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 October 31, illustrator Man Doope Suzuki will appear. We asked him about the fetishism reflected in his illustrations and how he creates works that combine letters.
INDEX
Creating works focusing on the mustache under the nose of the fetish
Celeina(MC): First of all, let me introduce you to Man Doope Suzuki, born in 1977, an illustrator who loves black music, beards under his nose, mental health, and emotional things, which he uses to create CD jackets, stickers, and apparel.
Takano (MC): Excuse me, I’m wearing special makeup today and I look like this.
Man: I think you look great.
Celeina: It’s okay, please tell the truth.
Man: To be honest, I was scared.
Takano: It is surprising, isn’t it?
Celeina:Is it okay if I call you Mr.Man?
Man: I would be very happy if you could call me Man-chan.
Celeina:Is it okay if I call you “chan”?
Man: On the contrary, if you don’t call me “chan,” I won’t reply (haha). I look forward to working with you.
Celeina: Thank you very much.
Takano: Yesterday’s guest, Yamada-san, said that you are a good cook.
Man: This is totally false.
Takano: Is it a hoax? (haha)
Man: Yamada is like the Junji Takada of the camping world. I have only served him food at the camp.
Celeina：But you made a meal at the camp.
Takano：Maybe that means he made an impression on me.
Man: I think I said it in an appropriate way, since we are usually long-time friends. I listened to the archive of yesterday’s broadcast and was taken aback by the degree.
Takano: What caught my attention was the mustache under his nose, which was mentioned in his profile. What does this mean?
Man: It’s totally just a fetish. It’s so much of a fetish that there were times when I would only see people with a mustache under their nose when walking down the street.
Celeina：But I heard that there is a neighborhood where people talk about the shape of beards. My friend was also talking about how much he liked beards for a while.
Takano: Do you like a mustache under the nose? Not so much a beard?
Man: I think a beard is nice, but I feel that a mustache under the nose is a symbol of masculinity.
Celeina：By the way, what kind of beard do you prefer? If you could answer as much as you are comfortable with, please.
Man: As far as I can tell, I like a thick, strong beard under the nose. I like it even though it has a rustic feel.
Takano:But if we take a look at your Instagram, we can see that you have some great illustrations of people with beards.
Celeina: Almost everyone has a mustache.
Man: I only draw men with beards so much. It’s like it’s either the pattern or the mustache.
Takano: The colors are colorful, and it’s wonderful. It’s a bit like a collage.
Man: Yes, recently I have been combining pictures of men with beards with textiles that I like to draw.
INDEX
What doesn’t work, sublimate it creatively.
Celeina: Is there some kind of nineties culture influence?
Man：There totally is. It’s partly a generational thing, but I’m influenced by 1990s R&B and hip-hop to the fullest. Many hip-hop people of that era were very masculine.
Takano: Many of the designs include text.
Man: I start with the text. I feel that when the music is emotional or sentimental, which is usually easy for me to listen to, I feel that the letters come into my ears. So I write them down, thinking that I can use these words, and later combine them with pictures.
Takano: It’s like you are copywriting at the same time.
Man: Maybe so.
Takano:There are a lot of beautiful words in there.
Celeina: If you look at Instagram, you can see some of the poems written in Japanese. “Kitten who cries all the time, I understood.”
Takano: very nice.
Man: I’m so happy, thank you.
Celeina: emo. What period of time did you make this piece?
Man: It was a time when things were not going well in my love life. I think I am more sensitive when things are not going well.
Celeina：I understand. When I’m in that kind of period, I write only songs about lost love.
Man: To put it another way, when that kind of thing starts, I feel like it’s just about to happen.
Celeina：Wait a minute, this is an artist’s disease.
Takano: We are also in the music business, and my impression is that Celeina’s songs are often about heartbreak, but I can understand that. When I have a bad day, I sometimes feel like I have to sublimate it creatively.
Man：I understand. I draw to convey my feelings to the person I am drawing for.
Takano: I also mix in feelings of frustration and such.
Celeina: But for us, art and music provide an outlet, and in a way we are grateful for that. It is a good purification process for me.
Man：I sometimes wonder how people who can’t make it to that point vent. I can honestly draw more when things don’t go well.
Takano: But I hear that you are happy now.
Man: Yes. I am very sorry to tell you this on a personal note, but I got married last year under the Setagaya Ward partnership system.
Celeina: Congratulations on your marriage.
Man: Thank you very much.
Takano: When you are happy, does your inspiration change again or something?
Celeina: Does it affect your creativity?
Man: Yes, it does. I think there will be parts of my work that will no longer work with the methods I have used in the past, so I have been thinking lately that it would be good if I could draw while looking more at new positive aspects of my work.
Celeina：Good, I am looking forward to it.
Takano: I am also looking forward to your future works. Now, I would like to play a song, and I asked Man-chan, Man Doope Suzuki, to choose a song that we would all like to listen to together on the radio at this time. What song would it be?
Man : I’ve always loved this song. It is a beautiful and chill song that really shines all the time, but I think everyone is tired at this time of the evening, so please listen to it. It’s “Remind Me” by Patrice Rushen.
