Picking one highlight from 2017 proves a tough task for Suchmos vocalist Yosuke Kasai. The past 11 months have been good for him and his six-member band. They've gone from a Jamiroquai-inspired outfit playing late-night sets at small Shinjuku venues to a national phenomenon, their music moving tens of thousands of copies and soundtracking car commercials. Ultimately, Kasai decides the highlight of his year came on a trip the group took to New York, to buy old records and vintage clothing.
He understands Suchmos had the sort of year artists can often only dream of, and he wants to pay that feeling forward to as many people as he possibly can.
"We realized how all of the positive influences around us were so important to us chasing our dreams, and we began to think that we should make music for people who are down," Kasai, who goes by the nickname "Yonce," tells The Japan Times from NHK's office in Shibuya, where he's scheduled to take part in a radio interview. "For the people who are in a really low period of their lives. That was our goal with 'The Kids.'"