Introduction Have you ever wondered what prompted the creation of your favorite Japanese music site? Who created it? Through this weekly series of interviews Keikaku hopes to shed some light on the motivation and driving personalities behind some of my personal choices for the best English language based Japanese music sites on the web. Created and maintained by Paul Wheeler, Rock of Japan's unique perspective is usually only available to those living in Japan. Located in New York City Paul takes exceptional advantage of the diverse and abundant live venues that can be found in the area and lucky for us he has chosen to share those experiences through Rock of Japan. Along with an extensive collection of live interviews and reviews from bands like The 5,6,7,8's, Love Psychedelico, Luminous Orange, Core Of Soul, 54 Nude Honeys, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Melt-Banana, Dip, Nananine and Head Phones President, Rock of Japan covers CD reviews, artist links, US tours and tour date details for the New York area. Rock of Japan's coverage of live performances makes it a must read for all Japanese music fans. When asked "How do you see your site's contribution if any, in bringing recognition outside of Japan to Japanese artists?" Paul replied, "There are so many Japanese bands making amazing music in standard styles, and in new styles that they've invented themselves, that there is a need for a variety of English sites to keep up with all the great music coming out of Japan." back to features		Best Japanese music sites... Rock of Japan Can you remember your first reaction to listening to a Japanese artist? What were your initial thoughts? Paul Wheeler [Rock of Japan]: When a friend played me some Sadistic Mika Band in the early `70s, I was very impressed with how well the Japanese language worked with rock music. At that time I was already interested in some of the German prog bands like Can and Amon D?, and had decided that German worked well with rock music, whereas many of the romance languages of Europe just did not. At the time I was so impressed that I predicted a wave of Japanese bands taking over the U.S. pop/rock charts the way the English bands had in the `60s. That hasn't happened, and it won't in the near future, because the record companies pretty much control the major media here now. The Japanese music scene is so rich, especially the Indie scene, that though Japanese bands are still unable to penetrate the mainstream, they are beginning to receive more and more respect. There are, however, still a lot of misconceptions that need to be overcome in the U.S. Like Japan, Europe does a much better job of keeping its ears open to sounds from all around the world than we do here in the U.S. As you've become more knowledgeable about the Japanese music scene how has that effected your personal choice of artist? Paul: I don't believe it's changed the type of artist I like at all, but continuing to find new artists who impress me in many different ways has definitely continued to expand my appreciation of the Japanese music scene. When you first looked for artist information on the web what type of English sites were available? What sites attracted you? What was it about these sites that made you a frequent visitor? What was lacking? Paul: When I first got onto the Internet, I was very excited about the prospect of being able to more easily tap in to what was going on in the Japanese music scene. I was severely disappointed, and complained to a friend that there was almost no information in English about Japanese rock on the Internet. He immediately suggested that I should put up a site myself. Initially I didn't think I was knowledgeable enough, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that whatever I did, it would be better than the nothing that was there when I started, and so, Rock of Japan was born. Now there are many sites about Japanese rock music in English. Some of my favorite sites, like ProjectJ, provide forums where fans are able to exchange information about artists, and I often learn more about artists and recent releases from the fans in these forums than I can learn from any of the websites I know of. One of my favorite sites for a long time was the Factory site, which provided live clips of Japanese artists of all types. I was checking that site about three times a day, but I'm no longer able to access those live clips. A friend tells me that their site has been mismanaged, and no one is able to watch those clips now. It's too bad, because some of my favorite current bands, Wakusei, Detroit7, 54 Nude Honeys, and Triceratops, I learned about first on the Factory site. To go from fan to reporting on the artists is a big step. Please elaborate on what motivated your decision to create your site? What has been your biggest challenge? Triumph? Paul: I've already mentioned why I started the site. Once I began to formulate how I would structure the site, it came together fairly easily, and other ideas were quickly added to expand the scope of the site. I have a degree in Journalism, and had worked in publishing, so becoming a webmaster was a pretty easy fit. My biggest challenge has been to make the site profitable, and therefore worthwhile maintaining. I still haven't managed that, and the music itself remains the biggest reward I receive. My favorite experience is seeing exciting new bands, who maybe I hadn't even heard of two weeks before. When that happens, spreading the word about them is a natural instinct. My biggest triumphs are being able to do interviews with the bands I most respect, getting to meet them personally, and learning more about them. After an interview I'm often in a very euphoric state. The next day I have to slap myself and get to work putting the interview together for the site. That usually takes about a week. When deciding content what criteria and or who decides what your site will cover? What sources do you use for information? Paul: Material by Japanese bands