
PROFILE
A five-piece rock band consisting of Yosuke "YONCE" Kawanishi (Vo&Gt, left), Shoji Kurita (Gt, middle right), Yusuke Kurita (Key, right), Takuma Motomura (Ba, middle left), and Takeshi Ouchi (Dr, middle). The band has released their first EP "2000JPY" from "F.C.L.S." in 2024, and their first album "Chance" is now available for download. A nationwide solo tour is scheduled to begin in January next year.
Guys who thought they were cool with each other but didn't fit in.
- Since you have just released your memorable first album, I would like to start by asking you about the background of the formation of Hedigans.
YONCE:I was offered to participate in a tribute album to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the debut of a very senior band called THE STREET I received an offer to participate in a tribute album to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the debut of a very senior band called THE STREET SLIDERS. At the time, SATIMOS was also inactive, and I was not doing any permanent musical activities. It would have been easier if I had asked someone who mainly did support work, but I wanted to do it as a band, so I called on Gaku, who had been in a band with me since high school, and we decided who we would invite. After the first session with all the members, I felt that the band was already really good. I thought, "Why don't we go out together? (laugh).
- Confession of love (laughs).
YONCE:Yes. That day, I felt it would be interesting to keep going. So that's the story from my point of view.
Ouchi:That's right. At first, we were only planning to record the tribute, but the day we played turned out to be a great day, and we started talking about doing something like this, and now we are here.
Honmura:Before the day of the session, we got together once at a bar in Shinjuku as a kind of meeting. From that time, we had a vague idea that it would be great if we could form a band with this group of people. After that, we recorded Sliders, and I think it became more definite.
Yusuke Kurita (hereafter Yusuke):I don't recall anyone taking the initiative in suggesting that we work as a band. It was more like a natural process or a mood.

-It came about spontaneously, didn't it?
YONCE:It really is.
Shoji Kurita (henceforth Shoji):I was in a band called Glider with my brother Yusuke, and we used to play with Yonce and Ouchi's band, Old Joe. We often played with Old Joe (OLD JOE), which YONCE and OUCHI were in. Motomura-kun was also in another band at the time, and the five of us have known each other for about 10 years. The idea for this tribute was not through a staff member, but directly from YONCE, who asked Frank to join us. So there was no one to say, "Please give me the score," or "How should we do it?
YONCE:If you had told me that, I would have been in trouble (laughs). I can't even write music.
Shoji:I feel that this was also what made the band unique from the beginning.
Ouchi:When we met at the bar, it was more like a meeting to match the vibes than a meeting. It was like we had a meeting about not having a meeting (laughs).

-What criteria did YONCE use to send a love call to these four people?
YONCE:Gaku is already an old friend of mine, and I felt comfortable singing with him. From there, we went out for dinner and discussed who we should choose. The Kurita Brothers were a band that we often played with at live houses, and we were good friends, but we were not used to each other. Even though we thought their live performances were cool, we didn't say so out loud to each other. From that point of view, I was convinced that if we could work together now, it would definitely be interesting. I did not know Mocchan (Motomura), the bass player, at that time, but I had heard a lot about his band's works and heard from various sources that he was a great bass player. Gaku also said that Motomura was the best bass player, didn't he?
Ouchi:I also liked Motomura-kun very much both as a bassist and as a member of the band.
Honmura:This is the same for me. I have always really liked a drummer named Gaku Ouchi, and if I had the chance, I would definitely want to do something with him. Whenever I was asked by other people for advice on good drummers, Gaku was the first person that came to mind and I would introduce him to them.
Ouchi:I also introduced Honmura-kun to him (laughs).
Shoji:We were one of the few times the Kurita brothers participated in studio work together, and it was the first time in a long time that we had been together with Motomura-kun. In a sense, we knew each other's style of production there.