Toshi got interviewed by a bass magazine.
Translated from Japanese by Google
RT @bassmagazinejp: PassCode that sweeps the idol scene with loud music. We interviewed Toshihiro, who is the bassist in the back band! This time, from Pass Code, we asked Nao-san to talk about Toshihiro-san's charm...
Translated from Japanese by Google
RT @butterfly_toshi: [Notice]
Base magazine web interview
Frustration of giving up on music activities
Company work → Bandman at the age of 30
Up to live activities at Zepp
Everyone who likes me
I have now thanks to the people who are always involved
🎸
Pass...
“チームPassCode”ではベーシストであると同時にバンド・マスターも務めるToshihiroはこれまでどういった道を歩み、今後どのようなビジョンを描いているのだろうか。シーンの最前線をいくアイドル・グループを支える、ひとりのベースマンの真髄に迫る。
bassmagazine.jp
Interview translation:
“チームPassCode”ではベーシストであると同時にバンド・マスターも務めるToshihiroはこれまでどういった道を歩み、今後どのようなビジョンを描いているのだろうか。シーンの最前線をいくアイドル・グループを支える、ひとりのベースマンの真髄に迫る。
translate.google.com
Sessionman's Style 2020 “Another Edition” ①-Toshihiro
- Interview: Koji Kano
- Photo: Hiroto Kawagoe
SPECIAL PROGRAM "Sessionman's Style 2020" was carried out in the
August issue of
Bass Magazine , which is now on sale . For about 50 pages, we featured the appearance of "Sessionman" who is not only a member of a particular band but is recording and performing live by various artists.
This time, on BASS MAGAZINE Web, we carried out [Sessionman's Style 2020 “Another Edition”-there is a bassist in the Idol Warring States period] as a spin-off project for this magazine. Introducing two great bassists who support the current idol scene, which is also called the “Sengoku period”.
A solid heavy sound that has survived "frustration"
PassCode is a 4-person idol group that has an overwhelming presence in the Japanese idol scene with its loud musicality such as screamo, metal, and electronic core. The unique composition of “idol x loud rock” has been beautifully embodied, and its sound and live performance have been well received not only by idol fans but also by core music fans. One of the members of the back band who is evolving the sound to be heavier and more dramatic in such Pass Code is bassist Toshihiro. Toshihiro, who is a bassist and band master in “Team PassCode”, what has been his career and what kind of vision will he have in the future? We approach the essence of a single baseman who supports the idol group at the forefront of the scene. This time, we also interviewed Minami Nanao from PassCode ( page 3 ). We talked about the attractiveness of Toshihiro from the perspective of the members who work together.
There was also the implication that it was a challenge to oneself, "how much can I do?"
━━ When and how did you start playing bass?
I have been playing the piano and electric tones since I was an elementary school student, and in junior high school there was a trend of visual and punk bands at that time, so I was practicing the music of those bands with the acoustic guitar that was in my parents' house. When I first joined the high school light music club, I was playing guitar, but when practicing guitar riffs and strokes, I practiced while humming the bass line with my mouth, so from that time on I was interested At that time, I got stuck in the guitar, and when I tried to play the bass to change my mood, I often sang the bass line, so I knew that I would pick up the sound... “I would rather play the bass. Eh!”, so I changed to a bassist.
━━ It 's rare to say the bass line.
I was thinking that "the bass harmonies only give the guitar harmony," so I used the mouth to replace the bass. At that time, you sang the bass line all the time between going to and from school (laughs). It was nice that the guitar harmonizes with the base of my voice.
━━ How did you participate in PassCode?
After graduating from high school, I went to a music vocational school, but I was frustrated by music there, and for the ten years after I graduated, I was completely away from music and lived as an office worker. After that, when I was 30 years old, I resumed my activities as a bassist after joining the band called my-Butterfly, but the band broke up about two years after I joined. Around that time, a band member in my teens suddenly contacted me and asked me to play the bass of an idol back band called PassCode, so I went to a rehearsal. We officially joined in 2016.
Members of PassCode. Kaede Takashima, Hinako Ogami, Yuna Imada, Nao Minami from the left
━━ What is the frustration of stopping music...?
It is a setback for myself, "Why can't I play this phrase, why can't I do it as I want?" However, even when I was in my twenties when I was away from music, I couldn't cut off my feelings for music, so I dared to keep away from music and always had subservient feelings (laughs). When I returned to the world of bands at the age of 30, people were younger than me, few people knew it anymore, and the bass play I was confident about when I was a teenager was all new. I greedily pursued music and bass play in genres that I haven't touched because I absorbed so much, and started over.
━━ How did you start your activities at the age of 30 and what changed your mind?
