“FU-RE-FU-RE-FU-RE! One More Time: FU-RE-FU-RE-FU-RE!!”

An Interview with Mochizuki and Tsuchimaru of Uchudan

With the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, I wish to dedicate this forward to the charities helping support those suffering under such painful occupation and oppression. Please consider donating to the UNRWA or WAQFOREVER to help the vital aid for Palestinians to continue.

---

In March last year, amidst the gloomy weather of Winter’s overstayed presence, I came across a link to a music video by a band I hadn’t seen the name of before. Usually I bookmark songs I find on Twitter to listen to later, but the song’s title and video’s thumbnail seized my interest and attention: ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’… what did it mean? I wanted to find out immediately, and thus this one evening in March became marked with the memory of meeting Uchudan (Space Group) for the first time.

The opening segment seemed like a mise en scène for a light-hearted and laidback song, but the song’s commencement gave my expectations immediate whiplash as the synth, drums, and bass toppled in with a controlled crash. Every moment of discovering a new song is distinct, and this memory felt like ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ had fallen from the sky into my life with the same crash that the song starts with. It’s dramatic and comedic in equal measure: watching it from start to finish feels like witnessing space distorting and warping at the band’s amused command, and after watching it for the first time I knew I’d discovered a musical powerhouse of a group.

Transfixed by the song’s otherworldly feel, I replayed it over and over before I finally listened to the album it belonged to, ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, which became a mainstay of my listening all throughout the year alongside the rest of the band’s discography. It’s no surprise that ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ easily became my absolute favourite song from 2023 (the list for which can be read here!), so I was overjoyed in the summer when I had the opportunity to speak to Mochizuki (Vo/Gt) and Tsuchimaru (Dr); it was so much fun discussing their music and learning more about the universe of Uchudan!

An Interview With Mochizuki and Tsuchimaru Of Uchudan

-

1

Mustafa: “Hello Uchudan!! Congratulations on your recent release of ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’! I’ve really loved listening to it, and so the first thing I wanted to ask about the album was how things have been since it released! How has it been playing live shows, and what has the reception been like from your audience?”

Mochizuki: “First of all: it has been five years since our last album release, and the most common reaction we’ve had is “your sound has really changed from the previous album!”! Also, some of the members changed which thus caused the live performances to change, and we feel like we’ve stepped up in that regard!”

Mustafa: “Some of the songs on the album were released earlier, like ‘Sutte Haite’ and ‘Itsukaha’ in 2021. In those five years since the second album released in 2018, were there any specific challenges you encountered along the way during that time?”

Mochizuki: “Because the band increased in size -originally there were four members and now there are five- we now have more variety in our music and sound, and as a band we get to create more kinds of music. We really wanted to focus on the sound that we weren’t able to get in the past, and by adding another member we can now achieve that kind of sound, and we wish to really focus on that new sound we get to play now!”

Tsuchimaru: “Konno is the new vocalist and guitarist who joined the band, so we’ve been able to try songs with twin-vocals, and also the structure of songs and the way we practice and play in the studio has changed because we now have two guitar players! It has really changed the way we work, and this album has become something really special after being made across multiple years!”

I was sadly unable to speak to Konno for this interview, but his contributions to the band’s discography since joining have been particularly special to me as I love how his voice naturally fits the tone of each song he sings on. His duet with Mochizuki on ‘Kasumi’ is so graceful, whilst his frantic stream of thought on ‘Itsukaha’ emphasises the natural strength of his voice. His guitar solo on ‘Sutte Haite’ is also one of my favourite moments from ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, too!

-

2

Mustafa: “I personally really appreciate the addition of Konno to the band, as I really enjoy the duet of both his and Mochizuki’s voices on the song ‘Itsuka-ha’, as well as ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’!

’FU-RE-FU-RE’ is the lead single from ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’. What I really love about the music video is that it has a very distinct sci-fi look and sound to it, in a way that hasn’t been seen on your previous songs and music videos. I’m interested in the inspirations behind that, like any films that influenced the song’s visuals! The song feels very unique and distinct in how it ties into the space theme of Uchudan, and it has a lot of visual humour in it too, so I’m interested in how the video was put together!”

