The Tsunku Thread (つんく♂)

[tiny]

Tsunku will be performing again, Sharam Q is restarting. See: Sharam Q to hold their 25th anniversary live tour.

[oaxiac]

Momoko: I’m wondering Tsunku-san might be a sexual minority or something. Well, I think, he’s apparently a male, but he can write lyrics from the girl’s point of view, as you know. I’ve been thinking how straight men could do that, and how unusual it is somehow. I suppose he might have both of male mind set and female mind set as I’ve heard of many artists have the both. And it reminds me of his trade mark “♂”. Don’t you think it’s a bit unreasonable to insist being a “male” by using that symbol, even though he definitely looks like a male. I suspect he might have a necessity to emphasize it, because he also has the opposite sex. That could drive him to claim “I’m a man! I’m a male!”, and it also exposes his obsession. Don’t you think so? Once you got to think it this way, It’d be felt like a truth. After a decade with him, I’ve become to think this way these days. I’m afraid I would be doomed if he listened to this radio program. So never tell him about it on twitter and stuff, please.

http://momuse.tumblr.com/post/41427192669

[JFC]

Worlds collide.



Source: http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/image-11421696639-12319020512.html

Random YouTube browsing somehow lead me to this clip from 2010.




Backup -
秋元康とつんく♂の対談 —在线播放—优酷网，视频高清在线观看

[TommyVD]

Technically more °C-ute related but still...

Tsunku tweeted about C-ute twice.

■ " I've finished the Track Down of C-ute new song.
It's cool～!"

■ Then, a person asked "Can I'm looking forward to it?"
Tsunku replied.
"I'll attack with this song! It's so cool that please take care not to wet your pants!
--- --- ---
tsunkuboyキュート、新曲ＴＤ確認なう。すげぇ～
攻めて行きます。ちびらないように！RT @SENA_DAYO_3: @tsunkuboy 期待してもいいですか？ 20RT 2/7 13:44:37 / TweetDeck ▼

Via 910 percent: https://www.facebook.com/910percent

[oaxiac]

[oaxiac]

[Rei-chan]

Always loved that song~ 

[shurastriker]

keyboard hidding his face disturbs me a bit lol

but not more than this

[oaxiac]

[oaxiac]

【BARKS MONTHLY: Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.1】「Morning Musume。was supposed to be like a one year thing and done after ‘Koh-Haku’.」First Half.

Tsunku♂ is the lead singer of Sharam Q, a rock band celebrating the 25th anniversary this year, and charisma figure producer of Hello! Project with all girl group stars like Morning Musume。, Berryz Kobo, and ℃-ute. He also has a face as president of entertainment company TNX and a father of three at home.

The multi-talented musician never seems to stop running after his dreams of new music and entertainment. This is a special long interview to cover Tsunku♂ by BARKS. We are going to dig into his thoughts and ideas on Tsunku♂’s world and the legend of Sharam Q.

Volume 1 to feature how it all began 16 years ago – ‘Hello! Project’

　　◆　　◆　　◆

── You perhaps had to answer this question too many times already, but how do you feel about the 16 years of Hello!Project? Was it hard?

Tsunku♂：It was hard but flew quickly. I was with my friend Katsunori Takahashi the other day and he said, “Where the heck are Kago Ai and Gomaki (Maki Goto)? Not in Morning Musume。?” He was joking of course, but old guys like us still talk about the days when Nozomi Tsuji and Goto were still around ten years back, as if it was only yesterday. In the eyes of the world, ten years is a long time ago. To me, 15 years went by so quickly. 15 years ago means some of the current project members were not even born yet.

── As the years passed by, sure you had to go through lots of trouble…

Tsunku♂：Well, yes if I try to remember each and every single bad thing like, “What!? you are quitting right now!?” (laugh)

── HAHAHA (laugh) As you look back, what was the most fun or the happiest thing you can think of?

