Introduction Coming a long way from their early days in Kando Records, The Back Horn continue to rise to new heights in the world of Japanese rock. While performing at the Festival Asia in Spain, music webzine Geedorah was able to catch up with them and discuss everything from the band's taste in music to their own personal hobbies. Keikaku worked together with Spanish webzine Geedorah to bring you the interview, translated into English. back to features		The Back Horn (Note: This article is translated from Spanish to English. Here is the link to the orignal article, by Geedorah: http://www.geedorah.com/leer.php?id=653) Q: To start off, can you introduce yourselves? Matsuda: Well, we're THE BACK HORN, and we've come from Japan to Spain for the first time. We're very excited about having a great concert tonight. Q: Agreed. Can you introduce yourselves individually and say what instrument you play? Matsuda: I'm Shinji Matsuda, the drummer. Suganami: I'm the vocalist… (laughs) (remaining 3 members smack Suganami, followed by laughter) Matsuda: In Japan we call that "tsukkom.i" (dork) Suganami: Fine… I'm Suganami Eijun, guitarist. Yamada: Masashi Yamada, vocalist. Okamine: Koushu Okamine, bass. Q: Can you comment on groups that you think have influenced your style, and what you listen to on your free time? Matsuda: We all listen to different things. As a group, we try to make music that only we can make. Q: We understand, but in your style as a group, aren't there any artists that are a clear influence, or similar at least? Matsuda: Mmm, do you want concrete examples? Q: If possible, yes. Suganami: Radiohead. Everyone: ? Suganami: Just Radiohead, right? Matsuda: I don't know, maybe one more… Q: If nobody else comes up, that's fine… Matsuda: It's okay? Q: It's alright, if there aren't any, there just aren't any… Yamada: Well, the truth is there aren't. Everyone: Nope, none. Q: Well, your personal tastes… Matsuda: Right, what we like… well, let's tell them. Q: Please. Japanese or western groups, it doesn't matter. Yamada: Well… we're not going to say artists that you've never heard of… Q: Don't worry, even if it doesn't look it, we know plenty of Japanese artists. Matsuda: Oh really?! Q: Yeah, we specialize in Japanese music. Yamada: Blankey Jet City. A group that disbanded a while ago. Q: Asai Kenichi's group; AJICO and Sherberts, and now in Jude, right? Everyone: (surprised) Whoa, yeah!! Q: We told you! (laugh) Everyone: (laughs) Q: Suganami? Suganami: Nirvana (Everyone: oh) Yamada: Hi-Standard, too. Matsuda: I like Muse a lot. Q: Suganami does the words, right? Matsuda: Most of the time, yeah. Q: Being a fan of Nirvana, do you think they influence you when you're writing? Suganami: Nah, not at all. I can't speak English, so I don't understand the words. I like the music. Q: Since the band's early days until now, you can notice a certain change in style in your music. Do you think your priorities have changed? Matsuda: Let's see… the base, the nucleus of the group, that hasn't changed. But now, with time, new doors have opened for us, and that may have led to an evolution. Q: Understood; what has been the fans' reaction to this evolution? Matsuda: Man, the fans… there has some of then that are thinking, "Let's see where these guys come from next." Q: When you're writing a new song, what's the process like? We mean, in general the words are written by Suganami almost by himself, but the music is composed as a group, is that so? What's the process like? Suganami: Well, there are times when I make the melody and later as a group we put together the song after that; then there's times where we get together and do the whole thing as a group. There are also times when one member gets inspired by whatever and we base the song on that. A little bit of everything. Q: On your album ‘Headphone Children' there is an impressive variety of styles. How did you choose the songs that made it to the final album and the ones that didn't make it? Matsuda: In Headphone Children's case, the truth is that we started thinking about making an album with more of a live feel, but then halfway through we thought it would be better as more melodic, calmer, so we gave the album more variety and that's how it ended up. Q: Any songs that didn't make it? Matsuda: There were a few songs that didn't make the cut, yeah; the ones you make and then they just don't fit in. Near the end, with the album almost finished, we made the decisions thinking that we had an album that was more or less balanced out. Q: The cover of your last release, the live album ‘Ubugoe Chainsaw,' is totally red, isn't it? Given that your last few albums have had a white cover, what did you want to express with this change? Matsuda: Well, being a live album, we looked for simple colors as an additional element for the album, and with red light being a characteristic of The Back Horn, we decided on a red cover. Well, in short, we wanted something to leave a strong impression on whoever saw it. Q: During your live performances, there are