tori kudo

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interviewed by Vincent Chen (陈不为)

  1. 24/08/23-Interview

    Q: Vincent Chen (陈不为)

    A: Mr. Tori Kudo

     

    1. You said that piano is the only instrument you have systematically learned or practiced. When did you start learning piano? I know your earliest exposure to music was when you learned the pump organ when you were 2 and a half years old.

     

    My mother wanted to learn the piano when she was a child. But it was the middle of the Second World War and there was no piano in the house. So she put a picture of a black and white keyboard on the table and played it.

    Because of this memory, my mother wanted me to learn to play the piano. But my parents could not afford a piano. My father worked in a pottery factory, but there were months when he did not get paid. Instead of a salary, he received a box of dried udon noodles. When I was six, my paternal grandmother asked me what I wanted. I wrote “piano” on her palm with my finger. She was surprised, but bought the piano for me with money from my grandfather’s pension from the Forest Management Office. When the piano was installed in the room, I was overwhelmed by its size.

    In later years I recorded a piano improvisation called ‘The Day the Piano Came’.

     

     

    1. In the process of learning piano, do you mainly rely on self-study or have a teacher? What do you like the most about piano? Who’s your favorite pianist?

     

    My room should have a 琴koto, or a piano as a koto, not a piano, and it should sound by itself without my playing it. The playwright Juro Kara wrote the following lyrics.

    “Hey, play the guitar without strings.”

    Actor Noboru Ando of the Japanese Mafia sang it. That is “Black Dog. It is also done by Maher.

    Am I able to play the piano without strings? Will those who pass under my room hear the sound of a piano that sounds without my playing it?

     

    1. Do you remember the first time you wrote a song? What song is it? Was there a point in your life when you realized you were a creator?

     

    The first song I wrote was “Flower on the Mountain” and I think I was about 4 years old.

    When I was about 14, I wrote the song “Plum Blossoms Are Falling, Cherry Blossoms Are Still Blossoming” for the school campfire and we all played it together. That might have been the beginning of Maher. There are many songs about flowers.

     

    1. If you had to name 3-5 musicians who have had the greatest influence on you, who would they be?

     

    King David, Shennong, Duke Zhou, Confucius, Bo Ya.

     

    1. In a 2020 interview, you mentioned that you used to be a construction worker and later became a library driver. Do you still have a full-time job outside of music? Do you think this job means more to you as a musician than just making a living?

     

    Withering away of the state, abolition of borders and proletarian dictatorship were the goals pursued by the youth.

    I found an answer in Daniel 2:44. It dictates; In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever,

     

    1. Among all the members who have participated in Maher Shalal Hash Baz, who is the one that impressed you the most? Why?

     

    All participants are precious.

     

    1. What is your favorite Maher Shalal Hash Baz album? Why?

     

    Every album is my life’s work in every moment.

     

     

    1. MSHB seems to have had no new releases for a long time. Are there any plans for new releases in the near future?

     

    Why do you think a digital release on Bandcamp is not an official release?

     

    1. When you consider yourself a punk, I think this refers more to the lifestyle derived from the DIY spirit of punk. You’ve also said that punk music itself is unremarkable. What’s your biggest takeaway for being a punk?

     

    It may have to do with the following sentence：

    “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world”. (John 17:16)

     

    1. What do you think of inspiration? Do you have a certain life or creative rhythm to keep yourself creating music?

     

    My pen pal Sarah recently wrote a piece that is an extension of David Rosenboom’s work with brainwave music using the concept of “motor tapes” theory.  It is a new way of thinking about melodies, in other words, inspirations that boil over in our brains, which “seem to act as continuous, random, motor patterns as noise generators.

    So we could say that much of what we think of as inspiration is not inspiration, but machinations.

     

     

    1. I feel that you deliberately keep distance from certain beliefs or organizations. Some individuals are innately repelled by collective or mainstream things. Do you think it is for similar reasons? Why is distance important to you? You’ve also mentioned that your lyrics are about “the distance between society and melody.” Is this filling some kind of void?

     

     

    1. You once said that your daily life is to sit in the port and waste time; if punk is a kind of rebellion, I think this is also a very punk thing. In East Asian countries, “idleness” is a derogatory term, but in today’s Chinese society, ” involution” has become exhausting, more and more young people are beginning to pursue “relaxation.” Have you ever had this sense of crisis in your life that “if you don’t do something, your life is wasted”? When did you relax? Is it related to your alienation from political movements?

     

     

    Do you know Jenny Odell’s “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy?”

    It reminds me of Tǎng píng (躺平) in China, as well as the Western popularity of “quiet resignation” and “ leprechaun model.”

    I think the purpose in our life is to manage the park and care for the flora and fauna.

     

     

     

    1. I think there is always a certain sense of humor in your works (such as “The Poverty Trilogy”). What do you think of humor? The three songs in “Poverty Trilogy” all have Chinese titles, how did you come up with the idea of using Chinese words as the titles?

     

    Any city with a population of more than one million is bound to have a few smart audiences.

    In Japan, that would be Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, etc.

    By that measure, there are many more cities in China!

    The now defunct PSF Records also relied on the Chinese market in the end.

    I remember this episode when I was recording the Poverty Trilogy.

    At that time, I was really poor and had no money for a cup of coffee in a cafe. So I decided to make CDRs and sell them.

    I sold several copies of the Poverty Trilogy in several countries including China, which was enough to pay for a cup of coffee.

     

    1. Have you been to China? What is your impression of China? Are there any Chinese musicians that you like?

     

    No, I haven’t been there.

    My concern is the origin of Chinese letter. Did you know the letter 船 means eight people in the ark?

     

    神農、周公、孔子、伯牙

     

    As for the musicians, Shennong, Duke Zhou, Confucius, and Bo Ya are my cup of tea.

    And the title “Sally can’t dance” in Beijing was great.

     

    神农、周公、孔子、伯牙

     

     

    1. What is your biggest wish now ?

     

    Getting not the bad news but the good news out to people.

    向人们传播好消息