tori kudo

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2009-11-24T14:16:00.001+09:00

Toshiharu Osato(1958-2009) lived entire decade of 70's and was not a musician in this 15×decade-long human history.

2009-09-24T12:07:00.002+09:00

What inspired your original vision for C’est La Dernière Chanson ? Did you have specific sonic textures or thematic ideas that you wanted to capture?

It was kind of "at sight" project for people who happened to be present there. While "blues du jour" format was for rigorous collective improvisation, this project was for rather orthodox ensemble. Irrespective of reading ability, players can chose whether to read or to ignore the score, after each song is explained.
Any textures should have been seen as the result after recording this time.
As for the theme, at first in my mind I had just got an English title "XXsongs of maher shalal hash baz", like "49 Americans" that had a sunny image.
Being in France at that period I preferred such English title, while I had adopted "L'autre Cap" being in Olympia, USA.

Since you recorded over 200 songs in six days, did it seem like you were being rushed?

On the 6th day we recorded until 4 a.m. That is why the sound becomes getting thin as the end of the cd comes to a close. Many songs to be recorded were still left.

What was the mood like in the studio? As the band leader, was it difficult to get everyone on the same page creatively?

The studio called Chaudelande was in beautiful rural area near Cherbourg. We were happily fed. Though it was a challenge to keep unrepeatable "at sight" discipline, we all were getting acclimatized to it gradually.

Is there a particular reason that you composed these songs to be so short? What draws you to that aesthetic?

Short songs themselves have been always written since early 80's, like my diary. Those short pieces had often been abandoned behind longer songs so far, but this time picked up.

With so many different styles and moods on the album, was it difficult to know how these songs would fit together into a coherent album?

Without thinking any total image, I just automatically recorded my pieces written from 2005 to 2007, after "L'autre cap".
While "L'autre cap" songs were about sin, this album mainly shows the upper layer of my life, like impressions about places, people, creatures, and mourning.

Words like "amateurish" and "naive" are often associated with your music. Do you agree with that interpretation or is that a misunderstanding of what you are doing?

If I were a Cornelius Cardew, I would write minimalist-ish piece under an error principle that should make its result richer. I am not a socialist designer for amateurs or shamateurs but just an egoist who is trying to realise own inspiration. It is just a economical reason why my music sounds shabby.

Since you also work as a ceramicist, does your work in the medium influence your work as a songwriter? Is there a unifying thread through all of your creative work?

As well as I do not like mixing clays taken from different places, I dislike blended inspirations and blended coffee beans. As for pottery, I prefer quick-inevitable throwing of Liao Dynasty than famous Song Dynasty.

Seeing that you have been making music for many years now, do you think your songwriting aesthetic has changed since you started? What continues to inspire you as an artist?

I think everyone are pursuing to grasp a solid substance. Lou Reed once called it "reality" on his liner note for metal machine music. Just as a punk, I have been doing it within the scope of my ability.

How did you come to record for K Records? Is your music received differently in U.S. than in Japan?

My colleague McCloud Zicmuse introduced me to studio Chaudelande, then my friend Arrington de Dionyso talked to Calvin Johnson about this release.
I have not known even how many maher cds are sold so far in U.S.

Finally, what would you like your listener to take from C'est la Derniere Chanson?

When you go to a museum, you would spend one or two hours there. You will see one drawing reading its caption. It could take about 10 seconds to walk down to next drawing. To listen to these pieces may become similar experience for the visitor.

2009-01-31T23:50:00.002+09:00

-Is there a particular work of art that has moved you?

Jan Fabre's "Warrior of despair"

-What is it and can you describe the experience?

It is a sculpture made from beetles. When I saw it in a museum, I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever.

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2007-05-21T10:51:00.000+09:00

1/ What are you doing in daily live? What's your day like?
I am doing...nothing...doing nothing worth to do... just sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' time.
2/ People ask you many questions, many mysteries, about MSHB as a band or loose network. But what's the truth? How does it work?
MSHB has not ever existed. It has been my solo with many "me". I am so childish that I can not distinguish others and myself.
3/ How do you feel yourself as a musician in Japan? How do your look to live and music?
I am a small musician in Japan.
(4/ small question: You toured in the past in Hokkaido playing tradional music with the local Ainu people. Was that part of your political mission?)
Not in Hokkaido. I once played and danced with a man who was Ainu in a slum area in Tokyo, as a part of my political activity. It was an orchestra for homeless people.
Recently I displayed my celamics at Oki's concert in Tokushima.

2007-02-09T12:51:00.000+09:00

Q:For your live band at least, it seems your band members are younger than yourself. Why do you surround yourself with younger musicians?

My father worked in a pottery workshop doing designs. He would teach ceramics painting to the wives of the mandarin farmers during their off-season, and they would mass produce handmade items. They made some good works, but they also produced some that were rife with inconsistencies.
...Perhaps I should've formed a band with a bunch of proper musicians like The Beatles did, but in my experience, it's difficult for me to make music with these types.

Q: Was working with this band what you expected?

I had no expectations. We just stuck this expensive mic up on high which could pick everything up, spread ourselves around it and recorded.

Q: On occasion, during live performances it looks like you're scolding your band members....Do you think you are a difficult person to work with? Why do you think the lineup of your band has changed so much over the years?

Two of the original members died, one became an alcoholic and entered hospital and one quit music.

Q: Could you tell me briefly about your background in jazz music?

I wasn't analysing the cords or practicising for hours on end and playing along to the sax player's bop cliches. ... I used to improvise.

Q: On occasion, during live performances it looks like you're scolding your band members....Do you think you are a difficult person to work with? Why do you think the lineup of your band has changed so much over the years?

When I tried playing an unannounced song with my band, I ended up going over to the bass player and plucking his strings while I played guitar and sang.

Q: Do you now think that recording mistakes, putting these mistakes on the record has become a cliche?

Even if I know I've made a mistake, I've arrived at some sort of conclusion. [On "L'Autre Cap"], I wanted to make an album to encapsulate this."

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2006-12-05T11:18:00.000+09:00

Q1.You told me that your lifework is write scores on our previous interview. Is it still the same on you ?

I ought to scan and keep them in a hard disk, but now I would rather throw them away.

Q2.Did you see any difference between writing scores and composing ?

Scores left behind are just frames, while composing includes all experiences concerned. I need friends who are kind enough to play my scores, while composing is just a personal affair.

Q3.Tell us about your impression of current line-up for MSHB.

Their hearts are not strong enough like current youngsters.

Q4.Tomorrow maybe a sunny day and good for go out. Where would you go with or without your family.

I could go anywhere for someone else but can not go just for me, because I have kept working until now and I keep working.

Q5.Orchestrated MSHB, how come ?

It might not sound new among degenerated famous musicians.

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2005-10-24T01:13:00.000+09:00

Growing Up[For example, what is your key childhood music memory? What kind of musical household did you grow up in? What did you listen to as a kid? What about your parents? Were they musicians too? Did you rebel and listen to Sex Pistols just to annoy them? How do you think your childhood affected you as a musician now?]

I liked Cesar Franck, and Gabriel Faure, that formed a core of my nursery rhyme. My parents' principle of art for art's sake had a bad influence on me.

Inspirations[who are your favourite musicians? Why? Do you remember the first time you heard their albums? Do you love the music or their attitude/clothes/lovers too?]

AEC with Brigitte Fontaine's Comme A La Radio forms the core of my lyricism. I heard it when I was in a punk band called "worst noise".

Your Band[So, tell us about your band. Who's in it, when did you meet, what connects you? Any major different musical opinions? How long have you been together? Who's the shy one, the joker, the Casanova etc.]

