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Susumu Hirasawa's Back Space Pass on Ethical Trek 2K20 concerts

平沢進のBack Space Pass 「会然TREK 2K20編」/Susumu Hirasawa's Back Space Pass on Ethical Trek 2K20 concerts (Streamed on july 4, 2020)

(Translation in English)

[01:14]

Susumu Hirasawa: Hello, everyone. I am Hirasawa. I am going to start "Back Space Pass on 'Ethical Trek 2K20' shows" now.

[01:31]

In a precise sense, the concerts having the name "Ethical Trek" were started with the show last summer [at Fuji Rock Festival 2019], followed by the Battles' shows when I did opening acts for with a different sub-title ["Sempo STS", meaning "Tactics STS/Susumu, Tazz, and Ssho"]. Carrying out the Ethical Trek shows [in February through June,] in 2020, all the concerts titled that name were over in about a year at last.

[01:51]

I talked about Fuji Rock and the opening acts for the Battles' shows in my last BSP already, so, I will talk about the anecdotes in the shows in Osaka, Tokyo, and Tokyo again today.

[02:14]

I'm sure you guys are starting to google and trying to find my shirt I'm wearing today. But you won't find it. This shirt is not an off-the-shelf product. Eh, Okay.

[02:33]

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Ethical Trek 2K20▼02 Osaka Concert at Grand Cube Osaka

＜The Stage Design by Toshifumi Nakai＞

Now, I am going to talk about some anecdotes in the concerts in Osaka [in February]. But I don't remember them clearly because it happened some time ago. Anyway, first of all, I asked Mr. [Toshifumi] Nakai to create the general stage set design this time to have a new style of the set different from my previous shows. Mr. Nakai is a graphic designer who has created my CD cover designs and other works of mine so far. Looking at other bands' shows' stage set designs and video images, they looked all similar. Especially the videos created by video-making specialists were boring. I wanted to use a different touch in the stage set and the video design from the works by Mr. [Masaru] Owaku, who had created the computer graphics for my many Interactive Live Shows. So, I asked Mr. Nakai to create the stage set and the videos. The video was displayed on a small and narrow display. And the movies were made with geometric and somehow 2-dimensional designs with a few numbers of colors only. I think his videos were in very good taste and cool.

[04:28]

＜The Usage of Space on the Stage: The Tent, Segways, Movable Platforms, Chainsaws＞

《Usage of Segways》

We, the performers, [I, Ssho, and Tazz] could move around a lot in a large space on the stage in Grand Cube Osaka, around the huge tent-like object ,"Pyramid" which I call so. "How would Hirasawa make use of the big stage space like that in his performance? " was the question. Having the big tent on the stage, I thought we could move around a lot in and out of and around it. I thought of riding Segways to make use of the big stage in an effective manner. Also, three platforms for us, three performers, were standing on were used, which were portable to be carried into the stage and out to change the features of the stage set frequently. I thought of the usage of Segways relatively at the last minute. Many people asked, "Who thought of the idea?", "Who came up the the idea to use Segways?" and "Whose idea was the chainsaws?" I think, "Why do you want to know such things?" But anyway, I thought of using the Segways and the chainsaws.

[06:03]

By the way, I thought of the idea to use the Segways at the last minute, just a few days before the generalprobe[dress rehearsal] when all the PA system staff, lighting staff, stage director and the stage flymen worked together with us to do exactly the same performance as the real show. I was worried if we could actually ride them when I thought of the idea. But I thought, "I should do it because it looks fun." and I called and asked the two Ejins to go to a store where Segways were sold to have a test drive right away on the same day. They called me and said to me, "It's easy. We'll be able to ride them with the necessary techniques in a few days if we practice". So I asked them to purchase them right away. After that, each person, I , Ssho and Tazz, practiced riding them individually for the few days before the generalprobe. We could acquire the necessary techniques during that time. It was an easy to ride vehicle.

[07:25]

《The Accident that Tazz Fell off the Segway and Off the Stage》

Eh, talking about the Segway, I am sure you remember there was a big accident with it. It was seen by all of us and the audience. Ejin, Tazz, was supposed to stop at a designated spot after appearing into the stage first, but he didn't stop and ended up falling off the Segway and off the stage. I have to tell you, for Tazz's reputation's sake, that it was not his fault. Actually, the stage was very dark, and the floor of the stage was in total black, having no mark to rely on. And especially for the Ejins having small fields of view, a marked spot was needed to know where to stop at when riding a Segway. And Tazz was supposed to stop in front of the lever arm switch for the laser harp. But the staff forgot to place it on the stage before he came out by mistake. So he couldn't find it no matter how far he went. "Oh? Where is the lever switch? Where is it?" and whump! He fell. That's how it happened.

[08:59]

《Tricks and Traps about the Segway》

Also, a Segway can run as fast as 20 and something Kilometers per hour, though it cannot run faster than 30 Kilos per hour. But it is limited to run slower than that in the beginner's mode. If you try to run at the full speed in the beginner's mode, it warns the rider by tilting itself toward the rear, as if saying "No", making the rider fall over backward, like wham! I actually think this function in its beginner's mode is more dangerous than the normal mode. To cancel the beginner's mode, you have to ride it for the designated hours and cancel the beginner's mode on the setting of the vehicle by using your total riding hours recorded in it. After that, your Segway won't tilt backwards no matter how fast you ride it. However, we rode the Segways still in the beginners' mode, so we were riding them in a kind of dangerous condition. But fortunately, no one fell over backward.

[10:24]

《The Portable Platform was Stuck on the Stage》

Also, on the day of the concert, the platform was moved by the staff in red jumpsuits and white masks called "Akago"[meaning "children in red"]. They were dressed in red because we wanted the flymen on the stage not in all black for they were going to be seen by the audience anyway [Notes: Flymen who move the stage props are usually dressed in black from head to toe in Japan and they are called "Kuroko" meaning "children in black"]. They couldn't carry my platform into the center of the stage in time for me to start singing [World Turbine] on it. It happened because a part of the cloth spread all over the stage like a carpeting as a slip resistance was snaggled into a wheel under the platform, which made the platform stuck in one spot. Consequently, they couldn't place the platform in the center of the stage in time for me to start singing on it. For lack of a better alternative, I thought I should sing without climbing on the platform. I was singing walking around on the stage. [Notes: Hirasawa's platform was placed in the center later in the same song.] Like this, the first day of Osaka concerts was with a lot of troubles [Notes: The accident with the platform happened on the second day in Osaka, actually.], but I thought we did a good job over all.

[11:54]

＜Selecting the Song List for Tokyo Concert Scheduled in March＞

By the way, I realized in Osaka that I was going to have only about 2 weeks before the upcoming concerts in Tokyo. But I had been tied up with the preparation for the concerts in Osaka, including making the music tracks and arrangements of the songs, leaving no time for me to prepare for Tokyo which was only 2 weeks away. Therefore, I had to decide on the song list for Tokyo in a hurry while I was staying at the hotel in Osaka. I was supposed to give the song list to the drummer, Rerure[Yuji Rerure Kawaguchi]. So I selected the songs and sent the song list to Rerure and my staff working for the Tokyo shows. I didn't have time to send Rerure the actual song tracks, so I told him to find and listen to the same songs on Youtube, which was not like a professional musician, though. And while I was deciding on the songs for Tokyo, I got motivated and I wanted to add a few songs. One of them was "Looping Opposition", which Tazz had wanted me to choose. So we decided that we want to play the song in Tokyo especially having the drummer Rerure, and I was rewriting the lyrics for it a little at the hotel in Osaka.

[13:27]

The reason why I changed the lyrics for it. I have to explain how the song "Looping Opposition" was made and released. There was an album called "Fu-kyoka Kyoku-shu/不許可曲集" [meaning "Unpermitted Songs", released in 1983] long time ago. It was released in cassette tapes. My brother [Yuichi Hirasawa] found and picked up some songs from the box I had put the songs I had discarded in, and asked me, "Why aren't you releasing these songs?" I said, "Well, I don't think they are good, so I've thrown them away." And Yuichi said, "No way. I'm going to release these songs even if you don't give me a permission." That was the album in a cassette tape called "Fu-kyoka Kyoku-shu". "Looping Opposition" was one of the songs in it. So, the song was in the state in which I had left halfway in the sketch making.

[14:34]

And if I trace back through my career, the song was first in the tape I made when I was in the band Mandrake [1973-1978], which I made some songs on my own by overdubbing the tracks by killing the recording head and the erasing head of the cassette tape recorder by putting Sellotape over them because a multitrack tape recorders were too expensive for common people at that time. I made something like a solo album on a tape by using that tricksome method back then. The song was originally in it. I had thrown that old song away because I didn't like it so much. But it was released in a cassette tape through some situation. So, I wanted to change a part of the lyrics of it because I thought it was kind of rough. As it turned out, the new lyrics I wrote was not with much difference from the original one. In addition, I was making a new arrangement for the song "Oyasumi Dog" [meaning "Good-Night Dog"] as well as rewriting the lyrics for Looping Opposition on the night before Osaka show's first day and on the night after the second day of the show at the hotel in Osaka.

[16:04]

＜ライブ中の食事について＞＜The Meals during the Concerts＞

By the way, being a Pythagorean[vegan], it is hard for me to get what I want to eat if I just sit there, which is not the case with non-vegetarians. What I did to look for my food this time was going to the restaurant called "Paprika Restaurant" in Osaka on the night before the first show. However, I got the information that a group of people had a reservation in the restaurant, which changed my mind, thinking "That's not preferable", and I hastily decided to go to a different restaurant. I am not going to tell you the name of the restaurant nor to give even a tip to look for it. After that, the backstage food in Osaka was wonderful. They provided a lot of salad and tortilla chips served with a lot of avocado dip sauce[guacamole] and salsa sauce. I and Mr. Chinzei [recording and sound engineer] whom I invited in my backstage room and who had been trying to take more vegetables [after his illness] had them together.

[17:31]

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Ethical Trek 2K20▲03 in Tokyo at Zepp Tokyo

＜Ths Song List for Zepp Tokyo Concerts＞

That's how the concerts in Osaka went. Next, I did concerts at Zepp Tokyo. My plan was to play the songs from my solo albums at Osaka [in February] and at Tokyo NHK Hall [in April and rescheduled in June], and the songs from my solo albums as well as those from Kaku-P-MODEL albums, which I called Hybrid form, at Zepp Tokyo [in March] between them. I call the concerts performing both solo songs and Kaku P-MODEL songs "Hybrid concerts". Therefore, having the all standing venue at Zepp Tokyo, I chose to play Kaku P-MODEL songs as well because I thought I wanted to have a show with a more lively feeling and the songs you can dance to. Also, that's why I employed a guest drummer to the concert.

