Yas Nomura is a Japanese guitarist based in Los Angeles, who made the leap to United States at the age of 19. Unlike his mother, who was a painter, and his father, who has a passion for singing, Yas charted his own artistic course as a guitarist. After graduating from MI in 2014, Yas embark on his professional career.
Yas played guitar and bass in the progressive rock duo The Resonance Project with Lang Zhao. Currently he has toured as a guitarist with HYDE in Japan and the US, Yas is also the bassist of the progressive metal group Whom Gods Destroy.
Early in 2024, Yas collaborated with Donner for the first time at the NAMM Show, where he stole the Donner stage shredding like exorcising demons. He then returned to Japan for a tour with HYDE in June. During his stay in Asia, Donner invited Yas to Guangzhou, China, to film a demonstration video for its new electric guitar, DST-700.
Yas had visited China twice before, but this time was different. This time, Guangzhou had a glint in its eyes—a promise of suffocating heat, crazy midnight cuisine, and the kind of humidity that clings to your skin like a desperate lover. It was a new experience for him. And in return, Yas offered a brand-new song he had specifically written for this trip.
At Mielody Studio, we had the opportunity to sit down with Yas and discuss his thoughts on metal and rock music, his approach to guitar and bass performances, and some invaluable tips on practicing.
‘I really like the Triple Threat. Donner Circle Looper is great too.’
All About Gear
Donner: It’s our honor to have you here. I noticed that it’s not your first time to travel to China. How has your trip been so far?
Yas: It's been great. You guys are feeding me very well. I've been getting every meal. I skipped lunch today because I want to go full tonight for dinner. I love the food here.
Donner: What song did you play just now?
Yas: I wanted to write a song for this video and I just wrote it last week. I haven't named it yet. Any suggestions? I take any suggestions for the song.
Donner: It’s quite sophisticated and it’s great!
Yas: Thanks. Appreciate it. It's hard. I made it a bit too hard. It's a problem, always a problem.
Donner: Where do you get your musical inspiration for the song? Why did you want to write this in the very beginning?
Yas: I wanted to write an Étude-ish song with which people can practice with a bit of challenge, but I'm trying to make it melodic and musical at them same time. I don't know if it counts as a motive. I was gonna write a song both for this video and my future release. I don't want to write a song just for the video. I want to write something that I actually want to release, otherwise there’s no point.
Donner: What gear did you choose for the song?
Yas: I used the Triple Threat I demoed about six months ago, and the Blue Drive as a booster, which I tried for the first time yesterday.
I used the distortion this time. It also features a phaser and a delay, all of which I demonstrated in a YouTube video recently. There are the chorus, a delay, a reverb and the looper. I didn't use them today but I’ll use them for the master class tomorrow.
Donner: You’re one of the very first people to use the Triple Threat. How was it?
Yas: It's great! It's light, compact and has a good tone. I like the distortion a lot. It has an interesting combination because the big chorus is usually more popular than the phaser. But I like the choice. It makes Triple Threat different and it’s super reasonable.
Donner: Could you tell us about the guitar, DST-700?
Yas: It feels great. I considered using two humbuckers in the very beginning. After testing two guitars, I found that it fits the song better. It stands out among the SHH pickup configurations I’ve used. It delivers a good tone. I really like the neck. It fits the hand. It has a locking tuner pack.
Donner: How did these setups contribute to your playing?
Yas: I didn't do much aside from some EQ. It’s important to have a guitar with a good setup since the song is pretty hard. If it has a huge neck, I can't really use it for songs like this. It might be alright for blues or simpler genres, but personally, it's important to have an easy-to-play guitar with good tones. I always try to avoid too much distortion or gain. I did use both on the Triple Threat and the Blue Drive, but I kept the gain relatively low, around 10 o'clock to make the sound fuller.
Donner: You’ve been testing various Donner’s products, including the Triple Threat, the DST series and the Hush series. Which one is your favourite?
Yas: I really like the Triple Threat. This looper (Donner Circle Looper) is great too.
Donner: You didn’t seem to use this looper at NAMM.
Yas: No, I didn’t. I planned to use it but ended up hiring the band. You can save about 99 loops in the pedal. Record them, bring them back and play at any time. There’s a drum machine in this pedal, so you can play the beat and then play over it. Of course, you can dub the loops by adding more sounds to the loop you made. If you're into loopers, it’s perfect to create your music with it.
Editor's Note: Donner Circle Looper won the Editor's Choice Gold Award in Guitar World Magazine August 2022 .
‘One of the great things about playing bass in a band is losing the sense of yourself in the music. You’re playing the music.’
Navigating Between Guitarist And Bassist
Donner: You’re both a bassist and a guitarist. Which one would you say defines you more?
Yas: I'm definitely more of a guitarist because it was my first instrument and I’ve been playing it for years. I started playing guitar at 14. When I was in music high school, a bass player friend let me borrow his bass, a super beginner one. I didn’t play it much but I liked it a lot. Later I moved to L. A and I set bass aside for a while. I've always admired bassists, especially fusion artists, like Gary Willis, Jimmy Johnson and Adrian Farrell. I kind of wanted to stop to play bass. My bass player friends let me play their bass. I decided to have my own. That was the start. I bought my first bass in 2014, before my graduation from MI. It's been over 10 years. I love playing bass but I guess guitar is more of my thing.
Donner: Do you approach them with different mindsets?
Yas: I play them with quite different mindsets. You can play guitar or bass solo, but I came from a metal and rock background where guitar solos are more common. When you play guitar, it sounds like in the front, right in your face. Bass, on the other hand, often sits in the back, especially in metal and rock, supporting the whole band.
Many people don't even know what bass is, which is pretty messed up. It’s a fact.
But if the bass player screws up, it can throw off the entire song and band. One of the great things about playing bass in a band is losing the sense of yourself in the music. You’re playing the music. When you're truly locked in, you’re playing everything on the bass.
I don't get this feeling on guitar. Playing guitar feels like playing on top of the drummer and the bass player. With bass, you control the groove and the harmony. If the bass changes, everything changes. That's what I find fascinating about bass.
I love playing guitar myself and playing bass in a band. You’ll have one of the best things ever if you’re the bassist in a good band.
‘Listen to yourself, make sure your hands are synchronous, and try to make the cleanest tone possible.’
Tips On Guitar Practice
Donner: How do you usually arrange your practice?
Yas: I don't have a routine anymore. I used to focus on finger exercises, especially on chromatic ones. I could play it right now if you want me to.
These are the most basic chromatic exercises, but the important thing is: you listen to yourself. Try to make the cleanest tone. If your hands are not synchronized, which means that you pick the note like this (playing) or you fret the note on the left hand, it's not gonna sound clean (playing). You make sure both hands are synced (playing), and then it's clean (playing).
I did more than the basic ones, but here’s the key: listen to yourself, make sure your hands are synchronous, and try to make the cleanest tone possible. You shouldn't play fast if it's not the case. You have to play slow enough to make your sound clean. That's a piece of advice I could give to the future musicians or guitar players.
Donner: What techniques do you think a guitarist must master?
Yas: You don't have to play fast, but you need to be able to play you what you want to play. Speed is not your goal, expression is. It explains why some musicians need insane chops - speed is part of the expression. Shreddy lines can enhance music when done right, but playing random notes fast without even cleanness makes no sense.
Timing and touch are the most important. Fast playing without proper timing or rhythm sounds off. Good touch comes with good timing. It’s hard to explain what’s a good touch but you’ll figure it out after listening to various great players. The priority is to make everything clean though. It also applies to the timing. At first, you need to play to a metronome and make it consistent. It's impossible to explain everything here, but these are the foundations.
‘Then there came Dream Theater, which blew my mind.The concept is so deep, like the progressive music, way ahead of their time.’
Develop Unique Guitar Style
Donner: How do you make your playing or improvisations unique and make the audience recognise you?
Yas: I don't even know if people can recognise me. I'm just playing it. I can recognise other musicians with striking features. But I think when I recognise, for example, John Petrucci and Mateus Asato.
It's the mixture of touch, tone, lines and even composition that tells musicians apart. The touch is a combination of the voice, the phrasing, the punctuation, etc. You may have to change your touch based on the tone to achieve the best sound. For instance, if you're using heavy distortion, a light touch might not work well, and vice versa. The relationship between touch and tone is complex but fascinating. In addition, some artists have instantly recognisable lines, like Steven Toronto and my friend Colin Cook. It's hard to develop your own distinctive lines though. For me, touch, tone, and lines are the primary factors. Feel and timing are integral components of touch.
