Shige An Yoshimura (AnderStein Music) – interview

Shige An Yoshimura (AnderStein Music) – interview

04 Ottobre 2017 0 Commenti Denis Abello

versione italiana

Japan is a country with a big tradition in loving and supporting melodic rock music and all its related styles, and it also represents a sort of “El Dorado” for all the CD collectors of this music around the world.
We took the chance of inviting Shige An Yoshimura, president of japanese label and mailorder AnderStein Music, to answer some questions about his work, the relationship with the italian scene and the forthcoming plans for his label AnderStein Music.

INTERVIEW (by Denis Abello)

MR.it: Hello Shige! Thanks for your time in answering to this interview and welcome to Melodicrock.it! How are you?
SHIGE: Hi, Denis! I never thought that I would get an interview from melodicrock.it and I’m honored. I sometimes check Melodicrock.it. However, I don’t understand Italian so I translate it… haha! It’s a very important website for this industry.

MR.it: So let’s start from the beginning: can you introduce AnderStein Music to the melodic rock fans? How and when did you start to work as melodic rock mailorder online?
SHIGE: The official start was in 2011, but before that I have been selling second hand CDs at Japanese auction sites etc. for a long time. Of course most of them are melodic hard rock / AOR cds. At that time I was working in a major Japanese company. My dream was to buy all the CDs of the CD shop, haha. I like various rock music and pop music styles including Heavy Metal, but I especially love melodic rock, so I wanted to make it a store specializing in melodic rock. The biggest reason for starting the online store is that in Japanese media and magazines amazing melodic rock albums were not introduced from time to time, and I was frustrated with it, so I thought I wanted to spread information by myself. After I officially started as an online melodic rock shop in 2011 while continuing to work for the company. I sold both used CDs and imported CDs, the first month I sold only 20,000JPY (Approximately 150 EUR), but as sales gradually increased, I quit that company and decided to concentrate on CD sales work.

MR.it: In 2015, with the release of your first title Room Experience in Japan, AnderStein Music became a real label with dedicated releases for the japanese market: how and when did you take the decision of making this very important step?
SHIGE: Yes, that was a very big step for us. I’ve been contacted firstly by Zorro, wh made me a proposal for the Room Experience release. I really liked the Room Experience album and the CD released from MelodicRock Records in 2014 was really well sold at my shop. However, in Japan there are people who only buy Japanese CDs, especially some people don’t know about the release of imported CDs. I was hoping to have more Japanese melodic rock fans knowing about this wonderful album, and I also challenged to expand my own work. I was not skilled about the CD release, so I studied a lot and I was able to grow. It was Zorro and Gianluca that gave me that opportunity. I’m grateful to them.

MR.it: What are the most successful AnderStein Music releases so far?
SHIGE: Although Room Experience was Japan released one year after MelodicRock Records, it was able to sell more than expected, and Jimi Anderson Group “Longtime Comin'” gone sold out. The CD with the best sales expected is probably Da Vinci “Ambition Rocks” released in September: their musicality has something that stimulates the sensitivity of the Japanese.

MR.it: It seems that AnderStein Music has a good relationship with italian artists: you signed until now Room Experience, Zaneta, Danger Zone, Airbound and last one the newcomer Mindfeels for a dedicated japanese release. Are you happy about the work done with the artists from our country?
SHIGE: Yes, of course. The import CD of Zaneta hit as much as Room Experience’s import CD in our shop and it was a wonderful album. Also, Danger Zone’s new “Undying” album was superb. Viana, Airbound, Mindfeels, each of them has a different charm and I’d like to have many Japanese melodic rock fans know about these bands. In the past, Italian melodic rock bands had been known only to enthusiastic fans in Japan, but in recent years I think that the bands with high quality have increased. Italy has a big melodic rock labels in Frontiers, Tanzan Music, Street Symphonies, and Art Of Melody also started. It may be better than other countries. I have contacted many Italians so far, they are just great people, I must thank them for trusting me.

MR.it: What are the last releases by AnderStein Music? And what is coming in the next months?
SHIGE: September released Norwegian Da Vinci’s comeback album and Sweden’s ColdSpell 4th album. In October we will release Airbound and Australian The Radio Sun 4th Album, In November UK’s melodic hard rocker Newman and Sweden’s new melodic hard rock band Code Red. Mindfeels is instead scheduled for December.

MR.it: Is there an artist that you dream to sign with AnderStein Music?
SHIGE: It would be great if I could contract with some of my long time favorite artists. I’m a big fan from the beginning of Treat. I like Dare, too. Other than that, regardless of whether we can sign, I’m always paying attention when I find amazing new bands. In addition, contacts come from artists from all over the world, both artists who wish to release in Japan and artists who wish to sell CDs at our store (including bands that play different music styles than melodic rock). Since we are limited to 1 or 2 releases every month, even if great album offer comes, we can’t release unless the timing matches. It’s a pity, but I’m very busy with two releases in a month.

MR.it: Can you tell us your favorite top 10 album of all times?
SHIGE: It’s a difficult question!
There is no doubt that the most listened album is Treat’s “Organized Crime”. Other, TOTO “Isolation”, Gary Moore “Run For Cover”, Bryan Adams “Reckless”, Air Supply “Lost In Love”, Whitesnake “1987”, Ten “Ten”, House Of Lords “Come To My Kingdom”, Dare “Calm Before The Storm”, Survivor “Vital Signs”. I also like Bon Jovi’s third album, Night Ranger “7 Wishes”, Blue Murder “Blue Murder”, REO Speedwagon “Wheels Are Turnin’”, Bad English first album, Da Vinci “Back In Business”, TNT “Tell No Tales” and Steve Lukather’s first album etc. I’m an enthusiastic fan since the beginning of Treat, and I love Cheap Trick since I was 11 years old and I love the longest. It’s quite unusual for Japanese people to listen to English rock music from the age of 11. At that time I was absorbed in all the music that flowed from the radio. I also like ABBA, Asia, Journey, Chicago, Sinner, Bonfire and others.

MR.it: Who is Shige An Yoshimura out of the music business? What are your other hobbies and interests?
SHIGE: Besides music I love baseball and I’m a fan of Japanese professional baseball team called Carp. I’m very skilled about all concerning the Japanese baseball. I’ve been playing baseball in my school days and running fast was my biggest weapon. I love sports and good athletic ability… but I may not be able to move right now! LOL And I’m good at driving a car. I have been doing long distance truck driver for several years. Oh, yes, I remember, I love beer!

MR.it: Thank you very much Shige for your kindness in answering to this interview, I leave you the deserved space to close it and say hi to the italian melodic rock fans.
SHIGE: It’s my job to introduce excellent melodic rock artists to Japanese melodic rock fans, and I would like to introduce more Italian artists. Italy has several wonderful labels, and there are a lot of great talented musicians. Please be proud of them. In the future I want to come for visiting Italy and drinking an Italian delicious beer! Thank you!

© 2017, Denis Abello. All rights reserved.