[18:20]

Thankfully, Rerure learned how to play my songs in a very short period. If I were him, I wouldn't want to learn how to play all those songs in that short period. I hadn't realized that I had selected all different songs for Zepp Tokyo from the songs from Osaka until Rerure pointed it out. Not even a single song was the same. I thought, "Is that really?" Normally, a band or musician would keep the similar setlist throughout their same concert tour, having slightly changing the sequence of the songs and adding or skipping only one or two songs. But I had completely different song lists between Osaka and Zepp Tokyo without thinking. Resure was also surprised that he had never heard of the songs from the Box Set CDs I had given him as a present. He asked me, "How many songs do you have?" and I thought about it. I remember I had about 300 songs that were registered with me about 20 years ago, and I have made a lot of songs after that including my albums, the music created for some projects, soundtracks and so on that would sum up to well over 400 songs. I don't remember most of them actually. But it means that I have plenty of songs as a resource to choose from.

[19:58]

＜The Change in the Bass Guitar Models＞

Now, we have a little anecdote to tell you here, which happened at Zepp Tokyo, which I could call one of the little incidents happened because it was in the beginning of the golden 10-year cycle. As you all have noticed, at the NHK Hall, I mean, the guitar used in Zepp Tokyo, I mean, Osaka, I mean, (hitting the palm with his folded fan) at Zepp Tokyo, the red bass guitar manufactured by Playtech used at Osaka was not used. It happened because of a reason. When we were having the final rehearsal at Zepp Tokyo before the first show, the red Playtech bass guitar broke suddenly. We were thinking, "It broke now. What shall we do? There is no extra bass guitar." At that moment, there was a man who took out a EVO bass guitar in the audience's seat. He was the manufacturing engineer that created the EVO guitar himself observing the rehearsal who happened to have a EVO bass guitar. He said, "Please use this." as if he had known that our red bass guitar would break. He kindly offered to lend his EVO bass guitar to us. Luckily, we could replace the bass guitar.

[21:47]

That was lucky. But a Playtech bass guitar costs less than 10 thousand yen, while a EVO bass guitar cost more than 300 thousand yen. Its body is made of aluminum, and it is manufactured in the philosophy that it can produce the sounds equivalent to a synthesizer bass guitar, which can be tuned to be played with computer made music. I was surprised to hear its strong sound just like that made by a synthesizer. Thankfully, we had the EVO bass guitar. And we thought, "Now, why don't we replace Ssho's [Fender] Jazzmaster guitar with an EVO guitar, too." Consequently, we ended up making the nice scene on the stage in which all three of us were playing EVO guitars and an EVO bass guitar.

[22:35]

＜The Drums' Position＞

About the drums. The drums were placed on the side of my platform which was higher than other platforms used by the Ejins. Normally, the drums in a concert are placed in the center of the stage for a rational reason. Where the drums are placed has a great impact on how and to which direction the rhythm section's sound is conveyed, especially the low frequency sound, which affects how comfortably other musicians would be able to play listening to it. At Zepp Tokyo, I wanted to have an unusual layout, and placed the drums sideways, having Rerure facing me. That made the bass drum's sound coming to me directly. The pulse directly from the skins of the bass drum would attack me. Even normally, the speakers for the audience make a big sound, which vibrates the platform where I stand, which vibrates the bones of my body, which vibrates my skull, which may prevent me from singing in tune at times. In addition to this, when Rerure's bass drum's strong vibration comes directly from the side, I could not stand it. I said, "Please do something to change the direction of the bass drum sound" and we blocked it by surrounding the drum set with acrylic walls. It is a trend to surround the drummers with transparent acrylic walls to block the excess noise. We followed that conduct. That was why the acrylic walls surrounded Rerure's drums.

[24:39]

＜The Stage Design for Zepp Tokyo was Done by Toshifumi Nakai＞

The stage design and the movie on the screen were created by Mr. [Toshifumi] Nakai again. The LED movie screen was placed horizontally, which was different from how it was placed in Osaka [It was placed vertically]. A different, horizontal version of the movies this time was projected on it. Again, the geometrical and somehow 2-dimensional movies were very refreshing.

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Ethical Trek 2K20▼04 Ghost Venue at NHK Hall in Tokyo

＜The Concert with no Audience＞

[25:15]

That's how the Zepp Tokyo show was done. The question was how to carry out the concert at NHK Hall next. We were not sure if we would be able to carry out the concert there [on April 19 , which had been postponed to June 7, then postponed again to June 20] because of the very unstable situation surrounding the implementation of the actual concert [because of COVID-19 spreading and the government's guidelines concerning it]. We were hearing the words "It's possible." "It's not possible." "NHK Hall will open the facility." "NHK Hall won't be open." and so on. Therefore, we decided on the method of concert that might conform to the worst possible case that should be the most certain way, and decided to carry out the concert in that policy which we would stick to even if the situation changes to the good direction or to the bad one. It was going to be a concert with "Home audience".

[26:17]

Well, I had already used the word "home audience" because I had done the concerts having [both the audience at the venue and] the home audience for many years because of my usual concert styles. So, having the home audience didn't change the way of my concert a lot. One of the difference we made was we decided to make use of the camerawork more with different kinds of angles, having all the audience at their homes. We had decided that the concert at NHK Hall, Tokyo, was going to have the same stage set and with the same setlist as the one in Osaka. So we would have more emphasis on the camerawork, and that was about the only change we made.

[27:19]

By the way, I have seen your comments about Ethical Trek 2K20 shows found among your questions that "The selections of the songs and the song sequence were exquisite this time." "Every word corresponds to what is happening in the world right now." "The lyrics are synchronized with the world and are easy to understand. I could understand a lot of lyrics which I didn't understand previously. They started to make sense." They gave me such delightful comments to me. I was happy to see these comments after having a long career as a musician. But it is not that my selection of the songs this time was especially wonderful. Several songs were picked from the album "Blue Limbo", which had the theme about dystopia. Dystopia is a world in which the malicious authority controls the people with false information, threatening and giving insecurity. "Blue Limbo" was made 17 years ago. The situation in the world back then looked the same way as the present for me. But the present situation in the world looks more obviously in that direction. That's all. And some fans are saying they have started to understand the lyrics and the concept of the songs. Well, I only did the same thing I have been doing for many years. So, it is not like I had a wonderful sense of selecting the songs especially this time or something. I hope you understand it though I have spoken a little long on this topic.

[29:30]

＜Usage of Chainsaws＞

So, I decided to carry out the concert with the home audience, and the concert date was postponed twice and it was decided on June 20. I found after the concert that june 20 was a special day on the Japanese calendar having two lucky days at once by a coincidence. This coincidence happened unintentionally gave me the impression that another happy happening came in the beginning of the golden 10-year cycle. It gave me a spine-chilling sensation with excitement. And on that lucky day, ... that reminds me that I hadn't thought of the idea how to end the series of the shows at NHK Hall until a certain point. I wanted to take down the tent I called Pyramid at the end of the show. But I didn't know how. The tent had a steel frame and was hung from the ceiling. I didn't know if we should destroy it by cutting the frame with iron cutting saws, or if we should cut the cloth material into pieces. I wanted to have an eye catching and shocking trick at the end of the show because I was sure there would be the audience who were going to see my show for the first time.

[31:13]

Then, I thought, "What if we use chainsaws to cut the tent?" I thought it would also mean that "I was going to cut the curtains of the show down" at the end of the last show of Ethical Trek if we cut the cloth material of the tent into pieces, which would have a kind of ritual meaning at the same time, which was the idea only I was thinking though. But the chainsaws. They are very dangerous. When I said that I wanted to use chainsaws on the stage, Mr. Matsumura, the stage director, said, "Oh, Okay." because he had been used to such surprising idea of mine, and he submitted the forms to clear the Fire Defense Law and to get the permission from MHK Hall administration immediately. He also rented the chainsaws. We tried cutting the same cloth material as the tent on the stage with a chainsaw during the generalprobe[dress rehearsal]. "Here we go." said a staff, and he tried cutting the material with a chainsaw, but we found it was extremely dangerous because the cloth got tangled into the chain in a second and the staff's body got almost drawn into the saw by the strong force. We thought it was very, very dangerous. So, we decided to take the chain off the saw, put a cutter knife on the tip of the saw, and to cut the tent material with the cutter knife actually while the engine of the chainsaw is on. I think it looked like we were actually cutting the tent with chainsaws on the stage. I think the knives cut the tent really well, probably better than using actual chainsaws.

[33:28]

＜360 degrees Cameras and Other Cameras＞　

About the cameras. The audience were going to watch the concert online at their homes, not that they were going to sit at one place. The cameras were like the audience's eyes. To use that advantage, I said, "I want to use 360 degrees cameras." And the video shooting staff said, "Oh, Okay" "Okay. Is that what you would like to do?" and we could use a 360 degrees camera for professional use offered by the Insta 360 Company. Also, to my surprise, we could use seven other 360 degrees cameras, so 8 of them in total. They were installed on the crane camera, the movable cameras on the rails, 2 cameras on the stage on stands, and the one held by me. By the way, the walking robot cameras were not used because the robot camera engineer declined to use them so that the white guiding lines for the robots to walk along wouldn't be in the way for the 360 degrees cameras this time. So only one robot camera fixed to one spot to follow the movement of Hirasawa was used. So we had a lot of cameras. The eight 360 degrees cameras, as well as regular cameras on the rails, on the crane, the ones held by the photographers, and so on.

[35:29]

＜Sound Engineering＞

And the problem with the sound engineering. There was a question, "What effect did having no audience at the Hall have in the sound tuning?" In an ordinary concert, the audience is considered to be the sound absorbing material acoustically. We adjust the sound tuning so that it would be in the best condition when the concert hall has the audience. If there is no audience, the low sound would run around in the hall and make the noise like "waaaam", the screeching high noise would hurt your ears, which would be reflected on the wall in the back of the audience's floor, which would be reflected on the stage back wall, which would be reflected on the side walls, which would come to me, being in delayed rhythms. The sound engineers normally tune the sound in that condition, and it will work in the perfect balance when the concert hall is filled with the audience as the sound absorbing material.

[36:35]

However, this time, we had no audience in the hall. So, we had no sound absorbing material. So, we tried to tune the sound by predicting and measuring everything, but we didn't know how the sound turns out until we actually carry out the concert at the hall. And we tried to adjust the balance between the sound heard from my ear monitors and the sound reflected from outside, but it was a very difficult condition of the sound for me to sing in it. In every song, the platform I was standing on started to resonate with the sound from the speakers. And the platform this time had wheels underneath, which made the platform raised from the floor a little, all of which was vibrated by the low sound, which made my bones vibrate, which vibrated my ear drums. That was a kind of acoustic distortion that I didn't want which I was forced to hear. In addition, the high sound reflected from the back wall reached me in a delayed rhythm than the high sound coming from my ear monitors. Surrounded by all that, I was in a very difficult situation to sing. In fact, I had difficulty in singing in tune several times during the concert.

[38:16]

So, I have to tell you. On the streaming, the music including my vocals was streamed as it was because it was streamed live, so you must have heard some parts I was not singing in the perfect tune. I will adjust all that in the upcoming video shot with 360 degrees camera to be released soon. Please remember that I will make adjustments. I may record my vocals for some parts again, and I will adjust some parts mechanically if I can. I confess that it will happen.

[28:49]

And anyway, I always make some adjustments when I make a DVD of my concert. So, the unstable parts of my vocals will be roughly adjusted for the 360 degrees video.

