Utatemite is the Japanese online culture of uploading vocal covers of Vocaloid tracks or pop songs to video sharing sites, and singers who post such covers are generally referred to as utaite. Starting November 22, the country's largest video platform, Nico Nico Douga, will host the Utattemita Collection (commonly referred to as Uta-Colle), a four-day event that invites utaite singers to submit such arrangements. Uta-Colle is the uttatemita edition of The VOCALOID Collection (aka Voca-Colle) submission project launched in 2020.
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At the Uta-Colle event held this spring, utaite Underbar (officially stylized as __) posted an a cappella cover of Sasuke Haraguchi's “Igaku”. He played all the notes using only his own voice without using any musical accompaniment and was ranked No. 5 among the top 100 submissions at the event. Underbar is a veteran utaite with 1.05 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, celebrating the 15th anniversary of his debut this year.
Sasuke Haraguchi started composing music at the age of five and made his major label debut in 2018 as track creator SASUKE when he was 15 years old. He submitted his representative track “Hito Mania” at the Voca-Colle Summer 2023 event, and this hit song reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan's Nico Nico Vocaloid Songs Top 20 list for 18 consecutive weeks.
The two artists sat down together to chat about today uttatemita of culture ahead of the upcoming Uta-Colle Fall 2024 event, sharing their views from the perspective of utaite and track maker.
Underbar, you covered “Igaku” a cappella for the previous Uta-Colle event. Why did you choose this style to cover it?
Underbar: When I heard the way the sounds are combined (in the track), I had the impression that it was unusual and quite different from other Vocaloid (Vocalo-p) producers. I really like the way he uses sound effects as accents and male voices, and I thought, “I want to try and do that with my own voice.” I thought it would be interesting to be able to express a composition of unusual sounds with my mouth instead of using a normal guitar or bass. He had officially released the strain data, so I used that as a reference as well.
Haraguchi: I thought the core data would be used for remixes or something, so I didn't imagine it would be used for uttatemita (a vocal cover). [Laughs]
I've heard that when you create tracks using Vocaloid, you try to know things that make people want to cover them. Could you elaborate on that?
Haraguchi: There are a few, but one is to keep the pieces short. People seem to think I'm doing this to make them TikTok or (YouTube) Shorts friendly, but that's not the case. It's to make it easier to record vocals when you arrange them. Sometimes I record temporary vocals for commercial productions so I know how the singers feel and I'm happy when (the tracks) are short. Some songs have the same lyrics in the chorus so you can copy and paste if the worst happens.
Underbar: I really like your videos, as well as your music, of course. I think it's amazing how you make such stylish videos at such a low cost. Today, it's like a race to see how much money you can spend to get a good video, the uttatemita community included.
Haraguchi: Yeah, there are music videos that make you go, “Is this the opening sequence for an anime series?”
Underbar: Right? So it's amazing how you create that elegant collage feel using live action footage. I'm like, “Wow, I never would have thought of that!”
Sasuke, could you share what creative aspect of Underbar you respect?
Haraguchi: You were already very popular when I was in elementary school, and I respect the fact that you've been consistent all this time. Instead of taking years to establish your way of doing things, you had it all figured out from scratch. This is awesome, and at the same time, expand the scope of what you do.
Underbar: I've always loved the holidays. This might be common among people of my generation who post videos on Nico Nico Douga, but the main thing is that I didn't do it for the money. That's the big difference between now and then. Now, many people start publishing with the goal of earning ad revenue or becoming a top or professional artist, but back then there was no such thing as ad revenue and just because you became famous didn't mean you could sign with a big label or appear on TV and more. The basis of why I started was: “It's popular and it looks like fun.” That hasn't changed for me yet, and when I see a new fad that looks fun, I have the urge to join.
When did you start watching? uttatemita video, sasuke?
Haraguchi: Around 2015 or 2016, maybe?
He was probably already composing at that time. He did uttatemita do videos influence your own production?
Haraguchi: I was hoping that singers would cover my works like this someday. But I wasn't doing that kind of music at the time. If you want to make a song that people will want to cover without using the Vocaloid software, it has to either go viral enough or tie into an anime series. I didn't either.
Underbar: When choosing a song to cover, it's definitely easier to choose a Vocaloid track. Songs using Vocaloid are open to a wide range of interpretations, so everyone can be “right”. With those that have human vocals, both cover artists and listeners tend to think that the original version is correct, so singers will cover them in a way that is closer to the original. I tend to prefer utaite singers who put their own spin on their covers.
Haraguchi: I know what you mean. Maybe because my songs are a little unusual, some people sing them in a way similar to the original version of Vocaloid, but I don't think it's necessary. I want people to do whatever they want and mess it up.
Have you noticed any changes in the feedback you get or differences in your fan base since you started releasing Vocaloid tracks?
Haraguchi: Yes, very much. With the music I was doing up until then, I never really had the opportunity to hear directly from the listeners, so I didn't really know how many people were listening to it. The culture in the Vocaloid community is that if you think something is good, be sure to say so, whether you're the listener or the creator. The comments section on video platforms is similar, and communication on X (formerly Twitter) is as well. I feel like I've been suddenly thrown into such a place and I'm worried instead. Sometimes, when I'm alone at home, I say to myself: “Don't get carried away, you have to work hard.”
How do you feel about events like Voca-Colle and Uta-Colle that Nico Nico Douga is mainly organizing since 2020?
Haraguchi: There was a time when Vocaloid culture had cooled, so I'm glad that a lot of people are making (tracks) and watching (the videos) again now. But I also think it would be scary if the mood became like, “We have to work hard for this.” I want to take the opportunity to be exposed to a lot of other people's work to feel things like, “This trick is interesting” and “I want to do that too,” regardless of how they're ranked.
What do you say, Underbar?
Underbar: I think projects like Uta-colle are great. The reason is that utaite they never really had a clear goal. Now it's possible to get signed to a major label, but even if that happens, if you don't make it big, then it's over. And a song you covered could become a hit, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll become famous, because the original version is the main focus. Despite all this, uttatemita is a derivative. So even if you suddenly decide to write your own lyrics and music, people might say, “No, that's not what I want to hear.” The hard thing to be utaite is that just because you're good at singing doesn't mean you'll make it. I would like to see a trend where utaite he can dream and say, “If I keep doing what I'm doing in Nico Nico Douga, I can make it this far,” and Nico Nico Douga actively promotes the winner of Uta-Colle.
—This interview with Yuuka Higaki first appeared on Billboard Japan
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/underbar-sasuke-haraguchi-interview-nico-nico-dougas-uta-colle-event-interview-1235800717/