I could say that I certainly had members before but now I have just a loose network.

The Music You Make[OK, start listing styles, name-check your contemporaries and tell us about your releases. Who did you record with and where?]

I made 50 copies of cdr "unify my heart" last year and it would be my first and last album I made successfully.

Music, Right Here, Right Now[What do you think of the music scene at the moment? What are the obstacles musicians have to overcome? What's the best thing about the local scene? What bands have you seen lately that have impressed you? What do you think the future holds?

I am living in an unseen scene where is always in the doldrums. If 6 people liked you in net, it means you are more famous than the Beatles.

MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ How did you arrive at the name of your band? Do you think it still relates to what you are trying to achieve? Has your understanding of what it means changed over time?

I think modern Assyria still would like to beat modern Samaria.　I would not like to belong to neither but want to be a ship that loads the booty of Samaria as a sacrifice of music.

There is a certain amount of mystery associated with Maher Shalal Hash Baz. Is this something that you actively encourage?

Things that have no connection with each other often happen inevitably. But it must not be a mystery for me and I have been trying to swim against such kind of flow of the river.

What interests you in working with untrained musicians, how do you recruit people to play with?

I like recording some music using my score with children living near my house.

When I listen to Blues du jour, it seems quite carefully arranged, there are even elements of Bacharach, whereas in your live performance in aoiheya 2003 I had the sense that anything could happen, the music could go in any direction, it might work or fall apart at a moments notice. Is this something you want to achieve? If so why?

I have no time to arrange.

How would you describe the music you are making?

It is a kind of storming mercy judge with importunities.

Do you compose all of the music yourself or do you play spontaneously with the band to compose? And how much improvisation occurs when you play live?

Free improvisation is always the matter because inspiration is basicaly a personal affair.I had once tried to share our inspiration in the band. Each members' compositions were played while their diary site on the day of a taihoon called maon were shown on the wall through a projector.　And I have come to know that any music does not stand on such kind of man-made democracy.

I have read that you previously played in noisy bands like a Suicide. I would think that Maher Shalal Hash Baz is almost the opposite of this music. Do you see any links between the two?

Sometimes I am noisy but sometimes not. It depends on my spirituality.

I understand that at times you have had from 2 or 30 people involved in the band. How many people are coming to Australia and what can we expect?

I have to make some new music after I come to Australia with someone new who I will meet up there.

2005-10-04T00:30:00.000+09:00

- Can you explain your choice of the band name, Maher Shalal Hash Baz? The Jewish encyclopaedia defines it as: (Hebrew) "=the spoil speeds, the preyhastens], in the Bible, name of Isaiah's son, symbolizing hope for Judahduring the Assyrian attack on Damascus and Samaria." (from Isaiah 8:3 - "Iwent to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said Yahwehto me, "Call his name'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.' ) Does this have anyparticular meaning for you? What are the other associations of the name?

The footnote of Jerusalem bible says it means "quick spoil, speedy booty". I happened to see this longest name and liked its sound.

- Your music seems to have an emphasis on innocence, almost a child-likeapproach - is innocence a quality you value? what is the relationship between music and innocence?

Heterophony, is often considered as an expression on innocence, but it is a technique of ancient music. I dare say that the neat unison of orchestra is childish.

- Please tell me about your creative partnership with your wife, Reiko. Is it good for your marriage to work and create together?

I have been working with her since TENNO/NOISE LP (1981), and she is still a small tenno.

- What are some of your songwriting processes, and have they changed over the years?

Melodies have been written down super-quickly on convenience store's receipt found in my car while waiting at the crossing. I can not always read them again, though.

-You have said that Maher's music is based on punk. Who are your punk inspirations? How does the punk aesthetic apply in your work?

In front of me in my teens it seemed there were two types of music, music for playing and music for listening. It seemed both had never been mixed. It seemed like a spiritual battle around the matter of freewill and compulsion. Being easy yet unique seemed to be a key for playing the music for playing, while transcendency and mysticism could often be seen in playing the music for listening. I do not believe dictates like "our side"or "not our side" in music now, but at that time decadence seen in those life -size rockers seemed to be easy yet unique for me, that was all I knew.

- What reception do you get from American audiences, and how does this compare to Japanese audiences?

There are no city like Olympia or Glasgow in Japan. I have come to know that a band or a label could change the whole image of the town.

- What sort of a music "scene" is there in Japan? do you feel that you belong to a musical community of kindred spirits?

In Japan, a visional critic living around Koenji station is choosing who is real "underground" since 70's.

- Is it possible in Japan to make a living from music and art? what are the challenges facing Japanese artists?

Nobody shan't succeed unless succeeding some succession here dear.

- Could you please tell me a bit about your background? Where did you grow up? What was your family life like - do you come from a musical family?

I grew up in a rural area surrounded by nature. My grandfather was a painter and my father is a potter/designer and my mother is a modern artist. She likes buying instruments but do not play them often.

- Who were your formative musical influences as a young person? What music were you exposed to on the radio, and through other people's record collections?

The Beatles, T-Rex, and so on.

- Please tell me about your involvement with The Anti Japanese Movement and/or Eastern Asia Anti-Japanese Armed Front. What are/were these organisation/s' goals, why did you join and why did you leave? What are your political beliefs now?

Our propaganda was that any Japanese should had ceased to exist as being one of Japanese. One said that the intelligence of North Korea may led the movement at its very beginning. Some activists are now working for homeless people around Shinjuku station. I think it is still a nice idea to stop being one of members of a nation. I hate borderlines and manmade countries.

- I understand you make pottery, what other artistic pursuits are you involved with other than music?

Drawings.

- Where are you living now? (please describe your home & surroundings)

I am living in an open field. I have not got much time for vegetation.

- You have spent a lot of time and recorded in Scotland, do you feel a particular connection with Scottish people and artists?

A root of Japanese music came from Scotland when Japan opened its door to foreign country in 19th century. Celtic influence is still seen in child songs. That is why I like James Kirk because of his simple melody.

- Can you tell us what to expect from your Australian shows? What instruments are you bringing with you? Will your sets be largely improvised?

A kind of Australian pub rock will be played.

- What do you communicate with the audience when you are on stage and what do you get back from the audience?

Once someone contact with me, it means that he/she is invited to become a member of maher,

- Any other comments you would like to add:

..........an u.

2005-09-16T01:08:00.000+09:00

1. I have read your music described as an esthetics of failure. would you see your work (with Maher Shalal Hash Baz and beyond) as an ongoing experience with trial and error?

I can not decide what I should do for a show. So the members can read scores after the show begins. Error as goal is a gnostic excuse.

2. What is your connection with Australia? How did the tour come about?

I was thinking people were walking backward and doing handstand in the Southern Hemisphere, and I found its reversing phenomenon is fairly true when Guy Blackman said "!ailartsuA ot emoC"

3. Does touring internationally with large groups of musicians cause many problems?

Nothing would be a problem if the band holds its inspiration during being in abroad.

4.

I do not believe this Japanese superstition concerning with number 4

5. As the Maher Shalal Hash Baz line up is in constant flux, what can we expect to see from Maher Shalal Hash Baz when you tour Australia?

You may expect that I invite passers by in Melbourne and Sydney.. I hope so.

6. What is your connection with the band The Tenniscoats whom you are touring Australia with?

They are one of my satellites of love.

7. What new music from Japan would you recommended curious Australians to investigate?

gendaikazokuhttp://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~mnt.web/gendaikazoku.html

8. While so many groups stick to very rigid concepts of what constitutes a 窶話and窶・(stable line ups, stable setlists etc.) are there particular reasons or feelings why you choose to forego these?

