さかいゆうさんとの出会い
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast.
We have a very special guest here today with us.
The one and only, さかいゆうさん.
You're going to be my English teacher.
Really? Can I?
I didn't know you spoke English.
He speaks English really well.
No?
You were in LA, right?
But I wasn't studying English at all.
Really?
I never studied English formally.
I really don't know 分析古文.
Yeah, I mean, a lot of people are like that, right?
They watch dramas and they learn and stuff like that.
So let's tell the audience why he's here.
So, you want to...
Yeah, so...
音楽コラボレーション
As everybody knows, he's a musician, he's a singer.
Yes.
Legendary singer.
And then, luckily, I had a lovely opportunity that I made a song with him.
Collaborated with him.
Yeah, when I heard that, I was like, whoa, really?
Yeah, me too.
Like, when I heard that, like, me, really?
Sakai-san, Da Sakai-san?
I was like that.
Yeah, and so we released a song called Gotta Get Up.
Okay.
演奏体験と制作過程
It was also my challenge.
Because, you know, like, mainly first thing, right?
Experience.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like MV shooting.
Right, right, right, right.
As I'm, like, really, like, new to that music world, I'm stepping in.
And he just picked me up.
And then I experienced, like, recording for the first time with, you know, the professional singers.
Okay, yeah.
So first of all, we wrote a song together.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
From zero, from scratch.
Well, I mean, it wasn't from scratch.
Okay.
Because he...
Yeah, I made only track.
Okay, you made the track, okay.
Yeah, he went to LA, had a, you know, co-write song sessions with...
It's tough situation right now.
It is?
Oh, the LA fire you're talking about?
Yeah, absolutely.
I used to live in...
By the way, I used to live in Pasadena.
Pasadena, okay.
It's super famous for, like, terrible fire right now, right?
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Pasadena?
Pasadena, yeah.
Is it severely, like, damaged from the fires right now?
It's close to, you know, mountain.
Oh, okay.
I see.
Crazy.
Yeah, crazy.
Yeah.
So, it was like...
I was depressed.
Yeah, so you wrote it again, right?
Right, right, yeah.
Don't need to be discouraged.
Yeah, of course.
But you went to, like, a year ago?
Yeah, yeah.
Or two years ago?
Yeah, like, last year.
Last year.
Last summer.
To Pasadena and did writing sessions.
Okay.
And he wrote, he made, like, a track.
And then, like, with a demo, like a song, like melodies.
Yeah.
Oh, like a really simple, easy, like...
Yeah.
Like a...
Almost finished.
Almost finished, okay.
So, only track.
Oh, okay.
Without lyrics, though.
Without the lyrics.
Yeah, yeah.
So, we met for the first time through the, like, video calls.
You were in Japan, he was in LA.
Oh, no, I was in Japan, he was in Japan, too.
Oh, I see.
I was...
He was back.
さかいゆうとの対話
I was in Ashizuri Misaki.
Ashizuri Misaki, that's his house.
Oh, okay, okay.
We had a meeting.
A meeting?
Zoom meeting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And we talked, and I was, like, I was so nervous that I'm facing Sakai-san.
I would be, too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right.
It's a completely Japanese style.
Very Japanese.
Yeah, yeah.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Yeah.
Soredewa.
Right, right, right.
The director said.
And then we started, like, send emails to each other.
Yeah.
Writing, like, ideas of lyrics.
That is...
That was my super challenge.
Oh, was it?
Yeah.
You gave some words.
Yeah.
So that came up to mind, your mind, freely.
Yeah.
So, like, revolution.
Yeah.
Go to...
Go somewhere nice.
This song's English?
It's all English?
All Japanese.
Both.
Okay, I see.
Half Japanese, half English.
So you gave him some keywords.
Just not the full lyric, but only keywords.
Yeah, keywords.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We tried to, like, write it together.
Okay.
I see.
From both sides.
I see.
Yeah.
It helped me a lot to, you know, write lyrics.
Thank you.
Yeah, so I wrote, like, he gave me, like, some, like, ideas and, like, some words.
Like, the themes, you know.
Okay.
Like, revolutions, like, party songs and things like that.
