Tetsuya Komuro

Overview

Tetsuya Komuro (小室 哲哉, born November 27, 1958 in Fuchu, Tokyo) is a Japanese musician, songwriter, keyboardist and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and is credited with bringing contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. In April 1996 he monopolized the top five positions of the Oricon singles chart as songwriter and producer, a world record, and in 1995 he took all top three positions in the JASRAC Award copyright distribution rankings. As of 2008, records he produced had sold more than 170 million copies, and the singles he wrote total over 42 million copies. He was also once the owner of the Roppongi disco Velfarre.

Career

Early years

Komuro studied violin from age 3 to 12 under a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts, building a foundation in pitch and composition. He discovered keyboards through an Electone his mother bought when he was in fifth grade, and taught himself piano. Seeing Isao Tomita perform with synthesizers at Expo '70 left a deep impression, and as a junior high student he sold his instruments without permission to buy a Roland SH-1000 synthesizer. In that period he sketched around 20 songs that would later become pieces such as Misato Watanabe's "My Revolution". He attended Waseda Jitsugyo high school and then Waseda University, began working professionally while still a student, and was eventually expelled after spending tuition money on equipment. He worked as a backing and studio musician, and demo tapes he submitted led to the debut of TM Network.

1979–1994: Early career and TM Network

Komuro began his career in 1979 as keyboardist for Speedway. In 1984 he formed TM Network with Takashi Utsunomiya and Naoto Kine. In 1985 his first solo work was the soundtrack to the anime film Vampire Hunter D, and TM Network performed its closing song "Your Song". He went on to score Heaven and Earth and Seven Days War. Alongside the band he wrote for Yukiko Okada, Misato Watanabe, Miho Nakayama, Seiko Matsuda, Kyoko Koizumi, Rie Miyazawa, Akina Nakamori and others. "My Revolution", written for Watanabe, won the Golden Award at the 28th Japan Record Awards in 1986. TM Network broke through with "Get Wild" in 1987 and appeared on the 39th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1988. That year he spent roughly six months in London studying local production methods, and afterwards regularly recorded and mixed in London studios. As a solo singer in 1989 he released "Running to Horizon" and "Gravity of Love", both of which topped the Oricon chart; the latter beat Seiko Matsuda's "Precious Heart". In 1989 and 1990 he collaborated with Warren Cuccurullo. TM Network changed its name to TMN in 1990, and its single "The Point of Lovers' Night" (July 7, 1990) also reached number one. In 1991 he teamed up with X Japan's Yoshiki as V2. TMN disbanded in 1994.

1994–1997: Success as a record producer

Around 1991 he met Avex's Masato Matsuura and began exploring how to bring dance music to a mass audience, working as a DJ and audition judge from 1992. He set up a personal office, OPERA GIG (later TK state), to work as a freelance producer. In the mid-1990s he produced a string of hits for TRF, Ryoko Shinohara, hitomi, Yuki Uchida, H Jungle with t, Tomomi Kahala, Namie Amuro and Ami Suzuki, who became known as the TK Family and a social phenomenon. In 1994 he scored the anime film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie; the theme "Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokoro Zuyosa to", recorded by Ryoko Shinohara with Komuro, sold over two million copies. He was assisted by PWL mix engineers Pete Hammond and Dave Ford, and is credited with helping the rise of Daisuke Asakura. He formed dos in 1996, and in 1997 began his overseas career with a remix of the theme for the American film Speed 2: Cruise Control.

1998–2007

Komuro released solo work and was involved in Globe, Kiss Destination and Gaball. On December 31, 1998, Globe's "Wanna Be A Dreammaker" won the grand prix at the 40th Japan Record Awards. In 1999 TM Network reunited and remains active. From 1998 to 2001 he collaborated with French keyboardist Jean Michel Jarre, writing the 1998 FIFA World Cup theme "Together Now" and other tracks, and performing on the beaches of Okinawa on January 1, 2001. He married Globe vocalist Keiko in 2002 and from December 2007 was affiliated with Empire Play Music.

2008: Fraud case

On November 4, 2008, Komuro was arrested for fraud after accepting ¥500 million for the copyrights to his songs, which had already been transferred to others, reportedly Avex. In March 2009 Avex president Masato Matsuura repaid the plaintiff with additional compensation. On May 11, 2009, Komuro received a suspended three-year prison sentence; the judge cited his acceptance of responsibility and the restitution made.

2009–2020: Comeback

At Avex's a-nation 2009 on August 22, 2009, Komuro made a surprise appearance, playing a medley of his hits on piano and reuniting on stage with Globe bandmates Marc Panther and Keiko.

Musical style

Rooted in classical violin training and self-taught keyboard playing, Komuro cites keyboardists such as Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Keith Jarrett, along with progressive rock and funk, as influences. His work centers on synthesizer-driven dance music, including Eurobeat and trance, built around a single prominent melodic line. He conceived songs that could be enjoyed both on the dance floor and at karaoke, and handled songwriting, arranging and overall production, shaping the sound of 1990s J-pop.