times when you change things around in your songs. Are such instances improvised or planned beforehand? Suganami: Well, there are times when it's already planned (laughs) and there's times when we just improvise it as we go along. Q: And in proportion? Which do you do more? Suganami & Matsuda in unison: (laughs) Well, in proportion… Suganami: It depends on the concert. Matsuda: Suganami's always in charge of these things. Q: What kind of setting do you prefer playing in, large stages or small livehouses? (They discuss with each other) Everyone: Both. Yamada: They each have their good things. Q: And what about festivals? Suganami: The festivals have a very open setting, and the public is very free and liberated. In the livehouses, everything is more closed, stretched out, and the public is so close that their enthusiasm can be felt almost effortlessly, it's really powerful. Q: And what do you think about tonight's setting? Suganami: It's incredible, really cool; we've never been in a place like this. Q: It's really old, from the beginning of the century. Everyone: ooooh. Suganami: It's beautiful… I love it. Q: How do you decide on the setlists? Matsuda: Well, it depends on the concert. Today's setlist was based on the fact that we came from Japan to Spain, and we tried to choose the more Japanese songs of our repertoire. Q: Do you have any rituals or special customs that you do before going out on stage? Suganami: If I don't masturbate, I can't do it. Q: Huh?! Everyone: (laughs) Suganami: No, nothing… Q: Let's see, anything at all, some sort of superstition in order to have good luck or to calm yourselves. Yamada: The truth is we don't have anything like that, superstitions or rituals Q: Lately, you've been contributing songs for movies. How did this get decided? Matsuda: Which songs do you mean? Q: Well Kiseki, Requiem... Matsuda: Those were different cases. In Requiem's case, the director was an acquaintance of ours, and while making his first movie, he asked us for a song and we made it for him. Q: And Kiseki? Matsuda: About Kiseki… the producer of the film went up to us and requested it. She sent us the movie and the script and after examining it enough, we composed the song. Q: You're always barefoot on stage. Is there any special motive for this? Yamada: A long time ago, when we were Indies, we went out barefoot one day and we liked it; it seemed comfortable. Suganami: We go out more relaxed that way. Q: You've never had any issues with electric shocks or any problem like that? Matsuda: Now that you mention it, when we played Rock in Japan during the day, under a blazing sun, the stage was burning like a grill and we had a pretty bad time. Q: You've been togther as a group for a relatively short time and you have a good relationship with each other, right? Do you fight a lot? Are there any bad habits from any member of the group that provokes tension? Everyone: (laughs) Suganami: Everything that has to do with money is real clear with us, and that's why we have such a good relationship. Everyone: (laughs) Suganami: Seriously, everyone fights abut money. All the other groups end up disbanding because of money, always. Yamada: Well, well, don't exaggerate. Suganami: But it's true! Q: Any argument or fight due to your character? Yamada: Well, there's always the occasional argument, but serious fights, we don't have those. Q: Have you always wanted to be in a band, even as a kid? Matsuda: I started playing drums when I was 13 or 14, and since then I wanted to form a band. Yamada: I've wanted to be a vocalist since I was 15 or 16. Suganami: Me… 16. Okamine: 15. Q: If you weren't doing music, where do you think you'd be today? Matsuda: I think I would be a goalie for the Japanese national soccer team. Everyone: (laughs) Matsuda: Hey, seriously, since I was a kid I've played soccer and later on I started playing drums. With time it turned out to be impossible to do both at the same time so I quit soccer. I was good, though. I might have possibly been in the same spot today, but with another profession. Suganami: A fisherman. (laughs). I probably would have inherited the fishing business of my hometown. Yamada: I think I would go from job to job without ever staying put in one place. Okamine: I would be a sailor. Q: You're not similar to each at all, huh... Everyone: (laughs) Q: A short while ago, the group MUCC was in Europe. Matsuda: Oh! Q: We asked them about THE BACK HORN and they claimed to be big fans of yours. Do you guys get along well? Matsuda: We played together once, and they're from the same place as a group that we're really good friends with. Q: Where? Matsuda: Mito, in the Ibaraki prefecture. Q: Like La Vie en Rose? Yamada: Yeah! They're also from there. Q: It's the first time you play overseas. What brings you to Barcelona? Matsuda: We were about to come last year, but it didn't happen. Yamada: Two years ago we were playing in Shibuya and a guy from a Spanish TV channel saw us and really liked us. He talked to us about coming to Spain and that stuff, it