"Shotgun Blues" is the latest track off Hidenori Fujiwara's turbo-charged musical conveyor-belt of rock 'n' roll madness, and it's a blast of bluesy punk that sounds like Kings of Leon being chain-whipped by Iggy Pop in a dark alley.
"That song's from Ultra Jr., my new band. I recorded 23 bands this year in this room," says Hide, gesturing around him. "Bands from Kyoto, Sapporo, Fukuoka, everywhere, San Francisco too," he adds, fondling a few knobs on his customized 24-track Roland VS-2480 "desktop audio work station," which takes pride of place in his home studio in northwest Kyoto.
The 47-year-old Hide and his studio currently occupy the first two floors of his parents' house.