“Cyclamen boasts a repertoire featuring both mathcore chaos and technical aggression to the seemingly polar opposite with post-rock atmospheres and calming beauty in a genre I like to call post-djent.” heavyblogisheavy
”CYCLAMENはMATHCOREのカオスとテクニカルな攻撃性、同時にそれとは正反対に思えるPOST-ROCKのアトモスフィアと静かな美しさを兼ね備えている。POST-DJENTとでも呼びたいね” こんな感じだと思います。2010年にこういった文章を書かせたCYCLAMEN、書いたTHBIH、どちらも素晴らしいですね。と言うのもこの4年間でシーンの成長と共にそういった音楽性のバンドが増え、人気も出てきたように感じるからです。先日あのKSCOPEと契約を果たしたTESSERACT然り、FALLUIJAH然り、THE CONTORTIONIST然り。そして今回インタビューを行ったVERSE VICAは彼らに続いてPOST-DJENTの新たなる地平を切り開き2010年代後半のDJOPINION-LEADERとなる可能性を秘めています。デビュー作ENDEAVORで彼らが提示したANIMALS AS LEADERSとMONOのハイブリッド的音像は確実にここ日本でも多くのファンを獲得する事でしょう。インタビューです。どうぞ。
Jim : You mean, how are you yesterday? My today is your yesterday. Oh, I am great!!!! Haha
Andrey: Genki desu, thanks.
What do you like about Japan?
Japanese food, martial art, Cornelius, Yellow magic orchestra.
食事、武道、コーネリアスにYMO。日本が好きだよ。
Q1. Amogh Symphony is a multinational band from India, Russia, and US. I think Amogh Symphony began as solo project of Vishal. How can you,three members, get together?
Jim : I am Jim Richman, drummer percussionist for Amogh Symphony. I have been playing the drums over 30 years. I like ALL kinds of music. I like going to thrift stores and going through CDs, looking for ones to sell on Amazon. My drumset is a MADE IN JAPAN Tama Exotix 2005 Red Viking Bubinga kit with a Scandinavian Birch finish. I like all different cymbals. I use Vic Firth 5A and also 6A Birch sticks. Somehow, Vishal saw a video of me playing drums on Youtube. Thru Myspace, he would send me demos of his to check out. I would tell him what I thought. Fast forward and Vishal did ATOS. I knew he did it, but never heard it. Vishal asked if I would want to do a Richman/Singh Project. He sent me a short track to do drums on. I did that and realized it had to be Amogh Symphony. So I joined. Then Vishal found Andrey at the playground on the monkey bars.
【JIM】:僕はJIM RICHMAN。AMOGH SYMPHONYのドラマー/パーカッショニストだよ。ドラムは３０年以上叩いているんだ。どんなジャンルの音楽も好きだよ。中古屋でくまなくCDを物色してAmazonの出店サービスに出すのが好きなんだ。ドラムセットは日本製でTama Exotix 2005 Red Viking Bubinga kit with a Scandinavian Birch finishだよ。シンバルは全て違うものを使っている。スティックはヴィクファースの5Aと6A、バーチだよ。
出会いの話だけど、VISHALがMyspaceに挙げていた僕の演奏動画をYou Tubeで見たんだ。それで僕にデモを送ってきたんだ。チェックしてくれってね。彼に思っている事を伝えたよ。それから彼はABOLISHING THE OBSOLATE SYSTEMを作ったんだ。作っているのは知っていたけど聴いてはいなかった。そうしたらVISHALがRICHMAN/SINGHプロジェクトをやりませんか？と聞いてきたんだ。ドラムを加えるショートトラックも送ってきた。それをやって分かったんだ、AMOGH SYMPHONYをやるべきだってね。それで加入したんだ。ANDREYはVISHALが運動場のジャングルジムで見つけた。
Q2. And would you tell us your musical upbringing?
Jim : Started drums in high school. I would play along with albums of The Who, Men At Work, Missing Persons, Chicago etc…a lot of classic rock. Went to college, studied music, played in the Jazz Orchestra. I became a jazz snob and completely lost connection with pop music for 5 years. After, I made a habit of studying with the best teachers on the east coast. Jim Chapin and Joe Morello were instrumental in my hand technique. I always have been into studying jazz. I play a little bit of keyboards, mainly chords of songs. I know how to put together chords. I think every musician needs to learn as many chords as possible.
Q2:音楽的背景を教えて頂けますか？
【JIM】:高校でドラムを始めたんだ。THE WHO, MEN AT WORK, MISSING PERSONS, CHICAGO…そういったクラッシックロックのアルバムに合わせて叩いていた。大学で音楽を学んでJAZZ ORCHESTRAでプレイしたよ。ジャズおたくになって５年ほどPOPミュージックとは完全に距離を置いていたんだ。その後僕は西海岸で一番の先生達について勉強する事になった。JIM CHAPINとJOE MORELLOにはハンドテクニックを仕込まれたよ。ジャズを学ぶことには常に夢中なんだ。キーボードも少しなら弾ける。コードくらいだけどね。ただコードの仕組みは知っているよ。ミュージシャンなら出来るだけ多くのコードを知るべきだと思うんだ。
Q1: Anyway, Let’s talk about ‘VECTORSCAN’. I think lots of your fans surprised at drastic change of your music. Vectorscan is very different from Amogh Symphony’s earlier albums i.e. ‘Abolishing the Obsolete System’(2009) and ‘The Quantum Hack Code’(2010). Do you agree with that? From your website and fan page status updates, we read that lyrics are written in Assamese by Vishal’s late grandmother Labanya Prabha Nath. Vishal’s mother takes part in as a singer. There are lots of influences by traditional microtonal music and Mongolian/Asian Ethnic music. Please kindly tell us more about this. How all this happened?
