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It All Started with the Shikabe Tarako Festival?! An Interview with HAMBURGER BOYS, Domingo's Official Ambassadors [Part 2]
From October 1st, Domingo welcomed the popular Hokkaido-based band HAMBURGER BOYS as our official ambassadors.
Domingo and HAMBURGER BOYS shared a common passion for "energizing the municipalities of Hokkaido!", which led to their appointment as official ambassadors.
In this article, we delve into the secret story of HAMBURGER BOYS' formation and their unique approach to songwriting.
All three of us were based in Sapporo, active in different bands, and we already knew each other. There was a time when all our respective bands had either broken up or were on hiatus, and we were all thinking, "Let's do something fun!"
At first, it was just me and the guitarist, Jiro Tamura, performing under the casual name "Yamada and Tamura." At that time, we weren't planning to go all-in as "Yamada and Tamura"; it was more like an extension of my solo project.
That's when Jiro Tamura told me, "I can't really see myself joining you with the kind of songs you're doing now, Yamada-kun..."
At the time, Yamada-kun was writing heartfelt ballads.
He officially asked me to team up, and I said, "But ballads aren't really my thing. I'd prefer something more fun, with some laid-back rap and heavy guitar riffs." Then, two days later, Yamada-kun contacted me saying, "How about a song like this?" The song he sent was "STOP! Mitchiryo" (STOP! Poaching), a track with hard-hitting rap and funny lyrics. I thought, "If it's this, I want to do it!" and that's how we started working together.
I was working part-time at a ski resort back then, and a junior colleague asked me, "How do you write songs?" I created "STOP! Mitchiryo" on my iPad during work.
I thought, "I want to do this with three people, including a DJ! Oh, Hidemi-san can DJ!" I asked him, and he readily agreed, so we got started right away.
Hidemi-san immediately created a website for us and started promoting the band. He's not just our DJ; he also handles the band's PR, recording, and filming. By dividing roles like this, the scope of our activities as HAMBURGER BOYS has steadily expanded.
From the very beginning, HAMBURGER BOYS has operated under the theme of "a bit of playful mischief," taking everyday words and scenes and turning them into bold songs.
One day, a friend of ours decided to enter the "World Tarako Lips Championship" held during the Shikabe Tarako Festival in the town of Shikabe.
He's a mutual friend of all three of us, and he has the most incredible tarako lips!
In this World Tarako Lips Championship, contestants are given time to express their love for tarako (cod roe), and our friend wanted to do it through music.
He asked me, "Yamada-san, could you write a song about tarako? I'll announce at the event that a friend wrote it for me!" So I wrote a tarako song. When they actually played it at the event, the people of Shikabe were blown away, saying, "This is an amazing song!"
The championship had a final "kiki-tarako" (tarako taste-testing) round. Our friend, who had never been to Shikabe, had no chance of passing...
The kiki-tarako was a tough quiz where you had to identify which of the three or four processing plants in town the tarako came from... It was so difficult that no one got the first question right.
That led to an official request from the town of Shikabe to "write a song about tarako." The song we created then was "GET TARAKO." Luckily, this song was picked up by TV and other media, and the perception that "HAMBURGER BOYS also writes PR songs for municipalities" spread. This led to requests for songs about natto, zangi, and more. We're basically open to anything, so as our song catalog grew, we became more well-known, and requests from municipalities increased, which brings us to where we are today.
Oh, by the way, our friend's result was the rather amusing second place...
(Live at the Shikabe Tarako Festival, February 2019)
What we always keep in mind as important are "what the town wants to promote the most" and "using easy-to-understand words." For the finer details, we do in-depth research. Sometimes we use our own feelings from visiting the place, and other times we reference blogs of people who have visited the town, using the internet to its full potential.
Often, the person in charge from the municipality might suggest, "For our town, we want to promote this this time!" pushing something that isn't the main attraction. But for us, a non-negotiable point is to create a song centered around "the thing that defines this town!" We value the process of using something familiar as a hook to get people to listen to the song and then learn more about the town.
