Day 432

Dayflower: the latest by our Leicester friends is a song called “Mockingbird”. It is a bit different to previous releases, this one is much more acoustic and introspective. From what I understand this song is not that new, that it was actually made by two of the members years ago in their bedroom for an album that never got released.

Nos Etés Trop Courts: not too long I was interviewing Gérôme and Jimmy about this short-lived project from Nantes and learning so many details. It was quite a surprise to hear a new song today, “Moon Scream”, from their fall 1993 demo tape. I wonder how many more nice songs will Jimmy unearth for his OVVK Archives Bandcamp page! It definitely seems the Nantes, Rennes and Brittany scene of the early 90s was quite exciting!

The Korova Milk Bar: remember the interview last week? Well, well, well… the band has released a limited 10″ vinyl on Blue-Very Label of Japan!! It is called “Rain Girls & Gentle Girls”, just like one of their best songs. It has 7 tracks and right now on the label’s Bandcamp you can preview the title track (which I shared on the interview) and “Goodby Flip-Flap Guitar”. I would recommend everyone getting it. I would if only the Japanese shipping costs to the US were more “normal”. Top stuff.

Nico Nico: it’s been a while since I heard a Peruvian jangle pop band. This is a nice discovery then! An 8-song album titled “El Azulito” and no other details. I look into their Facebook page to see if there’s any other info. Not really. I see a band of four people on a photo. My favourite song out of the 8 is “Tomás Valle”.

Marmalade: from the early 90s, from Denton, Texas. I have never heard this band and would be interesting to interview them and find out more. They released two cassette albums, “Promise You the Moon” (1992) and “In So Many Words (1993)” and then disappeared. Luckily 15 of their songs are now on Bandcamp. Jangly and poppy. It is also worth mentioning that they also go by A Band Called Marmalade because of a problem with a UK 60s-70s band called Marmalade.

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Now let’s head to Sweden. Again my friend David Chalé picked my curiosity as he posted a song by Violett called “Utsikt”.

I am aware of this Swedish band thanks to the compilation “A Chance to Shine. A Dorian Compilation” that came out in 1996 on Dorian Records, the label our friend Roger Gunnarsson ran when he was still in Halmstad.

On this compilation we find the song “Mitt Fel” which actually opens the CD. The only information we get on the booklet of the CD about the band is that the song is credited to M. Cervin and M. Wemrell. But we know few more things. We know that this song was also the opening track of a self-titled demo tape that was released in 1996.

This demo tape had four songs, “Mitt Fel”, “När Du Talar Till Mig”, “Trasig Ring” and “Utsikt”. all songs had being recorded and mixed at Studio Mary M in Ystad in the month of July of 1995. Wow, Ystad. The city of Wallander. I want to go one day. Did the band hailed from there then? Indeed. The contact info on the demo tape indicates they were from there!

Speaking of the band we know that ti was formed by Mårten Cervin, Dan Lindgren and Daniel Permbo. And when it came ot the songs we know that Daniel Permbo wrote “När Du Talar Till Mig”, “Trasig Ring” and “Utsikt”, while “Mitt Fel” is credited to Maria Wemrell. I wonder who she is. For the music, we see that all songs are credited to Mårten but “När Du Talar Till Mig” where the music is credited to Dan Lindgren.

The only other info on the demo tape is a credit for the photo on the sleeve which was taken by Martin Gustavsson. Ah! and the tape has a label, Clown Productions. The tape is CLOWN003.

I look for the band members then. I believe Mårten has been playing keyboards with a singer songwriter called Fredrik Larsson as of late. I don’t find any music related projects by Daniel Permbo but I think he has his own film/animation company called DejPej Film and has made this cool video about the city and Wallader! Even cooler he used a Sambassadeur song as background music for the video. Class.

I found a Maria Wemrell who is a post-doctoral fellow at Lund University. It is still Skåne. Could it be the same Maria?

I couldn’t find any other info about Violett’s music. But this was some nice background info. Hopefully we’ll learn more about the band in the near future! Hålla tummarna!

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Listen
Violett – Utsikt

Day 429

Tapeworms: Friday at last. We start with this band from Lille, France, and their latest song, “Magic Pierrot”. This is my introduction to this band, this surprising song which I am having trouble to categorize.It is a super fun song, poppy and catchy, a song perfect to play on repeat.

Broome: “Winter Sun Demo” is how we discover this one-man project by Brian Bielawa from Brooklyn, NYC. There is no other songs nor other information, just this fine dreamy shoegaze track.

Kid Coyote: let’s stay in the U.S. and travel north, to Boston. There we find the duo Kid Coyote formed by Joe O’Neill and Clara Berry. Their latest release is the “Good Company” EP. It is available digitally now and it includes four fine pop slices, “Good Company”, “Plastic”, “Distracted Fantasy” and “Young”.

Coral Grief: now to the other coast, to Seattle. Another duo, Lena Farr-Morrissey and Sam Fason. No EP this time but a digital single. It is called “Crumble” and it is another dreampop track. It is different. It is softer, more sparce, melancholic and hopeful, a lovely song.

Apartamentos Acapulco: another great song is the latest by the Spanish band is a video recorded in Argentina it seems. The song is called “Y Tú en Barcelona” and is available now everywhere digitally.

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My Serbian friend Nikola gave me the heads up about the Paisley, Scotland, band The Handsomes. I had no idea they existed and well, let’s see if we can find anything about them on the web.

The Swansea-based label Lavender Sweep Records seem to be looking for information about them. So they uploaded one of the songs the band recorded. They have identified this song as “Paisley” and they mention it came from a demo tape of the band. Sadly they haven’t added any information of any of the other songs that were included in this cassette. The only other detail shared is that it dates from sometime in the 80s.

There is a photo of the cassette. An AGFA LNX60. The tape had some art. It shows a smiling woman with sunglasses, a dress and a cool beehive hairdo.

The song sounds very much influenced by The Smiths. What else can we find?

On Facebook I noticed the Welsh label tried to get contact information as well. Seems there was no luck. Someone that was in the Glasgow band The Clinic seems to mention that one of the band members in The Handsomes used to be called Soapie.

Not much more. But maybe some of the readers of the blog remember this band. I’d be very curious to find out more information about them as well!

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Listen
The Handsomes – Paisley

++ And there are no compilation appearances either, right?

Nick: no.  Almost Charlotte had a track on ‘The Sound of Leamington Spa volume 5’ but nothing for Bluff.

