Tanaka Soichiro talks about Fuji Rock Festival (2015.07.23)
At first I'd like to ask about Fuji Rock of the first year in 1997. What were you doing then?
It was the year I started Snoozer. The first issue of Snoozer was published in May of that year. But I couldn't go to Fuji Rock of the first year because I went to interview abroad on the very day Fuji Rock started. However Fuji Rock of the first year was promoted on a music magazine like "Reading comes to Japan! " , so I thoght like "Reading? Fuck!". It was the time right after I experienced several festivals abroad and I adored Glastombury especially.
So you got to go to Fuji Rock from 1998?
Yes, but I remember that I went to meet Hidaka-san of the top of organizers right aftter Fuji Rock in 1997 where the second day was stopped. Through the conversation with him I confirmed Fuji aimed at Glastombury, and I thought that first of all those unknown ideas should have been understood and shared, and then I started serial articles titled "The road to Fuji Rock" on Snoozer. I had a small vocation to convey to people that It wasn't just a big outdoor music event like Reading. At that point, There was a possibility that Fuji Rock in 1998 was held at Tenjinyama of the first year, I made a ridiculous article like I made staffs camp out at Tenjinyama and stayed there all night.
How did you view Fuji Rock in 1999?
I have only a good memory of that. A point worthy of special mention is its lineup. Rage Against The Machine on the green stage, Underworld on the white stage......they were so symbolic. I suppose that Fuji Rock in 1999 was the first time to share in the same space which had been supposed to be different by then like rock was rock, techno was techno. It happend that Jungle Brothers, a representative of new school in the east coast, performed on the stage of Propellerheads from UK without notice. It might look so natural for young people today, but nobody thought such a thing happened by then. That was the year when it came true. Moreover, that was the year not you viewed artists such as Rage Against The Machine, Underworld, Blur, ZZ Top one after another as only showcaces of bands, but you shared things you had never experienced like walking around the site for one or three days, talking with friends, getting be one with people you met for the first time, and made so many kinds of really wonderful scenes. I have many memories of each act, but 1999 was full of many feelings such as something really began, new things began to develope, the whole of music scene began to change, audience began to change. That year was full of many premonitions like what happened there might infulence society, a feeling of freedom or thought of independence might be ordinary things or infect the whole of society.
1998 or 1999 was the year Japanese rock began in the real sense. Except them, the lineup of the first Rising Sun Rock Festival in Hokkaido which started in 1999 under the influence of Fuji was so spectacular. I call them 1998 generation, but it was the year we discovered many acts including Utada Hikaru, aiko, Sheena Ringo, Quruli, Number Girl, Supercar. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant broke through at the same year. It was the era when major CD shops such as Tower Record or HMV were built aroud the country in the early 1990s, everybody got be able to listen to new music soon and listen to all catalogs which you couldn't obtain in the form of record twenty or thirty years ago, and both of artists and listeners in Japan chewed up all kinds of music at a stretch. Fuji Rock was the very taker for new and old music and cultural diversity. And field of heaven (a stage of Fuji). I suppose the last in 1990s was the era when hippie thought or organic and spiritual thought were the most energetic. Japanese tried to connect to Japanese original roots in that process. Field of heaven crossed over the mood of that era. It was also the era when I as a punk generation began to understand that atmosphere through meeting rave culture. It's difficult to say which was former, Fuji or a feeling of the era, but the scene and the mood which hadn't existed by then spreaded there and it surely functioned as hints.
In 2000. Each of Thee Michell Gun Elephant and Blanky Jet City acted as the headliner of green stage.
My memory is so obscure, but I remember then there was a backrush against that Japanese bands were appointed as headliners at Fuji where overseas acts were main. However, from my point of view, it was so wonderful that Japanese acted as headliners at the place where many overseas bands selected by Fuji of the best judge gathered. And then I wondered Michell and Blanky were so close in music. I felt Fuji was an event to create a brave slot which defied the common wisdom. They dashed not only favorite acts but also acts they recommended into audience. Therefore audience tried to take them surprisingly and bands all around the world got to think "We want to perform at Fuji!" Appointment of these two headliners of that year were symbolic of those things.
