released June 13, 2021
composed by Taku Sugimoto 杉本拓
performed by Takeshi Ikeda 池田武史 (snare drum), Katsuaki iida 飯田克明 (found objects), Yuka Yasukawa 安川有果 (found objects), and Ikuhiro Yamagata 山形育弘 (found objects).
recorded by Taku Sugimoto under Inagi-Ohashi Bridge 稲城大橋 on March 22, 2021
thanks to Hironori Tadaishi 只石博紀
art design by Liu Lu
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AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN ZHU WENBO AND TAKU SUGIMOTO
Zhu: Would you like to introduce the musicians a little bit who played snare drum +?
Taku: The performer who played the snare drum part is Takeshi Ikeda. He plays drums in two hardcore punk bands: Ningengoukaku and Core of Bells. Ikeda is also a visual artist, being active internationally.
coreofbells.bandcamp.com
ningengoukaku.bandcamp.com
Katsuaki Iida is a poet, vocalist of Shimokitazawa Functions, and performer (time to time), running a bar called Dainikyukeijyo (secondary resting place(?)). I have known him for nearly 20 years. we have worked on several occasions while drinking together many times.
Hironori Tadaishi is an artist making several kinds of experimental video and noise music, being into uncategorized genres of art. He didn’t play found objects in this session, but shot and edited the performance to make a short video.
Yuka Yasukawa is a film director and has directed several works. In the end of last year, she came to the screening of a video work called “too old to camp” co-directed by Hironori Tadaishi and myself.
She said she enjoyed the video a lot. Later I was to ask her to join this project because I was thinking (as always) to involve interesting artists from other genres in my music.
Ikuhiro Yamagata is a member-vocalist-of Core of Bells as well as Ikeda. He is a versatile artist who draws comics, writes scenarios, and working as a performer. Once I and Yamagata worked as an ad hoc songwriting team (music, Sugimoto; words, Yamagata), producing a series of pop songs.
Zhu: This piece "snare drum" was composed in 2011, but the solo version was recorded in 2021. Why dose it been delayed so long time?
Taku: First, I would like to tell you that lots of my compositions remain unreleased or unrecorded (or even not played) due to various reasons.
Ikeda premiered "snare drum" in 2011 (he played the piece in 2018 too), and the concert was recorded. I like the recording, however it was a bit risky for me to release it as CD, for I didn’t think it would be sold well. At that time, it was yet to be popular to sell digital data on the web.
Zhu: How do you get the idea to expand the piece to a “plus” version?
Taku: It was actually during the recording of "snare drum" outdoors when I conceived the idea of the + version. I had been searching for the ideas of a percussion piece which should include non-musicians. I found that the solution I had been searching for was quite simple: “follow the sound of the snare drum as immediately as possible by hitting the found objects. While the performers should not lose their concentrations, any sounding result will be acceptable”.
Zhu: It was recorded in a public place, close to a viaduct. I found that in recent years, you always record or play in some public place, such as park. Is it your new interest?
Taku: It has been, still is, and perhaps will be very difficult for me to find a quiet and resonant place without paying money. So I though I had to change my direction toward the opposite: noisy and not resonating places. To explore any sort of outdoor situations is quite interesting. However, I still love quiet and resonating places. The recording site of “snare drum +”, the location of which Tadaishi found for an outdoor concert he organized, has traits of resonance especially for percussive sounds.
Zhu: For playing in a public place, do you feel any difference between the pre-Covid-19 days and after 2020?
Taku: Several kinds of performing arts have been losing chances of their renditions more and more. As for me, I have had only two indoor concerts since then. To be honesty, I have become reluctant to play music at any indoor performance place as long as this situation lasts. So I have had no choice but to head toward possibilities of outdoor music. While any outdoor public place I know may remain itself the same, my consciousness to to play music outdoors is changing. In fact, this year I have engaged in two public outdoor concerts beside several outdoor recordings.
Zhu: I also have interests to Tokyo Vagabond Collective. Would you also like to introduce this project a little bit? Seems it is a “public place” project, and has been active since 2020. I feel that it is very different from your former projects, do you agree with that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9oqDpDgDSU
Taku: TVC initially begun as a demonstration, though we were not very conscious that against what, the demonstration was. The activity of TVC is not at all like those of formal performing arts such as music, theatre, or performance; it is similar to child play in which you can find something interesting. TVC is not a project in any sense. What we do should not be digested within ‘art’. We gather time to time and do something. My opinions about TVC are like this. Each member has his / her opinions, I am sure. We are nothing but vagabonds.