Interview Ichiro Yamaguchi (Sakanaction) x Ryo Tanaka (Creative Director / Photographer) | Tiger Snake Coffee x yamaichi Collaboration 2nd "Yamaichi Blend"

Intuition, what we value is a good sense of discomfort.

――What did you think when Mr. Yamaguchi first learned about "Tora Snake Coffee"?

Yamaguchi: I thought there was a tremendous sense of discomfort with the keyword 'coffee & science'. Even if I think it's interesting or like it, the reason why I react is that there is always a good sense of discomfort. If you don't like a discomfort, it's just something you don't like, but a good discomfort is an opportunity to like it. Not only fashion, but also food and music making are important in everything.

In that sense, “coffee & science” was a good sense of discomfort just by sounding, and when I actually drank coffee made by a former scientist and roaster, I intuitively thought that the taste was delicious, and the context was clear, and that something interesting was likely to happen. Get into what you like. That's why I introduced Mr. Ryo."

――How was Mr. Tanaka in response to that?

"I was simply happy. We are still young and hardcore brands, but when I told Ichiro-kun about the height of my thoughts, they treated me with great affection and gained a high resolution. I'd like to thank you. Then, it was released as "YI au lait" using yamaichi Blend, which reproduces the recipe of iced coffee that Ichiro-kun drinks. The fans swept away."

――At the time of opening on March 21, 2023, it was so busy that there was a queue waiting for two hours. Please tell me the theme of yamaichi Blend again.

Yamaguchi: "I wanted to experiment with what would happen if I drink this coffee in the same way as usual. I wanted to spend my time drinking delicious food and drinking it, so I would like to share it with those who like Sakanaction music. I'm a musician, so I'm just a brother who likes music. I can't do anything other than music, and of course I can't do fashion or art direction. But when I make music, I think about the concept, so if I think that way of thinking, I can snuggle up with various things in various scenes. I express my lifestyle as "yamaichi", but "yamaichi Blend" is a feeling of having you design that lifestyle as tiger snake coffee."

――In the first installment, Tora Navi Coffee recreated the recipe of iced coffee that Mr. Yamaguchi drinks, but this time, the second installment, Mr. Yamaguchi blended himself.

"I did it for the first time. It's not an experiment, but look at it, touch it, and try it yourself here. I've been to this space several times before it opened, but it's a very favorite space. Ryo's commitment and various senses create this atmosphere. There are many people, but there are places where you can sit when you enter the store. It's just a different space, or it's comfortable."

――I have a strange feeling. It feels like a different space in Shibuya PARCO.

Tanaka "It's a bit extraterritorial, and I feel like I can do anything here. My dream is that it would be cool if I made a DJ set here and had Ichiro-kun enter, and had an event like I was doing in Paris. That's why I don't put any people in the shop.……I wonder what I'm doing for (laughs)."

Continuing to express with minorities in the majority

――Both the music made by Yamaguchi and the tiger snake coffee have something in common with the word "creative". Is there a sympathy in that regard?

Yamaguchi: "When I meet intuition and feel that it's the same race, I wish I could think it's interesting as a human being."

Tanaka: "I originally had a CD of Sakanaction, but since I met Ichiro-kun, I have found many deeper discoveries. I'm looking forward to the YouTube game distribution that Ichiro-kun is doing in the middle of the night (laughs)."

Yamaguchi: "It's interesting. I never thought I would do live streaming on YouTube five years ago. But when digging music, technology is very close, and music has evolved. So, when I wonder what the music and culture of today's era are, I think it would be better to do anything unexpectedly.

In the past, I didn't want to go out on TV (laughs), but when the purpose known to people became clear, I thought it would be round or softer. I wonder if it's getting tough. It is said that Mr. Ryo became round from a sharp point.…？」

Tanaka: "I don't feel that it's too round, but if you look so, I think it's probably because I haven't done the success I envision. It's not going up. Ichiro-kun is getting the results properly, but I'm bored, so I'll come in a different direction on the way. From the public's point of view, it may seem to be successful, but there is still no satisfactory success in myself. When I watch Ichiro-kun's YouTube, I think it's amazing, tough, and I respect it. When did the Sakanaction begin?"

Yamaguchi: "It was formed in 2005."

Tanaka "What is your major debut?"

Yamaguchi: "I made my debut in 2007. I made the second album "NIGHT FISHING" in Sapporo and moved to Tokyo about 30 years old. It's been quite late blooming, and it's been about 12 years since I came out of Tokyo. I'm pretending to be a Tokyo guy (laughs). In Tokyo, you can always pursue your dreams, or in a sense it's a cruel city. There is a feeling that everyone can live in the same group and in the same community forever."

"I always wanted to get out of that kind of thing, so I left home at the age of 15 and went abroad. Even when I'm doing a fashion brand, I feel like I'm out of the circle. Ichiro-kun's songs also feel like that. I don't seem to belong anywhere."

Yamaguchi "Our theme is that we are in minorities in the majority. If there is always a line, and this is a majority and this is a minority, I'm making music while moving the center of gravity over it."

Tanaka: "After all, I've always been thinking of something different from a person, and wanting to cut from a slightly different place. I started tiger snake coffee, but I didn't think about creating so-called cafes and coffee shops at all, but I wanted to make it a place where clothes, vessels, music, and more, culture can be conveyed by a little more brand coffee. That's why I'm glad that I collaborated with Ichiro-kun this time to feel that the path is expanding so much."

Yamaguchi: "We are fortunate to be able to know something other than music from music. Culture is connected to fashion and music without deviating everything. Since the latter half of 2000, the design has become more and more undesigned. No design. I felt that it was boring, so at least we would like to deliver something other than music to those who say they like their music. That's why I think it's similar to Ryo's idea."

Tanaka: "Weird story, Ichiro-kun's music is at zero point, and I wonder if it's important to assemble it after that. If I replace it with me, it's natural that coffee is delicious, and it's important to take different steps from that point on."

Yamaguchi: "I want to make everything of music. I became interested in aroma, fashion, or art in the wake of music.－－When I start with music, I feel like I can make everything of music. Our strength is that we have something we like, I can tell people who are making songs and like my music that I like coffee with tiger snakes. It can be delivered to minor children living in the area, far away. I think it's stronger than any media. I think that being able to do that is one of the music as a kind of musician. That's why I want to deliver what I like, people, and those affected by them to purely."

"I think music is amazing. I think the same way of thinking, but on the other hand, I'm coming from fashion, so I want to make everything fashion. Music, lifestyle and way of thinking. The trend is written as the destination of the flow, but I think it is the way for my creative to find the destination of the flow quickly. Do you want to be faithful and honest? In that sense, there may be a selfish part, and if it is true, it may make a business profit if it is true, so it will not go there if it is different from the destination of the flow.

I want to be cool in a deep sense, and I want to have a mind for that purpose. What I make has a strong influence from music, so I think Ichiro-kun is always jealous of it (laughs)."

Yamaguchi: "I think it's also wonderful that there is a tiger snake coffee with such thoughts in Shibuya PARCO. The origin of culture, or the fact that it is in Shibuya PARCO, where various cultures are born, is it emo? And from now on, new stories and connections will increase again, and I feel that both myself and Ryo themselves will grow up so much that they will not understand."

Tanaka "I hope I can continue to move around emotional things that are enthusiastic and impressed. I don't want to lose sight of feeling and moving, shaking people's emotions. I'm glad that it is transmitted and people are pleased. I hope you will continue to do that."