out . . . At that time, it wasn't like I was thinking, 'I've got to have a guitar no matter what!' I just sort of felt like I might as well try out an instrument. It was just by chance that my friend played a guitar, and so I thought about playing one as well.
SS: And so about that time, did you put together a band?
4ge: About the time I was 19. That was the band I was in before joining Fatima.
SS: From the start, did you think you would have your band in Tokyo?
4ge: No, it wasn't like that either .... When that band first got it's chance to start ... I didn't really want to play in an amazing band. At that time, the members of the band just needed a guitarist, and so they invited me to join. And so we didn't really think about coming to Tokyo, to promote our music or anything. At that time, the band was really just my hobby. We did come to Tokyo, but it wasn't like I was wondering what was going to become of our band or anything. I had been thinking that I'd probably end up going to vocational school and then finding a normal job. And so between that and going to Tokyo and having a band, I went with Tokyo.
SS: Didn't you write songs in your previous band?
4ge: Yes, that also happened during the second half of the band. The first time I wrote a song, I'd been with the band for about a year and a half. Up until that time I didn't think I would be the kind of person to write songs. I thought it was fine for other people to make songs for me. I really didn't think I was that kind of person (laughs).
SS: That's surprising, isn't it?
4ge: Hmm, is it really? Surprising? (laughs)
SS: From the beginning you've played the guitar, so do you think that you'll always be a guitarist?
4ge: Yeah, that seems to be my main thing, doesn't it. I've played instruments like the bass, the drums and the keyboard a little (laughs). But the only instrument that I've earnestly played is the guitar. . . . And now, somehow, it's not really that I just absolutely love the guitar. And I'm not especially fixated on the guitar, either. It just happens that now, the easiest way that I can express myself is through the guitar.
SS: Well then, up to today, 4ge-san, you've played guitar in your bands. What do you think is the main reason for this?
4ge: Hmm.... What, what would it be ... (troubled). Maybe, it's simply that while in a band, I enjoy playing the guitar.
SS: Compared to making music by yourself at home, is it funner to make music with the other members of the band?
4ge: It's fun doing it by myself. But when doing a live, it's sort of impossible to do it by yourself (laughs). For example, I make a song by myself, and then I think about having a live by myself . . . it's not that doing it alone would be impossible, but with five members together in a band, it's more fun. I think that making a song by mself would be the easiest thing to aim for, but there are probably some things that I cannot do by myself...
SS: If the members are there, a type of synergy is created, don't you think?
4ge: Yes. There's that also. I think the band makes it interesting.
SS: Certainly. Continuing, in Fatima, what kind of part or character do you think you are?
4ge: .... Hmmm (troubled). Hmm.... that's difficult .... ah, well, this. The 'lead guitarist' (laughs).
SS: It seems like that, doesn't it (laughs).
4ge: There are various interpretations (laughs).
SS: These 'various interpretations' ... For example, inside of 4ge-san, do you have an image of how a lead guitarist would be?
4ge: No.... Because, before I entered Fatima I really liked the backup guitar [ not the lead ]. I really liked backup. That's probably because when I was in my band, I was the backup guitarist, and I wasn't comfortable being lead. Getting accustomed to it was fairly difficult.
SS: Is the image that you present on stage fairly different from reality?
4ge: Extremely different. It's not really that I have this image inside of me of what a lead guitarist should do, I don't know about that, but ... I'm not sure why I wasn't comfortable being lead .... why would that have been (laughs)?
SS: What about your character or part in the band?
4ge: Aa, that (laughs). ... Hmm, from here on I think I'd like to make more songs.
SS: 4ge-san, are you the type that makes songs periodically?
4ge: Aa, right now I cannot (laughs).
SS: What? (laughs)
4ge: Somehow, the time to write songs, comes to me periodically. When I feel up to it, the song just comes easily. Even though I've made a lot of songs, there's still times I can't do it.
SS: Ooh, without the members listening to it.
4ge: That's right, there are times like that too. I'm the type to make songs periodically. And then, if there's a deadline I can do it.
SS: I would think that writing under a deadline would be incredible.
4ge: That depends (laughs). I'm not really the type that can write songs spontaneously.
SS: Are you the type that starts by thinking, 'Alright! Time to make a song!'
4ge: That's correct. But if I'm not at home, I can't write songs.
SS: Your environment is important then, isn't it?
4ge: If I'm not at my home with the equipment that I always use, and the speaker that's always right in front of me, I can't make songs.
SS: You said before that when you feel up to it, it's easier for you to make a song, but so what of that?
4ge: Oh, there's that too! I don't really know if a change of mood is the cause of a song just coming into my head (laughs). Looking back on it, I think there are a lot of those situations. Surely, it's because Nagano's air is so good.
SS: If you feel the air that you were born in, and raised in, does your mood change?
4ge: Uh, probably. But only Nagano-ken (laughs).
SS: Ah, what of Nagano-ken (laughs)?
4ge: (laughs) It's a very emotional thing inside of me I think.
SS: Sanaka-san said that 4ge-san's songs are easy to sing to, do you think about the singer a lot when making songs?
4ge: There are times to think about that, and there are times to not think about that (laughs).
SS: It depends on the time and the situation, doesn't it (laughs).
4ge: Well, in a band there is a vocalist, so you really can't not think about the singer, I think. With that, it depends on the song. For example, with the melody, I think whether or not the song will sound good with vocals, and then I might change the chords. Basically, I make a lot of songs from guitar phrases. So, the instruments can play around during the intro and interlude of the song, but when it's the vocalist's part, it's time for them to give all their effort.
SS: I see.
