A solo album was never part of Yojiro Noda’s (野田 洋次郎) plans. With a busy schedule overseeing various projects, writing new songs for RADWIMPS, and acting, it wasn’t until fellow artist HOLLY reached out that the 39-year-old began to experiment with different sounds. This led to the creation of ‘WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB’, his debut solo album featuring 13 tracks that delve into Noda’s personal experiences.
After spending 25 years with one of Japan’s most beloved rock bands, Noda brings a wealth of experience to this album, which allows him to explore new musical territory, incorporating elements of hip-hop and “hyperpop.” This solo endeavour not only expands his artistic boundaries but also showcases a shift towards more intimate and vulnerable lyrics, providing listeners with a glimpse into his emotional world. More on that here:
What prompted you to write more solo songs? When did it start, and why?
While I was busy creating songs for RADWIMPS and taking on a few acting roles, my solo project began when HOLLY, the beatmaker, sent me a collection of beats via Instagram DMs. Initially, I didn’t have time to listen to them, but when I finally did, I found a wealth of intriguing ideas. I asked him to send me the stems for a particular track, and he responded right away. From there, I started editing and adding new sounds, which turned out really well, so I added vocals.
My primary focus was still on RADWIMPS, but I began experimenting with HOLLY’s beats once I finished my main studio work. I hadn’t planned on making an album at first; it was more of an exploration. When HOLLY reached out, it was my first introduction to him—I had never met him in person and knew nothing about him. It was just an incredible beat that he sent, and from that, we started communicating.
Where does the name of the album “WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB” come from?
I really wanted to incorporate words like “WONDER BOY.” From the beginning of this album making, like “PAIN KILLER,” the mood was very imaginary, dramatic and playful. I felt that the album was shaping in that direction. On the other hand, like “STRESS ME,” there was always a poisonous side of me there as well. This can be said for RADWIMPS songs, too, but even with full of happiness, there is always something eerie. There is always a feeling of ambivalence, like having antinomy as I create music. So even as a WONDER BOY, I’m having a nightmare. It feels like there is no border between a dream and reality and you’re in both happy world and a nightmare at the same time. That strange feeling became the title.
You’ve released solo music before, “As Illion.” Why did you go with your birthname for this album?
Right after I started the Illion project, big earthquake hit Japan. Partly because of that, Illion touched on few sensitive themes that weren’t necessarily personal to me as Yojiro Noda. It was a musical experiment more than anything. This time, though it started with HOLLY’s beats, lyrics is very personal and I feel like I’m singing these songs as Yojiro Noda. So releasing under Illion didn’t feel right. It has very different colour compared to the past 2 Illion albums.
I thought about coming up with another artist name for this project but adding yet another moniker seems too many. So I decided to go with Yojiro Noda and if I end up writing more songs in the future, beat-oriented or not, I can just keep releasing them under Yojiro Noda.
This is a very personal album. What mood were you in when you started making this album?
For RADWIMPS, I have to build the song from the beginning, zero to one, but this time, because HOLLY had sent me the base of the song already, I was able to concentrate more on lyrics, rap and melody. As I did so, something I’ve never touched with RADWIMPS, something inside that I didn’t think it was necessary to put into words, naturally started coming out. Also after I decided to release this under the name Yojiro Noda, even more personal lyrics started pouring out.
Tell us about the character, AKUMU-KUN.
I had moments when I felt invincible like somewhere far from human flesh during the album making process. At first, I didn’t think it was necessary for me to appear in public and have AKUMU-KUN do all the promotion. It felt like the singer of this album was a symbolic and iconic figure, not myself. Like my alter ego became this character.
Pasuka Demizu designed this character for me and as we exchanged rough sketches and ideas, it felt more and more like this character is the one singing. So during the process, I was convinced that this is an album performed by AKUMU-KUN.
What’s amazing about characters are that they never get old. They never die. That’s the strongest thing of being a character. I mean, that’s what he is. I get old. I die someday but this character never dies. I want him to keep being that icon.
Is rapping a vocal style that you find easier to deliver your feelings through?
There is no clear border between singing and rapping for me but as you stuff lots of notes into the song, words are also an instrument so when I want to use words at its max, rapping is very effective. I’ve been putting lots of words into songs in the past but rap nowadays is evolving so much. I’m getting so much influence from the other rappers recently. I want to make sure I soak them all up but I’m also confident that it won’t be a mimic. I have 20 years of experience in a band as a musician so I can add that element on top of it to create something interesting. Without hesitation, I was able to challenge that on this record.
Was there any sound or technique you tried on this album that you haven’t done before?
Editing my voice in the next level was very new for me compared to RADWIMPS songs. So far, I’ve kept my voice as they were but for this album, it was only an element of the song so I didn’t hesitate to pitch 2 octaves higher or 3 octaves lower. If it was necessary for the song, I was more than happy to do that. There were so many interesting chemistries going on when I tried that so it was fun. It’s a little bit tricky and hard to perform on stage but during the creation process, it was really fun.
Also, for this album, I started to look for plug-ins for the protools. Then a lot of plug-in ads started to pop up on my Instagram! Maybe 1 out of 3 ads looked interesting so I kept sending them to my managers and requested them to purchase those which I tried out in the next studio session. 80% of those are bullshit but 10%, 20% were big hit for me. It’s a toy so I kind of mess around with it and but you need a lot of money to find the hit. There is one called PORTAL which I liked. I don’t know how it works but it’s a random effect that does some shit to the sound. It doesn’t matter if it’s a guitar or vocals. If it’s an audio track, you put it in and sometimes magic happens.
The sound of these songs is very digital. Why did you want to explore this sound?
