On Friday November 17, 2006 Mie Hommura (the wonderful designer behind
sleepy tiger) sat down with Heisuke and Marc via internet chat to discuss
the making of the telescope, future collaberations, and life in general.

m= mie
h= heisuke
b= bianchi (marc)

4:23:08 PM m: start?
4:23:14 PM h: 3,2,1...
4:23:19 PM m: click...
4:23:24 PM b: click
4:23:46 PM m: hello marc and Konnichiwa Heisuke kun.
4:23:56 PM h: hello
4:24:29 PM m: what time is it now in Japan?
4:24:41 PM h: 9:24 a.m. saturday morning
4:25:03 PM m: how about in US?
4:25:24 PM b: hello mie chan! it's 4:25 in the afternoon
4:25:27 PM b: i think?
4:25:31 PM b: yes it is!
4:25:35 PM m: yes.
4:25:45 PM m: viva to mac... and pc.
4:26:32 PM m: so, how did this amazing book project start? ( both)
4:26:51 PM h: go ahead marc! ha ha ha
4:26:55 PM b: hei you take this one first
4:26:58 PM b: ahaha
4:27:03 PM b: well
4:28:02 PM m: I'd like to hear from both side...
4:28:04 PM b: to be honest..i dont really remember. i mean. everything
seemed to flow so naturally. i don't know if there was a defining moment.
hei did we talk about maybe working on album artwork first?
4:28:24 PM h: actually
4:28:34 PM h: i think mr. hatakeyama introduced us both
4:28:48 PM m: mr. hatakeyama ?
4:28:50 PM h: i think he showed my work to marc and i was invited to your show
4:28:52 PM h: yes
4:29:04 PM h: producer of this book, from & records
4:29:11 PM m: si
4:29:11 PM b: minoru!
4:29:16 PM h: yes!
4:29:19 PM m: oh yes.
4:29:21 PM h: no more good ideas!
4:29:24 PM b: ha!
4:29:57 PM h: so, i went to HSH show in japan, where i met marc for first time
4:30:08 PM m: what was your first impression of Heisuke?(m)
4:30:08 PM h: where i was really nervous
4:30:15 PM m: ops, sorry.
4:30:24 PM m: go ahead.
4:30:26 PM h: no, that was perfect!
4:30:31 PM b: oh tiger has "add"
4:30:35 PM b: :)
4:30:44 PM h: :-)
4:30:49 PM m: ?
4:30:54 PM m: :-x
4:31:05 PM b: ha go on hei
4:31:08 PM h: ;-)
4:31:46 PM h: yeah, then i think i gave some sample　illustrations
to marc, and we started emailing after wards
4:32:11 PM h: around mid 2005
4:32:16 PM m: I see.
4:32:31 PM m: can I ask you each other's first impression?
4:32:49 PM h: want to start marc?
4:32:54 PM b: sure
4:32:58 PM b:...
4:33:10 PM b: i was unfortunately very drunk and exhausted
4:33:26 PM h: ha ha
4:33:45 PM m: sounds very familiar for some reason...
4:33:46 PM b: but i remember meeting this very gentle guy. just
for a minute. are first encounter was so brief
4:33:55 PM b: but he gave me this big bag of treats
4:34:03 PM m: treat?
4:34:10 PM m: what was inside?
4:34:20 PM b: a magazine was all his artwork..
4:34:31 PM b: you know the ones i have framed on my wall?
4:34:45 PM h: the one that you have to take color copy of!
4:34:54 PM b: haha yes!
4:34:59 PM m: yes.
4:35:09 PM m: the ones...
4:35:20 PM m: it beautifully framed in your room.
4:35:34 PM h: thank you so much!
4:35:58 PM b: yes. the ones above the bed and book shelf...
and there was also poketo wallets in there and a button or two..but i remember looking at the the colors
4:36:08 PM b: and feeling sad that i didnt get a chance to speak more with hei
4:36:24 PM b: so i knew i had to make it a point to keep in touch
4:36:33 PM b: because i wanted to work with him on some level
4:36:41 PM b: but i just wasn't sure how.
4:37:09 PM b: and so our friendship and crazy ideas started to grow from there.
4:37:18 PM h: yes!
4:37:23 PM b: ok hei san. your turn.
4:37:30 PM h: ok
4:37:32 PM m: yes. please
4:37:43 PM h: my first impression was...
