Contemplating the Path: WONK’s Kento Nagatsuka Juggles Cooking and Music, Emphasizing “No Instant Outcomes”

Finding Inspiration Overseas Alongside Intense Conflicts with Father During University Transition

Celeina (MC): “To my 18-year-old self.” So, is there any particular scene from that time that comes to mind?

Nagatsuka: When you are 18 years old, it is the time for entrance examinations, so I went abroad for the first time when I was 17 years old. I went to an integrated junior and senior high school, and as part of a project at that time, I went to New Zealand for a 3-week homestay. It was my first trip to an English-speaking country, and it gave me confidence that my English would be understood. It was very exciting to have the opportunity to speak in a place other than Japan for the first time, and I also went to England after that to work part-time.

During the entrance exam period, my English grades improved, but I wasn’t interested in going to college. In the end, I had a big fight with my father, and many other things happened. I was 18 years old when I realized that the world is a big place, and it was the time for me to make a dash for the next step, so I had the feeling that it all started then.

Takano (MC): In your letter, there is a passage where you say, “My trip to England was also a very good memory.

Nagatsuka: It was the summer of my junior year in high school.

Celeina：You’ve got some initiative! Do you have any memories of your visit to England?

Nagatsuka: My host family’s father was a huge fan of The Police. He played me a lot of music, told me that he listens to Madonna, talked to me about what a British gentleman is, and took me around. I have great memories of that.

Celeina：Musical input as well?

Nagatsuka: Yes. We went to Brighton, which is a port town where they have festivals. There was a semi-subterranean club/live music club on the beach, and they were playing heavy metal music and I thought it was really crazy. I saw a couple of 190cm tall bodybuilder-looking men kissing passionately at the entrance and thought, “Wow! I was like, “Wow!

Takano: How old were you when you started playing music?

Nagatsuka: I started learning to play the violin when I was about 3 years old, but it was just for fun. I started to play the violin for fun all the time. Then, bands started to become popular, so I went into bands instead of classical music.

Celeina： After that, when did you decide to become a professional musician?

Nagatsuka: Around the age of 21. I was already a college student at that time, and my schedule was to work five days a week right after school at a restaurant until night, and to perform live occasionally on weekends. The reason I had a fight with my father before I entered college was because I wanted to go to a culinary school instead of college. But my father was of the opinion that I could cook while going to college.

My father, despite being a high school graduate and a businessman, also harbored feelings of inferiority among the many highly educated CEOs around him. Due to this, there was a period when we had intense arguments for about a week. He would say things like, “You have the opportunity to go to university, so you should take it,” or “It’s not too late to go to a culinary school after graduating from university.” We didn’t actually physically fight at all (laughs), but we had a really intense argument.

Celeina: But you ended up going to college, and now, how do you feel about your college experience?

Nagatsuka: To be honest, I didn’t learn much [laughs]. But I met the members of WONK because I was in college, and I think the reason I am doing music now is because I went to college. If I hadn’t, I think I would have been cooking for a long time. So, I am grateful to WONK for not destroying my possibilities.

No Restriction Needed: Music and Cooking

Takano: At that time, did you feel that you had to focus on either cooking or music?

Nagatsuka: That was not the case from the beginning. It is very important to keep doing one thing, but I didn’t have the image in my mind that I could live on that one thing. I can do music and cooking. But I have to earn money to make a living, so I have to decide which I will do first. Rather than becoming famous for my music first and then going into cooking, I would rather work at a restaurant and make a living while improving my skills, and when my music takes shape to a certain extent, I will be able to spread the appeal of food to the fans I have made through my music. So there were worries about what kind of balance I should live with and at what timing I should do it. But in the end, I made the choice I have now.

Takano: Music and cooking are completely different genres, but are they connected in any way?

Nagatsuka: I feel that this is why musicians open curry shops and restaurants (laughs). The process of doing it is the same as songwriting. You gather good ingredients, use good instruments, record sounds, cook the ingredients you have prepared, and combine the ingredients you have cut or baked. I want to make a plate of it and make a song out of it.