didn't happen last year but it worked out this year. Q: Did you think that you would have overseas fans? Matsuda: Nah, we don't have any… Q: Huh? Yes you do… Everyone: (laughs) Matsuda: Huh? We have fans here? That's the first time I've heard that. Q: Well, tonight some will come here, and all throughout Europe and America there are many. Matsuda: Fans of THE BACK HORN? Q: Yeah. Matsuda: But how do they know about us? Going to Japan or how…? Q: No, it's that people, through the internet or through friends, start getting interested in Japan and Japanese music. X-Japan was pretty popular here, and after that…. Matsuda: They found out about us? Q: Something like that. Matsuda: Incredible. I'm amazed. Q: Are there any plans for distributing some of your releases overseas? Matsuda: There are plans to sell some of them, yeah. Q: Headphone Children's cover really grabs our attention. Who designed it? Matsuda: That was done by a Japanese graphic designer, Mr Nagano. He's… incredible, a genius. We've admired him for a while and finally we got him to collaborate. Q: What are the prices on these CDs going to be? Matsuda: I'm not sure, maybe around 15 euros… Q: Just in Spain or in all of Europe…? Matsuda and Yamada: Spain and London, I think… The London thing isn't sure yet, but in Spain it's already decided. Q: Do you know any Spanish music? Matsuda: Flamenco. Q: (disappointed). Any concrete examples? Matsuda: Hmm, no idea, really. Okamine: Carmen. Q: Eh? Okamine: (hums) Matsuda: The bamba, too. Q: Finally… moving on to personal questions. It caught our attention that Yamada, on his profile in the band's website, lists "Drinking" as the only thing he likes. What do you usually drink? Everyone: (laughs) Yamada: Beer, shocchuu, in winter I drink sake, then wine, tequila… Matsuda: Everything. (laughs) Q: I see. (laughs) Yamada: Doesn't Spanish beer taste like wine? I don't know, it's like if it has some red wine mixed in. Q: Well, maybe it's a little sweeter than Japanese beer, but it doesn't have any red wine. But, seeing as how I like sake, any specific one that you'd like to recommend? Yamada: Hmm, let's see… usually it goes by provinces and stuff, but the truth is that I don't know too much. Usually I walk in the bar and drink everything they have. Everyone: (laughs) Q: For Suganami; the lyrics for "Unmei Fukuzatsu Kossetsu" seems like a harsh critique on modern music. Did you write them with that intention? Suganami: Nah, the opposite actually, it's a critique on myself, I'm criticizing myself. Many times I ask myself if I'm doing the right thing, dedicating my life to music, and I wrote that song for myself 100%. But it's true that other groups like us can take it as a critique towards them. Q: For Matsuda; since you say you like soccer, do you know much about Spanish soccer? Matsuda: Well, a little bit. Spain is really good. Q: Well, the national team lately… Matsuda: No, but the Spanish national team, along with Holland or Italy, and maybe Germany, they seem like the best to me. Q: Do you play soccer games like Winning Eleven? Everyone: (laughs) Suganami: We've played before, yeah. Q: Frequently? Suganami: We don't play much, actually. Matsuda: Do you play Winning Eleven here? Q: All the time. Matsuda: Spain's really good in the game. Q: Yeah, it's pretty unrealistic. (laughs) Q: For Yamada, in some songs you've played instruments like the harmonica. What other instruments can you play? Yamada: Eh... about the harmonica, that was really the first time I even touched one. The pianica, too... I had never tried that before. I play piano, but that's it. Q: For Matsuda; on your first CDs, we can hear you sing. On some hidden tracks of your earlier works… Yamada: God, how'd you know that?! (laughs) Q: Have you ever seriously thought of singing? Matsuda: A long time ago, on those secret tracks, it was a 50/50 thing, half seriously half joking. Well, when I sang as a joke, I tried hard, but yeah… Q: Have you left that behind? The singing? Matsuda: Man, everyone laughed at me because of that, so I decided to accept reality. Yamada: Eh, this guy has amazing vocal talent, no joke! (laughs) Q: For Okamine; we noticed that you have a tattoo on your leg. Does it have any special meaning? Okamine: (disconcerted) Errr, yeah, I have one… It's a character from a Japanese novel, "Shinu koto to mitsuketari", a drawing of the protagonist. I really liked his lifestyle.. Q: Well, and finally, a message for your fans overseas. Matsuda: The truth is that thinking that not only in Japan, but in all parts of the world there are people listening to our music, makes us really happy. And singing in Japanese and not in English, normally we feel the satisfaction of our fans in Japan, but if there's people all around the world enjoying our songs, that also means that Japanese music can cross frontiers. We feel really proud. Interview conducted 2005.08.07 [translation: Ricardo]. Keikaku extends thanks to The Back Horn and Geedorah for the interview. - Ricardo
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