Tsunku♂：I have a lot of those actually. For example, getting ranked top on Oricon chart with “Help me!!”. (Refer to the interview article from April 2013) The market is not as bubbly these days and it’s not the same meaning to be ranked high now, so I was really proud of them for that. The staff took the time to come up with ideas, the members ran campaigns, and I made many different patterns of coupling songs together with the single. We all worked really hard on it. It was great the song was ranked No.1. I often tell the girls, “Focus on 1st place”.
It was crazy and I was really proud when “Daite HOLD ON ME!” won the took first (Morning Musume。’s 3rd single which got ranked top 1 song on Oricon ranking for the first time). Around that time, I used to calculate scenarios perfectly and write, with all elements considered like songs feel, time, personality that comes under a stream of previous song releases after “Summer Night Town”… and such. I was hoping to bring something new about Morning Musume。or Tsunku♂ as producer through the new single. So becoming No.1 with that single was a real big deal to me.

── And you continued to rank first many times starting from “LOVE Machine”.

Tsunku♂：When we win the first place, it is like marking your calendar book. I think it’s just a great way to be able to check back each chapter in the history of time.

── That is why Tsunku♂ wants to focus on 1st place?

Tsunku♂：A long time before I started Morning Musume。, I happened to share a room with a music producer for TV show standby. A female artist was crying near the person, and (the music producer) said, “she is just crying because she feels she should have won the 1st place”. I used not to care much about becoming No.1, I rather wanted more people to listen to our songs longer. What the producer guy told me then interested me. He said, “Girls need results like winning No.1 that is easier to understand, that makes them happier than selling so and so many units”. Whether it made real sense or not, that made me go, “ah-huh”. With that in the back of my head, I made a key concept and reminder to myself. I of course never pressure girls to “Win 1st place”, but I celebrate with them if they do.

── Morning Musume。is one of the hottest groups now. As producer, what do you think their great takeoff comes from?

Tsunku♂：Apart from how Morning Musume。is going so far in general, I personally wonder if they get stimulated more from the recent trend of Hello!Project, which was actually kind of lukewarm in the last 4~5 years. This trend started happening after new members joined the class 9 almost for the first time in 4.5 years. Fans were quieted for a while prior to that, but they came back assuring, “That’s Morning Musume。we’ve waited for”.
Did you notice the song pattern has changed lately? In 3~4 years, there seems to have been sort of “what’s expected of J-POP idol songs” unofficially, but I wanted to give it a try with different song patterns around when “Pyoko Pyoko Ultra” came out. Next song “Renai Hunter” had a good response too, so I made up my mind to go into that direction, away from the then-main stream. As my sounds got sharper, the members started getting more serious and the entire group started shining. That is Morning Musume。now and not the ones from days of “Morning Coffee”.

── Some of the notable changes for Morning Musume。now, for example, there are lots more dance formations than before. Is there a strategy behind this?

Tsunku♂：Simply it’s easy to understand when watching from distance. These girls formation drills still need more work if compared to those done by cheer leaders or marching bands. The girls have a lot on their plate when on a tour, starting from recording, handshake events, and practice stuff like formation drill, which makes their limited time plenty of challenges. It’s not always perfect and sometimes it feels like they can fall apart any day. This is also part of what makes Morning Musume。and I personally feel that’s where I can get stricter.

── Do you really want to be strict with them?

Tsunku♂：Yes. In movements, sometimes they are slow or not in unity. I want to make sure that is a ‘no’. The Japanese entertainment industry is very forgiving in that respect. Morning Musume。only looks sharpened because of the broader sense of acceptance without having to be challenged.

── Let’s talk about the class 12 of Morning Musume。members. When we first heard about it, Tsunku♂ said that it’s the quantity which matters, and a rumor went around among fans that class twelve will have 20 girls.

Tsunku♂：(laugh) that is what I was thinking IF they don’t have “it”, mass-production wouldn’t kill either.

── The “it” factor seems to vary. For instance, one can sing surprisingly well, is a smart talker, has charismatic look and stuff. Can you define the “it” factor that you consider?

Tsunku♂：If someone was a better singer, that doesn’t mean she would absolutely be a star. It is hard to be specific. If she has “it”, that naturally shines through her with no maintenance. Let’s say, if we had a 14-year-old Namie Amuro with us right now, that would be very powerful. Like Tsuji, Kago, Goto, and Aya Matsuura had that sparkly stuff.