A friend of mine from a vocational school suddenly contacted me saying, "I have a band looking for a bass, so why don't we come to see a rehearsal?" I happened to do rehabilitation at a studio near my house, so I somehow went back to the company to see it. At first, I was silently watching, but as I was watching, I couldn't stand it any longer... When I tried to play it, "Let's lend a little base, or play it like this," I got a higher rating than expected. I was asked, and after that, I was invited by the members. I was worried about resuming my activity as a bandman again, but "I want to dispel my feelings and regrets for the music that has been stuck in my heart all the time", "I think there is only a chance to try again." "I decided to join because I felt the strong feeling that came to me.
━━My -Butterfly and PassCode are characterized by loud sounds such as hardcore and metal. Is Toshihiro himself originally having this kind of musicality in the backbone?
When I was in high school, the visual and punk scenes were exciting, so I was doing that kind of band as well, but I was more fond of having a session than anything I liked, so I want to mix them together. I felt like I was doing that kind of music. I also worked in a mix band at a vocational school, so when I restarted music at the age of 30, I remembered loud music, so I think I could have dealt with it immediately.
━━Are there any artists currently supporting other than PassCode?
Recently, I have participated in the recording of CM songs for voice actor Haruka Kudo, an indie group and indie group. It is a J-POP type song that is different from PassCode, and I was good at such music originally, so I can play naturally without any discomfort.
━━ Mr. Toshihiro has been playing as a bandman for a long time, what kind of image did you have for the position of support at the beginning?
To be honest, at first I was not good at it. After all, I had a premise that I wanted to become a base hero, so I think I might have been reluctant to step back and become a shadow. Furthermore, I jumped into a place where I hadn't been to idol music until now, I didn't understand anything, and nobody knew anything, so it meant that I could challenge myself to the extent to which I could do it. Before I did it, I had a strong image that "a detailed order was given to play and I would do it", but when I actually tried it, I accepted all the styles I had been doing in the band, so as a bandman It's a feeling that you are playing by cutting yourself. However, what you want to do and what you are asked for do not match exactly, and it can be far or close, so think about ways to realize both parts that both can not give In some sense, I am looking forward to focusing on what is required at the expense of my sacrifice.
I actually thought to the devil, "This kind of music, this kind of bass, it's rare" (laughs) .
━━ PassCode In-band master also has been in charge, do you such a position to specifically that what kind?
First of all, it is the organizer of the band members. I think that I was nominated by Banmas because I participated in 2016 when PassCode went to major, and since I participated in all the live and recording since then. There aren't so many band members now, but at the beginning, I sometimes placed orders for each part.
━━I think you already have a band called PassCode!
Some people say that (laughs). However, as a major premise for myself, I intend to draw a big line that I have an idol member and I play the bass there, and as a result, one organization called "Team PassCode" is created. I think that there. Band members are fixed in Pass Code, so there are many opportunities to discuss with the entire team. For example, before the live, we will ask you to ask "I want to make the MC longer because I will change the bass here", or conversely, "What do you think about this set list, band?" In that context, communication becomes essential, and at the same time, I think that a sense of unity and bonds between the idol members and the band members are also developed.
━━ How do you create a bass line for a song with PassCode?
Nowadays, there are many cases where a composer gives you a sound source with a bass line that says "roughly like this". After that, when I was recording, I suggested "How would you like this phrase?", or conversely, a suggestion from the other side might create a phrase on the spot. I tend to hum the bass line, so I usually casually make phrases with the feeling of replacing a sloppy phrase with an actual fingerboard.
━ Technical slap phrases such as "STARRY SKY", "DIVE INTO THE LIGHT" and "Seize Approaching BRAND NEW ERA" are impressive, but technical slap is rare in such loud music.
Originally, I didn't listen to hardcore or metal so much, so I feel like I'm freely shaping what I thought to be "like this." However, I'm actually thinking of the genius "I like this kind of music, this kind of bass, it's rare", and I even try to play "I don't usually do this at this timing" (laughs). In recording, even if you don't normally need to play the bass, sometimes you can even try adding a bass and you'll be told, "Play, there, but it's interesting, so let's go." I am grateful that I am able to compete in the part where I am most good at producing 100%, and that I am pleased and respected as a result.
PassCode "STARRY SKY"
━━ music of PassCode is also features EDM taste synchronization is sounding pounding, or will become necessary to devise also to the base of the sound making these cases?
This is also the case when only the bass is live with the EDM + beat, and when the guitar gain is in the foreground and the low band is close to the bass, it becomes “the bass's whereabouts almost never!” in the ensemble. There is In such a case, the team as a whole will try to find a solution, but while thinking about the overall balance and devising the EQ and sound creation of the bass, there are places that appear as bassists, where they withdraw. I try to be aware that I will be withdrawn. Also, I haven't played most of the picks up until now, but I discovered that the sound was coming off because I started playing the picks last year.
