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We ask too much of a piece of music if we expect it to heal our grief following the loss of a loved one. But Takaakira “Taka” Goto sincerely hopes MONO’s new record, Snowdrop, can help. And he has reason to believe it can – he’s seen how powerful it can be.
His last few years have been rough. Goto’s father died in 2022; and then in 2024, the venerable Japanese instrumental rock quartet lost their partner-in-crime Steve Albini. He passed a month before OATH, their last album together, was released. He’d produced all MONO’s albums since 2004.
Then on New Year’s Day 2025, Goto’s father-in-law passed away. That left him with a desire to “resolve this sadness and darkness” in some way. But how? The idea came to him at his father-in-law’s funeral. The seed was planted by his father’s words. Albini played his part too.
“It’s a crazy story,” says Goto from his home studio in Toyko. “My dad always said, ‘Hey, Taka, you should write a song for your wife!’ After he passed away, I remembered. I started writing my first song for my wife.”
MONO recorded it at Electrical Audio with Albini. “We didn’t release it,” says Goto. “It was with a full orchestra – a beautiful song.” He gave it little thought until making arrangements for his father-in-law’s funeral.
“The guy who was organizing it asked me, ‘Hey, Taka-san, do you have a song we can play during the funeral?’ I thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ I said, ‘I have this song for my wife…’ It was so beautiful. I realized our song worked at the funeral to heal people.”
Goto watched as friends and family each brought a flower to the ceremony. What these flowers meant became the inspiration for Snowdrop. MONO returned to Electrical Audio in Chicago. A 10-piece orchestra and eight-piece choir were hired to expand the canvas and give the guitars space to roam.
Snowdrop was in his head; Goto could see it. And somewhere out there Albini was watching over them, as he always did.
When writing Snowdrop, when did you know which parts were going to be orchestrated?
It always depends on the song. The first priority is the emotion, then I choose the best instrument for the composition. In my mind the melody already has orchestration. But my first idea comes from my love of My Bloody Valentine – that crazy guitar noise – and also my love of Ennio Morricone and Beethoven.
I love those classical melancholic melodies, and the cinematic tastes of Morricone, I really wanted to mix them with my love of My Bloody Valentine.
I don’t have any ego; I don’t want to play a bunch of crazy guitar solos. I’m always focused on composing. Classical music is kind of boring! But it can be a bridge to Heaven or Hell, more dramatic than standard rock music.
It has much to teach us about melody and harmony.
Yeah, exactly! Classical music doesn’t have a singer. It’s the same with us, as an instrumental band. We need something to make it dramatic and cinematic. I love the noise. I love the crazy wall of sound. But more important than guitar playing is for us to explain how we feel, what we want to share. I love guitars so much! But it’s a balance.
It’s joy, crying, sadness, screaming – everything in the noise. It sounds so crazy, but the melodies are so beautiful. It’s unbelievable. The melodies are so romantic, so beautiful, so sad, and the sounds are so crazy. This is what I want.
And you have to expand that sound onstage when performing without the orchestra?
This is why we use a bunch of delays, reverb, fuzz. Imagine listening to Morricone or Beethoven with a distortion pedal – it’s going to be more intense and beautiful.
You only played your ’66 Jazzmaster on the album. What’s special about the guitar?
My ’66 Jazzmaster has binding and dot inlays and was only made by Fender for one year. I used to play the Stratocaster – a ’69 like Jimi Hendrix – and that sounds great, but when I play the Stratocaster I really want to solo! My Jazzmaster is more a MONO sound.
The Edge from U2 is using a Korg SDD-3000 preamp, and he needs to go through that pedal to make his sound. The DD-3 is like that for me
In 1999, at the first practice with all the members, on the very first day, I brought the Jazzmaster. Yoda [Suematsu] brought a black Stratocaster and Tamaki [Kunishi] brought an old SG bass from ’66. The sound was incredible. I could see the future. Since then, we’ve released 13 albums and on all of the albums we always use the same guitars.
So why did you collect all your Boss DD-3s? You’ve said you had around 40 – but don’t they all sound the same?
I first used a Boss DD-3 delay in high school. It was my first delay and I loved it so much. Boss released so many kinds of DD-3s and each pedal sounded different.
So you’re trying to find the DD-3 that sounds exactly like your first?
I don’t know which year and if it was made in Taiwan, China, or Japan. But I could hear the difference. I need to buy these old DD-3s and pick one.
I only have the one setting. It’s always the same delay time, the same feedback, and I play all the songs with that. The Edge from U2 is using a Korg SDD-3000 preamp, and he needs to go through that pedal to make his sound. The DD-3 is like that for me.
There’s a lovely sense of space in your guitar tones. What do you use for reverb?
The reverb is the Boss RV-5, and I’m using it after the tuner and before the fuzz. The reverb and then fuzz is so hard to control. I love that so much!
This album feels like it was inspired also by the passing of the seasons. It starts with Snowdrop and finishes with Farewell to Spring.
Yes, it is – spring is the beginning of a new journey. The past is the past. We never know about the future, so we have to be conscious of the present. Steve died, a friend of mine died, my father died, and the father of my wife died. Everybody dies. We cannot avoid it.
But I want to focus on the positive – on how these people were amazing. For people who have lost loved ones, I hope our songs can be love and light.
- Snowdrop is on sale now.
