Band: Fox Capture Plan
Members: Hidehiro Kawai (double bass), Ryo Kishimoto (piano, keys), Tsukasa Inoue (drums)
Nationality: Japanese
Release: Fox Capture Plan's DEEPER is out via the band's very own new label CapturisM.
Review by: Tobias Fischer interviewing himself

This interview review is part of 15 Questions's project of finding new, more engaging formats for the review format.



Fox Capture Plan seem to be mostly performing and releasing their music in Japan. How did you find out about them?

I actually discovered them through an interview I conducted with Hong Kong pianist and former journalist TC:Kylie. In our conversation, she spoke about how she fuses Cantopop with jazz and recent electronic influences and mentioned Fox Capture Plan as part of a group of artists who inspired her.

In fact, she mentioned Fox Capture Plan – along with two other Japanese bands, Jabberloop and Toconoma - twice in the interview which made them stand out even more! She genuinely felt these bands were taking jazz to a new level.

So what is different about this band?

I would say that their latest album DEEPER is a great example for a kind of “soft cross-over.” The band are not aggressively trying to cram in as many influences into their music as possible, but instead focus in on a particular set of aspects they are passionate about.

The ideal of the trio is to pressurecook their ingredients – as diverse as they may be – into something that is completely seamless and their own. Occasionally, a drum loop will take over, electronic effects may enrich the texture or the band will hint at rock, downbeat electronica or even metal.

But mostly, the band simply play their personal version of fusion jazz.

Metal?

Yes, drummer Tsukasa Inoue once played in “trance grind” formation Exorgrindst for a while.

But even if he occasionally goes for a harsher tone here, it's not a conceptual approach. It's not what Fox Capture Plan are playing that is next level, it's how they're playing it: Inoue and bassist Hidehiro Kawai lay down irresistible, fascinatingly fresh and funky grooves without the currently omnipresent hip-hop-references.

These, in turn, provide for the perfect platform for composer and keyboard virtuoso Ryo Kishimoto, who, in a way, takes on the role of “lead vocalist,” to shine.

Why would you refer to him as a “lead vocalist”? The music is entirely instrumental!

Yes, but his playing is so melodic is almost takes on the quality of singing.

Another thing that is really interesting is that most of his themes appear to be headed downwards, sometimes tumbling down or sliding down the scale as if in a free fall. I don't think I've ever heard someone so passionately focused on making these kinds of directional movements in their material.

Why is that relevant?

Well, from an psychoacoustic perspective, it should make the listener feel depressed, sad, or melancholic. The idea is that we mirror the movement of melodies or harmonies emotionally, associating happiness with upwardly mobile themes and a certain desolation with drops.

Intriguingly, however, this is not the case with Kishimoto's themes. On the contrary, they make me veritably ecstatic.

How do you explain that?

I think it's because Kishimoto softens the impact by often providing for a gentle “chord cushion” at the lowest point. It's almost as if you're falling into the hands of someone you can trust entirely.

Also, the incredible production by Sho Uehara creates a dreamy bubble, where the piano notes glisten like water droplets, the drums roll warmly and the bass has a certain wooziness about it. Even the most painful tears taste like a great red wine here.

Mostly, however, the magic is that these melodies never remain down for long. However deep they may fall, they always dust themselves off and move up again.  

You make it sound like the myth of Sisyphus.

Perhaps, but that only reinforces the notion that music can be cathartic. In this case, the constant up and down remind us that there is always the promise of a peak after every trough.

Also, I'm sure even the most Sisyphus-like work would feel a lot better if you're listening to Fox Capture Plan.

Surely, you're exaggerating.

Just give it a try.