soha is a four piece instrumental-rock band from Tokyo, Japan who formed in 2015 and were formerly known as 44°+. They are composed of Masafumi Eno on drums, Tanaka Aiichiro on guitar, Okumura Hikaru on bass, and Jintani Masayuki on guitar. This band can serenade your mind with elaborate yet intricate post-rock tunes and catchy riffs. As well as producing the tracks, they also direct the art and photography to best tailor the complete style of “soha”.
They are currently signed with indie label COPERNICUS-inflexion, and have announced their first album “the structure of moment” which came out on July 20. After listening to their track “after the rain”, which we featured on Discover Instrumental Jrock Bands part 2, we had the opportunity to speak to their guitarist JINTANI.
Please introduce yourselves and tell us one thing you can not live without.
I’m soha’s guitarist JINTANI. In my life, I think money and my iPhone are necessary.
What’s the meaning behind your band name, soha?
In fact, our name “soha” doesn’t mean anything. But when we decide to use “soha” to be our band’s name, we Google’d it to find that “soha” means “never” in Hungarian.
How did the band get together?
When we were still known as “44°+”, we had changed members many times. After bassist Okumura Hikaru joined us, he introduced the guitarist Tanaka Aiichiro into the group. But after that, our drummer also left, and so we started to search for someone to replace him. That’s when Eno joined, who was also introduced by Okumura’s friend. We changed the name to “soha” at the same time to start our new act.
Congratulations on the announcement of your album. Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
This brand new album is influenced by our new name after new member joined, we sincerely hope you will like it!
We really enjoyed the music video “the structure of moment”. Can you tell us about the meaning and process behind producing this?
First of all, it’s really difficult to describe the images which come from your brain, those images were so abstract that we needed to discuss with director of photography exactly what image we wanted. After discussion, we allowed him to take charge of the creation, and the final result absolutely satisfied us, it really matched what we wanted in the beginning. We deeply appreciate it!
Overall, how long did it take to finish the album?
We spent, approximately, one week on recording. Mixing and mastering took one month, and another month to produce it, so we spent a total of two months to finish the album.
Who composes most of the songs?
Tanaka and I, at the very beginning, we’ll start off with some simple idea or riff, then everyone jams in the studio and use a software called Garage Band to make a demo record. After that, we finish our own parts based on the demo and so on, repeat and repeat till to finish. Basically, we build up the song together.
Did anything interesting happen during the process of recording the album?
Mr. Ikeda is a very nice guy who focuses on every detail during the recording at the HMC studio. The drum we borrowed is very expensive and Mr. Ikeda even considered drums and thought about the cybals’ reflection to refine the sound. For the drummer, it was a very pleasant time during the recording process. Through the nice communication with the recorder, we were truly inspired and had a brand new experience. The result was great, we were very pleased.
We noticed your tracks have been mixed and mastered by Takaaki Mino from toe. What was it like working with him?
Working with Mino was really fun, we not only talk about music, but also lots of other things, it’s really great fun working with him.
If you could collaborate with any artist in the music industry, who would it be and why?
We have many people who we want to collaborate with, one of which is Emma Mumi Grassia (she plays an instrument called the “handpan”). We had seen her play on YouTube, and are very much interested in her timbre. We think a combination of her with our songs would work well.
We noticed that the band likes to direct the art and photography. Who is most involved with this and could they tell us a little more about where this interest comes from and what you have done?
It’s Saiga-nagi. We always start with a discussion with Saiga-nagi to explain our vision and he creates everything.
For each member, what is your methodology in life? What inspires you to do what you do?
Our members all have other jobs, and our lives are kind of hard, but doing our favorite things, making music, and practicing with the band makes us truly happier. I guess making music really gives us energy and keeps our lives going.
Do you have any particular habits or rituals when you create music?
Usually, there will be a rough melody and we will record it with voice memo, then later on the melody will be recorded again with guitar. But usually I won’t start it until the time is closing.
Who are your major influences musically and non-musically?
I deeply respect “pele”, “mice parade” and “ghosts and vodka”.
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Do the things that you want and do it well. Just do it!
Please leave a message for our readers!
There are no lyrics in the song, so even in different countries it still transfer our message. Free your imagination. We hope you’ll like it! Thank you.
JROCK NEWS would like to thank the soha staff for working with us to make this interview happen and hope our readers check out their music!
More info:
Official Website
SoundCloud
Twitter
Myspace