「我希望可以推廣昭和文化，而不只是在音樂的層面。」
來自韓國 Night Tempo 於2016年憑著竹內瑪莉亞〈Plastic Love〉混音版本在網路世界爆紅的，現實世界的他人氣也是非同小可。目前正在日本進行巡演的 Night Tempo，除了演出場場爆滿外，專輯銷售更是屢創佳績，短短2、3年間，身價翻漲10倍。
Night Tempo 在2020年1/3、4兩天隨著 Neoncity Recods 的【霓虹都市舞廳】巡演來到台灣，Cassette Hunter 趁此難得機會，邀請他接受專訪。對於許多人來說，創作音樂可能只是興趣，但從 Night Tempo 的言談之中，卻能感受到他對 Future Funk 的認真與嚴謹。此外，Night Tempo 不僅是音樂創作者，還是日本 City Pop 音樂通，就讓我們來看看他怎麼說吧！
From South Korea, Night Tempo became popular in the online world with the remixed version of Maria Takeuchi "Plastic Love" in 2016, and his popularity in the real world is also extraordinary. Night Tempo, which is currently on tour in Japan, is not only full of performance venues, but also album sales have achieved great success.
Night Tempo came to Taiwan with Neoncity Recods' tour in 2020. Cassette Hunter took this rare opportunity to invite him for an interview. For many people, making music may be just an interest, but for Night Tempo, that's show his seriousness and rigor for Future Funk. In addition, Night Tempo is not only a music producer, but also a Japanese City Pop Music Master. Let's see what he said!
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Cassette Hunter：以下簡稱 CH
Night Tempo：以下簡稱 NT
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CH：首先想請問你來過台灣幾次呢？台灣的粉絲給您什麼印象呢？
First, could you share with us for how many times you've been here in Taiwan? What isyour impression of Taiwanese fans?
NT：我一共來過四次。台灣的表演場地大多比較小，可以跟大家比較接近，這點我還蠻喜歡的。來參加活動的人，除了喜歡參加派對、獨立音樂的樂迷外，真正的粉絲大多是比較害羞的，這點和日本粉絲很不一樣。相較於台灣，日本的粉絲不全是年輕人，有些是年紀稍長一點的，因為他們年輕時候聽的就是山下達郎、竹內瑪莉亞的歌，藉著 Future Funk 有機會再重新接觸，他們都很高興。
I’ve been to Taiwan four times, most of the venues in Taiwan are relatively small,so I could get closer to people which I really enjoyed it. People who came to the concerts are more than just partygoers, or fans of independent music, some real fans are rather shy and very quiet, which is totally different from fans in Japan. In Japan we don't necessarily have younger fans, some of them are elder, because we play Yamashita Tatsuro, Mariya Takeuchi, these are the singers that they were listening to when they were young, by means of Future Funk to reconnect with their green days, they all seemed genuinely pleased.
2020年1月4日 【都市霓虹舞廳】台中場演出側拍 side photo on the performance
CH：對於大部份的台灣人來說，第一次接觸日本文化都是透過日劇或動漫，我們也相當好奇對於韓國出身的 Night Tempo 來說，第一次接觸日本文化的契機是什麼呢？
For most of the Taiwanese, the very first time when we learn about Japaneseculture, more or less is from Japanese soap opera or Manga, therefore we are also curious about when was the first time when NightTempo got to know Japanese culture?
NT：會接觸到日本文化，是小時候偶然間聽到日本音樂的關係。在韓國，日本音樂其實不太流行，即便是到現在，韓國人也不太聽日本音樂，只有御宅族會聽日本動漫音樂，至於其他的日本音樂，韓國人的接受度並不高。
Thefirst impression of Japanese culture for me was in my childhood, when I firstelistened to Japanese music by chance, because of the fact that in Korea it’s not popular at all, even till nowwe don't really listen to Japanese music, only some Otaku (geek) would listento Japanese manga music, and for other genres of Japanese music, we are notvery open-minded.
CH：我們知道你收藏非常多日本 City Pop 的卡帶，甚至在 Insgram 開專頁分享，是什麼時候開始收藏的呢?
We have learned that your have a great collection of Japanese City Pop cassettes;you've shared them even on your fanspage on instagram. When and how did thisjourney of collection begin?