[39:06]

Today's Program: Anecdotes from the Concerts, An Intermission, Q and A time, The Surprising Release

So, so much for the anecdotes from the concerts by me. It is already at 8:40 PM now. After this, I will have a Q and A time. And after that, there will be a surprising release of something. That means tonight's program will last for more than an hour. It will probably take an hour and a half or a little less than two hours possibly. Therefore, I think we need an intermission. Okay, I should have a break now because it's between the two parts of the program. Then, let's have a 5-minute intermission now. See you in 5 minutes.

＜Intermission for 5 Minutes＞[40:22-45:40]

[45:46]

＜Q and A Time＞

Now the program is resumed. Now, I will answer to your questions. First of all, I have to tell you that I won't read your questions word by word because I have received some questions in the same sense. So, I will read the questions in summary. The first question.

《Present Popularity of Hirasawa》

Question 1: Have you thought about how you have become popular like this, which is beyond the point of no return?

That's the question. It's a good one. I've been thinking why. But I don't know. And if I pursue the exact cause of it, it's obvious that I must reach a sad conclusion, which is "the defeat of music". I think a lot of fans have come to like me not because they like my music at first, but they started to be interested in me because I am connected to other contents or someone else, or because they find how my career is established interesting, or because they like how I look, and so on. That's what I think because otherwise I can't explain why those fans can listen to the music that corresponds to the view of the world and the sense that Hirasawa Music is trying to destroy and Hirasawa's music at the same time. However, let's say that's okay.

[47:30]

Because I have had this kind of situation since long time ago. This is the theory that I understand. It is said that people are divided into three groups in the ratio of 4, 4 and 6. I mean, 2, 2 and 6. They are 20 percent of independent group, 20 percent of agitational group, and the 60 percent of fence-sitting group. The fence-sitting group are waiting to see which of the other groups will be in more power and they may change their opinion. That's what people do usually. At present, we have twitter and other internet means that enable everybody to express their feeling as it is in the public place easily, which are displayed together on the same shelves with the thoughts coming from more thorough discretion and the conclusions from deeper observations. Therefore, I am seeing more people's opinions that would disappoint me nowadays, but actually those people have been around but they have the chance to express their opinions on the public stage now. That's all.

[49:09]

However, are those fence-sitting group of people sitting on the fence forever? Actually, I don't think so. They will join one of the other groups, the independent group or the agitating group, whichever is more powerful. So the people who have become Hirasawa's fans because "Hirasawa seems to be popular lately" and "He seems interesting" and "Let's see what's happening with him though I don't listen to his music much because its sick" and so on may have their sensibility and intellect trained and may grow to be attractive audience from my point of view some day. That's my hope. So, I think I will take the approach that "who come are welcome" "And I will make them not want to leave". Some people sometimes disappoint me a lot, but on the other hand, some fans make me feel "very lucky being a musician", too. It was not my intention to become this popular, but I haven't become popular for the same purpose as other popular people in the world have become famous for. So, nothing in me has changed. Okay?

[20:53]

And the next question. This is about the sound tuning. I have talked about it already, so let me skip it.

(Sipping some drink from a mug.)

And, eh, now, next. The next question is...

[51:18]

《How the Laser Harps Work》

Question 2: In the intro of the song "Parade", when Ejins plucked the laser beam, it was bouncing like a rubber cord. How did you make it move like that?

It is a very simple system. Any laser beam generator can do it. The laser beams are not generated directly from the generator, but they are reflected by the small mirrors once and you can change the directions of the laser beam to here and there and also make it look like shaping a picture by moving it rapidly using the afterimage. You can make the laser beam's moves change by making the mirror's program scan a certain shape. And luckily, these mirrors can be controlled by MIDI signals. MIDI signals are the signals to control a digital music instrument's sound source. So we can send MIDI signals to the laser harps mirrors to control their movements. The long laser beam that was running across the stage was generated by a commercially sold laser harp placed at the side of the stage, which is the same laser harp that I use before the alteration. So the optical receiver of the laser harp was set on the stage side, which generated the laser beam controlled by the MIDI signals sent to it.

[53:06]

That reminds me, someone pointed out, "How is it possible that the sound changes when you plunk the laser once and when you plunk it twice?" Yes, it changes. This is how it works. There are several different modes in the laser harp's settings. There is a mode that makes it play the phrase until the end when you plunk it once, another mode makes it play the sound only while you are blocking the beam with your hand, and other mode makes it play the several different short phrases in a certain sequence when you plunk the laser once, twice, three times, four times, and so on. These different modes are used to play my laser harp and Ejins' laser harp to produce the music.

[54:13]

Oh, there was a mistake that you can see how it works obviously. I am sure you noticed that the music of "World Turbine" was played again when the next song started. It happened because of my setting mistake on the laser harp. My movement to play laser harp includes false movements, too, in order to make it look more interesting...

[54:50]

Here is an example. When I play "World Turbine", when I plunk the laser once [on the left], the sound of the strings is played, Da[A3], Da[G3#], Da[E3]. And when I plunk the laser next to it [on the right], the theme is played, Ta la la La la la la until the end of the phrase. And I plunk the both sides of the laser at once, and after that, I put my [left] hand on the laser beams on this side[left] a few times which have no function to make sound. So, I could only plunk the first beam once and do nothing but hearing the scale going down on its own, but I do the actions to plunk the beams a few times following the first plunk to make it look like each plunk is making those different notes, which is an acting actually. This kind of performance is used frequently. For example, I could plunk only once[on the left hand], but I actually plunk the beam once[on the left hand], twice[on the left hand] and three times[on the eight hand], to make it look like the second and the third false strokes are producing sound. There is another kind of setting in which when the first stroke is made[on the right hand], the actual phrase will start a few bars later. I combine these different settings of the laser harp. Therefore, I could do different actions when I play the same song sometimes. So, the different parts of the movements are done to make them look, I think, most interesting, not for the purpose to make the actual notes on the musical instrument.

[56:43]

And about "World Turbine". I had the setting on the song "World Turbine" in the mode in which the phrase was played until the end when I plunk the laser beam once[on both hands] at Ghost Venue concert at NHK Hall. And that triggers for it to send the signal to the sequencer, the software to control the music. I accidentally selected two songs at the same time when I switched to the next song. In the technical term, I made the two tracks on the solo mode at the same time. Consequently, what was the next song after that? It was not "Caravan". I think it was "Blue Limbo" [Note: It was actually "Grandfatherly Wind"]. So, the music of "World Turbine" and "Blue Limbo" started at the same time. I noticed my mistake, and I stopped the music I didn't want at once. I am sure you noticed it. But I am not going to adjust it in the next video, so it may be interesting to look at the scene, thinking "This is when that accident happened".　

[58:01]

Eh, next. This is a difficult question, but a very good one.

Question 3: How would you call the people who are controlled by the received ideas in a happy way?

This is very good. But it's kind of hard to come up with a phrase. How about this? "The people surrounded by happiness within a 2-meter radius" or "The people filled with happiness within last 48 hours". How about that? I'm sorry, I can't give a high mark to these answers. Well, let's go to the next one.

[58:42]

Question 4: Whose idea was to use the chainsaws?

I've already answered to this one. I thought of the idea.

[58:47]

Question 5: What kind of characteristics does the EVO bass guitar has which was used in your concerts this time?

I've also answered to this question, too. It makes a very hard, metallic, strong and thick rasping sound. When Tazz played it during the show and it sounded like "Booommmm", and I said to myself "Wow!" in surprise. I am not advertising the instrument, but it has a tremendous sound.

[59:18]

Question 5: Who chose the songs for the SE[Sound Effect] played in the concert hall?

The "Kyaku-Ire" music. We call it "Kyaku-Ire"[meaning "When the audience enter". Background music to play before the show] in the music industry jargon. Those songs were selected by one of Chaos Union's staff. I think he has a very good taste in music. I am sure a lot of people want to ask, "The selection of the songs were so good. Can you tell me the names of the songs and the artists?" I actually asked him once to do a DJ event to play the songs he chose at Cafe GAZIO when it was in business [2013-2014] even in a remote operation, but he just said, "No way" because he hates to be in front of people. But he has a good taste in selecting the background music. He always finds great songs that no one has heard of. The background music for the future shows of mine will be selected by him. I hope you will enjoy the shows including the time before the shows.

[1:00:30]

Question 5: The music from World Turbine was played accidentally...

I explained it when I talked about the laser harp.

[1:00:38]

Question 6: Did you use Rasgueado technique in flamenco guitar at the last beat before the sabi[the chorus] in "Switched-On Lotus" song?

ock Rasgueado technique. It's used in "Immortal Man", too. It's something like a parody of Rasgueado technique in Spanish guitar. It's a mocking. This is how I play it. You usually play the guitar strings like "zam!" with a stroke moving all of your fingers at the same time, but what I did was opening one finger at a time [opening the outside finger to the inside one by one] to make the sound, "Drrrrun!" Yes. This technique was used right before the sabi part of "Switched-On Lotus" like "Zam! Drrrrun!" It is mock Rasgueado technique. Next. Well, I've answered this one, too.

[1:01:40]

Question 7: I sometimes feel there is a gap between the image of myself and the image that other people want to have about me. Mr. Hirasawa, do you have a moment like that? If you do, what do you do to digest that fact?

First of all, the image that other people want to have about you and your own image about yourself always differ. Don't pay attention to it. I pay no attention to it. I don't care what other people want me to be like. I am what I am. This may sound like a most robust way to answer. I don't care what other people think. I don't want to conform to other people's expectation. I will only try to realize my own image. It sounds like an egoistic person who doesn't listen to other people. But this is the ultimate weapon for you to have. There is no way to make other people happy except you choose to do this. Please be proud of you. Keep your own image about yourself confidently. Next.

[1:03:00]

Question 7: About the cameras...

I've answered to this question, too.

[1:03:03]

Question 8:The laser harp played by Ejin... I've answered to this one, too.

[1:03:08]

Question 9: Who are the classical music composers you like or you are influenced by other than Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, and Stravinsky?

If you want me to choose my favorite composers in classical music, I say, Ravel, and well, Oh, Master Akira Ifukube. Ifukube-sensei composed the soundtrack for the film Godzilla. Yes. Mr. Ifukube. Now, next.

[1:03:51]

Question 10: You played some songs from "Blue Limbo", and..."

I've answered to this question, too. It is not that those songs fit to 2020, but the things I was thinking to be happening in the world when I created the album "Blue Limbo" [released in 2003] are being developed in the world more severely now. Back then, some people said the comments about me like "Hirasawa is a conspiriologist" when they mention the opinion I expressed when I released the album. Even among those people, there are people who have to admit that kind of view of the world is true now. What's happening in the world is more obvious now than back then. Well, next.

[1:04:41]

Question 11: Why do you use the technique to make new intros to your old songs to attract the audience?

