[tegomass] DN article - translation
Even though I'm dead tired from my stay in Stockholm, I couldn't resist translating this article from today's DN.
Haven't checked for errors yet. If you see any, point them out, please? :)
Neat Pop Duo PR Party
DN, 061117
Japanese boypop duo Tegomass are visiting Sweden. DN's Fredrik Strage tagged along during a day filled with smiles, wide-eyed fans, and attempts to explain the performer-factory Johnny's Jimusho that has dominated Japanese teen pop since the sixties.
"Vi är Tegomass!" ("We are Tegomass!") the Japanese cuties call out in Swedish and get a girly power-roar as their reply.
"Jag är Tego," ("I am Tego,") says nineteen-year-old Yuuya Tegoshi.
"Jag är Massu," says Takahisa Masuda who's turned twenty.
"Listen to our song 'Miso Soup'!"
About a hundred fans, crowded into one of the rooms at Spy Bar in Stockholm, sway to the beat of the music. Some of them wave their uchiwas, fans decorated with glitter and hearts. Tegomass wail so passionately about miso soup that once fan collapses after just a few seconds.
This is the first time the duo performs outside of Asia. The audience's Japanese pop paraphernalia (Hello Kitty dolls, neon dreads, geisha makeup) make sure they feel at home.
Japanese pop, or 'j-pop', has during recent years become increasingly popular in Sweden - thanks to the Internet. Tegomass are among the sweetest of the boybands. They are 'kawaii', which means 'cute' in Japanese.
After the performance, all the fans line up to shake hands with Tegoshi and Masuda. The duo doesn't offer any lax rock-n-roll handshakes but cup their hands around the fans', bow deeply and smile warmly. The most devoted of the fans rush back and get back in line after the handshake - so that they get to say hello to the idols once more. They manage three rounds before a guard grows tired of it. Tego and Massu don't tire. They say 'tack', 'thank you', 'arigato' and keep smiling.
The day before, Tego and Massu settle into two armchairs at their hotel. A Japanese TV team follow their every step and sometimes a makeup artist sneaks up and make the boys' faces even more delicate. The group's half American staff member, Jonny Thompson, who's helped the Swedish publisher Scandinavian Songs establish connections in Tokyo, acts as interpreter through all the interviews. He's followed around by producer Ryo Ito from the record company Johnny's Entertaiment, one part of the boyband empire Johnny's Jimusho that since the sixties has dominated Japanese teen pop.
[There's been a mixup below. The reporter has confused Tego and Massu and I don't know which is which except that Massu was the one whose sister's friend sent in a photo, and Tego's mother works with furniture.]
"I want to live in Sweden," says Tego. "In Tokyo, everything is so rushed. The pace is slower here. That's good!"
"All I knew about Sweden before we got here was that it's cold and there's good design. My mum works in a furniture store," says Massu.
It was Massu's mother who helped him get in touch with Johnny's Jimusho. Both she and her son listened to the agency's artists, especially super stars Kinki Kids. A dream came true when Massu was selected in competition with hundreds of other boys.
"I didn't apply myself," Tego tells us. "My big sister's friends sent a photo of me to Johnny's. I got a bit angry because I wasn't told about it until the day before my audition. But I went to it anyway and danced."
Johnny's is sometimes described as 'bidanshi fakutorii', a factory producing pretty boys, but much more is required of these stars besides beauty. Japanese boybands don't just have to sing and dance but also master cooking, roller-skating, trapeze acts, and standup comedy. They are all-round stars who host talk shows, act in historical dramas, and advertise soda, computers, fast food, hair spray, and hundreds of other products. Jonny Thompson says it's impossible for a Japanese artist to be overexposed or be labled a sellout.
"All the biggest hits in Japan during the last twenty years have been theme songs from commercials or TV shows. Marketing a record is almost exclusively about getting the artist on various TV shows or in commercials. Radio sells no records. And MTV has few viewers."
The boys recruited by Johnny's are first drilled in the beginners division, Johnny's Juniors. There they get to dance behind established stars. Eventually they get handpicked for groups whose image and music have been decided by the agency.
Tego and Massu were chosen for the nine-member group News. They released their debut album on November 7, 2003, because there was a sponsorship deal with 7-Eleven.
Since then, News has released seven recordings and is one of the biggest Johnny's groups next to Kinki Kids, SMAP, and Arashi. Everything went smoothly until Uchi Hiroki, one of the members, got drunk in a park together with a TV team. He was immediately suspended, News was put on an indefinite hiatus, and the other guys were placed in new groups like Tegomass.
"We can't talk about it," says Jonny Thompson when I ask about Uchi Hiroki.
