practica

howard hernandez

One summer, a friend of mine was having an art exhibition in Beppu and asked me if I'd write a song for the exhibition. I wasn't keen. Up until then, I had no interest in releasing my own music. I just played for fun. I had planned to write 10 songs for the exhibition, but I was working full-time and didn't have enough time. So I wrote after work. I often stayed up late, and some days I didn't sleep at all. When I was writing "Memories of the Moon," I stayed up until about 4 a.m. Looking back at that time, I remember not feeling tired at all, even though I hadn't slept. I never thought other people would enjoy the music I made. Every day at the exhibition, people asked me the names of the songs and who they were composed by. For some reason, I felt embarrassed. After the exhibition, I decided to include six of the songs on an album. I remember very well when I designed the album cover. I downloaded photos of flowers and edited them to create a magical yet melancholic feel. This album came about completely by chance. If my friend hadn't asked me to help with his exhibition, I probably wouldn't have made this album. I'm still grateful to that friend for asking me for help. Quietly releasing this album and knowing that someone enjoyed my music motivated me to keep going.

howard hernandez