SOLID BEAT

Janne Da Arc's bassist, ka-yu, is now doing solo work under his real name, Kazuyuki Matsumoto. His first album, "Solid Beat", is already on sale. Continuing with his very intense compositions, his second album, "Solid Beat II", went on sale December 26. Currently, Kazuyuki Matsumoto is in the midst of his nationwide tour, "Tour Solid Beat ~Greed or Purity~". Furthermore, his original brand, "Solid Beat", now has its own online shop.
In the midst of intriguing, multifaceted activity, he gave us time to talk and focus on the musical aspects.

Are you enjoying your solo work?

Solo work in and of itself allows you to take things at your own pace, and I feel that it allows me to bring out my own strength (in terms of relaxing), so I do feel as if I enjoy appearing and things like that on my own.

As Kazuyuki Matsumoto, you've expanded your horizons into becoming a vocalist, too.

Hahaha. A vocalist, huh...to speak honestly, as far as singing is concerned, I haven't captured the depth behind it. Even so, I am having fun doing it all the same. In terms of my attitude when I sing, as well, more than just saying, "This feeling is strong, I have to make this stand out," the voice is just one instrument that can bring out a feeling, and just in that, no matter what I have fun while I'm singing.

I think you can see this by watching you on stage, but along with your guitarist, Kenta Harada, and your drummer, Ryu, you've been pursuing rock numbers. Just that in itself makes you look, visually, like you're having a lot of fun.

The sound that the three of us produce gives me a really good feeling, too. More than anything else, it's fun. It's just because the songs I've been writing seem to fit with the personalities of those two, but somehow, I'm not worried about the first time I bring a song out. Those two just play it the way they want to, as well. Of course, nominally, it's my solo project in the end. All of us, at least in feeling, are a band, surely. I think it's natural that it would become apparent how we feel, when we're doing our work being very aware of that.