01Profile
A John Natsuki Photo
John Natsuki
Musician — Japan
03Interview
Name, where are you from？
John Natsuki, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa.
What do you do?
Drummer/Synthesizer player/Vocalist.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
It's very difficult to choose the best, but one that shocked me was Savages, a post-punk band made up of four females, who I saw at FUJI ROCK in 2013. They have an aggressive music style with noise guitar sound, but when it started raining and thundering during their performance, I got goosebumps as the music linked up with the weather. Like a shock beyond the live performance, like a divine performance.
Which subcultures have influenced you?
The post-punk scene that I was introduced to in my late teens, with bands like Joy Division and the early days of The Cure. I liked Japanese visual-kei bands before that, and it was through their interviews that I started listening to western music. I heard that they were listening to shoegaze bands like Nine Inch Nails and My Bloody Valentine, and that's how I got into shoegaze when I was in high school. I guess I started to delve into music based on two axes: aggressive sounds and ambient elements of shoegaze.
Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
The Red Marquee stage at FUJI ROCK, the one I played with my band. It was a festival I'd been to as an audience member, and many of my favourite bands were playing there including international acts, so I felt like I'd finally made it. On a personal level, it would be the ‘Black Clothes Only Show’ organized by myself. I chose this particular rental warehouse in Shibuya, so the sound wasn't perfect, but the dress code for the 30 people in attendance was all black, and we asked everyone to wear masks that we had prepared for them. We recorded a video, too and it was surely a very memorable experience.
If you could be on the line up with any bands in history?
I would love to write a song with The Beatles. As a band, I like the later years, so I think it's difficult to have a good relationship between the members (laughs), and It’d be difficult for me to join as a drummer because of Ringo Starr, but let’s see what would happen if, for example, I wrote a song and asked everyone to play it. From a drummer's point of view, there are certain sounds that only Ringo Starr can make so I would like to ask John Lennon to do the vocals.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I generally prefer not to meet my favourite artists in person… but it would have to be Ringo Starr. I'd like to ask him seriously about his approach to drumming and how he wrote songs when he was with the Beatles.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
One band that I think should be better known in Japan is HMLTD whose show-like music, or rather the expression of the strong connection between performance and music, deserves to be better known.
02Playlist
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' by Radiohead. As an album, it would be Radiohead's 'In Rainbows', and I particularly repeated 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' from it. I started listening to UK music when I was 18 or 19 and it was an inevitable encounter. I’ve mentioned earlier but that was when I also started listening to shoegaze at the same time, like Curve and Slowdive.
A song that defines the teenage you?
'Count In Fives' by The Horrors. It would certainly be some messy sound, that's for sure (laughs). Early Horrors, I would say… like the track called 'Count In Fives'. First of all, it's punk, and I was into gothic punk, and I think the image of the teenagers is that all the members are bad at it, and the synth riffs are cheap, and they're doing it impulsively.
One record you would keep forever?
'Closer' by Joy Division. It's a dark themed album, but it's an album I've listened to in many different situations, and it's an album that stayed with me throughout my late teens and early twenties when you feel that bewildered state.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
One of my favourite artists is Doon Kanda, a Japanese artist who’s based in London. He's a graphic designer who usually goes by the name Jesse Kanda, and I like the way he names his songs, as if he's putting a title to a painting.
Best song to turn up loud?
'Strawberry Fields Forever' by The Beatles. The song I can't help but sing along to.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'Dead Inside' by Muse. They played this track at FUJI ROCK 2015 as the headliner on the Green Stage, and I saw they changed the bass guitar at the start of the song, but all it did was just changing the colour of the light installed on the bass, which I found it silly in a good way and obviously amazing!
New bands you are listening to now?
Squid, yes. I think I found out about them through a music magazine called ‘nero’, a Japanese music magazine. They're the post-punk band of the moment, punk but also both meticulous and silly…It's a perfect balance isn’t it?
03Interview
Name, where are you from？
John Natsuki, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa.
What do you do?