── Can you tell when you first meet her?

Tsunku♂：Absolutely yes. I can smell it that much for most cases. But there is timing for everything. Many girls and anchor women in the show biz now say, “I used to dream about joining Morning Musume。”. Girl A, for example, is very popular and you see her in TV dramas and commercials non-stop. She actually auditioned for Morning Musume。. She is a star elsewhere because her sparkle couldn’t have existed by way of Morning Musume。. Timing matters too. And also if she is a right fit to the group. If I think she could go better as solo, like Matsuura, she would go solo. Now Reina Tanaka graduated, I’m hoping to find the serendipity that can cause positive chemical reaction so other girls will get even more serious.

── That’s how you’ve kept Morning Musume。always fresh and new.

Tsunku♂：I think it’s rare for any girls group to last this long in a world standard.

（To be continued to Last Half.）

http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000002841

2nd Half of Tsunku interview
http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000002845

[oaxiac]

[BARKS MONTHLY: Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.3]「『Happy Summer Wedding』was originally named『Massaka Summer Holiday』 (laugh)」1 of 2

Tsunku♂ is the lead singer of Sharam Q, a rock band celebrating the 25th anniversary this year, and charisma producer of Hello! Project with all girl group stars like Morning Musume。, Berryz Kobo, and ℃-ute. He also has a face as president of entertainment company TNX and a father of three at home.


Everyone knows Tsunku♂ as a super versatile player. Vol.3 features his philosophy of songwriting and special episodes.

　　◆　　◆　　◆

── We are gonna dig in Tsunku♂ as the music producer/song writer here. You’ve written over 1,600 songs. Do you remember all the songs?

Tsunku♂：I don’t. Seriously I don’t (laugh).

── When listening to intro of a song, do you recognize if that’s your own…?

Tsunku♂：Nope..there are many I don’t recognize except ones I often use for Hello!Project. When hearing a song on USEN cable I often wonder, “this sounds familiar…”, then I research and find out, “wait, I wrote the song” (laugh). That happens to me often. When I hear the songs, I remember some of them of course, but not all songs on album and stuff. So girls remember the lyrics way better than me.

── And that doesn’t count the songs which didn’t make it to be released…

Tsunku♂：Lots of those, tons…

── What happen to those songs?

Tsunku♂：I may recycle part of those songs at times. Some songs go straight to archives, and other songs maybe made into something else, like spun off as a new song.

── I see. I heard you compose first before writing lyrics?

Tsunku♂：Yes.

── How or when do you come up with songs?

Tsunku♂：I set a time to write.

── Really? So songwriting is like an everyday routine?

Tsunku♂：Yes. For example, today I schedule 10 am to 4 pm for songwriting.

── Where？

Tsunku♂：At company or home. When I debuted with Sharam Q, we were given a week to write songs. I wrote songs on the last two days in a week spending only a few hours each day. Right now if I had 5 to 6 hours, I could perhaps complete writing one song. Then all I have to do is to work on brushing it up. It needs to be in a form of one complete song first before I trim it, but that doesn’t always mean the song comes with quality. It could be ‘a song’ but might never make it to be ‘finished musical work’.

── 5 to 6 hours. Wow.

Tsunku♂：I didn’t have the skill or method to do that before, so those days I had so much time with little productivity like “today is gone with A melody part alone”, “hey, what do you think about this phrase? rocks, right?” “um..yup, but we still don’t have a song.”, “uh, I know.” (laugh) That was my typical day long time ago. I perhaps needed that not-so-productive days when young, but my focus in life now is to reduce non-productive process. When I write, I really concentrate on songwriting. I sometimes start lyrics and compositions together. For example, ‘chotomatekudasai!’ by S/mileage had to be built on the very phrase first and foremost.

── Do you ever have a pinch when writing songs?

Tsunku♂：Of course I do.

── Have you been in a slump before?

Tsunku♂: I have, but I don’t consider those times a slump. I simply put this way,
“Jee, I didn’t do anything this last hour”.

── 1 hour as an example, (laugh). Does that even count as slump?

