Interview with T.M.Revolution

Takanori Nishikawa has been a dominant name in the entertainment industry for a decade. Besides music, he has dabbled in a variety of positions the entertainment industry has to offer, but he always comes back to his roots- music. After taking a year and a half break from activities as T.M.Revolution, the performer prepared himself for his appearance at New York Comic Con. Before Comic Con started, JaME was given the opportunity to sit down with this incredible artist and ask T.M.Revolution some questions.


How does it feel to be back in the US after four years?

T.M.Revolution: Finally I'm back, I'm happy!

After taking over a year break, what are your expectations for the concert this weekend?

T.M.Revolution: Actually, I have a new release - a new single after three years. I had a break but I had other things going on, so I didn't feel like my activities had stopped. Back then, I was thinking about future projects for music and movies, a lot of different projects, and concerning music I had different activities as well. I'm really looking forward to doing this concert!

After the performance at Comic Con was announced, you said that you wanted this appearance to be a new start. What kind of new start are you looking for?

T.M.Revolution: This performance at Comic Con is my first live concert in the US since four years ago, so I’m very excited. Comic Con is like my new start, so if I can find another chance to come back, that would be great! (Laughs)

T.M.Revolution stands for Takanori Makes Revolution. When you first started, what did you want to revolutionize?

T.M.Revolution: Ah, yeah. It's not only just the music, it's the performance. From the beginning, I've always liked to design stuff too, so I was designing costumes and sets, making movies, video clips and stuff, production work too, so I really like a lot of creative stuff. When I started off, I wanted to be more than just a musician, I wanted to be a creator and this was a challenge to myself. That was the whole plan at first. Now, people in the US are thinking, "Oh, what is J-pop music?" and some people think, "Oh, T.M.Revolution" so I'm really happy about that.

Visually, your appearance live and in album art is always very vivid. Having collaborated with Swarovski for the Albiero single as well as having been portrayed in different ways, from a robot to a woman, what is the inspiration behind the imagery for these looks?

T.M.Revolution: People ask me all the time (laughs). I don't think about it for just this project or that project, but it's almost like the inspiration comes naturally. For instance, like right now we are talking like this and I'm thinking about different designs. Actually, coming to New York inspires me. My imagination is going and images are being stored up in my memory. I like living in the moment, getting ideas every minute and I just enjoy being in the moment (laughs).

The album UNDER:COVER was released for T.M.Revolution's tenth anniversary. Since the fans were able to pick the songs for the album, what was your reaction when you saw their choices?

T.M.Revolution: I was surprised! It was different from what I'd been expecting. There are different generations and different worlds, so there's a lot of variety in the fans' choices for the songs.

Was there any song in particular you were most surprised to see?

T.M.Revolution: Ah! Yeah! Meteor, a song for Gundam SEED! Only certain episodes have this song in the TV show. Even though the song was very popular, it was still very surprising!

UNDER:COVER is a very diverse album with collaborations from many different artists. How did you choose what style and artist you'd use for each song?

T.M.Revolution: The basic style is the live arrangement from concerts. I wanted to record something for the ten year anniversary that after five, even ten years if I listen to it, it will seem new and fresh. That's why I wanted to choose somebody I've never used before and wanted to try something new. I wanted to record that moment.

The song Web of Night was used for the Spiderman 2 soundtrack in Japan. Being the only song you've ever released in both Japanese and English, was it hard to convey the same message, recording the two different versions?

T.M.Revolution: The Spiderman 2 staff requested that I make a song in English even though they know I make music in Japanese. I highly treasure the Japanese sound and the Japanese expressions, so the biggest challenge was pronunciation. To convey the emotion is the same thing in Japanese or English, so the only thing I felt was that I should study more English (laughs). Since I sang in English, I had more American and worldwide fans. I'm really happy about that. Also, I got to go to the world premier in Hollywood on the red carpet, so that experience - that was really cool (laughs). That was an important part!

While on the topic of Spiderman, if you had Spiderman’s powers for a day, what would you do with them?

T.M.Revolution: (Laughs). Ah, hmm... (thinks) Spiderman's powers... hmmmm (stops, pauses, then laughs). I'm not a big fan of heights, but I'd want to try to climb the Empire State building! (laughs).

Besides music, you've designed clothes and you've acted in musicals, dramas and movies. As an artist, how have these roles affected the growth of your career and goal?

T.M.Revolution: I am a singer and a musician first, that's my identity. It's not only putting out what I have; there's an input and an output. It's very important to take things into me, as input, so voice acting and acting in musicals, being a designer and being a creator - it always puts more experiences into me as input. I would like to do more input and output together. I feel like it's well balanced right now, and that's what I like. From my side, I'm very happy to see fans in the US too, so if I can get some ideas from you as fans, like what you'd recommend I do, that would be really good (laughs).

Is there something you want to do that you haven't done yet?

T.M.Revolution: Ah, even in Japan a lot of American TV sci-fi stuff and dramas like Heroes are really popular. TV dramas have more episodes so you can portray the story over a longer term than a blockbuster movie, so if I could be like Masi Oka from Heroes, that would be great! (laughs).

Having accomplished so much over the years, is there a particular accomplishment you're most proud of?

T.M.Revolution: I'm really honored to be able to come to the US and perform. I'm so happy I have fans in more than fifty countries now, so it's the fans that made me really proud of myself. It makes me really happy.

Your new single, resonance, is the first new single in three years. Could you tell us a bit about what went into creating it?

T.M.Revolution: I did a band and made some band music, I've been an actor and a creator. I'm enjoying my entire career and being a creator because T.M.Revolution is my home ground - T.M.Revolution is very important to me. Because T.M.Revolution is my home ground, it's my solid soil, and I can make it bigger. I want to draw a bigger picture and expand it because of the fans in the US and the people who have waited a long time for me as well as the staff. I wanted correspondence with everyone, that's why I named the song resonance.

Recently it was announced that you'd be performing at the hide Memorial Summit. What does the memorial mean to you on an artistic level as well as a personal level?

T.M.Revolution: That's a difficult question... as a musician, I really respect hide. This event - I felt that this event is not just to remember him, it's also for his music because his work is still alive. As current musicians, we want to re-convey the life of his work to everyone. That's why when they offered me, I felt that yes, I would like to have that opportunity.

Lastly, please give a message to your fans.

T.M.Revolution: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to appear in the US. I'm very glad that there's a trigger - an audience - to listen to and get close to Japanese music. I would love to come back and see my fans as soon as possible and do another live, even a whole tour! (laughs). So please, keep me in mind! Thank you so very much!



JaME would like to thank T.M.Revolution, Peter Tatara, and Comic Con for making this interview possible.