INDEX
Embracing the Challenge of Recreating Past Works
-I think we live in a society where ethics are changing at an accelerating pace, partly due to the proliferation of social networking services. Have you rewritten the script?
Yamamoto: I have hardly rewritten it. Ethical views are changing so rapidly that it is like being swept away by a muddy stream. But, for example, I didn’t change the word “Twitter” to “X” and left it as it is because the person I was three years ago and the person I am now are two different people, and I thought I had to respect the person I was three years ago. Also, I am not comfortable judging the feelings of 2021 by the ethics of today. I don’t think the present is there to judge the past, nor is it there to drag the future down.
Sokabe: How do you feel when you perform again? In music, I suddenly play a song I wrote 30 years ago at a live performance, and I sing it while remembering, “Oh, I remember that I wrote this when my child was born.
Born on August 26, 1971. Virgo, blood type AB. Originally from Kagawa Prefecture. He began his career in the early ’90s as the vocalist/guitarist of Sunny Day Service. In 1995, he released his first album “Wakamono-tachi,” interpreting and reconstructing 1970s Japanese folk/rock in a ’90s style, creating a completely new sound that left a strong impression on listeners. Inspired by the Christmas 2001 and the simultaneous attacks on New York, he made his solo debut with the single “Guitar.” In 2004, he founded his independent label ROSE RECORDS, focusing on independent/DIY activities. Since then, alongside Sunny Day Service/solo work, he has continued diverse expressions including production, songwriting, film and commercial music, writing, and acting without being confined to a single form.
Yamamoto: Yes, that’s right. Especially in the case of theater, a set is a set of troupes. The larger the troupe, the more each person carries memories of the past, and the more everyone’s thoughts and feelings are carried, the heavier they become. I would like to do that again with a different group of actors, but with a lighter touch. And I think that requires determination.
Sokabe: I see, I’m learning a lot. I practice with the band every day, but when we decide to play a song from 30 years ago, I sometimes feel like it’s a bit of a hassle. But as I try, I think, “This is what I meant when I wrote that song back then,” or “I was still young. I also feel that it is a bit heavy, because my growth, scars, joys, and regrets have accumulated over the years from 30 years ago to now. But I always want to do it lightly.
Yamamoto: That’s right.
-For example, Sunny Day Service performed a live reenactment of “Tokyo” (1996) in 2016. Naturally, musicians perform songs from 20 or 30 years ago in their live performances. Don’t you feel embarrassed when you do that? Some people change the lyrics and arrangements, don’t they?
Sokabe：Yes, that feeling of embarrassment is the heaviness I just mentioned. It’s like, “Is this really okay? or “I am so young, I don’t understand it yet.” When you go beyond that embarrassment, there is a part of you that has nothing to do with age or anything else.