Well, this is a kind of trick. I want to make the audience think, "What? What song is it? What song is starting?" to make them have an anticipation to hear a new song, and I want to show them a surprising changeover suddenly. The musician gets a lot of fun doing this. At the same time, one of the fun parts of Hirasawa's music is similar to the feeling you have when you don't know where you are, and in the next minute, you find yourself in the place you know well suddenly. The feeling you have when you are made to walk around blindfolded and the blindfold is suddenly removed. Something like that. Through that kind of experience, you will become used to enjoy the sudden changeovers. I want the audience to enjoy that kind of pleasant sensation many, many times. If you become tolerant of the situation that might have a surprise in the end, you will reach the state that you can enjoy those surprises by having the thinking like "That's also possible" "That kind of view is possible, too". That may help you to have a breakthrough in something when you have to take a different view from the already-existing points of view. I think it would be fun. I mean, I have always had that kind of fun all my life. So, I want to share it with you. That's why I put those tricks in my songs and the setlist as well.

.

[1:07:11]

The Surprise Release of the Songs

Now, so much for the stories about "Ethical Trek" concerts. Now, The Surprise Release. Let me disclose it.

By the way, I have to talk about the guitar album first. Before talking about that, I must talk about the event going on [my official website] on the internet called "170帰路の1分間/Hayku-nanaju-kkiro no I-ppunkan/1 minute of 170 ways to go home". If you are a new listener who don't know what the event is about, please ask old fans.

[1:07:55]

It is a long time event to share how I am recording the guitar album on the internet. There is a story developed in the scene on an imaginary island where I am travelling. There are a lot of flags standing to indicate where I am on the island. I am supposed to travel toward certain destination to achieve my tasks in the recording. The fans can see the short videos showing how I am recording which is done in the spare time between my main jobs. I have started this event with the assumption that it would take a long time because recording the guitar album is not one of the main work, but it is a small job to be done between the main jobs. I can only use my spare time for it. I usually make my schedule for the year at the beginning with a lot of extra days. However, those extra days are taken by the new projects that arrive later. And the days and the time I have saved for the guitar album will be taken by those new jobs. Anyway, the "1 minute of 170 ways to go home" is an event like that to share my experience to record the guitar album with you.

[1:09:40]

[The flags on the island map indicate the names of the concert and events.] Among them, some concerts and events have been already decided on my schedule, or sometimes the content of the offer has not been finalized yet. In either cases, the details of the events cannot be disclosed beforehand in many cases. In that case, I use some code names to indicate some events. Let me explain you about an example code name.

I used to have a flag with a name "OLIVE" on the map, as you know. I am sure everybody was wondering, "What does it mean?", but I have never seen a person who has guessed the correct meaning right. And please don't think it too difficult. Eh, what does Olive remind you? Oil, right? Oil is O, I, L, right? O, I, L means Osaka Interactive Live show. Please try to solve other code names on the map, too. By the way, Osaka Interactive Live show has turned out to be impossible in the present period in the year because of various reasons, so the flag by that name has been replaced by a different flag.

[1:11:00]

Therefore, I realized that I had to change my course of the recording of the guitar album to a very different direction. Otherwise, the recording would never be finished. That was my reality. I thought so because the present style of the songs in the guitar album has a certain structure, which I have to keep my attention to until the end once I start composing. With that type of songs, If I take a long break in the middle of composing a song, I would forget the feeling I initially had and I cannot continue making the song. On the other hand, there is a type of songs that is suitable to the composing method in which I can make a part of the song today and resume composing it three months later. That type of songs are already created in the album "Ice-9". Those songs didn't have concrete structures, and more in ambient style. I realized that I should shift to that kind of music style to create the guitar album.

[1:12:28]

So, here comes the question. What will I do with the songs I have already made? During these several months since I started Ethical Trek tour starting with the concert in summer 2019 [at Fuji Rock], I faced a lot of things as well as changes in the schedule and obstacles[concerning the spread of COVID-19 and the government's policy changes around it]. However, I haven't got a big damage from it because of your continuous support, compared to other musicians. To thank your support, I mean, to express my feeling like "I will never fail to return your favor", I have decided to release the three songs I have made for the guitar album so far.

[1:13:41]

Now, I will play those three songs now. Today's program is a streaming, but it is okay to record them in any form. You don't have to pay for it. And for the "Wicked" Green Nerve Club members, I will release the same songs in a better sound quality to be downloaded later. It will be in a better quality than tonight. So you will be able to download them freely. After releasing these three songs, I will change the direction of the composition of the guitar album to a different way. Now, let me disclose the three new songs.

[1:14:37]

Now the first song. It was first played at Fuji Rock Festival. It has a surf sound like structure. I made this song especially for Ejin. I have told this story already, but I started to think I wanted to perform at Fuji Rock because I wanted Ejin to perform there first. I wrote a project plan to submit to the Fuji Rock board to carry it out, I added my name and I said, "I will appear in Ejin's show as a guest" to make it easier to be granted. And they requested us to change places of the main artist and the guest. That is why the concert was done by "Susumu Hirasawa + Ejin".

So this song is called "牛人/gyujin", meaning "bull man", which was first made for Ejin to perform at Fuji Rock. I will play this song first. Wait a moment.

(He tried to prepare to play the song on the streaming, but it took a few minutes to do so.)

.

By the way, the songs I am going to play after "Gyujin" will be two songs, but they don't have titles yet. Also, these songs were in the halfway in the composition. So, I made a little adjustments. When I did it, I intentionally threw the idea that the songs had been made for the guitar album to focus on making them well-structured songs.

...... Now, let me play "Gyujin".

.

[1:18:00-1:21:03](3'3'')

The newly released song 1: 牛人/Gyujin

.

[1:21:30]

Eh, was the sound a little too small? Anyway, the song "Gyujin" is a straight kind of song, like a shooting device. And the second and the third songs are so to speak, perverse. It is hard for me to continue making the songs in the perverse style, having no long time to focus on it. That's one of the reasons I will change the styles of the album. Next, I don't know what I am looking at now [looking at the computer screen]... this, yes, eh, this. Okay, next song.

.

[1:22:28-1:26:16](3'48'')

The newly released song 2: No title

.

[1:26:17]

Okay. (The beginning of the previous song is played again by mistake.) Oops. No, dear. Eh, next song now. The third song may be even more perverse than the previous one. I mean, I am too used to them, so I don't feel that way any more, though. This one. Okay, next.

.

[1:26:50-1:29:55](3'05)

The newly released song 3: No title

.

[1:30:04]

(The beginning of the previous song is played again by mistake.) Oops again... Oaky. These three songs are... (The beginning of the previous song is played again by mistake.) Oops, Just a moment. Oh well, let me continue with no background music now. These songs are the songs I have recorded, taking the long time at last. So, it would have taken even a longer time if I continued the same style of the songs. Now that I have released the songs, I will change my steering to a different direction and continue the recording of the guitar album in a new style.

[1:30:49]

Eh, that's about it. And for the Green Nerve members, "Wicked" Green Nerve club members, I am the only one calling it so though, and the official name is "Green Nerve", which is the fan club of mine. For the fan club members, the three songs will be available to download for free in better sound qualities later. Please look forward to it. And the viewers of this streaming is over 9000 people, to my surprise. How can it be possible? I didn't want to be ranked in the twitter trend, so I didn't ask you to use the hashtag this time. But having more than 9000 viewers is an accident for me. I have to tell you that I am not a major artist. Now, thank you very much for watching this program today. Now, Back Space Pass on Ethical Trek 2K20 concerts is over. See you on the next BSP. Have a good night. Good bye. (Upsy-daisy.)　

[1:33:10]

(End)

[3回]
PR
Ethical Trek 2K20 shows in Osaka: Emcee by Susumu Hirasawa/会然TREK 2K20 ライブ:平沢進のMC

Ethical Trek 2K20 shows in Osaka: Emcee by Susumu Hirasawa

.

2020年2月22日/February 22, 2020

(日本語/Japanese)

平沢進: えー、この度ですね、会人がマイナー...アップグレード致しまして、新しい顔になりましたので、紹介致します。

えーと、まず、会人、えーと9331754...7543！えー、会人93317543です。えー、あれは、正しいバーコードでありまして、あれをバーコードリーダーに掛けると、93317543と、出てまいります。

.

えー、そして、それともう一人の会人、66594428！6659...4428です。6...えー、こちらの、えー...(半笑い)、933175...まあいいや、7543、6659...4428、えー２人とも、何卒今後ともよろしくお願い致します。

えー、それでは、行きましょう。（水を飲む）

2020年2月22日/February 22, 2020
.

(Translation in English)

Susumu Hirasawa: Eh...This time, Ejin have made a minor...I mean, upgraded to have the heads in a new style. Let me introduce them. Eh, firstly, this is Ejin called, eh... 9331754...7543! Ejin 93317543(kyuu san san ichi nana go yon san). Eh, the bar code he has is the correct one, and if you read it with a bar code reader, it will show the number 93317543.

.

Eh...and the other Ejin, 66594428(roku roku go kyuu yon yon ni hachi)! His name is 6659...4428. Six...eh, this one....(half smiling), 933175... I mean never mind, 7543 and 6659...4428. Eh, please remember both of them and I hope you support them like you did for the previous ones.

Eh, now let us play the next song. (Has a sip of water.)

.

.

2020年2月23日/February 23, 2020

(日本語/Japanese)

平沢進: えー、昨日は会人のこちら側(下手の66594428さん側)がそこから(手で下手のステージの縁を指しながら)転落致しまして、えー、でも幸い怪我は無く、お蔭さまにも怪我は無かったようで、無事に本日元気に勤めて頂きました。

それで、先程袖に引っ込んだ時に、今度は顔面剥離、顔が取れてしまうと言う、大変な現象がおきまして、只今接着剤で顔を貼っております。というよりも、それではまず、いち早く元気な姿を拝みたいでしょうから、会人を呼びたいと思います。

まず、会人66594428！(会人66594428が走って登場する。会場から笑いと大声援。)えー、そこを走ってった時、ちょっと気が気じゃなくてですね(会場から笑い)、また何か不幸が起こるんじゃないのかと...

.

えー、それではもう１人、会人9...331...754......3！（会場から笑い）

えー、会人93317543です。えー、いつものようにアンコールの架け橋をして下さいます。それではこの２人の会人を伴いまして、次の曲へ行きたいと思います。お願します。

.

2020年2月23日/February 23, 2020

(Translation in English)
.

Susumu Hirasawa: Eh, yesterday, this Ejin (66594428 at the stage right) fell from there(pointing at the rim of the stage right). Eh, but he wasn't injured fortunately, thank God, and he performed with no problem today.

But he had his face coming off when he was in the backstage a little while ago, which was a big accident, and he is being fixed with glue right now. I mean, now, firstly, I am sure you want to see that he is okay, so let me call the two Ejin.

Firstly, Ejin 66594428! (Ejin 66594428 came out of the tent to the platform on the stage right, running. The big applause and laughing by the audience.) Eh, when he came running just now, I was worried (The audience laugh) that something bad might happen again...

.

Eh, now, the other Ejin, 9...331...754......3! (The audience laugh.)

Eh, this is Ejin 93317543(kyuu san san ichi nana go yon san). They will have a good transition to the encore as usual. Now, let me play the next song with these two Ejin. Are you ready?

[3回]
Mandrake Live Recording Emcee and Interview with Susumu Hirasawa 1978

(Translation in English)

0: Background music before the show: I'm Bugged by XTC [00:00-02:19]

Susumu Hirasawa: Hello, We are Mandrake.

