I had an interview at my digital debut.

Yuichi Ochi, who is active in music while working for a video game company, will make his digital debut with two songs on June 23, his 52nd birthday. Except for the live instrumental performances on drums, bass, and guitar, he wrote the lyrics, songs, arranged the music, and sang the vocals and chorus all by himself. What is surprising is the quality of the music. Not knowing who Mr. Ochi was as an artist, I was astonished when I first listened to the songs by its high level of perfection, which was far beyond what I had imagined.

What is even more remarkable is the degree to which his singing has improved over the past two years. Compared to the original recording, Mr. Ochi's singing voice has evolved tremendously. How on earth did he become such a good singer in these two years, and at the age of 50? In this interview, I asked him about everything from the background of songwriting to the road to digital debut. The episodes of Mr. Ochi, who is brimming with vitality, will surely make you feel the "wonder of human potential".

(Interviewed and written in Japanese by Yota Nakamura)

——First, let me ask you about the first song, "Uncle Harada's Biscotti. The phrase "biscotti~♪" repeated from the beginning of the song and Ochi-san's elongated voice are impressive, and once I hear it, I will never forget it. How did you come up with this song?

My friend Koichiro Miyake had started a business on Osaki-Shimo Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, so my friends and I went there with him in 2015. After he started working there, a community called "Mamena" was formed, and all kinds of interesting people from all over Japan began to gather there. I liked there so much that I started going there twice a year.

At Mamena, there is a man named Mr. Harada who makes and sells handmade biscotti. Biscotti is a local Italian pastry, like a hard biscuit. Mr. Harada is in his late 60s and is energetically involved in various activities, but he is also a biscotti maker. I asked him. He told me that it was because his daughter stopped talking to him, and what ingredients were used. It was a casual conversation, but it left a warm and happy impression on me.

The next day, there was a piano in "Mamena", so I improvised and sang along with the theme of "Biscotti" in front of the other friends. It was, so to speak, the original draft of the song that will be made this time. I've been doing band activities and composing songs for a long time, so if I have a few words, a little phrase or melody will come to my mind. So, when I played it, the crowd got excited and said, "This is a great opportunity, and I want to make this complete."

——This time, I was able to listen to the sound source at the time of conception in April 2021 and the more evolved sound source in November 2021. When I listened to the songs in order, I was really surprised that Ochi-san's singing voice had improved so much in just half a year. So what happened during those six months?

I've been playing keyboards in bands all my life, so if it were me before, I would have asked someone else to do the vocals. But I thought it would be nice to sing this song myself. There was also the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, I wanted to make a song with a band style, so I first asked a professional musician. I was originally in the broadcasting industry, so I had a few friends in the music industry. Mr. Udumoto, who played the drums in my song this time, was the one who played the drums for "DEEN" in the 90's, so I asked him. "I want to sing my own song with a professional performance, but can't you do it without spending that much money?" Then he said, "I can do it."

However, Uzumoto-san suggested to me, "It’s better to do voice training so that deliver your song to more people as you can."

"I will do voice training"
"Which level do you want to go to?"
"I want to go as far as I can go."
"Then let me introduce you to a good teacher."

I was introduced with a tonton beat. A teacher named Raizo, who also teaches a certain famous artist, lives in Sapporo, but he said that he will come to Tokyo in July 2021, so I learned it for the first time at that time. You said earlier that "My singing voice has changed a lot in the last six months", but the actual voice training was only for these two hours.

——What did you learn from your teacher?

The first is how to use my body. The act of making a vocal will change depending on how to use the space from my stomach to my nose. In order to make a voice that can be heard properly even in a band performance, it would be good to have a frequency component of 2 to 5 kHz. So I repeated trial and error to find this voice, and practiced singing using the voice I found.

In voice training, I can get hints, but in the end I have to develop my own voice. So I went to the studio about once every two weeks and practiced. The singing voice changed quite a bit with that repetition.

More than a year later, in October 2022, I had my second voice training. At that time, he taught me how to take a breath and how to add strength and weakness, and he also advised me to sing the "entry" and "end" of the sentences carefully. I thought I was feeling pretty good, but when I received guidance again, I was keenly aware that there were still many things I could improve.

Also, some weeks before vocal recording, I received sounds played by professionals such as Mr. Udumoto, the drummer, and I thought, "I have to improve my vocal more to face the instrument's playing level ." That's why I practiced even harder in preparation for the vocal recording in April this year. Just before that, a better voice finally came out.

——The performances, arrangements, and singing voices of the actual distribution are even more wonderful. Harada-san, a biscotti chef, must have been quite surprised, wasn't he?

For me, he was very happy. Actually, the tuba sound that appears at the beginning of the song, "Pappappa~", is actually played by Harada-san himself. He also has a face as a musician, and he came all the way from Hiroshima to Tokyo to see the vocal recording (laughs).

——Is that so? (laughs) This is just my personal impression, but “Uncle Harada's Biscotti” is a perfect song for the famous Japanese music TV program “Minna-no-uta(Everybody’s song)”.

That's exactly what I was aiming for. There were also impressions such as "I want to have biscotti".

——And this time, another song, “What's important for love is” will also be distributed. It's a work that has a completely different atmosphere from "Harada-san's Biscotti", but what was the background for adding this?