Takano: Seasoning is like reverb, volume control, taste adjustment, mixing, and mastering.

Nagatsuka: I think an album is like a course.

Celeina: Is there a sense of synergy because of both cooking and music, and that you have been able to continue to enhance both genres?

Nagatsuka: Yes, I think so. I think it is all connected to our current activities, but we started a music label ourselves at first. From there, we decided to start something like a restaurant business and created a place where people who do not like music can come and enjoy themselves. We started in the music channel, but we thought that more interesting things can be found in food, fashion, and many other things. I think it’s good that it has properly become one channel to spread more of the ideas we really want people to enjoy.

Prioritizing Genuine Connections: Cherish Those with Whom You Can Speak Candidly

Celeina： One thing that caught my attention in your letter was the part where you said, “SNS is all the rage, but I really don’t care about the number of friends you have there. In your mind, is there any difference in the way you relate to SNS between now and in the past?

Nagatsuka: I was on mixi at the time, and mixi is different from Facebook and Instagram in that there are genres of things you like and a community of people who like those things.

On the other hand, with today’s social networking services, there are many people who use them to do business, and their value can be measured by how well they present themselves and by the number of people who follow them. That may be a good way to do business, but are the friends you have there true friends?　I wondered. In that sense, I think the narrow community of “that’s what I like” on mixi back then was more real than it is now.

Celeina： It is true that now there are more and more times when I feel that the barrier between social networking and reality is disappearing. In this context, this one line made me think that I have to take a step back from SNS and value my own bird’s-eye view.

Takano: And the line that follows, “You’re not good at communicating your true feelings, but you should value above all people with whom you can talk about your true feelings properly,” made me think that this is something that many people can relate to.

Nagatsuka: It’s hard to be honest, isn’t it? It’s exhausting. But I think it’s very rare to find someone with whom you can talk about your true feelings.

Takano: What kind of people are you talking to?

Nagatsuka: My current friends, the WONK members, and my family. I thought there was a lot of waste in the way I was living now, and I had a collection of 3,000 people I was connected to on Facebook. I was sorting through them and found that I had about 2,700 people left.

Celeina: Desertion.

Nagatsuka: But the remaining people are very real. The people who are still alive and active in my life and work are the ones who remain. Looking at the faces of these people, I was happy to see that many of them are wonderful people. I wondered, “What is this person doing?” I found out that they were surprisingly close to each other in their work and where they lived. I felt lighter. I think it’s good to be disconnected [laughs].

No Quick Results, Daily Accumulation Matters

Celeina: In your letter, there is a line that says, “I think it’s good to hate the ordinary, and I think it’s also good to believe somewhere in your heart that you can do it, even though you’re not a genius. I think the power of believing that you can do it is very important.

Nagatsuka: I genuinely like music and cooking a lot. Every day when I wake up and spend time alone, I sing out loud and listen to a lot of music. I cook meals every day, and I like to touch the ingredients. I like to think about what I’m going to serve at the restaurant next. Because I love what I do, I feel like everything is moving forward, isn’t that right? Because you like it, you naturally study and want to learn. I think, “This is going to be good, isn’t it? “I’m making good food, so it must be okay, right?” I think that’s why I’ve been able to come this far.

Takano: I think it is important to find what you love and go for it, without being conscious of words like “normal” or “usual.

Nagatsuka: When I think of someone as attractive, it is when I think of what they like or how they value and walk through life. I think that is someone who is continually striving to be better today than they were yesterday. So they take care of their beauty, go to the gym, work hard. I don’t know, but there is something about people who do that, it shows in their words, it shows in their expressions, it shows in their looks, and their clothes are definitely different. People like that are naturally, not normal.

Celeina: In other words, if you pursue what you love, you naturally come to affirm that you can do it.

Nagatsuka: I think that makes me very happy. I was able to find what I liked from an early age, and I am extremely grateful to my parents for letting me meet them, but it is good to be able to find such things.

Celeina: What song of your own would you like to give to yourself at this time?

