Caucus Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 15th 2010 3:30PM by Victor Bracht
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Caucus -- frontman Katsuya "K" Yanagawa, guitarists Tatsuro Kato and Hiroko Kawakami, bassist Tetsu Takahashi and drummer "Gumby" Kazuaki -- have released a full-length record and EP in their native Japan. Excited to start building a following in the US, the quintet is preparing for their trip to SXSW, opening recent gigs for such bands as the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Depreciation Guild. Spinner recently spoke to the band about their sound and what they have planned for their trip to Texas.

How would you describe your sound?

Katsuya Yanagawa: I think that it's somewhere in the indie-rock kind of music after the '80s -- Creation Records. Also, I care a lot about the guitars -- three Fender Jazzmasters interweaving a cool and strange chord sound. I have concepts about the melodies, to have them heard eternally. My aim is to make some timeless melody, with a lot of emotions.

Gumby Kazuaki: I'd like to make listeners' feelings move. Everyone should feel their own feelings, but I do aim to move some sort of emotion in the listener's mind.

Tatsuro Kato: Loud guitars. I haven't played with so much reverb on my guitar before! Also, I like vocals with good melodies and tight rhythms. Those are there as our basics, and to make them shine there are really loud, noisy guitars.

Who are some of your musical influences?

KY: Eighties guitar, pop-oriented music. Creation Records, again, was a huge influence. I really love American indie music too. Death Cab for Cutie, Yo La Tengo.

Hiroko Kawakami: Japanese alternative bands, mainly. Like Numbergirl and Blood Thirsty Butchers.

TK: My father is a huge rock fan, so as I grew up I was listening to old music a lot. Then I started to listen to bands like the other guys mentioned. I like all kinds of music.

GK: My father is a free-jazz musician, so that might be in my basic influence as well.

Tetsu Takahashi: I like dance or techno music, like Yellow Music Orchestra or New Order. But to tell the truth, it's the Japanese anime music, seriously! I prefer listening to dance music more than rock music.

What is the significance of the name Caucus?

KY: I just liked the sound of the word. It was on my friend's bag, a second-hand bag remade from a sweatshirt or something. We're not a political band, but I liked the meaning of it. In the ancient days, "caucus" used to be a place to discuss something seriously.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

KY: Maybe the colitis that I had when touring the north part of Japan. It was awful. I was in my sleeping bag all day, 23 hours and 30 minutes inside it. The other 30 minutes I was on stage screaming and shouting.

Has it been difficult finding an audience outside of Japan?

TT: Now we have MySpace and stuff, so it's not as desperate as it used to be. In Japan, not many people seek out good bands on MySpace, but American people are more used to doing that.

TK: [Our producer] Kramer is helping us too. He produced our EP and our full-length album.

Stones or Beatles?

TK: That's a tough one.

KY: I think it would be the Beatles, but maybe the Velvet Underground. If we stick to the Stones or the Beatles, I think we are more influenced by the psychedelic side of the Beatles.

TK: We do like the wild character of the Stones though, especially the guitar sound.

TT: Tatsuro's birthday is the same day as John Lennon's.

Tatsuro: Yep. Katsuya and Hiroko are also playing in a band called Luminous Orange. I went to their show and Sean Lennon was there! So I told him that we have something in common. Sean, John and my birthday! October 9. He said that everyone who was born on October 9 is a musician.

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