Wake up! the pillows interview

Recently, the pillows released their 16th full album, Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! and to celebrate this occasion we had an interview with the pillows frontman and vocalist, Sawao Yamanaka.


First of all, we would like to ask you to introduce yourself.

Yamanaka: I am Sawao Yamanaka, vocalist and guitarist of the pillows.

You started in 1989, can you tell us how those early days were, and looking back on it now, are there any things you would've done differently? If so, what are they?

Yamanaka: At first we had a bassist and we were a four-piece band. In the beginning we didn't know each other very well because we had met each other as musicians, so it was kind of awkward. None of us had a particular image that we wanted to follow and we probably did not have any consistent sound in our music. Even now we play various kinds of music randomly but I think it works for the band. Although we couldn't do this when we first started.

Looking back on your career, what do you see as the most memorable achievement, be it a live show, CD release, etc.?

Yamanaka: When we released the single Strange Chameleon, when we went to do our first U.S. tour and when the tribute album was released.

In general, how are your songs created? Do you have an idea in mind and work from there, or do you just start playing something and see where it will take you?

Yamanaka: Creating music is not a special thing to me, it's like something I do in daily life. I can't exactly tell you how I make songs in general, because I start working on them with every possible method.

You gained a lot of recognition through the anime 'FLCL'. What was it like for you to suddenly gain so much recognition outside of Japan, or do you think it didn't make much of a difference?

Yamanaka: I was pretty surprised and also very happy. Since I've been strongly influenced by American and British music and it was quite a hard fight in Japan, I was impressed.

You've released an amazing amount of singles and albums. What is your own favourite release, and why?

Yamanaka: Currently the single SCARECROW and the album Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!, because I like our latest work.

In 2004, 'the pillows tribute album' was released in commemoration of your 15th anniversary. What was it like to listen to your own songs being played by other artists? How was it decided which song would be covered by which band?

Yamanaka: The tribute album with the fantastic band members! I was really glad because we've been around for a long time, but the pillows couldn't gain the recognition which we wanted to have for long time, until now. Of course all the musicians did very well, I was impressed. To choose the songs, we asked them to select their first and second option as to which song they wanted to play. Due to the fact nothing overlapped, it worked out smoothly. Though for Mr. Children I requested them to play Strange Chameleon because I knew they liked it and they accepted my request gladly.

Is there anything you don't like about being a musician? What are the downsides of the job?

Yamanaka: Some estate agents might hate me when I move (laughs).

On the flip side and getting a bit more personal, what are some great memories each of you have had as a band?

Yamanaka: The tribute album, definitely.

You performed at an event in the USA in 2005, followed by a tour in 2006 throughout the country. What was it like to perform on this continent, was it very different from touring in Japan?

Yamanaka: I was perplexed by everything, because in Japan, we always come out on the stage in good spirits with our own equipment, material and staff. However, everyone plays in the same situation in the USA, so we tried not to be sensitive about it and enjoyed playing as the rock band 'the pillows'.

Do you have any plans to come back to the USA or to perform in other countries?

Yamanaka: For this year, our schedule is full with concerts in Japan, but I hope to go back in the beginning of next year. Of course we want to play in America, in London, where we played in 1997, and I also would like to visit Paris or Korea, which we've never been to.

So, let's talk about your newest album, Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! How would you describe it to someone that hasn't heard your music before?

Yamanaka: It's a pop and rock album. This album might prove that rock and pop are not contradictory things. To be honest, I'm not really interested in people's reaction about it, I just want to be told, "This is an album I like."

How did the process of writing, arranging and recording go about?

Yamanaka: We're always composing, so there are songs on the album that have been made about a year after each other. For arranging, we had some demo recordings and it took about three to four days. It took about a month in total to record it, everything went fine and we didn't have many problems.

Which song was the hardest to create, which one the easiest and for what reasons?

Yamanaka: The easiest one was Propose, which is the oldest song. I had gotten used to it because we'd been playing it during our gigs for a long time. As for the hardest, personally that was Century Creepers. We just made it during the recording and both the guitar parts and the vocals were difficult. Even now, it's hard!

Can you tell us something more about each track, such as what it is about, what inspired you to write the song, how it was created, or anything else you'd like to tell us?

1. Wake up! dodo

Yamanaka: The first thing I want you to know is about dodo's. 'Dodo' is the name of an extinct bird which is big but cannot fly. I made the song likening the 'bird' to bands I like, such as 'a great musician who passed away' or 'the split-up band'. Life is mortal, all things die. The last day will psychically also come to a band. However, I sing this song lightly to oppose these themes, something like "even if I die, I'll be back!" or "Only the pillows won't break up, right!?" It's not a very serious song, more a positive one. This song has an alternative sound, which I really like lately.

2. YOUNGSTER (Kent Arrow)

Yamanaka: The newest song on the album! I thought about the balance of the whole album in the end… In other words, at first we didn't have this song as the second track. As Dodo was going to be the first song, I made this song by imagining the image of the tour. The melody is cheerful and rhythmic just like Green Day, but we arranged the guitar sounds in a the pillows way. Manabe plays clean guitar with tense chords and I play the solo with octave fuzz (a sound effect), the cute synthesizer-like sound is featured by the playful rhythm, it's got character, doesn't it?