Tsuchimaru: “It was the idea of the music video’s director, Yoshida Harerama! We didn’t really give them the order of what needs to be in the video, but since the album title is ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, and the band name is Uchudan (Space Group), I guess the director was inspired to make it in that particular way! The director also did a music video for Haru Nemuri a few years ago!”

Mochizuki: “Uchudan has always been really close with Haru Nemuri. When we released ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, Haru Nemuri actually retweeted the album’s announcement with her own comment!

I’m always surprised to discover connections between bands and musicians I love! I knew Uchudan had performed with Haru Nemuri a few times in the past, so I think it’s so cool how even before I had discovered Uchudan, I had a connection to their music through Haru Nemuri!

Mustafa: “The discovery of ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ blew my mind because of how interesting its form is! I listened to it a lot before I even moved onto your other songs, because I was so captivated by it!

On the song’s sound itself: the first thing that stood out to me when I first heard it was the unique spoken word singing style of both Mochizuki and Konno, and then when I looked into the lyrics I noticed they have a very unique writing style, even when compared to other songs on the album. Since you (Mochizuki) write the lyrics for Uchudan, I’m curious about the approach you took to writing this song in particular!”

Mochizuki: “The words ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ are used when cheering someone on, but in the song it’s not used for cheering other people, it’s used more in a sense of cheering yourself up! It’s for when you’re not feeling very positive or great, so the energy of ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ in the song is comparatively lower and more towards yourself, compared to the high energy of the phrase’s conventional use. I thought that fundamental difference would be really interesting, which influenced how the lyrics ended up being written!”

Mustafa: “I find that really interesting as it ties in really strongly with how I perceived the song upon discovery! One of the things that stood out to me on first listen was the lyric “Chotto mattekure” (“wait a minute!”) at the start of the second verse, which is repeated again but louder as Konno’s spoken-word singing elevates to shouting, highlighting the presence of some frustration which lurks in the background as the verse continues! One of my favourite parts of the video is also towards the end of the video when Mochizuki turns to face the camera when making a hand gesture: that transition really makes me smile! *everyone laughs as I mimic the hand gesture*.

There are two instances of English lyrics being sung on the song, with “Communication, communication” in the first verse, and then “Imagination, imagination”. You (Mochizuki) also use some English lyrics on your Solo EP ‘Goaikyou” too, so I’m interested in this specific inclusion!”

Mochizuki: “I really wanted to focus on how they sounded as words, so for this particular song the rhyming of those two words with their “-tion” endings was really impactful for how I wanted the song to sound, which is why I decided to feature those particular English words.”

The conversational sway to the song’s cadence, immediately noticeable when Konno recites the first verse, forms the core of what I love most about ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’. It makes the irregular lyrical flow of the song feel as if it’s a spontaneous monologue that occasionally directly addresses the listener: “Commuuuunication, Communication…. Huh?”

Another of my favourite parts from the song is the bass and backing vocal performance from Takanoshima, who sings one of the catchiest lines from the song: “bye-byeeeeee!”.

Mustafa: “On how the song sounds, I really really love the way keyboard player Sekiguchi created the space feeling of ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’, and it contrasts somewhat with ‘Itsuka-ha’ as that feels like it has a more traditional band sound, so I’m curious in why the intention for ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ is so unique compared to the other songs!”

Mochizuki: “The sound of the keyboard was decided by Sekiguchi, so they may give a different answer to the question, but from my perspective I really love the K-pop singer PSY who did ‘Gangnam Style’ so we tried to somewhat parody that sound: “How can we do that in an Uchudan way?”, which is how I wrote the song, which may be what gave inspiration to the keyboard player to create those particular sounds that had space and club vibes to them!

“I’d never have anticipated that there’d be a mentioning of ‘Gangnam Style’ in this interview!”

Tsuchimaru: “For the way that we do production, Mochizuki creates a demo and shares it with the band. Each member comes up with their part, and that’s how the song comes together. If there is anything that needs to be referenced to, Mochizuki will mention it when she shares the demo, but most of the time she has a very clear image of what kind of sounds should be used, and I think the keyboard player sensed that and that’s how she ended up with the final keyboard performance for the song!”

