Following the success of last year’s UK tour, Japanese duo PSYDOLL make a welcome return and bring a taste of Tokyo to these shores this April (dates and links here) and includes a show in the home of gothic rock, Northampton (tickets here). Ahead of this auspicious occasion we sat down with the band to talk all things cyberpunk.
Please can you tell us the history of PSYDOLL.
Nekoi (vocal/keyboards/songs): In 1997, Nekoi was fighting against one deadlines after another. Drawing manga, which was supposed to be fun, has become painful. Once a month, a progressive grunge band had gigs. The front man ucchi who was shouting along with the guitar said he could pre-set the accompaniment in Windows 95, Nekoi asked if he could do that.
When you were growing up, what types of music and art interested and influenced you?
Nekoi: Music: Classic music like Puccini, Holst and Stravinsky, pop like Giorgio Moroder, rock like Sex Pistols.
Art: Manga, Anime, Manga typed illustration, Japanese classical wicked supernatural entities and spirits paintings, World visual propaganda posters.
Ucchi (guitar/arrangements): Music: In early childhood, I used to listen to Group Sounds which is a genre of Japanese Pop/ Rock who get influenced by Western Rock bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Ventures. In the 70’s, I used to listen to the music of UK rock bands like T.REX, Geordie, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, etc. on the radio. I especially felt the parts of “Hey! Hey! Hey!” in T.Rex’s song “Solid Gold Easy Action” or Geordie’s “All Because Of You” were very “rocks”.
Art: In childhood, I absorbed knowledge about art from the visual dictionaries for art which my parents gave me. Basically, I enjoyed to watch everything, but surrealism ones such as Dali, Ernst, and Magritte works were my favourite as they all seemed mysterious.
How did your musical influences growing up shape the sound of PSYDOLL?
Nekoi: Classic music became the textbook for the melodies. I grew up listening to beautiful melodies so I still can’t escape their spell.
Ucchi: I think British Rock I listened to as a child are the origin of the sense of groove I have now.
PSYDOLL formed in Tokyo. I wonder if that environment influences the band’s sound at?
Nekoi: A mega city where cultures from not only all over Japan but also all over the world are mixed together. However, since most of these processes are carried out by Japanese, they have been transformed into a very J-style things like cutlet curry or steak bento…we think PSYDOLL is a very Tokyo band.
ucchi: Tokyo is a chaotic city. In the early of 1980s, I was in the audience at a legendary bands festival in Tokyo’s underground scene. This experience which received the all kinds of independent bands sound gave me a big impact on my sound.
What made you play the PSYDOLL cyberpunk sound, rather than other types of music?
It comes from our love of science fiction movies and anime movies. Science fiction is a fable, a mirror that reflects the real world. Like Punk sings about reality, Cyberpunk sings about the reality in the mirror. Around the time PSYDOLL started to unite, there was Bladerunner in Nekoi’s senses, and around the time PSYDOLL activity started to get serious, The Matrix was screened. PSYDOLL have always stuck with science fiction movies.
In addition to PSYDOLL, I understand that you are also a graphic artist. Are you able to combine your art with the music? Is one an extension of the other?
Nekoi: Music and graphic art are like twins with completely different qualities. I work in a manga production studio, so the work is extremely delicate. For this reason, I personally have the impression that music is more like a demon beast. Graphics can be done without much physical strength, but music requires a lot of physical strength. Music can be shared with the audience in the moment, but comics have a time lag. Since I know how both are beautiful, still for now, I need both!
You have toured the UK quite often. What makes you keep returning?
Nekoi: We realized that the United Kingdom is a great island for bands. Every city has its own good music venues and great local bands. And fresh fruit juice and sweets too.
ucchi: And good beers.
Nekoi: We are certainly a Tokyo band, but great British bands, good music venues, and great audiences have helped us grow up.
You will tour the UK in April. What are your feelings about the tour? Do you ever have time to explore the towns and cities where you play?
You may laugh, but we spend an average of three hours in each city walking around and admiring the city’s great architectures. However, we can add more 2 to 3 hours as amazing sightseeing that is to enjoy many great UK local bands who play with us in the gigs.
On 11th April you will play Northampton. It will be your first time here, how do you feel about performing in Northampton and are you aware of the town’s musical history (most notably, the band Bauhaus)?
Nekoi: Without them, The Hunger (it’s not just a movie, but a culture.) would not exist. It’s rude, but I don’t know so much about the bands, but even though they were born out of Punk, they’re more philosophical. I think they took Punk to the next level using punk methodology.
Little by little, we began to realize the climate of each city and the characteristics of the bands that are nurtured by that climate. Among them -according to some experience- For the electro element, there are some very interesting electro artists and bands in Glasgow. Also, there seem to be electro bands in Sheffield and Coventry who are doing good artistic activities. There seems to be some special cause, it may have something to do with magnetism….the study may reveal whether this “electric” effect also exists in Northampton. This could be a very interesting investigation. All that aside, We are really looking forward to play in Northampton.
I wonder will you be releasing any new music to coincide with the tour?
To tell you the truth, when Mr. Promoter from Birmingham came to Japan, Psydoll got the same question from him. When Nekoi answered “We can’t prepare yet…”, he said, “Ooh no way, you should!” The next night, we read this question and discussed that we should prepare a sound source. Out time is limited, but we will do our best. Please cheer us and visit to check if we can or…..!!!
Finally, aside from the upcoming tour, what are your future plans and hopes for PSYDOLL?
PSYDOLL tends to become just a music production project or performance projects. This is because we are used to manufacturing and it gives us satisfaction…..however, there are limits to these methods, and it may not be all that fun. We would like to make this an art project that allows me to create works in many different ways and in many different forms.