Tsunku♂：I don’t have a long term like 3 months period that I couldn’t produce anything. I actually work in ways so I wouldn’t have time like that.

── Is it actually possible to avoid getting into slump?

Tsunku♂：Totally possible. The reason why a guy falls into a slump is because there had to be a time period he possibly got himself into a slump. After that, that becomes a pattern till he finds next timing to fall into another slump. Eventually this guy becomes unable to write a song. I changed my songwriting style after I learned the method of making ‘one more song after Sharam Q songwriting is done for the day’ stuff (※Refer to “Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.2”). When writing a song with a band, parts get done quicker than a whole song piece. For example, guitarist and bassist come up with what they think sound cool if they played their own parts. Naturally I focused on singing chorus alone as a vocalist, and forget about intro or outro till later, thinking how would I be singing there? With that style of trained thought, I simulate in my head how Morning Musume。members sing, who sings this part and how they sing, and what kind of song.. who takes this part and such.. Anyway, if I decided to write a song in 6 hours today, I do it till I finish up. That is the minimum I must do.

── So you never leave it half way done, or unfinished?

Tsunku♂：Yes. Unless there is an emergency like I need to go pick up kids because they have fever and I need to leave work right away. Otherwise I finish up if time allows. I don’t know if I use that song for anything, but it takes a habit of making a song.


── Wow.

Tsunku♂：And it’s okay if a song quality gets bad in the end. (laugh)

── You simply say “Finishing up a song. Making a habit of it”. But I know that you work hard not to run out of ideas for music by finding new things to stimulate your mind.

Tsunku♂：Before this internet era, I used to check out CD shops and songs via USEN. I just bought CDs in a bulk and listened to them at home trying to figure out this sound and that sound. Music from all over the world. Right now we have internet. I check out things on YouTube in my free time wondering “how do they do this?”. I believe it is important to balance the time for input and output.

── If one practiced that on a regular basis, could anyone master to be able to write songs quicker?

Tsunku♂：Yes. As a matter of fact, our (at TNX) band guys got quicker. I gave them 1 month to work on songs and they used to come back with 2 songs saying an excuse that they were only part-time workers and such.. but then they got quicker after they got a knack for it.

── ‘knack’ for writing songs……

Tsunku♂：To me, it is no good if he loves to sit on ‘the world of his music’. He would say stuff like, “I wrote a great phrase like this, why trashing it?”.

── You have to be able to leave inspiration..?

Tsunku♂：Absolutely. It takes courage to forget about what you’ve written.

── Meaning, you get caught by what you wrote, and that puts you in an endless spinning wheel.

Tsunku♂：I agree. I think it is totally okay to forget what you made, stuff you worked on.

── Then trying to keep fresh, do you happen to make an identical song?

Tsunku♂：Yes I do. Director remembers that type of stuff better. “This phrase, wasn’t it in that song as well?”, and I say, “ah-, yup. I’m gonna fix that one”.
But this is something I cannot avoid, cuz all songs come out of me. I sometimes use that intentionally like, “I’m gonna use the phrase here in that song too”. Then there are times I am completely unaware of making identical sounds for sure.

http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000003070
 
More:
[Monthly BARKS Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.2]Sharam Q Forever Unfinished; From the Secret Story of “Single Bed” to Morning Musume. (Part One)
http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000002956
[Monthly BARKS Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.2]Sharam Q Forever Unfinished; From the Secret Story of “Single Bed” to Morning Musume. (Part Two)
http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000002964

[oaxiac]

[BARKS MONTHLY: Tsunku♂ Long Interview vol.3]「『Happy Summer Wedding』was originally named『Massaka Summer Holiday』 (laugh)」2 of 2

── So, what you're saying is that, following arranging, the song is completely different from the original work you started out with? Have you ever had this happen?

Tsunku♂：I have, I have. After all, there are also times when I've made a song completely different from the one I was asked to do, and I'm thinking, “What's this now! This is really interesting. Let's use this one.” For example, there's a song on a Morning Musume. album called “HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN ~Nihon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?~”. I sent it to a top hip-hop arranger, and the arrangement he gave me back was an unexpectedly hard version. He had put in this hard rock/funk-like arrangement. When I heard it, I thought, “This is really fascinating! Let's just go with this one just the way it is!” Then, because he had given me something so much more interesting than I ever expected, I could change the lyrics to suit it.

