Tony Talk 托尼嘉宾室

The Music Man from Japan

Tony: Hello and welcome to Tony Talk! I’m Tony Provolone and today we’re talking with Mr. Hara Tomohisa from Japan. I just want to ask you, you’ve been in China now for how long?

Hara: Almost seven years.

Tony: Seven years!

Hara: Seven years.

Tony: Now when you were in Japan, you were a professional 1 musician?

Hara: Yes, yes.

Tony: And what did you do in Japan? Did you perform?

Hara: Ah, when I was 18 years old, I find some job, just music. I played guitar. So I started.

Tony: So you started to perform.

Hara: Yeah, perform.

Tony: By 18 years old?

Hara: Yes, 18 years old.

Tony: Very young!

Hara: Very young.

Tony: Now you play a lot of jazz music?

Hara: Yeah. Jazz, many kind of music, I play many kinds of music.

Tony: What kind of music do you play?

Hara: Different kinds. When I was younger, I studied classical 2 music, guitar music. And then so I love Beatles.

Tony: The Beatles?

Hara: Yes. So, 16s, 17s just Beatles age. So every day I was listening to music of the Beatles songs, every days so...

Tony: Now you’ve been in China for a long time, but what keeps you in China? Like what are you, why did you stay so long in China?

Hara: Now I’m looking for my, some good friends of music.

Tony: Musicians.

Hara: Musicians. So I’m looking for musicians, Chinese musicians. I like to share my guitar music, so.

Tony: To share your music?

Hara: Yes.

Tony: Have you met any musicians that are unique, creative, outstanding?

Hara: Yeah, now I’m, I have one Chinese musician. His name is Fang 3 Jinlong. He’s pipa, he plays pipa. Very interesting, he’s very interesting because his mind, his idea is very open.

Tony: Right.

Hara: Yeah, very open so he can accept anything. He can accept everything.

Tony: So he’s very easy to work with.

Hara: Yes, very easy. I love such a person. Me too, I am very curious and so I can accept everything.

Tony: Um, you’ve been to other countries too, haven’t you?

Hara: Yes, when I was younger, I went to England, Paris and Amsterdam, Holland 4, just one year.

Tony: What did you do when you were in Europe? Just travel or did you...

Hara: No, I played guitar.

Tony: You did performances?

Hara: Yes, performances.

Tony: That must have been a great experience.

Hara: In those days, I was very young. So I don’t know. I don’t know western people what kind of people, so I don’t know, only study.

Tony: Really?

Hara: Yeah, music for foreign people, foreign people.

Tony: That was the first time that you met western people.

Hara: Yes.

Tony: What did you think what was your impression?

Hara: I’m Japanese so but I was listening every day to foreign jazz music and the Beatles songs and then, but I don’t know what English, Americans, how different? I don’t know, so anyway I try and I went to... I find, I found some job. Then I went to England, France for example.

Tony: Great! Well, thank you very much for talking to us!

Hara: Thank you very much.

Tony: And thank you too for listening to another edition of Tony Talk, and we’ll see you next time! Bye bye! CE