This song is a self-cover of "What’s important for falling love is" that I made for the band I was doing in 1996 called "Y's FACTORY". At the time, of course, the vocalist was someone else(Shigenobu Maesawa, original lyrics writer), but even then, I felt like I was able to make a song that I wanted to do.

Even though I'm going to go out of my way to record it this time, it's not enough to have just one song, so I chose this song as an addition. In the past, single record used to have two songs on them. That's the image. One day in the studio, I sang this song with a light heart and a singing voice, and felt that it might be good, so I added an arrangement for distribution from there.

——I felt the charm of “Kirinji” in the melody and singing voice.

A friend of mine also told me it looked like Kirinji (laughs).

1996, when this song was born, is also the year Kirinji debuted. That's why I think I was thinking in a similar way at that time. I love 80's city pop, and I'm quite conscious of this song.

——I think that friends around you have listened to the sound source this time, but what other impressions did you receive?

Regarding "Uncle Harada's Biscotti", Miyake-kun and other people who were in "Mamena" said, "At first, I was just playing and singing like a joke, but I didn't expect it to become such a work." I was.

The impressions from my bandmates about "What's important for love" were impressive. ``That's what Ochi-san wanted to do,'' or ``It's good to see the youthfulness of the past, but it's nice to have such an adult feeling.''

I'm sure many friends will listen to it once it's streamed, so I'd be happy if they were surprised that (Ochi-san) was able to do something like this.

——It must have been a great sense of accomplishment to make your streaming debut over the course of two years.

It's the same with cooking and everything else, but I'm happy to be able to complete it, and I feel like congratulations to myself and good job to myself.

But on the other hand, when you climb a mountain, you can see a different scenery when you reach the top. It's the same with this voice training, but I felt how carelessly I've been singing up until now. I've improved so much in two years, so I feel like I want to keep on this more. Life is the most interesting thing if you think that I can continue my journey with no answers for the rest of my life.

——Writing your own lyrics, composing songs, and even singing songs is truly an amazing talent. After all, that musical base is largely due to continuing music activities since school days.

I agree. But I think the important thing is whether you can do what you want to do. I've been doing band activities for a long time even after I started work, but it's not like I can do everything that meets my needs. Of course, there are some dissatisfactions and some parts that don't feel right.

Since around 2010, I have had the desire to distribute my own songs. But at that time, I thought that someone else would be singing it, and I never got around to actually trying to make it.

​​When I have something like a dream, it actually comes true at a different time and in a different way than I thought. Life is interesting.

So there was value in the detour, too.

Yes. The experience of being in a band for a long time has become a very good experience for studying ensemble. With these songs, I was able to absorb a lot of things like why it's done this way, why the guitar is done this way, and so on.

—— What kind of difficulties did you face in completing it?

As for me, I was just doing what I liked, so I didn't feel the so-called "struggle", but I didn't feel like I was doing something like "I can't do this" or "I have to do this more". However, this is not limited to music, but it's useless to think about when I can't see the answer, and I have no choice but to move around. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't. Even if it doesn't go well, I will bale to know that ``this won't work'', so that's also a step forward. If I don't move, nothing will happen. I thought this idea would apply to anything.

——I think it's wonderful that Ochi-san, who is over 50 years old, still challenges new things without worrying about his age. I'm sure there are many people in the world who have longed for something they really want to do, but who can't take the first step, or who have given up from the beginning due to reasons such as age. Ochi-san, what kind of words would you like to say to such people?

In recent years, AI has been evolving rapidly. By incorporating AI into work and life, AI will replace the work that humans had to do until now. As a result, time is born, and humans should be able to do "more human things".

The time will come when you can do what you want to do, so if there is something you want to do now, why not do it more and more?

Even if it's small, you will start. If you don't do anything, it won't start, but if you do something, you may be able to see concretely what you had vague up until then, or find something that you can do with confidence.

I have no choice but to move. If you can't do it by yourself, you can find a companion and do it. Especially in Japanese society, the pressure to conform is strong. The fact that I've been able to do more and more like this is probably because I've lived abroad and worked with people from overseas. Especially in the last two years, I often worked with people in the United States and Europe.

——What kind of influence do you get from them?

Everyone lives as they are. When I talk with them, I get the feeling that "I should do as I please." Do whatever makes me happy. That's the fastest way to be happy.

——Last question, what is your next goal?

I want to record more songs and make an album. Also, I really like bands, so I want to find good members and do live shows.

--Thank you for today

Click here to listen to the finished version of the songs.

"Uncle Harada's Biscotti"
Lyrics/Compose/Arrange : Ochizoh
Tuba : Harada-san
Drums : Naoki Uzumoto
Acoustic Guitar : Kenichi Mori
Electric Bass : KIYO
Keyboards / Chorus : Ochizoh

Vocal & Guitar Recorded ,Mixed and Mastered at Studio Athor
Engineer Kenichi Mori

“What's important for love is”
Lyrics : Shigenobu Maesawa /Ochizoh
Compose/Arrange :  Ochizoh
Drums : Naoki Uzumoto
Electric Guitar : Kenichi Mori
Acoustic Guitar : Sho Ichinose
Electric Bass : KIYO
Keyboards/Chorus Ochizoh

Vocal & Guitar Recorded ,Mixed and Mastered at Studio Athor
Engineer Kenichi Mori