Moon, dear Moon... Meeting Kiyotaka Fukagawa

With the huge influence Calm has in the Music's realm, and with all the love the Balearic Breakfast Family has for him, I asked the great Japanese composer a few questions...

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1) Thank you so much for joining us on the blog dear Kiyotaka! It's a real Honor! Calm's music is often played during Colleen's Balearic Breakfast show and we all tremendously appreciate the beautiful musical creations the band offers! The last track that was featured was "Drift to Dreamland" from the "Quiet Music Under the Moon" album, dedicated to "new family members, and those who sadly passed". How did you start working on that album, was it an easy album to work on?

Thank you very much for your invitation, Artur. For me, it is very tough to start working on a brand new album. I use all my energy to make an album, so I need enough energy and new input to start a new project.

As for "Quiet Music Under the Moon", about three months after my son was born, I was so busy taking care of him that I didn’t have time to make music. Still, when seeing him live and grow up, I decided I should start making music dedicated to him. Incidentally, the previous album called “before” was made to thank my son for the new life he was going to offer me, the album being composed when he was still in my wife’s belly. This was the first impulse that led me to start working on a brand new album.

The second impulse was my mom’s death. Four months after my son was born, suddenly my mom died. I made a video call the day before my mom passed away, and I still can’t forget what she said back then to me in a thin voice, she wanted to see my son soon...

She lived far away from my place, and at that time COVID was raging all over the world, so, very sadly, it was hard to go and see her. I should have had a little more courage to go and see her... I still regret I wasn't able to do that...

Both these joys and sorrows have been the driving force behind this “Quiet Music under the Moon” album...

2) "Drift to Dreamland", as a lot of your other musical pieces, allows the listener to create mental pictures, and thus to reach a relaxed piece of mind. It seems that you draw your inspiration from the Moon. And it is present in a lot of your other compositions (I'm thinking here about your "Moonage Electric Ensemble" album). What makes you being so close to the moon as an artist?

As you may know, I was born late on July 15th, 1969. The 16th was a special day when Apollo 11 flew toward the moon. My parents had a hard time choosing my name and Apollo was among the candidates.

When I was teenager, I discovered David Bowie’s wonderful album “Ziggy Stardust', I love this album so much... This is when I heard the song “Moonage Daydream” which is the third track on David's album. This moment was like a thunder from heaven, marking the beginning of my moonage story!

By the way, my son’s name is Tsukito, and in English it means “Moon” and “Sound”...

3) You collaborated with other djs who did beautiful reworks of some of Calm's tracks. I am thinking here about Lova's "Authentic Love Song Batticuore Remix". It is, indeed, a beautiful remix and it shows how much you and Davide Lovato share a common sense of inner relaxation. How did that collaboration happen and what memories do you keep of it?

I really really love Lova’s remix! He is a wonderful producer on the Balearic scene, I really think that. I love his production, so it was only natural for me to ask him to make a remix of my track!

4) On your last studio album, you worked with great musicians such as Toshitaka Shibata on piano, Yuichiro Kato on saxophone, Tomokazu Sugimoto on upright bass and Kakuei on steel pan. Can you tell us how you all worked together? Did you have all the partitions written in advance or did you let a huge part to musical improvisation?

I always enjoy collaborating with musicians. That’s why I always try not to give them too much information when we play together, other than concepts and themes... I believe that this musical freedom is able to instill new ideas in my compositions.

Still, when I was making “Quiet Music under the Moon” album, I suggested various information like melody lines, or a certain playing style to the musicians. It was the first time it hapenned, but with “Quiet Music under the Moon” being such a personnal album, I couldn't do it otherwise...

5) As a producer, and with technology's constant evolution, is it always easy to keep Calm's sound signature intact? Do you believe Calm has a sonic signature or do you believe sonic differences may happen from one album to another and that sound should only serve the mind's travelings, surpassing any "sonical gimmics"?

I’m still an inexperienced musician, and I think I’m always in the middle of evolution. I always firmly believe that my next work will be my best one... So I always take the time to stop and think things other so I won't take a wrong path...

However, I always try not to lose sight of the destination I want to follow: creating wonderful music and music that I can share with you...

Words can not express my gratitude, dear Kiyotaka... The Balearic Breakfast Family wishes you all the best for this new year... We keep you close to our hearts...