Day 427. A busy week this one and the next, with posts everyday. Lots of interviews coming up!

Ta To Boy: remember I was wondering what about the 2nd album bu the Greek popsters. I had seen new music on Youtube but no real announcement. Well, the new album, “Endless Life” is up now on Bandcamp. 9 songs packed of finely crafted pop songs. There is no announcement of a proper physical release though. That worries me. I hope someone picks up this record. It sounds very good.

Kung-Fu Girl: the fantastic Japanese pop combo from Osaka is back with what looks a new tape. I can’t be sure as there are no order button for a tape but the artwork looks like a cassette as well as the name of the release, “Casette Tapes Series Vol. 1”. In any case, this release has two songs, “Rabuka” and “Ghost Girlfriend”. Good stuff.

Traveling with Monika: our favourite Bangkok band is also back. It is great to see bands continuing making music these days. Their newest song is called “Lost to Nothing” and it is a fine slice of sweet and cosy pop music.

Something Beautiful: that is the title of the new Sunday Records compilation that is coming out on June 4. The comp will be available on vinyl and CD and will include only good bands. That is a good thing, right? It has bands that have released on Cloudberry like The Suncharms or Alpaca Sports, friends of mine like the lovely Starry Eyed Cadet, and other favourites like The Arctic Flow or Mariana in Our Head. So this seems like a must have this summer!!

Ruth Po!: wow it is always a pleasure to listen to a new song by Ruth Po! Her voice, her way of writing lyrics, are always special. This new song, “Lonely Saturday”, was recorded in lockdown with Ruth playing every single instrument in it. Again, a pleasure to my ears.

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The other day I was asked if I was the Youtube account “stoneeyedkiller”. I am not of course. I do find a lot of great indiepop bands from him which I then write about on the blog, but I do think the person behind that Youtube account also checks the blog often because many discoveries of mine have appeared later there. Let’s say we inspire each other. And I don’t know this person. Which is kind of cool.

Of course I don’t like everything he posts, and I am sure he doesn’t like everything I like. For example sometimes he has bands that are too rocky or goth for my taste. And that’s fine. But the band I am writing about today, Lofthouse, I discovered thanks to stoneeyedkiller, and it is the sort of music I like.

I have very little info about them. I know they released a 12″ in 1991 with four songs on, probably their own label, Whyte Label (001). The songs on the record were “Hypnotised” and “Everywhere” on the A side and “Sky High” and “Space Head” on the B side. The sleeve of the record has these faces, 7 times, I am sure this person was someone famous, but I don’t know who it is. Maybe my British friends would know. Yeah, because the band hailed from the UK.

Last.fm seems to have a bio and I hope it is for the right Lofthouse. Here it mentions that the band was named after the football legend Nat Lofthouse.

Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with one of the highest goals-per-game ratios of any England player.

I think Nat Lofthouse is the same person as in the sleeve. What do you think?

It says that they were from Bolton and were formed by Steve Robinson on guitars and vocals, Richard Whyte (and probably replaced at some point by Ed Warburton) on bass, Jakey (replaced by Ian Jones) on drums, Gary Connor on guitar and Michael Ryan on percussion. It also says that in 1994 some of the band members went to form Plainfield.

I haven’t found any other details about the band. I haven’t heard the other songs on the record yet. Do they sound like “Hypnotised”? I think I’d like to find out. I think the record is not that pricey, just the postage is annoying. But maybe that way I’ll be able to get a better idea of this band… or you can help me? Someone remembers Lofthouse?!

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Listen
Lofthouse – Sky High

Thanks so much to Mayumi for the interview! I reached Mayumi a few weeks ago as I was interested in learning more about the classic Japanese band Three Berry Icecream. Of course, Mayumi has been in so many bands and involved in indiepop for a long time, and would be great to cover other bands she’s been in like Bridge, The Bachelors or Daffodil-19. Today we thought it was a good idea to learn

++ Hi Mayumi! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Hello, Cloudberry Records! I’m really happy to have your interview. Thank you very much indeed. I’m fine.

Of course, I’m still involved in music.

In the last few years, I’ve released several records and CDs as Three Berry Icecream, and I’ve also played accordion and sung with my friend’s band’s live and recording support. At the request of a friend, I played the accordion as the theme song of a soccer program.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

I was probably 5 years old when I made my first song.

A song about a fictional girl named Tatapico wishing to climb Tokyo Tower.

The first instrument is the piano. I started taking piano lessons with my sister when I was 6 years old.

I had some movie music records at home. I studied classical piano, but I liked to play my piano scores for The Carpenters songs. I also listened to Japanese pop music.

I’ve been playing pop and rock bands since middle school and high school. But what is close to the current music is the band of the group I met at the design vocational school.

++ Had you been in other bands before the Three Berry Icecream? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

Yes, I was in a band called Bridge from 1989 to 1995. Bridge released a 1st album produced by Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) and later belonged to the Shibuya-kei music genre.

Bridge has released several CDs from the TRATTORIA label of POLYSTAR Records.

My song “Windy Afternoon” became our first single CD.

Before BRIDGE, I was in a band called The BACHELORS. The BACHELORS (1987-1989), BRIDGE (1989-1995), ROOF (1990-1991), MARBLE HAMMOCK (1990-1993), DAFFODIL-19 (1995-1999).

Some of the bands other than BRIDGE and MARBLE HAMMOCK have been active before I joined, and there are some that I left. The years indicate the period I was part of the band.

++ What about other members?

Three Berry Icecream (3BI for short) is my solo unit. There are no other members. But I’m getting help from support members.

++ Where were you from originally?

I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan.

++ How was Tokyo at the time of Three Berry Icecream? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

In Tokyo, there are many places to express various genres of music, from small to large, so my band can also perform live in various places such as live venues and cafes.

I have a lot of favorite Japanese bands.

The first 3BI cassette sold 90 out of 200 at my friend’s record shop Maximum Joy. The store was in Shibuya at the time, and I heard from the owner Susukita that Tom Ardolino of NRBQ came to buy it. After that, thanks to another friend, I corresponded with him for several years from around 2005.

For the last few years, there has been a very nice record shop called Disques Blue-very in Koenji, Tokyo. There are HMV and Tower Records, but I always go there. Kei Nakamura, the manager of the store, is also a label owner, and more and more musicians gather to meet and become friends, leading to something to do together.

++ How long has Three Berry Icecream being going?

Three Berry Icecream has been active for 22 years and I am very blessed with support members. I’ve always had great musician friends supporting me every time I play live or record. Performing at the same live event, getting along well, scouting, and so on.

