Sonic Youth Gossip - View Single Post - High Rise

07.04.2009, 08:13 AM

When did you come up to Tokyo?
Around `78 or `79. Red Alert was my first band in Tokyo. I'd already decided to become a musician. It was just around this time that No New York was happening. And that was like a second shock for me. Punk had been a shock, but it was basically just three-chord rock. But then hearing The Contortions, Teenage Jesus, Mars, DNA. The first time I heard DNA I knew that I had to make music. On my profile I've described Red Alert as psychedelic punk but it's probably closer to Teenage Jesus.

Have you heard those Von Lmo CDs?
No, but they're from around the same time, aren't they? The whole New York scene around `78, the second wave, sounded really fresh to me. The shock of No New York wore off after about a year though. And just around then I began meeting the people from Friction and Fushitsusha[13]- that really decided my future for me. I was still young when I met Haino and Lapis and so on. And that was it, they showed me that punk wasn't where it was at. I suppose I was lucky. If I hadn't met them I would have kept on doing the same thing and I probably would have given up eventually. All the bands I was in, from Conformist up till Sweet Inspirations[14], were all with the musicians who hung around with Haino - Tori Kudoh [15], Kadotani [16], Kaneko [17], Harumi Yamazaki, Tamio Shiraishi [18]. When you play with people like that technique no longer matters. They were jumbling up jazz and contemporary music and psych and punk any way they wanted. Hanging out with those people had a big influence on me.

Were you doing any improvised stuff then?
The earliest bands weren't. We were totally punk - not much technique but a lot of attitude and rhythm. I played guitar back then - actually I couldn't play it. I'd keep making mistakes and that gave the whole thing a No New York flavour.

Did all those early bands exist simultaneously?
Some of them did, but others only lasted for a few months. For example, I was only in Kosokuya for three months.

What did you do in Kosokuya?
I played bass. Narita [19] played drums with them then, though of course he was already playing the guitar. He had been playing in bands since `79. Recently we found a tape of a band called Tokyo that he was in around `79 - I'm going to put it out. After that he was in a band called Kyoaku no Intentions[20]. After that the next band he was in was Psychedelic Speed Freaks, with me. That band became High Rise. I formed Psychedelic Speed Freaks because even playing with Kosokuya and Tori Kudoh, I felt that their ideas and direction weren't quite right for me. There were points that we had in common, but other points where we were totally different. So I decided to do something "hard" with the people I got on best with. Kosokuya have hardly changed at all - they were weird back then, too.

Who else was in Kosokuya then?
There was me on bass, Narita on drums, Kaneko on guitar, and Mik on vocals. I think there's one tape left over from the time we were in the band. Kosokuya have been playing for a long time. They debuted in `75. They were called Kokugaiso back then. Kaneko and Mik were involved with Shuji Terayama's theatre group - they met there in about `75. At the start they would both dance naked. Then they called themselves Ray, and finally they changed the name to Kosokuya around `78. The name may have changed but it was always the two of them - if you look at it that way then Kosokuya has been going on for over twenty years. Everyone else has left the band now - Kaneko is the only one left.

Why did you call yourselves Psychedelic Speed Freaks?
Because that was the way we played. At that time, Kosokuya and all the other bands were really dark, exclusionary and closed off. I didn't like that and wanted to do something that would be the antithesis - that was why I formed the band.

Who were the original members?
There was me on guitar, Mitani from Maher on bass, and Narita on guitar. Then there was Takahashi[21]from Maher and Che Shizu[22]on drums - he also plays on Tamio Shiraishi's CD. The bass-player quit soon after, so I started playing bass. We played for quite a bit as Psychedelic Speed Freaks before we changed the name to High Rise.

When did you change the name?
When we were about to put out the first album on PSF. We talked with PSF and they thought that the band name was too direct and asked us if we would change it. So we changed it to High Rise, and they took the initials of Psychedelic Speed Freaks for the name of the label.

