Tsumiki Talks Viral Hit ‘Phony’ & The Importance of Closeness: Interview

Billboard Japan has released its mid-year charts for 2023, including “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS TOP20,” a chart of Vocaloid music newly launched in December 2022, where Tsumiki has maintained a consistent presence at the top since its inception. 

Billboard Japan spoke to the musician behind “Phony” on how he felt about the song, which remains widely loved even now, roughly two years after its release, and the reason for his constant activity, not only as a Vocaloid producer, but also as a songwriter and as a solo artist.

“Phony,” which you released in June 2021, remains a fixture in the top of the Billboard JAPAN “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS TOP20” chart. Today, I’d like to talk with you about “Phony,” which has been an extraordinarily long-lived hit, and about your relationship with Vocaloid. To start off with, what led to the release of “Phony” in 2021?

Tsumiki: When I wrote “Phony,” in 2021, social networks were really taking off, and everyone was masked up because of COVID. I felt like, at the time, there was a strong and growing shift toward anonymity throughout the world, both mentally and in a real-world sense. It felt like people were putting on masks. Japan’s “ronpa boom,” that fad of shooting down other people’s arguments, was another example of it. It was like people were brandishing justice as a weapon. I was recoiling from that a bit. I started writing “Phony” to put those feelings to music. It all began with a request I got to promote the KAFU artificial singing synthesizer. KAFU was made by feeding the voice of virtual singer KAF into an AI. That’s why I felt that it had a connection to the situation at the time, where everyone was wearing ‘masks,’ and to the themes of deceit and falsehood.

The sound is very different from the songs on your first album, SAKKAC CRAFT, which you released on February 2021. I feel like “Phony” has a more danceable sound.

Tsumiki: The music I made up through SAKKAC CRAFT was made using a kind of additive approach. From “Phony” onward, I started to want to let the material breathe. Instead of adding more and more over the course of a few days, I wanted listeners to be able to hear the sound like it first came out. I think that while I was trying out new things using this approach, the music became more and more danceable.

Looking back, why do you think you were trying to change your music that way?

Tsumiki: I thought that approach would be more universal. Also, until then, most of the songs I made were made using Hatsune Miku, but the only information that Hatsune Miku works with is melody and voice. You have to express things like breathing and falling tones by using notes. With KAFU, though, breathing is put in automatically. There’s a lot more data than there is with Hatsune Miku. Looking back, I think that I started using a composition approach where the vocals would draw the listener in themselves, to make the vocals stand out more.

I feel like the themes of deceit and falsehood were part of your music even before “Phony” came out. For example, “Phony” starts out with “There are no flowers in this world more beautiful than artificial flowers,” lyrics that really make a strong impression. Artificial flowers are also mentioned in your song “tautology doubtful.” The “fake” in the title of the first song you ever uploaded, “tokyo diver fake show,”, is also in the same vein as “Phony.”

Tsumiki: When I write music, I try to always be there for the underdog. I myself tend to be really introspective, and I want to write music that compensates for that part of my own personality. I often write my songs and lyrics with the hope that they’ll reach a lot of other people, as well. In that sense, in some ways my music is like taking on mounting feelings of deceit or guilt. For example, when you’re having a hard time at work, there are times when you have to put on a brave face. I think of that as a kind of lie. I think through all of my music runs an intent to create something that rescues people from that deceit.

How much do you think about ‘modernity,’ like you mentioned earlier?

Tsumiki: I can’t write about things I don’t believe. When I’m inspired about the misfortune I’m confronted with in our modern age, I start writing it all down. That’s where my songwriting starts, so I guess in a way it’s inevitable that my music would have a feeling of modernity. It could be something as simple as “Dammit, there’s no toilet paper! That sucks!” (laughs) I expand on that little everyday gloom, sublimating it into pop music.

What kind of impact do you think the widespread support for “Phony” has had on your activities after its release?

Tsumiki: I think it was a major turning point for me in my own musical life. My efforts to make music focused on universality came to fruition. I’ve always liked music that strayed from the confines of pop, and, precisely because of that, it was a big deal that my own vision of pop grew into full maturity.

As I mentioned earlier, “Phony” has consistently kept a top position in the “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS TOP20” chart. How do you feel about the existence of this Vocaloid-specific chart, which was launched in December 2022?

