Kenta Maeno is a singer-songwriter who is highly regarded as an expression of new folk music in the modern age. The music video for the song "Natsu wo wash away Natsu wo Mawarashita", a 7-inch single cut from his latest album "Sakura", is sure to be a hot topic of conversation.
This is because the production was handled by "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION" led by Jun Takahashi, who has worked with "Jonio" for many years on various creations. The team is led by art director Tetsuya Nagato, photographer Taro Mizutani, and Katsuhide Morimoto, who have worked with "Jonio" for many years on various creations, and was just established to produce advertisements and videos that go beyond the existing framework. This is a new creative team that has just been established to create advertisements and videos that go beyond existing frameworks.
The four main members of the production team appeared on stage to coincide with the release of the music video, which has attracted much attention. They talked at length about everything from episodes from the filming to the overall picture of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION," which has just started, and their vision for the future.
UNDERCOVER Designer Jun Takahashi
-First of all, could you tell us how Kenta Maeno's music video became the first creation of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION"?
Taro Mizutani( and below / Mizutani):It was around the end of last year or the beginning of the new year that we started talking about itself. We each had careers in the fashion field, and we thought it would be interesting to form a team together and work on something completely different from what we had done before, but we hadn't actually decided what to do until we actually launched the project and decided on the first job. I hadn't decided what to do for the first job after we actually launched the project. Then, Kenta Maeno (Maeken) was scheduled to appear at the opening event of the Undercover Kyoto store in October, and when I casually mentioned to them that we were working on this project, they said, "We'd love to have you make something for us. Then I asked them, "How about you, Jonio? And they were like, "No, no, no, we'll do it.
Photographer Taro Mizutani
Takahashi ( and below / Takahashi ): Naturally, I was not looking for any musician, but I felt that the balance that Maeken has was just right.
-I heard that the entire video was shot in Jonio's hometown of Kiryu, but did you take into account the fact that this is the first creation of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION" in your selection?
Takahashi: No, it was just that we happened to be in Kiryu when we were thinking about the story. For example, we wanted to shoot in an apartment complex like this, or in nature, or in a deserted Chinese restaurant, etc. When we came up with the idea, we thought that Kiryu would be a good location because there were many such places in a small area, and it would be flexible.
Mizutani: Maeken is a musician who is creating a new version of a Showa-esque or traditional Japanese song, and the first thing we thought of as a taste that would match this was the video playing in the background of the karaoke machine. We thought it would be a very interesting video if we really made something like that. However, it is quite difficult in Tokyo, both in terms of time and cost, to package and set up a shoot with the kind of location imagery that Jonio mentioned earlier.
Art Director Tetsuya Nagato
Tetsuya Nagato( and below / Nagato): As you can see from the video, it is not easy to find a place where you can shoot that many variations of locations, all in close proximity and with such compact movement. In that sense, Kiryu was the best place for us.
Takahashi: The Chinese restaurant is one I've been going to since I was little, and the textile factory is my classmate's parents' house. The bank is where I used to hang out with my friends in high school, and the person in charge of the film commission, who provided full cooperation for the filming, is my brother's barbecue buddy( lol). That's why the conversation was really quick.
-I was impressed by the fact that the names of the film crew and cast members are all people who have worked together on various productions in the past, and that they are all so gorgeous and yet handmade. Tadanobu Asano also casually appeared in the film.
Photographer Katsuhide Morimoto
Katsuhide Morimoto( and below / Morimoto): I asked ( Matsumoto) Chihiro-kun to join us for art, and ( Moriji) Tetsu-kun for lighting. In addition, ( Shuichi ) Banba, a video director who has shot music videos for Ringo Shiina, assisted Chihiro with the art work and shot a documentary movie of the backstage.
Mizutani: I would say that all of us "straddle the workload" a little at a time. This time, Mauri ( and Morimoto ) were the ones who were behind the camera. Of course, I also provided support for the filming, but I also directed and produced the film. The same goes for Jonio-san. I give lighting suggestions to Tetsu and costume advice to the stylist, ( Ishii, ) Dai.
Nagato:Yes, yes. It was not as if someone stood at the head of the table and shared everyone's ideas and joined them together. Everyone had done first-rate work, so the process went very smoothly.
Mizutani: For example, when we think, "Oh, this is no good," everyone quickly clarifies what is wrong, and solutions come out quickly and easily.
Takahashi: Taro, Mauri, Tetsuya, and others all have their own tastes, but when they are about to come together and become one, I smash them together with a bang! I can filter out the good ones by breaking them down with a "bang!
-I am sure this is because of the shared senses that everyone has cultivated through working together on various productions.
Nagato:I think that is already the basis, or rather the foundation of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION" itself.