I think there is not so many stable things in last days and I just hold fast my reality at any cost until someone falls upon me.

2005-06-02T00:10:00.000+09:00

>Tell me all that you want about Maher S H B. now.
I have been thinking about my "sound system" each time.

>Are you working in new music?
Last year I had an concert titled "what is melody?" based on theoretical achievement of Curt Sachs.

>Are you always working about new music?
I am now working in old music and playing Diego Ortiz as an collective inprovisational format.

>Are you working with more people?
I am organising mahers especially at where the ending of the name of the city finishes as M. For instance, after my playing in Matsuyama, Hiroshima, or Roma, I organise Matsuyamaher, Hiroshimaher, and Romaher.

>And about you: Are you planing to release more music under others name?
I have one band and one name while many musicians have many projects and many bands now a days.

>What others things are you doing?
I am making pots for others.

>+ questions:- Do you like to talk about your music?
Yes, I do. It is sometimes bitter, though.

>- Do you feel that your music is close to some others musics?
Yes, there are many similar forms.

>- Do you use to hear the music that you make?
No, hardly ever I have played them through again.

>- Do you like to listen other people music? A lot? A few?
Very few. I can not listen to music while doing other things.

2004-12-11T16:24:00.000+09:00

You have a jazzy background as a musician. What drew you to play the music you’ｒe playing now with Maher Shalal Hash Baz ?
＞punk seemed to be easy to play.

You are a potter. Is there any interaction between your music and your art ?
> pot has its inside and outside as well as shape of my music does. both are like "half hearted art" that shows a conflict between in and out.

Why having chosen a biblical name for the band ? I find it quite funny because it is a very serious reference but people who never heard about it are probably drawn by the hash part
>yes, the sound of each part is funny. maher, shalal hash, baz. funny. i liked this funny sound first and meanings followed later then the meanings cut the sound like a square flame.

Can you present the band ? It seems like it's more of a collective than an actual band・How do you get people to play with you ?
>I invite one who does not have other band, in order to put all in into one band. so it is difficult to find members always. now I have only one member who plays bassoon.others are guests.

Do you feel like you're representing some side of Japanese music or do you feel like Maher Shalal Hash Baz is more like a curiosity ?
>when our style became a side of Japanese music, I would do another odd thing.

Are you more popular in Japan or Europe (or elsewhere if such is the case) ?
>popular in Brazil? see orkt.

Why are most of your songs sung in English ?
>for people who live in the end of the world standard.

Famous Japanese bands in Europe usually have a heavier sound (I'm thinking bout Guitar Wolf or Mono). Do you feel close to such bands ?
>I do not know guitar wolf and mono. once we had had a heavy sound. we still have it sometime.

How did you end up getting signed on Stephen Pastels・Geographic label ?
>he liked "return visit rock mass" (org), i do not know why.

I somehow feel like Scotland has inspired your music. Would you agree, and if yes, to what extent ?
>I was impressed their label as a kind of a design movement including a life style, which has nice celtic sensitive pale colour tradition.

Your albums are usually full of songs. Do you write a lot of them or do you put everything you write on the album ?
>I chose songs before recording. I have to say bye-bye to some vicious inspiration.

I heard about a 71 songs MSAB album
I only know the Blues Du Jour album. Can you tell me about the two others ?
>I released many. "unify my heart", "faux depart" is like a will of my 2003. musically love some songs on Blues Du Jour

I really like the fact that I can and that they can make me laugh a lot at the same time (thinking of His Banner Over Me Was Love by example). Is there a voluntary attempt at humour ?
>I am living for josually.

I really like the different versions of already existing songs you put on the Open Field single. Do you often do very different versions of the same song ?
>yes, I do.

I have a very hard time describing your music. Do you have any convincing answer when one asks you what music you do ?
>phychedelic rock on irony.

Would you get annoyed if someone told you he thinks that Maher Shalal Hash Baz has pop elements ?
>being pop is very important. it should be a core of my music, like marc bolan.

Would you say that spontaneity is Maher Shalal Hash Baz's main strength ? The songs often sound very heartfelt.
>heterophonic unison of popular melody has its strength. viblation between different pitches is the key.

How do you manage writing so many happy sounding songs
? The music usually you play tends to draw pessimistic moods.
Is it a direct reaction to it ?
>music should be happy or sad. namely, praise or elegy. if there were music from middle area, it must another songs come from another source.

Live recordings seem to have a lot of importance in your discography. What draws you to it ?I just have not had enough money to record songs in a studio, that is all.

A friend of mine saw you in London last year and told me you had to tell the others when to stop to finish the songs. Do you think that technical limitedness is the best way to remain sincere ?sudden finish and ambiguous start are the life of music. it is the manner of lo-fi tradition.

The instrumentation you use on stage and on record is not the kind one would usually have in a rock band. Why such a choice ? I try to give my members a new instrument for her/him each time, to avoid cliche.

Do you have any plans for the near future ? I read that a lot of Maher Shalal Hash Baz members have side projects. Can you tell me about some of them ?
no plans. gest members have many projects like tenniscoats, yumbo. they are like branch of bands in Montreal.

Will there be a French tour soon ?
invitez-nous, svp.

2004-11-20T16:54:00.000+09:00

moving without Ark, mobile does not work

a drove I've snatched away, that I may shepherd it
I drive off even the male ass of fatherless boys
I seize the widow's bull as a pledge
I turn aside the poor ones from the way
moving back boundary marks; moving without Ark in the day of the Lord

so the afflicted of the earth have kept themselves hidden
as zebras in the wilderness; I've gone looking for food
the desert plain gives to me bread for my daughter
and the vineyard of the wicked one I hastily despoil
musing in the dark; moving without Ark in the day of the Lord

naked, I pass the night without a garment
and without any covering in the cold
from the rainstorm of the mountains I get drenched
because there's no shelter I have to hug a rock
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

I snatch away a fatherless boy even from the breast
and what is on the afflicted one I take as a pledge
naked, I have to go about without a garment
and, hungry, I have to carry the reaped ears
musing in the dark; moving without Ark in the day of the Lord

between the terrace walls I pass the noontime
winepresses I have to tread, and yet I go thirsty
from out of the city the dying keep groaning
and the soul of deadly wounded ones cries for help
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

he considers it not as anything improper
as for me, I am among the rebels against light
I did not recognize its ways
and I did not dwell in its roadways
mobile does not work; musing in the dark in the day of the Lord

at daylight the murderer gets up
proceeding to slay the afflicted and the poor one
and during the night I become a regular thief
the eye of the adulterer watched for evening darkness
saying, 'No eye will behold me!' and over my face I puts a covering

In the darkness I have dug into houses
by day I must keep myself locked in
I have not known daylight
for morning is the same as deep shadow for me
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

for I recognize what the sudden terrors of deep shadow are
I'm swift on the surface of the waters
my tract of land will be cursed in the earth
I will not turn toward the way of the vineyards
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

the drought, & the heat, snatch away the snow waters
so does She'ol those who have sinned!
the womb will forget me
the maggot will sweetly suck me, I 'll be remembered no more
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

and unrighteousness will be broken just like a tree
I'm having dealings with a barren woman who does not bear
and I am having dealings with a widow, to whom I do no good
he will certainly draw away strong people by his power
moving without Ark; mobile does not work in the day of the Lord

I will rise up and not be sure of my life
he will grant me to become confident that I may support myself
and his eyes will be upon my way
I have become high up a little while, then I am no more
moving without Ark; musing in the dark in the day of the Lord

I've been brought low, like everyone else I am plucked off
like the head of an ear of grain I am cut off
mobile does not work, in the day of the Lord
mobile does not work, in the day of the Lord
musing in the dark; moving without Ark in the day of the Lord

