Life sure has it mysteries. Years ago, I encountered Naoki Asai’s gorgeous Aba · Heidi and had to share an album I feared would be lost to time. Privately pressed, and featuring an eclectic mixture of Lewis Caroll-like psychedelia and jangly post-punk (think Pale Fountains, The Smiths, etc.), its accompanying haunting design signaled that Aber Heidschi was a far more personal album that let on. It signaled that I had to do what I can to definitely get more eyeballs on it than the select few who had stumbled upon it, originally.
Years before I rebooted my blog, I tried every which way but loose to discover any history behind Aber Heidschi‘s creation. Unable to find any information, I shared whatever I could suss out and hoped (beyond hope), that someone, anyone, would later come around and fill out the details I couldn’t. I was fortunate recently to have none other than Naoki himself reach out and illuminate a lot of details, the first of all being that Japanese label P-Vine Records somehow caught wind of my original post and thought that others would love to hear a reissue of it. That somehow just this small deed helped get the ball rolling.
On Oct. 2nd, you can find a remastered copy of Naoki’s album, sharing a fuller picture behind the makings of Aber Heidschi (found in wonderful Japanese-language liner notes by fellow F/S reader Yuji Shibasaki, who contributed immensely to pushing this project over the finish line). Today, though, I’d like to share with you a conversation we had about this album.
F/S: Can you share some background about yourself?
Naoki Asai: I was born in Tokyo on March 23, 1968 (the same date as Damon Albarn of Blur) and brought up in Kichijōji. I went to Tama Art University (1987-1991) to be a certified curator. Aber Heidschi was produced around that time and age. After graduation, I went to graduate school to major in a field that has nothing to do with music and art.
F/S: How was life for you growing up in Tokyo?
Naoki Asai: There were four people in my family. My father was a psychiatrist and my mother was a housewife. I have one brother who is 4 years older than me. I was living in Kouenji from 0 to 5 years old, after that my family moved to Kichijōji. Pop music was flourishing in Kōenji and Kichijōji. There were many live clubs, guitar shops and record shops. Many musicians live in Kōenji and Kichijōji. I have been moving over and over again in Musashino, Tokyo.
My father and my brother used to play records in our living room. They liked Paul Mauriat, Percy Faith, original soundtracks and classical music. That was the starting point of my music career.
F/S: What role did music play in your life — any important influences in your creative world?
Naoki Asai: I often watched movies on TV when I was a child. And I liked original soundtrack albums. John Barry, Burt Bacharach etc. for example. After that, I came to like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, and other, psychedelic rock from the ‘60s. I was especially influenced by Syd Barrett. I started playing the guitar when I was 13 and writing the original songs when I was 16 or so. In my highschool days, I liked 1980s U.K. rock like The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen and Julian Cope.
When I created Aber Heidschi, I liked French Pop like Brigitte Fontaine, Serge Gainsbourg, and Jane Birkin.
Music is my shelter, at the same time, as it’s my window to the world.
F/S: Were there any Japanese musicians you listened to in the time period you made these albums? Did you have any peers you looked up to? How did you decide: I want to record and put out an album?
Naoki Asai: I liked a few Japanese musicians at that time. For example, ジャックス(JACKS), 早川義夫 (Yoshio Hayakawa), 裸のラリーズ (Les Rallizes Denudes), 三上 寛 (Kan Mikami), 泉谷しげる (Shigeru Izumiya) and so on.
I played a gig at the club at 屋根裏 (Yaneura) in Shimokitazawa at that time. マリア観音 (Maria Kannon) also played at Yaneura. I was moved by them. The guitarist of Maria Kannon, 松居 徹 (Toru Matsui) was great. We went to the same University at that time.
I think studio recording was more suitable for me than live performance. In 1988, I had many original songs left in my recorder. So I decided to make my LP record. Because recording was the fitting way to express myself.
I think that I am the type of musician who concentrates on recording in the studio rather than performing live. So at the time, everyone was performing live as well, but I thought I should concentrate on making records.
F/S: Can you talk a bit about when and how this album came to be?
