that foreign music blog🌎

Gen from Nagoya-based pop-punk band, 04 LIMITED SAZABYS, hosts Monday’s segment on The King’s Place. Today he’s joined by KEYTALK’s guitarist, Takemasa Ono. Read to learn about the alternative rock band’s background, Takemasa’s surprising upbringing, and the guitarist’s connection to the band-life manga “Beck”!

While KEYTALK is best described as a rock band, their individual passion for music as a whole is expressed in how they cleverly layer instruments and incorporate complex progressions. They bring a fun energy to each of their songs, cementing themselves as a playful rock band that loves to connect with their audience through humor and dance.

They’re most known for their song “Monster Dance”, but they’ve been active since 2007 and have released eight full albums.

Be sure to check out their new album “DANCEJILLION”, which is available on Apple Music.

Message from Takemasa:

We make a lot of danceable songs, but until now we’ve never included the word ‘dance’ into an album title. So given the album title, it has  A LOT of danceable songs. I hope you all enjoy it~”

★Also, I apologize for any incorrect translations. I do this by ear, so there are parts I had to omit or heavily paraphrase. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

The songs featured in today’s segment are: 

#1  「ハコワレサマー」/ “Hakoware Summer” – KEYTALK (from DANCEJILLION)
Written and composed by drummer, Yuuki Yagi. Apparently, all the members dabble in songwriting.

#2 “honey”- 04 Limited Sazabys
A song that Takemasa has been listening to a lot these days. A sweet pop-punk love song about transcending the difficulties of a long-distance relationship. 

#3 “Tradition”- Cho Co Pa Co Cho Co Quin Quin
A Latin dance beat song that Gen chose. The Japanese group was inspired by Cuban music. 

#4 “Magnetic”-Tabla Beat Science
A dreamy Indian lo-fi song that was influential to Takemasa. He’d heard the song when he was in university. At the time he’d been into international music and, while he doesn’t make the same type of music, he’s taken bits and pieces of the international music he’s heard and incorporated it into his style.  

#5 “climb” 04 Limited Sazabys
A pop-punk song where Takemasa really loves the half-step drop in the chorus of the second half of the song. Gen says that some people find it a strange choice, but is happy that Takemasa loves the discord. 

Fan Messages:

radioname: kaimonootemononopoli 

Hello~ The other day I did really well during a presentation and was praised by my boss. As a result, I treated myself to expensive Uni. What’s something that you two have treated yourselves to recently?”

Takemasa: I’m always treating myself~ I’m always thinking ‘I did really well today, let’s treat myself to something~’. That’s probably why I’ve gained a bit of weight, haha
Gen: But I’m kinda the same.  I often treat myself to noodles and stuff like that after work. How about you?
Takemasa: Well I cook, actually. Really easy stuff, but recently I’ve been into stir-frying with green onions. And then putting those onions on eggs, natto, and stuff. I love carbs.
Gen: Yeah I remember that about you, aha. As for me, I’ve recently been into treating myself to eel. And tonkatsu 

Radioname: goyokubuleader

Hello~ Before, you all talked about playing together. Is there anything happening with that? I love you both, so it’d love to see that~ Is there a song from each other’s bands that you want to cover?”

Gen: No, we haven’t really talked about anything.
Takemasa: Next year~
Gen: When I went to Toyama recently I realized that I hadn’t played with KEYTALK in a while. The last time we played was in Toyama five years ago. At that time, I remember we did a cover of “Taiyoukei Refrain”.
Takemasa: Oh yeah~ Aah..let’s play again next year. It’s decided. We’ll do a cover of ‘climb’ (by 04 Limited Sazabys)
Gen: ‘climb’???
Takemasa: Yeah actually Yoshikatsu has been playing a cover of ‘climb’ at his unplugged sessions.
Gen: Really???  Why didn’t he say anything??

Takemasa’s musical endeavors

Gen: By the way, you mentioned unplugged sessions. You’ve also been doing, them, right? I know you play guitar, but you sing, too??
Takemasa: Yep~ I’ve been doing unplugged sessions every month since April. All around Japan.
Gen: So you’re actually touring?? What songs do you play??
Takemasa: Mostly KEYTALK, and then some requests. There was a time on my birthday when I thought about making a song with the fans. So I brought all the equipment to the venue and we made a song together. After that, we recorded it and sent it through a QR code.

I’ve always wanted to do my own concert. Like to get on stage and interact with fans. From April was the first time I actually went for it.

The word they use is 弾き語り or ひきがたり (hee-kee-gah-tah-ree), which is translated as “play and sing”. It’s usually an intimate setting with just one musician and their instrument. I’m not sure if ‘unplugged’ is the best way to translate it, but that’s what it looks like on stage.

 ‘THE ULTIMATE YON-TAC’
A question is posed and the listeners guess how the hosts would answer. After discussing the question and deciding the answer, they reveal whether the listener is correct or not. If correct, that listener gets a signed gift.

Radioname: goyokubuleader

“What would you do if you could switch lives with each other for one whole day?”

1. Steal savings (I couldn’t completely catch this, but it had something to do with savings)
2. Get nervous if the other members notice
3. Search the house
4. Go to a restaurant with someone outside of the normal circle 

Anyway, what do you think they chose? 

ANSWER

Answer: 4

They were discussing between 3 and 4 a lot but ultimately decided on 4 because they thought it’d be interesting.

Takemasa says that while he and Gen share a lot of friends, there are still a lot of people he hasn’t really talked to. Therefore, as Gen, he’d want to take advantage by getting closer to those other friends. He then goes on to say that as Gen, he’d try to approach one of the older peers and invite them out to dinner to hype up KEYTALK. 

Gen said that he was interested in 3 because he wanted to see how Takemasa lives, but Takemasa revealed that there is really nothing other than CDs.

