Who in the World is Night Tempo? (Part 2 translation)

 

Last Monday, I put up the first part of an article that I translated simply for my own benefit and that of any readers here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". The original source can be found in the middle of his 2022 book "Japanese City Pop 100 ~ Selected by Night Tempo" in which a hundred City Pop songs of his choosing are given their due. I didn't mention it in Part 1, but the original title is "Night Tempo to wa Ittai Nanimono?"（Night Tempoとはいったい何者?）and the interview is written on pages 86-89. Music writer and editor Takashi Ikegami（池上尚志）of 303 Books was responsible for interviewing the South Korean DJ and producer.

Now, let's continue and conclude the interview. Once again, the opinions given here are those of Night Tempo and Mr. Ikegami alone.

Who in the World is Night Tempo? ~ What is City Pop Ultimately?

Ikegami: Night Tempo, you have created contemporary music based on the music of the 1980s. Why did you choose the music of that decade?

Night Tempo: Simply put, because it was cool. Overseas City Pop fans absolutely feel the same way, I believe. When I listen to their playlists on YouTube, we just about have the same feeling. However a little while ago, when I tried listening to City Pop playlists created on Japan's Spotify, I thought "Uh...that's not it". For some reason, City Pop as considered in Japan comes across as well-studied and technical. Technically defining City Pop in this particular way makes it tough for young people to get into City Pop, and I think that it'll eventually get boring. I'm a bit disappointed on that point because 80s fashion, cosmetics and clothes were all the rage.

Ikegami: City Pop was originally treated as a music genre, but the updating of those feelings for it may have progressed more on the overseas side.

Night Tempo: The word "pop" comes from "pop culture" so City Pop as a distinct form of Japanese pop culture will continue to evolve, too.

Ikegami: If that's indeed the case, then City Pop will spread to people who aren't music fans. There aren't too many people who will say that amongst the Japanese, so I feel that you are holding the reins on that feeling.

Night Tempo: But there are quite a few illustrators, too. I would think that one of the veterans, Hiroshi Nagai, is a City Pop illustrator, although he may not see himself as being that focused on the topic. Then, there is tree 13 from my country who has been kind enough to provide a variety of illustrations for me (including the art for this book). He has been holding exhibitions in Japan recently as well as doing collaborative work, also as a City Pop illustrator. Since City Pop has already been considered as pop culture by overseas fans, those young folks have been saying "Oh, this sounds like City Pop" regularly.

Ikegami: The point is whether people can understand this feeling, isn't it?

Night Tempo: As an example, even people who sell vintage clothing on sites such as Mercari slap on the "City Pop" hashtag, and so the expression "City Pop-type clothing" gets frequently used.

Ikegami: Your tape cassette collection is amazing. When did you start collecting?

Night Tempo: I started collecting tapes relatively recently. Maybe it was around 2005.

Ikegami: At the time, stuff that would be called City Pop now wasn't of any interest, even in Japan.

Night Tempo: Well, I didn't know about the genre back then, so I collected them simply as "old Japanese music". The tapes were really cheap. Everyone was buying CDs and records but throwing away the cassettes for some reason as something with no value. I just wondered "Why?!". However, CDs are the least expensive things now while records are expensive. And cassette tapes are now precious, so they're the priciest.

Ikegami: The cassette tape no longer exists at all right now.

Night Tempo: So that's why when I see the collection in my room, I feel very lucky. In the beginning when I bought a tape of Tatsuro Yamashita's "For You", it was for 100 yen. In Kobe 5 or 6 years ago, there were multiple copies of Mariya Takeuchi's "Variety" on tape and they sold for 100 or 200 yen each. But when I look back at the time that I bought them, there wasn't so much of them on supply. Anyways, I think it's more of a matter of quality rather than quantity.

Ikegami: Well, there's plenty of them now as well (LOL). You had a good eye back then.

Night Tempo: I think it's great that City Pop has suddenly gained prominence due to the fact that people bought the music because they liked it.

This concludes the interview. I hope that you have a good read of Night Tempo's opinions. As for me, I was interested in his feelings on the difference between his City Pop and the City Pop that he rejected on Spotify. What was being put up on the Spotify playlist? Was it even City Pop at all? (I did check...and it looks all right to me; heck, even the ones that he Vaporwaved are up there, but perhaps things were different back then?) Secondly, I hadn't been aware that things outside of the music was getting tagged as being "City Pop". Does that mean if I begin looking like a Seizo Watase character (literally fat chance, that), I am wearing City Pop gear? Would a Shonan hotel by the beach be considered a City Pop (or Resort Pop) establishment? Finally, I was surprised by Ikegami's declaration that the cassette tape is basically extinct although in his next statement he says that there are enough of them out there. Was he just exaggerating? My doubts stem from an NHK news segment several months ago illustrating that the cassette tape and the cassette player may be coming back.

I was happy to read your opinions here and on Twitter and will be looking forward to any comments on this second half of the interview. Putting up translations of pop star interviews will not become a regular thing on KKP but I am intrigued about tracking down any recent talks with Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）because I'd like to get her direct opinions on the whole "Plastic Love" phenomenon.