Mustafa: “I’m so happy to know the band has such strong cooperation where they can all sense each other’s intentions., thank you Tsuchimaru!”

Sekiguchi’s opening synth line for ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ is, to me, absolute genius. It cleverly manifests and hides many times throughout the song, instilling daunting, uncertain urgency with its presence whenever it surfaces, particularly just before and after Konno’s guitar solo at 2:05, and at the end when it sounds like the curtains fall upon a cosmic stage to signal the end of the song’s long voyage.

“I’ll give a cheer for myself….!”

-

3

Mustafa: “Two other songs on ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’ which I find really interesting, and are a little similar to ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ in the way they communicate the ‘feeling of ‘space’, are ‘Disco 5’ and ‘IQ 3000’. What I really like about both of them is that they have very simple lyrics, yet leave a really lasting impression and have very grand presences within the album, particularly because of the repetition of “Disco 5” and the repeated shouting of “IQ SAN ZEN”. Is there a reason why the album starts off with ‘Disco 5’ specifically?”

Mochizuki: “‘Disco 5’ starts the album because it feels like the opening theme of ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, in a theatrical way! It has the wide image that lets you imagine how this album could be, so it felt like a perfect starting point and opening theme for the album! That’s the reason for me, but it might be different for Tsuchimaru!”

Tsuchimaru: “I agree! We think of the song order after all the songs are complete, and I think even the title of the album was created before the song order was decided. With the title in mind, we settled on ‘Disco 5’ being the starting song!”

Mustafa: “I’m interested in how far ahead you planned! I really love how there was a clear, unified vision for the album that follows through from when you first decided on the album title! What was the thought process behind arranging the songs in the order they are? When I listen to the album, I perceive the start of the album as having a strong space feeling, but the latter half has a more grounded emphasis, like with ‘Itsukaha’ having a more traditional band sound, and both ‘Kasumi’ and ‘Below the Starry Sky, We Are’ being quieter songs!”

Mochizuki: “Uchudan is a band that plays a diverse array of music, so it wasn’t easy for us to decide on the song order! In the end, this song order felt ideal for collating such diverse songs onto one album.”

Tsuchimaru: “Until the fifth song ‘IQ 3000’, the songs are more spacey, but from the sixth song onwards it becomes more traditional, creating an A-side and B-side to the album!”

Mustafa: “There were two songs, ‘Endroll’ and ‘Utopia’, with music videos which released as singles after your second album yet aren’t featured on ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’. I’m especially fond of ‘Utopia’ because of its delicate loudness, so I’m interested in their significance!”

Mochizuki: “Those two songs were recorded before Konno and Takanoshima joined Uchudan! They were omitted from ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’ because we wanted the album to feature songs created with the five-member lineup of Uchudan!”

‘Utopia’ is dear to me because of the glow its vocals and arrangement have, set upon its nocturnal backdrop. The synth in the introduction has a specific downward momentum that feels like tumbling headfirst out of a dream, and there’s a twinkle in Mochizuki’s voice that’s reminiscent of lone stars in the night sky. Even without a place on an album, I see it as integral to Uchudan’s story, especially as one of the last two songs featuring the former band member arrangement.

-

4

Mustafa: “Chiaki Kainuma drew the album cover; it has a strong 80’s American Sci-Fi look to it, and I’m interested in the album cover’s creation process! Was there much conversation between the band and the artist, or was it mainly left up to her to make it how she wanted to?”

Mochizuki: “80’s Sci-Fi films were actually direct inspirations for the cover! We watched some of those films with Chiaki and discussed how it should be. We went through a lot of film posters from the 80’s! They have such unique designs and characteristics to them, and have the vibe that not a lot of film posters these days have, so in our discussions we thought it would be cool to bring that vibe back to today! She’s a really good listener so when we exchanged ideas and she was really receptive to what we wanted for the album cover, so we trusted her to take the cover in the direction she wanted to, which is how we ended up with final design!”

As we discussed Sci-Fi films from this era, The anime Space Dandy came to my mind as something that brings the characteristics of 20^th century Sci-Fi to the present, and from my eyes it seemed connected to the ethos of Hitchhiking by U.F.O. through this mutual vision (even if its mentioning is seemingly random on the surface).