Yes, sounds like really party song.
But I didn't make, like, you know, so simple party song.
So, a little bit, you know, complicated.
Yeah.
Yeah, actually, it contains, honestly, political...
Right.
Oh, okay.
Elements.
That's, I say, completely metaphor, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, go Republican, go Democrats.
No, no, no, no.
Nothing like that.
Nothing like that.
It's like a metaphor.
Metaphor.
Hidden message.
Yeah, so fighting for, you know, like, darkness.
There are a lot of, you know, untouchable darkness and evil.
We cannot, you know, do anything for that.
We cannot, you know, solve, you know, certainly.
But I don't want to ignore that.
So, what should I do or what can I do?
So, I always, like, watch that.
Don't ignore that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Only that it's enough because our eyes could be light in a huge darkness.
That's why.
So, it's a metaphor.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's what we wrote.
The whole vibe is a party song.
Yeah, it's just a party song.
It's really surprising to me that a party song would come out from you, too.
Like, I was expecting more of a calmer, more of a, like, a chiller vibe.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So, like, yeah, it's not bad.
So, political party song.
Yeah.
Political party song.
You will notice if you just casually listen to that.
Yeah.
It's a party song with, you know, choirs and, like, gospel singers.
Like.
Yeah, yeah.
Sometimes.
Yeah.
Yeah, not super political.
Yeah.
It's motivation.
One of motivation.
Right, right.
Gotta get up.
Yeah, gotta get up.
I see.
I see.
Yeah.
Right, right, right.
So, we send email to each other.
Yeah.
Like, I wrote, you know, listen to that sounds.
And then, like, from the keyboard, I, like, evolve those.
Yeah.
And type everything and send it to him.
Yeah.
And then Sakai-san, like, you know.
Sakai-san, like.
Yeah.
Sakai-san, like.
Send me, like, some feedbacks, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And finally, he collect everything and make it to, like, one song.
Oh, I see.
Yeah.
I see.
That's amazing, you know.
Is this the, wait.
So, you've collabed with other artists as well, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is this, like, the normal routine?
Is this the normal method of collaborating with other people?
Not normal.
Not normal.
No more.
So, yeah.
Usually, I make everything by myself.
And this album is a lot of collaboration.
Yes.
Okay.
So, okay.
I see.
I see.
アルバム『Pasadena』の紹介
The album called Pasadena.
Pasadena.
Oh, the city that you just talked about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
What a coincidence.
Yeah.
Right now.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's actually not.
No.
Because it's, like, 15th anniversary album, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sakai-san's, like, 15th anniversary.
Okay.
And, you know, I think it's been, like, planned way before then.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Challenging and back to, you know, my roots.
That's why.
音楽のルーツと経歴
So, I used to live in LA.
So, in LA, you know, made me, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, in LA, you know, made me, you know, to become a musician.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
That's where you started the journey.
Yeah.
That's one of my roots.
Yeah.
I see.
So, in that album, there are many songs that he collaborated with, not only me, but with,
you know.
Other artists?
Big musicians.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I see.
Yeah.
I see.
曲作りのプロセス
How do you co-create a song?
Like, how do you...
I want to know that, too.
Like, what's...
So, for example.
Like, there's so many songs out there, I don't know, not only Japanese, but like, English,
American songs.
Yeah.
Like, for example, I don't know.
Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris.
It's like nowadays.
Yeah.
Yeah.
How do they work together?
I'm curious.
It depends on, you know, artist.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's...
Nowadays, it's super common, you know, co-write.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And super, you know, rapidly made up all.
Okay.
Yeah.
曲作りのプロセス
Like, one day.
One day?
Yeah.
One day.
Like, a whole song?
Like, two...
Yeah.
Yeah.
Two songs.
Sometimes two songs one day.
Wow.
Not from scratch, though, right?
Like, I'm assuming one person has, like, 70% done, and then, like, the other person is
like, oh, let me give you ideas for the rest of 30%.
Yeah.
And then, boom.
Like, 100%.
Is that...
For example, so, my songs, definitely, it took, like, three hours?
I mean, three hours without lyrics.
Without lyrics.
Is that...