2004-11-03T15:50:00.000+09:00

it was a big hug
it was a melody

it was a big tide
covering the memory

it was such a ride
it was such a foggy night

it was such a big hug
covering my malady

in the day of the king fierce

2004-11-02T22:31:00.000+09:00

seamless garments woven by right and wrong hands
secret moments made of distant and closer words

outer garments sewn by long and short hands unseen
our torments sown with good and bad seeds

upon the untorn apparel soldiers cast lots
and so the soldiers really did these things

2004-10-04T08:35:00.000+09:00

hatenamixi is your sad daily bread
is this your real daily bread
what your daily bread ought to be
conversing fire of love haven't saturated you

2004-08-09T15:44:00.000+09:00

hi there,
how's your bassoon, turquoirs?
my id is 1979
you may not remember me
but once we had bid for the same bassoon

and both of us were beaten by a higher bidder
ebay shows other bassoons day after day

after that i bought a red maplewood one
it was $895
and i have found you, turquoirs
you finally got same maple one

i just would like to say hello to you
because we seem to share our fate

how's your bassoon, turquoirs?
i am in a band and liked tortoise
people play pastoral
do we play day after day until the end

2004-06-26T22:37:00.000+09:00

saturate me

2004-06-15T22:23:00.000+09:00

there is no safer place than in the memory of you

2004-06-03T12:34:00.000+09:00

I was thinking that my heart had been set to one from half, but now I know that it just became zero from half.

2004-06-01T10:20:00.000+09:00

I have got mountainous things that I would like to tell you and you would not listen to, so I sent you an empty book today.

2004-05-28T15:47:00.000+09:00

I am going to write things that must not be written. What I want to write truly is usually what I must not write, isn't it? I will still be telling you my new songs first. Your heart is stronger than mine. I want a medicine that strengthens my heart.

2004-05-24T22:33:00.000+09:00

I have been living by using half of me for one year. I have been doing my conversation using half of my ear. So I could not have concerned about other people at all. It is strange that I could have been living by half of me. Today I stopped to be half. Now I am glad to be able to unify my heart.

2004-03-02T02:51:00.000+09:00

>what is your earliest memory of music?
>>i remember a fragment of a violin sonata of Cesar Franck, and a very low vocal part of the platters' singing "you'll never know".

>when did you first start creating any kind of music of your own?
>>i remember that i wrote a score titled "a flower on the mountain" when i was 4, it was very like early Mozart tune because of my learning classical piano at that time.

>how easily did 'songform' come to you as musician/writer?
>>it was not easy at all because i had not got any words to be sung before.

>was there a definite moment when you realised that music-making would be what you would do with your life?
>>one day i decided to create a cheap yet an unique musical format like rock'n roll, for dancers who were working at guys'n dolls, a cabaret in times square.

>what were your earliest desires and/or goals as an artist?
>>it was to become a menber of decembrists,

>was there a particular record or person who had a great influence on you when you were starting out?
>>a beard art student who came to work for my father's pottery workshop, taught me a hippie style when i was 10 years old. then a natural curly haired classmate taught me other things when i am 16.

>did you grow out of a particularly fertile time and/or place (both geographically and pop-culturally), or were you more isolated in your musical beginnings?
>>i think i had just been reading rock and jazz magazines and had been following dogmas of favourite critics.

>at what point along your musical timeline was the seed of maher shalal hash baz first sewn?
>>when masashi mitani gave up his career as a guitarist and decided to play the bass guitar for me, i started making songs for him.

>did the band come as an idea first, or did it grow out of people just playing together?
> >i always have an idea for my music regardless of playing with anyone. but when i write a score, i consider whether the player is able to play it and whether he likes it.
i do not like having a concept before forming a band. these days a musician like to have several bands according to each concept. i would like to do all things in one band.

>when you were starting out, what did you want maher shalal hash baz to be? were there qualities you wanted to embody? or sounds you wanted to explore? or vague ideas you had in mind?
>>i wanted to play with my clones.

>has maher been, over time, a thought-out endeavour, or has it been a more spontaneous thing?
>>doing maher is like being a ropewalker. i have always been trying to find some new ideas that allows me to continue music one more time.

>do you sit down and think about records before you undertake the recording of them?
>>usually i have not got any time to sit down even for choosing songs. i am always moving with all my heavy scores that hurt my knees.

>what ideas or thoughts on concepts may you have had in mind when setting out on working on 'blues du jour'?
>>at first, i was thinking of only 'blues du jour' which is a collective improvisation format for non musicians.

>do you try and make your albums have thematic content?
>>my recording has been like cutting a period out of my diary. consequently, it became a kind of "i" novels.

>is there a particular subject that interests you most, as songwriter, at the moment?
>>after 9.11, some musicians in the usa seem to have come to be able to put on others' shoes including even the concerned terrorist. such kind of empathy is absolutely nice but i think it also shows a kind of limitation of human relativism. they are always saying like "there are many flowers in the world and everyone is a unique flower", but they may not know who made the 250,000 kinds of flowers personally.

>to what degree are the arrangements on your songs orchestrated, and how much is improvised?
>>i let a left-faced player do improvisation for his/her right brain, but give a right-faced player a detailed score for his/her left brain.

>as band-leader, are you a hard taskmaster?
>>yes, i always demand sightreading.

>what characteristics do you think shine through most in maher's music?
>>malicious bitterness and a certain fearful expectation of judgement or destruction. sorry, not upbuilding at all...hope is the most important element for playing music

2004-03-02T01:35:00.000+09:00

. Where does the idea of having a biblical name come from? Does it have any particular intention? What is your connection with this mythical character?

>Maher. had been born as a sign before Assyria destroyed Samaria. Maher. would be born as a sign before political power destroys religious power. I would not like to be a part of both powers. I would rather be a ship of neutral, carrying treasure from modern Samaria to modern Assyria.

. Are you interested in religion or spiritual matters? Are you a religious person?

>If I were more aware of my needs of spirituality, I would have been a more happy person.

. As far as I know, this is your last album since the legendary 83-song Return Visit To Rock Mass. What have you been doing during this period of time? Could you draw different stylistic periods throughout the band history?

> While recording Return Visit to Rock Mass in early 90's, I was trying to run away from the world. Rock was too sinful for me or sin was too rock for me. I was not in clubs at nights and was not playing music until 1999.

. Why have you decided to record your new album at the East Kilbride Arts Centre in only 2 days in a country like Scotland? Does it have anything to do with the style of your music?

> I think it was not only 2days, though, anyway, it was short enough to avoid modern experimental childish adventures.
East Kilbride, where David Scott was working, was not a country town. It had two pubs and one musical instruments shop.

. How was the collaboration with David Scott?

>He paid attention to details like Phil Spector. To know him was to love him.
We felt like we were the Beach Boys.

. How is your relationship with The Pastels? How did you know them?

>I had already got their ilumination cd at virgin megastore before they suddenly phoned me.
Once Goddard made a movie about "life, trust, affair, music", and it was an affair of my life,

. Is it true that you see yourself as the ‘kings of errors’? What does it mean?

>Describing me as the king of error was the best excuse for having no time to rehearse.

. What do you mean when you described Maher's music as "gothic country"?

> It is not strange to hear that Johnny Cash covers Joy Division.

. Do you feel part of the psych folk scene?

>No, I don't. I am a punk.

. In what kind of music are you interested at the moment? What do you think of the Acid Mother Temple?

> I like Ethiopian ballads and blues. I have not had a chance to try Kawabata's acid yet.