1: 飾り窓の出来事/Kazari-mado no Dekigoto (Happening by the Windowsill) [02:19-04:55] Instrumental

Susumu Hirasawa: Hi. We are Mandrake. Good afternoon. It's been two months since our last gig. I'm happy to see more audience than usual today. For a change, we did the first song cheerfully today. Usually, we would play contemporary music and start our gig darkly. Today, we started like this. Not like usual. And I am trying to speak in a different way today. Some people criticized us and called us a negative band or something, so, we have reflected on ourselves and changed it.

Next song will be played because we want to do simple and clear songs first. The preparation on the keyboard is really hard again. Now, my speech has started to sound like mumbling. I will say my words out loud. I am even ready for a fight. The next song is called "Yoru ni Nattara(When the Night Comes*)". It was made simple and clear. We made it like that on purpose. (To the sound engineer,) Hey, could you make the vocals' reverb, I mean, the echo stronger? Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah. The feedback is a little too strong. A little smaller. Could you make the feedback a little smaller? Ah, Ah. OK, this is a song called "Yoru ni Nattara(When the Night Comes*)"

2: 夜になったら/Yoru ni Nattara (When the Night Comes*) [6:28－12:10] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa / Toru Akutsu

Susumu Hirasawa: Thank you very much. It was "Yoru ni Nattara(When the Night Comes*)". Next, the staff in the back are going to change the stage setting. The next song is a big failure song. It is a song that attracted a lot of audience who had a wrong impression. I think it is the best we perform such a song earlier. We are going to play it at first, I mean, as a third song. What? Usually we would play this song at the end to make you feel, "Oh, we did hear the song", but today, we won't allow those people to feel that way. You might think, "The third song is my favorite." And there might be some people who would leave after hearing this song. Don't leave even though we play the climax song in the beginning. It's called "Okasareta Kyuuden (Violated Palace)". Today, we also have a new song later. You may think, "Is that the song that took them half a year to make? With that standard?" It's terrible. Eh, are you ready? I guess we are ready. Ready? "Okasareta Kyuuden (Violated Palace)".

3: 犯された宮殿/Okasareta Kyuuden (Violated Palace) [13:41-26:36] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa

Susumu Hirasawa: Thank you very much. We did "Okasareta Kyuuden (Violated Palace)" earlier than usual today. We wanted to do the harder work earlier. Akutsu-kun, speak something.

Toru Akutsu: Hirasawa-kun on the guitar has some preparation to do for the next song. So, I will do the emcee. Today, we had a fine day, and eh...(The rest is omitted.)

Susumu Hirasawa: It's an instrumental tune called "Tales from Pornographic Ocean"

4: Tales from Pornographic Ocean [27:13-36:38]

Susumu Hirasawa: Thanks. For those who don't understand English, I want to explain what was said in English. In the beginning of the song, there was a narration by a man in English. What he said was:

Look, the boundless sperm Ocean

Swallows the whole world without haste

Get off your dress polluted in the hour

And now will you sink with me?

Tales from pornographic ocean

That was what was said. If I put it in Japanese, it will be like this:

見よ、果てしなく広がる愛液の海が[Miyo, hateshinaku hirogaru aieki no umi ga]

ゆっくりと世界を飲み込む[Yukkurito sekai wo nomikomu]

時に汚れたドレスを脱ぎ捨て[Toki ni yogoreta dorresu wo nugi sute]

今、私と沈んでくれるか[Ima watashi to shizunde kureru ka?]

It would be like this.

It was very hard for us to record the narration in English. We grabbed someone walking on the street, carrying a cassette tape recorder, and asked, "Excuse me, but..." and explained what we want in Japanese, and had a person do a narration for us. It was a news reporter from abroad, and he kindly tried his best for us.

Next song is a new one. (To the staff) It's in the way, so don't make it bigger. We are going to play a new song. "Kazari-mado no Dekigoto Part II (Happening by the Windowsill Part II)"

Could you increase the echo a little? Ah, Ah, Ah, not too much. Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, OK.

5: 飾り窓の出来事 Part II/Kazari-mado no Dekigoto Part II (Happening by the Windowsill Part II) [39:00-47:57] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa

Susumu Hirasawa: Akutsu, you speak.

Toru Akutsu: I guess Mandrake would be easier to understand when Hirasawa-kun speaks, but anyway, today, I am so happy to have you here. well in Tokyo, sorry, ...(The rest is omitted.)

Susumu Hirasawa: The next song is called, "Shuumatsu no Kajitsu (End-Time Fruit)". It is also a song easily misunderstood. It has ha flat kind of tune, and we have made it like a moody music that is loved by women, and some people misunderstand "shuumatsu" to be weekend. But it means "the end time of the world", not the weekend. And the "kajitsu(fruit)" means yourselves. I feel bitter I have to explain you everything to this extent.

Now, "Shuumatsu no Kajitsu (End-Time Fruit)".

6: 終末の果実/Shuumatsu no Kajitsu (End-Time Fruit) [49:10-61:55] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa / Backing Vocals: Toru Akutsu

Susumu Hirasawa: Thank you very much. That's all. Come again next time.

7: 平沢進インタビュー/Interview with Susumu Hirasawa

[1:07:59-]

Interviewer: (To the staff,) What? I'm not finishing here. I'm not gonna waste my time. Now, let's sit in a circle here.

Someone: This is a real interview.

Interviewer: It's a real interview.

Someone: We know the backstage(laughs).

Interviewer: So, now, as a standard question, what does Mandrake aim to do... I mean, I've never done this before and I'm not good at it... What do you aim to do?

Hirasawa: We have nothing that we want to aim to do.

Interviewer: You have nothing?

Hirasawa: We have no goal, but we want to seek our original music.

Interviewer: So, like I have guessed, you are going to play your music in a barnyard taste?

Hirasawa: Yes, we would love to do it in a b... barnyard taste.

Interviewer: What was the title? How did you come up with the song title, Pornographic Ocean?

Hirasawa: You know the song by YES, [Tales from] Topographic Oceans? I took the title resembling it because it sounded good, simply. And I added other elements to the song later.

Interviewer: What did you get the inspiration of the song from?

Hirasawa: There are my true mind and the cover story. At first, we wanted to do something unique, and we added the English narration to the song at first. And in my true mind, the content of the narration in English. That's my true mind of the song. It's in English only, so there is a problem because only a few people understand it. So, we are thinking about displaying the words projected on the screen on the stage or something to solve that problem.

If the audience think it is just interesting because it is something unusual, or if they think it is an emotional song, it would mean it is a failure. Progressive rock fans might misunderstand even Mandrake because we still have moody and emotional aspects. I want to get rid of those things from us gradually.

Interviewer: So, you want to get rid of the moody aspects.

Hirasawa: I want to explain concretely to make the audience understand what we really mean by what seems to be moody in our music. I want to use some gadgets to make that happen.

Interviewer: What the audience interpret your music would vary from person to person, I think, but what do you want the audience to think Mandrake to be like?

Hirasawa: What do we want the audience to think of us?

Interviewer: About your music.

Hirasawa: If they don't think it is merely a kind of music, I am happy about it.

Interviewer: You want them to understand how original your music is, right?

Hirasawa: I don't only aim to play an original music, but my goal is something else. Personally, I don't place a big importance on the technique and what kind of music I play. I don't care about them that much. I mean, the purpose of the band is not to play songs well in a great technique, or to compose amazing songs. Mandrake is not a band to play music merely. That's what I think.

Interviewer: Could you elaborate a little more?

Hirasawa: If I elaborate, you would understand what I mean if you listen to the last song, "Shuumatsu no Kajitsu (End-Time Fruit)", and I just want to be a liver.

Interviewer: Who are your favorites musicians from abroad?

Hirasawa: I love many musicians, but the only musician I believe in is Robert Fripp.

Interviewer: How many years have passed since you started Mandrake?

Hirasawa: I wonder how many years.

Interviewer: Have you had any member change?

Hirasawa: Members... We have had the first line up and the second line up.

Interviewer: How long have you had the band since the first line up?

Hirasawa: Including the first line up, it's been 4 or 5 years, I guess.

Interviewer: Do you have any plan of recording albums?

Hirasawa: Well, actually, Victor record label contacted us and they first said to us, "Let's record an album and release it in April." But since then, they haven't said anything. They say, "It's not the best time." "It's not the best time to release your album." But we think, if it's not now, never. In the first place, our music is very old, I think. So, if they have us release an album, I want them to do it as soon as possible. (Laughs)

Interviewer: Thank you. (To the staff,) Hey, is this really recording?

---

(日本語書き起こし/Japanese)（筆者が聞き取れなかった部分は○○等にしております。ご容赦下さい。）

0: Background music before the show: I'm Bugged by XTC [00:00-02:19]

Susumu Hirasawa: こんにちは。マンドレイクです。

1: 飾り窓の出来事/Kazari-mado no Dekigoto (Happening by the Windowsill) [02:19-04:55] Instrumental

Susumu Hirasawa: どうも。マンドレイクです。こんにちは。２か月ぶりに、かな、出てきたんですけれども、今日はわりとお客さん多いようで。いつもの出だしとガラッと変わって今日は、陽気にやっちゃったんですけれどもね。いつもは現代音楽の○○から入って、陰気にやってるんですけれども。今日は一応、こういう感じでやってみたいと思います。いつもと違う。喋り方もちょっと変えてるんですけれどもね。いろいろ、落ち込んでるバンドとか、そういう噂があって、反省をしました。次の曲は、一応、単純明快なのを最初のうちにやっちゃうという、感じでやりますけれども。キーボードの用意がまたしても大変なんで。喋り方がだんだん、くちごもって来ましたけれども。はっきり言いますから。けんか腰ですので。「夜になったら」という曲なんですけれども、単純明快に作ってあります。それはわざと単純明快に作ってあるんですけれどもね。ボーカル、リバーブ、じゃなくてエコー入れてくれますか？あ、あ、あ、あ、ちょっと跳ね返りが強い。もう、ちょい。○○掛けてもうちょい跳ね返りをちいさい○○。あ、あ、じゃあ、「夜になったら」という曲です。

2: 夜になったら/Yoru ni Nattara (When the Night Comes*) [6:28－12:10] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa / Toru Akutsu

Susumu Hirasawa: どうもありがとう。「夜になったら」という曲でした。次にですね、なんか、後ろの人が、いろいろ、ステージのセッティングを変えるそうですが。マンドレイクの大失敗作。誤解編。誤解者を多数、呼び起こしたというろくでもない曲なんですけれども、こういうのは、早くやっちゃうに越したことがないと思って、今日はいっとう最初にやっちゃうんですけど、最初じゃないか、３番目にやっちゃう。ええ？いつもなら、最後に取っといて、ああ、聞いたな、という気にさせるんですけれども、今日はそういう人は容赦しませんから。３曲目が楽しみだ、と。3曲目で、これ終わって帰った人は...これ、やっちゃうんですけど終わりじゃありませんから帰んないでくださいね。「犯された宮殿」ですけど。今日は新曲も一曲用意してあるんですけど、だいたい半年ぐらいかけてやっとできて、この程度だ、というのを皆さんにお目にかけたいと思うんですけれども、ひどいもんですから。えーと、いいですか。準備OKかな。いい？「犯された宮殿」です。

3: 犯された宮殿/Okasareta Kyuuden (Violated Palace) [13:41-26:36] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa

Susumu Hirasawa: どうもありがとう。今日は早めに「犯された宮殿」をやっちゃいました。大変な仕事は最初にやっちゃうと。阿久津君、なんかしゃべって。

Toru Akutsu: ギターの平沢君が、準備がいろいろありますので、進行僕が。今日は天気が良かったんですけれどもね、えっと、あの...。

Susumu Hirasawa: インストゥルメンタルです。「Tales from Pornographic Ocean」

4: Tales from Pornographic Ocean [27:13-36:38]

Susumu Hirasawa: どうも。語学力のない人のために解説などしたいと思いますけど。一番最初に男の人のナレーションでもってなんかしゃべったんですけれども、何て言ってるかというとね、

Look the boundless sperm Ocean.

