I produced Miu Sakamoto's new album "Waving Flags."
Miu Sakamoto “Waving Flags”
01. Door (Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
02. Q&A?
(Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
03. Pierrot (Lyrics and composition: Tsuyoshi Nariyama [sleepy.ab])
04. HIRUNO HOSHI
(Lyrics and composition: illion [cover of illion song])
05. Welcome to the village!
(Composer: Shuta Hasunuma)
06. VOICE
(Lyrics: Yamada Ryota / Music: Hasunuma Shuta)
07. = (Equals)
(Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto, Tamaki ROY / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
08. Your name is a magic word
(Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
09. Fairy Tale (Lyrics and composition: Yasutsugu Miura [□□□ cover song])
10. Waving Flags
(Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
11. Promise (Lyrics: Miu Sakamoto / Music: Shuta Hasunuma)
Guest musicians include Shige Murata (□□□), Daichi Ito (SAKEROCK), Tomohiko Gondo (pupa), Masafumi Todaka (ART-SCHOOL), Tamaki ROY, U-zhaan, Hiroki Chiba, Chiaki Miura, Utena Kobayashi, Koji Miura (□□□), Yuka Yoshino (tico moon), Yoshiaki Sato, and Jinya Kimura. The 11 tracks include "Pierrot" by Tsuyoshi Nariyama (sleepy.ab), a cover of illion's "HIRUNO HOSHI," and a cover of □□□'s "Otogibanashi." The mastering was done by Itsuki Mashiko. I was responsible for the instrumental performances on all tracks other than those by the featured musicians, as well as the arrangements and mixing for all tracks except M9.
This is my first production, and I'd like to thank Miu Sakamoto for giving me this opportunity.
Below is a contribution to the album written in February for press.
Notes on Waving Flags
On the morning of June 11th, 2013, I had a dream that I was composing music, and immediately, half asleep, I opened my handy recorder and recorded the melody and accompaniment on the keyboard. I have a rule that I follow, "When I have a dream, I try to do anything that seems possible in reality first," but this was the first time in my life that I had a dream that I was composing music. The person I was dreaming of was Sakamoto Miu. I emailed her that same day and sent her the rough recording. This was the beginning of this album. By the way, I'm not the type of person to do that kind of thing normally!
From the beginning, Miu had the idea of having me produce the entire sound, including the warmth of music played together like my ensemble, "Hasunuma Shuta Philharmonic." The concept was "a charm." I thought the concept, when viewed from a long historical perspective, was very musical. So, with that in mind, I first thought about inviting many musicians to create an album together. Bassist Shige Murata and drummer Daichi Ito are important band supporters for Miu's live shows. From the Hasunuma Philharmonic Orchestra, we have Tomohiko Gondo (who also serves as recording engineer!), Hiroki Chiba, Utena Kobayashi, Tamaki ROY, and Chiaki Miura. U-zhaan plays tabla. On guitar is Toddy, aka Masafumi Todaka of ART-SCHOOL. Kuchiroro Miura also played drums on one song. Also, on Gondo's recommendation, Sato Yoshiaki played accordion, and Kimura Jinya played tuba. Yoshino Yuka played Irish harp throughout the album. There are 13 guest musicians in total, all of whom are roughly the same generation! The mastering engineer was Mashiko Itsuki. I was in charge of composing, all other performances (I played 15 instruments if you count them), arranging, mixing, and all aspects of the album's sound.
The job of producing can take many forms and methods. Rather than controlling everything myself, I focused on Miu's ideas, while also respecting the arranging sense the guest musicians have acquired through their experience. We worked together to create music, incorporating their various opinions and advice. I took a similar approach to the Shuta Hasunuma Philharmonic's album "Time plays - and so do we." I wanted to create a sense of everyone, Miu and many other musicians, playing music together, right here, right now! The album was produced at a breakneck pace, taking one month for composition, one month for recording, and one week for mixing. However, I believe that Miu's generous attitude toward music is what allowed her to turn the short production time into a positive and push through with such sharp focus. Let's wave the flag together!
Shuta Hasunuma (February 2014)