"Sorry," says Tego and smiles.
To maintain a proper image is important. When Tegomass meet the Swedish press at Spy Bar, their people subtly try to make sure that the boys aren't photographed with bottles in the background. Johnny's artists have been equally innocent since the sixties. The company's mysterious (?) founder, Johnny Kitagawa, was more influenced by fair Broadway musicals than rock-n-roll when he designed his first idols.
Mr Johnny himself, as he's called, suffered a greater scandal than being drunk when two of his former idols claimed he had sexually abused them. No charges lead to prosecution though, and the number of boys who applied for Johnny's positions didn't decline. However, the agency did get bad publicity abroad. English newspapers have joked about the name Kinki Kids (which has nothing to do with sex - the members are from the Kinki region in Japan). That group also holds the world record in number of singles to chart immediately as number one on the hit list.
"Mr Johnny knows what works. He handpicks all the groups," says Jonny Thompson. "How he does it is his secret, just as the Coca Cola recipy or the secret ingredient in Kentucky Fried Chicken."
Despite these comparisons, both Jonny Thompson and Ryo Ito deny that Johnny's Jimusho is a factory. They say over and over that it's all about the love of music. When I ask about the low wages of the boybands - they get no percentage of the sales of records and souvenirs - they summarily reply that you can't compare the Japanese music industry with the European. And from a Western perspective, Johnny's is more reminiscent of the old studio system in Hollywood where the film studios basically owned the stars and controlled every aspect of their careers.
"We'll always keep singing. Even if no one listens to us," says Massu.
They don't need to worry about that right now. The fans who don't get into Spy Bar during the evening's release party stand outside singing 'Miso Soup'.
Tegomass look out through a window and call out in Swedish: "Vi älskar er!" ("We love you!") Then they continue inspecting the things they got from their fans.
"Look!" says Tego and holds up an album the fans have filled with photographs, love messages, and glittery stickers.
"Look!" says Massu and points to a pink dog.
Tegomass may be mass-produced pin-ups, but this night they mostly look like children on Christmas Eve.
by Fredrik Strage
Original: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2198&a=589281&previousRenderType=6
Translation by Andy Kayen
Do not spread this translation please. Only link to this post. (Simply because I don't want any mistakes spreading if they're already corrected here.)
This is an unofficial fan translation. The article belongs to Dagens Nyheter.
Haven't checked for errors yet. If you see any, point them out, please? :)
Neat Pop Duo PR Party
DN, 061117
Japanese boypop duo Tegomass are visiting Sweden. DN's Fredrik Strage tagged along during a day filled with smiles, wide-eyed fans, and attempts to explain the performer-factory Johnny's Jimusho that has dominated Japanese teen pop since the sixties.
"Vi är Tegomass!" ("We are Tegomass!") the Japanese cuties call out in Swedish and get a girly power-roar as their reply.
"Jag är Tego," ("I am Tego,") says nineteen-year-old Yuuya Tegoshi.
"Jag är Massu," says Takahisa Masuda who's turned twenty.
"Listen to our song 'Miso Soup'!"
About a hundred fans, crowded into one of the rooms at Spy Bar in Stockholm, sway to the beat of the music. Some of them wave their uchiwas, fans decorated with glitter and hearts. Tegomass wail so passionately about miso soup that once fan collapses after just a few seconds.
This is the first time the duo performs outside of Asia. The audience's Japanese pop paraphernalia (Hello Kitty dolls, neon dreads, geisha makeup) make sure they feel at home.
Japanese pop, or 'j-pop', has during recent years become increasingly popular in Sweden - thanks to the Internet. Tegomass are among the sweetest of the boybands. They are 'kawaii', which means 'cute' in Japanese.
After the performance, all the fans line up to shake hands with Tegoshi and Masuda. The duo doesn't offer any lax rock-n-roll handshakes but cup their hands around the fans', bow deeply and smile warmly. The most devoted of the fans rush back and get back in line after the handshake - so that they get to say hello to the idols once more. They manage three rounds before a guard grows tired of it. Tego and Massu don't tire. They say 'tack', 'thank you', 'arigato' and keep smiling.
The day before, Tego and Massu settle into two armchairs at their hotel. A Japanese TV team follow their every step and sometimes a makeup artist sneaks up and make the boys' faces even more delicate. The group's half American staff member, Jonny Thompson, who's helped the Swedish publisher Scandinavian Songs establish connections in Tokyo, acts as interpreter through all the interviews. He's followed around by producer Ryo Ito from the record company Johnny's Entertaiment, one part of the boyband empire Johnny's Jimusho that since the sixties has dominated Japanese teen pop.
