Full story
here.
I can't stress enough that this is my first Japanese translation ever, so I apologize in advance. I was absorved by this interview and felt it was interesting enough for me to go the extra mile and try something like this. Oh, and if I ever recover from the mental fatigue, part 2 should come after a while...
EDIT: took me long enough, but part 2 is up as well, just scroll down. ^^
Q - It seems you're not interested in releasing a solo Yoko Kanno album.YK - For me there's really no difference between doing a solo album as an artist and making a soundtrack assignement so to speak. I don't feel the need of making something for myself after an assignment ends, since my usual works are very much individual (laughs).
Q - Making primarily soundtracks and not releasing a solo album, expressions such as "stagehand"¹ or "scene shifter" come to mind. Have you ever thought about it this way?YK - If by "stagehand" you mean "not expressing individuality", that's definitely not it. Then again, I have also no need of saying "I was the one who made it". I'm really shy, you know. I prefer to keep things hidden if possible. That's the interpretation that suits me.
Q - Liking to keep things hidden, does it come from your time as a band member in "Tetsu 100%"?YK - We entered the contest even though we had no piano and I was there just for support and as a favor, and sure enough the band turned out to be the winner. Automatically there was the recording, then the album debut. We took pictures, made concerts... Obviously it was fun at times, but it also meant doing things I didn't really want to do, honestly.
Q - When the band broke up you started your current line of work right away.YK - Since there's no such thing as a proper career start for composers, the logical thing to do would be making a demo tape. But I couldn't bring myself to make one, I lack the confidence to do so. But even though there were people who asked me "you're not making a demo?", probably thinking to themselves "what, she can't even do something that simple?", I was able to come this far (laughs). Whenever I tell my composer friends this they say "I don't believe this. I must have made like 10 demo tapes so far! Sending tapes out relentlessly even though they get rejected, then finally getting assigned to a job, that's the norm." You can say I was a very fortunate exception.
Q - Eventually, you realized that being a composer instead of a performer suits your personality best.YK - That's right. Obviously, I like creating better than playing.
Q - How long have you been making music?YK - From what I can remember, I started when I was around 2 years and a half/ 3 years old.
Q - Really?YK - You know when kids start singing random songs? That's what I meant. I remember bits of this song about a neighboring boy, "XX-kun is soooo cool" or something like that.
Q - I see. You were a funky kid.YK - Thinking about it now, singing was probably my way of expressing what couldn't be expressed by words or actions. Singing those feelings that couldn't be promptly said with the usual words, playing with them on the piano, as a way of compensating those emotions.
Q - Do you trace this musical background all the way to your present?YK - Rather than speaking, it's easier for me using music, playing or singing. Saying something such as "I like this place, but I also dislike it a bit", even if it can't be said with words, if it's made into music it's possible to express everything at the same time in about one minute. Even now, this hasn't changed.
Q - Ms. Kanno's youth, I presume, was filled with musical activities.YK - Totally². At least from 13 to 20 years old I didn't write/create absolutely anything, you see. Back then my interests were veering towards literature, and I thought I wanted to work in a newspaper company.
Q - That was in Waseda's³ literature department, correct?YK - That's right. I admired Yukio Mishima's and Kenzaburo Ooe's works, and copied everything from Mishima in my notebook.
Q - Are you aware of the support you get from anime fans?YK - Being that I don't watch television at home, nor have an official website, in my current daily routine there's almost no opportunity of coming in contact with fans, so It's not really possible for me to feel it. However, whenever I go abroad for recordings, even there there are those who say things like "I love that song of yours", and that's when I feel all the support.
Q - If you visited some of your numerous fansites, you'd see everyone is really passionate, discussing your works with a lot of admiration.YK - I want to take this opportunity to say my deep, deep thanks for this. [Translator's note: I blushed after reading this sentence.]
Q - If the way your works are regarded is biased by anime, could it not be genuine?YK - Absolutely not. Just having my works regarded by anyone makes me glad, no matter what genre it falls into.
Q - Your fields of work are animation, commercials and movies.YK - Yes, these three are a very clear thing for me. But inside of me there's no distinction between any of them.
Q - Be it different fields of work or different assignments, how do you manage to still make your work individual?YK - I don't feel any different towards different genres, as you see. So, as I think of myself a "songwriting craftswoman", it all turns out individual.
