“Future Yokai Fiasco / Ryoma Maeda”
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Under the moonlight, a bunch of cute YOKAI are dancing to a disco groove!
A bright, playful pop tune that takes you straight into another world.
Listen carefully_you might hear a ghostly voice whispering [Senpa~i] somewhere in the track!
Get ready for a fun, funky, and slightly spooky trip beyond dimensions!
Ryoma Maeda Intervew
Q: This track has a unique “Yokai × Disco” concept. Where did the initial idea come from?
Ryoma Maeda: The starting point was that I originally made this track for a friend’s YouTube channel that introduces yokai. So from the very beginning, incorporating the “yokai” element was a given.
As for the overall direction, I wanted it to feel bright and poppy, like an anime opening theme. I combined a disco-style four-on-the-floor beat with a vocal melody as I built the track.
However, since I didn’t have much experience actually making disco-style music, the final result ended up sounding a bit more rock-leaning than disco—at least in my own perception.
Q: How did the “senpa~i” vocal sample come about, and why did you choose to use it?
Ryoma Maeda: When I was in elementary school, there was a rumor that in Rebecca’s Friends, you could hear a ghostly voice whispering “senpa~i.” Everyone in my class got obsessed with it and kept listening over and over.
Everyone was screaming, “Ah! I heard it!” but I never heard it at all (laughs). Even now, I still don’t know where that voice was supposed to be.
Still, the act of everyone leaning in, trying to hear whether a “ghost voice” was there—that was such a fun experience in itself. So I thought, why not recreate a similar pseudo-experience in my own track? That’s why I decided to include that vocal sample.
Q: When creating music, do you start with visual/story-like imagery, or do you start from sound?
Ryoma Maeda: I definitely start from sound. I don’t usually lock in a detailed concept at the beginning, and I often write the lyrics toward the end. I do have a rough image in mind, but my process always begins with building up the beat and chords.
Q: What does the concept of “pop” mean to you, and how does that influence this song?
Ryoma Maeda: I deliberately followed the standard pop structure of “verse–pre-chorus–chorus.” I avoided making it overly complicated, and instead focused on how to express my own style within a simple structure.
Q: What kind of experience do you want listeners to have through this track?
Ryoma Maeda: I’d be happy if it reminds people of that excited feeling we had as kids—like when we listened to Rebecca’s Friends and thought we heard a ghostly voice.