[There's been a mixup below. The reporter has confused Tego and Massu and I don't know which is which except that Massu was the one whose sister's friend sent in a photo, and Tego's mother works with furniture.]
"I want to live in Sweden," says Tego. "In Tokyo, everything is so rushed. The pace is slower here. That's good!"
"All I knew about Sweden before we got here was that it's cold and there's good design. My mum works in a furniture store," says Massu.
It was Massu's mother who helped him get in touch with Johnny's Jimusho. Both she and her son listened to the agency's artists, especially super stars Kinki Kids. A dream came true when Massu was selected in competition with hundreds of other boys.
"I didn't apply myself," Tego tells us. "My big sister's friends sent a photo of me to Johnny's. I got a bit angry because I wasn't told about it until the day before my audition. But I went to it anyway and danced."
Johnny's is sometimes described as 'bidanshi fakutorii', a factory producing pretty boys, but much more is required of these stars besides beauty. Japanese boybands don't just have to sing and dance but also master cooking, roller-skating, trapeze acts, and standup comedy. They are all-round stars who host talk shows, act in historical dramas, and advertise soda, computers, fast food, hair spray, and hundreds of other products. Jonny Thompson says it's impossible for a Japanese artist to be overexposed or be labled a sellout.
"All the biggest hits in Japan during the last twenty years have been theme songs from commercials or TV shows. Marketing a record is almost exclusively about getting the artist on various TV shows or in commercials. Radio sells no records. And MTV has few viewers."
The boys recruited by Johnny's are first drilled in the beginners division, Johnny's Juniors. There they get to dance behind established stars. Eventually they get handpicked for groups whose image and music have been decided by the agency.
Tego and Massu were chosen for the nine-member group News. They released their debut album on November 7, 2003, because there was a sponsorship deal with 7-Eleven.
Since then, News has released seven recordings and is one of the biggest Johnny's groups next to Kinki Kids, SMAP, and Arashi. Everything went smoothly until Uchi Hiroki, one of the members, got drunk in a park together with a TV team. He was immediately suspended, News was put on an indefinite hiatus, and the other guys were placed in new groups like Tegomass.
"We can't talk about it," says Jonny Thompson when I ask about Uchi Hiroki.
"Sorry," says Tego and smiles.
To maintain a proper image is important. When Tegomass meet the Swedish press at Spy Bar, their people subtly try to make sure that the boys aren't photographed with bottles in the background. Johnny's artists have been equally innocent since the sixties. The company's mysterious (?) founder, Johnny Kitagawa, was more influenced by fair Broadway musicals than rock-n-roll when he designed his first idols.
Mr Johnny himself, as he's called, suffered a greater scandal than being drunk when two of his former idols claimed he had sexually abused them. No charges lead to prosecution though, and the number of boys who applied for Johnny's positions didn't decline. However, the agency did get bad publicity abroad. English newspapers have joked about the name Kinki Kids (which has nothing to do with sex - the members are from the Kinki region in Japan). That group also holds the world record in number of singles to chart immediately as number one on the hit list.
"Mr Johnny knows what works. He handpicks all the groups," says Jonny Thompson. "How he does it is his secret, just as the Coca Cola recipy or the secret ingredient in Kentucky Fried Chicken."
Despite these comparisons, both Jonny Thompson and Ryo Ito deny that Johnny's Jimusho is a factory. They say over and over that it's all about the love of music. When I ask about the low wages of the boybands - they get no percentage of the sales of records and souvenirs - they summarily reply that you can't compare the Japanese music industry with the European. And from a Western perspective, Johnny's is more reminiscent of the old studio system in Hollywood where the film studios basically owned the stars and controlled every aspect of their careers.
"We'll always keep singing. Even if no one listens to us," says Massu.
They don't need to worry about that right now. The fans who don't get into Spy Bar during the evening's release party stand outside singing 'Miso Soup'.
Tegomass look out through a window and call out in Swedish: "Vi älskar er!" ("We love you!") Then they continue inspecting the things they got from their fans.
"Look!" says Tego and holds up an album the fans have filled with photographs, love messages, and glittery stickers.
"Look!" says Massu and points to a pink dog.
Tegomass may be mass-produced pin-ups, but this night they mostly look like children on Christmas Eve.
by Fredrik Strage
Original: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2198&a=589281&previousRenderType=6
Translation by Andy Kayen
Do not spread this translation please. Only link to this post. (Simply because I don't want any mistakes spreading if they're already corrected here.)
This is an unofficial fan translation. The article belongs to Dagens Nyheter.