── What, really?

Tsunku♂：Yes, yes. The lyrics I had didn't fit that arrangement at all, so I wrote ones that did.

── You re-wrote the lyrics after the composition was already finished?

Tsunku♂：That's right. But, before that, when I was putting the lyrics to the finished arrangement with my own voice, there were a lot of lines where I was thinking “What kind of lyric is this?!” which caused me to change the lyrics as well. Even if I think, “Oh, this is a good lyric” while I'm writing it, there are times when it will turn to “Huh?” when I try singing it. For example, when I was doing Petitmoni's “Chokotto LOVE”, I was thinking that it might be good for them to have something like a cute lunch-themed song, so at first that song was called “Tonight It's Chicken Rice”. (Laughs.) The chorus was “Tooonight it's chicken riiice~”. But, when I tried singing them, it wasn't quite right for me, so I wrote them over again. That was what became the “I looked up love...” line.

── Ohhhh.

Tsunku♂：Then, there was Morning Musume.'s “Happy Summer Wedding”, that had just started out as a summer song in my mind with the title “Massaka Summer Holiday”. (Laughs.) The chorus was just “Ah~ Massaka Summer Holiday~”.

Full Article:
http://www.en.barks.jp/news/?id=1000003079

[b8067hc]

^^ That's what i like from Tsunku-san, he thinks (produce, arrange, create lyric & music) as a musician... like post in here, he said that The girls are an extension of himself (as a musician or performer of course)

[kuro808]

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

[JFC]

WOO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUNKU-P!

[JFC]

Definitely an interesting read.

Tsunku♂ special radio interview with Momoclo's producer Hyadain (translation)
- http://www.hello-online.org/index.php?app=helloapp&CODE=article&topic=1903

[JFC]

Can't help but wonder if it's due to a similar condition like the one he mentioned when he did that Q&A thing at Anime Expo a few years back. 

Tsunku♂ to receive throat surgery
January 3, 2014 @ 12:05 am

It's been reported that Sharam Q vocalist and Hello! Project producer Tsunku♂ (45) will be receiving throat surgery.

This was revealed by Tsunku♂ himself on January 2nd at a press conference before the kick off of Hello! Project's New Year tour. His vocal chords had been inflamed since late October of last year and as a result, his voice had been suffering. "There is a foreign body sensation in the throat. According to the doctor, the throat must be opened in order to examine it. I am considering surgery in February or March," he said.

The concert on this day featured 5 groups, including Morning Musume. '14 and Berryz Kobo. They performed a total of 27 songs for 1,200 people.

Source: Sanspo

LINKS
- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2014/01/tsunku-to-receive-throat-surgery
- http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/20140102/oth14010221350006-n1.html

[JFC]

WotaInTranslation - Would you still be a H!P wota if Tsunku quit as their producer?
- http://wotaintranslation.com/2014/02/27/would-you-still-be-a-hp-wota-if-tsunku-quit-as-their-producer/


Interesting question.  An H!P without Tsunku has always been a possibility, even though so many of us have always seen the 2 as being linked. Speaking personally, I probably would continue to be a fan, as long as the whole boat didn't pull a massive Titanic.  Even then, whoever would take over would have to REALLY drive the whole conglomerate down the shitter to turn me away.

[~Dan~]

I think I've discovered where Tsunku got his name from!

He got it from John Lennon's signature!
Look at the way Lennon writes the J and the rest of the name John. That's the つん and the く is the L in Lennon.
Plus I know he's a fan as he did a whole album of Beatles songs.

Does anyone agree I might be onto something or is it a stupid suggestion?

[Slack]

Tsunku's name is known to have been derived from his given name, Mitsuo.
Mitsuo -> Mitsu-kun -> Tsunku

However, I will admit that John Lenon's autograph does somewhat resemble "つんく".
Tsunku is known to be a huge Beatles fan, after all. So you never know...