OWN INTERVIEW CONTENTS Vol.29 / Jun Taniguchi (FUCKER / Limited Express(has gone?) / Independent Living Support Taniguchi Care Club / LESS THAN TV)

OWN (hereinafter, O): First, please introduce yourself, Taniguchi-san!

Taniguchi Jun (hereafter referred to as T) is a folk singer and FUCKER. He also plays bass in Limited Express (has gone?). In addition to his musical activities, he also manages the Taniguchi Care Club, a helper dispatching agency that supports independent living for people with disabilities.

For people of my generation, Taniguchi-san's image as UG MAN is very strong. I often went to see his live shows around the time of his split album with CHARM, "SOME SECRET," and his 4th album, "AH...GOOD." So I had a very strong image of him as a band member, but when did you start working as a folk singer?

It was after we returned from our trip, so I wonder how many years ago it was? My son is in high school now, and I think it was around the time he started talking.

O I see, so you've been doing solo work for about 15 years now.

TWow , it's that long. It's unnecessarily long (laughs).

O No no (laughs). So, this is just my personal opinion, but I think that the FUCKER albums really express Taniguchi's lifestyle at that time.

T : Ah, that’s true. It was a spontaneous idea, or a stopgap measure (laughs).

So I hope this interview will be an interview where I will explain all the songs on your new album, "Hardcore Friendship Forever."

Are you serious ? Thank you very much!

Let 's get started! The first song is "FUCKER Prologue Committee."

T: The song goes, "There are good old people who cause harm to society and bad old people who cause harm to society, and I'd prefer to be the latter if possible," but it's the former, not the latter. It's simply a mistake in the song (laughs).

OAre you serious? (lol)

I didn't realize it at all when I was recording (laughs). But I guess being an old nuisance is generally bad, you have no choice! I've suddenly reached the age where I'm faced with the problem of being an old nuisance. But I want to stay active and in the present. That's what the song is about.

The next option at O ​​is "Moses style lower dentures."

Just like the lyrics say, my dentures broke in half right at the start of the new year. They say that the plans for the year are made on New Year's Day, right? So I thought this was a great idea!

O Is that okay? (lol)

This is going to be a really great year! I was so excited. The dentures look like a wave, split in two like the Ten Commandments. The first verse of the song talks about God and religion. You know, I'm going to fuck off with things like the Unification Church and religions that are heavily tied to politics, but it's good to have something you love, because it gives you a place to turn. The second verse of the song was inspired by a conversation I had with Yuji Mikata, owner of "Hello! Anyone Can Do It Space, Yujiya" in Chitose-Funabashi. At Yujiya, the concept is that people with disabilities can perform at karaoke venues alongside artists who are active in the music scene. I really like the idea of ​​it being a truly equal space, where anyone can perform. Even more so, I think it's good for the performers and the audience to be on equal footing. That's why I never perform live on stage.

Oh ! That's why I always stay on the dance floor!

T : That's right. So, as the lyrics of this song say, Tomoyasu Hotei says, "On stage, I'm invincible and limitless," but my way of thinking is the exact opposite. It's not just a rejection of rock stars, but a wall of separation, like, if there was no stage, it would be great just to be gathered there. This way of thinking might be close to the "anti-dressing room" style of the UG MAN days.

You had an anti -O dressing room sign up (laughs).

T : That's right. He never goes into the dressing room, leaves his equipment on the floor, changes on the floor, watches the live show on the floor the whole time, and even when it's his turn he leaves the floor and comes back. He did that all the time without fail.

Oh, I didn't know that!

T: I'm still basically anti-dressing room, but after having children I realized how important the dressing room is (laughs).

O (laughs). The next song is "Junior High Schooler." How old was your son Kyoko when the film"MOTHER FUCKER," which depicts the Taniguchi family, was made?

I think I was in third grade when I made the movie. I'm a high school student now, but this song was written when I was in middle school. It really pisses me off (laughs). YUKARI showed me a photo of me in my new uniform, and I looked really happy. I wonder if going on to college is always this exciting (laughs).

Next up is "The FUCKER has no friends theory." What a sad title (laughs).

T: In fact, I often find myself alone on the floor of a live music venue. YUKARI even told me, "You don't have any friends, do you?" Apparently DMBQ's (Masuko) Shinji was told the same thing by his partner (laughs). Ishida (ECD) was the same way too. What's more, the things I've listened to and been influenced by are completely different from those of younger people. So we don't really get along. I don't mean that in a negative way, but as a reality. That's what the song is about (laughs).

Although he says he has no friends, the next song is the title track, "Hardcore Friendship Forever."

T: The song goes, "A lot of my friends have been dying recently," and this was around the time that IIZAWA (BASTARD/JUDGEMENT/BUZZY Yamatocho Band) passed away. The way IIZAWA died was, to put it bluntly, the opposite of the laws of nature. But because that was the way he lived his life, that's how he ended up dying, so I'm singing that it's also the laws of nature.

O I see. Do you have any memorable stories about your time with IIZAWA?