Swallow the whole world without haste.

Get off your dress polluted in the hour.

And now will you sink with me?

Tales from pornographic ocean. っつってたんですけども。日本語に訳すとどうかっていうと、

見よ、果てしなく広がる愛液の海が

ゆっくりと世界を飲み込む

時に汚れたドレスを脱ぎ捨て

今、私と沈んでくれるか

Susumu Hirasawa: そういう感じなんだけれども。

声を録るのはすごく大変で、表に歩いてる外人をひっ捕まえて、カセットデッキを担いで行って、あの、すいません、つって日本語で言って、何とか説明して録ってもらったんですよね。新聞記者か何かの外人の人で、一生懸命やってくれたんで。

次がね、新曲やるんだけども、じゃまですから、大きくしたりあまりしないでください。新曲やるんですけども。新曲をやります。「飾り窓の出来事 Part II」

ちょっとエコー入れてくれますかね？あ、あ、あ、あんまりたくさん入れなくても。あ、あ、あ、あ、あ、あ、はい。

5: 飾り窓の出来事 Part II/Kazari-mado no Dekigoto Part II (Happening by the Windowsill Part II) [39:00-47:57] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa

Susumu Hirasawa: 阿久津がしゃべって。

Toru Akutsu: 平沢君がしゃべった方が、マンドレイクは一番分かりやすいんじゃないかと思うんですけれども、ほんとに今日は、皆さんが来て、ほんとにうれしい事にね、いろいろと、都内に、ごめんなさい(後略)

Susumu Hirasawa: 次の曲なんですけど、「終末の果実」っていう曲なんですけれども、これも誤解を生みやすい曲で、ノターっとしている、ムードミュージックみたいな、女性が好きなような、作り方してるんだけども、「終末の果実」の「シュウマツ」というのは土曜日のことと間違える人が良くいるんですけど、土曜日のことじゃなくて、もう世の中が終わっちゃう「終末」ですから。「果実」というのは皆さんのことです。ここまで言わなきゃなんないのが辛いなあ。

じゃあ「終末の果実」です。

6: 終末の果実/Shuumatsu no Kajitsu (End-Time Fruit) [49:10-61:55] Vocals: Susumu Hirasawa / Backing Vocals: Toru Akutsu

Susumu Hirasawa: どうもありがとう。これで終わりです。また来てください。

7: 平沢進インタビュー/Interview with Susumu Hirasawa

[1:07:59-]

Interviewer: (スタッフに向かって)え？終わらないよ。勿体ない。まず、じゃ、この辺に輪を描いて。

Someone: これは本当のインタビューだね。

Interviewer: インタビューだね。

Someone: 裏を知ってる(笑)

interviewer: じゃあさ、お決まりの、マンドレイクの目指す...こういうのやったこと無いから苦手なんだよな...音楽性というか、どういうものを目指してる？

Hirasawa: いちおう目指しているものは、何もありません。

Interviewer: 何もありませんか？

Hirasawa: 何もありません。オリジナルを追求したいと思います。

Interviewer: やっぱり、あの、卑猥な感じで？

Hirasawa: ええ、ぜひとも、ひ...卑猥な感じにやりたいと思います。

Interviewer: なんだっけな、Pornographic Oceanというのは、どういう所で思いついたんですか？

Hirasawa: YESの、あれ、あるでしょ？[Tales from] Topographic Oceans っていうの。ただ、語呂がいいからそういう風に付けたというだけの話でね、後からいろいろこじつけたという。

Interviewer: あれ、発想はどのへんで？

Hirasawa: 本音と建て前が。ようするに本音は、一番最初にまず、変わったことをやろうっていうので、あれをやったのとね、ああいう声を入れたっていうのと、もう一つは、やっぱり最初に英語で言ってるナレーションあるでしょ、あれが本音なんですよね。あれが今んところ英語だから、いろいろ問題あるんで、英語言ってる時にスライドで前に文字を出そうか、とか、いろんな考えが有るんだけれども、そういう、そうなんですよね。

ああいうのをただ、面白いとか、ムード的に捉えると非常に失敗だということなんだけれども、プログレッシブロックのファンというのは、いろいろ、誤解されそうなところが有るんでね。マンドレイクでも、いろいろ、ムード的なところがまだ有るんで、そういうところは徐々に削って行きたいと思います。

Interviewer: ムード的なものを削って。

Hirasawa: ムード的に解釈されそうなところをね、もっと手取り足取り、誤解の無いように、いろいろな仕掛けをして行きたいと思います。

Interviewer: どういうふうに、取り方は千差万別だと思うんだけども、マンドレイクとしては、解釈してもらえるといい、と。

Hirasawa: どういうふうに解釈してもらえるといいか、って？

Interviewer: 自分たちの音楽を。

Hirasawa: 別に、ただの音楽じゃなければ、どうでもいいです。

Interviewer: オリジナリティを解ってほしい、と。

Hirasawa: ただ、別に音楽面だけのオリジナリティっていうんじゃなくて、別に、僕個人としてはさ、テクニックとか、音楽性ていうのは、あまり気にしないんだよね。気にしないというか、バンド自体、上手い演奏をすることが目的じゃないと思ってるから。それに、すごい曲を作ることが目的だとは、思ってない。マンドレイクは、音楽を演奏することが目的のバンドじゃないと思ってるからね。と思ってるんですよ。僕は。

Interviewer: 具体的には？もうちょっと。

Hirasawa: 具体的には、もうちょっと、何というか、さっきの最後の「終末の果実」を聴いてもらうと解るんだけれども、とにかく、ただの生活者でありたいと思います。

Interviewer: 向うのミュージシャンでは、どんなのが、好きですか？

Hirasawa: 好きなのはいっぱいあるけども、信じられるのはロバート・フリップだけです。

Interviewer: マンドレイクって始めて何年ぐらい？

Hirasawa: 何年ぐらいだろうね？

Interviewer: メンツの変化とかあるの？

Hirasawa: メンツの...第一期と第二期とがありまして。

Interviewer: 第一期含めると何年ぐらい？

Hirasawa: 第一期含めるとね、4年か5年ぐらい、経つんじゃないかな？

Interviewer: レコーディングの予定とか？

Hirasawa: あのね、いちおうね、ビクターからね、声がかかってるのよね。最初来た話では「今年の4月頃には録って出したいね」なんて向うは意気込んでたんだけども、音沙汰無いんですよね、それ以来(笑)。なんか「時期が悪い」って言うのね。「今、出す時期じゃない」って。でも今、出せなかったら、僕らとしては、もう出す時期無いと思ってるし、だいたいが、僕らのやってる音楽はすごく古いと思ってるからね。だから、出すんなら、早くして欲しいと思います(笑).

Interviewer: どうも。(スタッフに向かって)入ってんのかね、これ？ねえ。

---

The link to niconico video

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm36284374

[4回]
Susumu Hirasawa's Back Space Pass on Fuji Rock '19 and Sempo STS (November 23, 2019)

Susumu Hirasawa's Back Space Pass on Fuji Rock '19 and Sempo STS
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The streaming is archived at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuWOXFx3CD0

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Summary

[00:00]

・BSP(Back Space Pass) is a streaming talk show in which Susumu Hirasawa talks about the previous live shows and other events of his.

・Today's program is a review on Fuji Rock Festival '19 and Sempo STS. Because I have two main topics, I may not have time to answer a lot of questions this time.

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【Fuji Rock Festival '19】

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・The reasons why Hirasawa participated in Fuji Rock '19 in July:

2019 is the first year of the Golden Ten-year cycle. Some big changes have happened in Hirasawa's musical career every 10 years since 1979. In these changing phases, it has been the best to go with the flow no matter whatever happens.

・The idea to participate in Fuji Rock Festival was presented by the Two Ejin, Ssho and Tazz. First, Hirasawa presented a plan that Ejin participating in Fuji Rock as "Ejin + Susumu Hirasawa", with Hirasawa as a guest musician, having the idea in mind that they would perform on a small stage with about 100 audience or so. But Fuji Rock office requested that the show should be titled as "Susumu Hirasawa + Ejin" and they said they would give Hirasawa and Ejin a larger stage.

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・Meanwhile, there had been an offer to do an opening act for the Battles in November, too. So, I decided that I would have the same set list (song list) for Fuji Rock and Battles' opening act.

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・I thought I needed a drummer in the opening act for Battles' concerts to have a similar touch to Battles' music. I looked for one and found a person and named him "Han-Ejin/Anti-Ejin". I did a few rehearsals and meetings with Anti-Ejin on drums, but Anti-Ejin suddenly disappeared. So, I decided to use the Tesla Coil instead of a drummer at Fuji Rock.

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・Since we announced that "Susumu Hirasawa + Ejin" would perform at Fuji Rock, it had become big news in the Japanese pop music scene. Because Susumu Hirasawa participating in Fuji Rock was being talked about more than Ejin was, who were unknown musicians, of course, We had to have the ordinary Susumu Hirasawa gig at Fuji Rock finally. By that time, Fuji Rock office had decided that Hirasawa +Ejin would perform at Red Marquee, which was a tent venue with a capacity of 5000 audience.

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・We did a thorough rehearsal having the sound system, the stage set, lighting, and so on, exactly the same as the stage at fuji Rock.

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・I had little knowledge about Fuji Rock. I learned that both the musicians and the audience usually attend Fuji Rock in mountain trekking outfit and equipment. I and Ejin had no rain suits or rain boots, which were the “must” items for Fuji Rock.

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・On the second day of Fuji Rock when we arrived, we had a very heavy rain. The parking lot was flooded with the water from the stream beside it. The water level of the stream went over the ground level of the parking lot. I was afraid that there would not be the concerts including ours the next day. However, all the musicians carried out their performances even in heavy rain, having all the audience soaking wet, to my surprise.

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・I usually have a hard time finding food at a concert, but it was easy for me to find vegan food at Fuji Rock because they had a huge variety of both non-vegan and vegan food for the musicians and the staff at the hotel there.

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・At Fuji Rock Festival, they provided us a very comfortable, nice and large waiting room with sofas and couches, a refrigerator with beer and other refreshments, besides our hotel rooms.

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・It was a very nice hotel, but they had a flood in their basement about two-inches deep or so, because of the heavy rain.

