Hama Okamoto's Honto no SUGATA. | feature

Chapter 2 The overflowing love of tortoiseshell that only a bassist can bring to the table.

Hama-san, who usually wears metal frames, we asked him to wear JINS Design Project's "SUGATA", a pair of plastic frames. What is your impression?

Hama:It has been a long time since I have seen orthodox plastic frames. . It has a sense of stability or calmness, after all. ( lol ) looks like a proper person .

Hama:But unlike the black rims I used to wear, this "SUGATA" has a transparent or matte finish, and when I wear it like this, I am struck by its freshness. I was also surprised by its lightness.

The designers of this project, brothers Ronan and Erwan, are involved in chair and space design and are not from the field of eyeglasses. Therefore, the volume of the ) hinge section, which connects the temples to the ( yoloi, which is commonplace in the eyeglass world, has been trimmed.

Hama:Ah , it's true. I did not notice it because it is so familiar to me. At first glance, it looks orthodox and it is hard to tell the difference from the others, but there are differences in the details. When you hear the story behind it and then look at it, you see it in a different light. The volume of the yoroi, which we take for granted, is completely gone. It makes you see the discrepancy in a good way.

Hama-san, do you have a process of elimination in your music making?

Hama:When I was a student, there was a tendency to think that being able to play the bass guitar was all that mattered. It was cool to be able to play fast, but as I gained experience over the years, I realized that there was a world of "coolness in not playing". The space between lines, the length of notes, where to cut. There is a kind of expression that can be achieved by eliminating the uselessness, and I am always challenging myself to find it.

Hama-san, what type of designer are you when it comes to sound design?

Hama:When we make sounds as a band, it's like a "big joke. No matter how many demo tapes I prepare on my own and how I think it should be recorded, when I get on the spot and the drums start pounding away, they do something completely different. It is a challenge for us to take on the sounds that are produced in such a playful way, in a good way. Leaving that margin is one of the ways of being in a band, and in order to do that, you have to have something to draw from on a daily basis. Even though I am a member of the band, I am still a stranger, and it is not good to respond to their calls with the same approach over and over again, so I have to keep my drawers open.

By the way, you picked up several frames that I am interested in, but many of them have tortoiseshell patterns, don't they? Usually, tortoiseshell-patterned frames tend to be picked up by people who can't decide on a color.

Hama:Is that so?　. I chose it easily. By the way, there are tortoiseshell-patterned parts on the base, and vintage ones are made of real tortoiseshell, not celluloid. I hold tortoiseshell in my arms on a regular basis (laughs). (laughs) . Therefore, I am familiar with tortoiseshell, or I have an affinity with tortoiseshell. That may be why I naturally chose it!