I was simply a big fan of the BUZZY Yamatocho Band, and IIZAWA had said he liked FUCKER. Hirayama (STINKY RECORDS/Taniguchi Caregiver Club) had a bar in Shimokitazawa when we played a live show at FUCKER. IIZAWA came to watch us, and he was about 30cm away from my face. I thought, "Are you serious?" but then I realized it was the kind of serious, competitive band that hardcore people like, so I put in a lot of effort and performed live, and he said it was amazing! (laughs).

O is the best (laughs). By the way, the music video for this song has also been released.

We were supposed to have a release event for this album at Yagiri-no-Watashi in Shibamata, but it got cancelled due to rain. The members of DEATHRO, who were supposed to perform, came to my house because they had some free time, so we thought, "Why don't we shoot a music video?" and we did it. DEATHRO filmed it on VHS. It was awesome.

The next song on O is "ex. Sapporo." It features a number of stories about prominent figures in the Sapporo punk scene. Are these all true stories?

T: Basically, it's all true, but there's one part that I exaggerated. There's a part in the song where KO-chan (SLANG) starts eating zangi without permission in the supermarket, but it's actually fried squid. I changed it to zangi to make it sound more Hokkaido-like (laughs).

O (laughs). And it's a masterpiece that's over eight minutes long. I think it's great that you can really feel the history of the Sapporo scene.

I thought that nostalgic songs might be a bit too much for me, but I thought it might be okay once in a while. I did get permission from KO-chan (laughs).

Next is "Destroying the able-bodied society," from the perspective of caregiver Taniguchi.

Society is now designed for able-bodied people, and it's taken for granted. There are many things you feel and notice when working as a caregiver. Also, you know, there are a lot of controversies.

Oh , on social media or something?

T : That's right. Wheelchair users entering stores, boarding airplanes, unmanned stations, movie theaters, etc. A lot of hateful comments gather there, don't they? I end up reading them while I'm traveling. It really pisses me off, but I try to read them all as much as possible. After all, society is structured for able-bodied people, and that's the norm, so that's how we think. So how can we change society? We need to think about that and act. This song also contains that determination. It's also a warning to myself. Nowadays, the idea that "discrimination is bad" has become commonplace, but I don't think that fundamentally has changed at all. It's not much different from 30 years ago, when someone would yell at me if I got on the train in a wheelchair, saying, "Don't leave your house!" In the end, I think people are just taking out their pent-up frustration on those who are weaker in the form of discrimination.

Continuing in this vein, the eighth song, "Assistance of Today," is a series of songs about assistance. The songs cover the daily lives of the person with the condition and their caregiver, including bathing, meals, pachinko, prostitution, and suctioning phlegm.

T: After an overnight stay, I'll go to a live performance, and then I'll assist after the performance, so assisting is really a part of my life. It's work, but it's also a part of my life. Also, apparently only caregivers can hear the word "suctioning phlegm" (laughs). People often ask me if I'm "exploring" something.

O I see. It sounds like technical jargon (laughs). The line "Other people shouldn't decide what is happy or unhappy" is also really great.

Uematsu, the man responsible for the massacre of disabled people at Yamayuri En, said, "Disabled people only create unhappiness," but I'm asking myself why you should judge people like that. People have different values, and each has their own way of living a happy life. When I assist people with disabilities, I have so many opportunities to come face to face with such ordinary things. I sometimes go to family restaurants with people with disabilities while assisting them, and they always eat the same menu, looking incredibly happy and satisfied, without ever getting bored. I don't want such ordinary happiness to be measured by other people's standards.

Next is "Dentures and Peace." It's rare to find an album with two songs about dentures (laughs).

TThat 's true (laughs).

OThis song is not a vocal style, but a piano one.

Actually , I try to include a piano piece in every album. This time, the piano was played by someone called Wagatsuma-san. I was watching the trailer for Kaneko Yurina's movie and there was a really great song playing, and it was Wagatsuma-san's song. That's how I got introduced to him. This is FUCKER's version of "Imagine" (laughs). I wanted to sing about peace, but I had absolutely no lyrics, so I relied on my dentures when I was in a pinch and somehow managed to finish it (laughs).

O There's a phrase that goes, "My dentures are gradually rotting away," but is this something that happens to people with dentures (lol)?

T : No, after the denture broke in half, the balance was lost and the top piece broke too, and it just kept falling apart. He should have gone to the dentist, but he stopped going halfway through. So the broken piece of the denture and the peace piece have a double meaning.

Good punchline (lol). Next up is "TKC ​​is the BEST." "TKC" is the acronym for the Taniguchi Caregiver Club, which I'm a member of. This song expresses anger at work. Is it really okay for Taniguchi to say things like, "I'm going to destroy all businesses that are just after money" in his position...?

