Ichirou Agata
Encyclopedia
Ichirou Agata, often known simply as Agata, is the guitarist for the Japan
ese noise rock
band Melt-Banana
. Agata is known particularly for his furious stage antics, jumping and constantly moving around, and exceedingly unique approach to playing the guitar
which involves extended technique
heavy use of effects pedals
and guitar slides resulting in sounds not easily attributed to the guitar. He is also known for consistently wearing a surgical mask
on stage during performances.
He has also released a solo guitar album, entitled Spike
, on John Zorn
's Tzadik Records
.
Agata claims that he gets the inspiration for his guitar riffs from the moment of euphoria when achieving something on a video game (Tony Hawk's is a favourite of his) and at that moment sings out the melody pattern and converts it to guitar.
Agata is normally seen wielding a vintage Gibson SG and plays through a Sunn Beta Lead Head with a Marshal 4x12 cabinet (as of 1999 Guitar Geek Link). Here is a more recent picture of his effects chain (2005). Identifiable effects in this picture are; two Boss Super Shifters, Fulltone Full Drive Pedal, Digitech Whammy, Pro Co Rat, Boss 2-Way Selector, and a Line-6 FM4 Filter Guitar Pedal.
In a brief fan interview it was revealed that the reason he wears a surgical mask on stage is that he is prone to nosebleeds. Beneath the mask he has cotton balls plugging his nose and usually removes them along with the mask quickly and privately off stage after the show.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band Melt-Banana
Melt-Banana
Melt-Banana is a Japanese punk band that is known for playing extremely fast noise music mixed with experimental electronica and pop-based song structures. They have worked with artists as diverse as Merzbow, John Zorn, Mike Patton, and Discordance Axis...
. Agata is known particularly for his furious stage antics, jumping and constantly moving around, and exceedingly unique approach to playing the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
which involves extended technique
Extended technique
Extended techniques are performance techniques used in music to describe unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional techniques of singing, or of playing musical instruments to obtain unusual sounds or instrumental timbres....
heavy use of effects pedals
and guitar slides resulting in sounds not easily attributed to the guitar. He is also known for consistently wearing a surgical mask
Surgical mask
A surgical mask also known as a procedure mask is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery and at other times to catch the bacteria shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer's mouth and nose....
on stage during performances.
He has also released a solo guitar album, entitled Spike
Spike (Agata album)
Spike is the first solo album by Japanese guitarist Agata of the band Melt-Banana. It was released on Tzadik in May 2004.The album consists mainly of solo guitar and sound effects. Agata is known for creating strange soundscapes with his guitar and often sounds nothing like a guitar...
, on John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
's Tzadik Records
Tzadik Records
Tzadik Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by the eclectic composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995; Zorn is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases...
.
Agata claims that he gets the inspiration for his guitar riffs from the moment of euphoria when achieving something on a video game (Tony Hawk's is a favourite of his) and at that moment sings out the melody pattern and converts it to guitar.
Agata is normally seen wielding a vintage Gibson SG and plays through a Sunn Beta Lead Head with a Marshal 4x12 cabinet (as of 1999 Guitar Geek Link). Here is a more recent picture of his effects chain (2005). Identifiable effects in this picture are; two Boss Super Shifters, Fulltone Full Drive Pedal, Digitech Whammy, Pro Co Rat, Boss 2-Way Selector, and a Line-6 FM4 Filter Guitar Pedal.
In a brief fan interview it was revealed that the reason he wears a surgical mask on stage is that he is prone to nosebleeds. Beneath the mask he has cotton balls plugging his nose and usually removes them along with the mask quickly and privately off stage after the show.