What do you...
What's your...
Is that...
That's fast?
Or...
I mean, that's fast.
That is fast.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's a professional level, you know?
I take, like, weeks to make one song, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
If you have a certain concept, it's really rapidly can make songs.
Yeah.
On his Insta, YouTube, whatever, there were, like, behind the scenes where he did a co-write
session in LA.
Okay.
And then, in that video, he met one guy, like, the producer, like, one guy and hi.
And then, get into...enter to the one room, and start playing something, and like...
And then, like, sing melody, like, together, and make it, like, one song.
Yeah.
Like...
Of course.
Wow.
Mainly just, like, from scratch.
I mean, you made not only one song in that day, right?
Not only.
Yeah.
For the albums, because...
Two songs?
I believe.
That day.
Yeah.
Songs are...wow.
It's super, super rapid.
It sounds so professional to me.
Yeah.
You don't have time to, you know, bother, you know?
So, like,
Oh, wow.
Just so, you know, it's limited my English.
Oh, it's okay.
It's shunpatsu ryoku.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Make it sound like English.
Yeah.
Shunpatsu ryoku.
Okay, so, you value the shunpatsu ryoku more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Should be.
Should be.
Yeah.
He said one time, he start writing songs, for example, like, three-minute song.
Okay.
He basically need three minutes to write that song.
Meaning...
That doesn't make sense.
Right?
It doesn't matter.
Yeah.
Many jazz musicians say like that.
Yeah.
But it's like improvising.
Yeah.
And making on the spot.
So, great jazz musicians improvise also.
It's more than, you know, ad-lib.
Yeah.
It's a completely song.
Uh-huh.
But, like, don't you, like, want to...
Like, let's say you make a song in, like, one day.
Yeah.
And then, like, next day you listen to the song and you're like,
Oh, I want to change this.
Doesn't that happen?
Like...
Many times.
What do you do then?
Do you change it or do you leave it?
Like...
But...
Hmm.
We talked about it.
And...
How about this?
How about this?
Like that.
Okay.
So, sometimes you kind of change it.
Change it, yeah.
J-POPの未来
Sometimes you don't.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Because I think, like, there's making the song day.
And then you have, like, recording day.
Yeah.
And then you have, like, after processing day.
It's like mixing and everything.
Okay.
So, on one day, he made, like, one song.
Okay.
But for the recording day, you have, like, maybe times.
And then at the recording times, you talk something and, like,
maybe change a little bit, a melody or sometimes.
But first impression, like, especially hook...
Yeah.
...is the most important thing.
So, to, you know, co-writing.
So, that's...
Or riffing.
Okay.
Riff.
That's enough.
Nowadays, so trend music, trend, you know.
Pop music.
Yeah, pop music industry.
Yeah.
But J-POPs is...
J-POPs have many elements.
I'm proud of J-POPs.
Because many elements.
So, like, many hits song nowadays.
So, it's only one sound and...
Yeah.
That's it.
Or, no, not like that.
So, J-POPs.
So, my director said, this year, J-POP will boom.
Ooh.
Like, globally.
Globally.
So, Grammy, actually, Grammy said.
The Grammy, yeah.
Yeah.
I heard the news.
What did they say?
What did Grammy say?
So, like, they focus on J-POPs.
So, recently, like, K-POP have been, you know, trend, right?
Yeah.
So, maybe next turn is J-POPs.
J-POPs turn.
J-POPs turn.
Yeah.
That's Grammy said, like, officially.
They said.
Grammy said?
Putting their eyes on J-POPs right now.
You gotta go.
I mean, yeah, I'd love to.
Are they talking about city pop?
No, J-POPs.
They're not talking about city pop.
You know, like, the, you know, stay with me.
Yeah.
It's a city pop, right?
It's a city pop.
Are they, the Grammys are talking about that?
Yeah, not only.
Not only that, but like.
J-POPs.
Like, Yoasobi.
Yoasobi or Kazekun.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's really Garapagos, you know, music, right?
What do you mean by that?
Garapagos means, like, really isolate.
It's getting really interesting, you know?
For me.
Super distinguish.
Okay, so it's like a.