Naoki Asai: Aber Heidschi was released in 1988 (I privately pressed around 200 copies). Back then I was 20 years old and interested in nursery rhymes. When I was a child, I used to stay awake, playing until late at night. One day,my aunt said to me Naoki, go to bed, or Aber Heidschi will come.” I didn’t know the word and meaning of Aber Heidschi. But the sound of the word scared me and I knew to go to bed. Later I came to know about Aber Heidschi as a German fairy.
“Heidschi Bumbeidschi” is a German nursery rhyme. In that story, Aber Heidschi was a fairy that would hop around the houses around midnight. He (or she?) had a big bag they’d use one hand to leave packaged sweets on the pillow for a sleeping child. With another hand, they’d pack the child who’d stay up late in their bag.
Something else I was interested in was Lewis Carroll and his “girl love”, too. So, Aber Heidschi, was inspired by nursery rhyme, feelings of fear, and Lewis Carroll’s depictions of “girl love”.
F/S: How were you able to book studio time and print out this album? At your age it doesn’t seem like it’s something a 20 year old would be able to do themselves.
Naoki Asai: I was working a lot of time at book store while studying at University, so I had money to some extent. However, I’m indebted to my father for financing the original printing of this album.
F/S: What were the recording sessions like? I couldn’t find any information about the other members who worked on this album.
Naoki Asai: The members of these recording sessions were as follows:
- Drums: Takashi Matsuzawa (my friend from my high school days)
- Bass: Norio Haga (my friend from my junior high school days)
- Remainder: Myself, Naoki Asai (including bass on うろうろ人形, まるで果実のように)
- Engineer: Koji Nagatomo
- Recording: At PENTA NORTH SIDE in Kichijōji
- Date: July-September, 1988
F/S: Were your friends aware of the music you wanted to make and behind the vision you had for this album? In America there’s a saying “it takes a village”. How much input did they have on your work?
Naoki Asai: At that time, I spoke about my concept of Aber Heidschi with my friends. But I think Takashi (drummer) and Norio (bassist) were not really interested in the vision I had. They liked the music itself more than the lyrics and concept. They really helped me form rhythm parts as I gave directions. They were great musicians. I think the drum playing on “くぐつ師の夢 (Kugutsu-shi no Yume)” was the best I ever had.
So I’d like to tell you that I was within a village, performing this music, but the words, lyrics, and concept, was not done by a village but by me alone.
In terms of music, I think that I was able to make music within a “village of three people”, but I don’t think that the lyrics and the psychological image and concept I had, had any input from the other members.
F/S: Can you speak of one or two tracks you fondly remember from this album? What went on behind them?
Naoki Asai: Speaking of Aber Heidschi, I love “パピヨン (Papillon)”. There was a point where I was composing something while playing the guitar on the bed, then beautiful chord progressions and melodies, that I couldn’t write before, came naturally. I immediately added lyrics and continued to sing on the bed.
When I recorded this, I really wanted to add more classical arrangements using organs, harpsichords, and cellos, but I didn’t have much hope of this occurring because I didn’t have any friends who could play that kind of thing. Last year (2018), I released “パピヨン (Papillon)” on YouTube under the name of Kaska Guitar, as a vocal trio accompanied by violin, viola, and cello.
Naoki Asai: I also like “くぐつ師の夢 (Kugutsu-shi no Yume)”. At that time, I liked the guitar style of Johnny Marr from The Smiths. Some day, when I was playing guitar, I had him in mind and the riff of that song came up to me, naturally. “キャンディー (Candy)” I still sing on solo guitar, when playing live. “キャンディー (Candy)” remains my favorite song. I uploaded a new version of it to YouTube last year.
F/S: Tell us about that album cover and design? It’s something I know has fascinated a lot of Aber Heidschi fans for the longest.
Naoki Asai: I was inspired by Lewis Carroll and his “Alice in Wonderland”. I wanted to depict chic color of classic photo as Carroll did. I also wanted it to express a fairytale-like taste, so I wore a clown costume with a girl. I wanted the cover to express both that fairy tale taste and a “frightful feeling”.
F/S: Can you tell us the story behind Chesire Records?