And There is a place you colud use fire at the point where the road from Naeba Prince Hotel intersected to the exit of the camp site, isn't there? In 2000 I was grilling meats entirely there in the rain. Then the degree of recognition of festivals as takers for lovers of the outdoors was so low, I tried to take the initiative in doing it. I remember I was grilling meats without viewing Michell and Blanky, members of Michell were surprised at me earnestly. It's sure that the place of Fuji Rock lays its axis on music, but then I tried to suggest it wasn't the place only for that. It was a so stupid story.
Going back to the story of acts, in that year The Blue Herb performed at the white stage and Denki Groove was the headliner of the white stage. No matter which they are domestic or overseas, excellent acts can flourish on the world stage――it was the year they gave both of acts and audience such a hope which tends to be forgotten. Probably there should have been an argument about it when the lineup was given an announcement. However viewing the performance of Denki Groove really, everybody there should have feel they were as excellent as Underworld in the last year. There should have been a feeling of reality that those things were happening really. Fuji in that year showed it was so stupid to dwell on whether it was western music or Japanese music. Feativals are a kind of medias. Moreover magazines need so many kinds of devices to persuade people, but the media of Fuji can convey so many kinds of facts to people through feeling something there.
In 2001 of the next year, Oasis, Neil Young, Eminem acted as the headliners.
In that year Fuji tried to suggest not the color of each stage but the color of each Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I suppose it was such a year. The lineup was so crossing such as the indie lineup from UK, American alternative & hip-hop, and modern music that both of older people and younger people could enjoy. Of course, there were both strong points and weak points just because of that. Eminem was too soon like Kendric Lamar in the year before last. But New Order was excellent, which was the first gig after they had reunited, though their play was terrible. I was a university student who cried "Return the money back!" at the first Japan tour of New Order, so I campaigned "Anyway, never expect their play! That isn't you should view." on Snoozer before their gig. As the result of that, We could view such a excellent scene. Fuji is the place such a miracle happens.
And then?
I feel the year around 2002 or 2003 was a kind of "the mellow year". It was the time that what place Fuji Rock was had been established gradually, to tell the truth, I felt that education for audience including the organaizer and we magazines got be too tight behind the success in 1999. It was like "Never throw away the trush!". Of course, thank to that Fuji Rock was given the title of the festival where there are the least trash in the world once. I remember it still now, was it in 1999? I dropped my cigarette in bumping into someone there. And a woman behind me showed an atrocious expression, it was like "No way!". Of course it was my fault, but then people were chained to the consciousness like "We launched into Fuji in this manner." a little nervously. So I had a thought like "It wolud be better of looser atmosphere". However we shared the consciousness about the manner casually and made the unchained mood by 2003. And I as a media person felt I was done with spreading the thought of Fuji. By then I said "Never interview at Fuji. Just play, all of staffs!", but then we began to make the Festival issue. So you can tell it was the time that people shared the thought of Fuji in a casual way and these parts and the lineup made a harmony. Of course there were so many kinds of challenges like they redefined the career people. It was the time all things including those things kept its balance.
Do you have any memorable performances at Fuji around then?
Cornelius on the white stage in 2003. I suppose it was the time that techno and psychedelia united and renewed in musical way and in visual way. Techno was more interesting than psychedelia about the visual production. Cornelius of that year showed one of the ideal models. His plays and visuals synchronized perefectly and some visuals of him consisted of only black and white. In other words, he used only white color. Yet it was overwhelming as linghting effect and as visual effect by using only the contrast of white and black. He was the No.1 perfect act in the world in all meanings. Then there were many bands which put many thoughts into how to show the performance priobably under the influence of rave and club culture. As for bands, The Strokes was discovered in 2001 and The White Stripes, The Vines and so on appeared together. It was a so nice era. It was the time that many new bands appeared from America, Europe, the Southern Hemisphere and Fuji was the best taker for them. I guess the selection of bands got be difficult then.
Fuji Rock got be the center of music scene.
That's right. It wasn't a big story. Especially The Music was so symbolic. Audience, bands and the scene grew together based on Fuji Rock, watching your favorite bands get be big, Fuji Rock provided the best stage for your bands――it got be such a symbolic place.
