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This article is a joint project with the radio program "Jeep® CREATIVE GARAGE" on J-WAVE (81.3 FM). AKO and HOUYHNHNM's editor-in-chief Ryo Komuta will be the program navigators, and will delve into the roots and staples of the guests on the theme of "standards" for about an hour on the last Sunday of each month at 10:00 p.m. In addition, using "radiko," a service that allows you to listen to the radio on your computer or smartphone, you can listen to the show in real time or at your own leisure with the time-free function. We hope you will enjoy this new approach to radio and HOUYHNHNM's together!

• Jeep® CREATIVE GARAGE
• Last Sunday of every month 22:00-22:54
• Navigator: AKO, Ryo Komuta (Editor-in-Chief, HOUYHNHNM)
• J-WAVE 81.3FM "Jeep® CREATIVE GARAGE
• www.j-wave.co.jp/original/creativegarage/

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Kujukuri is my favorite ocean.

Since its formation in 1992, the rock band "Sunny Day Service" has captivated many young people by telling the stories of people living in the city with its lyrics and transparent melodies. Keiichi Sogabe continues to influence not only fans but also many artists as the frontman of this 90's city pop band and as a singer-songwriter who is still actively releasing songs to the world. What is the starting point of his songwriting? We spoke with him as he drove to Kujukuri Beach in Chiba Prefecture, which he visits several times a year.

I have loved Kujukuri since I came here in the 90's to shoot a music video. It is not so much melancholy or loneliness, but the matte colors of the Kujukuri area and the long stretches of sandy beaches give me a sense of emptiness that is somehow related to my music. It is different from the calm Seto Inland Sea of my hometown, where no personal feelings enter. I think everyone is sometimes carried away by the ups and downs of daily life, but the sea of Kujukuri gives me the comfort of 'nothingness' where there is nothing like that.

Of course, it is not only the scenery that connects Mr. Sogabe to Kujukuri. He says, "GROOVETUBE FESOne of the reasons he visits Kujukuri regularly is a local music festival called "Kikkoman" and its organizer, Takanori Nagano.

This is a bar that Mr. Nagano opens only on weekends and hangs out with his friends. Whenever I come to Kujukuri, I also use it as a resting place. It has a handmade atmosphere and a lot of maniac records and CDs, but it's clean and alternative in the sense that it's not overstretched. Even for festivals, I like the fact that they are organized by the people who make these stores. It's not big, but the feeling that the locals look forward to it every year is very appealing. It is important to appeal to a large number of fans at a big festival, but I think it is also important to have music on a local scale that is not so big, and to be heard by a limited number of people. I learn a lot from each of the many times I have performed at these festivals.

Encounters and connections. Perhaps there is something in Kujukuri that Mr. Sogabe unconsciously values in his daily life.

Yes, in the end, things only revolve around fate. Everything happens the way it's supposed to happen, and I think I meet people the way I'm supposed to meet them.

His roots as a musician are in his encounter with punk.

We asked again about Mr. Sogabe's encounter with music. The answer came as a bit of a surprise, considering Mr. Sogabe's musicality.

When I was in eighth grade, I was shocked to hear the Sex Pistols on a cassette tape that a relative had dubbed for me. Until then, I had been listening to trendy music that was on the charts, but the Pistols suddenly appeared in front of me like I had been struck by lightning. I formed a punk band and played live shows copying the Pistols and the Clash. After high school, I started listening to all kinds of music, and I have continued to this day, but my spirit is still the same as it was when I first heard punk music.

What he learned from punk. It is an "attitude" toward music, Sogabe passionately says.

It's like, "Let's try everything. Why don't you just do whatever you want without being shy? And I feel like that's what Punk clearly said to me. The Pistols sang something simple like "I hate you all," which gave me courage, but when I listened to John Lennon and Bob Dylan more closely, I realized that they were singing about the same thing, and I got more and more into rock, art, and fashion.

After spending his youth in his hometown of Kagawa immersed in punk music, Mr. Sogabe next set his sights on Tokyo. Upon entering university, he moved to Tokyo and took his first steps as a musician.

