nico, a former Sawagi member who runs three izakayas in Shimokitazawa, finds common ground with live music

Opening an Izakaya after touring abroad with a band

nico: My name is nico, and I am the representative of HAUTEN Co. Pleased to meet you.

Celeina (MC): Please do. First of all, let me briefly introduce my profile: I am the former drummer of Sawagi, a 4-piece instrumental band. While still in the band, he opened the izakaya “Mabonen” in April 2017 and its sister restaurant “Omukai” across the street in November; the band disbanded in 2019, but in November 2022, they opened their third restaurant “Machinaka” in Shimokitazawa.

Takano (MC): Is everything going well?

nico: It is going well.

Celeina: It’s definitely going well; you have opened three stores in the same area.

Takano: You said that you opened the stores while being in a band.

nico: By chance, I had the opportunity to go on a rather long overseas tour with my band, and although we could make ends meet for a month or so of touring, I felt that I had reached the limit of desperately working part-time before and after the tour. So I wanted to create a situation where I could make money without being in Japan, and I started thinking about opening some kind of restaurant.

Celeina: What made you choose a restaurant?　After all, it costs a lot to start up, doesn’t it?

nico: It didn’t cost anything at all. I could have chosen any restaurant, but I had been working part-time at a restaurant for a long time and happened to be introduced to a property that was a vacant restaurant, so I just went ahead and started.

Takano: Isn’t it difficult to manage a band and a restaurant at the same time?

nico: It was really hard at first. I was playing gigs on days when the restaurant was closed, and I didn’t take a day off for a hundred and ten days or so. It was fun, though.

Takano: Nowadays, I think it is quite mainstream to have a “work-at-home” job, but were there people like that back then?

nico: That was just when the number of such people was beginning to increase. There were people who were working at home and also playing in a band at the same time.

Takano: I heard that musicians gathered at your store.

nico: The reason why I started my store in Shimokitazawa in the first place was because I thought that in this town, I would meet people I know when I walk around, so there would never be zero customers. Many of the live performers use the restaurant for their launches.

Celeina: What kind of restaurant is “Mabonen”?　What do you recommend for food and drinks?

nico: We make lemon sour using pesticide-free lemons from the Okunan region of Ehime Prefecture.

Celeina: You are very particular!　Sounds delicious!

nico: When we performed at “shima fes SETOUCHI” as a band, we were allowed to use products from farmers we met.

Takano: I like that it is linked to your music activities.

nico: It was just by chance, but yes.

Takano: Have there been any good synergistic effects between the band and the store management?

nico: It’s hard to say now, but if I were still in a band, I think I would be selling well (laughs). (Laughs) Because the people involved would come to the store so much. (Laughs.) Back then, if we wanted to release a CD, we would frantically hand out sample copies, but now I think we could hand out about 50 copies a day just by being in the store. I wish I had had that kind of connection when I was in the band.

Takano: So it is a place where people in the industry, people in bands, and music lovers gather. We have to go there too.

Celeina: What kind of existence does Shimokitazawa have for you?

nico: I feel like I’m finally getting attached to it.

Celeina: Finally.

Takano: You are not from there, are you?

nico: I am from Kansai. Shimokitazawa has developed and changed, but when I saw it after it was completed, I realized that I liked Shimokitazawa before.

Takano: It is always changing. After opening three such restaurants in Shimokitazawa, when did you start to enjoy working in the food and beverage industry?

nico: It was so much fun from the day I started.

Celeina: You mentioned earlier that you worked for dozens of days without a break.

nico: If you didn’t enjoy it, you couldn’t do it. I caught a cold on the day I finally had a day off after working for a hundred and several dozen days (laughs).

Celeina: The moment you let your guard down, you get sick.

Takano: Maybe my body knew what it was doing.

Similarities between Izakaya (Japanese-style pub) and live performances

Takano: What do you find attractive about working in a restaurant?

nico: It’s just like a live performance, the reaction of the customers is direct.

Celeina: In that sense, it is similar to a live performance.

nico: I enjoy being able to see the audience’s reaction right in front of me and talking with them. I enjoy that kind of thing.

Celeina: Whatever it’s music or food, you can tell from the customers’ words and expressions.

Takano: I heard that you started jinxing things after you started running the store.

nico: My mother’s family is a liquor store, and they sent us a lot of sake when we opened the restaurant. I offered them to musicians, actors, and comedians for 100 yen per glass, and they all sold well.

Takano: I can’t mention their names, but everyone knows them.

nico: Yes. There are people that everyone knows.

Celeina: Do you still have that 100-yen drink?

nico: It is still there, but probably no one is ordering it.

Takano: We would like to go there too. We would love to hear more, but we would like to go with one song here. nico has chosen a song that we would all like to listen to together on the radio at this time. What song would it be?

nico: It’s a song called “BAD BOY” by Ayato Obara and the franchise owners.

Takano: Why did you choose the song?

nico: He invited me to play at his store, and since then we have had a lot of musicians come to our store, so we play his song at the store. I also chose this song because I wanted to hear it at a summer festival.

Takano: Thank you very much. Let’s listen to it.