INTERVIEW AN INTERVIEW FROM GERMAN MAGAZINE "BLACK " (May 2001)
| BLACK |
I read some interviews with you now but I
never found a question concerning the name
JACK OR JIVE. Why did you chose it and what would you like to express through it? |
| chako | I felt the sound of "JACK OR JIVE"
pleasant to my ears, so I chose this name
for my music activities. The name JACK OR JIVE has no particular meanings. I have no intentions to express any messages through this name. If one seeks for meaning in this name without meaning, they will find out that it represents our music's one aspect, a lyric without any linguistic meanings. |
| BLACK | Among your latest releases was the Vinyl
release of a real opera you did not perform
yourself but which was written and planned by you. What can you tell us about the opera "Legend of Biwako"? What is it about and how did you come acoss to produce this opera? |
| chako | I had an opportunity to compose that opera
by a commission from Noriko Yamamoto, the opera singer who was the original writer of the opera. She was suffering from a terminal cancer, and she asked for us to compose for her last original opera work. This was an epochal work for us, and I was glad that she asked for us. Eventually, she was not able to perform in the opera, but the opera itself was a success. She died three months after the opera was performed. I felt some curious coincidence in which the way I met her. The theme of the opera is about the huge lake in the Shiga prefecture. The historic lake, called lake Biwa, is often spoken as a symbol of environmental issues. The story was based upon an image of nature and human co-existing. For there existed a lyric, composing was a precious experience for me. The outcome was something like a healing music opera. |
| BLACK | How did you realize this (I assume) big project?
|
| chako | Yes, surely it was a big project. To be precise,
I have to say that I did not realize the
project, but I had a chance to participate in the part of this great project. |
| BLACK | Are you both or is any of you involved in
other artistical projects besides JACK OR
JIVE or even besides music? I know that Chako is a calligrapher for example... |
| chako | I am just now collaborating with the Italian
band GOR. Me(CHAKO) loves to paint besides calligraphy. |
| BLACK | Would you say you have a somehow "special
Japanese" or "eastern" approach
in what you do? Do you see certain differences in your work or way of working and that of artists from other countries? If this is so, what do you think that this might be? |
| chako | In my case, I feel that approach on making
the work is quite unique. The image comes the first in my method, so the output is sometimes eastern and sometimes it's western. I had a strong consciousness of being an Asian along ago, but now I am free from such feeling. If I faithfully follow the images, the output will be free and beyond such distinction like eastern or western. |
| BLACK | Usually one tends to associate music from
Japan with either extreme forms of noise-music(mostly referred to as "Japanoise") or J-Pop (often sort of "girl pop" (sometimes combined with a certain "lolita image") on the other hand. JACK OR JIVE are pretty different from all these schemes or styles. The only other Japanese band I could name which might go (or have gone) in a slightly same direction would be "After Dinner". How do you see Japanese music in general and your role in it in special? |
| chako | In the Japanese music scene, I don't feel
good about KARAOKE culture. KARAOKE culture
is being a main stream in the scene, and music consumed in such scene won't last long. In other words, music to be consumed is growing its shares. The worst part in this is that such music has a power in the scene. As a result, music which are not intended for the large music consumption market will never be heard by the listeners. Not few people feels that this system is wrong in some ways. A music which has a rhythm and lyrics deviating from the standard in the market needs someone to explain them individually. The music's great aspect is that it can move emotion of people without any explanation, so this situation makes me very sad. As for me, I want the people who feel doubt about consumption music to know that there is a person like me making a music like this in Japan. |
| BLACK | What are your musical influences? |
| chako | I had no influences from some particular
music. In creating the music, I feel the
creative impulse when I experience emotional movement from daily event and stunning event that occur. |
| BLACK | How would you describe the main differences
between Japanese and European society? |
| chako | In Europe, individuality is looked as important
nature, but in Japan, individuality is still
taken as eccentricity and will be strongly excluded. But I think that most Japanese soon accepts the individuality as they know other's personality through deep relationship. Japanese must have a nature of misreading by judging other people's individuality by their first impression. |
