TAKU TAKAHASHI'S INSIGHTS AS A DJ AND MUSIC PRODUCER

 

©TAKUTAKAHASHI

Please introduce yourself to the readers of Summon the Roses

My name is Taku Takahashi and I'm a member of a group called M-Flo. We started our group 24 years ago and next year it will be our 25th anniversary. 

I make tracks and beats and I also produce artists such as Crystal, aill, b-first, and recently did a remix for Utada Hikaru. I'm also the owner of radio station called block.fm.

In August, you released Gold ~Mata Au Hi Made ~ Taku’s Twice Upon A Time Remix for Utada Hikaru's latest single. What was it like working with singer song-writer Utada Hikaru?

Usually when I'm asked to do remix they send me the stems of the track and vocals and I just make the remix. For this case, I asked Utada Hikaru for a favor I wanted her to rap on top of it, I wanted her to say "Bring the beat back". She was very kind that she recorded that in her own studio and did more than that. That is how she came up with introductions voicemail, it was her idea. She likes listening to her singing but she doesn't listening to herself talking on the radio and was a bit shy about it. It was a very creative experience and the communication was fun too. The way she expresses herself and explains how she wants things to be done it's very unique. 

What were some of the challenges of releasing Japan’s first internet radio broadcast dedicated to dance music? What did you enjoy most about it? 

It cost money (laughs) I was very fornutate when I started my career, although we worked really hard, everything went smoothly so I never had to worry about money. I just had to concentrate on creativity. We were fortunate we were really successful, what we did was very different from the regular J-pop. My management company, let me focus on creating music. The reason why I started block.fm. went to Japanese music scene to change and back in that time it was very less progressive. There were so many great talents that were not exposed and I decided, I should start it. Problem was, I never had experience dealing with running a company. I learned in order to do something creative, and something you want, you need your mind and you also need money. 

M-flo is considered to be one of Japan's most iconic hip-hop groups. How did the idea for M-flo come about, and what would you say was the key to the group's success? 

Verbal and I went to same the school in Elementary, and in Highschool we were together and I knew Lisa from Junior High. We first started M-FLO with just Verbal and me, and we featured Lisa and that's how she became part of our group. in 1999, it's so different from now, R&B, House music and electronic music was not mainstream in Japan. US and Uk underground was becoming popular and it was entering the pop scene, but that wasn't happening in Japan. My main goal was to make that music more mainstream in Japan since I loved it. We worked hard and a lot of people helped us. We had a great team. There was a birth of Jpop in Japan, and Japan was going thru a new phase. J-pop became more experimental and we debuted at the right time. People wanted something different and a change.

Can you tell us about your time working as a music director for the anime, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt? What was that like?

I was the music producer, I was in charge of creative aspects. At first it was offered to me, but I was too busy with other productions, so I said I can't do it alone. I asked friends to join me. My made like half of the song in the soundtrack, when I'm working with Anime or Movies, it's all about giving confidence to the production team. Mr. Imaishi and I had a lot of discussions asked a lot of questions about how he wanted the audience to feel for this particular scene or the OP, he wanted the opening to be classical Japanese animation.

Do you prefer producing music or DJing?

I  like making music and concentrate on music but when I'm on stage, I forget that. The crowd going crazy and giving you support and love and adrenaline rush, and that makes me forget.

Lastly, do you have a message for the readers of Summon the Roses?

I am very happy that people listen to my music outside of Japan, and I notice a lot of people know my songs. I like that they listen to my music without any bias, but at the same time I love having conversations and communicating with people that listen to my music. I hope I will be able to come back more.