VOL.79 Hitoshi Okamotosolo Maxi Single“Sweet×2 Summer Rain”

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.79

Interview with Hitoshi Okamoto

Second Maxi Single *Sweet×2 Summer Rain* arrives June 20!

Here comes the second solo work from Hitoshi Okamoto, the GARNET CROW guitarist who expresses his own world through a distinctive pop sound!

Hitoshi Okamoto, active as GARNET CROW’s guitarist, released his first work as a singer-songwriter last November. That Maxi Single, *First fine day*, hid a lyrical and delicate world inside a pop melody, as if reflecting his personality. About seven months later, his second single, *Sweet×2 Summer Rain*, is complete. This time, it shows the pop world that belongs only to Hitoshi Okamoto even more fully.

A voice as sweet yet melancholy as Eiichi Ohtaki’s, a pop sound with a Beatles flavor, and music and singing born from a vivid sensibility and easy to take in—all possess a casual charm that draws you in before you realize it. What kind of path has Hitoshi Okamoto taken?

hitoshi okamoto

Okamoto first encountered the professional music world at around twenty-two. The opportunity came when a demo made by a band he formed with university friends was well received.

“I was in my fourth year of university, and it was partly a job-hunting effort, so I sent out the demo. It was accepted, and before I knew it I had arrived here.”

His composition and guitar ability impressed his current producer. He first began his creative career by writing songs for ZARD, then participated as a guitarist in a ZARD cruise concert before making his official debut as GARNET CROW’s guitarist in March 2000.

“After meeting several times with the members in a studio, people suggested that GARNET CROW should try working together. But each person’s role was clear from the start. Rather than a lively band that creates everything together, we wanted it to function like a streamlined production team.”

GARNET CROW, formed by musicians who already had individual creative experience, is steadily gaining wider recognition through its excellent musicianship.

Alongside his work with GARNET CROW, Okamoto released his first solo work, *First fine day*, last November. He sang and played every instrument on it, showing his abilities in many areas. Surprisingly, however, he only began singing after consciously deciding to make a solo work.

“Whether guitar or singing, I never took lessons or had a particularly strong thought that I wanted to become a professional musician. I simply ended up this way. I kept showing people the songs I had accumulated, and eventually someone said, ‘You have a nice voice—sing.’ I never expected to sing myself (laughs).”

The melodies and atmosphere of Okamoto’s songs are completely different from what one normally expects from a guitarist’s work, and they are highly pop-oriented.

“I started composing near the end of high school. I wondered how songs were actually written. I happened to have a friend who played piano, so I asked him a lot of questions and learned from him.”

That is how he came to write solo works with a guitar in hand and a melody in his head. Today, he handles everything at home, from recording instruments and vocals to arranging and mixing.

“The singing and everything else, all by myself... This time, acoustic guitar was the only exception; everything else was recorded at home. So the process is slow, and when I get stuck, I get really stuck (laughs). I am the kind of person who can only write when I clearly tell myself, ‘I am going to make a work,’ so in a way I force myself to do it...

“If a fragment or a short melodic phrase suddenly appears, I keep recording it onto tape. Once I have accumulated enough, I listen on another day. If I think, ‘That’s good,’ I say, ‘Then let’s shape this properly,’ and from that point I keep working. With *Sweet×2 Summer Rain*, I did not get stuck simply writing the melody, but I spent a tremendous amount of time filling it out and completing it (laughs).”

Although the process was difficult, the finished work still feels light and fluid. Is that also a result of Okamoto’s personality?

“People do say, ‘You always seem to make things so casually.’ I tell them, ‘No, I am working desperately’ (laughs). But it probably has a lot to do with the sound: I do not tense up and push too hard. I personally like passionate things, but it seems I can only make things this way (laughs). I work on GARNET CROW, then turn the things I make casually at home into finished works. If that is the impression people get, I do not think it is a bad thing.”

That relaxed attitude is exactly the point. Okamoto’s work must contain a great deal of labor and passion, yet what reaches the listener is someone enjoying the act of creating with ease. Perhaps this is J-pop that has captured the air of the present. Please give it a listen.

Release information

Hitoshi Okamoto
Second Maxi Single *Sweet×2 Summer Rain*
Released June 20
GIZA studio GZCA-1086 ¥1,260

*Sweet×2 Summer Rain*
Hitoshi Okamoto

1. Sweet×2 Summer Rain
2. Happy Trash
3. First fine day Go! Go! remix