++ How do support members work for Three Berry Icecream?

Support members are organized differently for each event. Sometimes I play an accordion and a glockenspiel, and someone accompanies me on guitar.

Other times I perform with a band of many instruments: drums, bass, guitar, piano, violin or viola, chorus, percussion. There are times with trumpets and flutes are included.

Sometimes the same members continue playing several times, and there are some cases where the members started a band because they met at 3BI. I’m very happy about that.

++ Support members these days, in which bands are they in?

Support members are active in their respective bands: The Caraway, h-shallows, Chidori Quartet, Vasallo Crab 75 and more.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

When I practice alone, at home. When we practice together, we rent a rehearsal studio.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

I found a picture of a dessert called Three Berry Icecream with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a magazine, and I liked the name because it was so happy. I hoped to become a band that makes such happy music.

++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Felt, The Monochrome Set, The Go-Betweens, The Velvet Underground, Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends, The Carpenters, Claudine Longet, Yumi Arai, Friedrich Sunlight, more…

A lot of my favorite bands. In particular, I was influenced by Martin Duffy of Felt as a keyboard player. However, I may be most influenced by the band members of Bachelors and Bridge who taught me about them in the 1980s and 1990s.

++ And what about Japanese bands? Which are your favourite bands from your country? And if there are any that you would recommend me as obscure bands that deserve my attention?

My favorite Japanese bands are advantage Lucy, Rocky Chack, Round Table, Corniche Camomile, The Caraway, Smokebees, Johnny Dee, these bands are the ones I recorded or played live with, doing accordion or back vocals. I also like Sloppy Joe and Neil and Iraiza, and I’ve done live events with them. I recommend a band called The Bachelors, of which I was a keyboard player. In the late 80’s, it was called Japanese Felt or Japanese Go-Betweens. We re-released the cassette in 2019, so please check it out.

++ Your first release, as far as I know was a 7″ on the US label Dogprint Records in 1999. How did your music end up in a US label?

3BI started its activities by self-releasing cassette tapes in 1998. Another version of the song on the cassettes was recorded on the appendix CD of a Japanese music magazine. The magazine was also sold in the United States. After hearing the song, Dogprint magazine and records label owner Lenny sent me an email and decided to release the record.

++ Who were Dogprint Records? I don’t know much about this label!

Dogprint magazine & records is an indie label run by an Italian named Lenny who lived in New Jersey at the time. It also made a magazine. The records sold at the same time as 3BI were in various genres such as punk, emotional rock, and folk pop.

I wonder why 3BI was chosen there, but he liked it very much. I appreciate it very much.

Lenny, I haven’t been able to contact you in the last few years so if you read this interview, I’d love to hear from you.

++ Did you ever travel and play in the US?

Yeah. Around the same time as Dogprint, I received an email from the San Francisco band The Fairways’ Brent Kenji. Brent also contacted the magazine after listening to the magazine’s appendix CD.

The email exchange with Brent has begun. Then, in the summer of 2000, I was invited to an American tour with The Fairways. We played live together. That was the first time I went to America and haven’t been there since.

++ And before this release, you must have had recordings, right? Maybe demo tapes? Or was this your first time in a recording studio?

Of course I did recordings.

At that time, there was a recording studio at the bassist’s support member’s house, so I recorded there. ABRIR studio, it was the first recording studio for 3BI.

++ Your next release was the “Apricot” CD on Channel Records. Again, this is a label I have never heard about. Who was behind this label and how was your relationship with them?

For channel records, Mr. Uchikoga is the label owner and graphic designer.

I met Mr. Sakurai of my label mates Corniche Camomile, and he has been helping me with my band’s recordings since. Mr. Sakurai accompanied me as a guitarist on the American tour.

++ Another thing I notice from these two first releases is the cool art with robots. Wondering who made this? Was it your idea to use these illustrations?

I drew the illustration of this robot. Thank you for saying it’s cool art.

++ And how was the experience of recording at Studio Abrir? Did you like working there?

I recorded the 1st 7 inch record, the 1st mini album “Apricot” and the split CD with The Fairways at Studio ABRIR. I also recorded game music and movie music. It’s a place of fun memories.

++ Then came a cool split CD EP with The Fairways. Did you already know this US band? Or was it the label who put together these two great bands? What would be your favourite Fairways songs by the way?

It was decided to go on an American tour with The Fairways, and Lenny of Dogprint said he would make a split CD of 3BI and The Fairways.

One new song by each and one cover of each other’s songs. The song covered by 3BI is “K-L-M line”. I love this song, but my favorite song by The Fairways is “Emily”. They were singing the song on the American tour. When I was working at a cafe restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo for four years, it cheered me up to hear it play often on the in-store music broadcast.

++ Then in 2007 you worked again with Brent Kenji from The Fairways on a 7″ with two songs titled “Three Cheers“. You made a great friendship with him. Did he go to Japan to record these songs? Or how did you work together?

We first met Brent when we toured the US with The Fairways in 2000 and we all shared our favorite music. During the tour, we made a song called “Sunshine on my Mind” together. After that, there are several co-written songs such as “Just a Dream” and “Majestic Monochrome” that I composed and sent a demo to Brent to write the lyrics. After touring with The Fairways in the United States, we performed together in Japan in 2002. And after that, once every few years, Brent came to Japan to play live and record with us. For “three cheers”, I sent a demo of this song at night, and the next morning Brent wrote the lyrics and sang and sent it to me. After that, we exchanged recordings on the net and completed it. When I found it difficult to convey the harmony and how to put the song on the melody, we talked on the phone. When Brent lived in Germany, he was in the daytime but in Japan it was midnight. I used to sing in a soft voice and play the accordion to convey the melody while my family was sleeping. I really enjoy making music with him.

++ For this record and then for a retrospective compilation called “Sunshine of My Mind 1998-2018”  you worked with another label that is not very known for me, Miobell Records. Care telling me a bit about them? And what about this compilation I mentioned? Does it have all of your recordings? Or is it missing some songs?

“Sunshine on my mind 1998-2018” is 3BI’s 20th anniversary greatest hits CD album. I have collected all 27 songs I wrote, from the first 2 songs on the cassette tape to the latest song. Most of the lyrics are written by myself, but I asked others to write some songs. Also, I wrote and sang some lyrics in game music, but I couldn’t put them in because I didn’t compose. It doesn’t include cover songs, and it doesn’t include songs that I participated in by playing the accordion such as movie music.

