Bo-Peep Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 2nd 2010 10:34AM by Brian Ries
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After surprising fans of manic metal at 2009's SXSW with their "brutally efficient riffing" layered under bone-shattering vocals, the all-girl rock band Bo-Peep, from Fukuoka, Japan, is ready to rock 2010 by playing what they hope will be their best show. Spinner spoke with lead guitarist and singer Mika Yoshimura and drummer Ryoko Nakano as they riffed on their biggest vices, a near-death experience and the varying reactions of music audiences in Japan, the US and the UK.

Describe your sound.

Ryoko Nakano: Crazy. That's how our music sounds, and also how it makes people feel.

How did your band form?

Mika Yoshimura: I met Ryoko in college in Fukuoka, and we started playing music together.

How did you come up with your band name?

RN: We took it from the 'Mother Goose' story.

What are your musical influences?

MY: Smashing Pumpkins.

RN: Rage Against the Machine.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

MY: I love slow music with a beautiful melody, and I also like Muse.

RN: I love bossa nova.

What do you like about the Toyko punk scene? What don't you like?

MY: We don't really consider ourselves part of the punk rock scene. Our music's more like hard or heavy rock, though you could say we have punk spirits. As for the music scene itself, one good point is that all the venues (we call them "live houses" in Japan) have their own amps and drum kits that the band members can use for their show, so we don't have to take anything along or hire any equipment. But the atmosphere at of most of these venues is not as comfortable as abroad. It's not only the venue staff, but also the audience. Compared with fans in the UK or US, Japanese audiences concentrate so much on listening to the music that they don't really dance and make a noise. It takes a lot of effort to work them into a frenzy!

This is a broad question, but what are you singing about in your songs?

MY: I don't sing for anyone but myself, and my lyrics are just made up of my own feelings. Rather than listening to lyrics, I want people to dance to our music. As for me, when we play our faster songs on stage, I can go nuts.

After playing SXSW 2009, what are you most looking forward to in 2010?

RN: We want to play the best show out of all the bands and make the cover of all the newspapers!

What's your favorite part of going on tour?

MY: We love meeting loads of new people around the world and figuring out how to drive them to climax!

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

RN: One time we stopped in Oita to visit a shrine as we were driving through. While we were looking around the shrine, one of the tires on the van went flat. We were supposed to be on the highway at that point, and if the tire had burst then, it would have been a disaster! It was like maybe God had drawn us into this shrine instead to save us. Pretty freaky.

What's your biggest vice?

MY: Biting friends when I get drunk, though I've gone cold turkey on that one.

RN: After we play a really good show, I always drink too much.

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