Ten Questions - Kay Grace

1) Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Kay Grace. I record (very infrequently) and perform (a little more often) with ok city ok in Tokyo. I also write advice columns on a freelance basis and will sing the national anthem of the country of your choice at kick boxing matches.


2) How did Ok City Ok come into being?

I came to Japan to get away from music, actually, but once here I discovered that 1) the gear I coveted as a poor person in the US was outdated and hence considered practically junk here, and 2) I didn't have any worthwhile ways of spending free time except for lurking around music stores. I acquired a pile of moldering recording gear and then started writing music to try to justify the expenditure. After I had enough songs for a record, I set about getting a quorum together to play live. This process consumed what was left of my youth.

I should be grateful, though, because Tom and Shiba are lovely people and great players and they practically insisted on joining the band right when I had finally decided, not for the first time, that I really really hated music and was through with it. Now I play in a band and write songs primarily because I like the other two members and want to impress them.

3) You played with bands in the States and managed Cotton Mather - is there much difference between the evil machinations of the music business there and here in Japan?

I was only in one band in the US - completely obscure, but people have long memories. I was Cotton Mather's tour manager - a roadie, basically. Anyway, I don't know if I have much to say about the music business either there or here, considering how peripheral my involvement has been.

4) There are other foreign/partly foreign bands in Tokyo but not many - how do the audiences react?

They avert their eyes and giggle nervously, but they do that no matter who's onstage. "React" strikes me as a strong word for whatever it is that audiences do at Tokyo livehouses. "Do" might be a bit of an overstatement as well. You may discern a sour edge to my tone here. I'm being a jackass. Actually, the issue of foreignness has just never come up with us, as far as I'm aware.

5) You recently toured the States and Canada - how was it and when are you likely to be taking your next spin overseas?

It was a lifesaver. I had forgotten what it was like to play in North America. Tom & Shiba were champs - they were totally unfazed by the chaos of the bar shows over there. We dug the immediacy and degree of engagement exhibited by audiences in Canada and the US. We're looking to go overseas again before the end of the year.


6) Which bands/artists should we be on the look out for?

Keisuke Hinami, who sometimes plays with us on violin and guitar, has a project called the Hinshi Etude. Beautiful singing, eerie songs - lots of them. He has something like ten different CDs which he gives away absolutely free at his shows - one way to beat the 30-minutes-per-set livehouse system. The Brixton Academy is the most entertaining band I've seen in Japan, and they managed to make a record that is just as much fun as their live shows. I envy and hate them for this.

7) What's your favourite venue a) to play; b) to see a band?

In Tokyo, we like Silver Elephant in Kichijoji and Garage in Shimo-Kitazawa. You know, I just don't get out enough. The only time I ever see bands is when we play with them.

8) Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo?

PABST BLUE RIBBON!

9) Vinyl, CD or mp3?

You can't line your apartment with mp3s to impress the ladies. People used to say that about CDs, though, when vinyl was getting frog-marched out of existence by the music biz. Those people were incorrect, however.

10) Have you got any upcoming events/releases you want to promote?

The next show is at Silver Elephant in Kichijoji, August 24 (Fri). We will be performing some new songs (gasp).


Our "record" Made By Elaborate Process is available from iTunes, though every goddamn time I look it up the artist name is different. This link will take you to the Apple Store, where you can download the album with some random person's name there instead of ok city ok. I wonder who gets the money. Searches for ok city ok turn up nothing on iTunes. Why does Apple hate us so? I had a Macintosh PowerBook 5300 - haven't I suffered enough?

CD Baby, on the other hand, will send you a shiny new shrink-wrapped ok city ok CD for just ten bucks, and they know our name.

That's about it. Thanks for asking.

Ten Questions - Ian Martin

In true Tokyo Music style, I have stolen another blog's idea in an attempt to make this site something more than just reviews and video clips lazily posted from YouTube. Praxis Theatre have been doing a 'Ten Questions' interview on a fairly regular basis, and in lieu of any ideas of my own, Tokyo Music will be trying to do something similar (to be honest, I'm sure Praxis nicked the idea from somewhere else anyway). First up in the firmament of Tokyo's musical luminaries is Ian Martin - take it away sir:


1) Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Ian Martin and I run the now very infrequently-updated
Clear And Refreshing web site, do the odd bit of writing for The Japan
Times and run Call And Response Records.


2) Which artists/albums would you recommend as a 'way in' to Japanese
indie/underground music?

