Tak Matsumoto News

An update to the official B’z website today brings a promotional teaser video of Tak Matsumoto’s upcoming solo tour「Tak Matsumoto Tour 2016 -The Voyage-」which will see him playing large venues such as Osaka Jo Hall and Nippon Budokan for the first time as a solo artist. The nationwide tour is to be held at five venues beginning in mid April and ending with a finale on May 7th.

Tak will be joined on the tour by drummer Jason Sutter, who has previously toured with Foreigner, Chris Cornell, and Smash Mouth. Colleague and friend Masayoshi Yamashita of fellow Japanese rock act LOUDNESS will be appearing on bass, while frequent B’z backing guitarist Yoshinobu Ohga and keyboardist Akira Onozuka round out the remaining support members.

Tak Matsumoto News

The interview for the next issue of the fan club-exclusive magazine Be With! (due in January) was conducted the other day. In it, Tak talks about his new album and his upcoming tour. An excerpt of the interview has been posted exclusively on the official fan club’s website. Tak mentioned that his new album will have a lot more rock tunes compared to his previous works. Furthermore, he revealed that he will try to make use of the size of each venue to turn each performance into a unique one. To tie in with these plans, B’z Party is collecting votes for songs that Tak should play live.

Excerpt from the Tak Matsumoto interview from Be With! Vol. 108

Interviewer: The image song “Ups and Downs” for the Ukiyo-e exhibition is a strong rock tune and I felt that it is an unusual one compared to your previous solo works.
Matsumoto: It just turned out to be that way, I guess?

Interviewer: Your recent solo works are more jazzy and thus that’s the image I have of your works.
Matsumoto: That’s true. But this time I made more rock songs.

Interviewer: I also get the feeling that your new album has more rock songs…
Matsumoto: It will be an overall rock album compared to previous solo albums.

Interviewer: And the long-awaited solo tour has been announced. It’s different from previous solo tours as it includes arena venues.
Matsumoto: I just thought that I’d be able to make something interesting with instrumental music in a big venue…

Interviewer: I am sure it will be a different atmosphere from shows at the Zepp concert halls or the Blue Note. Can you tell us what kind of show you have in mind?
Matsumoto: Of course the atmosphere will change with the size of the venue. I would like to make it a fun show with lighting, stage set and performance tailored to a big sized venue!

Interviewer: Of course we will get to hear songs off the new record, but will you also perform older songs?
Matsumoto: I will focus on the new tracks but of course I will also perform older songs! I’m not sure if there will be more of the new or the old songs, though…

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto’s solo project is now in full swing as he has announced that his new album is “coming soon” for a Spring 2016 release. Furthermore, the tour in support of the album as well as the supporting band members have been announced. Unexpectedly Tak is this time not playing at small clubs such as the BLUE NOTE, but is instead turning to bigger hall venues, with the final date at the Nippon Budokan. The ticket lottery for fanclub members is open now until January. General sale for tickets will start March 12th, 2016.

Supporting Band Members

Keyboards: Akira Onozuka (from DIMENSION)
Bass: Masayoshi Yamashita (from LOUDNESS)
Supporting Guitar: Yoshinobu Ohga
Drums: Jason Sutter

Tak Matsumoto Tour 2016 -The Voyage-

General Sale: March 12th, 2016

April 16th — Diamond Hall (Nagoya)
Tickets: All Standing — 8,000 Yen

April 19th — DRUM LOGOS (Fukuoka)
Tickets: All Standing — 8,000 Yen

April 24th — Osaka Jo Hall
Tickets:
SS Category — 12,000 Yen (FANCLUB ONLY)
S Category — 8,000 Yen
A Category — 5,000 Yen

April 27th — Sapporo Factory Hall
Tickets: All Standing — 8,000 Yen

May 7th — Nippon Budokan (Tokyo)
Tickets:
SS Category — 12,000 Yen (FANCLUB ONLY)
S Category — 8,000 Yen
A Category — 5,000 Yen

Tak Matsumoto News

Today it has been revealed that Tak Matsumoto’s new song 「Ups and Downs」 will be the image song for an upcoming exhibition at the Bunkamura Museum of Art in Tokyo. The exhibition is called “KUNIYOSHI & KUNISADA – From the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” and will run from March 19, 2016 to June 5, 2016. The exhibition will feature Ukiyo-e by genius Ukiyo-e artists Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) and Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). The art is sourced from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which is well-known for its collection of Ukiyo-e.

A comment from Tak Matsumoto:

When I received this request, I was already in the middle of recording and had almost gathered all tracks for the new record. “We want to add a rock’ish and fresh aspect to our Ukiyo-e exhibition, which usually attracts old-fashioned art connoisseurs”, they said. Their request immediately piqued my interest and I decided to add one last and final track to the record. I felt the Rock’n Roll spirit when I thought about the wild, lively, erotic, and at times very cool style that Kuniyoshi and Kunisada employed. As that happened, I immediately got various inspirations. I finished the track in no time. “Ukiyo” originally means “transient world”. All things emerge, and then gradually perish as they change. They are not eternal. The same goes for human emotions: One time you’re happy and another time those feelings go away.
How about we value such things and enjoy life more?

Link: Bunkamura Museum of Art

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto has announced that he will provide the opening and ending themes to the TBS show “The World Heritage”, which receives an overhaul commemorating its 20th anniversary. The first broadcast is scheduled for October 4th, 2015 at 6 PM Japanese Time.

While Tak Matsumoto has written themes for TV shows such as “Music Station” or “Sport!” in the past, this is the first time that Tak has written a song for a documentary show. The song titles as well as a release date for these two songs has not been revealed yet.

[UPDATE 10/2]
A short movie featuring Tak’s new song has been posted on B’z official YouTube channel!

You can check out a very short portion of the opening theme song in the TV commercial below.

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto and GLAY’s TAKURO join hands to produce a new song for TUBE’s 30th anniversary album 「Your TUBE+My TUBE」, set to release on June 17th, 2015. The title is 「LOVE BEACH」 and the music was written by Tak Matsumoto while the lyrics were written by GLAY’s TAKURO.

A comment from Tak Matsumoto
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary. It is a wonderful thing to have been active for such a long time without any breaks in between. I think it is an achievement only the four of you could’ve made happen. I feel very honored and, at the same time, very happy to have received a request from a long-time friend to produce a song for 「Your TUBE」. They were so kind to meet with us during recording and it goes without saying that their performance quality is very high. As such, it was a very fun experience and recording went smoothly. As expected, once Maeda’s vocals come in, the track gets a 1000% TUBE feel.
Beforehand, I received a request to produce a “upbeat and bright rock tune”, but long before I would start writing the music, I already came up with the title “Love Beach”. I continued to work with a rock’n’roll riffs and melodies while keeping the “Love Beach” image in mind. I also asked TAKURO to write the lyics based on the title. I think he came up with very fitting and a little erotic lyrics. But most of all, I am happy that the members of TUBE have really come to like with what we’ve come up. I am really looking forward to seeing this song performed live.

A comment from TAKURO (GLAY)
A big thank you to Tak Matsumoto and TUBE for giving me the opportunity to work on this wonderful album.

TUBE’s new album is split up into two parts: 「Your TUBE」, on which artists produced songs imagining they were part of TUBE. And then then there’s 「My TUBE」, which has been produced by the band themselves. You can hear a preview of the song Tak worked on below: