A veteran of the U.K. music scene, Takashi "Taka" Hirose has been playing bass guitar in popular British indie-rock band Feeder for more than two decades. As chilled off stage as he is energetic on it, the 50-year-old Gifu Prefecture-native reminisces about his time in the group, which began back in 1994 when he posted an advertisement in the English magazine Loot.

"I was eager to be part of a band," Hirose says. "I got my first bass guitar in Japan at 14 and played a mixture of heavy metal, rock and black music at school. I then went a few years without playing until I moved to an arty district near Portobello Road in London."

It was while sitting at a bar, Hirose was told that he looked like a musician.