Q013:
How did you get to know Tsuyama and how did he join the band? What does Tsuyama bring to the group? Does he have a background in folk music?
A013:
I knew his face from way back, but the first time we played together was at a gig with Tatsuya Yoshida. This later developed into the Seikazoku unit. After that he crashed at my house for a long time, and because our characters are so similar and we're from the same area, we became friends. We formed Zoffy together, he started appearing as a guest at AMT gigs, and then finally he formally joined the group. He's been utterly in love with rock since he was a kid, and when he was at high school he played in groups with Shibayama (currently in Nagisa Ni Te), Higuchi (Loudness' drumer!) and people like that. After that he revealed another side of his character and set off on the path to becoming a woodsman. For ten years he travelled various mountains all over the world, and he now works part of the year as a forest ranger and caretaker at a mountain lodge. In the mid 80s he suddenly reappeared on the Osaka scene, playing with Hallelujahs and joining Omoide Hatoba, which is a group led by Yamamoto from the Boredoms. He's played with all sorts of people. He's really knowledgeable about European trad music probably one of the leading experts in Japan. On his own solo stuff he likes to use these fake languages, and do this really impressive fake trad stuff.
He has mastered all these weird vocal styles like throat singing and yodelling, and if you ever hear him on acoustic guitar he has just amazing technical chops. He is a member of si-FOLK who are one of the few Irish trad bands in Japan, and he has a duo with Fumio Yoshida, who is the most famous Irish musician in Japan.
What Tsuyama has brought to AMT has been first and foremost the musical depth that allowed AMT to become a real group. The group's current style with the combination of me, him and the drummer providing the base, and Cotton's and Higashi's space sounds out front was developed after he joined. His knack for coming up with melodies has really expanded the possibilities of the group. And anyone who's seen us live will recognise what a great entertainer he is.