4:38:14 PM h: kind of similar. despite the fact that he was drunk, he was really sincere and really nice,
4:38:16 PM h: and
4:38:31 PM h: it was really surprising to me
4:38:41 PM h: because i was somehow
4:38:59 PM h: expecting, more of rock star type person. ha ha
4:39:06 PM b: haha
4:39:09 PM b: jerk :)
4:39:14 PM h: ha ha
4:39:39 PM h: i think marc is more japanese (old fashioned japanese) people where
4:39:48 PM h: person
4:39:51 PM h: he knows
4:39:56 PM h: wabi and sabi
4:40:05 PM m: from Taisyo time..
4:40:05 PM h: and japanese gum
4:40:45 PM m: before this interview, I had chance to talk to both of you
separately.
4:41:37 PM m: and strange thing was that both of you comment each other in a very very similar way.
4:42:26 PM b: we are brothers from different mothers!
4:42:43 PM h: ha ha ha
4:42:46 PM h: true
4:43:27 PM h: that's why we look so alike
4:43:28 PM m: do you remember which one?
4:45:08 PM b: heisuke did you know that mie and i have a theory that you may not be human?
4:45:20 PM m: both of you guys comment that meeting m ( and h ) was
something like... meeting yourself. dont feel like stranger.
4:45:23 PM h: did you see my tail?
4:45:43 PM b: haha no tail
4:45:46 PM b: we meant
4:45:54 PM b: that you have this super natural
4:45:56 PM b: calming power
4:46:04 PM b: and it shows in your art work
4:46:07 PM m: your cat tail?
4:46:14 PM b: no tails!
4:46:33 PM h: yes, i stole it from cat next door
4:46:33 PM m: panda tail!
4:46:44 PM h: that would be too big
4:46:48 PM h: i will fall..
4:47:04 PM h: sorry,
4:47:10 PM b: i know we couldn't get through this interview without it falling apart!
4:47:14 PM b: ahahaha
4:47:15 PM m: ok, maybe I should go back to interview question...
4:47:17 PM b: you guys
4:47:19 PM m: I know!
4:47:25 PM m: ok, so....
4:47:28 PM h: ok no more tails
4:48:35 PM h: so i will go back to the question.
4:50:14 PM h: ok, the reason i started working with marc
4:50:32 PM h: was because, just like you said, we seemed to think in same manner
4:50:41 PM h: with same sincerity to wards art and people.
4:50:47 PM h: not many people
4:51:01 PM h: i know
4:51:37 PM b: thanks hei
4:51:40 PM h: have both common, and it was really comforting.
4:52:13 PM b: so mie as far as the telescope story goes
4:52:29 PM b: i actually wrote it when i was living in texas
4:52:36 PM b: right before i moved back to the bay area
4:53:11 PM b: it was a mirror image about how i felt about my life at the
time. about changes
4:53:14 PM b: people places
4:53:16 PM b: honesty
4:53:44 PM b: it wasn't thought out
4:53:55 PM b: or planned it just sort of came out
4:54:06 PM b: like i couldn't contain it
4:59:57 PM m: so marc, was your telescope story sort of Utopia for you at that time then?
5:00:41 PM b: umm..well maybe more a string of hope i was trying to throw myself since i was going into the unknown with the move and such
5:01:26 PM b: it means something different to me now i suppose
5:01:32 PM b: i notice with my music and stories
5:01:54 PM m: the main character was yourself then?
5:02:02 PM b: they seem to have the same theme through out
5:02:13 PM b: ummm..i suppose
5:02:29 PM b: but i dont think i noticed it at the time
5:02:56 PM m: alter-ego?
5:03:23 PM b: yeah maybe..i have this problem where even if i try
to write about other things it ends up being to internal
5:03:44 PM h: i have the same problem!
5:03:48 PM m: I think.
5:04:53 PM b: mie pointed out that the characters in the telescope video looked like you and rikako!
5:05:07 PM m: this is what I talked with marc before. but I think its because that pure creativity is from inside of creator itself.
5:05:11 PM m: oh yes.
5:05:22 PM m: Rikako san showed up in my dream.
5:05:51 PM m: she was eating mochi with soy sauce in Oko-ta.
5:06:00 PM h: she always talks in sleep so, she must be talking with you!
5:08:24 PM m: ok. interview..
5:13:07 PM mhommura: From the visual design point of view, I have to say that you did amazing job on that.
5:13:22 PM h: thank you :-)
5:13:29 PM m: what was most difficult part on creative process?
5:13:32 PM m: ?
5:13:36 PM m: (h)
5:13:41 PM h: time
5:13:48 PM h: because it took so long
5:13:54 PM m: how long?
5:14:04 PM h: almost year and half, and
5:14:10 PM h: my style has changed a lot over
5:14:27 PM h: that course of time, so i had to redraw many of the illustrations to
5:14:29 PM m: to better, more powerful...