As for the title, I chose 'youngster' for a young person. For the sub-title 'Kent Arrow', 'Kent' comes from Dover, the English strait in the county Kent. 'Arrow' comes from bow and arrow, it's named after the last scene of the movie 'Quadrophenia' in which the main character Jimmy drives himself off a cliff in Dover with his Lambretta (a kind of motorcycle). Even now I still associate the movie 'Quadrophenia' with my youth, and also I made the song for my friend by putting an uplifting message in it.

3. PROPOSE

Yamanaka: This is the oldest song on the album, we had already performed it during the second half of the My Foot tour. The very standard rock'n'roll guitar riff is still new to me, it has the same feeling as Non Fiction. Last year, realizing my long-cherished dream I worked to make a movie seriously, and I thought about the rough scenario. I imagined the cast to be my close musician friends (laughs).

I talked about it to the director casually and we had a conversation which went like, Director: "Oh, actually I'm going to quit King Records (record company)." the pillows: "Well, then let's break up the pillows at the same time." Sawao: "Okay, then how about we transfer to another record company? Wait! It'd be impossible to have the film to be our first work at the new company, wouldn't it? And of course, I don't want to (laughs)."

Oh, sorry, to make it clear, this song is made for the theme song of that imaginary film! Though, the lyrics are like a joke, I 'proposed' to both Manabe and Shin-chan (Shinichiro) with a wordplay, using the word 'pillow' in a way that means 'to sleep together' but also as the band name. The guitar solo by Manabe was created in a hotel in Los Angeles during the USA tour.

4. SCARECROW

Yamanaka: I probably created this song about a year ago. Quite unusually, it was created like "let's make this kind of song," because I already had an image in my mind from the beginning. There are two things about it, the first being that I wanted to have a medium tempo song which could be put into the set list for a gig of about half an hour, such as a summer festival.

The other point of the song was to create an atmosphere that left an impression on the listener with the use of recognisable guitar rhythms like those used by the Beatles or Oasis.

At that time I had bought an iPod and I put over 4000 songs on it, so I was able to listen to many old, nostalgic songs. For example, I hadn't listened to Oasis' first and second album in a long time. Around 1995 and 1996, everyone was hooked on Oasis, and I loved them as well and was influenced by them. After two to three years, because of the increase of similar bands, I grew bored with the Oasis-like sound. Well, things like that always happen. However, after ten years, I realized it is not about it being an old or new thing anymore, it's not only an 'Oasis-sound', it's just a standard! So, then I decided I wanted to try it.

When I created this song, I kept those two points in mind. On the night when I had finished the lyrics of the song completely, it didn't have a title yet. Because I couldn't find a good title, I stopped working on it and instead I watched the movie 'SCARECROW' of Al Pacino and Gene Hackman, which is a movie about the friendship and travel of two vagabonds. Because the song was made as a love song for 'me and you', I would like you to listen to it like that, though I made the song for my band members. So, when I decided on the title, the meaning of 'SCARECROW' wasn't important. Just like the famous movie, I used the word SCARECROW to mean 'worthless partner'. I watched the movie after I wrote the lyrics, I couldn't come up with the title myself so it felt like destiny.

5. BOAT HOUSE

Yamanaka: Do you remember that I sang Funny Bunny from behind the audience with my own guitar accompaniment as a surprise, during the encores of the last shows of the My Foot tour? The rental Taylor acoustic guitar that I used at the time was so great to play, so I really, really wanted to buy it… and I did, although it was expensive! It's the most expensive instrument I've ever had! So while I was enjoying playing it, I started to want to use it during gigs, so I created this song for matching such a guitar (laughs). And of course I played it during the recording too.

Sometimes I like to make songs with the theme of 'an uninhabited island'. In this way, it's easier for me to show the world/myself/relations, those kind of feelings more subtly. I struggled with the last part, whether to change "Arigatou kimi ga suki da yo" (Thank you, I love you) to "Hitsuyou da yo" (I need you) or not. However, I thought that expressing myself directly is new for me and that it'd make more of an impact (laughs). So I decided on 'I love you'. The bass line is great, isn't it? It may become a main phase within the pillows songs. Recently we talked with Ben Kweller, he says he loves the bass of this song too.

6. The Pleasure Song

Yamanaka: I'm ashamed to tell you, but I remember that I created this song during the last day of the My Foot tour, which was sold out at the Zepp Tokyo (laughs). Looking back at the process of creating the song, I'm embarrassed to still find such innocence, such pureness in me (laughs).

We, the pillows, had been climbing up the ladder with our own feet, walking step by step… So honestly, I felt very happy about things such as the increase of CD sales or the larger audiences at gigs! 'We were not wrong', we thought with every positive opinion voiced about us, I'm impressed. It takes a long time though (laughs). Though I really like all the songs, I especially like the guitar solo of this song. It gets along with me.

