A circle of friends connected by gut touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On August 31, media artist Ryo Fukuchi introduced Akihiro Miki, drummer of the instrumental band “neco sleep” and graphic designer. We asked him about how he started playing the drums, why he joined “neco sleep,” and the merits of being both a drummer and a graphic designer.
INDEX
From starting out as a drummer in Konami’s “Drum Mania” to finding a job by no means.
Celeina (MC): First of all, let me introduce my profile. I am a graphic designer, visual artist, and drummer for the instrumental band “neco sleep. He majored in visual design at university, and after working for Konami Digital Entertainment Co. He is currently based in Tokyo from Kansai.
Takano (MC): You are involved in a really wide range of activities. Which came first, your interest in graphics or drumming?
Miki: I got interested in music first, so I started with drums.
Celeina: When did you start playing drums?
Miki: I think I started playing drums in the winter of the second year of junior high school, partly because I got interested in music from commercials, and partly because I heard the theme song of a TV drama, which made a band I liked form, and I thought I would give it a try.
Celeina: Heh. What kind of artists’ music were you listening to at the time?
Miki: “Yume” by THE BLUE HEARTS was playing on a TV drama, so I started listening to that and then to THE HIGH-LOWS, since they were THE HIGH-LOWS at that time.
Takano: So that was it! You never know what will be the trigger.
Miki: And as for the drums themselves, it was around the time Konami’s “Drum Mania” came out in arcades, so one of the triggers for me was to try that and see if I could do it.
Celeina: Do you mean that you encountered a drum game in a video arcade when you were in the second grade of junior high school?
Miki: That’s right.
Takano: That was Konami’s Drum Mania, and you later joined Konami?
Miki: I got in.
Takano: Is that possible? (laughs)
Celeina: Wow! (laughs) You skipped from the eighth grade to getting a job, but during that time, did you actually touch the drums and even join a band?
Miki: I formed a band with my classmates and played in it for a long time.
Takano: And what kind of work did you do at Konami?
Miki: At Konami, I was assigned to the arcade game department. My main work was not the contents of the games, but the logos that glowed on the game machines, stickers on the game machines, and other printed materials.
Takano: You mean designing game cabinets?
Miki: Yes.
Celeina: Is this exactly what it means to turn what you love into a job?
Takano: It feels like fate.
Celeina: When you joined the company, did you talk about this episode as you went along?
Miki: I think I did. I tried to use everything that was available (laughs).
Celeina: Wow (laughs). When did you join the instrumental band “neco sleep”?
Miki: About a year after I joined Konami.
Takano: So you have already joined the band as a member of society.
Miki: That’s right.
Celeina: But wasn’t your first year with the company pretty busy at work?
Miki: No, I remember that I was surprisingly not that busy in the first year. It gradually became busier and busier.
Takano: What made you join NECO Sleep?
Miki: I am the second drummer. At the time, the drummer quit and the band itself was on hiatus. After that, there seemed to be a movement to reopen the band, and I saw on SNS that they were looking for a drummer, so I sent an e-mail.
Takano: Did you know any of the band members?
Miki: When I was in high school, we played together in a band, but we never talked. We had bandmates in common, and they thought we were close, so we went out for a drink.
Celeina: Wow! I didn’t know that was possible.
Takano: But I guess that’s how close we were in terms of vibes.
Miki: Because he is a person! I was told (laughs). He said, “As for the drums, well, you just need to practice.
Takano: I see (laughs).
