Songs created in collaboration with haruka nakamura
To mark the opening of the S.T,N.E. showroom, haruka nakamura composed three original tracks.
They are available both via digital streaming and as a 12-inch vinyl release.
「S.T,N.E. – TRUCK FURNITURE × haruka nakamura」
01. N/E
02. still T RUCK
03. MONDAY FELT PIANO
Music by haruka nakamura
Chorus(N/E): maika / Mastering: gen tanabe(Studio Camel House) / Design: suzuki takahisa(16 design institute) / Music Production: kyoko Yamaguchi(one cushion, inc)
Digital release:
https://linkco.re/gZ4xgyYM
LP record (Limited Edition):
* 12-inch record (45 rpm)
* First released 03.31.2025
https://www.truck-furniture.co.jp/en/truckshop/furniture/468
It was quite some time ago when I first became drawn to TRUCK FURNITURE. Back then, I couldn’t afford to buy anything, so I would just browse their website endlessly.
More than ten years have passed since I was finally able to welcome a DESKWORK CHAIR into my room, and ever since, the time I spend making music has always been accompanied by a TRUCK FURNITURE chair.
One day, by chance, I met Mr. Kise at a shop called monk. He told me that he listened to music like Still Life while working and going about his days. That encounter led to a new collaboration – he asked me to create music for S.T,N.E., a new project taking shape on the first floor of TRUCK.
The DESKWORK CHAIR from TRUCK has supported me through all my music-making over the years. With a sense of something coming full circle, I took this opportunity to explore new sounds in the very place where the chair was born.
Even now, in my music room in the north, a TRUCK FURNITURE chair sits quietly, waiting for the next piece of music to come.
haruka nakamura
For more than three years, as we continued to imagine the world of S.T,N.E. and its furniture, the music I listened to most often was by haruka nakamura. His album “Still Life” played constantly while I was thinking about the furniture.
A few years ago, by chance, I encountered him by chance at a beautiful store in Kyoto called “monk” and we were introduced. During our conversation, Haruka told me, “I write music on the DESKWORK CHAIR from TRUCK.” The idea that music I like was created on something we made, made me inexplicably happy.
Around November of this year, I worked up the courage to message him: “I wonder if I could get a song that’s just right for S.T,N.E.?” His reply: “Anytime”. Overjoyed, I sent him photos and words to convey the kind of image I had in mind. By mid-December, what had been a dream started becoming reality.
Despite the tight deadline of December 21 – an opening date we set at the last minute – Haruka composed not one, but three original songs for us.
Designer Suzuki Takayuki, whose clothing is sold at TRUCK and what I personally love and wear every day, once described haruka’s music on Instagram:
“The music he creates is ephemeral and beautiful, yet beneath it lies a faint, faint trace of raw human grittiness and the complex emotions that come with it. That subtle depth resonates deeply with me.”
When I read those words, it all clicked. It was as if he had put into words what I’d been unable to articulate, the reason I listen to haruka’s music so often.
Back when we started TRUCK, I listened to a lot of blues, especially country blues. Of course, I also loved jazz. As we worked on S.T,N.E., my focus was always on refinement, paring things down to their essence. One of the musical styles that naturally fit that mindset was piano. I listened to a variety of pieces, but music that was simply “beautiful” didn’t hold my attention for long. I’d soon want to move on to something else.
But with haruka’s music, I can listen to it on repeat, over and over. Suzuki’s words explained why: it’s that faint trace of rawness beneath the surface, a “grittiness” that resonates with me, too.
Even with S.T,N.E.’s furniture, which I crafted with the intention of stripping away excess, when the pieces were placed together and the shop started to take shape, I realized something. Naturally, “myself” had seeped into the details here and there, and the result wasn’t purely clean and cool. Perhaps that’s why haruka nakamura’s world and ours feel so in sync.
On the wall of the store, there is a poster of a photo I took of the mountains of northern Osaka, a place that I have loved and been visiting for over forty years. The photo captures layers of mountains stretching far into the distance, like overlapping waves. When I step back and look at it, the song “still TRUCK” pulls my gaze to the distant horizon. As I walk the mountain path to that spot, “MONDAY FELT PIANO” matches the rhythm of my steps. And after spending time gazing at the mountains, when I feel it is time to head back, recharged and ready to return to reality, “N/E” lifts my spirits, setting the tone for what lies ahead.
These three tracks, along with a curated playlist of songs handpicked by Haruka himself, are now playing in the S.T,N.E. showroom.
Tokuhiko Kise