Conversation | Yoshinori Tsuchida x Risa Okada “My Melody, My Rhythm”

 I often feel that female drummers have really comfortable pockets of groove. (Tsucchi)

Tsuchida (hereinafter T)：In preparation for this discussion, I listened to all of D.W. Nichols' recordings, and I feel that Ricchan's playing is in the same league as Tatsuo Hayashi (a famous drummer who was active in many recording sessions from the 1970s to the 1980s). It feels more like carving in the correct pocket than clicking.
However, the way men and women put things in their pockets is slightly different. I think men are more sporty.
There are many different types of female drummers around the world, each with their own national characteristics and musical fields, but I often find that female drummers' pockets of groove are extremely comfortable.

Okada (hereinafter O): Tachio-san! I'm so happy. When it comes to pockets, we are always unconsciously seeking harmony, and isn't this cool? Isn't it good? Rather than having that attitude, I think I naturally pursue what makes me feel comfortable. As I wrote about in a previous JPC series, I have long thought that this may be due to women's unique cycle, where they naturally feel the moon's energy in their bodies. That's why I don't feel like all of 1, 2, 3, and 4 have to match exactly. .

T：If we assume that the cycle created by women is a circle with number 1 drawn around it, I feel that this circle is not a simple line. It moves in a three-dimensional spiral, not two, and is intricately intertwined with the relationship between the Earth's revolution and rotation.

O:Awesome! Great analysis! ! I'm so happy! ! ! !

T：But it really is. The fact that each woman has a unique cycle is the origin of life. I think the closest thing to that is Afro-American or black people. I can feel a strong vitality. That came out in the pop field and connected to jazz, funk, and soul music.

O:It's really good!

T：But Ricchan can feel those roots.
By the way, why did you like such dark music?

O:Influenced by a senior member of my college club, I started creating ``Happy End'' and other songs.JapanI started listening to old music, 70's soul, and funk, and it all just hit me. And I thought it was really cool.

T：Did you think it was cool? Listen to Happy End? ?

O:If anything, I like Hosono (Haruomi)'s Tropical Trilogy more.

T：Wait a minute, you're a college girl, right? Younger...

O:Ura-young (lol)

T：There, while feeling the warm breeze,

O:I was listening to Yumin.

T：I understand that! Like bread and butter.

O:I thought people like Tin Pan Alley and Caramel Mama were amazing. At that point, I went beyond my seniors and searched for records, bought them, and listened to them myself.

T：Tatsuo's drums, like a Japanese Richie Hayward.

O:It's really cool, isn't it? Why did you think it was cool?

T：Yes, that's what's strange. I was talking to Minako Yoshida the other day, and she said that when the women who were there at the time heard Hosono's Tropical Trilogy, they thought it was the music of a kidnapper (lol). If you go there, you'll be kidnapped and you won't be able to come back. It's too weird.
One day, I had a job with Billboard in Osaka and Tokyo with Mr. Ino on the keyboard, Tatsuo Hayashi on the drums, Shigeru Suzuki on the guitar, and Hama Okamoto on the bass.I participated as a drum tech, and Shigeru was sitting next to me on the Shinkansen on the way back from Osaka. During the two-and-a-half hour journey to Tokyo, we ended up talking about various things.
I asked him, ``What were you thinking about Hosono-san's Tropical Trilogy?'' Then he said, ``I didn't understand it at all.'' However, all the veins are connected, so for example, there was Dixieland jazz, Van Dyke Parks, Little Feat, James Taylor, Chinese elegance, Hollywood soap operas, etc. I knew all of those veins, so I was called by a senior I liked, and there was no problem with playing and the concept was clear, so I had no problems playing and I had fun, but I wonder where Mr. Hosono will go? That's what I thought. That's it.

O:Wow, I heard some great things.

I feel like a lot of female musicians have good ears. (Ricchan)

O:I heard the trilogy when I was in college and thought it was really great. But at that time, I didn't know about Van Dyke Parks, and I'd never heard of Little Feat. Basically, they don't have that kind of knowledge at all compared to men. But I think it's a good feeling. It's the same with soul music from the 60's and 70's, and I don't really follow the origins of this person or their musical lineage. I hope it's good to listen to. Maybe it's a good thing that this rhythm is like this, and I'm not really conscious of what I want to come from the rhythm of this genre.

T：Wow, the scales fell from my eyes. That's why men can't beat women. I'm ahead! Men dig, right?

