Songs from a rocky road
This month sees the release of Yosuke Eguchi's 10th solo album, On the Road.
While it's an event unlikely to attract much interest from those who take their lead from Japanese pop, Eguchi argues that his music is as vital as that being produced by any of the chart acts.
'My music comes from the same place as Mr Children, The Ulfuls, Puffy, The Yellow Monkeys and Spitz because we share the same influences,' he explains.
Inspired by the Beatles and Elvis Presley, he started playing guitar at the age of 12 and went on to compose songs with lyrics based on his own life.
'When I was a boy, my uncle played the Beatles next to my bedroom every day and night and therefore the Beatles' music was a kind of cradle song for me,' he told Sunday Young Post.
Fans will recall that, stylistically, his last album It's Fine Today had shades of the American West Coast sound. His latest outing, however, is devoid of these influences, instead suggesting more Asian influences.
Eguchi explains: 'This album's sound concept is music I have never tried to create. I even played the electric guitar instead of the acoustic guitar to remind listeners of alternative rock music with the edgy guitar sound.' Eguchi took just three weeks to record On The Road. 'I always spend more than two months for recording,' he says. 'The reason why I could make it shorter was I focused my concentration.' Eguchi says he and the recording personnel did not sleep until a track was complete. 'It was the toughest recording I had ever done,' he admitted.
On The Road's six songs each have a different theme. The opening track, Hong Kong Blues, expresses the chaos and loneliness found in many Asian cities. The other five songs tackle craziness, lust for money, love, death and 'the road' as Eguchi covers new ground artistically.
He says that two years ago, while visiting his brother in Los Angeles, he was warned about the 'dead man's curve' and this ultimately sparked his change in direction: 'The reason I have chosen this new [artistic] departure is related to the number 27.
'In America, the age of 27 [his age at the time] is said to be the dead man's curve because many artists - like River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana - have died when they were 27 years old.
'The dead man's curve is the end of life and also the departing point of new life. I decided to create a concept album for my own departure into the new life.' Meanwhile Eguchi continues to juggle careers, with his latest acting role in the television drama, Under The Same Roof II.
He said he had focused hard on acting but intended returning to the recording studio for another album. Other plans include a live show in Japan this summer.
Eguchi also hopes to meet Hong Kong fans this year but plans are not yet in place.
