All the questions answered by Takahiro “Tone” Nakamine (guitarist, singer)
Hi! Please introduce Imari Tones to the readers.
Hello! We are Imari Tones from Japan. We were formed in 2004 but honestly we don’t remember where and when we began. We somehow started making Christian Metal music in 2008. We call ourselves “The first Christian metal band from Japan”.
We play some energetic, loud and fun music but many people say our music sounds like classic heavy metal music from the 1980's.
Tell us more about Nabeshima.
Nabeshima is the name of our new album released this year. We call it “Japanese Traditional Christian Music”.
After playing Christian metal music for a long time and playing to international audiences, we wanted to seek our identity as a Japanese band. We wanted to make Christian rock music with Japanese traditional essence. That is the Nabeshima album.
It’s a spiritual message from ancient Japan. It’s like Japanese Samurai meets Christian Faith. At the same time, there is some kind of personal love message in this album. Musically speaking, it has so much variety. It has not only metal music, but also alternative rock, progressive rock, and of course Japanese rock music. We sing both in English and Japanese on this album. It’s an album that takes you to a journey.
When did you start writing music - and what or who were your early passions and influences?
I started writing my own music when I was in high school. Since then inspirations keep coming and I could not stop writing.
In my teenage days I was in love with 1980’s heavy metal music. My biggest influence was definitely Eddie Van Halen.
What are your main impulses to write metal music?
Probably the first inspiration and passion from the early teenage days?
It’s funny because usually I listen to all kinds of music other than heavy metal. I didn’t choose heavy metal. Heavy metal chose me.
What do you personally consider to be the incisive moments and pieces in your musical work?
If I were to choose just one album, it would be “Jesus Wind” album we recorded in 2016, and released in 2017. That was a concept album about Japanese Christian history. That was definitely the heaviest album we have ever made and it has a strong message, musically, spiritually and even politically.
One more album I would mention is “Victory In Christ”, that was one of the first things we did after we became a Christian band. It has a very fresh spirit and positive messages. Some of our most popular songs, such as “Faith Rider” and “Love Is”, are on that album.
How would you describe and rate the music scene of the city you are currently living in?
We live in Tokyo/Yokohama region in Japan. Tokyo is literally the biggest city on earth. So we don’t have so many things to complain about. There is some cool music scene here. But sometimes we can’t help but feel that the heavy metal scene in Japan is a bit too conservative.
When it comes to be musician, what are your criteria for quality? What are currently your main challenges and ambitions as a musician?
This is a very hard question to answer. But I usually value creativity and inspiration. There is no real good song without creativity. There is no real good sound without inspiration.
Nowadays people like perfect sound with polished modern production but perfection means nothing to me. I like to hear real human. My ambition is to project a human soul through every creation of our life long art.
What do you usually start with when working on a new song or lyrics?
As a songwriter, I never try to write songs. Whenever I play guitar, or sometimes taking a shower, an inspiration hits me and those songs just come to me. It has been that way since the day I wrote my first song.
Tell us a bit about the selection process for deciding on what to write about, please. What sources will you draw from for research purposes and how much time goes into research, gathering altogether in general?
We are a Christian band. So it’s true we often quote some words from the Bible verses. Also when we did the “Jesus Wind” album, I read those books about Japanese history. But at the end of the day, it’s all about what you got to say in this moment. Songs are statements. We have to put our faith in them.
As more and more people are producing and releasing music, there has been an exponential growth in promotion agencies. What's your perspective on the promo system? In how far do you feel it is possibly undermining musical freedom?
Music business is a business just like any other business. Promotion and marketing is very important. But generally speaking, musicians are not good at business. Honestly we are not good at it, either. If you are working for a big company, you have a big power that means a big budget. But then you will have to give up your musical freedom to a certain degree. We consider ourselves an indie band. We put our focus on our creativity and freedom. We try to stay true and be genuine, as much as possible. That will take away some commercial and marketing potential. But we have to do our best with what we got. Because we can’t fake what we are.
Metal scene have changed considerably over the past century. What, do you feel, could – or should - be new forms and formats for music? And, should we save old-school spirit or just go forward together with musical ‘evolution’ (‘degradation’)?
I don’t think there is any point in saying what’s new and old. Because some people say there is nothing new under the sun since Mozart wrote those symphonies.
But you can say there is a beginning and an end to everything. If there is a development, then there is a decline. It’s a natural process we can’t possibly resist. It’s true to any art form and heavy metal is no exception.
We look at the history of rock music, past and future, and try to make the best thing out of it. We don’t deny future, just like we don’t deny past. That’s where we can find our own style of music.
Music-sharing sites and blogs as well as a flood of releases in general are killing music. What's your view on this topic?
We are living in an information age governed by AI algorithms. No one can cope with all these flooding informations. No one can listen to all the released music and judge what is good or not. Sometime in future, when AI understands love and soul, and we can hear with our spiritual ears rather than physical ears, then everything will make sense. I totally believe we human beings are yet to understand how to make sense of music.
Please recommend two bands to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.
I’ve been a big fan of a Japanese alternative rock band called Bloodthirsty Butchers for a long time. Sadly the singer passed away in 2013 but they were very unique.
Another band I listened to often in the past 3 years is called The Travelling Band from Manchester UK. They are an old school indie folk rock band, so to speak. I really hope this kind of indie music scene will survive through another decade.
They are both not a metal band but just like I said, I usually listen to all kinds of rock music.
What are your plans for near future? Thank you, see you next time!
We really want to tour overseas.
Maybe in the EU, maybe in the USA, or possibly some place in Asia.
I hope the situation in the world will get better next year!