O:I'm jealous of that! On set, I was told, ``It's like that,'' and I said, ``Oh, that's it.''

T：I just want to say it, man (lol)

O:I also want to say, ``Ah, that's it.'' Men have a lot of knowledge, don't they? But I don't have much knowledge about that. That's why I have no choice but to create my own music by directly responding to the sounds I hear on the spot. However, I feel that many female musicians have a good ear because they have an accumulation of things they have thought about from time to time.

T：It might be annoying if people judge me, but when I listen to a female performance objectively, I think girls are amazing. Women's unique sense of values ​​can be light or darkness that men cannot understand. Men want to take a look at it. But even if I looked into it, I would never be able to match it. The differences between men and women that exist there are really interesting. I wonder how they do it, and what they are thinking when they do it. Well, it's the same with men.

O:In my case, if a song has a song, I'm basically playing the drums, so I only think about how the singer can sing comfortably. If I couldn't do that, I would start thinking about what I was doing wrong.

T：Surprisingly, there are people who sing that it's hard when the drums are played because they listen to the songs too much.

O:I understand, I understand! Please don't fall in love with the song

T：Of course I love singing and playing with melodies, but lately I've been thinking that I listen to it too much.
There's a movie called "Eternal Motown." Among them, there are some lines that are not subtitled, but they are really small. What should I do when making sounds together for the first time? The subtitles said something like, ``It's okay, just do whatever you want.'' However, the words that were not translated were "Because no one is listening." You just have to do what's written on the sheet music, because no one is listening to what you're playing. The assumption is that everyone can see the finished drawing, and they say, ``All you have to do is do it.''
I thought the words ``because no one is listening'' had a great weight.
I want to go there soon, but I don't think I'll be able to go there while I'm alive.

O:When I was in my own band, I was glad that I was mainly a singer. However, since I started working as a solo drummer, I started to see a lot of things. For example, when you are faced with a situation where you have to form a band ensemble without a singer, what should you do first? ? That's what I thought.
The first thing I started was to turn myself into a machine, keep the rhythm, and do the minimum things I needed to do. But halfway through, I realized that I wasn't really able to hear the other members' sounds properly. I'd say it's become more fun since I started hearing it.

T：Have you opened up a bit?

O:Yes, it was opened up and the actual performance was the most fun. When you hear a song that you couldn't hear properly, it's like when you're listening to music normally and you're like, ``Oh, that's a good song.''

T：I think what I gained there was a lot of great things, but a band is not a place where you can show your ego. You can't be a band if you don't show your ego. But when you play as a session player, there are moments when you have to let go of your ego, and I think that was difficult at first.
Doesn't it feel good to contain your ego?

O:All the members are one band. Once, during a rehearsal, someone told me, ``The drums are getting too excited, the other instruments are already getting excited, so the drums don't need to be excited.'' Oh yeah, this was fine when I was in my band, but it's not true! I felt that way, and there was an accumulation of many small realizations like that. I feel like I'm a proper member of the orchestra, I can hear the other sounds properly, and even though the song is getting excited, I'm still here. However, the world around me changes and there is a story behind it, but I feel like I've finally begun to understand a little bit of the comfort of sitting still while watching that story.

T：That's really important, and I can't limit myself to that, but it's one of the great joys of music. The first instrument I played was actually the timpani, but when I received the sheet music, there were about three 64-bar breaks, and I finally played the ``doron''. There are about four 64-bar breaks before the song ends. It seems like it's only here.
However, if you don't take a good look at the scenery during the holidays, this "Doron" won't come alive. If you just do ``doron'' without understanding the meaning, it becomes completely different from ``dororon'' when you look at the scenery and go here and there and feel like there are forests and mountains. The place where you are resting is important, and the scenery you see there is very important, and although you can see the scenery, it is also important to know whether you are in that scenery or not.
That part is the pleasure of killing your ego.
A few years ago, when Quincy Jones came to Japan, the members were like a Grammy-making machine. John Robinson on drums. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to participate as a tech at that site. The way they killed their egos at that time was incredible. There's nothing on stage. But it's amazing. The performance, the music. It's all the same as this record. This is what it feels like to get goosebumps on the soles of your feet. But I have zero ego. The ego is gone, gone, gone
That's what I thought would happen as I progressed.
By the way, the topic suddenly changes, but if you were to be born next, would you like it to be a boy? Do you want a woman?