Nagatsuka: There is a song called “Small Things. Now that I think about it more strongly, I realize that there is no such thing as an immediate result. Unless you are overwhelmingly lucky. Every day, we accumulate something, and we go forward even though we don’t know if we are making progress or not, and even though we don’t know if we are evolving or not. Everyone says that you can’t get results unless you keep doing that every day, and I think that’s what it comes down to. But for me, that has not been realistic for a long time. It was like learning to cook because I liked it, and learning to sing because I liked it. I was thinking about what I needed to do to achieve that, but recently I started going to the gym, and I started to realize how much I really wanted to do that. I strongly felt that if I did it, the results would come, and that I am not a talent.

Celeina：That’s why you chose “Small Things. Lastly, do you have a message for those who are at a crossroads in their career and life, just like you were at that time?

Nagatsuka: The message is difficult [laughs]. It’s okay to be selfish. When in doubt, I think you should properly choose the one you like. It’s okay if it’s the word of someone you trust, but when you’re struggling, the result you get from following someone else’s words will never satisfy you. It may be a little subtle, but you will have no regrets if you make your own choice, and I have experienced that the accumulation of such choices will surely produce a good result. I can’t say anything great about it, but I thought it was important to find my own words.

#WordsToMyYoungerSelf presented by FRISK

FRISK is championing positive strides and ventures with its “#WordsIWantToSendToMyselfFromBackThen” campaign. Here, 11 artists, talents, and creators have penned letters to their former selves, encouraging them to embark on new paths and embrace challenges. Expect interviews and discussions on the letter contents across platforms like CINRA, J-WAVE, me and you, Natalie, NiEW, and QJWeb. The handwritten letters in full will be showcased at the FRISK exhibition titled “Words I Want to Send to Myself from Back Then,” commencing April 11th (Thursday) at BONUS TRACK in Shimokitazawa. (Details here).

#WordsIWantToSendToMyself

Eleven groups of leading artists will present “Words I Wish I Could Deliver to Myself Back Then”. The exhibition features handwritten letters written to their former selves who were once troubled by problems. This exhibition is a gift to all those who will start a new life this spring.

Venue: BONUS TRACK GALLERY, Shimokitazawa (2-36-12 Daita, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo)
Dates: April 11 (Thu) – 17 (Wed), 2024, 11:00 – 20:00 (common for all days) *Opening hours are subject to change.

Participating artists: Sekai Kan Ozaki (Creep Hype), Ayuni D, Boru Juku (Tomoka Tanabe, Hope Sakayori, Anri, Haruka Kiriya), SIRUP, imase, Megane, Ameko Kodama, TENDRE, Kento Nagatsuka (WONK), Aile The Shota, Masaya Mifune (ROTH BART BARON)

Organized by NiEW Supported by FRISK

A special talk show featuring Ayuni D. and Ameiko Kodama x Megane will also be held!
In addition to the exhibition, we will hold a special talk show featuring Ms. Ayuni D., Ms. Ameko Kodama, and Mr. Megane, who have contributed messages to this project, on the stage. Talk show will be held.

Location: BONUS TRACK LOUNGE (2F BONUS TRACK central building tenant 2-36-15 Daita, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo)
Date & Time:
Talk show by Ameiko Kodama and Megane-san” April 11 (Thu) 19:30-20:30 (doors open at 19:00)
Talk show by Ayuni D.” April 14 (Sun.) 14:00-15:00 (doors open at 13:30)

Seating at the venue is limited, so if you wish to attend, please register via the link below. Only winners will be notified after a drawing will be held. (Please set “@niew.jp” as a designated domain to receive emails.)
→Please check the NiEW special page for details.

Kento Nagatsuka
Vocalist of WONK. As an individual, he has participated in the works of Tomita Labo, King Gnu, millennium parade, Ryohu, elephant gym (Taiwan), and others. He also has a side as a chef, and started training under a famous Italian and French chef while he was still in college. After graduation, at the age of just 24, he was involved in the launch of a bistro in Tokyo as head chef. Currently, he continues to develop products and hold events based on French cuisine. He also produces original coffee blends “Introspection” and fragrances “Moon Dance” under his label EPISTROPH.
http://www.wonk.tokyo/