-

5

Mustafa: “How did you both start as musicians? What led to you wanting to create music and what led to the creation of Uchudan?”

Mochizuki: “I started playing the piano from when I was in elementary school, and by the end of my time there I had started creating music on the piano for fun. After I went to junior high, I heard band music and wanted to pursue that sound! I then met our keyboard player Sekiguchi, who was better at keyboard than I was, so I started learning the guitar from that point! From that moment we knew we wanted to make music and we wanted to form a band. From high school we began using the name ‘Uchudan’!

Tsuchimaru: “My parents were big Beatles fans, so I was familiar with the sound of band music from a young age. In junior high I came across GING NANG BOYZ which made me want to pursue music on my own! I would say I’m more into punk style music; I started playing drums in high school, and around the time I started college I ended up going to a live house venue where I met Mochizuki! She told me that she had her own band and had lost contact with their drummer, so she asked me to join Uchudan! I think that was around 2014!

-

6

Mustafa: “I’m interested in the music that you listened to most and were inspired by during this time when the band was a formed. Tsuchimaru mentioned GING NANG BOYZ, so I’m interested in what music Mochizuki was listening to at that time, as well as other artists Tsuchimaru was listening to as well!”

Mochizuki: “When I formed the band I was really into, and I still really look up to, Fujifabric! At the time, Fujifabric was a five member band, and the configuration of Fujifabric is the exact same as Uchudan right now, so one of the reasons we became a 5 member band was so that we could play music a little more like Fujifabric!

Tsuchimaru: “Other than GING NANG BOYZ, I was listening to Shinsei Kamattechan, Chatmonchy, Negoto, and Akaiko-en!”

Mustafa: “I listen to many of those bands a lot right now! I think it’s really cool how our music taste is so similar!
The second Uchudan album was produced by Ichiro from Tokyo Karan Karon, who are another band I really love!! I’m very interested in how that collaboration ended up coming together! Uchudan wasn’t signed to a label when your first and second albums released, so I’m interested in how the collaboration came about and what it was like working with Ichiro!”

Tsuchimaru: “After we released the first album, Ichiro had his mail public, so we messaged him there showing him our first album, and he responded with a very long and very sincere message, describing his reaction to the album, and in the end he mentioned “if you are interested in being produced by me, please contact me!”. Hence, we planned for him to be the producer for our second album. As you said, we were unsigned for both the first two albums we our third album was released unsigned too, we are publishing them all by ourselves.”

The music that means the most to me is that which is made for the sake of creating and expressing art, and I really get that impression from Uchudan through hearing their stories! It reminds me of the reasons why I love music so much!

-

7

Mustafa: “Mochizuki has been the songwriter for the band ever since the beginning. How do you go about writing your lyrics, and has it changed at all since the first album?”

Mochizuki: “For the second album, as it was produced by Ichiro, we discussed the album’s lyrics with him, and he was more focused on the inner emotion of myself. For the first album and most recent album, they have more of a fictional and fantasy aspect to them. The second album could be described more like a non-fiction or documentary.”

Mustafa: “I really love the personal element of your song writing, the way it can be very light-hearted and comedic, whilst also really down to earth. The way you write about everyday things through your own uniquely imaginative perspective makes the music really memorable! I was struck by the memorable lyrics of ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’ when I first heard it, but when listening to Uchudan’s entire discography, the song that made me realise “Mochizuki is a song writing genius!!” was ‘Lovely Tune xx’! Not only do I love the lyrics, but the style in which they’re sung is so unique, so I really love that song in particular! I think the way that Mochizuki writes songs is absolutely masterful: she’s a genius in that regard!”

Mochizuki: “Thank you so much!”

The chorus of ‘Lovely Tune xx’ is delivered in such a way that it sounds timeless, as if the song itself is a lyrical fundamental that’s always existed and I’ve felt its message far, far in the past.

 “Nostalgic…..Fantastic…. Lovely Tune!”

Mustafa: “When I watch the band’s music videos and live performances, it feels like watching a really close-knit group of friends! Since you’ve both been in the band since the beginning: what have your experiences been like working with each other in the band, and being friends with each other over the years?”