NT：大約從10年前開始，原本只是喜歡日本的 Walkman（卡帶隨身聽），連帶也一同收集卡帶。韓國國內很難買，一開始是從網路上找，後來有機會到日本後，也會到處找。陸陸續續收集到現在， Walkman 已有130台，卡帶有800張，包括：角松敏生、山下達郎、竹內瑪麗亞、杏里、森高千里、大貫妙子⋯⋯等，有些人的專輯，我幾乎全部都有。甚至同一張專輯，收藏了不同的版本。去年東京代官山 T-SITE 蔦屋書店邀請我去展覽這些卡帶，有機會跟大家分享讓我很開心。
I started it about ten years ago, I was into Japanese Walkman at first, thereforeI collected also the cassette. In Korea it’s really hard to find them, I wassearching online, later on I seized the chances to look around when I went to Japan, one after another and till now, I have 130 Walkman, 800 cassettes, for some singers such as: Toshiki Kadomatsu, Yamashita Tatsuro, Mariya Takeuchi,Anri, Chisato Moritaka, Taeko Ohnuki, some of them I even have the whole collection of their albums, or for some albums I collect different versions. I got the chance last year to be invited to Tokyo, to share with people my collection of cassettes which made me feel honored and thrilled.
東京代官山 T-SITE 蔦屋書店 展出照 Exhibition photo From Night Tempo
CH：現在的 City Pop 音樂可以說是襲捲全球，相關的商品也跟著水漲船高，請跟我們分享一下 City Pop 為何又再次引起注目？
City Pop has widely spread all over the world; the price of spin-off merchandise hasalso risen. Could you share with us why do you think that City Pop has revived again?
NT：大概從12、3年前開始，在日本曾一度流行聽老歌，但沒有引起廣泛的迴響。日本有些 DJ 試著混音一些老歌，但他們都只有小規模的演出這些作品。唱片公司也想要推舊曲新作，但大眾沒有太大反應，所以當時就不了了之。
大約在4、5年前左右，歐美樂迷在 Youtube 等網路媒體，接觸到改編 City Pop 歌曲的 Future Funk 音樂後，因為喜歡進而開始去找原曲來聽，如：竹內瑪莉亞的〈Plastic Love〉，就這樣帶起這股風潮，也因此才開始有「City Pop」這個名稱出現。可以說是從歐美吹向亞洲，某種程度也可以稱作一種社會現象吧。日本人曾經很努力地把日本的音樂推向歐美，如松田聖子等歌手，但不是很成功。City Pop 的重新流行，讓日本人十分高興。真正大流行的話，我想應該是在這2、3年吧。
About 12 and13 years ago, when people only listened to old folks songs back then, yet nveraroused a sympathetic chord to the audience, there were some Japanese DJ trying to remix with those old songs, but they have only reached to small gigs to give out their works. Labels were also paying efforts on putting old wine in new bottles, however the audience were not into it, therefore it ended up with nothing definite. Later on, Around 4 and 5 years ago, the music fans of the West discovered the Future Funk through YouTube and otherplatforms, this new genre of music is an adaptation of City pop songs, and the fans therefore found the original version of these songs that were adapted, famous example such as Plastic Love by Takeuchi Mariya, and the ‘City Pop’has started to spread from this point. From the western to the eastern,we could consider it somewhat as a social phenomenon through music genres. Japanese musicians once trieddedicatedly to promote their music to the western music industry, as known as Noriko Kamachi and other singers, yet never reachedthe peak. The reappear of City Pop wastherefore a pleasant joy to Japanese people, yet it’s getting even more popularin the past 2 and 3 years.
編按：竹內瑪莉亞的〈Plastic Love〉一曲發行於1984年，因近年太受歡迎（ Night Tempo的混音版本，在 Youtube 的點閱次數就已破一千兩百萬 ），唱片公司終於在 35 年後的 2019 年，推出由林響太朗導演執導的短版 MV。
Maria Takeuchi’s "Plastic Love" was released in 1984. Because of its popularity in recent years (the remixed version of Night Tempo, the number of views on Youtube has exceeded 12 million), the record company finally In 2019, 35 years later, a short version of the MV directed by KYOUTARO HAYASHILin Xiangtai Lang was released.
