Why Fender’s ‘rock ’n’ roll’ president loves Australia so much

A guitar-playing president loves Australia so much that he almost joined one of the nation’s most iconic rock bands.

Edward Cole — a “rock ‘n’ roll” president at the helm of one of the world’s most iconic music and lifestyle brands — admits he has the “coolest job in the world” and that he once almost joined iconic Aussie band INXS.

The US-born Asia-Pacific President for Fender guitars, gained a reputation as a leader with style when working for the American fashion house Ralph Lauren.

As a musician himself, his current venture based in Tokyo is a dream come true for Mr Cole and one that has seen him create something special in the Japanese capital.

Roughly a year ago the guitar giant opened a flagship store in the world’s biggest city by population, and it has become a veritable bucket list destination for musicians.

“We wanted to create something that tells a story,” he told news.com.au from the top floor of the impressive building overlooking the busy streets of Shibuya. “We know that long-time musicians love Fender, but we also wanted something that would appeal to people just starting out, or perhaps haven’t yet started out on their musical journey.”

To illustrate this, the first floor features things you might not expect to find in a guitar store. Made-in-Japan bucket hats, jackets, T-shirts and caps line the walls alongside the company’s latest guitars.

Mr Cole said this was a conscious decision to welcome passers-by into the store.

“We know that fashion does not drive music, music has always driven fashion,” he said, pointing to how it was musicians who have set the fashion trends over the decade — not vice versa.

Edward “Bud” Cole, President of Fender APAC has one of the coolest jobs in the world.

“Guitar shops have a reputation as being a bit stand-offish and intimidating if you don’t know what you’re going in to buy. We wanted to go against all that and create somewhere as welcoming as possible for all types of people.

“If you’re somebody who has never picked up a guitar, then you’ll feel at home here as somebody who’s played for decades.”

The building is an incredible piece of architecture that at times feels more like a museum or a mecca for guitar players than a store. There are four floors stacked full of guitars and amps. The basement floor features a showroom space with a cool cafe serving cold drips, and from there a winding staircase takes you on a journey through music history.

On the walls leading up, there are giant portraits of some of the world’s most iconic guitar players, leading you up through rooms filled with stunning equipment that you can just pick up and try out.

When you eventually reach the third floor — which showcases the renowned Fender Custom Shop, also known as the “Dream Factory” — you are greeted by beautiful custom guitars that are painstakingly recreated from some of the most famous axes of all time. Many are worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Pulling out his drawers in his office, Mr Cole has all the parts — such as fretboards, knobs and scratchplates — that he needs to make a custom guitar.

When pushed by news.com.au to admit whether he has the coolest job in the world, he didn’t hesitate in saying he did.

Aussie connection

One part of the world under Mr Cole’s remit is Australia, and he has a deep love of Aussie rock — saying we have long punched above our weight in the music world given our small population.

He said three of his favourite bands of all time were AC/DC, Cold Chisel and INXS — with the latter being a band he bizarrely almost joined.

When the iconic Aussie band was looking for a new frontman via the reality show Rock Star: INXS, Mr Cole tried his luck at an early audition.

He told news.com.au he sang a couple of tunes including a rendition of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song that impressed the band and they were keen for him to take the next step.

However, Mr Cole said he ultimately couldn’t face trying to fill the shoes of one of the greatest singers in rock history — Michael Hutchence, who tragically died in 1997.

“For me personally, Michael Hutchence was INXS and nobody could replace that presence on stage,” he said.

However, Mr Cole’s current job is arguably just as rock’n’ roll, and it gives him the chance to travel to Australia every now and then to check out the local rock scene.

When pressed by news.com.au on whether there were any plans in the pipeline for Fender to open a flagship store Down Under, Mr Cole said it was not out of the picture — particularly how well the Tokyo store had been received.

“I can say this: If there were plans to open another flagship store, Australia would certainly be somewhere that would be in consideration,” he said.

A day in the life of a rock ‘n’ roll president

He may not be singing for INXS but Mr Cole has a job that’s nowhere near ordinary. On the day that news.com.au visited the store, he was on stage, launching a new collaboration between Fender and Hello Kitty — the cutesy cartoon character which has just celebrated its 50th birthday.

Japanese press were gathered in silence — so much so, you could hear a pin drop before this news.com.au reporter sat on and snapped one of the tiny metal camping stools for the media — before Mr Cole took to the stage in the flagship store’s bottom floor.

He was joined on stage by a colourful cast of characters — Yuriyan Retriever, a comedian with an enormous red bow stuck to her shoulder who sporadically burst out into renditions of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, Shigeru Matsuzaki, an artist who claimed to have 120 guitars in his home, and MAMI (SCANDAL), a Japanese guitarist. There was also of course somebody dressed up as Hello Kitty.

Fender launched a new Hello Kitty collaboration.

Mr Cole unveiled the new products.

Holdin eye-popping Made in Hello Kitty Stratocaster guitars, they all strummed a G chord and sang Happy Birthday to Hello Kitty, the comedian with the giant bow flopped around on the ground like Michael J Fox in Back to the Future, and Mr Cole stood on stage, grinning and shaking his hands to the music.

After a round of interviews with media from across Japan and Australia — which took up the majority of his day — Mr Cole geared up for the collaboration launch party which saw a DJ and female shredder performing a setlist of tunes — including It’s My Life by Bon Jovi and the Hello Kitty theme song.

This was all in front of a baying audience of influencers and families who sipped on milky and spiced Hello Kitty tea made specially for the event. It was peak Japan and Mr Cole, who was joined by his family for the festivities, appeared to enjoy every moment.

One of the new Hello Kitty guitars.

The store is a guitar player’s dream.

The future of guitar music

It might all seem like fun and games, leading a guitar company but ostensibly there is a serious issue facing rock music.

Barely any of the music in the top 100 songs on the Billboard chart is created by bands. Almost everything is created by beats, samples and done on a computer. The dawning of AI music throws another spanner in the works.

However, Mr Cole said this doesn’t keep him awake at night. Conversely, he said the statistics show that any gloom over the future of instrument-based music is misplaced.

“First of all, the Billboard doesn’t give you a full picture of what people are consuming. A big proportion of the people downloading music are still listening to guitar-based music,” he said. “Secondly, live music is massive. It’s now arguably bigger than ever after what happened with Covid. People want to get out and see gigs.

“If you’re going to have a live band on the stage, there’s no doubt you’re going to need a guitar.”

Mr Cole doesn’t deny there are challenges, but his aim is to encourage as many people as possible to begin their musical journey, and pick up a guitar.

“That’s what’s so great about days like today,” he said of launching a collaboration with Hello Kitty. “People tend to see a guitar as an extension of their personality. They want to get a guitar that matches their image or how they feel.

“Hello Kitty is something which is loved by people from all ages — from adults to young kids — so if that’s something that helps somebody to pick up a guitar and start playing for the first time, then that’s a good thing.

“This is how we keep the tradition of playing guitar alive and how we encourage people to start their journey so that we have another generation of guitar players to look forward to.”

It was all kicking off in Tokyo.

The author travelled to as a guest of Fender

Originally published as Why Fender’s ‘rock ’n’ roll’ president loves Australia so much