Mochizuki: “Since we’ve been here since the start of the band, I’d say we’re really close friends! When the members changed and we became a 5-member band, almost half of the members changed, so we refreshed things and it worked out well in the end. It made us feel like we’re doing a new band from scratch, and the mood is really great!”

Mustafa: “With how the band feels like a new band now, what is your vision for the future and your music going forward? Are there any specific hopes or general ideas for the future?”

Mochizuki: “We’re really eager to make more music, and for live performances we feel like we can always do more! We always have and always will try to make our live shows more fun, and we want to entertain everyone more! Of course, for the music, with this experience of creating ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, we feel like we can do more and create better songs and have wider spectrums of sounds. It feels like we can do more in that sense, so we really want to explore that and continue endeavouring to bring out the best of Uchudan!”

Tsuchimaru: “As Mochizuki said, we’re really trying to do something new, but at the same time we want to continue making our works so that you can instantly tell from the first listen that it’s been made by Uchudan! I really agree with you on how meaningful music can be, so we really want to continue making meaningful music whilst trying new things. Those are our goals for the future!”

Mustafa: “I’m really happy you feel similarly, and I really look forward to hearing all the music Uchudan will make in future!!”

-
8.

Mustafa: “In the past you’ve performed with Haru Nemuri; Pop Shinanaide; Lucie, Too; Layla; Manatsu Nagahara; and FINLANDS! I’m interested in these artists you have connections with, and if there are any others you’d love to work with in future!”

Mochizuki: “These are proposals we’ll be making publicly, right? *laughs*”

Tsuchimaru: “blur!!!! *laughs*”

Mochizuki: “It would be someone who inspired me to start music like Fujifabric who I mentioned before, and also the band HINTO: HINTO consists of the band members of SPARTA LOCALS, so those would be dreams come true for me!”

Tsuchimaru: “Shinsei Kamattechan and Nigami 17th Birthday, too!”

Mustafa: “I LOVE NIGAMI 17TH BIRTHDAY SO MUCH!!!!

*everyone laughs*
Nigami 17th Birthday blew my mind when I first came across them! I really hope you can reach out and collaborate with them someday because they are….. so, so cool!!

It’s a bit of a special story for me: When I first listened to Mochizuki’s recent solo EP, one of the first things that went through my mind was how it reminds me of Manatsu Nagahara. I really look up to her and her music, so I was really surprised and happy to learn that Uchudan had worked with her in the past! I saw a photo Mochizuki had taken with her, which I thought was just so cool! They are another artist I’d love to see Uchudan work with, as I feel you both have similar ways of expressing yourselves through your music!”

Mochizuki: “Manatsu Nagahara has performed with us, and we actually hosted her once when we were four members, 4-5 years ago, and I think all members of UCHUDAN really love her music! We’d love to realise that dream, too!”

Mustafa: “I think it’s so cool how Uchudan has shared this special connection with her for such a long time! It really makes me happy to know one of my favourite bands are fans of one of my favourite musicians!

Pop Shinanaide are another band who had a really big impact on me when I discovered them, so I’m interested to learn of your history with that band too, outside of performing at lives together!”

Tsuchimaru: “We’ve known eachother ever since the beginning of Pop Shinanaide! We’ve always been close with them: the bass player who supports Pop Shinanaide is Aki-san, who was our bass player when we were a 4-member band, which is another connection! We really love their music so we’d love another opportunity to play with them again!”

Mustafa: “I thought I recognised Aki-san because I recently saw her in Uchudan’s earlier music videos, and I remember seeing a live performance of Pop Shinanaide last year which she plays in! I didn’t realise it at the time, but now that I know the connection….. that’s so, so, so cool!!”

Mochizuki: “We really appreciate the friendships we’ve made with everyone on our music journey!!”

The above-linked live performance from Pop Shinanaide immediately popped into my head the moment Tsuchimaru explained the connection they share with Uchudan, which left me momentarily stunned because I’d watched that very live performance over any over throughout 2022, and in that moment it was immediately recontextualised into another thread that eventually led me to Uchudan’s music. We then spent some time talking about the mutual artists we all enjoyed, which was a welcome change of pace as it gave us all a moment to share particular songs we were fond of!

