**Translator's note: Any inconsistencies in DJ OZMA's responses or confusing spots are intentional and are there in the Japanese version. It is obvious Showyan (also not his real name, btw-- just his most popular character) had trouble keeping up this character in interview... Enjoy this interview for what it is!**
Real Life? Fantasy?
We hope to uncover the truth about DJ OZMA with this 20,000 character interview!
Take a Kpop hit, remix it with a Eurobeat using a computer program, change the lyrics completely and reusing the song yourself, and what do you have? The formula for “Age Age Every Night”, according to DJ OZMA himself. The act consists of three people, our main writer OZMA, as well as dancer/vocalist KING and dancer/rapper PANCHO. Their general attitude is, “Every song we make is intended to be and will become a hit”, so that is the goal of the DJ OZMA project. With this in mind, the trio have to continually come up with unique-yet-"danceable" ideas. DJ OZMA's debut album, “I Love Party People” is one of the best-selling albums of the year, yet surprisingly, when we contacted DJ OZMA for this interview, his reaction was that of shock. “You want to do a 20,000 character interview? For real?! That seems ridiculously long, what am I supposed to do, give anecdotes?!” But he quickly switched to, “alright, let's have a nice talk”. For those who are interested in knowing who exactly DJ OZMA is, read on!
First, your birthday and name please.
I'm Tankoba Kibaji, 90 years old.
Hahahaha.
My real name is Ozumano Sumitada. I was born April 26, 1982. It's my year this year! (*Year of the dog)
Your naming sense is awesome, but that is just your character, right?
But it's not a character! It's my old man name, like if you take my name and go down my family history, you will find that last name in my family tree. My ancestors!
Where are you from?
I am from Chikura city, Chiba prefecture.
But that's close... Sly...
What's that?
Nothing, nothing...What kind of place is Chikura?
There are some good fishing spots and some nice snow, but it is otherwise not a notable place. The atmosphere is... everyone keeps their shutters closed, it's always raining (or snowing), if you do see something out of place, like open shutters, they will quickly slam closed before you can really think much of it. Slam! Like that.
What is your family like?
There's my dad, mom, me, a younger brother, and a younger sister. My parents are, uhhh... thieves.
Hahahahahaha.
Well, dad is a thief, but mom is a full-time housewife. So she's a thief by association, really. (laugh) Incidentally, it's been 19 years since the last kid has been born, and our home is like a warehouse. So we grew up surrounded by items likes iron masks. Really, it was probably difficult on my family to have me around, because I always ate a lot. I really like eating processed fish sausages in particular. I also make lots of small pleasant sounds while eating, like “mirimirimiri” or “hohohoho”. I've been like that since I was little.
How long do you plan on keeping this up?
Hmm? Keeping what up, ah! Speaking of keeping up, usually when I would go to school, like, on the way back home, I'd stop at the field and think about life. I had to be careful, because I'd sometimes also turn and stare at the lines in the road, but cars would sometimes be coming down the road too! I'd always be paying attention to these little details but also spacing out. Like I couldn't remember anything important, but you bet I could recall the numbers on the cars' license plates. Like, “Oh, there's 4-26 again!”. Like that.
What's your dad like?
He's the very cheerful type. He was always laughing and smiling at home. I guess you could say he is a very “Showa” dad. He likes fishing and drinking sake. On the occasion he did get mad, he would be quite loud and scary though. At those times, I'd be jealous of other people for having more quiet dads, but I wouldn't dare say it. He was very popular at the bars, but out in public he was always having fun. Most dads are quite different at work than when out drinking, but I don't think he was that different.
His company... Was it like some kind of thieves' guild?
Hehehehehe... I can't really say much about what the company is. I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble, but it definitely isn't typical.
Hahahaha. It's okay. I get it. How old were you when you first got into music?
Uh... My first year of elementary school. I had to sing with my class around Christmas time. I was just a child, but my attitude toward performing music wasn't very childlike. I took it a bit too seriously but enjoyed it, even back then.
So it's easy for us to see how that progressed into the career you have now.
(laugh) Yes, but the next step in my evolution came around the last year of elementary school/first year of middle school. We had to do some sort of talent performance. At that time, I met with my cousin for rehearsals, and we sang a song called “Candy, Candy” that my cousin had written. My younger sister and I went to the same school. So my sister played the piano part, and in a sense my sister and cousin were my first bandmates. Her playing was very pretty-- When I think of that performance from long ago, a lot of memories come flooding back. Before then, I was only singing for myself-- in the bath, for example. So it was my first time to sing in front of others. My timing was off from nervousness, and I thought everyone was mad at me for messing it up, so I just kept on a big nervous grin. I must have looked stupid, because the audience was cheering loudly, but also roaring with laughter! Boys and girls alike were like, “wow!” and so I knew from that moment I wanted to keep performing, and I definitely wanted to make people laugh. So I guess that is how DJ OZMA was born.
What made you decide to use a Kpop song for your first single?
