Considering he is usually seen wearing Nike and New Balance, Taka surprised the fan community when he appeared in Asics’ RUN for X campaign under the title “RUN for MUSIC.” This is a translation of the special interview with Taka for RUN for X. The original article, along with all its pretty photos, can be found here.
RUN for MUSIC: In order to project a good voice through the mic, the body is a necessity.
At the foundation of singing is the body
The act of vocalizing isn’t simply about letting out your voice. A good voice, a bad voice, what you would call skillful, and what you would consider otherwise, there are many various types. When you draw a line backwards from the goal of what you feel is best for you, you arrive at the foundation of what is necessary for you to reach it. From the day they are born, depending on how they have lived their lives, the way people vocalize or sing is influenced by many different factors. I believe everything is connected, and at the foundation of it all is the body. This is of course true of athletes, but the body is of absolute importance probably to even to those in the arts.
Project your voice using everything in your body
In order to project a good voice through the mic, the body is a necessity. Your voice won’t project if you only use your throat. The flexibility of your body, properly doing all the little things that are necessary, depending on how you connect each of the points, it becomes a song. That’s the image I have. If your nose gets stuffed then your voice won’t come out, nor if your respiratory tract is contracted, and if your bowels are not in good condition then it’ll be difficult to let your voice out. It’s also no good if your muscles are too stiff somewhere. Your body directly influences everything.
RUN affects both the mind and soul
It’s also the same when it comes to making melodies and other creative processes… Actually, even as I am speaking now, there are instant exchanges between my body and mind, and speaking in my own words, there are many things that it makes me realize.
Running helps the body’s blood flow, but to me, it’s kind of like creating space in my mind… There are times where I jot down the melodies and lyrics that come to me as I’m running and put them down onto a track later on. It doesn’t simply mean that the body is healthy. I believe that maintaining the standard to most easily live your life is linked to increasing your performance.
That is why I want to maintain a good feeling of tension. It’s no good if you’re nervous. It has to be a good feeling of tension. I try my best to keep that in mind in my daily activities. One of the methods to do that, in my case, might be running.