-

9

Mustafa: “On YouTube you have reels of the band performing various different challenges, with one featuring Tsuchimaru kicking the cap off a bottle! I thought these challenge videos were a fun way of reaching out to fans in a more visual manner! How do you go about interacting with your fans, and what have your experiences been like with your fanbase in the past?”

Mochizuki: “Those videos you mentioned are challenge reels we made to promote the one-man live we had after the release of ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’! It’s related to the song ‘FU-RE-FU-RE’: to cheer up people facing their own challenges, we released those videos of us doing challenges everyday in the run-up to the one-man live. We really want our audience to have fun: of course creating and sharing music is one important way of us reaching our fans and having fun ourselves, but we also want our audiences to have fun watching those videos. Our attitude is that it’s important for us to fun have ourselves alongside our audiences!”

-

10

Mustafa: “I saw two videos from when you performed at Toyosu Park in March! One video is of you performing FU-RE-FU-RE, which I’ve seen countless times now! How do you perceive your own live shows, and how would you define their importance? What was it like when you started doing live shows, compared to now?”

Mochizuki: “First of all: they’re really fun for all of us, and I hope they’re as fun for the audience too! Over Covid when we weren’t able to perform live shows for a prolonged period of time, I could actually feel myself feeling noticeably down as a direct result. For me, live performances are where we as a band and the audience create this unique energy/power together!”

Tsuchimaru: “For me, I get this feeling that the studio recordings and live performances are two entirely different things. When you’re performing live, you have to feel and read the vibe of both the audience and your band members, and react instantly based on that information. As Mochizuki mentioned: it is also my source of energy, so they’re really important to me on a personal level!”

-
11.

Mustafa: “You recorded a special song and video of commemoration for Ryukoko University’s Policy Studies faculty, and performed live there too! I’m interested in how that happened and your connection with the institution, because I’ve never seen a band work with a university in that way before!”

Mochizuki: “One of the professors I had at my university moved to Ryukoko University, and he happened to be a fan of Uchudan, so he reached out to us to ask if we could make something for 10th anniversary of the university’s Policy Studies faculty!”

-
12.

Mustafa: “Recently you played for the first time at Shindaita Fever on March 26th, and you described that as being a very important ‘first’ for the band. Were there any other important ‘firsts’ for the band, and are there any still left?”

Mochizuki: “Playing at Shindaita Fever was one of the most important ‘firsts’ we’ve ever had for the band. We’re really happy that we can play the album that we created as a five-member band, and getting to perform that live show at Shindaita Fever meant a lot to us. We really look forward to the future for more ‘firsts’: when we make our next album, we wish to have the one-man live at an even larger venue, and also wish that the album will reach out to even more people. We’re really looking forward to more ‘firsts’ that we’ll discover in the future!”

Tsuchimaru: “Shindaita Fever was so impactful for us that it kind of blows our older ‘firsts’ out of the water *laughs*!”

-
13.

Mustafa: “Mochizuki, I only discovered your solo EPs around a week ago, and I found it really interesting how you created your solo music alongside Uchudan’s music: your second EP ‘Goaikyou’ released in the same month as ‘Hitchhiking by U.F.O.’, so I’m interested in what encouraged you to release your solo music, and how you perceive that music as being different from the sounds of Uchudan?”

Mochizuki: “I want my solo releases to be music that I can’t do with Uchudan, and vice versa! As for the lyrics, I think it’s more like ‘myself’: a more outgoing and more positive personality is captured in my solo music compared to Uchudan’s music. For Uchudan, I really want to focus on me BEING in a band as a member, while I’m trying to bring more of my personal side to my solo music!”

Mustafa: “I really appreciate the personal nature of the EP! Yesterday I was listening to ‘Friday Boogie-Woogie’, and I really love the song’s message of appreciating what makes Friday special, and not caring that tomorrow’s Saturday: “Friday night is my Holy Night”. The way you share your thoughts on the song really made me see, feel, and understand your perspective, and I really love the personal voice that you have, because I think that your creativity makes your music’s identity really special!”

Mochizuki: “Thank you *laughs*! Thank you so much!”