5:14:31 PM h: make it look the same
5:14:34 PM b: wait when did we start working on this?
5:14:50 PM h: i think i met you
5:14:57 PM h: around summer time of last year?
5:15:32 PM b: oh ok
5:15:38 PM b: so under a year?
5:15:50 PM h: really?
5:16:00 PM h: that's true
5:16:04 PM h: ha ha
5:16:11 PM h: it felt long!
5:16:14 PM b: yeah it has only seemed like a decade!
5:16:28 PM h: may be because
5:16:50 PM h: we were working on it on and off, for like 3 different sessions
5:17:04 PM h: with the whole thing with & records and everything
5:17:22 PM h: i remember, we first talked about June 2005 release!
5:17:23 PM b: yeah!
5:17:26 PM b: it grew and grew!
5:17:33 PM h: and you wrote more and more songs!
5:18:08 PM b: yes and you drew more and more
5:18:35 PM h: we have tons of stuff for outtake album!
5:18:58 PM b: no more good ideas
5:19:03 PM h: nomogi
5:19:06 PM h: i agree
5:19:15 PM m: haha
5:19:24 PM m: Q: Despite such a amazing collaboration work, most of this
work was done b/w tokyo and sf(san mateo). But you came to Sf for a show
couple month ago.
5:19:36 PM h: yes
5:20:06 PM m: talking with marc ( and heisuke ) by person... face to
face... eyes to eyes brought more ideas?
5:20:22 PM m: and drinking sake and Okonomiyaki...
5:20:27 PM b: yes
5:20:27 PM h: ha ha
5:20:29 PM b: ha
5:20:34 PM h: yes, for sure
5:20:35 PM b: more books
5:20:44 PM b: i dont want to make anymore records
5:20:49 PM h: no!
5:20:50 PM b: i just want to write books
5:20:53 PM h: no!
5:20:58 PM h: you can do both!
5:21:00 PM b: ok maybe a couple more
5:21:02 PM b: haha
5:21:06 PM b: but the clock is ticking
5:21:07 PM h: good, i don't have to sing
5:21:09 PM b: its time for a change
5:21:24 PM h: yes, it's fun to do something else
5:21:30 PM m: progression?
5:21:39 PM b: yes progression
5:21:45 PM h: we get bored
5:21:52 PM h: of doing same things
5:21:57 PM b: you become what people expect of you
5:22:08 PM m: it seems like you two step to new level of music...or .. creation?
5:22:09 PM b: even if you try hard to be everything but
5:22:24 PM h: i agree
5:22:41 PM m: we all should start new publisher!
5:22:59 PM m: publishing book, record and cat photographs...
5:23:05 PM h: yes! we have tokyo office and SF office already!
5:23:19 PM b: yes we just need tokyo and sf bank accounts!
5:23:28 PM b: we should start an art collective
5:23:32 PM h: and more cat photographs!
5:23:32 PM b: rikako
5:23:38 PM b: sleepy tiger
5:23:39 PM b: pcp
5:23:44 PM b: xoxo panda
5:23:49 PM b: "no more good ideas"
5:23:54 PM h: yay!
5:23:55 PM m: haha, like a zoo
5:23:59 PM m: yes!
5:24:05 PM h: i have to come up with animal name too!
5:24:13 PM b: all right then it's official
5:24:19 PM b: call minoru and see if he will fund it
5:24:33 PM m: rikako san should be white rabbit... or dear.
5:24:35 PM h: ha ha, he would love it!
5:24:38 PM h: with tears
5:24:52 PM h: how about me?!
5:25:10 PM m: you would be...Turu?
5:25:22 PM m: I think you are kern? karn? (sp?)
5:25:33 PM h: isn't tsuru dead long time?
5:25:36 PM h: ago?
5:25:47 PM m: they live forever.
5:25:59 PM h: yay! you know, i just did a illustration on tsuru.
5:26:05 PM h: i will send it to you guys
5:26:12 PM m: you have some kind of superhuman atmosphere.
5:26:15 PM m: yeah!
5:26:44 PM m: oh, Tikako san is kind of Tsuru too.
5:27:13 PM h: yeah, we will be making cloth secretly
5:27:18 PM h: you can't look
55:28:24 PM h: anyway, back to your question
5:28:33 PM h: i think that SF trip was special for me too.
5:28:46 PM h: because i got to hang out with marc in more relaxed atmosphere
5:29:13 PM h: and it was just fun.
5:29:28 PM h: where
5:29:30 PM m: yes!
5:29:54 PM h: we didn't have to worry about work or anything, and it was good to know him in person.
5:30:01 PM h: which
5:30:08 PM h: helped the book a lot.