Why did you choose High Rise?
From the Ballard book.

07.04.2009, 08:13 AM	#3
sarramkrop Posts: n/a	When did you come up to Tokyo? Around `78 or `79. Red Alert was my first band in Tokyo. I'd already decided to become a musician. It was just around this time that No New York was happening. And that was like a second shock for me. Punk had been a shock, but it was basically just three-chord rock. But then hearing The Contortions, Teenage Jesus, Mars, DNA. The first time I heard DNA I knew that I had to make music. On my profile I've described Red Alert as psychedelic punk but it's probably closer to Teenage Jesus. Have you heard those Von Lmo CDs? No, but they're from around the same time, aren't they? The whole New York scene around `78, the second wave, sounded really fresh to me. The shock of No New York wore off after about a year though. And just around then I began meeting the people from Friction and Fushitsusha[13]- that really decided my future for me. I was still young when I met Haino and Lapis and so on. And that was it, they showed me that punk wasn't where it was at. I suppose I was lucky. If I hadn't met them I would have kept on doing the same thing and I probably would have given up eventually. All the bands I was in, from Conformist up till Sweet Inspirations[14], were all with the musicians who hung around with Haino - Tori Kudoh [15], Kadotani [16], Kaneko [17], Harumi Yamazaki, Tamio Shiraishi [18]. When you play with people like that technique no longer matters. They were jumbling up jazz and contemporary music and psych and punk any way they wanted. Hanging out with those people had a big influence on me. Were you doing any improvised stuff then? The earliest bands weren't. We were totally punk - not much technique but a lot of attitude and rhythm. I played guitar back then - actually I couldn't play it. I'd keep making mistakes and that gave the whole thing a No New York flavour. Did all those early bands exist simultaneously? Some of them did, but others only lasted for a few months. For example, I was only in Kosokuya for three months. What did you do in Kosokuya? I played bass. Narita [19] played drums with them then, though of course he was already playing the guitar. He had been playing in bands since `79. Recently we found a tape of a band called Tokyo that he was in around `79 - I'm going to put it out. After that he was in a band called Kyoaku no Intentions[20]. After that the next band he was in was Psychedelic Speed Freaks, with me. That band became High Rise. I formed Psychedelic Speed Freaks because even playing with Kosokuya and Tori Kudoh, I felt that their ideas and direction weren't quite right for me. There were points that we had in common, but other points where we were totally different. So I decided to do something "hard" with the people I got on best with. Kosokuya have hardly changed at all - they were weird back then, too. Who else was in Kosokuya then? There was me on bass, Narita on drums, Kaneko on guitar, and Mik on vocals. I think there's one tape left over from the time we were in the band. Kosokuya have been playing for a long time. They debuted in `75. They were called Kokugaiso back then. Kaneko and Mik were involved with Shuji Terayama's theatre group - they met there in about `75. At the start they would both dance naked. Then they called themselves Ray, and finally they changed the name to Kosokuya around `78. The name may have changed but it was always the two of them - if you look at it that way then Kosokuya has been going on for over twenty years. Everyone else has left the band now - Kaneko is the only one left. Why did you call yourselves Psychedelic Speed Freaks? Because that was the way we played. At that time, Kosokuya and all the other bands were really dark, exclusionary and closed off. I didn't like that and wanted to do something that would be the antithesis - that was why I formed the band. Who were the original members? There was me on guitar, Mitani from Maher on bass, and Narita on guitar. Then there was Takahashi[21]from Maher and Che Shizu[22]on drums - he also plays on Tamio Shiraishi's CD. The bass-player quit soon after, so I started playing bass. We played for quite a bit as Psychedelic Speed Freaks before we changed the name to High Rise. When did you change the name? When we were about to put out the first album on PSF. We talked with PSF and they thought that the band name was too direct and asked us if we would change it. So we changed it to High Rise, and they took the initials of Psychedelic Speed Freaks for the name of the label. Why did you choose High Rise? From the Ballard book.
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