T-BOLAN vocalist Moritomo Arashi on suffering from psychogenic dysphonia, the band disbandment and a release of a new album 28-years later

T-BOLAN was one of the most famous bands in the early ’90s, with hit after hit, then in 1999, the band disbanded.

The reason was that lead vocalist Moritomo Arashi suffered from an unexplained psychogenic dysphonia (the loss of voice, in the absence of apparent structural or neurological pathology) which lasted for more than ten years.

In an interview with Yamanoi Harue of Yahoo! News Original Special Feature Editorial Department, T-BOLAN’s vocalist Moritomo Arashi discussed releasing a new album, the band’s first in 28 years.  Here is an excerpt from the interview which you can find the full interview here.

Moritomo said the symptoms began to appear at the end of 1994, the peak of the band’s popularity.

After the band disbanded, Moritomo would spend several years traveling back and forth between his studio in Yamanashi and his studio in Tokyo, he visited several medical institutions to find out the causes and treatments for his dysphonia.

Moritomo said, “”Because I grew up in the countryside, I’m naturally healed. I like the deck of my atelier, I turn on the lamp at night, drink a little, and I think about various things. I was afraid that I might be left behind, or that my sensibility to be polished in the city would be dull … I was scared. After all, even in Tokyo, I’m just meeting people. I was worried about our schedule not being filled, so at first I wanted to fill it with a plan to meet people and think that my time was moving. I didn’t announce that I couldn’t sing, so everyone didn’t know, and I ate rice while pretending I didn’t know. There was nothing positive, but I couldn’t cut it off. It was a thing. “It’s” psychogenic dysphonia. I felt, “I may be able to sing tomorrow, but I think it may not be possible to sing even after 10 years”.

Moritomo abandoned his life in Tokyo and settled in his studio at the foot of Mt. Fuji. .. Since he has moved to the registered domicile, it can be seen that he was prepared at that time. “I thought I’d be back in a couple of years at the longest. But it’s been said that it’s been more than 10 years … I’m such an idiot. I started feeling hungry. I decided to spend all 24 hours, 365 days a year, just to get my voice back”.

Moritomo couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he was losing to himself in the past. Moritomo decided to dissolve T-BOLAN.

Moritomo said, “I thought that this was a hindrance because the past works of T-BOLAN would make me compare the present with the past. The members refused to disband at the time. I think they didn’t want to lose. They wanted to wait because they wanted to do T-BOLAN. I was waiting. I was becoming impatient because I don’t know the deadline … Anyway, it’s not good. Full of things. No one can walk a new path without disbanding. I also wanted to free myself from the pain I had to wait for. After many discussions, T-BOLAN disbanded on December 31, 1999. I thought it was selfish, but I didn’t want the fans to know about the illness. If there was a possibility of cure, I couldn’t announce it even after 10 years.”

Moritomo continued, “I became frustrated and desperate. I broke a lot of things. I haven’t seen any changes in the music scene. I’d stop if there was any music playing. Because when I hear it, I felt jealousy in myself. I didn’t want to hurt myself anymore, my heart was already shattered enough. But if I did that, I would forget the joy of singing. That’s why I practice. But for singing again, it was a difficult time. From vocal practice to concrete singing. I met a lot of trainers, made a menu that suits me, and continued to work hard. I was hoping for a cure to get it back. At the end of the day, I always felt defeated and thought it wasn’t good today and it went on for more than ten years. That way of thinking was bad in the first place”.

Moritomo said that when his son was born and he became a father, he decided to not lose himself to the past. So, he switched to rehabilitation and changed his mind for the positive and walk on forward with his new voice.

Moritomo started solo activities in 2009 and restarted with the band in 2012 but it was suspended in 2014. The band was revived in 2017, but bassist Ueno Hirofumi collapsed due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

But the band is back together again with a new album for 2022. And their sixth original album will be released for the first time in 28 years. Even though they will be celebrating their 30th anniversary, unlike their rock band counterparts B’z who have released albums and singles since their early ’90s, T-BOLAN only has six albums, a few.

Moritomo said, “I’ll rely on the people around me. I’ve decided not to fight alone. I used to do it alone. That’s my weakness. Believe in people. I have more power to believe now. So I think it’s okay. Now that I’m celebrating the 30th anniversary, I’m grateful to the fans for the reality that I can go on tour again like this. Leave it alone, come back suddenly without warning, and if you ask me to go for a meal, it’s OK! I’m ready now, I feel like I’m ready. The album is a proof of ‘Thanks’!”.

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