++ In 2006 there was a self-released CD mini-album titled “Rain Drops” that included songs by Brent Kenji, Hideki Kaji or Yuichi Abe. Did you pick these songs yourself or did they lend you the songs? How did that work?

The six songs included in “Rain Drops” were all written by me, and I asked Hideki Kaji, Yuichi Abe (Archaic Smile), and Brent Kenji for the lyrics. I chose to ask them with Mr. Sakurai and the label owner, and each wrote great lyrics of their own style. I like all of them. Hideki Kaji was the bassist in Bridge.I wrote the lyrics for the other three songs myself.

++ Then last year, in 2020, Blue-Very label, released an LP compilation called “The Selection of Three Berry Icecream” with 15 songs on the LP and 4 more on CDR. One thing that I notice it has the same artwork as the “Rain Drops” CD. How come?

The artwork for “Rain Drops” was made by my husband. Both the Dogprint 1st 7inch jacket and the split CD with The Fairways are his designs. My daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, held an umbrella on it, and my husband took a picture and designed it. For the umbrella, I asked my friend Pom., a handicraft artist, to express the six sides of the umbrella according to the image of each of the six songs.

When I was planning a selection LP record last year, the label owner of disques blue-very recommended that this jacket would be good, and I thought it was a good idea.

++ I didn’t have the luck to get this release because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stuff being difficult to ship from Japan, but I read that it came with a special zine. Care telling me about what was in this fanzine? Did you make it yourself?

My husband designed the special zine that I wrote.

It consists of self-liner notes about the 15 songs included, a discography, a live history with lots of photos and flyers.

++ And are there still many unreleased songs?

There are still more unreleased songs. I was wary of Covid-19 and wrote more and more songs while I was at home. Whenever a friend or family member passes away, it reminds me of my will to continue making songs. I think that’s the least I can do.

Maybe we’ll be making and releasing a new album later this year, so check it out on social media. We will also record songs we wrote with my friend Santi from Captain Sunrise in Spain.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Happy Day, Happy Time!”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Thank you very much. The reason I made this song is that, I had made the music a long time ago, and my friend Tarai’s blog had this title, so I wrote the lyrics as the theme song for that blog. I wrote the lyrics with a lot of song titles from my favorite bands such as The Velvet Underground, Strawberry Switchblade, Felt, XTC, The Millennium, The Zombies, The The.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Three Berry Icecream song, which one would that be and why?

It’s “Fine day”. I made this song for my previous band, Bridge, but it was crap. However, I was able to record in good shape with 3BI. It’s probably the oldest 3BI song, so I think it’s maybe filled with what I want to express as a band.

At the time of the split CD, Brent covered this song, and when I first heard it, I was so happy that I couldn’t stop crying.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Yes, 3BI has performed 71 live shows in total. Besides Tokyo, I played in Osaka, Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Niigata, Kamakura, Sendai, etc.

Besides Japan, I did live tours in the US, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Last year there was talk of a live concert in Europe, if there wouldn’t have been the Covid-19 pandemic. Live events in Japan were also canceled or postponed even though there were various schedules every month. But it was good to be able to perform live only once in November.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

I have good memories of each gig, but if I choose one, I participated in the Formoz summer festival in Taiwan in 2006.

On a midsummer night, we performed on the outdoor stage at a very good event with a lively audience. Two days of meals were offered instead of money, but it was a fun memory to be taken to famous Taiwanese restaurants such as Din Tai Fung and to go to the night market with all the members.

Then in 2007, the Taiwanese label Silent Agreement released the Taiwanese edition of 3BI’s 2nd mini-album “Rain Drops”.

++ And were there any bad ones?

I have been hospitalized for an imminent miscarriage during my pregnancy and was unable to attend a scheduled event once.I’m really sorry about that.

At that time, The Fairways’ Brent had just arrived in Japan and performed live on my behalf.

My daughter was born safely after that.

++ Aree you involved in any other bands?

At the same time, I’m in bands called The Paselines and Sushi backpack, but we can’t do it because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

++ Was there any interest from radio? TV?

When there are new releases of records and CDs, I have the opportunity to do promotion on some of my friends’ radio shows. Hideki Kaji and Maki Nomiya (ex-Pizzicato Five)’s show on Shibuya radio and The Bookmarcs’ on marine FM. 3BI has never been on TV.

Come to think of it, I appeared on the radio twice during the US tour: a radio show on KALX Berkeley in San Francisco, and a recorded performance on the Davis KDVS college radio. Recently my friend Patrick’s Canadian Internet radio show, called Tokyo’s Coolest Sound, has played 3BI songs several times. It’s nice, so please check it out if you like.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Last year’s LP record “The Selection of Three Berry Icecream” was released at an event called Record Day in Japan, so it was reviewed in a pamphlet for record shops in Japan. Miobell records, which released the greatest hits album “Sunshine on my mind”, published a music magazine called “Popsicle Clip. Magazine” which featured a long interview.

++ What about from fanzines?

Fanzines have interviewed me several times in Japanese and also I have been interviewed for fanzines in Sweden.

I don’t know if it’s a fanzine or not, but a song was featured in the appendix CD of a music magazine called Sofa in Hong Kong in 2001.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

After all, the 2000 American tour cannot be missed!

The Fairways (San Francisco), From Bubblegum To Sky (San Francisco), My Favorite (New York), Aero Space (Sweden), Three Berry Icecream (Japan). These 5 bands drove from LA to Seattle and played live at 6 locations in 8 days. 3BI was a band of 6 people. 7/14 Spaceland in Los Angeles 7/15 The Glass House in Pomona, 7/18 Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, 7/20 Meow Meow in Portland, 7/21 Eye and Ear Control and Paradox in Seattle.

Especially Pomona’s indie pop summer2000 was really fun with Le Coupe and Majestic in addition to these 5 bands! During the tour we appeared on the radio, went to Slumberland records’ party, got a parking breach in our rental car and went to the police. We all stayed at Brent’s house and recorded. These most wonderful memories all glittered like a road movie.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Watching movies, reading books. I also collect a few Lego, Playmobil and miniature toys. I also have snow domes, and I bought a lot of them during the US tour. “Snowdome” sometimes appears in the lyrics of my songs.