Tsumiki: I guess for someone getting into music production, rankings are important. Knowing what position your song reached can help motivate you to make music. In that sense, having Vocaloid-exclusive rankings, and the dreams that come with them, is a good thing. The chart might be what makes someone who is just starting their music production think, “yeah, I just might be able to do this.”

So rankings are like metrics or entry points for younger generations.

Tsumiki: I got into Vocaloid production back when I was in a band, because my friend Tatsuya Kitani was using Vocaloid. He showed me what to do. When my music appeared in the ranking, he spread the word about that, and I think a lot of people discovered me as a result. I want to let the newer generations know that things like this can happen.

Do you think about the chart when you write music?

Tsumiki: Honestly, personally, I feel like if what I’m putting out there resonated with even one person, I could die happy. But I’m not making my music alone, and I think the chart is important for all kinds of people, so I don’t want to neglect the chart, and I hope that I can claim a position on it by putting out good music. I want to keep on believing in my own creations, and I don’t want to make the people who believe in me feel ashamed.

You said that if your music resonated with even one person, you could die happy. The fact that you could say that with such conviction really shows what a dedicated artist you are.

Tsumiki: I don’t want to make music as an advertisement, I want to make music as music. On the flip side of that, as long as I can convey the true essence of music, I think anything goes. That’s why I design the external trappings of my music, like the thumbnails of my videos, to communicate with as many people as possible. Then, when everything is stripped away, if there’s even a single person that I’ve truly reached, that’s enough to make me happy.

The ranking also shows the presence of music from other artists from your own generation. What kind of influence does this have on you?

Tsumiki: Of course, it has a lot of influence on me. I submitted my first song in 2017, and a lot of the other artists on the chart are my contemporaries, like Threee and Ayase. We started watching Nico Nico Douga back when we were around elementary school age. We were the generation that was watching artists like wowaka, Hachi, and DECO*27 hold those ‘good music battles.’ It feels like we’re going back to the culture of those days. Competing purely for fun, with that feeling of “I won!” or “oh, no, I lost” — there’s a kind of nostalgic appeal to it. I know that rankings aren’t everything, of course, but I hope people also understand that they can be enjoyed in that way, too.

Recently, you’ve been doing a lot outside the conventional Vocaloid category, like collaborating with other artists as a songwriter or working in the unit NOMELON NOLEMON with Maria Miki. Looking at this growing range of activities gives me a sense of your spirit of exploration as a creator, and your desire to take on new challenges. What do you think is behind your musical activities taking so many forms in so many places?

Tsumiki: Personally, I don’t feel a big divide between these other activities and my Vocaloid music creation. I didn’t start making music because I wanted to make Vocaloid songs, I just had Vocaloid sing the music that I wanted to create. I formed a musical unit for the same reason — if it would help me reach people, then it’s what I wanted to do. I hope that engaging in music creation in all these ways will help me share the music I have deep inside.

This “music you have deep inside” — does that tie into your desire to be there for the underdog, as you mentioned when we were talking about “Phony”?

Tsumiki: Yes, it does. Well, I say ‘the underdog,’ but I really want my music to reach all kinds of people. It’s just that there have been so many times when music has saved me. When that happens, I’m filled with an overwhelming desire to create music. Every day, even if we aren’t confronted with major problems, we encounter little annoyances in our daily lives. There are times when we just don’t feel motivated. When I listen to music during these little downs in my day, the music sometimes inspires me. It gives me the boost I need to move forward.

So, looking on it now, what do you think is the appeal of the expressive medium of Vocaloid?

Tsumiki: It would have to be how easy it is to get started. To become a Vocaloid producer, all you need is a computer and the software. In the past, I think that being a musician required you to follow a process: contracting with an agency, getting signed to a label, renting a studio, performing…With Vocaloid, you can do the equivalent of all of that from your own room, with just a computer. I think that’s really important. I see this lowering of the barriers to making music to be a positive thing.

Do you have any goals of your own right now?

Tsumiki: It’s still a vague idea, but ever since I was little, I listened to music, and the joy of music saved me and enabled me to hang in there. So I want to give back to music — to take what I’ve gotten from previous generations and pass it on to future generations. It feels like the times we’re living in are just getting darker and darker. It’s precisely because of this that I want to create a world where children can be saved by the joy of music. That’s why I hope someday to write songs for children.

—This interview by Fumiaki Amano first appeared on Billboard Japan