| BLACK | Are you religious or at least "spiritual"
in some way and has this an influence on
your music? |
| chako | It's not too much to say that my music takes
birth when I felt something spiritual in
the harmony. Most of the power which moves my soul is always impulsive. It maybe rejoicing, and it maybe full of sorrow in other hands. |
| BLACK | Before some years you released a collaboration
with the German sound-experimentalist Christoph Heeman under the name "Yukigafuru". Additionally Heemann produced most of your works. What can you tell us about that project and how came the extensive collaboration with Christoph Heemann across? |
| chako | I first met with Christoph in 1992 in my
first visit to Germany. "YUKIGAFURU"
was recorded together then. After that, recordings were made in 1994 and 1997, but those were not released. The direct cause of this corroboration was when I was suffering from severe stomach distress for few days, he called the home doctor and relieved me from the pain. As a result, I accepted his offer to record together. |
| BLACK | You sometimes work with artists from other
artistical fields. The most frequent one
is the textile-designer Seizo Inoue whose designs are on quite some of your album covers and who also played an important role in the conduction of your opera. How came this collaboration across? Do you think that his work specially fits your music? |
| chako | He is an old friend of mine, and I have an
extreme interaction in ART and music interests
with him. I always ask him to make the jacket's art work, and before he makes the art work, I ask him to hear the songs in the album. I can trust him for the art work because he understands my music very well. He makes our costume for the performance in Germany, too. It is oriental and sometimes speculative. I love those costumes too. |
| BLACK | You released two albums under the name JACK
OR JIVE LIGHTS where you realeased some somehow "lighter" songs which didn't fit the rest of your releases. Are further releases planned in that direction? |
| chako | There are no new releases scheduled for now.
|
| BLACK | I would say that - from what I see in the
song titles etc. - you usually digest very
serious issues which also reflect in the music which I would describe as somehow "dark" and serious - but not hopeless though... Where do you usually take your inspiration from? |
| chako | I feel that you understand my music very
well. I assume that everyone have their own
borderline to darkness and seriousness, but I don't have these borderline. I find hope even in the intense sorrow.I think that this forward looking pain is felt much more when one takes away the borderline. Talking about the inspiration, in my case, everything starts when my mind get moved. |
| BLACK | You sometimes dedicate Songs - or in the
case of "Kenka" whole albums -
to certain people or events. Do these dedications already play a role in the process of creation or are you thinking about it after finishing them? After which criteria do you choose them? |
| chako | "Kenka" was special for me. Thousands
of people dying at once in the earthquake
was a tragedy I never experienced before. This led to the feeling to create this album. For the individual songs, some of them were recorded right after I get shocked by some TV documentaries. I turned the anger and the sorrow I felt into the sound. "CHIEKO" in MUJYO is a name of a Japanese poet's wife. I had a chance to know about her life in a drama, so I made the song for her. Presumably, there seems to be particular event and incident which moves my emotion greatly. The greater the movement in the emotion is, I get more driven to creating music. I believe that something which cannot be described by words can be carried by the music as an image. |
| BLACK | What music do you listen to privately? Maybe you could name the last 5 records you bought? |
| chako | Well, most of them are quiet songs. There
are no particular genre which I prefer. These are the records which I bought or received recently. 1)ALIO DIE 「LE STANZE DELLA TRASCENDENZA」 2)TLON UQBAR 「LA BOLA PERDIDN」 3)ASIANOVA 「BURNING THE BLUE SKIES BLACK」 4)SAMINGAD 「VOICE OF PUYUMA」 5)EDWARD KA-SPEL 「PUBLIC DISTURBANCE」 |
| BLACK | What can we expect from you both in the future?
Do you think of doing any solo-material again? |
| chako | I hope I can finish and release the collaboration
album with Italian GOR in this year. There are no plans for solo activity for now. I want to visit Germany again next year and perform a LIVE there. |
| BLACK | Have you anything left you would like to
say to our readers? |
| chako | In February we performed a LIVE in Germany,
but there were some people who heard our
music for the first time. Please listen to our music once! This feeling is growing in intensity inside me. |
| Special thanx translate by Yakamo |