Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Takuro Tsubaki. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Takuro, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
In my ongoing journey to develop my self-confidence, one key focus for me is to maintain my sound, ideas and skills. Continuous learning can boost confidence. I also consciously embrace the idea that each mistake is an opportunity for growth. At the same time, accept your imperfections. I’ve found true confidence comes from acknowledging and embracing my imperfections as integral aspects of my unique identity. It’s a reminder that nobody is perfect, and our individuality is what makes each person special.
In today’s era of social media, We can easily see so many talented people on our phone, but I emphasize the importance of staying focused on your own journey. Concentrate on finding your voice.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a LA-based professional bass player, born in Tokyo, Japan. I play with people from all over the world in many different contexts from local bar gigs to large music festivals, and recording for various producers. I mainly play R&B, Funk, Singer-songwriter, Gospel. I grew up listening to that music in my dad’s record store, so it’s had a special place in my heart since I was a kid. One of my favorite parts of my work is getting to play music with all different kinds of people. I’m lucky to be surrounded by musicians that come from different place, musical backgrounds and philosophies, and I consider it a privilege and a constant source of inspiration to get to play with all of them. I feel like we are all constantly learning how to express ourselves more honestly on our instrument, and I feel most free playing music when I feel like I am able to fully express myself. I am currently working with this phenomenal soulful blues artist Pedro. You can listen to us expressing ourselves on our instrument on his new live EP “Live At The Orpheum”!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’ve had success in the US because I developed my own sound on my instrumental. I learned this when I got an opportunity to play with Philip Woo(Roy Ayers, Maze), my favorite keyboard player and a big influence on my musicianship. At that time, I was nervous to play with all those outstanding musicians, and concentrating on just playing a song correctly. After we played, he told me I need to explore my own voice, learn to stand out. That made me think anyone can play just the right notes musically if they learned it, but is it the way how you wanna sound? Having my own sound makes me able to have a conversation with people, gives me confidence, makes me unreplaceable, and let me touch people’s hearts. I can’t be anyone else, so I want to make my own voice as strong as I can.
Another quality that helped my journey is an imagination. I booked a residency as a part of the house band at this venue called Aubade in Tokyo. We would play over 1,000 songs backing up different vocalists. The musical director/guitar player at the gig Shigeru Fujii shared with me an important lesson. When you play music, you should not lose your imagination. On a gig like that where we had so much music to play and were often reading charts, the chords in our sheet music and our technique wouldn’t get us very far. If that’s all we relied on, we never sound more than that a piece of paper. So now every time I play I imagine, how can we step out of the box? How can we create something unique to me that adds to the music? How can we make each piece of music new and exciting in my own way?
The last thing that has helped me become a professional musician is my ability to understand what an artist wants to achieve in their music. Growing up in my dad’s record shop I was surrounded by many genres of music. This has given me an appreciation of what makes music connect with people. I learned from my dad and his musician friends that I should always only play to serve the music, not for my own gain. So I make it my mission to fully grasp what an artist needs in their music, and to be a vessel for that. That means finding a right groove, tone, technique and feeling for their vibe.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am looking to collaborate with a lot of different kinds of people, with the underlying theme of people that are genuine and creative. I love working with people who have their ears open to new music and are curious about all the new ideas that musicians and writers are coming up with everyday. My roots lie in old school RnB, funk, and soul, and I love playing with people who I share that with, but that are also looking to create something new at the same time. Music is a reflection of our culture, and I always want to play with people who are aware of the power music has.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://songwhip.com/pedro-2/live-at-the-orpheum
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/takuro_tsubaki?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsubakitakuro?mibextid=9R9pXO
Image Credits
Armen, Mio Matsuda, Jerome