. Are you interested in magic or the paranormal?

>I know they have been acting in a theatre called white and black.

. Why are all the tracks on this album so short? Are you particularly interested in fragmented narratives?

>They are just not worth repeating. You could loop it in your head as long as you like.

. Do you like to play with ideas such as ingenuity, amateurism, no-music?

>People tend to look that way. I myself has been trying to play music just perfectly always, and just would like to play music with someone who I like.

. Many reviews talk about the relation between your work and “the fall-out of political events that took place in Japan 20 years ago”. What does this exactly mean? Are there any specific political contexts or ideas connected to your work?

> It is said that an agent from North Korea gave financial support and spreaded the idea of "anti-japan". Many punks that time were involved in this "anti-jap"movement. The leftovers of these jargons still sometimes appear in songs.

. Why did you say in a recent interview that “the only current members of Maher are Masami Shinoda and Koichiro Watanabe”, being them two great players who are sadly now dead?
How do you communicate with them?

>I could play with them when they are resurrected.

. Are you interested in literature?
I am really into Murakami’s work at the moment, have you read it?

＞There are two Murakamis in Japan, who have been writing best seller novels constantly. One is Ryu Murakami and another is Haruki Murakami. I have recently read Haruki Murakami's "Kafka by seaside" and made a song of that.

. What do you feel about drugs? Have you got any interesting experiences/trips? Do you see any interesting links between drugs and music?

>I had tried any ups and downs when living in New York. If I were being there longer, I would have died. It was sure that my tempo became slower or faster than real time when playing the guitar after window pain or ganja. But all that I learnt was that a poor brain made a poor trip. I stopped taking any stuff including smoking since 1989.

. Is it true that you had a Suicide tribute band called Tokyo Suicide?

> Yes, I had been doing it with Koichiro Watanabe, who really committed suicide later though.

. Were you a member of the A-Musik collective. What kind of music did they play?

>A-music played political songs such as Brecht-Weill's, Frederic Rzewski's, L'internationale noir, varshavianka, etc.

. What are you next plans? Are you thinking of touring or recording a new record? Will you come to Spain?

>I have been invited to Europe tour for one month by silver mount zion recently. Touring around continental is like a dream come true for me, but It is still difficult because other members can not stop their work for their living.

2004-03-02T01:34:00.000+09:00

1. Being in the underground for more than 20 years
now, would you like to get better, wider exposer with the
new album? There's a whole page review of it in the WIRE
magazine. Do you mind listeners' or critics' reaction at
all?

>While my being in the "underground", playing music except military bands' had been banned in Ethiopia. People there were playing secretly in the underground. Music shone under a prohibition. I also prohibit me from playing music unless I could fulfill my responsibility for supporting my family. I play music for money, to make my music shine. No profits have been obtained though.

>I only mind a website run by a girl. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/haimoto_usaco/.
She is frank.

2. I think that the new record, Blues Du Jour, is full
of ideas, most other bands would make 3 full-lenght albums
from the material. Any comment on that?

>Mick Farren was one who had a lot of ideas. But I know having ideas is different from music itself. There is a kind of a simple, great monotonous feeling with beautiful lyrics seen in such as Silver Jews or Lyrebird in Olympia.

3. Songs are rarely longer that 2 minutes, some
contain only refrein, some are instrumental; do you have
the whole composition first in your mind or do you
experiment with instruments and develop ideas from chords
and melodies?

>I do it first in my mind without any instruments.
I often write my scores in my car stopping at red lights.

4. While listening to your music, first thing that
comes to mind is spontaniety. do you enter the studio with
the fully prepared songs or do you experiment 'on the site'?

>Water molecules in the studio are quite important. Human bodies are actually water, that are connected each other or to the air by the water. I often have to change arrangements according to the watery conditions among musicians in the studio.

5. David Thomas once said that live on stage he always
tried to recall the moment when the performed song was
written. I guess Mayo Thompson possesses the similar
aesthetic, and Tori Kudo as well. Anyway, how the songs
performed live differ from the versions from records?

> Lou Reed once said that reality was the key in his notes on metal machine music. 70-year-old Goethe fell in love with a teenage girl. Musicians would force themselves to love even somebody new for keeping their realities or tensions. As for me, I just continue weathering old songs or making new songs of the day.

6. In the rare interview I found on the net you stated
that you wanted your record sell well only in Yugoslavia.
As I'm from Slovenia, ex Yugoslavian republic (Yugoslavia
doesn't exist anymore), I can garantie that your records
have never been on sell here. But anyway, there is some
similarities between Japan and Yugoslavia, rock music of
both countries are deeply influenced by Western culture,
but at the same time carries very characteristic feel・So,
could you imagine ・what would your music sound like if you
had grown up in the UK or USA? After all, your songs are
mostly in English language.

>Once I have read that Frank Zappa was most popular in ex Yugoslavia, anyway.

>When I once dropped in Seoul International Airport on the way to the U.K and watched the Korean TV, I found that it was so funny for Japanese to watch Korean pop singers who were imitating Western pop music. Then I realized that I must have been funny for Koreans as well. I wish I were like one of Ethiopian James Browns based on my own culture.

7. You spent some time also in Britain, then got back
to Japan. What did you experience in the UK?

>I was a builder. I learnt how lads put bricks roughly harmonising with the rough garden. I saw how tall the ceilings were in the UK. I climbed many ladders to paint magnolia or pure white on the walls. I walked down the street always with a ladder on my shoulder, like Wallace & Gromit.

8. From Japan we know mostly noisy bands such as
Boredoms, Melt Banana, Zeni Geva, but Maher Shalal Hash Baz
doesn't sound like any of them. Are you involved in the
certain scene, I mean, do you play together with the bands
with similar attitude etc?

>I recently played with members of Boredoms, and Zeni Geva, as a performing or noise artist.

9. Do you still play/perform music outside Maher Shalal Hash Baz?

>This year I played in Tokyo, with Thomas Muller from Argentina, and Jutok Kaneko of Kosokuya, and recorded a duo improvisation with Rick Pots in LA, participated in some multimedia events and organized a noise orchestra for a gallery in my local town. I am often invited to other local parts in Japan as a solo performer for the reason of travel expenses.

10. Do you remember the moment when you realized you
wanted to be musician/artist?

>Many small moments would have passed over unconsciously because I am just a small artist.

2004-03-02T01:32:00.000+09:00

>1) tori, please describe the idea you had in mind as you started maher
>shalal hash baz (and how did the group changed from that point on...)?
>

When Masashi Mitani gave up playing the guitar for him and started playing bass for me, I could start the band for him. Unfortunately, trapped by a phobia, Mitani could not join the recording session of "Return Visit to Rock Mass" for me, and left the group for him. Since then I have been looking for my bassist for me.

>2) i'm a big fan of your music, partly because of the imperfections, because
>of the innocence in sound an meaning, what's your very own feeling when you
>listen to a song you just completed?
>

I have always been playing under a pressure that makes me stop doing music. Fortunately, the pleasure of recording had always exceeded the pressure a little. This time, the pressure and the joy was almost equal. I am far from innocence.

>3) in how far is maher shalal hash baz japanese music?
>
The vocal style called Utai seen in Noh theatre, has been adopted in some songs. I have also liked the vocal style in Amami island near Okinawa. I have also recorded my local trad songs, such as Iyomanzai.

>4) why did you leave japan?
>
Because I became like a vegetable which was cooked too long in Japan.

>5) what's the biggest difference between scotland and japan for you?
>

The height of the ceilings.

>6) do you plan to return to japan one day?
>
I would like to live in Yaku island near Okinawa.

>7) what do you hate in/about pop music?
>
Too many love songs. It should be 1/66 in number.

