Es VOL.17 创作者作品集 Hitoshi Okamoto作品

●○ From music freak Es Vol.17

CREATOR'S COLLECTION
by Hitoshi Okamoto Works

This feature returns after a long absence. Each time, it picks one artist and introduces their creative work by focusing on their many sides as a creator: providing songs and lyrics to other artists, participating in recordings and live tours, working on projects as an arranger, and more.
For the ninth installment, we feature GARNET CROW guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto! He also works as a solo artist under the name SUPER LIGHT, and has provided songs and arrangements for a wide range of artists. From among those works, we have selected nine to introduce here.

※ All jacket photographs shown are from the regular editions.

Hitoshi Okamoto

Profile
Alongside his work as GARNET CROW’s guitarist on live performances and recordings, he has worked as a composer and arranger for many artists, including Mai Kuraki. As a solo artist, he has released two singles and three albums to date. He displays his broad talents without reservation, handling everything from vocals to every instrumental part himself.
His sound combines directness and pop appeal with an intriguing edge, as well as distinctive vocalization. It radiates a powerful individuality along with a comfortable listenability.
His deeply expressive guitar also gives GARNET CROW’s sound a steadfast character.
He participated as a guitarist in [ZARD “What a beautiful memory Tour”], held from 2007 to 2009.

COMMENTS
When you were bored during class at school, didn’t you ever write poems in your notebook?
Haven’t you ever looked back and thought, “Whoa, what was I writing? Me? That’s so embarrassing!”?
Most people probably crumple the page into a ball and throw it away! But sometimes there’s one where you think, “Oh, this might actually be pretty good.”
So if we disregard quality, everyone is an artist, right?

I think composing is similar. If you can hum an original melody in a floppy, wobbly way, that is already proper composition.
So everyone is a composer!!
In my case, I had a little courage to endure the embarrassment and let other people hear my work instead of crumpling it up and throwing it away (laughs). Fortunately, I also knew how to turn it into reality, so I was able to build a career as an actual composer.

My basic stance remains unchanged, but I approach each day with an effort to keep my ideas flexible.
The song itself is a work, of course, but I also think the range of emotions that arises in the person who receives it—kindness, comfort, disgust, a feeling of being filled with energy, and so on—is part of the work. So, in a positive sense, I want to keep growing while cherishing my impure motives!

01　ZARD “Hypnosis” [Music & arrangement]
2009.5.27
Included as M-2 on the single “Sunao ni Ienakute”
(First press limited edition: JBCJ-6013 / regular edition: JBCJ-6014)

It first appeared in 1999 as the B-side of the 28th single “MIND GAMES,” making it one of Okamoto’s earliest works. The original arrangement was co-written with GARNET CROW’s Hirohito Furui. Although it was not included on an original album, it returned in a new arrangement as the B-side of the 45th single “Sunao ni Ienakute,” released in 2009. This pop number opens with Okamoto-like guitar cutting, followed by a fresh, flowing melody that makes a strong impression. On the latest version, Okamoto and doa’s Shinichiro Ota participate as guest backing vocalists. Having also taken part in ZARD’s live performances, Okamoto’s sound-making, which knows the essence of the ZARD sound inside and out, is superb. Please compare both versions.

02　Mai Kuraki “P.S□MY SUNSHINE” [Music & arrangement]
2005.06.01
Included as M-1 on the single “P.S□MY SUNSINE”
(GZCA-7061)

This is a song from Mai Kuraki’s 21st single, released in 2005. Okamoto created the entire backing track himself. He has since established a style as a multi-composer who handles everything from composition and arrangement to track production. Apparently, this grew out of his habit of bringing highly elaborate audio sources from the demo stage whenever he made a work. He is an artisan-like artist, almost a perfectionist. In this piece as well, his meticulous attention to each individual tone is impressive. Perhaps with Kuraki’s work in mind, he added a touch of 1970s disco sound. Although it is a song for summer, its melody also carries a subtle melancholy that gives it atmosphere.

03　Mai Kuraki “Juliet” [Music & arrangement]
2006.08.02
Included as M-4 on the album “DIAMOND WAVE”
(First press limited edition: GZCA-5086 / regular edition: GZCA-5087)

Included on her sixth album, released in August 2006. Once again, Okamoto handled every instrument and all programming on the backing track. From the emotionally wrenching melodies of the A and B sections to the straightforward minor-key chorus melody with a Latin flavor, followed by the smooth progression into the C section, the song is a thoroughly professional piece. The way the song and sound are constructed, as if he fully understood Mai Kuraki’s vocals and sound, suggests that he also works as a researcher of each artist. It is a song where his understated craftsmanship shines.

