S.Yuya: Why SID's Yuuya Handles All Songwriting, Vocals, Instruments, Arrangements, and Production on His Solo Project — "It Would Be a Waste to Limit Myself to Just One Form of Expression"
This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
S.Yuya Interview: Sid’s Yuuya on His Solo Project “Circle”
Yuuya, the drummer of Sid, released his 2nd album under the solo moniker S.Yuya titled circle on December 9th, 2025—his birthday. Throughout 2025, he held monthly performances at Meguro Live Station, debuting new songs each time. The completed album contains 10 songs created over the course of a year, arranged in chronological order.
What’s remarkable is that S.Yuya not only plays drums, but handles vocals, guitar, bass, and all other instrumental parts entirely by himself. He even takes on mixing and mastering duties. Yuuya is the composer of Sid’s signature song “嘘” (Lie), so his talent is undeniable—and with S.Yuya, he writes and composes every song as well. The accessible yet striking melodies are fully supported by the band ensemble across all parts, which carries the vocal sensibility characteristic of Sid’s work.
This marks S.Yuya’s first interview with BARKS as a solo artist. Beyond discussing the album circle and the upcoming tour ＜S.Yuya TOUR 2026 〜Circle〜＞ starting in February, we dig into how S.Yuya came to be and what he’s aiming for.
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“When I think about singing or expressing myself, I guess songs I want to sing at karaoke take priority”
Q: This is your first BARKS interview as a solo artist, so we’ll include some “S.Yuya basics” questions that existing fans probably already know. You started with your 1st album travel in 2024—was there a particular trigger for that?
S.Yuya: During the pandemic and such, when the world’s “normal” stopped being normal, I had a lot to think about. I started feeling like “there are so many ‘right answers’ now,” you know? I didn’t want to get trapped in a box and end up being small-minded. I wanted to try a wider range of musical activities. That was the catalyst for me.
Q: You’re the drummer in Sid, but with S.Yuya, you handle every single part yourself. To be direct—wasn’t there a high hurdle to overcome when it comes to singing?
S.Yuya: I’ve always loved karaoke, so it didn’t feel like that high of a hurdle, honestly. Learning an instrument requires you to consciously decide to start, and that’s pretty difficult. But singing is something that’s already part of everyday life, right?
Q: I’ve listened to your 1st album travel, the subsequent single “アサガオ” (Morning Glory), and now this 2nd album circle. Your vocal performance is far beyond just being “familiar with karaoke.” When you actually started doing this, did you discover things like “a different switch flips when I express myself through singing compared to drums”?
S.Yuya: I simply love singing, and I’ve just never expressed myself like this before. Even with Sid, when I submit a song, I sing a guide vocal for it myself, so I was already used to singing my own compositions at home. There are subtle discoveries, though. For example, I’ve come to understand things like “my vocal tone’s frequency characteristics—this part tends to be higher,” that kind of thing.
Q: When composing, do you distinguish between songs for Sid and songs for your solo work?
S.Yuya: In the beginning, I did separate them quite a bit. With solo work, I’m the only one expressing anything, so I was really just creating what I personally wanted to express. But starting with this album, I was writing while doing monthly live shows, so it was a bit different.
Q: So the presence of your fans influenced you.
S.Yuya: Right. Before releasing a work, I’d hear the audience’s reactions and feedback at live shows first, then think “what kind of new song would’ve made next month’s show even better?” and immediately write and perform it. So in a sense, I could be experimental. Take “夢の続きを…” (The Continuation of Dreams…), the second track—I saw a song that I’d normally bring to Sid and thought “I wonder how the audience would react if I sang this myself?” I wanted to check that out. Several songs on this album came about that way.
Q: So the boundary between Sid and solo work has become less distinct, and you’re feeling more freedom?
S.Yuya: Most of the people coming are probably fans who already liked Sid and came to support my solo stuff. Looking at the audience’s reactions, I get the sense that there’s a lot of “yeah, that’s what we wanted to see!” or “that’s what we wanted to hear!” If I were a fan myself, I’d feel the same way.
Q: So there was never ego or conflict where you thought “no, this is the face I want to show in my solo work”?