How about Fuji Rock after the late in 2000s?
What I remember of is 2007. The headliner on the first day was The Cure. They are a band of my youthful days. I went to their first Japan tour in 1983 paying what little money I had. The band I interviewed abroad for the first time in 1992 was them. And The Cure of that time achieved a big success in the new album in which they invited a producer who had worked with Korn and Slipnot, won many young fans at a streach, and returned to the forefront of the scene for the firtst time in ten years in the west. So I wanted to view them from my heart. But I didn't finish my work right before their perfirmance and it got be impossible to arrive at the start time by Shinkansen via Echigo Yuzawa. So I dropped out Shinkansen at Omiya in Saitama prefecture, took a taxi going to Naeba. It costed about 100,000 yen. However when I arrived at the green stage, I found it wasn't full. I expected it in advance, but the situation abroad wasn't conveyed to Japan well. Thinking about it later, I found it was a small symbolic event. I mean Japan got be isolated perfectly from the world music market in the past five years. Not only from the west, but also Asia. It's perfectly like that about the performance. In fact western bands come to Japan only when they tour around Asian countries or Australia. Looking back now, it looks that time was the first turning point of the era where only Japan in Asia got be isolated from the west-centered pop scene.
In 2008 My Bloody Valentine was one of the headliners. How about this choice?
It was a so emotinal thing for me as a person who went to their first Japan tour in 1991. It was so terrible that they couldn't reproduce songs in "Loveless" by playing live then and it sounded mostly from ADAT. So looking at audience full of the field, I moved like how great the progress of technology was and this was how legends were made. Oh, sorry for my nasty remarks. Considering its contents and scale, Coachella is the best festival of all. They never have bands which they think uncool to perform there. They are thorough about it. They have a good judge of it, on the other hand, they have a feel of business. Then they had MBV which had stopped their performing to reunite and produced waves of revaluation. They were good at it. Fuji Rock of that year caught the wave well. It was so wonderful.
Have you been to all of Fuji Rocks by now?
I wonder I couldn't go there in 2009 because of hard work. By then I stayed at Naeba for four days everytime because I had a vocation as a media person and I felt it was the best place of all as an audience. It was my annual event in summer. However then it seemed that I felt I completed it once because I had continued conveying the attraction of Fuji Rock, ideas and thought which were the basic of that for more than ten years. To tell the truth, You have to continue the work all the way for new generation like this paper. But then it seemed that everybody felt relieved somewhere in the mind. It included we media people and the organizer. As for audience, they felt releived to be able to always obtain ample pleasure at Fuji and thought it as natural. It was such a time.
Did you go to 2010 when Thom Yorke performed for the first time?
Yes, but I wasn't excited about Atoms For Peace so much. It might be my fault to compare them to Radiohead of the original house. And it was because my brunt of interest was borne by new generation bands, especially Brooklyn-centered US indie bands. In fact, LSD Sound System which played on the white stage behind them was much more excellent than them. And Vampire Weekend was also excellent in that year. But the green stage wasn't full also because it was held in daytime.Then Vampire Weekend and MGM were already big stars abroad. It was the time that alternation of generations proceeded steadily in their country. Of course the white stage MGMT performed in that year was restricted to enter, but it seemed to be the time that the overwhelming supremacy of Fuji Rock began to decline though it had been the center of the world or it had been one and only place where you could find the best music of all around the world including non-western bands. It coincided with that cultural isolation and Galapagos Syndrome in the whole of Japan got to be actualized together.
2011 of the next year was the year when Snoozer was stopped the publication.
To tell the truth, I stopped going to Fuji from that year. Finishing Snoozer, probably I had thought of finishing my role as a media person once. In fact, I felt really that the meaning of Fuji Rock and how to enjoy it were established steadily in society. As the result of that, Fuji of that year was a great success where Radiohead and The Stone Roses performed. It was a kind of fruitful season. However, it was the time that I wanted to distant myself from what I had done by then personally and I got to feel ridiculous to own music for myself. So I sold off most of 50,000 copies of CD and about 10,000 copies of record in my house and office. However I never imagined only Japanese music market got to be isolated from the world after the next few years. It wasn't strange that Arcade Fire of the last year would gather as many people as people of that yeat, but it didn't realize. So I didn't view both of Radiohead and The Stone Roses in Naeba.
