Self-production 
 

I think I was probably the one who worried most after our producer left. We are not talented in arrangement. Even though our songs are like a raw ore of a gem, we don't know what to do after a person who is good at arrangement leaves. When we started recording, our members were doing their best to "produce" the songs.....Although there is a long way to go, I am really bugged by the fact that I doubted my members' ability.

 
About recording
 

Our producer often said, "We should record as if we were in concert." This totally makes sense to me. This time I really wanted to record my singing and guitar at the same time. Up till now, I believed I was a person who sings the songs he writes, and my guitar skills sucked. However, when I think about it deeply, I always play the guitar in concerts. Moreover, even though my skills suck, my members play with me. Because of this, we didn't have many dubbings this time. (dubbing = recording parts separately and then putting them together into one song) We still recorded together when Tetsuya played solo.  In the past, while we were doing guitar dubbings, I was usually writing lyrics. Sometimes I received phone interviews. Because of the dubbings, I had more spare time. This allowed me to be more mentally-prepared. The songs I played this time are very spontaneous.....  Our producer had very good comments on Tetsuya's guitar skills. The first time we recorded with our producer he said,"The guitar sounds of this band are very integrated." This is mainly due to the fact that we never think whose skills are better and whose are worse. I often think it is better to let Tetsuya instead of myself to play my songs.

 

Karaoke
 

It was the time I was addicted to Karaoke last year when I found the keys of my songs are too high. The keys of the Spitz songs are so high that they are 2 or 3 keys higher. I think it may be nice if I sometimes sing at a lower key.  I often sing Kawamura Ryuichi's songs, since I feel good about them. It is also because his style is different from mine. Honestly, I am really looking forward to their new projects this year.

 

The trip to Taiwan
 

Since I have a friend living in Taiwan, I went there. I even had a chance to see "Komuro's Family Special" on TV in Taipei. (laugh) When I saw our picture in a Taiwanese music magazine, I talked to myself," Wow!"  When I went out for a walk in Taipei, somehow I feel as if I was in Japan. Thus, I felt very good, since I could relax and enjoy the walk. However, I have been asked directions by a Taiwanese. I probably don't look like a Japanese. In that situation, I just replied in Chinese "Sorry, I am a Japanese".  My friend also asked me to attend his friend's wedding.  At first, I thought,"Is it ok to go?" Yet my friend said,"There will be about 500 or 1000 people attending the wedding anyway. It doesn't matter." Coincidentally, the bride was in Japan when "Robinson" became a big hit. Thus, she knows Spitz very well. When my friend heard that, he was surprised and said,"Spitz seemed really popular there." (laugh)

 
 
 Masamune's sensitivity 
 

I often worry about whether I can get along well with people who are about 10 years younger than me. People always say that if there are a lot of things that you can't share with people at the same age, there is no way that you can get along well with twenties. Humn, I think so. For example, I bought something which I thought it was very cute, even though I actually didn't know that it was very popular among young people. (laugh) I do have an ability to find out what is in style, although I hate it. Because of this, when I heard something like "these clothes look good on high school kids", I said to myself, "Oh, I see." (laugh) Thus, when people who are about the same age as me and working for society ask,"Why do teenagers like that? I don't get it," it is very understandable to me. I can also understand why people can't figure out why Shazna (a band that has a vocalist called Izamu who is a guy but often dresses up like a woman) is so popular now.  Print Club (I think it is called "Sticker Club" in North America.)..... I took it with Sorimachi Takashi (a very popular actor in Japan). (laugh) Humn....I also wanted a "Tamagochi" (I think it is called an electronic pet in North America.) What else? For example, this year a lot of girls had a hairstyle like a hairknot. I think it is actually very cute. (laugh) Hahahahaha..... (laugh)

 
Shopping with girls
 

In the past, I never felt uneasy when I went shopping with a girl. Instead, I enjoyed it very much. However, recently I found myself often standing alone to wait for girls as they were trying clothes in the changing rooms. I really had a hard time when something like that happened. (laugh)