Crazy Ken Band: Yokohama as Seen by Ken Yokoyama, Part 2

Crazy Ken Band (CKB) is known as the "best sound machine in the Orient" and produces a wide range of sounds. Even now, 25 years after their formation, they are still evolving and are in the midst of their nationwide tour "CRAZY KEN BAND TOUR Jukage 2022-2023" with their 22nd album "Jukage". When talking about Ken Yokoyama, the man who leads CKB and produces a wide variety of songs, the city of Yokohama is inseparable. In the first half of the interview, we talked about his impressions of the changing city of Yokohama and how Kanagawa Prefecture has influenced CKB's melodies and lyrics, along with CKB's past activities. In the second half, we will focus on their activities that are closely tied to the local community, their thoughts on their new album "Jukage", the ongoing tour, and CKB's future.

◆Composing music closely related to the local community, such as the theme song for "Yokohama is G30" and the Minato High School song

── Yokoyama has also composed songs with ties to Yokohama, such as the school song for Minato High School and the theme song for "Yokohama is G30."

Yokoyama: Yes, I was asked to do it (laughs).

-- Tell us how you felt when you were asked to create a piece of music that was so closely tied to the local community.

Yokoyama: During the Zero Waste Campaign, Nakata was the mayor. At that time, Yokohama City said, "We want you to write a melody, a song with this purpose." They solicited lyrics from all over the country, and asked us to add a melody to the lyrics first. I thought, "Oh, that's a good idea." I chose from the several lyrics that were submitted, and added a melody to the one I chose. The person who wrote the lyrics was from Nara Prefecture. Not from Yokohama (laughs).

-- So there were applications from all over the country.

Yokoyama: That's right. And Yokohama Minato High School. This was also a request from the school. There was a part-time high school called Minato High School that I was originally supposed to go to. I was supposed to go there, but my work hours and school hours didn't match up, so I gave up on the school as soon as I transferred. And that was the predecessor of Minato High School. Later, when it changed to Minato High School, it was a new school... the name changed, and the school song was changed, so I was asked to do this. This was also a melody to lyrics written by a graduating student. Both were lyrics first, both the zero waste song and the school song. It functions as a school song, but I also aimed for it to sound a bit gospel or soul-like if it was performed by a band. I thought that if I added a rhythm, it would become quite funky and cool. I had a chance to sing while playing the keyboard at the graduation ceremony, so I tried a sample to show that you can sing it like this.

-- That must have been a good memory for the students!

Yokoyama: Among those students, there is one incredibly talented musician. I was moved when I heard that he was singing the school song. He is a talented creator and musician called "TENDRE". I heard that he is a graduate and sang my song. I thought "Wow, such a genius has come out of this school". I was very happy.

◆ A city where you can "gradually get used to everyday life" when you return from abroad

── Your latest album, "Jukage," has titles of cities from various countries, such as "Dubai" and "Waikiki." You yourself enjoy traveling both domestically and internationally, but what do you think is the unique charm of Yokohama compared to other cities around the world?

Yokoyama: When you come back from a trip abroad, you feel a little lonely, don't you? But Yokohama has a Chinatown, so if you go there after returning from Hong Kong, for example, you can feel like you're still on your trip to Hong Kong. That's also in the lyrics of the song "Chinatown Operation" ("Crazy's Chinatown Operation!"), and I think that's the charm of Yokohama. Just like a diver who has been diving to the bottom of the ocean gradually gets used to it in a recompression chamber so that he doesn't get decompression sickness, Yokohama is a place where you can get used to your daily life and routine.

── It's good to know that you won't feel lonely.

Yokoyama: Yes. And then I change my mindset again, and instead of coming back from a trip abroad, I change my mindset to, "I'm going on a trip to Yokohama now." This also makes me excited. There's no sense of it. Especially on the Bayshore Line from Haneda, I take the bus. I really want to go to Honmoku, but it doesn't stop there, so I end up going to Yokohama Station (laughs). There's the bus, the Keikyu line. Or a taxi, or even my own car. When I come back from overseas and cross the Bay Bridge and see the night view of Minato Mirai, I feel kind of excited. I don't feel like, "Oh, I'm back in Japan."

--That scenery is amazing.

Yokoyama: Yes, that scenery is a bit like Singapore. It's a nice feeling.

-- So, if you were to explain the charms of Yokohama to people from overseas, how would you do it?

Yokoyama: That's right. If you meet an Italian, they'll call it the Naples of Japan (laughs). There are some parts of Naples that are Americanized...there's the US military there, and so on. It's a port town, and the people are not bad, but they're a bit funky (laughs). I know a guy named Girolamo, and we often talk about how Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Naples are very similar in terms of the feeling. It's not that the towns are very similar, but rather that the atmosphere and mood are very similar. That's what I say to Italians, and if it were England, it's the same island nation, and it's adjacent to the sea, after all. They say something like, "It's like Dover or that area," or something like that (laughs). Anyway, when you say port, it's a good street, isn't it? It's a port town, and they say welcome. It's a place with a lot of people coming and going, so they say, "welcome those who come, and don't chase those who leave." They don't interfere too deeply in people's private lives, and they treat you with a bit of delicacy. I once heard somewhere that "the vibe of a port town is the same all over the world," and I thought, "Ah, I guess that's true." There are crazy people, normal people, delinquents, people with a secret, free spirits, mysterious people, all sorts of different colors all mixed up (laughs). So I don't know if it's easy to live there, but once you get hooked, you can't leave.

