INDEX
A Sense of Crisis Post-Independence due to a Lack of Specialized Skills and Touring across the Country
-Well, I was wondering how you went about running the label.
Sokabe： I guess I just kept on doing it. We ended up traveling around the country doing live shows, and we had to make money from the fees and sales of goods. We put in a lot of gigs.
-How did you advertise?
Sokabe： We didn’t have the energy to advertise in magazines at the time, and when we thought about which was better, advertising in “ROCKIN’ON JAPAN” or having our songs remixed by our favorite artists and making a record, we decided on the latter. I decided on the latter. I don’t know how to compare the two, but because of this fundamental feeling, I gradually stopped advertising in the media.
So when it came to advertising, the only thing I could do was to go anywhere and sing on my own, and that was it. Once I started doing this “go anywhere” style, I started getting a lot of calls from people saying, “We’ve never done a live show at this café, can you invite us? I started getting a lot of calls from people saying, “I’ve never done a live concert at a café before. So many people are performing there now, but there are many places where I was the first.
-So, it was your idea that led to the use of the space for live performances.
Sokabe: “You can do it anywhere. You don’t need a microphone or anything. One of the reasons for this was that I needed to develop my own abilities. I had never done anything like that before, and the tour was arranged in such a way that a bullet train was provided for transportation, so I had to go to the venues by myself, get paid, and come back. I was in my early 30s at the time, and I really felt that my career would change from then on. So I was already playing a lot of shows.
-So you had such a sense of crisis.
Sokabe: When I became independent, I realized that I didn’t have a job, and I thought I had to get one. I learned that there are various ways of doing things, such as getting a percentage back if you get this many customers, or getting a refund on all ticket sales but putting the drink money into the venue, etc. I also learned what kind of goods to sell and how much it costs to make a T-shirt. I also gradually learned what kind of goods to sell, how much it costs to make a T-shirt, etc. (laughs). That approach has not changed much.