>8) where/in what kind of situation did you compose "good morning"?
>
One morning I was thinking vaguely that it was a pity that Robert Wyatt could not sleep at all. I was also thinking about depressed persons' state of mind, which wishes to die as soon as waking up in the morning. Then some words came up to me, "whenever you lie down, you do not have to be afraid of any dreadful things"(ecc. 3:24,5). Next I thought of that, "going to the house of mourning is better" (pro. 7:2). The phrase "good mourning" changed into "good morning", and the melody came out. I thought it would be nice if Saya would sing it, and I made it a pop tune.

>9) some songs are about religious topics, what's your attitude towards
>religion?
>
I can not be religious but I hope it would be true that I am spiritual because of my being aware of the lack of my spiritual needs which could mean my being aware of my spiritual needs.

>10) what Is a "white dream" (what do you dream in colours)?
>
It is a name of a work by my favorite potter Kazuhiko Miwa, My dream might be monochrome.

>11) in how far is this record a blues record?

West outskirts of Tokyo has its own blues tradition since 60's. Its unique rhythm pattern has been played by musicians around Les Rallizes Denudes. Its timing is sometimes delayed at the second beat, while the third is delayed in black funeral march. One of my long-term theme was to use this blues pattern as a format for doing improvisation with other people.

>1) tori, please describe the idea you had in mind as you started maher
>shalal hash baz (and how did the group changed from that point on...)?
>

When Masashi Mitani gave up playing the guitar for him and started playing bass for me, I could start the band for him. Unfortunately, trapped by a phobia, Mitani could not join the recording session of "Return Visit to Rock Mass" for me, and left the group for him. Since then I have been looking for my bassist for me.

>2) i'm a big fan of your music, partly because of the imperfections, because
>of the innocence in sound an meaning, what's your very own feeling when you
>listen to a song you just completed?
>

I have always been playing under a pressure that makes me stop doing music. Fortunately, the pleasure of recording had always exceeded the pressure a little. This time, the pressure and the joy was almost equal. I am far from innocence.

>3) in how far is maher shalal hash baz japanese music?
>
The vocal style called Utai seen in Noh theatre, has been adopted in some songs. I have also liked the vocal style in Amami island near Okinawa. I have also recorded my local trad songs, such as Iyomanzai.

>4) why did you leave japan?
>
Because I became like a vegetable which was cooked too long in Japan.

>5) what's the biggest difference between scotland and japan for you?
>

The height of the ceilings.

>6) do you plan to return to japan one day?
>
I would like to live in Yaku island near Okinawa.

>7) what do you hate in/about pop music?
>
Too many love songs. It should be 1/66 in number.

>8) where/in what kind of situation did you compose "good morning"?
>
One morning I was thinking vaguely that it was a pity that Robert Wyatt could not sleep at all. I was also thinking about depressed persons' state of mind, which wishes to die as soon as waking up in the morning. Then some words came up to me, "whenever you lie down, you do not have to be afraid of any dreadful things"(ecc. 3:24,5). Next I thought of that, "going to the house of mourning is better" (pro. 7:2). The phrase "good mourning" changed into "good morning", and the melody came out. I thought it would be nice if Saya would sing it, and I made it a pop tune.

>9) some songs are about religious topics, what's your attitude towards
>religion?
>
I can not be religious but I hope it would be true that I am spiritual because of my being aware of the lack of my spiritual needs which could mean my being aware of my spiritual needs.

>10) what Is a "white dream" (what do you dream in colours)?
>
It is a name of a work by my favorite potter Kazuhiko Miwa, My dream might be monochrome.

>11) in how far is this record a blues record?

West outskirts of Tokyo has its own blues tradition since 60's. Its unique rhythm pattern has been played by musicians around Les Rallizes Denudes. Its timing is sometimes delayed at the second beat, while the third is delayed in black funeral march. One of my long-term theme was to use this blues pattern as a format for doing improvisation with other people.

2004-02-29T02:27:00.000+09:00

>Tori, your history, particularly the music I have heard of yours from the late 1970s and early 1980s (Guys'n'Dolls, Noise, Snickers), suggests an intrinsic relation with rock music. But I sense that this changed at some point. When did you jettison your interest in rock music, and why? What is it about rock music that you do not appreciate? Are you against rock, or simply not interested in it?

>>When a guy shouts "rock'n roll !", the venue is suddenly "dyed up" by an inevitable worldly colour, no matter how carefully the player prepared his unique expression beforehand. Under such case, to resist rock'n roll is beyond a human power. A rocker who liked saying "I hate rock'n roll" died dyed by rock'n roll. Rock rolls with irony while jazz goes with freedom. Some bands have always avoided using mere 8 beats. It seems like rock'n roll about rock'n roll, and rock'n roll about rock'n roll can not be rock'n roll but it is rock'n roll, and I dare say I have been liking rock'n roll more than anyone else in the world no matter how apparently the world does not deserve me. My rock has been persecuted like Ethiopian blues but always been alive yet hidden like a rock mass under the water to where I once had to make a return visit in the dark.

>I am interested to know about your involvement with the A-Musik organisation.

>>A-musik was not an organization but a band that was often invited to play in events for left-wing extremists or anarchists. I remember how we were spending our time in early 80's. For instance, we loudly played a song called "anti-jap-rap " on a vehicle parked in front of Shinjuku station, Tokyo, then ran away before the police arrived. I was 'rapping' at that time. I also remember one day we played in a slum in Yokohama, I shouted a Korean song and VARSHAVIANKA in punk style. The audience was so pleased to scatter colourful torn pieces of paper onto the band...I also remember one winter we organised iron-pipe-orchestra with homeless workers in Sanya, the biggest slum in Tokyo. We organised a big festival called "Anti-Jap-Independant" at Wako University, Tokyo. We invited Fred Frith and Tom Cora. I remember I sang a Korean hard rock and one of Damo Suzuki's song..

>What did this involve for you? What led you to turn your back on this organisation, and turn to religion?

>>To be involved in 'Anti-Jap movement' involved stopping my being a Japanese for my self-denegation, which was completed after I stopped being a part of the world as the primitive church did.

>Tell me about the process of recording the "Return Visit to Rock Mass" box set. Why did you decide to release such a large amount of music? Do you always have such a backlog of unrecorded songs?

>>I hurt my left knee because I had been carried all my scores always. Shinji Shibayama of org records was kind enough to offer me an opportunity to record all my scores in a recording studio.

>You relocated to London for a period of time, where you were 'discovered' by David Keenan and The Pastels. Why did you shift to London? Reiko Kudo described your move to London as being like moving 'from an Egypt to another Egypt' -what does she mean by this? And now that you are working closely with The Pastels, what is your sense of them - as a band, as musicians, and as individuals - as your peers?

>>They found Return Visit to Rock Mass CD in rough trade in Portobellow. Egypt means the world. The Pastels has been a deterrent to my leaving this world.

>Please explain to me what motivated Maher Shalal Hash Baz' interest in error and imperfection.

>>My laziness, poverty, and ideal.

>I have sometimes seen your work as continuing a musical trajectory that includes songs like The Raincoats' "Fairy tale in the Supermarket", Syd Barrett's "Last Night" or albums like the Red Crayola's "Coconut Hotel". Would these be fair approximations of your musical 'influences'? What is it about this music that inspires you? What other music inspires you?

>>Yes, the rhythm of "late night" was a very special thing to me. I like the way of Mayo who thinks out new things using not many sources under the limited condition of rock format, i.e, one of Coconut Hotel piece of turning a knob of the amp volume clockwise gradually. Raincoats gave us a joy of forming a band. I can not mention other musical influences here, which are too many.