++ Never been to Tokyo, but I hope after this pandemic is over I will be able to visit. I want to take advantage ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Asakusa is of course a good place. When Santi from Captain Sunrise in Spain came to Japan two years ago, I guided him. But if I have more time, I would like to show you around Mt. Takao. Mt. Takao is in Tokyo, but it’s far from the center of the city and it’s in the countryside where I live. Anyway, the view is wonderful. Especially in autumn, the autumn leaves are beautiful! We recommend delicious tororo soba, mushroom soup, and walnut miso sauce dumplings!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you to everyone who has read this far. A few days ago, I posted a remote live video on Our Secret World, a project of shiny happy records in Indonesia, so please check it out if you are interested.

You can listen to my recent sounds at the links below.

Our Secret World Quarantine Session

You can access various streaming services from here.

Please search for Mayumi Ikemizu on Instagram.

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Listen
Three Berry Icecream – Happy Day, Happy Time!

Day 425

Los Lucha: just discovered this Glasgow dreampop one-man project that sounds really good. Samuel Fawkes, the person behind the Los Lucha name, has a self-titled tape out now which features 4 dreamy and nicely crafted pop songs. It is hard to pick a favourite out of the four, but I think I’ll pick the opening track, “On the Ropes”.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples: more and more songs by the San Francisco DIY kitchen pop project of Glenn Donaldson. Here are two wonderful new songs that would make a good 7″. They are “No One Absolves Us in the End” and “The Town that Cursed Your Name”.

The Hermit Crabs: this is quite interesting! “Paraphrase Film Critics” is a 7 song compilation of recordings done through the winter of 2002/2003. Some of these songs indeed ended up in the band’s album (which here they say will be re-released in vinyl later this year). Also there’s a cover of “Wells Street” from Pipas!!

Rum Tum Tiddles: we head to Nantes where the English singer Madeleine Mosse has joined forces with French musicians Thomas Bevand and Fred Lambert. This project has made a lovely album called “It is a Story” which is available now on CD and vinyl. There are 11 tracks in it, it is being released on June 11, and you can preview two songs on the band’s Bandcamp.

The Sainsburys: remember our friends from Stoke-on-Trent that put together a wonderful 3″ CD on Cloudberry many years ago. That we interviewed too? Well they are on Bandcamp now! All of their 7 songs of “My Favourite Colour” are there, including the superb and classic “Ate the Most”. Essential listening for any indiepop fan!

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Back in 2019 I got in touch with The Ice Factory. I had discovered them thanks to the compilation “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 9” (FST 160) that Uwe and his team at Firestation Records put together a year earlier.

My intention of course was to interview them. At that time, March 2019, the band told me it was a good time to do an interview as the band was planning to get together in the summer. I don’t know if that ever happened. I sent them a bunch of questions and sadly never heard back from them.

That’s not rare. A lot of bands don’t answer my questions, which is a shame of course as I only want to know more details about these bands that are not remembered by many (sadly). They are obscure even though they recorded some wonderful songs. My hopes are to introduce their music to more people. That’s my main goal. Sure, sometimes things evolve and I create friendships, and some times I even release their music. That’s nice. But again the main goal is to keep these bands alive.

Maybe with The Ice Factory my help isn’t that important. The band has a Facebook page which continues to be updated.

According to the Leamington Spa comp booklet, when the Ice Factory came to their untimely demise in 1991, they were dubbed by the media as ‘The biggest band that never made it’. Hailing from the northern seaside town of Morecambe and taking their name from an ice cream factory where they used to reheears, the band notched up a number of television appearances, national radio airplay, as well as a support slot for Brit Pop darlings Blur. The band toured the UK, released an EP “Jerusalem” and eventually signed management and publishing deals with Pel Management and Co London and Chelsea Music Publishing. Shortly before the band members went their separate ways, The Ice Factory secured recording time with Chrysalis Records and supported the legendary Youssou N’dour at Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD festival.
The Ice Factory comprised of lead vocalist Mark McKenna, guitarist and songwriter David Lewis, keyboard player and songwriter Geoff Dixon, bass player Justin Craddock, lead guitarist John Lewis and drummer Neil Thomson.
The band were primarily pop and rock based and had a very distinctive sound for their time, but it was their perfect catchy pop tunes that set them apart from their peers. Sack-fuls of songs in fact that sadly may never come out of the cooler.

Okay, we know now the band members. We know too where they hailed from. What else do we know?

The EP is not listed on Discogs. It came out in 1989. It has no catalog number nor label, so safe to assume it was a self-release. The songs on it were “Jerusalem” and “Marilyn” on the A side and “Under the Storm” and “Treason” on the B side. The songs were engineered and mixed by Mick Armstead.

The Facebook page has a trove of interesting details, videos and songs.

Here is the band performing “Jerusalem” at the WOMAD festival. They also appeared on Granada Tonight where they performed “Jerusalem” as well.

There is a Soundcloud with a bunch of their songs too. You can check there “Badlands“, “Cloud 9“, “Empires of Love“, “Independence Day“, “Marylin“, “One Day“, “One Step Closer to Heaven“, “Something About that Girl“, “Sunday“, “Tears of ’77“, “Way of the Rose“, “Under the Storm“, “Treason“, “This is England“, “Rainbow“, “Jerusalem“, “Behind Closed Doors“, “Winter City“, “Sense of Freedom“, “Revolution“, “Other Side“, “Life” and “Can’t Help This“.

We know that there was another member at some point called Delyth Jones, who played the sax. We know too that they had a manager called Duncan Moore.

When it comes to gigs, the band played at the Rock Garden in London, Bull and Gate in London with Blur, Skaw and Electric Sex Circus on May 23, 1990, The Boardwalk in Manchester, the Sugarhouse in Lancaster,

And finally I found out that the band did play a reunion gig in Morecambe the summer of 2019. They were part of the Morecambe Carnival festival. You can watch the whole gig on Youtube of course.

I don’t have much info about other bands the members had been involved with. The vocalist, Mark McKenna is a DJ and performs often in Lancaster. Geoff Dixon is an actor, musician and songwriter.

Then I find a 1999 article on the Lancashire Telegraph. Justin Craddock, who was living at the time in Stuttgart, Germany, was looking to get in touch with the rest of band members. I suppose in the end he did! What a cool story. He also mentions that David and John Lewis’ family owned the Lewis Ice Cream shop, the one that gave the band their name!

It would have been nice to hear from the band these and other details. But this will do for now, it was great to find all of these songs and info. I didn’t expect to find so much!!

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Listen
The Ice Factory – Jerusalem

Day 422.