7. Serious Plan

Yamanaka: Following up on 'dodo', recently I feel like putting an 'alternative' sound to the songs. Both the lyrics and the arrangement were completed in an interesting way. I liked the comparison of my guitar to a baritone saxophone and Manabe's grunge guitar. I like this guitar solo too!

As for the lyrics, 'guten morgen' is "good morning" in German, 'Buenas tardes' means "good afternoon" in Spanish and 'Добрый вечер' is "good evening" in Russian. From my experience, while creating it I thought 'no one will take much interest in this kind of song' (laughs). It's my favourite song from the album. I'm in charge of the whistle, too!

8. Skinny Blues

Yamanaka: This is rock'n'roll. The first part with '15 dollar UFO~' has a double meaning to me, it's about the British hard rock band UFO, whose t-shirts I bought for $15 at the flea market in Santa Monica. When I was a junior high student, I was hooked on them for a while. I'd never seen such a t-shirt in Japan, (laughs) I felt nostalgic. Unrelated to that though, Manabe's guitar solo is unusual… The interesting thing is that he plays very quickly at some points, it's really cool!

The second phrase 'the lost weekend~' comes from the film 'The Lost Weekend' which is about an alcoholic. It's a nice movie, I think it's directed by Billy Wilder. It'd be good to watch the movie if you have time, it's entertaining and not too serious despite the theme. The drum and bass of the song are very high tension, I'm looking forward to playing it live.

9. Private Kingdom

Yamanaka: We didn't have a 16-beat song and the arrangement of the song was a little difficult. Although I sought for many things, such as good old Manchester sounds, I felt it's old after all. Well, it didn't suit this album so I just rejected this initial arrangement. We settled with arranging the song so that the guitar play wasn't chopped off too much, which I like lately. Don't you think the effect of Manabe's fuzz guitar to sound like a sax is outstanding? In this song I admire Shinichiro's flexible drumming once more.

Well, as you know I'm a very imaginative person. However, this kind of imagination is based on my own experiences, and I have my eyes fixed on reality. Even though you become a 'king' in your own closed-off world without seeing anybody, the distortion when you realize the difference between reality and your imaginative world must happen, right?

Even if you have escaped into your 'private kingdom' and lived without any painful things, you can't get a real kind of pleasure or impression, can you? Of course, it's better to escape than to endure a hard life. I strongly agree with that, but such situations rarely happen. You might want to fight your enemies, seek and find your allies and share the feeling of a beautiful evening sunset or a starry sky, right? Well, my mood also goes up and down, so I feel like singing these kinds of songs.

Just like in Boat House I try to sing 'Someday if I could be decent… Let's go and face the world again' challengingly. I feel I'm changing little by little.

10. Century Creepers (Voice of the Proteus)

Yamanaka: I named it 'century of the reptiles ~ Voice of the Proteus'. Proteus is the name of a lizard. Because they spend their whole lives in a dark cave, they don't need the ability to see and with degeneration they have no eyes! And surprisingly their life expectancy is around a century! 100 years! Moreover, they can live about a year without eating or drinking! They are amazing! (laughs) So when I found out about them, I thought "Who is singing about them except for me?!" (laughs) that's the best character of the pillows, isn't it? (laughs).

I created the song while keeping in mind how it would be to play it live, with such emotion it's okay if the voice is affected by your innermost feelings. On the first take of the recording, I put my spirit in my voice and it was beyond the level of the engineer's expectations, it was much louder. At first I was told that the song wasn't able to be used because of the cracked sound. Though, it got better and better after I sang it many times. But then I couldn't keep the tension and emotion I first had, so we decided to use the first take anyway, even though the sound wasn't clear enough.

What I find funny myself is that this song was made at the same time as YOUNGSTER, which was meant for cheering young people up, 'it's gonna be alright!' Then I sing 'seeking someone in the dark' in this song and it has a negative image as opposed to the positive image of YOUNGSTER.
I feel that it can't be black or white forever, it is possible to combine the light and dark of heart. The melody and the instruments, all in this song is high tension. The guitar solo will make you cry.

11. Sweet Baggy Days

Yamanaka: This is the saddest song on the album, the sorrow of a grown-up: the sadness of understanding everything, even what kind of being I am, and the fact there are some things that remain unsolved even though you tried to tackle it with everything you had.
It's a song of a man who lives his life 'gentle and baggy/loose' until he dies. The man himself feels as if he's not a human, but more like other living beings. I could express this feeling inside very well, by suddenly changing to a high tension part at the final part of the song.

Are you satisfied with the outcome of the album?

Yamanaka: Of course I am! I'm satisfied with everything, the sound and also the artwork!

What can we expect from your future activities?

Yamanaka: We will go on tour until this October and play at many summer festivals such as Summer Sonic. We might release two singles later this year.

Please give a message for your fans.

Yamanaka: Although the pillows have been playing for 17 years already, we are not bored with our music and completed the album with enjoyment. I'd like all of you who are fed up with the recent music to listen to this album. Hope to see you at our gigs!

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions for this interview!


JaME would like to thank the pillows and Avex for making this interview possible. We would also like to thank Rei Sato for the translation.