capsule S.F. sound furniture interview for bounce magazine

reporter: Komai Kenji
publisher: bounce vol. 254 (Tower Records free music magazine)
published: May 25 (print) – June 17 (online), 2004

That talked-about duo creating cute electronic pop is back with a new album and a new concept!

capsule, as well as contemode, the label Nakata Yasutaka produces, aims for music that’s like furniture. He tells us about music as if building up interior design.

“Before now, we’d had a pop, mid-century style that was easy to grasp, but this year has been closer to my room,” he laughs. “By that, I mean I thought I should give it the air of wood grain and simple shapes.”

The title of their new album is S.F. sound furniture. Portraying both “the vision of the future back then” as seen in ‘60s science fiction and music like stylish furniture full of warmth, the title is very much like him indeed.

“I think there are many people who imagine something like BGM when they hear the word furniture, but it’s not something that’s simply made to be used, nor is it only meant for decoration — something that’s usable yet has a design sense to it is good. So I think about that type of product design business concerning music as well. I’d like to make something that functions as manufactured goods while maintaining an atmosphere about it,” he says.

So far, the pair have had an impression of stressing the details of ‘60s-influenced design in the vivid coloring and clean processing of their environment, but for this release, he claims he incorporated more of his own intuition and inspiration.

“I’ve heard ‘60s music before, of course, the same as I know of fashion and design from that time, but when I created without paying any mind to that sort of background knowledge, it turned out like this,” he explains. “I feel it’s more interesting to rapidly go after the ideas that strike on the spot. Naturally, in the greater sense, this album does have something of a concept to it, but the format itself isn’t so relevant right now.”

Plentiful narration layered over bossa nova and breakbeat rhythms. Taking Koshijima Toshiko’s singing voice, so cute in that it dares to reject emotion completely, and combining it with uplifting production that almost seems to intend the contrast it creates, all while amplifying the sense of speed to its sound, it becomes all the more difficult to classify by genre. Perhaps that velocity comes from their production style, practically as if there’s a photography studio in his head where their sound is further arranged.

“Situations and images are essential,” says Koshijima. “My voice is used as an instrument, which doesn’t mean I’m excessively conscious of that, but instead, there’s strangely no need for emotion, so you could say it’s easy to sing.”

capsule’s creativity spans two sides between the functionality of their music and the virtual reality that brings the daily lives of the future to mind.

“For example, there’s the latest technology on the inside, but the outside is a little retro-looking — that’s the sort of interesting idea I came up with.”

Space travel straight from your living room: welcome to the panorama of playfulness and imagination!