Q - At what place, what atmosphere you compose your songs?YK - You know, such times, such places. (laughs)
Q - Huh?YK - Could be in the middle of a meeting, popping inside of my head when I'm in a moving car. Then I go home and sit in front of the piano to lay it down in a score.
Q - Hmmm, I had heard about that. So you compose under these settings?YK - It's probably the influence of a piano teacher I had as a child. I'd hear from this teacher "This phrase, how would you like it sound when you play it?" I was in front of the piano and there was only the sound of its keys, but being asked what tone I'd like to use, inside of me I'd hear not the sound of the piano, but the sound I'd really like to hear. That's why even now, the melodies along with tones appear in my mind, then all that's left is writing everything down. After this it's pretty much done.
Q - Ms. Kanno's body of works is characterized by an impressive variety of sounds and styles.YK - There's an allegory I use a lot -- even though I know that there are stylists that'll only design wedding dresses, if someone were to tell me this I'd go and say "That's not possible!". With so many different ideas to start with before narrowing them down, they'd surely be able to design, let's say, normal everyday clothes or even an apron, don't you think? Not doing so would be a waste, in my opinion. If I have one strong point, I'd say, it is not having the need of deliberately cutting down my own possibilities. Instead of making something regardless of who ordered it then telling that person to wear it, i want to be the one to design the clothes that better suit that person after we meet.
Q - Now I see, from this perspective every soundtrack assignment by itself could be an enjoyable experience.YK - That's right. Even with different requests coming one after the other, it's an enjoyable process. After the "model" comes to meet me, I have fun thinking which "clothes" would better fit the model's shape, no stress whatsoever (laughs). Conversely, if can't meet the "model" I won't be able to come up with anything.
Q - With your current routine, do you work and study on an everyday basis?YK - If it's studying for songwriting you're talking about, I haven't been doing any. I hate studying (laughs). If there's one thing I can mention, it would be when I'm meeting my comissioners; in order to really understand what the person is trying to say and also for me to be able to relax, it's necessary for me to let my right brain vacant. It's in there where I do what's really important and all the hard work.
4Q - So you input the contents from the request in your right brain then assemble them?YK - Since the right brain is the sensational brain, rather than assembling them it's more like feeling them. Truthfully speaking, I might not even listen to the words my comissioners are saying (laughs). I focus every nerve I have trying to grasp what's this person's sensitivity, what is it that this person is really trying to say. "It's totally different from what I asked you, but I like it" is what I hear a lot (laughs), and that's probably why.
Q - Would you say you have a proper workload nowadays?YK - No, I feel it's quite excessive.
Q - On average, how many days a week you take for your composing?YK - Practically every day. I'm lucky enough to always be on comission so there are no breaks.
Q - Workaholic?YK - Yes, I think. This worn-out figure in front of you, struggling hard for her life (laughs) thinks this way about herself.
Q - Wow, the reason for all this exhaustion must be something really unbearable.YK - While composition by itself is finished in a single moment, recordings are very long. Until it sounds the way I conceived, 10 or maybe 20 re-recordings might be needed, and I have to endure them all.
Q - Finally, we'd like to ask you to kindly give a shout out to all creators reading our website.YK - Let's see, what can I say... If you do what you love, something will surely come out of it. Even if no one compliments what you're doing (laughs), I believe that if you keep doing what you love then it's bound to bring you close to something. Of course, patience alone won't get you through it all, so if you really love what you're doing there's no need to be shy about it, I'd like you to be honest and confident about it.
1 - The term used here is "Kuroko", which is how the stagehand for traditional japanese theater is usually called. They hide themselves dressing all black against a black background to move objects/dolls and such without being noticed.
2 - She's being ironic here XD
3 - Waseda University. Too tired to dig up anything about it on the web... sorry ^^;;;
4 - YK is referring to the right brain hemisphere. In most people, the left brain hemisphere is in charge of language, mathematical calculation and sequential reasoning, while the right brain is in charge of spatial reasoning and activities that demand simultaneous processing of multiple information, like recognizing a face. The left brain is in most situations dominant over the right brain, but certain activities such as drawing and painting require dominance of the right brain to be done properly. YK is probably talking about freeing her right brain of the left brain's influence in order to "capture" feelings and sensations that can't be expressed with words; then again, music and all its different elements depend on both brain hemispheres.