2019年由林響太朗導演所執導的〈Plastic Love〉短版MV / 2019 "Plastic Love" short ver. directed by KYOUTARO HAYASHI
CH：去年美國的唱片公司發行一套二張 City Pop 的黑膠，封面還是永井博的畫作。有趣的是，這套卻不是由日本唱片公司發行。你覺得 City Pop 會在歐美流行的原因？
An American records label has released a set of two Vinyls CityPop album, whichwith its cover designed by Hiroshi Nagai, yet the album set was actually published by a Japanese records label. What was the crucial reason for City Pop going popular in the West?
NT：City Pop 這種音樂類型，帶給大家很強烈的夏日印象。像美國的加州、洛杉磯比較溫暖的城市，City Pop 的曲風跟他們的生活、氣候相對是接近的，他們自然會比較常聽這類的音樂。City Pop 在當年原本就是日本人會在橫濱海邊兜風時聽的歌。只是那時候不叫 City Pop，而是稱為「New Music」。
日本的音樂家本來就很崇尚歐美的音樂，後來在 Funk、Fusion Jazz等樂風傳入日本後，音樂家們改編並加入自己的特色，如當年的山下達郎、竹內瑪莉亞、杏里⋯⋯等人。才形成有別於日本歌謠的 New Music。所以跟日本老一輩的人說 City Pop，他們會不理解是指什麼音樂，但說 New Music，他們馬上就明白了。
City Pop as a genre of music brings animpression of cozy summertime, as if in the cities such as California, Los Angeles,and those warm and comfy places. Style wise, City Pop is relatively close tothe local life and their delightful weather, people live in this atmospherewould naturally listen to this kind of music. At first, City Pop was the music type forJapanese people when they go on their vacation, while enjoying the vibe and thesea breeze by the Yokohama seaside line, however, it’s called "New Music" instead of City Pop by that time.
Japanese musiciansadmire dearly the western music, later on when Funk music, Fusion Jazz andother music styles have been introduced into Japan and adapted by Japanese musicians: YamashitaTatsuro, Takeuchi Mariya and Anri…etc, withtheir signature styles merged with the western music, gradually formedafterwards the New Music, which is a foreign style to the Japanese folk songs, for the reason why the last or elder generation wouldn’t have a clue about whatis City Pop, but for ‘New Music’, they could easily relate to it.
編按：日本「New Music」的說法，類似台灣80年代末期開始流行「新台語運動」，如：黑名單工作室、林強、豬頭皮、L.A. Boyz⋯⋯等人的音樂，有別於之前台語傳統流行歌曲的風格。
2019年5月，由美國著名重發大廠 Light in the Attic 所發行的 City Pop 合輯《Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR and Boogie 1976-1986》 封面使用永井博授權畫作 / The cover of the City Pop compilation "Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR and Boogie 1976-1986" released by the famous American republisher Light in the Attic uses paintings authorized by Hiroshi NagaiFrom expomusic.com.tw
CH：什麼時候開始創作Future Funk？走紅後對生活帶來什麼影響？
Whendid you first start writing Future Funk music? What are the impacts you haveafter became popular?
NT：第一次開始創作是從2014年開始，放到網路上後獲得很大迴響，就持續一直到現在。2019年開始，我開始專職進行音樂創作，並且與其他音樂家進行合作。音樂的創作方式，主要是受到 Daft Punk 及角松敏生的影響。
剛開始創作的時候，我的正職工作是 APP 工程師。最大的改變，應該是音樂從我的興趣變成我的職業，花在音樂上的時間也變多了。也藉由這個工作，認識了許多創作者或設計師，如 Macross 82-99（墨西哥的 Future Funk 創作者）、Davy（ Neoncity Records 廠牌主理人 ）⋯⋯等，大家都創作類似的音樂，但卻各有各的特色，並能將我們這些志同道合的人集結在一起，甚至組「Sailor Team」的團隊一起到各地巡迴演出，這是我覺得非常棒的地方。
Istarted in 2014 online, and have gained many feedback and good commentsafterwards, and I’ve carried on till today. Since 2019 I started only focusing on writing music, and working with different musicians. The way how I work is actually inspired by Daft Punk and Toshiki Kadomatsu, at the beginning I had a fulltime job as an Application engineer, the turning point for me was when music has transformed from a hobby to a vocation to me, along with spending more time on it, I’ve got many chances to encounter music writers or designers, for example: Macross82-99, Davy and so on, our music may sound all similar yet each of us has a strong character in style, thanks to the music we could bound together with passion, later on, we even created our squad- the Sailor Team, to give concerts together everywhere, which is fascinating to me.