Donner: I know you are into different genres of music, including progressive work and fusion. Which genre of music or artist has influenced you the most?
Yas: Dream Theater and the fusion artists. Dream Theater has probably been my biggest influence. I listened to a lot of 80s bands like Rockman Extreme, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Van Halen, and Metallica before discovering it. I was also drawn to melodic death metal bands such as Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom. Then there came Dream Theater, which blew my mind. The concept is so deep, like the progressive music, way ahead of their time. Back in the days when I was in high school, I thought progressive music in general was crazy. You need to have a deep understanding of music to create it. Dream Theater has its movie-soundtrack-alike metal. I always liked the orchestra or film scores, but I didn’t realise Dream Theater was super dramatic and technical. When you're a teenager, of course, you want to work on it. Then I started to listen to fusion musicians like Pat Metheny and Holdsworth.
Donner: Dream Theater’s releasing a new album?
Yas: yes, Mike Portnoy is back. I'm super excited. I know it's crazy.
Donner: What are you looking for when you listen to their music?
Yas: When I listened to the music, I didn’t try to think about anything. Just take it and feel it. As I grew older and learned more about music, I began to analyze chords, corporations, and riffs more. I pay attention to the melody when there's a singer in the band. The vocals and the melody are the song. Lately, I've been focused on what makes a great melody, which I find personally challenging. It's easier for me to write riffs, but a good melody is much more elusive. Sometimes what I think is good doesn’t resonate with others, and vice versa. I take it as a challenge. I want to master good melodies, but it's hard and I haven’t sorted it out. I’ve found some theories like motifs in the melody, but they’re not applicable in every case. Music is interesting.
'I embrace different cultures because it opens my mind. Music works in the same way. I’ve learned a lot from the talented people I worked with. I want to take everything for my own music, but I love playing for others as well.'
Collaboration and Compromise In Clash Of Ideas
Donner: What are the differences between playing solo and accompanying others? How do you like them?
Yas: When I play solo, I focus on what I personally find compelling or enjoyable. I try to keep it melodic and musical at the same time because a bunch of inharmonious notes simply don’t work. There’s the balance: I'm trying to create MUSIC that satisfies ME. In the band, I’ll compromise with my bandmates to ensure everyone is happy with the music.
When I play for other artists, they’re the boss. I may give suggestions, but they make decisions. I'm not offended if they don't take my suggestions - it's part of my job to offer suggestions since I've been doing music all the time. I want to point out the problem or put forward my ideas. It’s my music, not necessarily liked by others, so I usually follow them.
Some people don’t like such collaborations, but I see it as an opportunity to learn from other artists. They bring different perspectives, influenced by diverse genres, backgrounds, and cultures. What may not work in Japan might be a hit in the U.S. or China, and vice versa. I embrace different cultures because it opens my mind. Music works in the same way. I’ve learned a lot from the talented people I worked with. I want to take everything for my own music, but I love playing for others as well.
Donner: Could you share your current and upcoming projects with us?
Yas: I'm working on my solo album or possibly an EP. I've already written a few tracks, and who knows, the song I performed today might count.
As the bassist in Whom Gods Destroy, hopefully, we’ll tour next year. We're planning for the second album as well. Whatever the project is, I just want to keep making music.
Donner: Could you share the updates in Japan?
Yas: Right now, I'm touring with HYDE from L'Arc-en-Ciel, alongside my own fusion shows. Playing with HYDE has been incredible. We’re good friends. His band plays rock and pop, but now he wants to play metal, which is perfect for me. Growing up listening to L'Arc-en-Ciel, the collaboration feels like a dream come true - he's an idol, a true rockstar.
A message to guitar beginners - ‘Just enjoy. Music is a beautiful gift.’
Donner: To conclude our talk, please give some tips for beginners and advanced learners.
Yas: For beginners, it's a tough process. You need to love what you're doing, although discipline is necessary. I actually enjoyed the boring chromatic exercises and kept practising them, which helped me reach this level.
I listen to various kinds of music and always try to learn. When you hear something new, try to understand it. Even if you may not like it in the end, why don’t you give it a chance? It may resonate with you. Just enjoy. Music is a beautiful gift.
Interviewer: Jake Wu
Editors: Bingqian Wang, Shicong, Wah-Ming, Jimmy, Jake Wu
Photos: Pu Huang, Zhanhua Wang
All text and image copyrights belong to Donner.