4ge: I think that typically when you listen to a CD, the first thing that that you really hear is the vocalist. Even with that, I think that the song's melody is important. Well, truthfully, for me, when I first listen to a CD the first thing that leaves an impression with me is not the singer but . . .
SS: For you 4ge-san, the number one thing that you hear is probably the guitar, right?
4ge: That's it. The guitar or the drums, mmhmm. And so in my situation, when I first listen to a CD that I've bought, I don't have much of an impression of the melody. It would seem like when I first start making songs, I would have to listen for the melody. But the melody just doesn't stay with me. Lately it's really been like that, no matter how many times I listen to a song, I just can't remember the melody. My ears just listen for the guitar.
SS: Have the sounds that your ears pick up on changed?
4ge: More than likely. And I don't really like that but . . . I used to be able to listen to songs simply, and just think, 'Oh, this is a good song', but I can't think like that anymore. Well, if I listen to a song a lot, I can come to think of it as being a good song. But the first time I hear it, I don't really get the impression that it's a song. The only thing that I can really hear are things like, 'this guitar part is really boring.'
SS: That's the trouble with being an artist, huh? Well then, 4ge-san, what are your goals as a guitarist?
4ge: I want to be on the front cover of Guitar Magazine! (big smile)
SS: If you were on the front cover, what would you be mentioned for in the magazine?
4ge: Hmm. Maybe something like a lesson DVD . . . hmm, what would I be teaching, I wonder (laughs). With that, I don't really want to be a "Guitar Hero" but I'd like to become a guitarist that kids who are playing the guitar want to aspire to.
SS: When talking to you, I can tell that you take a lot of pride in your work, 4ge-san. And it seems that you're very meticulous when you're making music . . .
4ge: Aa, meticulous, huh? Well compared to recording the guitar, I have more fun when making music. I really like to make music. When I'm making music, I don't really know what's going on in my head. Actually, when I'm messing with the various machines I have, I really like it when I find a sound that's pretty interesting. When I'm at my house, and I really strike home with some of the equipment, I'm like, 'Wow, this is interesting, hahahahaha!' (laughs). I like that (laughs).
SS: You really do like it, huh? (laughs)
4ge: Making music is really fun. Out of the time I spend eating, sleeping and making music, I have the most fun when making music. That's how much I like it.
SS: At your house, you mess with your equipment a lot, but when you're separated from the band and it's just a regular day by yourself, what kind of person is 4ge-san?
4ge: What kind of person am I? I don't understand myself (laughs) . . . I have a lot of sides to me, I think.
SS: Is there a gap between the Fatima 4ge-san and the normal everyday 4ge-san?
4ge: Hmmm . . . When I think about myself on the stage, and then I think about my everyday self, I think there is a gap. On stage, I calculate everything so that I can be flawless.
SS: Well, what does the normal you like to do?
4ge: I like TV. I like to tape TV shows and then when I have time, watch the collection I've made. Lately I haven't had much time to do this type of thing, however.
SS: What kind of TV genres do you like?
4ge: All genres. I watch dramas, variety shows and documentaries.
SS: Do you like to keep up to date on all the news that's going on on a daily basis?
4ge: Yes, I think so. But I don't really like watching movies too much. They make me tired. If there's a 90 minute movie on, after the first 45 minutes, I'm already tired (laughs). I also can't stand subtitles.
SS: Can you watch TV for long periods of time?
4ge: That's completely fine with me. But lately, I'm not sure which I like better ... watching TV or videotaping shows . . .
Lay: That's really strange (laughs). If you just record it, but you don't watch it, that's not good is it?
4ge: That's true (laughs).
SS: Do you save all these videos you make? (laughs)
4ge: I really do! They'd probably overfill a cardboard box by now . . .
SS: Cardboard box!!!
4ge: Yeah (laughs). When thinking about what I want to watch, I really like to look at TV guides. I really like the times when I can read the show synopses and think, 'Oh, this show looks interesting.' When I set the timer on my recorder, I get really excited (laughs). But I often accidentally mix up on whether the show is on during the morning or at night (sad).
SS: Yes, that's bound to happen (bitter smile). 4ge-san's room must be encircled by equipment, isn't it?
4ge: Yes it is (laughs). I'm an in-doors person, and I really like to be in my room. I love my room.
SS: Is there something in your room that you're particular about?
4ge: I don't have anything I'm really particular about, but I plan it so that there's a comforting and good open space. I like to rearrange my room. When I rearrange my room, I start to want to make a song. I change the atmosphere in my room, and suddenly think, 'how about making a song?' And the times when I can't make a song, I exhaust all possible rearrangements.
SS: There must be times when it's really difficult (bitter smile).
4ge: There is! I'm not that full of talent (laughs). I'm the type that has to wring it all out (laughs).
SS: I understand (laughs). Well, what's the one thing in your life that you would never surrender under any circumstance?
4ge: Under any circumstance .. something I would never surrender . . . . I would never surrender the remote control!
SS: Are you the channel authority? (laughs)
4ge: That's right. For example, I hate it when I'm watching something I've already recorded with a friend, and they fast-forward through the commercials. I want to see the commercials (laughs). I like commercials.
SS: Are you interested in visuals? Do you have an interest in things like creating PVs?
4ge: If I had an interest in that technology, I think I'd want to try and make one.
SS: Time for the last question. In the future, how does 4ge-san want to live?
4ge: Hmmm. . . I haven't really thought about it (small smile). From here on out, I want to definitely be doing something with music. Of course, the best way to do this would be in a band. Independently, I'd like to try being a recording engineer. From the start, that was why I was going to go to a vocational school. I wouldn't want to be an engineer for my own band, but I'd like to produce another person's work. In any case, no matter the form, I want to be doing something with music throughout my whole life.
