INDEX
Shun Ishiwaka’s Mindset: Juggling Intense Demands with a Surprising Reserve
– What have you noticed in the past few years of doing pop music that is song-based?
Ishiwaka: This may be a story about the way we listen to music, but I thought that when lyrics are added, it has the effect of making the listener remember more strongly the musical situation surrounding the words. Moreover, it is interesting that the image of the lyrics changes in various ways over time. This is a feeling I have never had when I play jazz music with high improvisational elements every day, so I think it makes a difference between instrumental music and music with lyrics. I don’t know if I’m explaining it well.
From the side of playing, in the case of a certain style of jazz, you play more and more, imagining the future, not knowing what will happen in the future. In a situation where we play the same song every day on tour, there are various roads and landscapes toward the goal one kilometer ahead, and they are totally different each time, and it is highly improvisational music where we enjoy or break the differences. In contrast, in the case of pop music performance, there is a more fixed path and scenery, and you think about how to walk along it and how to color it. I feel there is such a difference. Moreover, the drummer is a very influential member of the ensemble and has a heavy responsibility.
– What do you mean by that?
Ishiwaka：If there is a certain structure to a performance, for example, a few bars before the chorus, the drummer should hold the sound of the band in a tight embrace, and at the beginning of the chorus, he should play with the image of lifting the energy to the space above the chorus. That is a very different way of using my head from the moment I am playing jazz, but of course the stance I value in any music is the same. I want to have a sensor that can always catch someone’s little idea that is born at that moment. By making use of this, I try to find “the unknown scenery of the day. So I don’t intend that I have to switch modes when I am playing.
– I have the impression that you are one of the busiest musicians in the world today, and that you perform every day while traveling between sites in completely different fields. I always wonder how you can handle such a large amount of work. If I were to use our work as a metaphor, it would be like interviewing a scientist today and an athlete tomorrow. And there is almost no time to prepare.
Ishiwaka: Haha, I see.
– How do you actually handle it?
Ishiwaka：I consider myself very lucky. I have recordings and live performances like this every day, and of course I have to prepare for them. I have to listen to demos in advance, select equipment, visualize the tuning, and look over the score. But I think the way I prepare is speedy because of my musical experience from childhood. People think I look busy and wonder if I have time to prepare, but in reality, I always have energy to spare, and I always feel excited about the new music I encounter.
– I see.
Ishiwaka：I think that all of the experiences I have had through the years are necessary for the way I work now, and they allow me to do what I do with a little extra energy. I have played many different styles of music, even within the music called jazz, and I wonder if I have been able to give back to completely different music because of each of the things I have sensed there. I guess you could say that at my age, I’m getting better at playing those cards in my hand.
– I am sure that this is because of your experience of boldly jumping into new and unfamiliar fields since your were young.
Ishiwaka: I have also been lucky enough to keep running into people who enjoy me. I think there is such a thing as timing. I have been blessed with strong encounters that I have been able to have because I met this person at the right time. I am extremely grateful.