S.Yuya: Those feelings are definitely there too, but it doesn’t feel like I’m completely separating things the way I used to—”this is for Sid, this is for solo”—anymore.
Q: I was surprised to learn that not only do you handle all the instrumental parts yourself, but you also do the mixing and mastering. You’re very talented.
S.Yuya: No, no (laughs). Mixing and mastering especially—there are experts for that, so I could just leave it to someone else. But when I tried doing it myself, it was incredibly fun, and I found it really rewarding. So now I’m actually redoing my 1st album travel by myself.
Q: How did you pick up guitar and bass?
S.Yuya: Guitar came before I started drums. There was this period when there was a guitar boom among kids my age. My house happened to have a guitar, so I started playing it back in school.
Q: Have you ever performed it with Sid?
S.Yuya: I’ve performed it on stage a couple of times. When Sid did an event at a smaller live house, I played guitar. And I also performed once with guitar at the company’s year-end event at Nippon Budokan back then—＜JACK IN THE BOX 2008＞.
Q: The guitar on “風に吹かれて” (Blown by the Wind) has a sharp, satisfying cutting style mixed with slides, and nearly every song has a guitar solo. You’ve definitely put in serious practice.
S.Yuya: Really? I actually love guitar and collect them. If I think something looks cool, I have this habit of just buying it on sight (laughs).
Q: Do you have a particular fondness for bass as well?
S.Yuya: I love music genres where the bass really stands out. I got really into funk music for a while, and I find that the bass often catches my ear. It really does pull my attention.
Q: The first track “Winter wing” incorporates strings—did you arrange those strings yourself as well?
S.Yuya: Yeah, I did. As an arrangement choice, I just capture what pops into my head and put it down.
Q: So you’re taking the image in your head and forming it entirely by yourself?
S.Yuya: That’s right. But honestly, working alone is surprisingly easy. You don’t have to think about anyone else’s needs, and you can really drill down into what you like. You can record at your own pace, in your own way, from home.
Q: So your production environment is DTM—you record yourself playing, then edit all of that together, right?
S.Yuya: Yeah. About halfway through, my fingers start hurting like crazy. Especially when I’m playing bass. So lately, I’ve been wearing work gloves on my left hand while I play bass (laughs).
Q: Some professional bassists do that too. Going forward, are you planning to keep doing everything yourself—vocals, playing, writing and composing, arranging, producing it all? Sounds exhausting though…
S.Yuya: It actually is exhausting (laughs). But with S.Yuya, I’m planning to keep doing everything by myself until I get tired of it.
Q: Do the other Sid members give feedback on your vocals and instrumental parts, or offer advice?
S.Yuya: No, not really (laughs). I don’t comment on the other members’ solo work either. Though I do get teased sometimes, and that’s when I realize “oh, they actually listened to it” (laughs). It gets a little embarrassing.
Q: You mentioned funk as a genre—where do your musical roots come from?
S.Yuya: There’s no one standout artist I’m like “I admire this person.” I really listen to everything broadly. I think whatever’s trending at any given moment—that shows up in my compositions or the drums I play, you know?
Q: The emotional melodies and dramatic progressions have a J-POP sensibility to them that feels like it’s become your blood and bone—it naturally seeps through.
S.Yuya: That’s probably because I love karaoke (laughs). When you’re singing karaoke, it’s naturally Japanese songs, and when I think about singing or expressing myself, I guess songs I want to sing at karaoke take priority.
Q: Were there any rock bands you were really into, or artists you looked up to and covered back in school?
S.Yuya: Oh, loads of them. When friends invited me to form a band, we started with Hi-STANDARD covers. Then we moved on to HUSKING BEE and stuff like that.
Q: So your entry point to drums was melodic punk.
S.Yuya: At the time, it was a genre I knew nothing about, so I was just doing it because I was invited. After that, I formed my own band and covered JUDY AND MARY. A lot of the bands I played in came from invitations from older friends and people around me, so I experienced all kinds of music. Drummers are rare, you know? There’s a lot of demand.
Q: So you were doing multiple bands at once?
S.Yuya: Yeah. Someone would see me play and ask “would you help us out?” and I’d give it a shot. That way I’d discover “oh, there’s a song like this,” you know?