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Zazen Boys | |
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Mukai Shutoku Yoshikane Sou Hinata Hidekazu Matsushita Atsushi |
Vocals, Guitar Guitar Bass Drums |
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Profile | |
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Taking one band to the top of the Japanese indie rock world makes you noteworthy. Starting all over and doing it again makes you Mukai Shutoku. The November 2002 breakup of indie behemoth Number Girl may have been the end of the world for many fans, but for frontman Mukai, the event, which left him able "to do what I want to do" was only the beginning. Mukai founded Matsuri Studio shortly before Number Girl's demise in the summer of 2002, turning a basement into his own practice space. After being freed of his old duties with the band he began playing again with ex-Number Girl drummer Ahito Inazawa. His original idea for a new band centered around himself and Inazawa playing together with guest talent. Around the same time, Mukai explored another one of his ambitions with "Mukai Shutoku Acoustic & Electric," a solo performance featuring Mukai on vocals and guitar. The solo show eventually led to a collaboration with Fukuoka pals Panic Smile and jazz veteran Kikuchi Naruyoshi (Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden), culminating in an on-again off-again tour until June of 2003. The experience proved to be a heavy motivator for Mukai, inspiring the future Zazen Boys song "SI・GE・KI." Together with constant experimentation in Matsuri Studio and recording a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Emotional Rescue" with Inazawa, Mukai was set for a return to the spotlight. This time the stakes were higher, with August's Rising Sun Rock Festival as the venue. Mukai recruited Hinata Hidekazu (ex-ART-SCHOOL) on bass and Yoshikane Sou (Kicking the Lion) to fill out the lineup for the newly-christened Zazen Boys, named after an old project with 54-71 and pop singer hal. With the performance over, Mukai retreated again to Matsuri to write songs for the band's self-titled album, released in January of 2004. Though Led Zeppelin may have been the guiding light for Zazen Boys, the end product was anything but. The band's debut continued the steady evolution apparent in Number Girl's final albums, but took it several steps further. The precise rhythms and minor-key melodies of Mukai's former band were still part of the equation, though a heavy dose of experimentation moved the sound even farther left-of-center. In Zazen Boys' baseline style, as featured on their first album, Mukai's familiar singing and shrieks are supplemented with grunts, violent outbursts, falsetto and, most noticeably, his own brand of "rapping." Allegedly influenced by both buddhist chants and hiphop, Mukai's style ranges from off-kilter spoken word, at times seemingly out of time with the rest of the band, to a complex, aggressive gatling-gun delivery. Inazawa's signature pounding drums and Yoshikane's guitar keep time while supplying the heavily syncopated and off-kilter rhythms, while Hinata's bass frequently fills in with the countermelody. The overall song structures are highly unpredictable and at times almost disorienting. While songs often avoid traditional patterns, they do not linger for extended periods of time. Once their new album hit stores, Zazen Boys only got busier in 2004. Impressed with the band's progress after two consecutive nationwide tours that ended in April, Mukai started working on a new album, released just five months later in September. Zazen Boys II smoothed out the rough edges of the band's debut and featured another hometown friend, Shiina Ringo, on backup vocals. After finishing another nationwide tour in the fall, Zazen Boys was off to a terrific start. But in early 2005, the band was dealt a heavy blow as drummer Inazawa, Mukai's compatriot of 10 years, left the band to form Vola and the Oriental Machine. Inazawa's recognizable style left a large hole to fill, but Mukai, unfazed, brought in Matsushita Atsushi as the new drummer, then released the five-track single Himitsu Girl's Top Secret in July. With the summer festival circuit drawn to a close, Zazen Boys returned to the studio to record Zazen Boys III, later released in January 2006. The album, heavier on ambient passages and improvisation and overall much more free-form than any of their previous work, quickly stirred up controversy within the band's fanbase. After touring through the rest of 2006, bassist Hinata Hidekazu announced his exit from Zazen Boys in February 2007. He will be joining Nakamura Tatsuya (Blankey Jet City, Losalios) and Soil and "Pimp" Sessions' trumpeter Tabu Zombie in a new band, Entity of Rude. Considering how Mukai excercises total creative control over Zazen Boys, this personnel change is not likely to keep his band down for long. Link: [Interview with Mukai Shutoku 2005.03.07] - James Route (published 2005.08.30, updated 2007.02.08) |
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Artist homepage Matsuri Studio Samples |
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Review - Himitsu Girl's Top Secret Review - Zazen Boys III |
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