CH：接下來有什麼計畫？
What are your next projects?
NT：Future Funk 對我來說是非常棒的音樂，所以我希望這些音樂未來都能跟唱片公司合作，成為官方的作品。對樂迷來說，這樣的做法可以更讓大家接受，否則 Future Funk 永遠只會是地下音樂的一種。但要跟日本唱片公司談進行版權授權，是非常困難的一件事，因為這些藝人在日本已經夠有名了，他們根本不需要額外做這件事。
所幸我在去年 Fuji Rock 的演出非常成功，因此得到 Polystar 唱片公司的支持。在80年代紅極一時的雙人女子偶像組合 Wink 出道30週年，推出二張官方混音EP《Wink - Night Tempo presents THE SHOWA GROOVE I & II》。這算是踏出第一步，希望接下來還能推出更多跟官方合作的作品。
另外，我從去年開始在日本的演出都用「Showa Groove」，包括專輯都用這個名稱。不用 Future Funk 的原因是希望可以推廣昭和（Showa）文化，而不只是在音樂的層面。如同我今年二月在東京的演出，選在一間昭和時代就開業的溜冰場裡。讓大家可以穿著昭和時代衣服，在昭和時代的場地，聽著改編自昭和時代的歌曲，可以完完全全感受到昭和時代的氛圍！
Future Funk is ju�st incredible to me, in the future I’d like to work with more labels and make it an official production, it would also be an approach to be known by more fans and build up a better visibility. Otherwise, Future Funk would stay underground forever, but it’s complicated to sort out the authorization of the copyrights with Japanese labels, because these artists are already very famous in Japan and they do not necessarily need to cover it in addition.
Thanks to my performance last year during the Fuji Rock, I got the support of Polystarand have realeased a second official remixed EP Wink- NightTempo presents THE SHOWA GROOVE I&II , on the 30th anniversary of the one and only femaleduo group: Wink, which was tremendously popular during 80s, I took EP as a first step to reach out and wishing for the best to have more opportunities to cooperate with other labels officially.
Official Mix EP《Wink - Night Tempo presents THE SHOWA GROOVE I & II》vinyl Photo from Neoncity Records
CH：現在想創作 Future Funk 的人越來越多，可否提供一些建議對給台灣想從事這方面創作的人？
Peopleare growing their interest in FutureFunk gradually, could you please give someadvices to Taiwanese people those who are into making Future Funk music?
NT：的確現在想做的人很多，但是可以堅持的人真的很少，無法被看到就放棄了，以前一起創作的人也大多消失了。與其模仿別人，應該要找到自己的特色，如果無法做到的話，就只能停留在興趣階段，不能變成職業的話，也很難持續下去。
Indeed we have more and more music makers are interested in FutureFunk, but very few of them can stick till the end, most people would give up since they realized it’s hard to be heard. A lot of people that I used to work with have stopped too. Instead of copying, for me it’s more important to find your own style and character, if not, you will just stuck in a amateur level, and therefore evenit became your profession, you would find it hard to carry on.
關於 Night Tempo
韓國人，Sailor Team成員、現今Future Funk最具代表性的人物。2016年發表的竹內瑪莉亞〈 Plastic Love 〉混音版本造成極大迴響，在youtube創下近千萬點閱。希望Future Funk所帶領起的新舊融合風潮能持續下去，並致力於80年代文化的推廣。
About Night Tempo
Korean, member of Sailor Team, and the most representative figure of Future Funk today. The remixed version of Maria Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" released in 2016 caused great repercussions and hit nearly 12 million views on YouTube. Hope that the trend of fusion of the old and the new led by Future Funk will continue, and I am committed to the promotion of the culture of the 1980s.
【過去是現在的未來：Future Funk】
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