04　Aya Ueki “Are you happy now?” [Music & arrangement]
2008.9.10
Included as M-1 on the album “Are you happy now?”
(First press limited editions: GZCA-5142, GZCA-5143 / regular edition: GZCA-5144)

Released in September 2008, it was included as the opening track of her third album. True to the work of a rock vocalist, it is a bold, fast-moving guitar-rock number. What deserves special mention is that, even with its heavily distorted guitar sound, it never suppresses the vocalist’s individuality. Rather, the sound and arrangement show superb skill in making full use of the qualities in her voice. Okamoto and Ueki were an especially good match, and he handled eight of the album’s fourteen songs. Every one became a distinctive number of a high standard. This is an important artist and work when discussing the creative activity of multi-composer Hitoshi Okamoto.

05　Saeka Uura “Genzaishinkokei” [Music]
2009.3.4
Included as M-1 on the album “DICE”
(GZCA-5157)

This was the opening track of her second mini-album “DICE,” released in March 2009, and had also been released as the first digital single of 2008. It is a catchy, powerful song that listeners familiar with Hitoshi Okamoto’s solo work will recognize immediately. The exchange between a fast-moving power-pop guitar sound and the beautiful melody riding on top of it makes this a direct, no-nonsense number that reveals his roots. It was an ideal choice to support Uura Saeka’s youth-rock direction when she was still a teenager. I would love to hear him actively self-cover a song with such a clear, solid melody in his own solo work.

06　Aiko Kitahara “Hanasaku Michi” [Music & arrangement]
2003.11.12
Included as M-11 on the album “PIECE OF LOVE”
(GZCA-5040)

The closing track of her first full album “PIECE OF LOVE,” released in November 2003. Although it is a ballad-like number, its somewhat rock-like character may be due to the programming of the rhythm track. It may be a rare recording of the rough-edged, shoegaze-like guitar sound that has since receded into the background, outside his solo work as well. The arrangement shows an experimental style while also suggesting a GARNET CROW-like approach, something characteristic of Okamoto’s work from this period. As a composer, his straightforward, gentle phrases, shaped with the vocalist’s image in mind, show the beginnings of a professional songwriter.

07　Shiori Takei “Yunagi” [Music]
2004.9.15
Included as M-7 on the album “My Favorite Things”

Included on her first full album “My Favorite Things,” released in September 2004. The lyrics were written by AZUKI Nana, making this a song by the GARNET CROW team, with Okamoto composing it. Although he contributed only the music, the contrast between the floating melody of the first verse and the second verse’s melody, with its firm, sharply defined yet wistful chorus, is wonderful. This melancholic number captures Shiori Takei’s cool, beautiful, and fragile voice, and is a masterpiece that fully expresses Okamoto’s talent as a melody maker.

08　Hayami Kishimoto “reigning star” [Music & arrangement]
2003.9.10
Included as M-7 on the album “Meikyu”
(First edition: GZCA-5033 / regular edition: GZCA-5035)

Included on her first album “Meikyu,” released in September 2003. The lyrics for this song were also written by AZUKI Nana. It shows that the GARNET CROW team had already been active as a songwriting group at the time. In keeping with Kishimoto Hayami’s danceable club sound, the arrangement pushes programmed sounds to the forefront. The fact that Okamoto can also make full use of stylish, loop-based sounds like these reveals the depth of his range as a professional songwriter. This is a song to hear while paying attention to his use of tones as an arranger.

09　Akane Kanzaki “Boyfriend” [Music]
2003.10.22
Included as M-10 on the album “beginning”
(GZCA-5030)

One song from Akane Kanzaki’s first album, released in October 2003. He provided three songs as a composer for this album, but did not handle the arrangements or programming. This suggests that he began his career as a composer. Although Okamoto now creates all the tracks himself, perhaps the more reserved him of that time was being modest. “Boyfriend” is one of Okamoto’s works where you can savor the deeply Western-pop-influenced, wistful melodies that come to the fore in his solo work. His melodies are never pushy, yet they have an appeal that speaks to the heart; here, they help express the innocent vulnerability of Kanzaki, who was still a teenager. It is a song that makes you want to hear it with an Okamoto arrangement as well.