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・On the third day of Fuji Rock, when our gig was scheduled, a big van was provided to travel from our hotel to Red Marquee so we didn't have to walk in the rain.

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・At first, most Hirasawa fans were surprised to hear that Hirasawa was going to perform at Fuji Rock Festival because He had not participated at open-air rock festivals with a lot of other musicians for a long time. Few Hirasawa fans were prepared for it.

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・On the other hand, I didn't know what a lot of other audience who did not know Hirasawa and who were very familiar with Fuji Rock Festival, however, may think of us as a new band in the event. I was even prepared in my mind if someone threw a beer can at us because they didn't like our performance.

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・To my surprise, the news on the internet about Hirasawa and Ejin performing at Fuji Rock for the first time as well as the brochure of Fuji Rock had written something like "Susumu Hirasawa performing at Fuji Rock is a miraculous and huge event." Those articles and the brochure were filled with praising comments.

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・I thought I had to fulfill their expectations. But I thought, "Maybe the audience will give a huge applause after the first song, but I don't know how the audience would react listening the second song and after."

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・When we arrived at the big back stage of Red Marquee, I had the same good sensation as that I felt back in 1979 when we, P-MODEL, arrived in Kyoto as an opening act band for XTC's tour in Japan. When we arrived at the backstage of Red Marquee, I felt that a lot of staff were looking at me, not in the way they look at me as a stranger or someone weird, but they looked at me like, "Wow, that's Hirasawa! I finally get to see him!"

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・That made me feel that this gig would be a success for sure somehow. After that, I was not afraid any more that the audience might not like our performance. Also, peeking at the audience from the side of the stage before the show, I knew that the show was going to be a great one.

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・The whole audience loved our performance, and we enjoyed the show as you know. Thank you very much.

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[31:10]

【Q and A time on Fuji Rock】

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Q: ”Your stage action in the song 'Dreaming Machine/Yume Miru Kikai', the action to raise your hand, looked like the posture of Neo-Nazis' hailing their leader. What kind of reactions did you think you might get for doing such a performance?"

A: I have never thought my posture in the song would be thought to remind Neo-Nazi or Nazi or something. If I do this kind of action (posing like holding a rifle) during the performance, would people say, "Hirasawa encourages the audience to murder other people"? Or with this action (posing like holding a pistol and pulling a trigger)? They wouldn't. However, if I do this action (raising the right arm forward with the palm open, sticking all fingers out), why are people reminded of Neo-Nazi, Nazi or hailing Hitler? Because you are conditioned to think that way. If you are not conditioned to think this posture is connected with certain political groups, you wouldn't be reminded of them. If you are interested in this topic, please study the history. But you won't find out how things work in this kind of matter if you study just the superficial history. You should look at the history in a different way and reveal the world at two layers down from the surface.

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Q: Did you have a different stage setting than usual because Fuji Rock Festival took place outdoors?

A: Of course, we had a different situation from indoor concert hall. We did the dress rehearsal with exactly the same stage settings, sound system, the lighting system and so on, and brought the whole thing to Fuji Rock Red Marquee without changing anything. However, the situation changed because of having the open-air environment and the audience in the tent. So, we adjusted a few settings at Red marquee.

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Q: Did Mr. Toshifumi Nakai did the stage artwork?

A: Yes. Mr. Nakai did the all the stage art, mainly the computer graphics projected on the screen. He created a very unique artwork for our stage. I have always liked his graphic design style.

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Q: How did you spend your time before and after your own gig at Naeba, the Fuji Rock venue?

A: We had to check the sound and our schedule and so on before the show, so I mostly stayed at our waiting room at the hotel, sometimes drinking something. One of the Ejin had a lot of energy and went to see a few gigs by other bands.

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Q: Will the songs performed at Fuji rock be released or available as CD or downloadable content in the future?

A: Yes. I plan to release the few new songs and the songs with new arrangement played at Fuji Rock in a certain method in the future.

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Q: Will a DVD be released of your movie recorded at Fuji Rock?

A: Our show at Fuji Rock [was streamed on Youtube at the same time, but] it won't be possible for us to release the recording/video of our show itself at Fuji Rock because Fuji Rock office has all the rights.

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Q: How does the instrument to control Tesla Coil that one of the Ejin was playing work?

A: Ejin(Tazz) had a pad to control the notes, the notes were sent to Tesla Coil as signals, and Tesla Coil played certain notes, changing the electric voltage to discharge electric current. The system is called Zeusaphone.

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Q: Which song of yours should I recommend to a person who doesn't know your music?

A: There is no song to recommend. And don't recommend my songs to the people who has never heard of me or my music. I want people to find my music on their own. I hate Japanese pop music. It will make me sick if someone recommends a song like that to me. But there are people who love it. To those people, my music would be weird and sick. So please don't recommend my music to them.

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[44:14]

【Sempo STS (Opening act for Battles' concert tour in Japan)】

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・I got to know about the band Battles when I was looking for an electric guitarist who holds their guitar high on their chest who looks cool. For many years, holding the electric guitar very low with a long strap has been supposed to be cool, which represented the idea that rock music was a music for bad boys. So, the positions to hold the guitar may represent the musician's idea and policies, I thought, and I was looking for a guitarist who plays the guitar at a high position. And I found the Battles was playing their guitars in a high position, and their music was so cool.

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・Battles is a new type of musician, who creates the kind of music that has never been explored. Ian is very different from other guitarists.

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・When I was amazed by the music by Battles, the promoter of Battles' tour in Japan offered me a job to do an opening act for them by some amazing coincidence. And it was decided very quickly.

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・To have the similar touch to the music my Battles, I had been looking for a drummer for our opening acts for Battles. I had been looking for a good drummer on Youtube, but I hadn't found one yet. Then I started to look for street musicians on Youtube, and found a drummer who was playing the drums on an underground train in London one day. To my surprise, the drummer was a Japanese young man. I really wanted this drummer to play with us and contacted him and offered the job. He is Yuji Rerure Kawaguchi.

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・I wanted a drummer who was not just a drummer but was someone who had a unique character. Yuji Rerure Kawaguchi fit my ideal because he was a unique performer who was playing the drums on a subway.

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・There was a little fear that my music might not be liked by the the Battles' fans. But I was feeling less stressed because we were just an opening act, so whether the audience would like us or not was not a big problem anyway.

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・I was also being careful not to be loved too much by the Battles' audience, being an opening act band. That is why I chose "The Immortal man/Shi no Nai Otoko" as our first song, which is not a super popular song, but which I thought would be kind of liked by the Battles' audience, too, because of the style of the song.

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・The second song and later songs were also selected so my gig wouldn't be too sensational. I wanted the Battles to bring the most excitement at the concert. And I think we did the job successfully.

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・After the concert tour, we and Battles took photos together, and they agreed that we post those photos in our fanclub magazine. I also asked them, "Will you come to Japan again?" and they said, "Of course we will."

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・After the concert tour in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, we arrived in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Unfortunately, the train to go back to Tsukuba City was suspended because of an accident. However, I looked for a Rent-a-car shop in Shinagawa right away because I was familiar with using the Rent-a-car apps on the phone which I had been using in my trips to Okinawa, and I could go home with no problem in the end.

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[55:05]

【Q and A time on Sempo STS(Opening act for Battles tour in Japan)】

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Q: What made you decide to employ Mr. Yuji Rerure Kawaguchi as your drummer this time?

A: Though Yuji is a young man, he likes rock music from late 1960s such as King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, and so on. He was wearing those artists' T-shirts all the time. Rock music from late 1960s represented by King Crimson is in the roots of my musical career, too. And it was easy for me to tell him what to do on the drums because we shared the similar musical background. I liked him because he had a simple and humble personality, and also unique and aggressive character to perform on an underground train and on the streets in foreign countries.

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Q: What do you like about Battles?

A: Everything they do is new. What is unique about Battles is that Ian is a guitarist in the first place, though he uses the computer and synthesizer generated music. Techno pop and synthesizer music have been mostly created by keyboard players, and there have been few guitar players in that genre. I have also created synthesizer and computer music, using the keyboards as the basis of the songs. Ian creates his music from the guitarist's standpoint, which is totally new and unique. Generally, computer music has the beats strictly kept in time. But Battles' music has some kind of fluctuation, but it keeps time overall. Ian also uses his right hand for controlling the keyboard and other equipment while playing the guitar only with his left hand with the hammering method on the guitar frets. This kind of performance is totally new and unique. It is a kind of music created after the age of techno pop. I admire Battles very much.

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Q: What do you think about the musicians who cover their faces like Ejin and Yuji Rerure Kawaguchi, who was playing the drums with a black hood on?

A: If the audience don't see the performers' faces, it would be easier for them to project their feeling and thought on the performers. I try to create the kind of music on which the listeners can project their own feeling and thought. So my music and the performers without individual faces play the similar roles.

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Thank you very much for watching. Sayonara.

[1:04:22]

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Susumu Hirasawa's Back Space Pass on the additional concert at Toyosu Tokyo, Jan 2019: page2/2

(Page 2/2)

【What Kai=Kai(回=回) Means】

[30:58-32:23]

That’s about it on “The Golden 10-Year Cycle” and on Ejin. Now, I am going to talk about what “Kai=Kai[回＝回]” means, which I promised I would explain in the last Back Space Pass. However, as I mentioned many times, I wouldn’t create music if I could explain it verbally. So, I will explain it now, but it is like “Here is the verbal explanation of ‘Kai=Kai’, which is impossible to do in fact, but I’ve forced myself to do it”. And if I try to explain it thoroughly, being too precise, I am afraid the original image of it would be destroyed, or it would be interpreted only as a narrow sense. So, it is very difficult. But I will try to talk about it, wishing that I won’t ruin the original message and image of ‘Kai=Kai/回＝回’ which is a visual image in the first place.

[32:23-33:24]

Firstly, “Kai=Kai/回＝回” started as a visual image of its shape originally. There are two same geometric characters “回/kai” placed on the both sides of “=”. They look like geometric shapes at first, but at the same time, the character “回/kai” is a Chinese character having a meaning, which gives a strong impact, too. Before going into the discussion here, if you are not interested in or don’t like the forced verbal explanation of something that cannot be explained verbally actually, it’s okay not to listen to it. If you are one of them, please just keep having the image of “回＝回”, ”input=output” and the question, “what does having the same thing as input and output mean?”. Please just browse this discussion of mine, not thinking about it so seriously.

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[33:24-35:26]

Now, the character “回/kai” is a “solid being that circulates itself”. A unique being which is like a circle, having thoughts, metabolism and its body with a constant interaction with outer world. It is a unique matter that is independent, but is also something that exists by circulating something inside and having interaction with the world outside. I use this character meaning human/person in a sense.

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“回＝回/Kai=Kai”, having the meaning that the first 回/kai is the input and the last 回/kai is the output, implicates that some kind of processing has been done before getting the latter 回/kai as a result. It means that you get the latter 回/kai after giving a processing to the first 回/kai. If you apply it to the example of Hirasawa as a unique being, you input Hirasawa and you get Hirasawa as a result after giving it a certain processing, which happens when that unique being has a healthy internal processing and a healthy interaction of its body with outer world. In that case, the processing that has been done is also “Hirasawa”. [The processing that is called Hirasawa.] You get Hirasawa, after giving Hirasawa a processing called Hirasawa. It is an ordinary and healthy way for a thing/person as a unique being to exist.