5:30:28 PM h: emailing is good, but not best.
5:30:42 PM m: yeah, let's make a commune!
5:30:57 PM h: we should make our own vegetables
5:31:08 PM m: tomato!
5:31:23 PM h: cucumbers! for kappa
5:33:10 PM m: Q-> m : where did you get your writing style?
5:35:13 PM b: ok sorry had to feed ella! um..i dont know its the same style i've had since i was a child
5:35:16 PM b: very basic
5:35:29 PM b: i have a limited vocabulary
5:35:38 PM b: and my spelling and grammar are horrible!
5:35:44 PM m: with unlimited creativity!!
5:36:35 PM b: ha! well i dont know about that
5:36:46 PM b: i think i keep saying the same things over and over
5:37:25 PM h: you know, rikako and i translated
5:37:32 PM h: the telescope into japanese.
5:37:38 PM m: really?
5:37:44 PM h: and when we were translating,
5:38:25 PM h: it was somewhat difficult, not because you have bad grammar and spelling,
5:38:42 PM h: but because the story was like a poem. like winnie the pooh
5:38:46 PM h: where,
5:38:52 PM h: we couldn't think of
5:39:02 PM h: japanese translation to many of the phrases that you had
5:39:10 PM h: , so
5:39:24 PM h: i think you definitely have your style of writing,
5:39:28 PM h: not just like
5:39:40 PM h: simple, essay like stories that
5:39:43 PM h: i see often.
5:39:54 PM h: and, mie san, i will send you the translation!
5:40:05 PM b: ah well thank you...i guess we always see our limitations
5:40:19 PM h: yes, i hate my drawings 20 minutes after i draw them
5:40:28 PM h: all of them
5:40:52 PM b: thats why they are great :)
5:41:09 PM h: but i love your stories and songs too though... ha ha ha
5:41:55 PM b: well thank you..i feel the same about your art
5:42:52 PM m: so that translation was possible only because you know marc so well.
5:43:37 PM m: ok next Q?
5:43:44 PM h: yay!
5:44:11 PM b: ok
5:44:40 PM m: Q: Telescope seems like one of the best work for both of you
in so many level. so let me ask... What inspire you for the most?
5:45:33 PM h: not to get more points, but i think inspiration was
from both of us working together for first time?
5:46:10 PM b: yeah i would agree. i think we both felt a
personal and artistic freedom we haven't felt before
5:46:24 PM m: 2 zabuton to heisuke kun! hee hee
5:46:38 PM h: arigato yamdaa kun
5:46:46 PM m: ha ha ha
5:47:12 PM h: anyway, it was good competition between marc and i
5:47:15 PM h: to create
5:47:16 PM h: e
5:47:19 PM m: so in a way, Telescope was like a LSD.... let your mind free...
5:47:33 PM h: never tried it, not even pcp
5:49:03 PM b: do you guys think we got enough?
5:49:14 PM h: are you getting hungry like i am?
5:49:20 PM b: a little!
5:49:26 PM h: me too!
5:49:26 PM b: i want to drink an apricot beer
5:49:29 PM m: I wanna go get a beer!
5:49:38 PM m: me too!
5:49:38 PM h: that sounds good! too bad it's morning here..
5:49:47 PM b: why does that matter :)
5:50:01 PM h: ha ha! we have beer bending machine too!
5:50:02 PM m: I wanna take sheep train and meet u for a apricot beer!
5:50:33 PM b: well you should!
5:50:38 PM b: katamari
5:50:41 PM h: ok, i think we are good
5:50:59 PM m: oh, wait. one more Q...
5:51:09 PM b: ok haa
5:51:38 PM m: do you think if you guy will make another book?
5:51:50 PM h: with marc?...ummmm
5:51:55 PM h: yes!
5:51:59 PM m: marc?
5:52:31 PM b: yes we were just talking about that today
5:52:37 PM b: there will be many many more
5:52:44 PM b: pages from marc and heisuke
5:53:14 PM h: yes!
5:53:19 PM h: more books and good ideas.
5:53:26 PM h: and beers
5:53:34 PM m: and okonomiyaki..!
5:53:39 PM h: yes!
5:53:58 PM b: yes
5:54:06 PM b: here is to the start of
5:54:10 PM m: I'm so excited for our bright future!
5:54:10 PM b: "no more good ideas"
5:54:17 PM h: yay!!!
5:54:19 PM m: haha
5:54:30 PM h: ok, have a good beers you two
5:54:37 PM m: thanx.
5:54:43 PM h: i will eat my breakfast now.
5:54:47 PM h: with beer
5:54:50 PM m: have a wonderful day, Heisuke kun and Marc Kun!