>Michael Karoli of the German group Can once said that "no Can piece is ever finished". Tori, do you feel that your songwriting process is open-ended, or are you fairly dogmatic about the structures of your songs? Are the songs bound by their score? Are Maher Shalal Hash Baz songs 'finished', or are they unfinished?

>>Melodies are cut from the air and repeated for a few seconds, like fish in the air living for a while. We try to release the fish into the water before it dies, but it does not succeed always. As everything has its beginning and end, so each melody has to face its end. The length of a song is decided by its strength of the song itself. When a melody is worth playing long, It is played for hours. But I also know the danger of such kind of meditating on one cord, which makes one like a defenseless city when attacked. Playing music is like giving a melody a funeral properly. music is a battle of India(horizontal)and Tango(vertical).

>Can you explain to me your interest in errors and imperfections? Your music often reminds me of the miniature and almost imperceptible flaws found in hand-woven rugs. You have recently suggested that you want to shift from being considered 'king of error' - did you find, though, that you would get bored when a piece of music approached 'perfection'?

>>I had to be a king of irony this time in the recording studio, where we had to be good boys trying to avoid any mistake. But I basically still want music to be cheap, easy, yet unique, especially when played with non-musicians.

>Do you still perform solo piano concerts? What does this avenue offer you that making music with Maher doesn't?

>>I still have my solo piano concert sometimes. For me, playing the piano is like drawing. I can not draw the same picture twice. It is more free and more improvisational than the band.

>How important is a sense of community to your music making?

>>I have not got my musical community. My local community does not seem to need my music. The musical community in 90's divided the world into many small villages, which enable people to keep their pride.

>Your songs appear to be very interested in natural phenomena - "Open Field", "Sunrise", bird-song, etc. Why?

>>Goethe who is not falling in love has to find his reality in the nature for time being.

>There is a song on your new album called "Tokyo Okinawa Scotland". What are the similarities between these places that led you to write this song?

>>Naoto, a depressed bassist who lives in Tokyo, wanted to go to Okinawa first then go to Scotland with maher, The theme is repeated three times in three different manners reflecting each locations. Spaces between the melodies represents an eardrum hurt in the airplane.

>How accurately do you feel your 'blues du jour' songs actually capture the 'blues of the day'? Or is it more abstract than this?

>>Blues du jour is a name of a format for a collective improvisation for non-musicians, which has many rules including staggering rhythm of 2nd beat etc.

>Do we privilege music too much?

>>Music has its peculiar freedom unique in all genre of art . Once we get used to this freedom without limits, we would even live only in music, without caring about what is happening in this planet.

2004-02-29T00:39:00.000+09:00

>Tori, your history, particularly the music I have heard of yours from the late 1970s and early 1980s (Guys'n'Dolls, Noise, Snickers), suggests an intrinsic relation with rock music. But I sense that this changed at some point. When did you jettison your interest in rock music, and why? What is it about rock music that you do not appreciate? Are you against rock, or simply not interested in it?

>>When a guy shouts "rock'n roll !", the venue is suddenly "dyed up" by an inevitable worldly colour, no matter how carefully the player prepared his unique expression beforehand. Under such case, to resist rock'n roll is beyond a human power. A rocker who liked saying "I hate rock'n roll" died dyed by rock'n roll. Rock rolls with irony while jazz goes with freedom. Some bands have always avoided using mere 8 beats. It seems like rock'n roll about rock'n roll, and rock'n roll about rock'n roll can not be rock'n roll but it is rock'n roll, and I dare say I have been liking rock'n roll more than anyone else in the world no matter how apparently the world does not deserve me. My rock has been persecuted like Ethiopian blues but always been alive yet hidden like a rock mass under the water to where I once had to make a return visit in the dark.

>I am interested to know about your involvement with the A-Musik organisation.

>>A-musik was not an organization but a band that was often invited to play in events for left-wing extremists or anarchists. I remember how we were spending our time in early 80's. For instance, we loudly played a song called "anti-jap-rap " on a vehicle parked in front of Shinjuku station, Tokyo, then ran away before the police arrived. I was 'rapping' at that time. I also remember one day we played in a slum in Yokohama, I shouted a Korean song and VARSHAVIANKA in punk style. The audience was so pleased to scatter colourful torn pieces of paper onto the band...I also remember one winter we organised iron-pipe-orchestra with homeless workers in Sanya, the biggest slum in Tokyo. We organised a big festival called "Anti-Jap-Independant" at Wako University, Tokyo. We invited Fred Frith and Tom Cora. I remember I sang a Korean hard rock and one of Damo Suzuki's song..

>What did this involve for you? What led you to turn your back on this organisation, and turn to religion?

>>To be involved in 'Anti-Jap movement' involved stopping my being a Japanese for my self-denegation, which was completed after I stopped being a part of the world as the primitive church did.

>Tell me about the process of recording the "Return Visit to Rock Mass" box set. Why did you decide to release such a large amount of music? Do you always have such a backlog of unrecorded songs?

>>I hurt my left knee because I had been carried all my scores always. Shinji Shibayama of org records was kind enough to offer me an opportunity to record all my scores in a recording studio.

>You relocated to London for a period of time, where you were 'discovered' by David Keenan and The Pastels. Why did you shift to London? Reiko Kudo described your move to London as being like moving 'from an Egypt to another Egypt' -what does she mean by this? And now that you are working closely with The Pastels, what is your sense of them - as a band, as musicians, and as individuals - as your peers?

>>They found Return Visit to Rock Mass CD in rough trade in Portobellow. Egypt means the world. The Pastels has been a deterrent to my leaving this world.

>Please explain to me what motivated Maher Shalal Hash Baz' interest in error and imperfection.

>>My laziness, poverty, and ideal.

>I have sometimes seen your work as continuing a musical trajectory that includes songs like The Raincoats' "Fairy tale in the Supermarket", Syd Barrett's "Last Night" or albums like the Red Crayola's "Coconut Hotel". Would these be fair approximations of your musical 'influences'? What is it about this music that inspires you? What other music inspires you?

>>Yes, the rhythm of "late night" was a very special thing to me. I like the way of Mayo who thinks out new things using not many sources under the limited condition of rock format, i.e, one of Coconut Hotel piece of turning a knob of the amp volume clockwise gradually. Raincoats gave us a joy of forming a band. I can not mention other musical influences here, which are too many.

>Michael Karoli of the German group Can once said that "no Can piece is ever finished". Tori, do you feel that your songwriting process is open-ended, or are you fairly dogmatic about the structures of your songs? Are the songs bound by their score? Are Maher Shalal Hash Baz songs 'finished', or are they unfinished?

>>Melodies are cut from the air and repeated for a few seconds, like fish in the air living for a while. We try to release the fish into the water before it dies, but it does not succeed always. As everything has its beginning and end, so each melody has to face its end. The length of a song is decided by its strength of the song itself. When a melody is worth playing long, It is played for hours. But I also know the danger of such kind of meditating on one cord, which makes one like a defenseless city when attacked. Playing music is like giving a melody a funeral properly. music is a battle of India(horizontal)and Tango(vertical).

>Can you explain to me your interest in errors and imperfections? Your music often reminds me of the miniature and almost imperceptible flaws found in hand-woven rugs. You have recently suggested that you want to shift from being considered 'king of error' - did you find, though, that you would get bored when a piece of music approached 'perfection'?

>>I had to be a king of irony this time in the recording studio, where we had to be good boys trying to avoid any mistake. But I basically still want music to be cheap, easy, yet unique, especially when played with non-musicians.