My theme in making music is how I can get motivated and excited creating music…that’s the only purpose of making music from zero to one. And my instinct told me what excites me the most at that time and I knew that this is where my unknown music lies. So I just went there and tried it out to see what I can do.
When I did that and opened the door, before I knew it, something fascinating came into shape. And it’s interesting because I booked all the artists for the release party, like HOLLY, Peterparker69 and everyone, myself and member of Peterparker69, Y ohtrixpointnever, already knew HOLLY. He texted me like “is this HOLLY the beatmaker?” He was a real fan of HOLLY so everything is really connected. Even if we didn’t know each other in person, we’re all related and have the same vibe and energy so it’s interesting.
What artists would you point to as shaping “WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB?”
There are so many. kZm, of course, and I love J.I.D’s rapping skill and flow. I’m inviting young rappers to my release party as well. I’m not really sure if we should call them rappers but Peterparker69, lilbesh ramko…there are so many young talents. I love their music and I really respect how they focus on their music and creating a new genre. I’m very influenced by their music.
How and when do you know that the songs are complete and fully yours?
That goes for RADWIMPS songwriting, too, but I always feel certain when the song is complete. I had a luxury of spending about 2 years to complete this album so I was able to make adjustments as I went along. I saw the big picture and balanced out the album at the end. In that sense, to create an album as one single piece of work, I achieved that more on this album compared to RADWIMPS albums.
You mentioned “struggling and almost giving up” while making this album. Why was that? You even said that you thought about “deleting this song” on the lyrics of “Hazy Sigh.”
90% of making this album process was fun. It was not like really hard or full of struggles. But I think this can be said for all types of creation. I create music because I love it but the process of completing it always comes with pain. Those are a set. You can’t complete the process with just pleasure. To create, there is always pain involved so the creative process of this album was definitely normal and appropriate.
I think “HAZY SIGH” is one of more symbolic songs in that sense. This would have never become a song for RADWIMPS but when I heard that beat, I knew that I wanted to write a song that is like a deep sigh and that song would be interesting and will fit well on this album. I thought that I could output this pain and despair into a song like this so I tried.
What were some of your happy and fun memories from making the album?
There were so many. Like the moment when I finished making songs like “STRESS ME.” That was a totally new experience for me. That was the very first time that I felt like I was able to make music in the same level of rap field. Not like a mimic, I was confident that I expressed myself with my original rap. I was really surprised about it.
Also, “PIPE DREAM” sounds little like the 70’s. It’s very old style but it was very new for me and it was really fun putting that kind of beat putting it on the song as well. Collaborating with J.I.D was, of course, amazing experience for me. That was very new for me, too. There were so many highlights on this album.
About the collaboration with J.I.D
There is this friend of mine of over 10 years. He is doing all the connecting between American rapper/artists and Japanese artists and when we had this offer from the game “Like a Dragon,” he asked “are there any rappers you want to collaborate with?” I love J.I.D’s rap so I told that to him and he connected us.
And it just happened. I made the basic piano/beat and sent it to their team which they edited and made it more hip-hop vibe and flow. Then they sent it back and we did the back-and-forth.
About the collaboration with kZm
We met maybe around 2018? 2019? Maybe way more back. I don’t remember when but he was pretty much a fan of RADWIMPS since he was a young teenager. I think we met at a club in Shibuya and went to this karaoke place. He was really drunk and he started singing RADWIMPS song, I think it was “Oreiro Sky.” He was really freaked out and excited.
I liked his personality at first and after that, I listened to his music and I instantly understood that he loves his music, not only hip hop but non-genre. He just had love and respect for music and I really had this feeling that he had a strong ears and sense of finding good music. I really trust his senses. Since then, I kept asking him “are there any (good) music recently?” and we’ve started to hang.
You are taking inspiration from a younger generation on this album who are inspired by what you have been doing with RADWIMPS. Do you ever think about your position as an influence on a generation of creators?
That’s one of the most interesting parts of creating music. No one can imagine that kind of chemistry. Peterparker69 used to listen to “Your Name” in high school, I think. They said that they were listening with their girlfriends and I was really surprised about it.
They were influenced by my music and I am influenced by their music. That’s the most beautiful part of creating music. There is no age. There is no genre. There is no nothing at all. It’s only about pure music and how we love and how we dig into good music and bump into each other. That’s the great part of keep making music.
I feel, not necessarily responsibility, but I think there is a role I can play in this. I was hooked up with my senior musicians as well when I was a teenager and early 20s. There are a lot of unknown musicians out there who I can hook up to introduce them to the world with small effort, I am always here to take that role.
What’s the biggest thing about yourself you learned from creating “WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB?”
I realised that there are so much more I can do and there are so much I still haven’t done. And I’m excited to keep going with this journey in music. I’ve already been in the music industry for more than 20 years so maybe people think that I’m in a “veteran stage” but I still have so much more I want to accomplish and so much I haven’t done.
Like I said, there are so many young talents and artists that influence me. So many new artists coming up. So there is no end to it and I’m very happy about it. Can’t wait to see what kind of music I can create in my 40s and beyond.
What’s next? Where are you heading to as a musician?
I can’t even picture it. It’s really surreal to have 2 world tours and have stadium concert outside Japan with whole bunch of crowds in places like South America. That was way beyond my imagination when I started my career. But that happened. That actually happened.
So there are no specific dream or goal or anything in my 40s but one thing I know is that if I keep focusing on making my music, with pure energy, from my heart, I believe that I can bump into something that it’s way beyond my imagination and experience things that I’ve never imagined of. That’s what I know and what I found out in my 20 years of career. So I guess I will have to just keep doing that and see what happens.
The post Interview: RADWIMPS Frontman Yojiro Noda On His Solo Album & Relationship With J.I.D & kZm appeared first on Hype Malaysia.
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