Naoki Asai: Aber Heidschi was entirely self-published, so I had to decide the name of record label by myself. “Chesire” was the county of Cheshire in England where Lewis Carroll was born. And in his “Alice in Wonderland”, a Cheshire Cat appears in a famous scene.
So I named my label Chesire Records. There’s the cat printed on the label as you know. The catalog of Chesire Records has only one work, Aber Heidschi.
F/S: Were you surprised by your album’s continued popularity? If you only pressed 200 copies originally, what did others in Japan think of it?
Naoki Asai: When Aber Heidschi was released in 1988, only some people took interest in my album. It’s been over 30 years, and I was so surprised to know my album was featured on the Web. I appreciate you introduced others to my album.
In Japan, I received a letter from a stranger. They asked me if I’d like to press Aber Heidschi. Apparently, a few people are happy to know the news of its reissue as a CD in Japan. As you can see, this case does remind me of Linda Perhacs and Vashti Bunyan!
F/S: Do you know what happened to a few of your copies? Were those sold by you directly to others or given out? I know Vashti Bunyan moved into the cottage fields of Ireland once her original work didn’t pan out.
Naoki Asai: As for the sales of Aber Heidschi, at the time of 1988, I took these records to an indie record store in Tokyo and sold them there. Back then, it was sold only at record stores in Tokyo. I remember selling and giving copies directly to acquaintances and friends.
In the end, this record hardly sold at any of the stores I put it in. There was no money to advertise, either. I did send it to a company that wanted a demo using a cassette tape, but there was no response. It was a shame that I didn’t succeed, but I didn’t have the money to go to elsewhere, like Ireland (laughs).
Thinking of what to do next, I went on to graduate school and started preparing to study new things while continuing to compose.
F/S: Did you ever pursue a musical career after this recording? Were there plans to ever perform or sign with another label? It seems like you had a small band that could have done so.
Naoki Asai: After issuing Aber Heidschi in 1988, and graduating from university in 1991, I went to graduate school and majored in something having nothing to do with music or art, and eventually worked in that field. However, my music activity and composition continued for some time.
Since 2012, I started playing guitar in a small, live café, by 2013 I performed there over 50 times. There, I met a lot of young singer-songwriters, received great feedback, and made a lot of new songs. Since 2017, for the first time, I’ve done home recording using PC software, and I’ve published original songs on the internet under the name “Kaska Guitar”. Currently, I use a virtual singer, using something called VOCALOID, developed by YAMAHA in Japan, singing over these original songs, but soon, I’d like to sing again.
This time around, a Japanese label named P-Vine Records spoke with me about putting Aber Heidschi on CD. There are no plans for other musical contracts, yet. I have done other activities in the form of bands with other members, but I think it’s more suitable for me to compose and arrange songs alone solo. For now, I think, I will remain active as a solo artist.
F/S: What’s been going on in your life (creatively or personally) since this album was released?
Naoki Asai: 30 years after that, I have been working in a field that has got nothing to do with music and art. But my career as a songwriter has been continuing up to the present time.
From 2017, I have been releasing my work sung by VOCALOID on YouTube under the name of “Kaska Guitar”.
From now on, though, I would like to perform on stage.
F/S: Is there music in the vaults you’d like to release? 30 years is a long time for a musician not to have all sorts of ideas accumulating.
Naoki Asai: Yes, I have many original songs in stock. I would like to release them someday. Linda Perhacs and Vashti Bunyan also released second album after their long absence.
I continue to make new songs. Currently I am interested in music called ambient, electronica, and post-classical. Either way, regardless of style, melodies are the most important thing in music. Then adding a beautiful, clean guitar sound that plays between words. I think, there will be no change in making such music.
I would like to thank Mr. Olivas for sharing my music.
I’d like to thank Naoki for reaching out and surprising your loyal author on the great news of this release. Likewise, let’s extend a big thank you to Mr. Asai for lending his time to get to know a bit more of the story behind him and the album itself.
Naoki Asai’s re-issue of Aber Heidschi can be found on P-Vine Records on Oct. 2nd.
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