Drummer/Synthesizer player/Vocalist.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
It's very difficult to choose the best, but one that shocked me was Savages, a post-punk band made up of four females, who I saw at FUJI ROCK in 2013. They have an aggressive music style with noise guitar sound, but when it started raining and thundering during their performance, I got goosebumps as the music linked up with the weather. Like a shock beyond the live performance, like a divine performance.
Which subcultures have influenced you?
The post-punk scene that I was introduced to in my late teens, with bands like Joy Division and the early days of The Cure. I liked Japanese visual-kei bands before that, and it was through their interviews that I started listening to western music. I heard that they were listening to shoegaze bands like Nine Inch Nails and My Bloody Valentine, and that's how I got into shoegaze when I was in high school. I guess I started to delve into music based on two axes: aggressive sounds and ambient elements of shoegaze.
Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
The Red Marquee stage at FUJI ROCK, the one I played with my band. It was a festival I'd been to as an audience member, and many of my favourite bands were playing there including international acts, so I felt like I'd finally made it. On a personal level, it would be the ‘Black Clothes Only Show’ organized by myself. I chose this particular rental warehouse in Shibuya, so the sound wasn't perfect, but the dress code for the 30 people in attendance was all black, and we asked everyone to wear masks that we had prepared for them. We recorded a video, too and it was surely a very memorable experience.
If you could be on the line up with any bands in history?
I would love to write a song with The Beatles. As a band, I like the later years, so I think it's difficult to have a good relationship between the members (laughs), and It’d be difficult for me to join as a drummer because of Ringo Starr, but let’s see what would happen if, for example, I wrote a song and asked everyone to play it. From a drummer's point of view, there are certain sounds that only Ringo Starr can make so I would like to ask John Lennon to do the vocals.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I generally prefer not to meet my favourite artists in person… but it would have to be Ringo Starr. I'd like to ask him seriously about his approach to drumming and how he wrote songs when he was with the Beatles.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
One band that I think should be better known in Japan is HMLTD whose show-like music, or rather the expression of the strong connection between performance and music, deserves to be better known.
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' by Radiohead. As an album, it would be Radiohead's 'In Rainbows', and I particularly repeated 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place' from it. I started listening to UK music when I was 18 or 19 and it was an inevitable encounter. I’ve mentioned earlier but that was when I also started listening to shoegaze at the same time, like Curve and Slowdive.
A song that defines the teenage you?
'Count In Fives' by The Horrors. It would certainly be some messy sound, that's for sure (laughs). Early Horrors, I would say… like the track called 'Count In Fives'. First of all, it's punk, and I was into gothic punk, and I think the image of the teenagers is that all the members are bad at it, and the synth riffs are cheap, and they're doing it impulsively.
One record you would keep forever?
'Closer' by Joy Division. It's a dark themed album, but it's an album I've listened to in many different situations, and it's an album that stayed with me throughout my late teens and early twenties when you feel that bewildered state.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
One of my favourite artists is Doon Kanda, a Japanese artist who’s based in London. He's a graphic designer who usually goes by the name Jesse Kanda, and I like the way he names his songs, as if he's putting a title to a painting.
Best song to turn up loud?
'Strawberry Fields Forever' by The Beatles. The song I can't help but sing along to.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'Dead Inside' by Muse. They played this track at FUJI ROCK 2015 as the headliner on the Green Stage, and I saw they changed the bass guitar at the start of the song, but all it did was just changing the colour of the light installed on the bass, which I found it silly in a good way and obviously amazing!
New bands you are listening to now?
Squid, yes. I think I found out about them through a music magazine called ‘nero’, a Japanese music magazine. They're the post-punk band of the moment, punk but also both meticulous and silly…It's a perfect balance isn’t it?
John Natsuki StayHome LIVE 2020.05.16
John Natsuki "赤い目" (Official Music Video)
John Natsuki "ぼくはシモベくん-呪縛からの解放- feat.Kaz Skellington" (Official Live Video)
John Natsuki "化けの皮" (Official Audio Visual)
John Natsuki "get down JESUS" (Official Audio Visual)
John Natsuki "全部大嫌いだな" (Official Music Video)