But you appeared on Fuji Rock media and talk many things. Does it mean you have something to talk, doesn't it?
I think Fuji is an irreplaceable treasure for Japan. Telling a big thing on purpose, it's important next to Article 9 of Constitution. In fact if I projected some expectation or desire on the twilight of Fuji Rock, it would be one as the place where some feelings and hints to reform society were born. It's not only a talk of the whole of pop music scene, but also a talk that you can feel some hints to live ordinary life and take the feeling into ordinary life not by beeing preached or admonished, just by staying there and enjoying for two or three days. I mean it's a kind of architecture. For example, it's so important for an individual to reform society by going to elections or demostrations. At the same time, it's also important for an indivisual to think your own work connects to gap between rich and poor or absurdity and act in oridinary works as a business person or a citizen. There are so many kinds of means to join society, but at the first place, hints to feel with the skin that there are both of responsibirity and joy in the choice of ordinary food, clothing, shelter are lying here and there in the site of Fuji Rock. However as the existance of Fuji Rock is established in society, gets be natural, follower events such as Taicoclub are increasing or degassing events like luxurious amusement parks are also icreasing the momentum, I feel it gets to be more difficult to convey Fuji's own characteristics to young generation, especially in the past few years.
What do you want Fuji Rock from now on as an individual and a media person?
I want the place of Fuji Rock to be always criticism. I want it to function as critisicm against the whole of pop music scene like Coachella and want it to be also a noble existance like medals for bands. Moreover, I want it to be a catalyst to discover so many kinds of new things. It's a critical existance which makes us think like "Is this wrong in ordinary life?" "Can we apply what we felt in three days at Fuji Rock to ordinary life?". In fact Fuji Rock has been the place like that and this is not only my thought.
You want new generation to feel so.
To tell the truth, I don't know it. I also don't know whether It's good or not that Fuji Rock will be like that from now on. But Fuji Rock has been like that at least for me and the same generation of mine. It's a so strange place. You can get the feeling of reality like "I found we don't need to pursuit efficiency and comfortableness at random" "It's better to live inconvenient life." just by staying there for a half day or a few days. There is almost no place like that. Strange to say, convinient places tend to spoil independence or voluntariness or imagination without knowing it. It tends to be ridiculous like being made to select samething unconsciously even if you have intention to think it by youself and select it by yourself. But the place of Fuji has a function opposite to it. Its performative critisism is really Fuji Rock original.
I'm proud to have done the same thing in my magazine and my writing, but it was quite difficult. None the less it got to be something preachable. But Fuji did it so easily. Therefore Fuji Rock is miraclulous. Nobody knows if the organaizer of Fuji made it consciously. At first Hidaka-san might have certain thought or vision inspired by Glastonbury, Whether it got be like that by crossing over of the feeling of the era or not, whether it got be like that by getting over reactions of tens of thousands of people who gathered there or not, nobody can point out how it got to be like that. Anyway, what got to be such a media or architecture miraclously is only Fuji Rock. Therefore I paied tribute to Fuji Rock so much.
You can tell that more than a half of magic Fuji Rock owned was made by audience. Culture is difficult to be led by someone consciously. it's made automatically in the mix of accidentalness and waves of eras. It's a kind of creature. Here I should choose words to use a little carefully, but I don't like the word like "Fuji Rockers". Precisely band fans who have high royalties are tough to deal with for me. A little dogma is easy to be born and they somtimes make thresholds or walls against casual people outside them. But is it only Fuji where people like palace guards exist? Fuji has such fascinating attraction. In fact there were always romantic feelings at Fuji that the organizer, bands, audience made and grow something new together. It's a kind of community. Of course it contains the plus and cos. Probably there is a part peope who aren't insected with the attraction of Fuji feel annoyed. Troublingly it's so difficult to explain the attraction and it's so easy to understand all things sensuously just by staying there for a while. But those excesses developed so many kinds of chemistry , as the result of that, they have made an era for the past ten years. Its much is ceratin. Therefore I want Fuji to be like that from now on.