Spraydog: remember the classic Newcastle band that was active in the late 90s and the early 2000s? They are on Facebook and they have added now a compilation of all of their 7″ records! So good. There are 16 songs and it is only available digitally. The title? “Blink Between Grey and Green – Singles 1999-2005”.

Solidarity not Silence: “This is Sisterhood” is the song by this supergroup featuring members of The Tuts, Petrol Girls, Colour Me Wednesday, Personal Best, Kathleen Hanna, and more. It is a terrific song and for a good cause. All proceeds of this digital single are going to Bindmans Solicitors.

Leopardo: this band from Fribourg and Tessin in Switzerland is releasing an album titled “Malcantone” on June 11 on the label Le Pop Club Records. The album will be released on vinyl and it will have 10 songs. We can preview one of the songs so far, it is called “Tell Me”. If the rest of the album sounds similar to it, should be a good one!

Sky is Alright: now a shoegaze band from London and LA! Many kilometers in between indeed. The band is releasing an 8 song album on June 25 and it will be available on different vinyl colors as well as on CD. Out of the 8 songs we can preview just the one song, “Mistress Pessimist”. It sounds great.

Tape Waves: how cool! a band we’ve recommended time and time again has signed to Emotional Response Records. Yup. That’s good news. So I hope there are singles and albums coming out soon. IN the meantime they’ve shared a song called “Tired” which is pure gold.

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Here is a very obscure Australian band. From the 80s. The Peppermint Drops!

As far as I know the band only released one song (!!!) which was called “The Morning After”. This song wasn’t on any release of theirs, but on a tape compilation called “The Perfect Travelling Companion” that came out in 1985. The label is 6UVS-FM (DT 1). That looks like a radio station to me, right? Well, it was. It was a radio station that was based in Perth, Australia. These days it is known with another name, RTR FM.

I don’t think all the bands on the tape hailed from Perth. Sure, I do think they are all Australians and there are some big names like The Triffids or the Stems on this comp. There are other names I am familiar with like Chad’s Tree or Rabbit’s Wedding. But there are many that are unknown to me like The Bamboos, The Angry Penguins or The Tarantulas. Were they indiepop bands?

We know too that the compilation was put together by Steve Phillips. The art for this tape compilation, with it’s rooster illustration on the sleeve is credited to Stuart.

The only other information about the band is that the song was recorded at S.A.E. by Vince Taylor.

But then, I start remembering, I did an interview with Perth band The Palisades many years ago and remembered talking about The Peppermint Drops. There was a connection with The Palisades. Right! Jeff Baker from The Palisades had been in The Peppermint Drops. Alright I have a connection now. Would be great then to hear from him sometime.

So yeah, that’s a nice intro to the band. Hopefully I’ll be able to do an interview soon! That’d be cool!

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Listen
The Peppermint Drops – The Morning After That

++ Your first release was an album, “Cloudbeams in Your Eye” in 1992. This album, as well as your next two albums were released on Can’t Be Beat Records. I was wondering if this was your own label? Or who was behind it?

Mark: it’s our own label. It’s named after the fanzine I did in university of the same name, of which  there are 2 issues. That’s why the first album has a 3 in the catalog number, it’s the third release. I like the Factory way of numbering everything! “Can’t Be Beat” is a song by the legendary Bogshed, who I had the privilege of seeing a few times. I believe in that punk rock DIY spirit, even if we don’t sound punk. Nobody tells us what can and can’t go on a record.

++ One thing that caught my attention is that you went straight to releasing an album. I feel it is more common to see bands release a single, an EP, and then an album. Maybe previous to the album you had made demo tapes. How come it worked this way for you?

Mark: We recorded a 4 track demo tape and sent it out to all and sundry and got no response. So we just decided to go all out and record an album. I figured it was going to be our calling card, a better demo if you will, and if nothing happened at least we would have that to show for our effort.

++ This album was recorded at home. Where was home then? And why did you decide to record at home instead of a recording studio?

Mark: I had read so many interviews where bands had regretted spending thousands on recording in a pro studio and were in hoc to their label and never saw any royalty money. I’d learned how to record on a 4 track recorder over the previous 6 years, and figured 8 tracks would be just as easy. I bought a Fostex 8 track reel to reel, a Seck 18 channel mixing desk, and a Yamaha Rex 50 multi-effects box, rather than spend money in a studio, and we recorded the album over about 12 months on weekends. I was living in a house with 2 other guys in Syston, Leicester, so I just recorded when they were out. I’m also not a confident musician, so working without a clock ticking on the wall as the cost rises really helps me relax and play well. To this day every one of the hundreds of recordings I’ve done were all at home, I’ve never recorded in a commercial studio.

Elizabeth: I have recorded in studios but the sound isn’t as authentic. But I love recording anyplace. Our studio was very creatively orchestrated by Mark.

++ After this album you were featured in a book called “Adrift in the Ether”. I am not familiar with this book, care telling me what was it about and how come you ended up in it? This book is what made Elefant Records aware of you, right?

Mark: To be honest, some guy wrote to me out of the blue and asked if we’d write a bio he could put in a book he was writing about underground bands. I thought it was a hoax as I never even saw a copy for 15 years, and then came across one in a shop in San Francisco, so I bought it. I can’t remember how Elefant found us. They knew of another Leicester band called Po!, and I was already friends with Ruth Miller from that band. She sold our album through her mail order catalog for her label called Rutland Records. We did get some press coverage mainly in fanzines, so somehow the Elefant guy heard of us.

++ On Elefant you released a 7″ in 1995 with 3 songs. The songs had previously appeared on the album though on the 7″ they were different mixes of them. I wonder though why didn’t you include new songs on this single?

Mark: The owner Luis, specifically asked for 3 songs from the album, but remixed so it would make them ‘special’ for the EP. “Breaking Sun” has extra piano on the intro, “Time” has extra backing vocals, and “See Your Eyes” is just a remix with more oomph. To be honest I’m really thankful he took a chance on releasing our stuff, BUT, the 7” EP was pressed at 45rpm instead of  33, and is sonically awful. The two songs on the b-side really needed the extra time 33rpm would’ve given. He offered us a 2 album contract (which is where the new songs would’ve gone) where he owned the rights in perpetuity instead 10/15/20 years. At the time we were cocky upstarts thinking, some bigger label was bound to come in and sign us based on the first album, and we didn’t want to end up like The Who and Shel Talmy, and have recordings we would never own, and so turned him down. But in retrospect, we had youthful delusions of grandeur and should’ve signed the deal. Sorry Luis. That being said, he’s never returned any master tapes to us for any releases we gave him and since there’s no contract, it was just a gentleman’s agreement, he should have. To this day I have no stereo master DAT for any of those songs, so I’ll have to make new mixes for any re-release.