Mizutani: Yes, that's right. In my opinion, the most important point of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION" is that it is named "UNDERCOVER". I think it is an interesting experiment to see if something unprecedented can be created when Jonio, who has been competing with the world in clothing production for many years while also setting up his own business, and we, who have done various client work, stand on the same footing and try to create something. I think it is an interesting experiment.
Takahashi: As for me, of course my main focus is on making clothes, but I have also made various photo collections and looks with my colleagues. I had accumulated a lot of experience in this area, and in terms of expression outside of clothing, advertising design and graphics, which is what I plan to do as a production company, is also a genre I like. When the idea of this project came up, I had a gut feeling that it would be very interesting to approach a new genre based on what we have done up to now with these members. To begin with, I was talking with Maurice about the idea of creating a zine.
Morimoto: Yes, that's right. I always have a lot of things I want to make, but ( lol ) started with the idea of creating a medium in which we could send out something on our own, rather than presenting it to the media and having them make it for us, I thought it should be a production company.
Mizutani: To begin with, "UNDERCOVER" is not a brand that has only made clothes, and we are not a technical company that only takes photographs. This production team is made up of people who are outputting their own work while moving back and forth between music, art, and culture, and I think that this three-dimensionality is also one of our strengths. This time, the method of expression was video, but I think it would be interesting in the future to use video to create spaces, or even in films.
-I am very much looking forward to seeing how the general public will feel when you take this stance and incorporate the sense that you have cultivated in fashion and editorial into mass media such as advertisements and music videos, so to speak.
Nagato:I am certainly looking forward to seeing how Maeken's PV will look this time.
Mizutani: The song is a story about a man and a woman set in Japan, but the main character is a foreigner, and the location is the town of Kiryu. The story unfolds with a great deal of discomfort, and then the story moves into a distorted portrayal toward the latter half of the film. What do you think? ( lol )
Morimoto: However, I think the video reflects the pop aspects of each of us, not just the so-called surrealism, so I'm curious how that will be received.
Takahashi：I think that people who like and listen to Maeken will probably understand the worldview of this PV. It is the same reason why we fell in love with Maeken.
Nagato:When I thought about how to enhance that beautiful song while adding our own taste, I first wanted Maeken himself to be surprised. When I first explained the direction I wanted to take, he was so surprised and pleased that I thought, "Oh, this is the right thing to do.
Morimoto: In the first place, Maeken himself is not an idol-like popular artist, so I also want this PV to be an opportunity for people to know more about him and his music.
-Can you tell us a little bit about the future of "UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION"?
Mizutani: As a plan, I would like to make several music videos like this one in succession. After Maeken, I'd like to do the opposite, with a major artist. And for the third one, I would like to hook up with someone even more underground. I think it would be interesting if I could move freely between the major and the underground in this way.
Takahashi：That doesn't mean we do whatever we want, but we can't make a music video unless we think the person's music is really good. After clearing that base, I would go ahead with it.
Mizutani: Speaking of the future, I would like to try my hand at car commercials. I think the sizzle and rawness of a car's body in the rain, for example, is one of its charms, and I would like to try to express those points that we think "cars are great" in a non-CG depiction.
Morimoto: Of course we understand that CG is the result of many presentations and meetings, but we would like to keep trying to propose ways of presentation that we think are truly good.
Mizutani: Yes, yes. If there is a kind of royal road of commercialism that is unique to the current era, I always want to exploit the gaps in that road.
Nagato: If there are no more gaps, the cultural aspects of various things will fade away. It is the same in photography and fashion.
-Finally, what was the most important thing for you in the process of creating this PV, or what would you like to use as a guideline in your future production activities?
Nagato:I think it is communication, after all.
Morimoto: Yes, that's right. Including the degree of time sharing.
Mizutani: It is extremely important for the creators to output what they really think is good. I think this is lacking these days. It seems that many decisions are made based only on superficial communication, such as "because that person says it's good" or "because this kind of thing is popular now.
Takahashi: Also, whether or not the creator really enjoys making the music. In the 70s and 80s, when we were greatly influenced, this was evident in various works. Whether it was movies, commercials, or fashion, I think again now that stimulating works were created in a very enjoyable way at the very site where they were created.
Nagato:I want to work in a way that the younger generation will think that those people are idiots, that they are terrible, but that they really seem to be having fun.
Mizutani: That's exactly the kind of generation Jonio and his generation that we saw when we were young.
Takahashi: In that sense, I really enjoyed this PV site after a long time. It was one of the best five sites I've ever worked on. I want to continue to create something with that kind of onsite feel, and I also want it to be something that can only be done by this team of Japanese people. Something that is completely original and not like anything else. It would be great if we could do that on a worldwide scale.
Text_Kai Tokuhara
Photo_Shuhei Kojima
UNDERCOVER PRODUCTION
www.undercoverproduction.com