The way "people living in the town" see their own town can be different from how "people from outside" see it. When you live there, you often don't notice certain things, so we offer suggestions from an outsider's perspective.
For example, we might think "Mukawa means shishamo," but the locals might say, "We have other great things besides shishamo!"
They do have things other than shishamo, but you can associate "Mukawa!" with the word "shishamo," right? These kinds of entry points for getting to know a town or listening to a song are something we're particular about, so we create our music while actively exchanging opinions with the townspeople.
The shortest is 3 minutes, the longest is 2 months.
When I'm in the zone, I write really fast. "STOP! Mitchiryo" took about 30 minutes, and "GET TARAKO" was about 15 minutes.
When it takes time, it takes time. We just wait for the song or lyrics to come to Yamada-kun.
Right, until it comes to me, we go out for drinks or a meal. I recently discovered that inspiration strikes when I eat tuna.
Yamada-san, even though he knows that eating tuna brings inspiration, he won't eat it until the very last minute.
I've heard that people who have trouble sleeping can build up a tolerance to sleeping pills and can't sleep even if they take them. So I worry that if I eat tuna right away, it won't work when I really need it...
I don't want to switch to a different kind of fish either. So, I've decided to eat tuna only when I'm in real trouble.
It costs money to eat tuna, too...
In this second part of our interview, we heard various stories from HAMBURGER BOYS about their formation and their unique approach to songwriting!
From now on, Domingo will be working with our official ambassadors, HAMBURGER BOYS, to share the charm of Hokkaido's towns. Stay tuned!
Domingo and HAMBURGER BOYS shared a common passion for "energizing the municipalities of Hokkaido!", which led to their appointment as official ambassadors.
In this article, we delve into the secret story of HAMBURGER BOYS' formation and their unique approach to songwriting.
All three of us were based in Sapporo, active in different bands, and we already knew each other. There was a time when all our respective bands had either broken up or were on hiatus, and we were all thinking, "Let's do something fun!"At first, it was just me and the guitarist, Jiro Tamura, performing under the casual name "Yamada and Tamura." At that time, we weren't planning to go all-in as "Yamada and Tamura"; it was more like an extension of my solo project.
That's when Jiro Tamura told me, "I can't really see myself joining you with the kind of songs you're doing now, Yamada-kun..."
At the time, Yamada-kun was writing heartfelt ballads.He officially asked me to team up, and I said, "But ballads aren't really my thing. I'd prefer something more fun, with some laid-back rap and heavy guitar riffs." Then, two days later, Yamada-kun contacted me saying, "How about a song like this?" The song he sent was "STOP! Mitchiryo" (STOP! Poaching), a track with hard-hitting rap and funny lyrics. I thought, "If it's this, I want to do it!" and that's how we started working together.
I was working part-time at a ski resort back then, and a junior colleague asked me, "How do you write songs?" I created "STOP! Mitchiryo" on my iPad during work.I thought, "I want to do this with three people, including a DJ! Oh, Hidemi-san can DJ!" I asked him, and he readily agreed, so we got started right away.
Hidemi-san immediately created a website for us and started promoting the band. He's not just our DJ; he also handles the band's PR, recording, and filming. By dividing roles like this, the scope of our activities as HAMBURGER BOYS has steadily expanded.
From the very beginning, HAMBURGER BOYS has operated under the theme of "a bit of playful mischief," taking everyday words and scenes and turning them into bold songs.One day, a friend of ours decided to enter the "World Tarako Lips Championship" held during the Shikabe Tarako Festival in the town of Shikabe.
He's a mutual friend of all three of us, and he has the most incredible tarako lips!In this World Tarako Lips Championship, contestants are given time to express their love for tarako (cod roe), and our friend wanted to do it through music.He asked me, "Yamada-san, could you write a song about tarako? I'll announce at the event that a friend wrote it for me!" So I wrote a tarako song. When they actually played it at the event, the people of Shikabe were blown away, saying, "This is an amazing song!"
