During OTAQUEST CONNECT, we interviewed Yoko Kanno, the composer famous for their work
on Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
During her interview with DJ Taku Takahashi, she spoke in depth about her childhood, entry
into music, and how she goes about creating famous soundtracks that embody space, rather
than strictly genres.
Here’s 5 things you need to know about Yoko Kanno.
Yoko Kanno was raised rigidly Catholic, and the only media she was allowed to consume
was church hymns.
She loved the piano though, and was gifted one as a child.
And it was in kindergarten that her prodigy was realised.
Because it turns out, she could listen to music, and be able to recreate it herself.
This started when playing the organ in kindie, and in school, she would write the score for
music based on what she heard.
So when all her friends were into Lupin III and bring it in for her to listen to, she’d
be able to write it, ready to be performed.
At the time, she considered it obvious, like, why wouldn’t you be able to do this?
But in reality, she was just a prodigy, and her ability to transcribe by ear helped propel
her into a career in composition.
But even with that said, it wasn’t exactly that she liked music.
Instead, it just became something that she was good at.
She took piano lessons as a kid, but quit because she didn’t want it to feel like
something she was obligated to do.
For her, it was a method of expression before it was a hobby and instead of studying music
as a future career, she studied to be a journalist, like her parents.
That said, she was still transcribing music for the band club and participating in school
events, but just because she was good at it.
She eventually went to college for literature, saw a cover band playing, joined that band,
and quit college after a week.
If you could use one word to describe Kanno, then impulsive might be it.
Worked out though.
Yoko Kanno isn’t someone who has a good idea of genre.
In fact, she doesn’t even believe Cowboy Bebop’s opening theme Tank even counts as
jazz anymore, because she just wasn’t thinking about the genre when creating it.
Instead she settled for a compromise where she’d compose a couple of tracks that were
specifically jazz, and then do whatever she wanted for the rest.
Tank is one of those.
Instead of genre, she takes her inspiration from locations and will often go location
scouting to get a sense of place and how that can be turned into music.
For Cowboy Bebop, this was the streets of New Orleans.
She recalls a brass band on the street composed of a bunch of kids, and she was so enthralled
by them that she channelled some of what she learned from them into her work on the show.
Since Macross Plus, Kanno has worked with a lyricist and vocalist named Gabriela Robin.
In fact, Robin only ever worked with Kanno.
And there was a very good reason for that.
In 2009, Gabriela announced she would be performing live at a new concert.
But when it was Robin’s turn to sing, Yoko Kanno got up and sang herself.
It turns out, Yoko Kanno can sing as well, and every time she’s done so for one of
her tracks, she’s credited it to the pseudonym Gabriela Robin.
She kept this secret for 15 years and even acted as if they were different people in
interviews.
Yoko Kanno is mostly described as a composer, but her work has expanded into the territory
of what you’d consider a producer would be doing.
This isn’t something she’d admit herself though, even when she’s basically been producing
for singer and voice actor Maaya Sakamoto.
But she’s warmed to the title somewhat during lockdown this year when working on creating
online shows for multiple musicians, including her Cowboy Bebop band the Seatbelts.
OTAQUEST founder Taku Takahashi starred in one as well.
Since live performances aren’t a thing these days, Kanno’s shows have been a neat way
to get the band back together.
Literally, in the case of the Seatbelts.