── Yes, it really is a city with all kinds of people.

Yokoyama: A lot of things. Even though I'm in a band, there isn't much prejudice, and no one thinks it's strange. It's a very comfortable place in the sense that I can live a very normal life. They leave me alone in a good way.

◆ "Because of this opportunity," expand your imagination and head to Dubai with VR goggles

── "Tree Shadow" is CKB's 22nd album. What kind of album is it for CKB?

Yokoyama : The frustration of wanting to go there, go there, go abroad during the coronavirus pandemic has been reversed... I see the crisis as the greatest opportunity, or rather, I see it in a paradoxical way. It's times like these that call for superhuman strength in times of crisis. With that kind of hint, I thought, "Why don't you just put on VR goggles and go to Dubai?" Well, I don't even have VR goggles (laughs). For example, Dubai, or even VR goggles, is just a fantasy, but I thought that fantasizing, expanding one's imagination, is a good opportunity like this. It might be difficult to do that all the time. I haven't been to Hawaii at all, but in Honmoku, there is a local Hawaiian food called Honmoku Chow Mein at Boogie Cafe. There is also a place called Mooneyes with an eyeball mark. The MOON Cafe there also has loco moco, which is like a drive-in in Hawaii. There are two types of Honolulu Chow Mein in Honmoku. Chow mein is something exotic, like Chinese food or Hawaiian food. "Waikiki Night" is a song that makes you feel like "If you eat that, you can warp to Hawaii." So I tried to suggest a tickling idea that would make negative feelings interesting with just one mindset or way of thinking.

── Listeners can enjoy the feeling of traveling around the world a little bit.

Yokoyama: Yes, it feels like traveling the world from the comfort of your own home.

── You can travel with your ears. CKB is currently touring with the album "Jukage". I think there was a period when they couldn't tour for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but can you tell us about your enthusiasm for this tour?

Yokoyama: We will tour until March of next year. This tour will be with our album "Jukage", so we will play about 10 songs from the album, but we have released 22 albums in the past, so we are not sure which ones to bring... (laughs). So if we go to Fukuoka, we will bring this song with "Hakata dolls" in the lyrics, and if we go to Yokosuka, we will play a song related to Yokosuka. I thought I would try changing it a little depending on the venue. Also, I released a cover album last year, and there were some songs that I didn't touch at all on the tour of last year's cover album, so I thought I would try to work on those songs this year.

── Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed anything, such as the enthusiasm of the audience during live shows?

Yokoyama: In reality, there are various restrictions, such as not being allowed to shout. But the "energy" is completely different between a performance broadcast only in front of a camera and having an audience in front of you. Even if you can't shout, the vibrations are transmitted with the same energy and we exchange energy with each other. That's the best part of a live performance, so I never feel like it's lacking.

◆The 22nd album is the "next level first" album

── Finally, please tell us about your future plans and any challenges you would like to take on in the future.

Yokoyama: At this age, there are three of us over 60 and one of us is taking a break... but our goal is to continue to work and do it for the rest of our lives. Every year, it's like, "I made this album this year," and if we leave it alone, it will come out. The results come out before we think about our goals, so after it's done, we think, "What concept should we use for this?" We realize the concept later. Well, when we travel, for example, when we go to Korea, we get off at a random station, and then when we get back to our hotel room, we think, "Oh, this is where we went today." It's like flying away before we even look at it. I think that's a constant theme.

── For this album, "Jukage," did you find the theme of "travel" when you saw the finished product?

Yokoyama: Now that you mention it, that's it (laughs). Anyway, it just comes out of my head. When the title "Jukei" was decided, I was a little... "Jukei" is the name of a coffee shop that was in Honmoku 2-chome. That coffee shop was very creative... for me, it was a place where I could think about things creatively, come up with ideas, imagine, write lyrics, etc., so I went back to that feeling. The band has been together for 25 years, so this is our 22nd album, but I felt like it was our first album. It's like the first year after moving up to the next level. It's like the first semester of going from third year of junior high school to first year of high school, so I approached it with the feeling that it was the first album of the next level.

Now that they have reached their 25th year since their formation, Yokoyama called their 22nd album "the next level first." This is the reason why CKB and Yokoyama himself are constantly evolving. At the "CRAZY KEN BAND TOUR Jukage 2022-2023" tour, which began in Tokyo in September this year, you can enjoy their new sound that continues to evolve, as well as their beloved songs that have remained unchanged. Their performances in Kanagawa Prefecture are scheduled for November 19th at the Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, December 4th at the Yokosuka City Cultural Hall Large Hall, and March 4th next year at the Atsugi City Cultural Hall Large Hall.

Ken Yokoyama
Born in July 1960 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. CEO of the music agency Double Joy Records. Formed Crazy Ken Band at Italian Garden in Honmoku in 1997, and has been the band's lead vocalist ever since. In addition to releasing a wide variety of hit songs, he also writes songs for many artists. This year marks the 25th year since his debut, and he is touring the country on the CRAZY KEN BAND TOUR Tree Shadow 2022-2023 with his 22nd album Tree Shadow, released on August 3rd. For more information, please visit his official website .