I was thinking that recently, Kpop's popularity has been on the rise. So I thought, if I do something interesting with it, maybe it will make a good track to break into the charts with. I wanted people to hear of me for the first time and go, “Ah, this guy's interesting!” I thought there was no better time than now. I also had to think about what words to use the first time I introduced myself. Seeming like a “hang loose” kind of guy and releasing a dance-able first track during summer break seemed like a nice idea. ...I've always tried to move up in the hierarchy of things, but I a always amazed by the reactions of others. For example, I was the kind of guy who played soccer in school, and became popular as team captain, but was surprised at the social results of it. A lot of girls had started talking to me unexpectedly, and following me around....
Oh, so did you have a, “Ah! This is first love” kind of experience then?
Hmm, my first love was when I was young, maybe fifth grade.
How were you able to catch her attention?
Ahahahaha! Well, I was always trying to chat with her, just about everyday things. I dragged that out for a while, but finally confessed to her one day, and we became boyfriend and girlfriend. Her name was Yuka, and she was 3 years my senior, actually. Even though we were young, she was definitely the first girl I loved. We had a lot in common and we dated for a long time. We were always hanging out. However, she didn't give me that heart-racing feeling, and our dating seemed so domestic. This one time, so like because of soccer, I had to go to a soccer club party. And like even though I was wearing my new 6th grade uniform, these uniforms were super cool-looking. The other kids at the party were looking at me because I was the oldest and the only one in the 6th grade uniform. So at this time I decided it was the perfect time in life to push myself even more... I was always practicing, and I felt like I got a lot of power from this uniform, you could say. But I felt this was more important than my first love. Even into high school, after my first love, I continued with soccer because I still really loved it. In high school, we had a match with the municipal Funabashi team (*a big team for Chiba area). I was so out of it that day I was worried I would do a poor job, so I brought my old uniform to look at and motivate me. I was able to score a lot of points, so to this day I still keep that uniform tucked away.
Did you first love ever watch you play?
Actually, no she didn't! (laugh) But I am the kind of guy who if I like something and want to do it, I am motivated enough whether other people are pushing me or not. I could feel the love of soccer emanating from myself. I remember on Culture Day, I was always the kid who pushed himself the hardest. Because of that, I was always moving up, so to speak. I also began working in high school and had the same attitude there. I always felt that was part of my appeal. If I work hard, people will like that. Being on a stage, you have to “be the attraction” so you can't do anything except work hard. I am moved by the opportunity, but I feel the opportunity itself is earned. Even as a child, kids would want to play and hang out, but even in elementary school, I was taking my studies and activities seriously. Because of that, I had no friends really until soccer club in middle school, and my first few friends were girls. Slowly after that, my circle widened to 15 friends, but we didn't meet much because of me being busy. They were all girls, and I had their names, addresses, phone numbers... I was kind of crushing on them, so on this paper I wrote what I liked about each of them... When you first hear this, maybe it's kind of confusing so you're like, “What???” but at about that age I was starting to think about intimacy, and so even though I didn't get anywhere with them, my mind was reeling.
Did your position on the team reap any rewards for you then?
That was the first time, from there I began thinking like that about girls. From then, I thought a bit about it in a spacey manner, and I was always thinking about how to talk to girls romantically, like what words to use, how to sound poetic. I always had to be careful, because once my mind and heart were racing, I wouldn't be able to put on the brakes! Even now, if I think of something and express it well, … something will happen! If I take just a moment to turn over the situation in my mind, I can use timing and the right expression to sway a woman, just “now is the time!” and go. You know? I am sure elementary school me didn't expect all of this just from soccer. Three years later, people looked to me as a hero at my school. I felt like, “this is my town!” so my way of speaking and thinking started to change. (laugh) I kept a diary, something that I could use to look at how I felt and what choices I made during that time, so that I could reflect on myself even until and after I die. (laugh)
Did you go to a super rural school?
Yeah, I went to Susai Middle School in Kimitsu, Chiba.
Not in Chikura? (laugh) What about music?
Yeah, I changed schools a lot. When I entered the middle school, Yuka was already in the last year of middle school, and I gave her a red double radio cassette player. So I would make her mixtapes a lot. Included in the mix of the first one was “Restaurant” by The Blue Hearts. And after that, “Checkers”. After that “Refrain ga Sakenderu” by Yuumin. And uh, “Koibito ha Santa Claus”. So, it must have been around Christmas time. Toshinobu Kubota was also on the tape. Well, if you listen to even that much, you can probably understand my heart. That Christmas, I used my own money to buy myself a matching red double radio cassette player. I would use it to record the audio off of music programs from TV as well, so I could in some sense capture the performances. On one date, we saw Hikari Genji, and I was so surprised. Seeing him was cooler and more fun than on the TV. I had listened to my recordings of him from the TV before, but this was different. I could understand how amazing his arrangements were. I was probably listening with more caution and detail than the other kids there. Of course, even getting the recordings from the TV or radio was tough in those days. If the MC cut in to introduce the next song early, you had to start all over again. I recorded probably, I don't know, 200 cassette tapes in my youth.
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