Hello and welcome to today's episode featuring the talented members of Tokyo Chuo-Line: Ken, Toru, and Nori. In our previous interview, we introduced the band and discussed the type of music they create, as well as exploring some of their early songs and their creative process. 

This episode highlights their latest album, which was recorded live at Revolver, and another album, cotobacarat, which marks the first time they have collaborated with Japanese singer KINAKO for vocals. To wrap up the episode, each member will describe a song from the album and share valuable insights and advice for aspiring musicians.

Tokyo Chuo-Line (東京中央線) is an instrumental band that consists of Ken Ohtake on guitar, Toru Hayakawa on bass, and Noriaki Fukushima on drums.  
The name of the band comes from a railway in Tokyo. There is one train running across Tokyo city, and it is called "Central line" (Chuo-Line).  
Lots and lots of bars, live houses, and clubs are in the area, and 3 of us grew up playing those jazz and rock venues when we were younger. We still do. So the word "Tokyo Chuo-Line" has a symbolic meaning to our musical journey. Yes, it is one of our key elements.

Originally, Ken and Toru started to play duo concerts in Taiwan back in 2013. Their first encounter was when they were in the university and played together a lot since then,  including long-time collaboration with Hakka folk singer Lin Sheng Xiang in Taiwan.  
After some shows, they decided that we needed a drummer. Then decided to invite Noriaki to play. 
Toru and Noriaki (everyone calls him Nori) go way back. Toru and Nori first started to play together in their mentor's band in 2000. Their mentor was a legendary jazz drummer in Japan,  Ryojirou Furusawa. They played in his band called "Ne" (which means "root" or "tone of a sound") until 2011. After countless gigs and various sessions together, Toru and Nori trust each other so much.  

So the first time the 3 members came together was in 2014. We did a tour and played in  Legacy Taipei (6/12), Room335 Tainan (6/13), and In Our Time Kaoshiung (6/14). We did a live recording. And released a live debut album "佇台南 Live in Tainan" in May 2015.  
Actually, at that time, we didn't call ourselves "Tokyo Chuo-Line" yet, but we named the concert event "Tokyo Chuo-Line Unexpected". And the people in Taiwan kept referring to the band as "Tokyo Chuo-Line" since then, so we realized the name had already stuck. So we decided to call ourselves that from 2017. 
In May 2017, we released a studio album called "One Line". 

Our repertoire is original compositions. Ken has his unique, exquisite way of playing guitar and is great with his way of creating texture, and that shows in his composing also. Toru creates tunes that have a big open space to improvise over and allows anything to happen, as we play in a big playground. Nori's groove is always big and strong, but at the same time, his composing is surprisingly melodic and interesting. 3 of us have a background of jazz influence, but we improvise not strictly in a traditional jazz manner, but allow ourselves to let anything happen. And our long-term relationship makes this band ensemble more tasteful and full of sensitivity.  

In 2018 March 25th, the band appeared on one of the biggest music festivals in Taiwan, "Megaport Festival".  And during this period, Tokyo Chuo-Line invited renowned saxophone player, Minyen Terry Hsieh, to record 3rd album, "Lines & Stains", which was later to be released in June. 

Both "One Line" and "Lines & Stains" were distributed in Japan also from 2018 June.

In 2019, the album "Lines And Stains" was nominated in 3 different categories for the Golden Melody Award in Taiwan, and on June 29th, the album won the award as "Best Instrumental Album".

To hear more of their music and find out about the band, please visit: 

Official website
YouTube

Bandcamp