>Do you still perform solo piano concerts? What does this avenue offer you that making music with Maher doesn't?

>>I still have my solo piano concert sometimes. For me, playing the piano is like drawing. I can not draw the same picture twice. It is more free and more improvisational than the band.

>How important is a sense of community to your music making?

>>I have not got my musical community. My local community does not seem to need my music. The mobile-phone community seen in Japan divides the world into many small villages. They lives in a small circle, such as harsh, core, onkyo, etc.

>Your songs appear to be very interested in natural phenomena - "Open Field", "Sunrise", bird-song, etc. Why?

>>Goethe who is not falling in love at the moment has to find his reality in the nature for time being.

>There is a song on your new album called "Tokyo Okinawa Scotland". What are the similarities between these places that led you to write this song?

>>Naoto, a depressed bassist who lives in Tokyo, wanted to go to Okinawa first then go to Scotland with maher, The theme is repeated three times in three different manners reflecting each locations. Spaces between the melodies represents an eardrum hurt in the airplane.

>How accurately do you feel your 'blues du jour' songs actually capture the 'blues of the day'? Or is it more abstract than this?

>>Blues du jour is a name of a format for a collective improvisation for non-musicians, which has many rules including staggering rhythm of 2nd beat etc.

>Do we privilege music too much?

>>Music has its peculiar freedom unique in all genre of art . Once we get used to this freedom without limits, we would even live only in music, without caring about what is happening in this planet.

2004-02-28T23:41:00.000+09:00

Tori, your history, particularly the music I have heard of yours from the late 1970s and early 1980s (Guys'n'Dolls, Noise, Snickers), suggests an intrinsic relation with rock music. But I sense that this changed at some point. When did you jettison your interest in rock music, and why? What is it about rock music that you do not appreciate? Are you against rock, or simply not interested in it?

>When a guy shouts "rock'n roll !", the venue is suddenly "dyed up" by an inevitable worldly colour, no matter how carefully the player prepared his unique expression beforehand. In such case, to resist rock'n roll is beyond a human power. That is why some rockers died dyed by rock'n roll although they liked saying "I hate rock'n roll". Rock rolls with irony while jazz goes with freedom. Some bands have always avoided using mere 8 beats. It seems like rock'n roll about rock'n roll, and rock'n roll about rock'n roll can not be rock'n roll but it is rock'n roll, and I dare say I have been liking rock'n roll more than anyone else in the world no matter how apparently the world does not deserve me. My rock has been persecuted like Ethiopian blues but always been alive yet always been hidden like a rock mass under the water to where I once had to make a return visit in the dark.

I am interested to know about your involvement with the A-Musik organisation.

>A-musik was not an organization but a band that was often invited to play in events for left-wing extremists or anarchists. I remember how we were spending our time in early 80's. For instance, we loudly played a song called "anti-jap-rap " on a vehicle parked in front of Shinjuku station, Tokyo, then ran away before police arrived. I was 'rapping' at that time. I also remember one day we played in a slum in Yokohama, I shouted a Korean song and VARSHAVIANKA in punk style. The audience was so pleased to scatter colourful torn pieces of papar onto the band...I also remember one winter we organised iron-pipe-orchestra with homeless workers in Sanya, the biggest slum in Tokyo. We organised a big festival called "Anti-Jap-Independant" at Wako University, Tokyo. We invited Fred Frith and Tom Cora. I remember I sang a Korean hard rock song and one of Damo Suzuki's song..

What did this involve for you? What led you to turn your back on this organisation, and turn to religion?

>To be involved in 'Anti-Jap movement' involved stopping my being a Japanese for my self-denegation, which was completed after I stopped being a part of the world as the primitive church did.

Tell me about the process of recording the "Return Visit to Rock Mass" box set. Why did you decide to release such a large amount of music? Do you always have such a backlog of unrecorded songs?

>I hurt my left knee because I had to carry all my scores always, in case someone like Shinji Shibayama of org record offer me an oppotunity to record some songs in a recording studio.

You relocated to London for a period of time, where you were 'discovered' by David Keenan and The Pastels. Why did you shift to London? Reiko Kudo described your move to London as being like moving 'from an Egypt to another Egypt' -what does she mean by this? And now that you are working closely with The Pastels, what is your sense of them - as a band, as musicians, and as individuals - as your peers?

>They found Return Visit to Rock Mass in rough trade in Portberrow. Egypt means the world. The Pastels has been a deterrent to my leaving this world.

Please explain to me what motivated Maher Shalal Hash Baz's interest in error and imperfection.

>My laziness, poverty, and ideal.

I have sometimes seen your work as continuing a musical trajectory that includes songs like The Raincoats' "Fairytale in the Supermarket", Syd Barrett's "Last Night" or albums like the Red Crayola's "Coconut Hotel". Would these be fair approximations of your musical 'influences'? What is it about this music that inspires you? What other music inspires you?

>Yes, I think the rythm of "late night" is a very special thing to me. I like the way of Mayo who thinks out new things using not many sources under a limited condition of rock format, i.e, one of Coconut Hotel piece of graduately turning a knob af an amp volume clockwise. Raincoats gave us a joy of forming a band. I can not mention other musical influences here, which are too many.

Michael Karoli of the German group Can once said that "no Can piece is ever finished". Tori, do you feel that your songwriting process is open-ended, or are you fairly dogmatic about the structures of your songs? Are the songs bound by their score? Are Maher Shalal Hash Baz songs 'finished', or are they unfinished?

>Melodies are cut from the air and repeated for a few seconds, like fish in the air living for a while. We try to release the fish into the water before it dies, but it does not succeed always. As everything has its beginning and end, so each melody has to face its end. The length of a song is decided by its strength of the song itself. When a melody is worth playing long, we often play it for hours. But I also know the danger of such kind of meditating on one cord, which makes one like a defenceless city when attacked. Playing music is like giving a melody a funeral properly.

Can you explain to me your interest in errors and imperfections? Your music often reminds me of the miniature and almost imperceptible flaws found in hand-woven rugs. You have recently suggested that you want to shift from being considered 'king of error' - did you find, though, that you would get bored when a piece of music approached 'perfection'?

>I had to be a king of irony this time in the recording studio, where we had to be good boys trying to avoid any mistake. But we basically want music to be cheap, easy, yet unique, which is to be played with non-musicians.

Do you still perform solo piano concerts? What does this avenue offer you that making music with Maher doesn't?

>I still have my solo piano concert sometimes. Playing the piano is like drawing for me. I can not draw the same picture twice. It is more free and more improvisational than the band.

How important is a sense of community to your music making?

>I have not got my musical community. And my community does not seem to need my music here.

Your songs appear to be very interested in natural phenomena - "Open Field", "Sunrise", bird-song, etc. Why?

>Goete who is not falling in love at the moment has to find his reality in the nature for time being.

There is a song on your new album called "Tokyo Okinawa Scotland". What are the similarities between these places that led you to write this song?

>Naoto, a deppressed basist who lives in Tokyo, wanted to go to Okinawa first then go to Scotland with maher, The theme is repeated three times in three different manners reflecting each locations. Spaces between the melodies represents an eardrum hurt in the airplane.

How accurately do you feel your 'blues du jour' songs actually capture the 'blues of the day'? Or is it more abstract than this?

>Blues du jour is a name of a format for a collective improvisation for non-musicians, which has many rules including staggering rythm of 2nd beat etc.

Do we privilege music too much?

>Music has its peculiar freedom unique in all genre of art . Once we get used to this freedom without limits, we would even live only in music, without caring about what is happening in this planet.

2004-02-25T00:08:00.000+09:00

I had been a king of error but now have to be a king of irony. because...