Introduction For me, The Storytelling EP has been one of the strongest records released this year. Masaaki Yoshida, aka Anchorsong took time out from reinventing the performance of live electronica to answer these questions via email. back to features		Anchorsong It's hard to believe that Anchorsong started out as a three-piece rock band - what kind of music did you play at that time? We had played music together for 4 years before we named the band "Anchorsong." We wrote so many pieces, but most of them were just shit - haha. After we changed the band's name to "Anchorsong," I thought our music sounded like human powered breakbeats. I still play some songs we wrote at that time, for example, "No Virus, No Fever" is one of them. I was the main song writer and played the guitar and the keyboard. What made you change from rock to electronica? I don't mind if some people call my music "Electronica," but I'm not going to categorise it like that - it's just a result coming from my broad range of musical taste, and I don't even know how I should express it. The only thing I can say is that "Rock" music is still my musical roots. How did your performance style originate? I'd been a big fan of electronic music, but I'd never been satisfied with the performances using laptops, turntables, or any other electronic tools. They'd never as been exciting or thrilling for me as the human-powered performance of a rock band. But I believe it's not impossible to make the performance of electronic music comparable to that of a rock band. When I was making the beats with MPC at home, I found that to show the process of making music is much more interesting than to just push play and show the ready-made beats. It's the origin of my performance style I think. This style has turned you into something of a phenomenon, both on YouTube and in the clubs of Tokyo - how do you feel about that? It's good to know that many people enjoy my music at clubs or through YouTube. But I don't feel it's become as big as a "phenomenon," because this is just the beginning. My destination is still so far away, and I've just started. Where/what is your 'destination'? My destination is very simple, "just to create good music." It doesn't always mean I want to make a musical revolution happen, but I want to create an alternative to the current popular music scene. And I still have such a long way to go. When I listened to The Storytelling EP it reminded a little of DJ Shadow (among others) - who would you say are your influences? Actually DJ Shadow is one of my most favourite artists, and I have to admit I'm greatly influenced by his music (and live performances too). If I were to list a few artists (among many) who give me a lot of inspiration, I'd have to say Bjork, Radiohead, Kanye West, Timbaland, and The Beatles. Basically, I prefer music with vocals to just instrumental. Does this mean that future tracks will have more vocals? Which vocalists would you like to work with? Yes, I want to collaborate with some vocalists in the future, for example Emurasta (Romancrew), Daisuke Yamamori (ROCK'A'TRENCH), Q-Tip, Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Thom Yorke, Bjork and many more... But of course, I'll keep on writing instrumental songs too. Will there be a full-length album in the near future? If so, when? It's not clear when a full album will come out yet, but I have some unreleased tracks and a concept for the whole album. It'll be a variety of crossover music which reflects the broad range of my musical taste. You're moving to London in October - what are you planning to do there and what do you hope to achieve? I'm moving to London to play music with more excitement. I know underground music scene in Tokyo is attractive, but not the same as it is in the UK. The UK has been the centre of popular music for more than 30 years, and musical innovation is going to keep on happening in the underground. I don't know if I can become part of it, but I just want to try. Which bands/musicians would you recommend to people who want to listen to more Japanese music (any genre)? These are my favorite artists in Tokyo underground scene: Romancrew (Hiphop) LITE (Instrumental rock) SOUR (Rock) - Graeme Jarvie
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