Takeyuki Hakozaki – Pollypraha

1. Favorite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?

I love the rotary switch that changes between record and playback on the Nagra 4.2. 
The beauty of the shape and the feel when turning it, is the best.

Nagra 4.2

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

Make Noise Morphagene is an almost perfect module. I love the wide range of sample changes and the very clear interface. 

Make Noise Morphagene

I like how easy it is to maneuver something that would be painstaking in software. 

The sound quality of the output is a bit peculiar, so a better preamp or VCA built in would be perfect. 

But currently I generally run ‘Shallow Water’ or ‘Analog Heat’ through it, so that’s not a problem.

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?

I do very few gigs and try not to bring my instruments on holiday. 
However, I always use more than one Nagra for my exhibitions. So no matter where I play, I need a car.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

For software that I wish was hardware, this is definitely ’GRM Tools’!
And vice versa, Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus2.

Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus2

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I regret selling ‘Qu-Bit Electronix’s Chance and Prism, so much so that I bought Prism back!

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

The Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water.

Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water

I was really impressed when I ran a synth through Shallow Water for the first time.
Even simple, cold digital synth sounds and linear sine waves take on a warm, musical character. I completely fell in love with it.
I’m running two ‘Shallow Waters’ through most of the songs on my album ‘Season of Strangers’ which was released this summer.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

Novation Peak maybe! It’s my favorite synth these days.
Peak is also used on many of the tracks I have released this year.

Novation Peak

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Nagra reel to reel recorders. I use Nagras not only in my music, but also in exhibitions and art, and they are inseparable from my current expressive activities.

Nagra reel to reel

9.Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

I guess I was experimenting with the Intellijel Shifty a lot, and was able to generate a canon.
By purchasing another Shifty, I was able to create complex canons from a single 1V/oct signal.

Intellijel Shifty

This is a huge digression, but bear with me (lol.)

As a teenager, I was struck by Steve Reich’s many musical techniques.
I didn’t hear his work in chronological order, but probably the first things I heard were “Eight Lines” and “Music for a Large Ensemble.”
These pieces are characterized by a technique in which a single note is found, and then the number of notes increases and increases until it finally becomes a melody.
I still think that this technique is one of the coolest expressions of music, as it combines beauty and perceptual pleasure.
I can’t use that technique in my own work though, because it would really be a rip-off of Reich’s work….
I was also amazed by his other famous techniques such as “phase shifting process” and “augmentation technique.”
I found it difficult to perceive the Serialism music that was popular in the 1960s, but all of Reich’s techniques are perfect for me, combining musical beauty and enjoyment.


Artist or Band name?

Pollypraha and Takeyuki Hakozaki

Genre?

Ambient, Minimal, Contemporary Classical.

Selfie?

Takeyuki Hakozaki in the studio

Where are you from?

Born in Kobe, Japan. Now living in Chiba, Japan.

How did you get into music?

I learned to play the trumpet in elementary school. After that, I guess I majored in classical guitar and clarinet. Later, I bought an electric guitar in high school and started composing music.

What still drives you to make music?

Making music has been a habit for over 20 years, just like eating and sleeping, and my body needs it.

How do you most often start a new track?

I often start by coming up with a melody line.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When I think that it’s good enough. I never feel that there is nothing more that could be done with a track, even once it’s been released.

Show us your current studio

Studio with a view
View of the studio
Pedals galore
Watkins Copycat Tape Delay
Studio at night

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I don’t think I have ever received advice on composing music in my life.
In the sense that existence itself is advice, these are the artists I was passionate about as a teenager.
For painters, I was influenced by Sam Francis, for visual artists, Stan Brakhage, for designers, Martin Margiela, and so on.
Through these influences, I learned that expression has no boundaries or limitations. I also learned how to intentionally frame the absence of boundaries and restrictions.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

Trope/Pollypraha

https://pollypraha.bandcamp.com/album/trope

It’s a recently released EP.


Hiroshi Ebina – Faded By Time

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

Knobs on my Nagra feels very nice to my fingers…. I mean, the whole machine looks aesthetically pleasant. I look at every single detail of it and appreciate all of the design decisions which they made, as well as the rigid construction. And of course it sounds amazing. It records and plays with wonderful tape sound that no software plugins can emulate.

Nagra IV-L

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

I think that’s the essence of the eurorack system! My case never stays the same; it’s always evolving with my taste and creative directions. I can’t put in whatever I want, since the space is always limited, but that’s the best part of it; I use my brain, not computers that can accommodate everything.

Eurorack

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

OP-1 would be my first choice. Mine is full of samples I recorded, and it’s nice to use along with my eurorack system, but of course you can even write a whole song in it. It’s such a rare combination of powerful sounds and nice design. I got mine before the price change…, which was one of the best choices I had ever made.

OP-1

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I like Borderlands Granular…., but I think it’s just impossible to realize it on anything other than iPad platforms.

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I used to own a Martin HD-28. It was a custom design model from the 90’s that came with a bigger sound hole. It had an amazing sound, but I had to sell it for my moving purpose.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Eurorack. Every single module I have.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

There’re too many…, but I think I’ll pick ER-301, because it helps me achieve so many sounds with my eurorack, and I know it’ll never leave my case.

ER-301

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Taylor T5. It’s an amazing instrument that does pretty much everything… As an acoustic guitar, it sounds pretty authentic, and as an electric guitar it’s very versatile. With EQ/Preamp knobs on it, you can have both a powerful humbucker sound and a strat-y single-coil sound. I like to browse new guitars and watch demos, but always come back to my T5 and think I may not have to buy anything new… (see photo 5).

Taylor T5

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

It’s really small thing, but I recently discovered that the Gozinta, a preamp eurorack module, has jumper switches in the back, and it can push up the input signal up to +36 dB. I often use it to increase input from line-level instruments to eurorack level, or just to crank it all way up to add distortion.


Artist or Band name?

Hiroshi Ebina aka. He_soundvisual

Genre?

Ambient

Selfie?

Hiroshi Ebina

Where are you from?

 Japan

How did you get into music?

I bought my first guitar when I was 12.

What still drives you to make music?

Tons of good music, regardless of genres, that people today keep making.

How do you most often start a new track?

I post videos on my Instagram, and they’re often about seeds of my new ideas. If it turns out well, I record it for my future works.

How do you know when a track is finished?

That’s very tough to say, but I don’t think I can really finish a song within a day or two, since I need to leave it for a while to really decide if I’m doing it right. It could be a few weeks, a few months, maybe a year. I need some time to leave it under a bed to look at my own work from a different perspective.

[Editor: I really dig how Hiroshi’s visual and sound aesthetic ties in so nicely with his concept of using time to create perspective]

Show us your current studio

He_Soundvisual Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Limit your choices, or something like that, said by Brian Eno. I definitely agree with his ideas, that a lack of options is the best tool to get inspired to set a direction for creative works, not an abundance of options.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

I’m releasing a new album very soon via KITCHEN. LABEL (once this virus outbreak settles down…)

https://www.kitchen-label.com/artists/hiroshi-ebina/


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]