Gen: So if I’m Takemasa, who would I end up going to dinner with?
Takemasa: Probably with a non-music-related friend, haha. I have a lot of those types of friends.
Gen: Well then I’d get to see the REAL you~

So, were you correct?
The listener chose 2 because Gen probably wouldn’t be able to keep it secret. 

Gen’s Room
A corner where Gen asks his own questions to the guests.

-The Writing Process-

As mentioned in the intro, KEYTALK is a band that’s been around for a long time. They had their major debut about ten years ago with “コースター(Coaster) ” in 2013, but have been around for closer to fifteen years in total (similar to 04 Limited Sazabys). With such a long musical history, each of the members has branched out into songwriting, which, in the beginning, did cause a bit of conflict when compiling an album.

However, as they learned their tastes and preferences, they overcame their differences and became more understanding of what each member wanted. This is likely why their sound is so unique. Each of the members showcases their individual skill in their music with complicated progressions and rhythms, and yet it all somehow comes together in one song. When you listen to KEYTALK, you first hear the general melody, and then you start to notice all the layers beneath it. It always makes for an interesting listening experience. 

-KEYTALK fes??-

Every summer 04 Limited Sazabys holds “YONFES”, which is a music festival in Nagoya. Takemasa shares how, with age and experience in the music world, he’s become more interested in doing something similar with KEYTALK. He really appreciates the idea of creating a space where peers of all ages to interact and play together.

If there was such a festival, you’d definitely see my face in the crowd~ Would you go? 

They talked briefly about who KEYTALK might invite to the festival and joked about trying to get Southern All-Stars to come–which is a legendary J-rock band. But who knows, maybe Southern All-Stars would be down for it?? After all, Orange Range, another legendary pop/rock group, agreed to play with Go! Go! Vanillas when they were still pretty minor!

-Takemasa’s passion for music and medicine-

Radio name: mika

Hello~ So Gen, I saw that your family took you to your first sumo match in your life. Was there an event that your family took you to recently, Takemasa?”

When you think of a musician’s family, what do you imagine? Especially with Takemasa’s talent (he very obviously lives and breathes music), you’d expect that he grew up in a household surrounded by music.

Well actually, the guitarist’s parents are both university professors! However, they were always supportive of Takemasa’s musical pursuits (I think.).

The word he uses is ‘koteiteki’ which means ‘fixed’, so I think his parents wanted him to pursue his dream seriously. He shares how he had taken an interest in music from very early on and, as he got older, it seemed natural to his parents that he continue down that path. I had a hard time understanding this part, though. 

In any case, Takemasa is still close with his parents and talks to them about the band’s progress and asks for their opinions. They even attend some of his concerts~

Gen then asks:
“By the way, when I saw sumo for the first time, it was really interesting. It’s totally different from when you see it on TV. I’m sure you have a lot of other interests, too. Do you have any hobbies?”

“Well not really, but I’ve been really into holistic medicine.” 

The term he uses is translated as “oriental medicine”, but I thought ‘holistic medicine’ would be a better fit for today’s climate. Anyway, he spends a lot of time learning about remedies and other holistic medicine, often scouring online stores for products. He even goes as far as to try to find new holistic shops on walks around town. 

Hearing this, Gen says that Takemasa seems the type who loves learning about new things. However, Takemasa denies this and claims that he just tends to get really curious about things he’s interested in.

Similarly, when he started guitar, he had a lot of questions about how to make it as a musician and hold concerts. Unfortunately, there weren’t many people he could go to, so he started attending music classes. It was there that he could get advice from teachers and peers. He then goes on to talk about one particular moment he had with two students in their sixties and seventies. 

When you go to a music school, you meet a lot of different types of people. There was this time when this drummer and guitarist who were in their sixties and seventies came, and I had my bass. And the three of us started to jam a little together. It was really interesting~”

– Having drinks with Harold Sakuishi-

Do you know the manga “Beck”? I’d heard of it, but I’m honestly more interested in CDs than in manga, so I had no idea of the premise. It’s about a teen rock band under the name ‘Beck’, and the story centers around the band’s trials and tribulations during their rise to fame. Apparently, Gen is also a big fan of the series.

To our shock, but especially to Gen’s, Takemasa had drinks with the author of the series! Harold Sakuishi apparently has always loved music but has never played anything. As a result, Takemasa became his guitar teacher! Maybe one day Sakuishi will make a debut with KEYTALK~

Closing

So, what did you think of the show this week? Is this your first time hearing KEYTALK? KEYTALK was actually the very first Japanese alternative rock band I listened to. Fifteen years ago, the only J-rock I knew was Maximum the Hormone and The GazettE, both of which are good, but I craved something different. Just as I branched into J-pop groups in an attempt to learn more about Japanese music in general, my cousin suddenly sent me the video for “Traveling”. You could say it was love at first listen, and I’ve been a fan for about ten years.

I wouldn’t say that KEYTALK’s sound is different from anything I’ve heard, but when you think of Japanese rock, you generally imagine what you hear in anime–the super heavy stuff. I LOVE the heavy stuff, but I had no idea that alternative rock was even a thing until KEYTALK. It truly was like finding the key to a door that I didn’t even know was locked.

For that reason, I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving who they are as musicians, and I hope experiencing Takemasa’s charisma and learning about his colorful history will bring you to appreciate the band as much as I do.

Happy listening~ ♪

Keep an eye out for these dates:

11/11 and 11/12: 04 Limited Sazabys will have their 15th anniversary “The Band of Life” concert. They’ll also release a new album “Re:Birth” this October.

10/28 (Gen’s birthday): KEYTALK will do a concert at Hibiya Gai Yaon.

10/31: The King’s Place concert: KEYTALK will play with DISH// in Roppongi