Depends what you mean by a "way in". My way into the music scene was
to just find bands I liked and go to their gigs. They'll usually be
playing with three or four other bands and if you go to enough of
them, one or two of those bands might turn out to be decent too. What
band you choose as your "in" will depend on what kind of music you
like. Personally, the bands that really kicked me off into the sort of
music that I tend to listen to now were Nisennenmondai, whose shows
about three years ago introduced me to a lot of other underground and
experimental gigs, and Mosquito, who seem to be into all kinds of
music and play with all kinds of different bands. As far as albums go,
there are a lot of decent compilations out there: Kimica Records'
"Kimica Golden Package" has some good stuff and "Headache Sounds
Sampler CD Vol.4" has a lot of the current generation of underground
bands. Less Than TV Records have a compilation out that I haven't
heard, but lots of good bands from around Japan are on it, and Disk
Union has a compilation CD and DVD series called "Central Point
Of...", which has a lot of good bands on it too. In Nagoya, the "7586
Nagoya Rock" series is good.

3) How would you describe the current state of Japanese music?

Fragmentary.

4) What made you start the label/putting on events?

Going to gigs and seeing one or two bands I wanted to see and three or
four bands I thought were rubbish. It's my way of making sure that
once every month or two, there's a gig where I like everything.
Obviously, not everyone has the same taste as me, but I do take into
account what bands are going to appeal to fans of the other bands at
the gig, but at the same time offer I always try to offer something
different. I really think people enjoy themselves more and get more
excited about a show if there's something different there, but on the
other hand, there are so many bad shows out there that people are
reluctant to go out to a gig with a bunch of bands they don't know.
Maintaining a kind of balance is what I try to do, and I hope that
eventually the word will get out that my shows are always pretty
decent.

5) I've heard you say a few times that you think there are much more
vibrant music scenes outside of Tokyo, for example, Fukuoka. Why do you
think that is and which non-Tokyo bands would you recommend?

I wouldn't say that the scenes outside Tokyo are more vibrant per se -
the good thing about Tokyo is that there are just so many bands here,
so Tokyo will always have more good stuff than other cities. On the
other hand, I think places like Fukuoka, because of their smaller
size, force bands into closer proximity. If they want to play shows,
they have to keep a more open mind about who they play with and what
kinds of audiences they play to. The negative side of there being so
many bands in Tokyo is that it makes it too easy for them to clump
together with small groups of like-minded musicians, which I suppose
is nice, but it really is such a sterile situation to be in, and from
my point of view as a promoter, it's utterly unbearable trying to deal
with bands like that. It's interesting to watch the difference in the
way ex-Fukuoka bands in Tokyo operate compared to native Tokyo
musicians. They just seem a bit mentally tougher somehow.

6) Any other bands we should be watching out for?

Not sure. Mahiruno are on the up at the moment, but what happens with
a lot of bands is that they release and album and then all the energy
seems to go out of them and they stop writing new songs, as if that
was as far as they'd ever really thought, so I hope that doesn't
happen to them. Uhnellys have been around for a few years, but there's
a bit of a buzz around them now. There's a fantastic EP from Fukuoka
that I heard recently by a band called Miu Mau, but all the members of
Miu Mau play in other bands, so I don't know how seriously they're
going to be pushing it.

Outside Tokyo, I like Nohshintoh from Nagoya a lot. In Kyoto, Fluid
are pretty good and in Osaka, Squimaoto seem pretty good (although I
haven't seen them). Velocityut are a good punk band from Nagasaki. In
Fukuoka I recommend Folk Enough, Moth, TepPohseen, Spectrum
Synthesize!, Miu Mau, and (of course) Hyacca.

7) What's your favourite venue?

Depends on the kinds of music. Koenji 20000V is a good punk venue -
it's dirty and smelly, and it has really nasty sound, so it's not for
everyone. Akihabara Goodman has very good sound, but audiences there
can be a bit quiet. Decadent Deluxe in Fukuoka is a lovely place.
Heaven's Door in Sangenjaya is good, and they let you take your own
beers in as well. Aoi-Heya in Shibuya would be one of my favourites if
the booze wasn't so horrendously expensive.


8) Vinyl, CD or mp3?

CDs sound best, mp3s are most convenient. Vinyl makes you look coolest.


9) Kirin, Sapporo or Asahi?

Asahi.

10) What have you got lined up that you want to promote/publicise?

LIVE:
July 27th at Koenji Club Roots:
Natasha Forrest (my band) / Inoue Shuichi (From Folk Enough - Fukuoka)
/ Mosquito / and about hers


August 17th at Koenji 20000V:
Saladabar / UMIBACHI / Agolay Culkin / COTTONIOO (Opening Act) / more TBC

September 23rd at Koenji Penguin House:
"Koenji Pop Festival - All-day Event"
Miami / and about hers / MIR / Basement Park Is / more TBC
October 20th at Koenji 20000V:
Hyacca (From Fukuoka) / MIR / Tacobonds / more TBC

CD:
Hyacca: "Sashitai"
MIR: "This Tiny World"
Both CDs are available now at live shows and Koenji Enban. I'll be
adding them to more indie record shops over the next couple of months,
and they'll be distributed properly nationwide from mid September
(Hyacca) and mid October (MIR).