Like special taste.
Very unique.
Very unique.
Yeah.
It doesn't sound like, you know, any music.
Any other music.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, but I actually, I would say I make the western music that only Japanese can make.
It's a little bit paradox.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that's why.
You're interested in that, making western music that only Japanese can make.
Not only me.
So look at the many J-POP artists.
Yeah.
So beautiful music.
Yeah.
Right.
Right, right, right, right.
So sometimes J-POPs.
It's like, you know.
I get it.
Yeah, I get the one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A little this, a little bit.
Yeah.
That could be, you know.
Not anymore, I think.
Not anymore.
Not anymore, I think.
Right, right, right.
True.
We're going to have big chance.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Big chance.
For sure.
Yeah.
都市ごとの音楽の変化
Global.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I mean, maybe we can talk further, you know, about this.
But how do you think, like, which, on which part for you J-POPs are, like, special?
Like, different from, like, in general.
I mean, the cause or, like.
It's a, like, rapidly changing scene.
Like, seasons in Japan.
Okay.
So there are a lot of, you know, elements.
Atmosphere.
Yeah.
Smells.
Many things.
Yeah, I, you know, six years ago, five years ago, I did world recording tour.
Yeah.
And I went to.
That's great.
Sao Paulo, London, New York, and L.A.
Okay.
And all different.
So make sense.
I feel like I really understood why, for example, in Sao Paulo, why they really love, you know, bossa nova or samba.
Look at the, you know, circumstance.
Yeah.
Environment.
Yeah, environment.
Yeah.
So, oh, this air and these people can make great bossa nova.
And also, like, you know, London.
In London, they really love jazz and urban music, but slightly change, slightly different from New York.
It's look like, sounds like New York and London.
Okay.
Yeah.
So Sade.
Sade sounds like, you know, really British.
Okay.
Urban R&B music.
Jazz funk.
Not New York.
Not New York.
Not Tokyo.
Not Tokyo.
Who's New York, for example?
Oh, yeah.
For example, New York is Billy Joel.
Okay.
And what else?
Yeah, many.
I see.
So, like, new jazz.
Yeah.
New jazz.
So, yeah.
Yeah, I can kind of feel that.
Yeah, New Orleans is like, New Orleans.
That's New Orleans.
That's New Orleans.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
And LA is really dry.
Okay.
And you can see so wide sky.
From the sound, right?
But New York is so cluster.
Cluster.
Yeah.
And it's so...
Chaos.
Yeah.
Complete.
So complicated.
Complicated.
Harmony.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
So, jazz is very different.
That's interesting.
Whereas London is more like smoothie, like...
Smoothie.
Near...
Yeah.
So...
Yeah.
Similar with New York, but it's a...
No.
It's different.
Oh, that's interesting.
That's interesting.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
So, that's why you're focusing on to, like, make something here in Tokyo.
Or you're in Asadori Misaki.
Yeah.
You can feel the vibe from the cities and, you know, air around you.
Of course.
And then put it in one song.
Yeah.
That's what you wanna...
What you are doing right now.
What about you?
So, you understand that, you know, how different.
So, each places.
Yeah.
LA and New York.
Yeah.
Right.
English is kind of different, right?
Yeah.
Different.
Not slightly.
音楽の中の言語の融合
But in Japan, it's a funny thing.
Interesting thing is that, you know, grammar and vocabulary are totally different, you know, from, you know, Aomori.
Yeah, Aomori.
Absolutely.
Osaka, Okinawa.
So, yeah, it never happens, right?
So, in America.
English is still English.
True.
True.
Yeah.
So, the pronunciation is really different.
But that's super, you know, interesting and Garapagus language, Garapagus country in Japan.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, that's why in that song that we made together, Gotta Get Up, we put English and Japanese both mixed with this background, you know.
Oh, gotcha.
That's why he did.
Gotcha, gotcha.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, I mean, that was really quick.
That was actually over the time limit that we...
Oh, really?
I can talk forever.
Let's do another episode talking about the English side of him.
Yeah, yeah.
Whatever you want.
Whatever we want.
Yeah.
Okay.
But for this episode, thanks for listening, guys.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
