Michael Spencer, Managing Director of Sound Strategies; Visiting Professor, Research Centre for Music and Culture at Ueno Gakuen
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Michael Spencer, Managing Director of Sound Strategies; Visiting Professor, Research Centre for Music and Culture at Ueno Gakuen University (Tokyo), and Communication Director, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra commented on how very lucky it was to have Yoshiki, a rock legend and classical composer, in London as very little music travels outside of Japan. Spencer said that Yoshiki has been called the Bono of Japan and has had a Hello Kitty doll named after him. Yoshiki discovered heavy metal aged ten thanks to the heavy metal band KISS. He is the face of X JAPAN and one of Asia’s most influential rock stars. He gets mobbed when he visits Shanghai, Taiwan or Hong Kong. X JAPAN is the most successful Japanese rock band and has sold more than 30 million albums, singles and videos. In 1999 the Japanese government asked Yoshiki to compose music to celebrate the current Emperor’s tenth year anniversary. In the lecture room of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Yoshiki played ‘Anniversary’, written to celebrate the Emperor’s 20th anniversary. Yoshiki was also asked to be the music director of the 2005 World Expo in Aichi prefecture, and composed the Expo’s theme tune. Yoshiki previously played at the Shepherd Bush Empire in 2011 but has never played at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Asked by Spencer what it’s like to crowd surf, Yoshiki replied that it is a real challenge and you have to be famous in order for the crowd to go to the trouble of holding you up. Yoshiki said that music is music and that he sees no difference between classical and rock music. He has an eclectic taste in music and at home listens to Bach, Chopin, Metallica, the Beatles and Queen to name a few. Spencer pointed out that Yoshiki has a fan base that stretches across the world. When asked why he is so popular world-wide, Yoshiki put it down to the internet and the fact that he doesn’t compromise. Yoshiki spoke about the Yoshiki Foundation America which was founded in 2010 to support children who have health or family problems. In 2011 after the earthquake and tsunami which hit the north-eastern part of Japan, Yoshiki Foundation America shifted its work to help victims of the disaster. Yoshiki said that there are not many artists in Japan who support charities and that it is hard to apply to set up foundations in Japan - it can take up to three years to start one up. That needs to change Yoshiki said. He emphasised that charity is or should be an everyday activity and shouldn’t be regarded as something special. In the summer of 2013 Yoshiki visited Ishinomaki and met the mayor. He visited kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools in order to meet children and teachers. Many of the children he spoke with had lost their parents and many of the teachers had lost their children and pupils. The teachers were aware of the importance of staying strong for the sake of the students. Yoshiki said that no one is looking after the teachers and said that he wants to keep supporting them. Touching on the Fukushima radiation problem, Yoshiki said that this is not a Japanese problem but a world problem, and Yoshiki said he wanted to bring awareness of this problem to as many people as possible. Spencer asked Yoshiki if he feels that he has a platform. Yoshiki said he did but that he has to be careful as to how he uses it. Asked why he moved to the USA (he lives in Los Angeles), Yoshiki said it was accidental. Twenty years ago he wanted to record with Sony Records. He wanted to go to London but the rest of his group said they wanted to go to California so that is what they did. Yoshiki built a studio in California and finished recording six months later. The rest of his band returned to Japan but Yoshiki stayed behind wondering what to do with the studio. He then bought a house. The questions raised after the talk included what the greatest obstacles for Japanese artists to succeed overseas are. Yoshiki said he wished he knew as it is important to see the bigger picture. He said that with the rise of Korean and Chinese music Asian music will soon start making an impact on the world. He also said that it is necessary to learn English and that learning English is much easier than composing. He said that it is necessary to be confident and not have as a goal to just break the domestic market. PR is also very important as is the way concerts are promoted. Not everything is going to be smooth abroad said Yoshiki, but that it is important to ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’. Yoshiki enjoys the process of travelling abroad. There have been times when he has had to wait five hours for a ten minute interview in the past, but he doesn’t mind. Once he goes overseas he starts the process all over again. Asked if he would be interested in creating a rock opera Yoshiki said he would be. Asked where in the world he would like to perform, he said, very diplomatically, the Royal Festival Hall. Yoshiki was asked if he feels like a musical diplomat. He responded by saying that he has many friends who are politicians, but that it is important to keep arts and politics separate, however, and that it is his job to make people think. He tries to do this through the medium of music. Asked how his parents responded to his liking for KISS, Yoshiki said that his father was a jazz pianist and a tap dancer and that his mother played the shamisen. Yoshiki’s father would buy a new music album every month and would buy Yoshiki a musical instrument every birthday. Yoshiki started buying his own albums and, aged ten, he asked his mother to take him to the aforementioned KISS concert. His mother went dressed in a kimono and Yoshiki’s five year old brother also joined them. Asked whether he likes the drum or piano better, Yoshiki replied that the drum has more space for him to hit. .