which is received in the first six months of release is reviewed, and remains on the site for a minimum of three months. If a Japanese band takes the trouble to play in the New York area, I'll usually try to go see them at least once, and follow that up with a live review. Otherwise, almost everything that's added to the site is something that I, myself, am excited about. Once I've added a page about a band, I try to keep reviewing their major releases as they come out. I run the site myself, with help from my current translator, Keiko Oka, and the occasional photographer who join me on interviews. So, I make all the decisions about what the site will cover. Besides my reviews of product and shows, I provide only basic information about the bands, and let the bands speak for themselves in the interviews. I receive information from an amazing amount of places, and I continue to find new sources of information all the time. Have you noticed an increase in English pages being offered at many Japanese artist official sites and record companies? Do you have an opinion as to why this may be? Paul: Yes, slowly the number of Japanese bands and record labels with English pages is growing, and I can only assume that this is further proof that the interest in Japanese popular music from outside of Japan is continuing to grow. It's obviously something that the Japanese bands and labels want to happen, and I think from the growing number of English sites which are covering Japanese music, and the growing interest in my own site, Rock of Japan, it's obvious that the audience for Japanese pop and rock music outside of Japan is continuing to grow at a slow, but steady, rate. How do you see your site's contribution if any, in bringing recognition outside of Japan to Japanese artists? What does your site offer that other sites don't? Could you describe your dream site? Paul: Rock of Japan was one of the first sites outside of Japan to cover a variety of Japanese artists. I believe that Japanese music is still not receiving the attention it deserves in the U.S. Rock of Japan, and other English sites continue to spread the word about the richness of the Japanese music scene. The audience is growing, but it's still small. There are so many Japanese bands making amazing music in standard styles, and in new styles that they've invented themselves, that there is a need for a variety of English sites to keep up with all the great music coming out of Japan. Rock of Japan concentrates, though not exclusively, on Japan's Indie rock scene, because that's the music I'm most interested in. My reviews of CDs are compact and to the point. My live reviews aim to describe what happened at the show in a largely non-judgmental way, in an effort to give the reader an idea of what style of music the artists perform, their technical range, and the highlights of their stage performance. Rock of Japan provides links to a large number of Japanese artists' sites, and to a large number of other sites that provide information about Japanese rock music. I also provide information on which Japanese bands and artists are playing in the New York area, and where, and when they're playing, and recently I've begun providing information about the schedules of Japanese bands currently touring the U.S. I also try to arrange an interview, if a band I have a page on tours through New York. Rock of Japan was set up very pragmatically. I make rules, and I stick to them. It makes it easier to run the site, and easier to find things on the site. There is no dreaming involved. I don't remember my dreams, and my dream site would probably contain surrealist, dadaist, and expressionist aspects, and very likely some pornography. Finally I'd like to ask; what do you perceive to be the current state and focus of the Japanese music scene outside of Japan? Paul: Yikes! I'd say the current state of Japanese music outside of Japan is still weak, but the high quality of the music, and the large quantity of Japanese artists looking for a new audience more receptive to their ideas, continues to push exciting new artists to tour outside of Japan, and as those artists continue to push open the doors, the quality of the music, and the wide variety of music coming from Japan, are going to continue to build a larger and larger audience outside of Japan. Eventually, blinders will be lifted, and more people in the U.S. will realize that in many ways Japan is now a western country, and as the stereotypes disappear, the richness of the music coming out of Japan is going to have a larger impact on western music, first in Europe, and some day in the U.S. Japanese artists who achieve success in Japan, tend to stay in Japan, unless their success was initially achieved outside of Japan. So, the focus of Japanese music outside of Japan will probably remain indie artists, because those are the artists who are touring outside of Japan and continuing to push open the doors. Sure, Puffy has an American TV show, but then, so did Pink Lady. At some point a Japanese artist is going to hit big in the U.S. mainstream, and it could be Puffy, but whomever it is, for better or worse, they will shape the image of Japanese music in the U.S. I suspect, though, that any kind of large-scale success would act as an incentive to all kinds of Japanese artists. Either way, large scale success, or limited success, as long as the quality of Japanese pop and rock music continues to be as exciting as it has been for the last decade, and as long as the large U.S. record companies continue to choke the life out of our U.S. mainstream music, all of us who are listening to the new music coming out of Japan are going to be regularly awed, excited, and rewarded by the depth and richness of that music. Mostest bestest, Paul Wheeler Rock of Japan Interview from 2005.02.23. Keikaku.net staff would like to thank Paul Wheeler of Rock of Japan for his participation in this interview. - Denise Smith
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