INDEX
From the desire to make music to cultivating the soil. Yuto’s view on the way of life as artists
-Lastly, what advice would you give anyone aiming to go abroad and become a global artist like The fin.?
Yuto: If I were to tell people in the music industry, I would say to go anywhere first. If you have your own artists and you want to sell them in Asia, you should try to organize a live show in Asia, and you will definitely learn something. It is hard for local people to think of inviting someone who has never been to Asia before.
The fin. happened to be invited at an early stage, but once you go there, people will think, “These people are coming,” and the most important thing is to show the local people that you have a proper fan base. “If this person comes, we will get this many people, so next time we will do this much promotion and get five times as many people”, and so on.
-How about artists?
Yuto: I think it is good for artists to try living abroad. The most important thing for artists is their senses, but if you are born and raised only in Japan, you will only acquire Japanese senses.But if you live abroad, you can deliver your message to a global audience. This will broaden the range of people who will listen to your music. Going to England was a big deal for me. The music I make has changed since I went to England.
-It was at a similar time that Chinese fans boomed. I don’t know how relevant these are, but changing mindset has much to do with it.
Yuto: I think there is definitely a relationship. If I were to give one more message to artists, it would be, “Pursue what you love and never stop doing it.” If you create something really interesting, someone will definitely like it and it will spread. I don’t know when that will happen, but I think the most important thing is to never stop.
When I was in my early 20s, I didn’t know what I was doing and just wanted to “make music”, but now I have the desire to “improve the soil. In order to do that, I think it is important to look at the negative aspects, to isolate the problems properly, and to see what can be seen after the problems have been crushed one by one.
-We can only figure out the right actions by facing the negative side.
Yuto: That’s right. In that respect, Thom Yorke is amazing. He has been talking about the problems for a long time, and 20 years later, he is a prophet. But I think that’s what being an artist is all about. They look at the social trends and throw out their own attitude and stance. I think I am gradually starting to go down that path.