T: No, that's not good (laughs). But I sing as FUCKER, not "Taniguchi, Administrator of Taniguchi Care Club." We operate under the banner of "Support for Independent Living." No matter how severe your disability, you should be able to live freely in the area of ​​your choice. That should be a given, but it hasn't been realized at all. In particular, independent living for people with what's called intellectual disabilities has not progressed at all. Even people in their 40s and 50s live with their parents, or at best in a group home, and most live in residential facilities outside of Tokyo. They're isolated. We've only been operating our business for three years, but we've supported one person from a residential facility and two from a group home to move out into the community and live there. Sadly, this is still a rare occurrence, so if we can create even one such case, it will have a huge impact. People will think, "Is that even possible!?"

It would be great if the actions of people like Taniguchi could help change common sense little by little.

T: It's strange that you can't choose in the first place. I hope that I can change this world, where it's normal to be locked up in an institution for your entire life, even just a little while I'm still alive. If I do that, others will definitely follow suit. I know I sound arrogant, but this song is just a complaint about business-like businesses. Just when you think the system is finally moving in a positive direction, people start taking advantage of it. Like, we can make money. Conversely, if they don't think it's profitable, they turn them down for business reasons. You guys work in welfare, you see the lives of those affected up close, and yet you don't feel anything? That's the anger. Of course it's annoying.

They said that their stance was too different from that of Otaniguchi Assistance Club.

We're just doing our best to do what's in front of us . We're dealing with serious cases where if we back off now, this person's life will be over. Sales? That's not the point. When I was at UG MAN, we made T-shirts that said "I HATE MONEY," and that stance hasn't changed, so we're the antithesis to those money-grubbing businesses. Now I've started my own business, and with so many people working with me, my profits are growing, but I hope I can give back to various places.

Naturally, Taniguchi Care Club is imbued with Taniguchi's punk spirit.

T: There's definitely a punk aesthetic. I quit high school and went to Sapporo, where I met Yo-chan (Bloodthirsty Butchers) and Masuko-san (Dohatsuten). There, I was so impressed by the idea that there was such an amazing way of life called punks, that I decided to live as a punk myself. This was the "ex. Sapporo" period I mentioned earlier. I realized that it was okay to live like this (laughs).

And the last line is "I want you to stay out of the way."

Ito Kou of T THE FOOLS passed away while serving his sentence. Kou chose to live the life he did, but because he was constantly going back and forth between prison and freedom, I think he simply didn't have much time to spend with the people around him, and in the end it was like he was killed by authority. I have very complicated feelings about this. That's why I tried to write a song that incorporates both the prison term "shaba" and the meaning of "shaba" in the present world.

It was a song for Oko . The lyrics for the second verse were written by someone else.

T Number two is about Metoki Tatsuya, who lived independently in Tama. He has passed away, but meeting Metoki was a really big moment for me. He had what's known as a severe behavioral disorder, and was said to be one of the top 10 most difficult cases in Japan. I'd heard he was extremely violent, so I made up my mind and ran for the position, not like GAUZE's "Where's the limit?" question. But when I actually started assisting him, I was really surprised to find that it was just "everyone's life." There were many aspects of his own characteristics that made it difficult for him to reconcile with society, and these were obstacles. That was all there was to it.

Oh , I see. So the lyrics say, "This is just one example, just one example."

T : That's right. It's just one example of someone's life. But it's that example that should be respected - the way they lived their life. Also, at Metoki's funeral, a supporter who seemed to have been involved in the past came and said, "Tatsuya, you're living so desperately, you're living so desperately," and that really struck me. I was only involved as a caregiver, so I didn't realize it, but in this difficult society, it was Tatsuya himself who was living the most desperately. Those words struck me so deeply that I decided to include them in the lyrics.

Thank you so much for your explanations of all the songs ! Also, the sound of some of the songs on this album has changed.

T: That's right. I was feeling the limitations of traditional acoustic guitar singing, so I thought I needed to incorporate something new, and that's when I came up with the idea for a GUILD travel guitar with distortion. I'm not the type to be materialistic at all, but I kept seeing GUILD ads on my smartphone, and I ended up wanting one (laughs). I changed the sound to convince my family to buy it. I also got a battery-powered amp from glico of ghettos, so now I can perform live anytime, anywhere. I even did a live show in the car while on tour the other day (laughs). Oh! I know I said I'm not materialistic, but these OWN glasses (#03) are so cool, I'm not even exaggerating, and for the first time in a while, I thought, "I really want a pair!" I tried them on a few years ago, decided on the color, and I'm determined to wear them forever. I want to keep a back-up stock of them.

I 'm happy! Finally, if you have any information or future plans, please let us know!

Someone once said that friendship can be a hindrance in social movements. I've forgotten the details, but it was something along the lines of friendship getting in the way. But I don't think that's the case at all. I'm not an activist or anything, I'm just a punk, so there's nothing beyond friendship, friendship is the foundation. So the most important thing to me is hardcore friendship. I'll take my CD to places where there are hardcore friendships, or people who invite me to hardcore friendship events, and go and meet them to tell them I've finished my new album. I'll also do a live show while I'm there. I'd like to tour around the country over the course of a year, and then hold the finale of the Hardcore Friendship Tour at next year's Sakura Festival. First, I'll go to Hokkaido in May.

Main Photo: HARUCHIN

Other Photo: Yukiko Ono

[INFO]

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