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[35:26-38:24]

On the other hand, there are opposite kind of people who look like being a “False Kai(偽回/nise kai). I see lot of cases like that . They are “fake Kai(偽りの回/itsuwari no kai). It indicates that the unique being, 回/kai, is unhealthy inside. That is to say, you are getting an inappropriate result on the other side of the mathematical formula that represents how its thoughts and its metabolism are, and how the circulating interaction between its whole body and the outer world is. See? I am talking about something complicated, right? Like I said before this topic, please skip listening to it if you are not interested. You can regard this like “Hirasawa is talking about a mumbo jumbo again”. So, what was I talking about?

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So, you are getting an inappropriate result on the other side of the mathematical formula after the processing. That processing is something interferes with the original unique being. That kind of interfering processing is developed by the people who don’t approve the existence of endless variety in people’s uniqueness. Most of you have gone through the “回＝偽回/Kai=False Kai” processing, and you are being a “偽回/nise kai/false Kai”. And the processing has been established in a very skillful manner by the system to make you think you have chosen the course of action and made decisions on your own. However, some of you may discover the paradox in such a system, which will lead you to discover more problems one after another, but it is, in most cases, too late for you to fix the problems. You cannot go back to your original, healthy, unique being unless you abandon all your view of the world, the concept of values, and habit that you have acquired over many years, which would be very difficult to break. So, most people pretend to ignore the fact they have discovered and try to live as a “偽回/nise Kai/fase Kai” like they have lived so far because that way of living is easier with no conflicts with the world they live in. That’s how the system works.

[38:24-40:07]

So, I came up with the simple visual design of “回＝回/Kai=Kai” having a big impact, meaning that these 回 characters represent the bruises on your cheeks that you have asked someone to slap on both sides to be reminded that you are being lazy, taking the easier and false way of life. So, the 回/kai character on the right side is the bruise on your right cheek, and the 回/kai on the left is the bruise on your left cheek. So, please remember the meaning of the “回＝回/Kai=Kai” symbol like this, which is a silly metaphor.

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Eh, so, I have tried not to cut into the real heart of the problem, and not to ruin your own interpretation of it. This much is what I can say. So, please interpret the reason why I had such a large, expensive, odd-shaped LED light monitor especially made and installed on the back of the stage, and why it comes into your eye whether you try to see it or not. After that, please think for yourselves. Thank you for listening to such a complicated theory.

[40:07-41:10]

Then again, Hirasawa is a complicated man like this. Likewise, Hirasawa’s works are also complicated. I made the previous short movie of Ejin, which showed the distorted images of them in the unconscious state of mind, representing the remark, “Don’t say Ejin are cute or something”. Also, I wanted to say, “If you treat Hirasawa as something like an idol, you will have a troublesome discussion later”. That is one of the reasons I talked about the meaning of “回＝回/Kai=Kai” which is a complicated discussion, not receiving the questions from you like “What is your favorite food?”, ”What was your favorite subject at school?” and so on this time.

【Questions and Answers】

[41:10-42:59]

Though I didn't plan to have a Q and A time, I have 20 minutes left. I actually had more in detail explanation on the meaning of “回＝回/Kai=Kai“, but I tried not to go into that again and again, and made a simpler explanation like the one I have just did. Now that I have 20 minutes left, I will receive questions from you, which will be a little complicated. I will pick up some questions from your tweets with the hashtag: ＃平沢進のBSP [pronounced, # Hirasawa Susumu no BSP, meaning, Susumu Hirasawa's BSP], and I will answer to the questions I think are interesting. Wow, the timeline is flowing so fast. I can't find any questions. Are you afraid of posting your questions because you think “Am I going to get a bad comment by Hirasawa if I ask this stupid question?“ or something?

[42:59-44:03]

“Did you find any interesting books among the ones you read recently?“

Eh, what kind of books did I read recently? Did I find any interesting books? I started reading digital books, and I find I get less strong impressions from them than physical books.

And one of the reasons why they don't leave strong impression is that many recent books have the contents being worth of three pages watered down to a whole book, of course. Anyway, I don't remember any book with a strong impression right now like I used to .

[44:03-45:50]

Now, I have received a question, “What is your favorite food?“

I have many kinds of food I like recently. In the past, I hated all food, but now, I feel a lot of foods are delicious.

The food too delicious for me is a kind of vegan cheese. There are many kinds of vegan cheese, from the kinds available at local supermarkets to the kinds very expensive and have been fermented properly. The kind called “Sakura/cherry blossoms“ manufactured by the brand “Choice“ is damn good. I can eat one package of it in two days, which costs 2000 yen. I could eat it so fast because it was given to ne as a gift.

That is the food that could trigger a decadent eating habit. I eat only a little of it, though. So, to summarize, my recent favorite food is a kind of vegan cheese.

[45:50-46:38]

The next question is “How long have you had the eyeglasses you are wearing now?“

I bought them recently. The pair I had used for a long time didn't match my eyesight any more, so I had them made about a year ago. I requested the shape of the lenses to be exactly the same as the old ones, but I chose the frame in the closest possible shape because the same frame was not available.

[46:38-47:21]

“Can we see the movie from the Gopro camera you were swinging at the additional show [in Tokyosu, Tokyo,] in a DVD or something later?”

Yes, you will see it. In the previous show, I broke the camera lens, hitting it against the microphone stand, but I had it fixed, and I was swinging the fixed one at the additional show [in January]. I have confirmed the movie has been taped with no problem. It will be included in the “回=回/Kai=Kai” DVD to be released later.

[47:21-48:08]

The next question. “I saw the P-shaped light was lit behind you… [but what did it mean?]”

That was done by the lighting staff. They asked me, “Mr. Hirasawa, can I display a big P-shaped light behind you?” at the last minute before the show because they said they had to do it to fill the time for some reason. So, I remember I said, “Yes, you can.” It didn’t mean anything important. It was done by the lighting staff for their reason.

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[ 48:08 -50:46]

The next question. Wow, I still have 10 minutes left.

“What do you think about the reaction by the Horse Bones and non-Horse Bones after you announced you would perform at Fuji Rock Festival?”

First, I have to say I acknowledge that rock festivals at present are totally different from what they used to be in the past. In the past, rock musicians would have some opinions to share with the audience at rock festivals, communicating with them. They performed to confirm a direction they should take in the generation they were in, including political allegations, messages about inner conflicts in human life and how to live a better life, and so on.

However, rock festivals nowadays don’t have any mottos or messages like that any more. Most of the attendees attending rock festivals even say, “Don’t discuss politics at rock festivals”, and they come just to have fun in the festival outdoors with the music played, where they can camp. Some people who are not so into music could attend one to have fun, ending up getting more interested in music. Some people attend one because they like a big fun event outdoors rather than they are into music. So, I am not very concerned with what kind of reaction I would get from the audience. I will just play what I want to play on the stage. I don’t want to say “A rock festival should be like this” or “I wish a rock festival would be like that” or anything. It is impossible for me to control what a rock festival should be like, so I won’t make a comment on it.

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[50:46-52:31]

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Eh, the next question. Oops. I was looking at a question from the same person as before. Let me skip it.

Ah. “What about the guitar album?”

You have probably guessed from my discussion so far today. As you know, I planned to release a guitar album and I started to compose songs. However, the plan to perform at Fuji Rock Festival and other random offers came. I believe “These unexpected events are more important than the planned ones in the beginning of the Golden 10-Year Cycle.” So, I have decided to prioritize Fuji Rock Festival to the guitar album. The composing of the guitar album is postponed. After Fuji Rock Festival is over, I will resume creating the guitar album. Also, there will be other events after Fuji Rock, which I cannot disclose yet, including one that would make you surprised and say, “Oh my goodness!”, but I cannot spoil it now. What I can say is I will record a guitar album, which I want to release by the end of 2019.

[52:31-54:24]

Eh, the next question. “Do you think humans are smart enough to understand how wise other animals are?”

The question is what the standard of smartness is. Humans have developed the sense of self and consciousness, and we are good at calculating, making comments, making judgements, predicting something, and so on. But animals, for example, I have seen it with my cats, knows what to do when they are sick. One of my cats started to eat her toilet sand when she had fever. She knew that the sand had minerals she needed. That kind of behavior cannot be done by humans. Also, it is said, “You can learn that what animals won’t eat is not edible.” They know something is poisonous or not. If you think having the sense of self and consciousness is more superior than not having those things, humans are thought to be smarter than animals. But I don’t think that way. I am a man who sang in my song, “I want to be a disciple of an insect.” So, I don’t believe having the sense of self cannot be a standard of how one is smart.

[52:31-54:41]

Eh, Is the hashtag for this program is in the ranking of Twitter Trending Hashtags again today?

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“What are you going to do during the upcoming 10-day vacation?”

I will work as usual.

[Notes: Japan had a special continuous 10-day vacation at most businesses and companies from April 27 through May 6 because the country had special holidays on April 30, May 1 and 2, 2019 because of the Emperor’s accession to the throne, in addition to the regular holidays on April 29, May 3 to 5, plus Saturdays and Sundays.]

[54:24-55:52]

Well, I still have four minutes left.

The next question is “What are your concert plans after Fuji Rock Festival?”

There will be concerts! I cannot disclose the detail information yet, but there will be. There is an event that has been scheduled since a very long time ago, plus some other ones that have been offered to me in a short time. As I explained a while ago, I am in the beginning period of “The Golden 10-Year Cycle”, so I think I will accept any offers I receive, even when they would make me postpone my plans or change my policies that I have kept for many years.

[55:52-58:14]

Oh, this question is interesting.

“What do you think about the relationship between the music automatically made by an AI and the music made by human composers and lyrics writers?”

Firstly, an AI can only compose music unless it is programmed to start the job. And it will do the composing job as it is programmed.

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On the other hand, a human composer, I understand the composing process well because I am a composer myself, will not always follow the rules of composing music, because he/she would change the tendency of the tune or omit a part of the tune because of a small reason. He/she would compose music on the motto of breaking the composition rules, making his/her spirit alive. That kind of music cannot be created by an AI yet.

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If you want an AI to work in a different way from an ordinary one, you would have to teach when a human follows the ordinary rule and when he/she would break them and according to what scales. An AI has to have itself learn how such random choices happen before being able to compose like that.

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However, I don’t think all the tunes created by an AI would be trashes, though. I think a lot of music could be replaced by music made by an AI. Those kinds of music could give no sense of discomfort because no humans have interfered with the composition. It is probably similar to the fact that a car with automatic driving system would cause less traffic accidents than human drivers.

[58:14-]

Now, next.

Oh, the time is up.

So, my upcoming plan is to prepare for Fuji Rock Festival, to find the Han-Ejin[Anti-Ejin] to take to Fuji Rock before the event.

Everybody, please support me, Susumu Hirasawa, in the future as always.

Now, today’s freezing cold BSP is over. See you later!

(End of page 1/2)

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