++ I own this record, this is how I discovered you. I also like to know the story of the art of the records. Here I see a photo in black and white. Where is it?

Mark: it’s an apartment on Grattan Street in San Francisco, where my future first wife lived.

++ Elefant would also include you in the compilation CD “A Tribute to Felt”. That made a lot of sense. Of course I was waiting for you to cover “Evergreen Dazed” but you did “Mexican Bandits”. If you were to do your top 5 Felt songs what would they be? And did you ever cover any other songs by them?

Mark: Felt is a game of two halves for me. I worship the Cherry Red era when Maurice Deebank was in them, (he is a huge influence on my guitar playing) and apart from “Forever Breathes The Lonely word”, the Creation era leaves me cold. I think Lawrence has over-egged the myth of the latter era.

1 – A Preacher In New England
2 – Mexican Bandits
3 – Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
4 – All The People I like Are Those That Are Dead.
5 – Cathedral

++ Speaking of compilations, you also appeared on, the Leicester based, Rutland Records tape called “Shiver Me Timbers Two” with the song “Time”. On this tape they mention that a lot of bands used to send demos to this label. Were you hoping to get signed to them? Were there any other labels interested in releasing your music?

Mark: No, I’ve known Ruth Miller since the late 80’s, when I auditioned for her band Po! But I couldn’t play barre chords very well at the time so I didn’t get the job! A band i  was in prior to Evergreen Dazed had a song on the first “Shiver Me Timbers” tape, so i just contacted her and asked if we could be on the second. We’ve kept in touch over the years, and I try to see her when I’m back in Leicester for a visit. She’s now running a blog/fanzine called ‘Punk Girl Diaries’ with a member of The Popinjays which is really good. Of course being the aforementioned ‘post punk kid’, I really wanted to be on 4AD. When the first album came out, we played a couple of shows in San Francisco. My friend Landra who painted the cover and is now my sons Godmother was going out with Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters at the time. I met him at party at her house, he had heard her play the record and liked it and he asked if I wanted to play for the RHP at their debut gig in the UK in November 1992 a few weeks later, so it would free him up as a front man. It was a bit of a surprise as they hadn’t released anything yet, and I had no idea what they sounded like. I had to go to a secret gig at the Islington Powerhaus to record them so I could learn my part in 24 hours. As I was setting up my tape machine a bald gentleman asked if he could sit at the table “Hi, my name’s Ivo” (yes, that Ivo!) so we chatted., and during the conversation he said he had heard our album but it wasn’t right for 4AD (probably just a nice way of saying he didn’t like it which is fair enough). The next night was the ‘official’ gig at the Borderline which was a weird night for a number of reasons good and bad, but I played second guitar on “Grace Cathedral Park” and then watched the rest of the set from the sidelines. I met a few 4ad luminaries like the singer from Wolfgang Press. Sadly there’s no photographic proof, and joining the band was never an option for many reasons, the main one being, I wasn’t a US citizen at the time (i am now) so i couldn’t live there! I also really wanted to do my own stuff with Liz. I’ve seen him at a couple of gigs here in San Francisco over the years,  the last one being at a David J solo  gig just before CV19 shut everything down in Feb 2020, but I haven’t spoken  to him since that London gig in 1992.

++ It took a while for your second album, 11 years! In 2003 you put out “Broken Road”. I have to ask why did it take so long?

Mark: Life! I moved from the UK to the US in 1995, I got married, got a work visa, then a green Card, and had a kid. I had to rebuild my studio from scratch because of the voltage differences between the two countries. We did record “The AM sounds …” in 1998 in my studio apartment, but I wasn’t happy with it. The 2005 version is basically a remix of the 1998 tapes, which I now like even less and wish I’d never put it out. I’m hoping to put out the ‘proper’ version that sounds like it should’ve done in 1998 at some point. Chronologically, the songs predate ‘Broken Road’. It’s the missing link between the Cloudbeams and ‘Broken Road’. So really our albums are 1992, 1998, 2003 which  doesn’t sound so bad.  ‘AM sounds’ is the ‘lost’ second album.

Elizabeth: Quite a lot happened in between. I was getting a Master’s Degree at Hunter College in Education, playing gigs in the Lower East Side like Hotel Galvez and Upper West at the Dark Star Lounge as well as others. Finally I went to Japan Tokyo to teach English for about two years and then back to SF.

++ Then, 2 years later, you released “The AM Sounds of Evergreen Dazed”. That was your last release. This time you worked much quicker. Comparing it to your first album, how do you think the band had evolved in those 13 years. What did you do better than before?

Mark: it was quick because we already had the songs from 1998. I gave myself a deadline of Jan 1^st 2005 as I was about to have my second child, and Liz who was living in Berkeley had decided to move back  to NYC, and I thought I’d have no time for music ever again. It was a rushed release and a mistake, i should’ve taken my time over it. I’m not a quick  worker, i like to mull songs over for ages before i’m  happy with a recording, and AM was just rushed.

++ The photo of the front cover shows a city, but I can’t tell which city… is it San Francisco?

Mark: Yes, it’s a blurry picture of Candlestick Park from Twin Peaks taken whilst on LSD in June 1990!

++ On this record you have a song called “Long Gone (For Vini Reilly)”. How influential was Vini Reilly for you?

Mark: He’s up there in the holy trinity of influences for me: Maurice Deebank, Vini Reilly, and Steve Hackett. I’ve got literally every Durutti Column release (some a few times over)

++ I read that you are working on a new album. When is it expected to come out? What other details can you share with me?

Mark: Well we’ve done about half the songs. It’s mainly acoustic, with very little percussion. I hate to use the term unplugged, but it’s a lot more singer-songwriter than the previous 3. Low-key late night music. Covid has delayed it. I’m hoping to get it out in early 2022. All the vocals are done, my trusted mastering engineer is still in business thankfully, and my uncle did a painting for the cover. I’m hoping it will be vinyl but we’ll have to look at cost and turnaround times (which are much longer for vinyl).

Day 420

Marcos y Molduras / Malamute: I start this Wednesday review of new music with Snap! Clap! and Discos de Kirlian’s latest release. It is a 7″ that has songs by both Marcos y Molduras and Malamute, two good Spanish bands. There are 2 songs by each band though they are not both on one side, instead they mix 1 song each on each side. Not sure if I like that myself, I like the classic setups for split singles I think. But I’ll give it a try. One thing that I know is that I like both songs that you can preview on Bandcamp. So give it a listen!

