Vo. Mori-san, thank you very much for answering this 餃子大王 (Gyoza Daioh) interview!
Gyoza Daioh has been active already for a long time. I guess that there have been various changes during this activity period, but what are your biggest turning points in all those years?
Turning point 1: When we went from club activity to performing in live houses.
Turning point 2: The moment of that we suddenly got halls full of fans and that the TV and Radio talked about us.
The steady activity still continues, but I’m always inspired by the people and bands I meet, including my student bands. The most difficult thing is that I currently cannot hold live shows.
What’s the secret behind that Gyoza Daioh is still an active band since the formation in 1993?
Well, I guess it’s because we are busy with our job as a teacher, so you have less time to spend on music…isn’t?
Until now, what’s your most precious memories?
Every live show is memorable so it’s difficult to choose my most precious, however after my mother passed away, my father felt very depressed. When he regained energy to work again my father was involved as a seconded to the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exposition and he invited Gyoza Daioh to play as the opening act of the exposition. And in my MC I said, “I’ll sing for my father” and I sung the song “わっはっは” (A song that I wrote to give me power when I lost my mother). I sang that song in front of 4000 people specially for my father, that’s one of my most precious memories.
Please tell us the origin and the meaning of the band name.
This band was formed straight away on our first university day. (4 people).
We didn’t decide a band name before our first gig at our university, a day before the gig, we were eating dumplings together at Ikeda’s Minmin restaurant with a senior called Waho. We were looking at the pictures of Gyoza Daioh displayed in the story and Waho forcibly gave us a name by saying “From today on you guys are Gyoza Daioh”. It has been 37 years since then.
The music of Gyoza Daioh also has rock elements. What made you decide to also include this genre of music?
I always liked The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and wanted to play ROCK’N’ROLL music.I also like Sex Pistols, Deep Purple, Led Zappelin, The Egles, RC SUCCESSION, anyway doesn’t Shigemoto has similar playing style those bands?
Jun-chan really loves R&B, he was influenced by Blues Brothers.
We all are big fans of rock music.
However only Kameo likes Nakajima Miyuki(中島みゆ)
Who are your musical influences?
As I mention before, The Beatles, Roling Stones, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, etc. And I like Japanese bands such as RC SUCCESSION, 子供バンド、ツイスト、甲斐バンド、アリス、キャロル等、グレイトリッチーズ、ポテトチップス、ディープ&バイツ.
Where do you get the inspiration for making music?
Poetry is something that’s with me daily. My lyrics are inspired by other artists and each lyric gets a melody which comes to my mind.
Which song gives you the strongest feeling?
Our newest song is always the strongest, but if I should choose one, I would say “わっはっは”. Everyone loves this song so we always play this song at our shows.
You sometimes make your own effects, but what’s your favorite?
I really do love the types of the “BOSS” series. You can easily use them to create your own effects. In the past I used them for all my gear, but nowadays I make my own . Bass effectors are very difficult to make on your own, I haven’t been able to make a bass effector that I’m satisfied with. But since I am a teacher I cannot sell them for profit. So only my students play on my own created ones. If I would be able to sell them in the future, I would go by the name “ROLL OVER B”.
Anyway, I like the strain types. Such as Sir’s Riot and Marshall Blue Breaker. So I created a new one from both of those types. I also like analog delays. I use a PT2339 karaoke operational amplifier to make analog-like delays.
What’s the most fun thing about a national tour?
I can hardly go on a tour, but I’m looking forward to hold one after my retirement. (still 3½ years left)
What were the toughest and best parts of being in the band?
It was tough to find some people who came to watch you, however it’s still very fun to put out a show even with a small audience. There’s a lot of good things around it, I’m always looking forward to each show and getting excited about it. But, it’s also fun just to be in the studio for practice.
What does rock(music) mean to you?
ROCK’N’ROLL is a state of my mind. It’s something that excites me. As a genre, ROCK’N’ROLL it’s the best, but when I listen to classical music, choral music or any other genre of music that excites me, I feel it as ROCK’N’ROLL. To me ROCKNROLL is about taking things, destroying and rebuilding them, moving forward and backward, and developing yourself/things.
If you would live outside of Japan, where would you like to live?
I never thought about it.
Our bass player Hunko, might love to live in Europe.
What kind of music have you been listening to recently?
I like rock from the old days, blues R&B, but I also listen to my students’ favorite bands.
Polkadot Stingray, One Ok Rock and Suttoko Dokkoi surprises me.
Besides music, what are your hobbies?
Researching effector circuits, making my own effectors, also I like to be on Twitter, I guess I’m linked to music in some way.
Mori-san is also the advisor of the Parlour music club at school. What kind of guidance do you keep in your mind?
To make an effort that people see and hear a band properly.
My message to my students is;
“Don’t be a normal high school band”
“Be sure to create original songs”
What are your beliefs and mottoes as an artist for your fans?
“I don’t want to be a boring adult” (Lyrics by Motoharu Sano)
“We’ve been doing our best” (The school motto of Kisiwa City Central Elementary school) They already keep their motto alive for 50 years.
Lastly, what message would you like to give to your fans and readers?
I live daily with the hope that I’ll be able to see you at our shows (again)!
We Thank Mori-san deeply for this interview!
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