━━ What is the main base of PassCode?
CR-MS of E-II is the main, and the cables are unified as "Komaho Cable". I have two CR-5 MSs with exactly the same specifications, and I like the fact that I can maintain the tension of the low strings because it is a fund fret, and it can also support long sustain. One tuning is regular and the other one is used with all strings raised by a semitone.
━━Is it a semitone? ? It's rare.
Yes, I think it's quite unusual. Occasionally, if you lend a bass, you'll get a reaction like "This hard bass, don't play well" (laughs). I don't think I can play it well, but when I think of the bass line I want to express, I have no choice but to use this tuning... I also wanted to do irregular tuning in a regular way. When replacing the phrase that you thought of with the actual fingerboard with drop tuning, it takes another time to calculate the fret, but if it is a semitone, there is an advantage that you can slide with regular fingering. .. I also thought about using a whammy pedal to raise the semitones, but it's unpleasant that the frequency that you are actually playing is different from the sound that comes from the monitor. I am.
Main unit E-II/CR-5 MS. It is a model that uses multi-scale with 24 frets.
━━Are there any live recordings or recordings that you made with PassCode?
After all, last year's ZEPP tour was especially impressive. Until a few years ago, I didn't think I could play bass in such a place, so I felt like I was enjoying unreality. In the recording, the song "Same to you" entered the chorus in 3 beats, and then 6 runs continued, but I was confident that I was able to express it firmly with 2 fingers like myself. became.
━ Lastly, please tell us your goals as a bassist in the future.
First of all, I always think that when I find a customer who is boring on the floor at the time of a live, I make that customer smile even for a moment, and after the performance I think "Today's live was funny" The goal is to get them. As for the future, when I participated in PassCode, it was the same as when I participated in PassCode, but the idea is not to be able to do it, but to want to test your strength and challenge. I want to challenge more and more. As a bassist, I also want to find the fun of bass play that I haven't found yet. It may not be the existence of the base hero that I was aiming for when I started the bass, but I think that this (support bassist) is also fun.
Finally, we interviewed PassCode's Minami Nao. How does Toshihiro appear in Minami's eyes that have been active as a member of PassCode before joining Toshihiro?
Minami
Minami Minato ● Born November 27, 1996, from Osaka Prefecture. Joined PassCode in July 2013. Known by the nickname "Yachii", she is in charge of the live performance. She is also expanding her field of activities by challenging other actresses.
━━Minami has been a member of PassCode before Toshihiro joined, but what kind of change did Toshihiro join?
Nowadays, we are performing live on all performance band sets, but at the beginning when we introduced the band set, the live style was more idol-oriented, and the way to communicate with the band members was how to live in the band. I didn't know it, so as I went around the tour together, I gradually established the current Pass Code while having Toshihiro and other band members teach me the live style of the band. Not only the members but also the band members, such as the set list, the meeting before the live, the reflection after the live, etc., we are traveling around the tour. Mr. Toshihiro is the oldest member and band member, but he is also a mood maker, but he also eases the situation.
━━What do you think Toshihiro-san's bass sound is in the PassCode song?
Originally, the bass was also hard-worked, and since it became a live instrument, the sound became powerful and it became possible to express the musicality of PassCode more widely. Among the various types of songs, Toshihiro-san makes a sound close to each one.
━━I think that Toshihoro-san is playing the bass right after the live, and the sound will be transmitted directly, but what is Toshihiro-san's presence at the live?
Playing with a good sound will increase our tension and improve performance. I often make eye contact with the band members during the live, but Toshihiro-san is one of the band members who has a particularly big movement, so when I'm tired in the second half, I said "I can't lose!" You can regain your spirit. I'm always on the same team, so the feeling of security behind me is great mentally. Toshihiro's play and personality are popular with fans.
━━Please give a message to Toshihiro.
Thank you for taking care of PassCode! Thank you for your continued support. Let's go see the good scenery together!
◎Profile
Toshihiro ● Born September 10, born in Osaka Prefecture. He started playing bass when he was in high school. In 2014, he joined the 4-piece rock band my-Butterfly, which is based in Osaka, but disbanded in 2016. After the dissolution, started activities as a support bassist for the 4-person idol group PassCode, and participated in all recordings and live since joining in 2016. In addition, he is expanding the scope of his activities by participating in recording of commercial songs, including voice actors/idols such as Haruka Kudo. PassCode won the first Oricon weekly ranking first place on the 9th single "STARRY SKY" released on May 20.