Hideyasu Moto

Illustrator/Comic writer — Tokyo

01Profile

A Hideyasu Moto Photo

03Interview

Name?
Hideyasu Moto

What do you do?
Illustrator/Comic (Manga) writer

Where are you from?
Nakano, Tokyo.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
George Harrison’s Japan Tour in 1991 at Yokohama Arena. That was the opening gig of the tour.

Which sub-cultures have influenced you?
I have three people who I respect from illustration and comics as I do both. First one is American illustrator, Paul Davis. Second is Japanese comic writer, Shigeru Sugiura. Finally, from the UK, I respect Klaus Voormann, who is famous for “Revolver” of The Beatles. He is German, but he worked mainly in the UK.

If you could be on the line up with any band in history?
Ravi Shankar, if I could play a musical instrument. And I like to play tambura so that I could join any Indian-music session. One more factor, Ravi taught George Harrison.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison. I’m a big fan of George so I would like to talk with him about his father.

Your greatest unsung hero in music?
Dhani Harrison (again). He is actually well-known musician, but I think he could be a much bigger star. His music was different from his father’s since his debut, but recently he is covering George’s songs a lot.

Tell us about the illustration which you drew for Record Store Day?
I used my character named “Rekosuke-kun”. He is not fashionable at all, so I tried to match him with the event, also made him look cool.

I collaborated with Fred Perry on the comic “Rekosuke-kun” previously and adopted Mods as the brand image at that time. I came to like Blur after the collaboration, so I first chose one song from Blur and after that, chose twenty Mod-flavoured songs from my favourites. Then I noticed more than half of the songs start with the letter “B”, so I decided to choose only songs beginning with B. When I go to a record store in short time, I always check the songs start “B” before new arrival.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
From Japan, “TRUE LOVE-kiss me gently” by Seiko Matsuda, first record I bought. From UK, “Hey Jude” by The Beatles, my first favourite foreign music.

A song that defines the teenage you?
“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

One record you would keep forever?
“George Harrison” by George Harrison

A song lyric that has inspired you?
Difficult to say. My works are really inspired by music. And I prefer foreign song lyrics (Japanese ones are too direct to adopt). Having said those inspiring lyrics tend not to keep their original form when I complete works.

Best song to turn up loud?
No song. I even don’t do humming or Karaoke.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
“Sen Gen Man Go (千言萬語)” by Teresa Teng. I have been buying her records, and their price is going up a lot.

Four new bands you are listening to now?
I run a record label called RHION, and I listen to Japanese music mainly. Among them, “℃-want you!” is my recent favourite.

03Interview

Name?
Hideyasu Moto

What do you do?
Illustrator/Comic (Manga) writer

Where are you from?
Nakano, Tokyo.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
George Harrison’s Japan Tour in 1991 at Yokohama Arena. That was the opening gig of the tour.

Which sub-cultures have influenced you?
I have three people who I respect from illustration and comics as I do both. First one is American illustrator, Paul Davis. Second is Japanese comic writer, Shigeru Sugiura. Finally, from the UK, I respect Klaus Voormann, who is famous for “Revolver” of The Beatles. He is German, but he worked mainly in the UK.

If you could be on the line up with any band in history?
Ravi Shankar, if I could play a musical instrument. And I like to play tambura so that I could join any Indian-music session. One more factor, Ravi taught George Harrison.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison. I’m a big fan of George so I would like to talk with him about his father.

Your greatest unsung hero in music?
Dhani Harrison (again). He is actually well-known musician, but I think he could be a much bigger star. His music was different from his father’s since his debut, but recently he is covering George’s songs a lot.

Tell us about the illustration which you drew for Record Store Day?
I used my character named “Rekosuke-kun”. He is not fashionable at all, so I tried to match him with the event, also made him look cool.

I collaborated with Fred Perry on the comic “Rekosuke-kun” previously and adopted Mods as the brand image at that time. I came to like Blur after the collaboration, so I first chose one song from Blur and after that, chose twenty Mod-flavoured songs from my favourites. Then I noticed more than half of the songs start with the letter “B”, so I decided to choose only songs beginning with B. When I go to a record store in short time, I always check the songs start “B” before new arrival.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
From Japan, “TRUE LOVE-kiss me gently” by Seiko Matsuda, first record I bought. From UK, “Hey Jude” by The Beatles, my first favourite foreign music.

A song that defines the teenage you?
“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

One record you would keep forever?
“George Harrison” by George Harrison

A song lyric that has inspired you?
Difficult to say. My works are really inspired by music. And I prefer foreign song lyrics (Japanese ones are too direct to adopt). Having said those inspiring lyrics tend not to keep their original form when I complete works.

Best song to turn up loud?
No song. I even don’t do humming or Karaoke.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
“Sen Gen Man Go (千言萬語)” by Teresa Teng. I have been buying her records, and their price is going up a lot.

Four new bands you are listening to now?
I run a record label called RHION, and I listen to Japanese music mainly. Among them, “℃-want you!” is my recent favourite.