The championship had a final "kiki-tarako" (tarako taste-testing) round. Our friend, who had never been to Shikabe, had no chance of passing...
The kiki-tarako was a tough quiz where you had to identify which of the three or four processing plants in town the tarako came from... It was so difficult that no one got the first question right.That led to an official request from the town of Shikabe to "write a song about tarako." The song we created then was "GET TARAKO." Luckily, this song was picked up by TV and other media, and the perception that "HAMBURGER BOYS also writes PR songs for municipalities" spread. This led to requests for songs about natto, zangi, and more. We're basically open to anything, so as our song catalog grew, we became more well-known, and requests from municipalities increased, which brings us to where we are today.Oh, by the way, our friend's result was the rather amusing second place...
(Live at the Shikabe Tarako Festival, February 2019)What we always keep in mind as important are "what the town wants to promote the most" and "using easy-to-understand words." For the finer details, we do in-depth research. Sometimes we use our own feelings from visiting the place, and other times we reference blogs of people who have visited the town, using the internet to its full potential.Often, the person in charge from the municipality might suggest, "For our town, we want to promote this this time!" pushing something that isn't the main attraction. But for us, a non-negotiable point is to create a song centered around "the thing that defines this town!" We value the process of using something familiar as a hook to get people to listen to the song and then learn more about the town.
The way "people living in the town" see their own town can be different from how "people from outside" see it. When you live there, you often don't notice certain things, so we offer suggestions from an outsider's perspective.For example, we might think "Mukawa means shishamo," but the locals might say, "We have other great things besides shishamo!"
They do have things other than shishamo, but you can associate "Mukawa!" with the word "shishamo," right? These kinds of entry points for getting to know a town or listening to a song are something we're particular about, so we create our music while actively exchanging opinions with the townspeople.The shortest is 3 minutes, the longest is 2 months.When I'm in the zone, I write really fast. "STOP! Mitchiryo" took about 30 minutes, and "GET TARAKO" was about 15 minutes.
When it takes time, it takes time. We just wait for the song or lyrics to come to Yamada-kun.Right, until it comes to me, we go out for drinks or a meal. I recently discovered that inspiration strikes when I eat tuna.Yamada-san, even though he knows that eating tuna brings inspiration, he won't eat it until the very last minute.I've heard that people who have trouble sleeping can build up a tolerance to sleeping pills and can't sleep even if they take them. So I worry that if I eat tuna right away, it won't work when I really need it...I don't want to switch to a different kind of fish either. So, I've decided to eat tuna only when I'm in real trouble.
It costs money to eat tuna, too...
In this second part of our interview, we heard various stories from HAMBURGER BOYS about their formation and their unique approach to songwriting!
From now on, Domingo will be working with our official ambassadors, HAMBURGER BOYS, to share the charm of Hokkaido's towns. Stay tuned!
Check out the first part of the interview here!
■北海道はナンバーワン！ HAMBURGER BOYS、Domingo公式アンバサダー就任インタビュー【前編】https://domingo.ne.jp/article/3484/1
HAMBURGER BOYS
Formed in Sapporo in January 2012.
The members are vocalist Yuta Yamada (MEN☆SOUL), guitarist Jiro Tamura (ex. The VOX), and DJ Hidemi Kaneta (ex. Raiko).
Active mainly in Hokkaido, they are gaining buzz with songs created in collaboration with municipalities. They are highly regarded as the "Lucky Day Band of the North." Member Yamada (VO) is a personality on FM NORTHWAVE, and Tamura (Guitar) is on STV Radio.
They have an integrated production and distribution system, handling everything from songwriting and recording to music video production themselves. They have also provided many songs and created numerous commercial tie-up tracks.
WEB: https://hamburgerboys.com/index.html
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSB6wpzgGVcEXG9_3YlmuCQ