‘Obakachan’ is, in my eyes, one of the most perfect album openers I have ever heard. Free-spirited joy overflows from Mochizuki’s voice, and the sounds surrounding her voice invoke amusement with so much accuracy that I’m staggered by how effortless and vivid she makes it sound. A song dedicated to embracing the silliness of our clumsiness and errors, declaring with passionate confidence that it’s okay to be an idiot sometimes, could never fail to make me smile, and for that reason it was one of my absolute favourite songs to release in 2023!

Mustafa: “I saw a solo live performance of ‘Friday Boogie Woogie’ recorded during the Covid lockdown. Did you decide to release the EP after slowly accumulating enough songs, or had you planned for it to be a longterm project?”

Mochizuki: “You could say that both of those are correct! I’ve always had this vision for my solo music, to create songs inspired by music from the 50s, 60s, 70s: old Japanese Kayokyaku! Of course the EP would eventually be tied to that vision, because from the beginning I had a clear vision for this sound!”

Mustafa: “I read that alongside Showa-era music, you also included elements from post-war songs as well, which really stood out to me! What drew you to these sounds in the first place?”

Mochizuki: “Post-war songs was the music that tried to cheer up society during those tough times, and they carried lots of positive energy! I really want to have that element in my music and live performances, which is why I wanted to refer to those sounds!”

Mustafa: “From your music in general, particularly this EP, you have a lot of humour in your lyrics! Sometimes it’s really loud like on ‘IQ 3000’, but other times it’s really subtle! One of my favourite parts of the EP is right at the end, on the song ‘Kigeki’, where you finish the song with the lyric “my stage is comedy!” in a really beautiful finale with the delivery of the word ‘KI-GE-KIIII’! It’s a breath-taking moment to hear! I was interested in how you feel about humour/comedy in your life, and the importance it has in your music?”

Mochizuki: “I’m really grateful that you listen to my music so deeply and closely, thank you!

I would say that every musician has their own reason to do music, and what they want their music to mean to people. For me, I wish for my music to be something that cheers people up, and is a kind of entertainment for them so they can also have fun! It’s important to me that my music can be like that for someone, which is why I try to put humour into not only the lyrics, but also the arrangements of the songs and their overall form!”

Mustafa: “Thank you so much, I really appreciate the special wishes you have for your music! I’m very grateful to listen to your music in this way, because not only do I think it’s amazing as a piece of art, but it also really does motivate me a lot!
On the mentioning of every musician having their own reason to create music: Tsuchimaru, what would you say is the spirit that you put into your performances with Uchudan?”

Tsuchimaru: “Mostly I play for myself, really! Of course I’m really grateful for how the audience hear the music, but ultimately the core of my performance is that I’m playing the music that I love!

-

Speaking to Mochizuki and Tsuchimaru was an especially unique experience full of smiles and laughter from start to finish. Even though it’s been several months since last summer, it still feels like yesterday to me because of how constant their presence has been through their music and our interactions. It’s never hyperbolic when I cite a musician or band as being vast in personal significance to me, as is the case with Uchudan: their art saw me through a mid-year trough and continues to accompany me as I brave new frontiers of life, keeping me in touch with the universe that resides within their music, and thus within myself.

FU-RE-FU-RE!!!

Since this interview took place, Uchudan released their latest song ‘WASSHOI DANCING’, which was accompanied by a new kind of music video: an ode to a dream of peace, overflowing with the celebration of music’s power to unite. In light of the ongoing tragedy in Palestine, Mochizuki spoke to me about how she hopes for her song to bring comfort to anyone suffering and facing hardship, and that she wishes to continue believing in sharing her music with the world. Her words truly moved me, and I’m grateful to her, Uchudan, and their music for being such genuine forces of positivity and goodness. ‘WASSHOI DANCING’ has been a song of hope for me in recent months, alongside the supportive presence of Uchudan’s discography as a whole. As Uchudan sets their sights upon the stars, their presence brings joy to those around them in a way that only a truly special band could.

-Mustafa

Uchudan’s discography is available on all streaming platforms.

A sincere thank you to Mochizuki and Tsuchimaru for speaking to me for this interview, as well as Konno, Sekiguchi, and Takanoshima for their continued efforts in Uchudan!!

My continued gratitude goes out to Ogushi, who interpreted for this interview!!

This interview is dedicated to the continued strength of Palestine and its people.