I wanted to get out of the country," he said. I felt that if I didn't get a taste of Tokyo culture, nothing would start. After I left, I just played around. There were many record stores in Shibuya at the time, and everything you read about in "Treasure Island" magazine was there. It was just great. But when I thought about starting my own band here, I felt that it would be impossible for me to make my debut in a town with so much talent.

However, in 1994, "Sunny Day Service" made its major debut after an indie career.

The director of the record company liked my sound and I made my debut, but that didn't change anything. I felt for the first time that I was not recognized. There were talented people like the two members of Flipper's Guitar and Takao Tajima of Original Love, but we didn't have much of a career, and we were worried about what we could do if we only had a punk philosophy.

The turning point was Sunny Day Service's second album "Tokyo" released in 1996. It is a masterpiece that realistically depicts the feelings and attitudes of the youth of that time in the big city, and is representative of the 90's, when many listeners would have experienced such life milestones as moving to Tokyo, going on to higher education, finding a job, and getting married.

It was the first time it charted in the top 30 or so. That was the first time I realized, 'Oh, there are people listening to our music. That made me very happy.

Sunny Day Service later disbanded in 2000, but reunited in 2008 after performing solo and with the Keiichi Sogabe Band. Currently, as the representative of his own label, ROSE RECORDS, which he established in 2004, and as an artist, he is passionately engaged in both management and music activities with an unabated creative drive.

I think I'm always in a slump, always struggling. But I keep putting out songs. I'm suited to the feeling of making music day after day without interruption. The sense of satisfaction I get when a piece of work is completed hasn't changed since I was young, and I think listeners think, "They're paying for what you're doing as you please. So I have to put my soul into it and put my life on the line to do whatever I want and be as selfish as I want. I think that's what an artist should do, and that's what I learned from punk. Sometimes I want to be on the defensive, though (laughs). I just go as far as I can and let people see me fall down. I think that is my aesthetic and my responsibility to my fans.

Renegade is an ideal car for me.

While driving back to Tokyo from Kujukuri on the highway, Mr. Sogabe talked about his relationship with his car. As he continues to write songs day in and day out, he says that his routine is to do a sound check in his car before completing a song.

If I have an hour's worth of songs, I'll drive around in circles for an hour, come back, fix them, and get out again. That's how I did the last one, and I did many laps like that. I think the car is the ultimate thing that combines various things invented by humans and incorporates them into daily life. It is important that the music "resonates" in such places. It is natural that it sounds good in the mountains or at the beach, so it is more important how it sounds while passing through Kabukicho.

Of course, he listens to music other than his own. Music and cars are always linked in his mind.

I listen to anything that interests me, regardless of genre. I am always looking for something good. Recently, I've been thinking again that Jimi Hendrix is great as driving music. I feel that American music is the music of the car society. The Beatles are also great. Oh! Darling" and "Golden Slumber," but for some reason, Paul's music is great for cars. Paul for the car and John for the house (laughs). Also, I listened to the latest album by Konishi's solo project, Pizzicato One, while riding along the Metropolitan Expressway with my second daughter the other day, and it really hit home with me as we drove along the expressway at night, with the glittering lights of the city in the darkness.

This time, Mr. Sogabe was driving the "Renegade (TRAIL HAWK). What he likes about it, he says, is its design.

I have always loved rounded, yet almost square-shaped cars. That's why this Renegade is the ideal shape for me. In a good sense, it is a toy-like or mechanical design that resonates with the male heart. When I first saw the batten on the rear brake lights, I thought, "This is too much! (laughs). (I was inspired by the broken lamps with duct tape on them that you see in the countryside in America. It is by far the most wonderful design.

He has had a longing for Jeep since he was a child.

I saw a Jeep that my friend's brother used to drive and thought it was cool. I thought it was cool that it was originally used for military purposes and now it is in the city. Even today, with the modern design of the Renegade, I still love the sense of fun and playfulness that is still present in many places. The ride is also moderately comfortable and solid, and I think it is a really pleasant car to drive.

I will do what I want to do. That is my pride as an artist.

Mr. Sogabe exudes a common commitment to both the music he earnestly continues to make and the cars he spends his days with. The stance that Mr. Sogabe takes toward something is also connected to the standards he sets for his life, which has become a regular feature of this project.

I think that is the most important thing for an artist to do. I think that is the most important thing for an artist. That is the spirit of punk.