O:I thought I'd prefer a man until I was in my 20s. However, I think a woman over 30 might be more interesting (lol).
The reason I wanted to start a band in the first place was because of Unicorn, so I admired the idea of ​​men getting together and doing interesting things. However, while playing in a band with boys, I often felt that I couldn't be equal to them.
However, lately I've realized that I may actually be in a position like the older sister in the band. Do the little things I say have a big impact on the band? After I realized that, I no longer wanted to be reincarnated as a boy (lol).

T：I want to become a girl for about 3 days. So, on the fourth day, I want to turn back into a man and spend the rest of my life with the memories and sensibilities of a girl.
After all, it's a mystery.
I wonder why, because the skin sensation and various other sensations are completely different. Men and women are probably fun because they're different, and they're worried because they're different, but it's still an eternal mystery, and maybe it's better to keep it a mystery.
A scientist who won a Nobel Prize once said in his acceptance speech, ``How to completely cure a cold. How to completely cure athlete's foot. How to win a woman's heart. If you can do any of these three things, you too can stand here. Thank you very much.''
Not cool! That's what it is. No one can cure a cold. No one can cure athlete's foot. Because it's always there.
The relationship between men and women has always existed, and is a mystery that cannot be changed, cannot be changed, and cannot be solved. Because it is the same as the truth of the universe.
After all, it wouldn't work if we didn't ask each other what they think and what they think. It means being interested.

O:Well, I guess that's good.

T：I work as a drum tech, but I'm actually not interested in everyone's equipment, data, and specs, and I think it's best if someone who knows can tell me about it.
Rather than that, I wonder what the person himself/herself thinks. That's what I'm more interested in. There's no way you can know anything about other people.
That's the ultimate. As a technician, as a musician, and as a person.
That's what I think, but I wonder what other people think. I think it's really fun these days to hear people's stories, or rather their values.
So, I was wondering what Ricchan's story would be like.
But it was still a mystery.

O:Well then, it remains a mystery! (lol)
Or rather, it's a mystery because I think of it as a mystery. I don't think it's a mystery, it's just that! That's it. I think that's fine.

T：Did I get the punchline right? (lol)
Thank you very much for today! Well, let's go for a drink!

O:Thank you very much! Let's go!

And the two of them disappeared into the darkness of Asakusa...

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■Tsuchida “Tsutchi” Yoshinori Profile

Born in 1969. At the age of 11, he was inspired by YMO's Yukihiro Takahashi and started playing the drums. Currently working as a freelance drum tech and roadie, Eikichi Yazawa, Yukihiro Takahashi (METAFIVE, YMO), Takashi Matsumoto (Happy End), Tatsuo Hayashi (Tin Pan), Haruomi Hosono, [Alexandros], Diggy-MO', LITE,
He hangs around as part of the stage crew for tours and recordings with Gen Hoshino, Pierre Nakano, RADWIMPS, and other summer festivals such as FUJIROCK FESTIVAL and SUMMER SONIC.
He regularly performs live with his band 254soulfood.
Participating works as a player include HARRY's ``BOTTLE UP AND GO'', Taro Motozono's ``R135 DRAFT'', and ``torch''.
A chubby guy who loves soba, rakugo, reading, drinking, and smoking.

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■Risa Okada Profile

Born June 11, 1980.
Born in Obihiro, Hokkaido, raised in Yokohama.
I love singing and being in bands, so I started playing the drums when I was 15 years old.
After graduating from university, he met D.W. Nichols while participating in various bands, and joined them in 2007. Major debut in 2009.
After being in the band for nine years, he left D.W. Nichols in September 2016.
Currently, he is active as a freelance drummer, providing live support for Hana Sekitori, Simon Isogai, GOING UNDER GROUND, D.W. Nichols, and others.
On November 3, 2020, she made her solo debut as “RISA COOPER” with the 7-inch single “Magic Hour Comes / Habata Kiss” on Record Day. He writes lyrics, sings, and plays instruments other than drums.
The first full album “RISA LAND” will be released on November 10, 2021.
In addition to his solo activities, in 2018 he started a tribute band ``HGYM'' for singer-songwriter Yasumasa Hashiguchi who passed away suddenly in 2016 with Simon Isogai, Hiroki Nakazawa (GOING UNDER GROUND) and others, and in 2022 he started an orchestra band ``The Pirates A Go Go'' with bassist Ken Yoshida, and is actively developing activities in various fields.