Tomo Yasuda Posted on November 21, 2009 by Cedar Sigo
I remember when Tomo was only in one band. It was [Hey] Willpower first, or wait, Window Window, and then Tussle and then Coconut? Maybe his two solo albums came first. I’m not sure that’s right, but I do remember that I was never worried as he was joining up with group after group. He just seemed to snowball into a force that was needed simultaneously by three groups with three distinct sounds. The kind of role I would ordinarily ascribe to a producer or arranger. Not to even mention other pairings that lasted a show or two or were just revived whenever the stars were aligned. He plays guitar for Coconut; bass, keyboards and percussion for Tussle; and keyboard for [Hey] Willpower. I used to read about the old big bands (Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and later Sun Ra) playing upwards of 280 one nighters per year, and I think Tomo would do well with that life, one of his bands dropping him off in Providence and then another picking him up there, trading him out as needed.
The first time I visited Tomo’s apartment he had a small hand-held recording device. The kind you set on the table between two people during an interview. It was the two of us as well as Nathan Berlinguette. Tomo asked if we wanted to make a sound piece, or maybe he said “a noise piece.” He waited until we were quiet, pressed ‘Record,’ and leaned back hard in his chair. I took a roll of pennies that happened to be at arms’ length and cracked it against the counter. I forget what Nathan did. The playback was very much like a crude Xerox of those few seconds. The recording came back with a rough loud edge I did not expect. We made several more that night, and each one turned out perfectly. It was like collaborating on poetry or an exquisite corpse drawing. It seems more about what the room wants when things are going well. Like when mute television is blending perfectly with music left on in another room.