Dream Suicides: I had recommended this Riverside, California, project in the past. I remember they had used Irene Jacob on the artwork for their previous release. I liked that. Their newest song is called “Clementine” and it is a fine jangly song. Now I am having a bit more trouble recognizing who is in the artwork, but yeah, that’s the least important thing. The song is pretty, and that’s what matters.

Die Zärtlichkeit: there is no music to listen here, which is sort of against the rules of the blog. But there is a pre-order button for a new 7″ by the Cologne duo. It is for their upcoming single “France Fall” that has “Montagmorgen” on the B side. It is coming out on May 14 on the very fine Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten. And I thought you needed to know as all the songs the band puts out are superb and I am sure this won’t be an exception.

B-Flower: the legendary Japanese band have released a new album it seems! Titled “Until Everything Goes Wrong” appeared on Bandcamp on May 1st. There is absolutely no information about it. But there are 11 songs in total, all waiting for every indiepop fan to listen.

The Laughing Chimes: and back now to a Spanish label, Pretty Olivia Records, which is run by the great Javi! They are releasing on June 15 a new album by a band called The Laughing Chimes that hail from Ohio! The band is formed by two teenagers, Evan and Quinn Seurkamp and they have distilled their taste for American and British jangle pop to create “This Town”, their album!

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Back in 2013 the blog Wilfully Obscure introduced to us a New York band called Enemies in the Grass. The information was scant then and I am guessing it will be now, 7 years later. But let’s see. You never know what you can find.

We know the band was around the late 80s and early 90s, releasing a 7″ single and then a 12″ EP. So let’s go in order.

The 7″ came out in 1988 on Galt Records (GP 400). The 7″ had the superb “Day After Day” on the A side and “Out of Luck” on the B side. The artwork was done by Leslie Falk. The band produced the record and Pete Puleo, who played keyboards in the record, was the engineer. David Eng mixed the songs.

Here we see that the band also featured Walter Sczesny on vocals and bass, Andy Bigan on drums, Walter Roberti on lead guitar and Jon Chaikin on guitar and vocals. This last name seems so familiar to me! Right he was in bands like Evening Lights and Coloring Book and did mixing and mastering jobs for so many indiepop bands! Especially for Shelflife Records!

Worth noting too that Chaikin wrote “Day After Day” and Sczesny wrote “Out of Luck”. The photo on the sleeve was taken by Chaikin as well.

“Blind Crossing” was the 12″ EP that came out in 1991. This time 6 songs were included, “Day After Day”, “Wants It That Way” and “Out of Luck” on the A side and “Best Behavior”, “Kind of Girl” and “Before Were Gone” on the B side. This came out on Galt Records (GP 500) as well. I believe the songs from the 7″ included here are re-recordings.

Aside from these two releases, the band appeared on the CD and cassette compilation  “Hear No Evil A Compilation” released by Galt Records in 1991 with the song “Wants It That Way” and also on the “Hear No Evil Volume Two” CD with the song “Yesterday’s Gone” in 1993. Much later, in 2014, their song “Best Behavior” got included in “Souvenirs: Little Gems of Pop Volume II” released by Sound Asleep Records from Sweden on CD.

I mentioned two bands Jon Chaikin had been, Evening Lights and Coloring Book. He was also on Awo Da. And when it comes to helping other indiepop bands, we can see them everywhere really! So thanks for that. When it comes to Walter Sczesny we know he had been in Cyclones, Mad Violets, Riff Doctors and The Fleshtones. Walter Roberti was in the Peggy Healy Band and Xan. David Kenneth Eng, producer and owner of Bayside Studios, in Queens, was in Awo Da, Peggy Healey Band and Kid Flash.

Sadly not much more info on the web. Will we get to know more details about them in the future? I hope so! Some great jangle pop here!

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Listen
Enemies in the Grass – Day after Day

++ I was aware of Johnny Dee but it was a surprise to me when DBlue-Very label announced a flexi with songs by a previous band to Johnny Dee, the Korova Milk Bar. So I wonder how come there were no releases back in the day? There was nothing really? Perhaps demo tapes were put out?

Actually as The Korova Milk Bar, we released a cassette tape in 1989. Then it was released in a limited edition of only 50 because we members made independently, we couldn’t make more than that.

++ So how come so many years after we see this flexi disc released? How did Blue-Very and you started to work together? Were they aware of these songs already?

That’s because at that time, such independent guitar sounds were completely unrecognized in Japan. As these days it’s finally been recognized a bit, we were able to release it I presume.

In addition, since Blue-Very records already knew the existence it was decided to be released.

++The flexi that was released came also with a bonus CD with 7 more songs. I was wondering when were all these recorded? Were they recorded all at the same time? Or at different moments? Were any of these songs released?

As I mentioned earlier, it was released as an album on a cassette tape in 1989. As for recording, it was recorded from 1987 to 1989. Also, maybe a single cassette was released, but I don’t remember it anymore.

++ Speaking of releases, was there no interest from labels back in the day? What about compilation appearances?

++ Back to the flexi, the sleeve has a photo of Antoine Doinel from the “400 Blows” movie. Is that one of your favourite movies? What would be your top 5 movies?

This was adopted by other members when it was released on the cassette tape. At that time, quoting Nouvelle Vague was partly popular in Japanese new wave bands as a design.

My favourite movies are “Rashomon” by Kurosawa, “Pierrot Le Fou”, “The Godfather part 1”, “Apocalypse Now” and “Quadrophenia”.

++ Then one thing I notice too is that the flexi has “Rain Girls & Gentle Girls” single version while the CD has the album version of this song. What’s the difference between them?

The album version only has a part of any sound track inserted in the intro.

++ The other song on the flexi is “Over the Manchester”. I guess Manchester and it’s music resounded in the band, so I wonder if you ever visited this city? And if it was all you imagined it to be?

I’m so glad you listened our songs well and were interested. Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Manchester. I’ve been to London though. In terms of this song, I sing about Morrissey. We’re keen on The Smiths. I also sang like Jim Reed. That’s why I think that this song like a ‘80s UK authentic guitar sound.

++ Lastly this bonus CD includes a song called “Michael Head”. I have to assume he is one of your music heroes! Are there other ones?

That’s right. We also love The Pale Fountains. Off course also like Roddy Frame, Edwyn Collins and Lawrence Hayward.