Vishal : With every album, creating something new and different from previous material are what we always focused at. The first album ATOS was completely done by me alone. Then Jim helped me to upgrade the sound in second album TQHC. In this third album release, Andrey brought the microtonal and ethnic influence in the new album on which I studied further. Actually, it took me almost 3 years to study and explore further because I simply cannot stick to just one style and one sound. The concept story and some stanzas from poems/songs I found in my Late Grandma’s books had a strange puzzling connection that took me some time to figure out. Now, I was looking for someone who can sing like her, feel like her and sound like an advanced version of her voice. The only vocalist who could do that is my mother Kasturi Singh. She has a strong background in classical music, traditional dance, poetry and stories/ stage-dramas. She has control in microtones, intonations, vibratos and also she is versatile i.e she sings multi-styles of singing – jazz, classical, opera, Assamese folk etc. As a composer, I believe sticking to standard style of prog-rock or avant-garde music or jazz fusion makes things a bit uninteresting. Because for me, it’s important to see chemical reactions between different chemicals when mixed….that’s how I see the sounds.
Jim : Vectorscan is the polar opposite of TQHC. And also there are jazz, 10% metal, lo-fi electronic, etc. etc. But all in a background music score or soundtrack format.
Andrey: This album is more like a soundtrack to a movie rather than a ‘regular’ album. When you watch movies, you’re not after details. You need the atmosphere and the idea. And we’re delivering both.
Q1:では新作’VECTORSCAN’について話しましょう。多くのファンは劇的な音楽性の変化に驚くのではないでしょうか。’VECTORSCAN’は ‘Abolishing the Obsolete System’(2009) and ‘The Quantum Hack Code’(2010)といった過去の作品とは大きく異なっています。バンドのサイトで読んだのですが歌詞はチベット語でVISHALの亡くなった祖母Labanya Prabha Nathによって書かれているようですね。お母様も歌手として参加しています。音楽的にはマイクロトーン（微分音：半音よりさらに細かい）を使った伝統音楽やモンゴル/アジアの民族音楽の影響を感じました。それについて話して頂けますか？いったい何が起こったのでしょう。
Q2:Vectorscan has very magnificent concept story. Is the story of Vectorscan related to the concept stories in ‘Abolishing the Obsolete System’ and ‘TheQuantum Hack Code’ or is it a completely fresh new story which is not related to previous albums?
Vishal : It is. You can say that it’s a trilogy. I don’t mind at all.
Q2:VECTORSCANには壮大なコンセプトストーリーがありますが‘Abolishing the Obsolete System’ ‘TheQuantum Hack Code’と関係があるのでしょうか。それとも全く新しい話ですか？
【VISHAL】:そうだよ。トリロジーと言っていいと思う。
Q3:At first, I think Osir is a metaphor of China and Karna is a metaphor of Tibet. But Karna is a character from a hindu epic… Or is Osir a metaphor of Modern Society?? Does this story relate to real world? Or is this fully fiction, no metaphors whatsoever?
Vishal : Well, you have the story. If you read it more times, you will come to know it’s fictional, it’s related to real world and it can be just an imagination. We are thinking of posting the entire story on our site after release. It’s hard to explain in words. You just need to read it few times and think about it and understand it. I mean, what’s the point if things were all simple and straight-forward in life? Food for thought. Fuel for brain. If not a full featured film, I would love to arrange theater play on these stories.
Q4:’Junaki, Osinaki. Dhumuha, Saki.’ has aspect of Japanese traditional music. Is that right? And I heard Andrey can understand Japanese. What is Japan to Amogh Symphony?
Vishal : Junaki, Osinaki. Dhumuha, Saki is in Assamese. If translated to English, it means “A little glowing light, unknown. Storm, Lamp”. If you notice, the song titles are mostly written in rhyme-puzzles style or you can say hymns/mantras/chants styles used in tantric practices. Musically, it has Japanese traditional music influence with classical orchestration and jazz-metal. Andrey is specialized in traditional Japanese and Chinese music and instruments.
Andrey: What you said is correct. The arrangement indeed has a rather dark, sinister vibe to it, which is inspired by Japanese music. And yes, I speak some Japanese (along with some other Asian languages), I’m not too good though. As for Japan, it is indeed a bottomless abyss of a source for inspiration. Especially popular culture.
Jim : Japan is the one country that has bought the most CDs from us. We have great support from Kazuo and Asian Rock Rising. He has distributed a lot of CDs. We love Japan! As a matter of fact, a music school group in Japan, the Waseda Chanson Society, actually played one of our songs off TQHC. And it was amazing. They played it better than us.
【JIM】:日本は僕らのCDを一番買ってくれる国の一つだよ。Asian Rock RisingのKazuoには本当にサポートしてもらってるんだ。彼は多くのCDを扱っている。僕らは日本を愛しているよ！実は早稲田シャンソン研究会ってサークルが僕らのTQHCの曲をカバーしているんだ。素晴らしかったよ。僕らより上手いくらいだ。
【INSPIRATIONS】
Q1:Tell us about your inspiration – Krzysztof Penderecki. What is Avant-Garde according to you?
Vishal : Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the greatest influences for many avant-garde composers and theaters. For me, avant-garde is a state of mind where you begin to think after complete evolution. An edge of thought where you think of crossing the barrier once you’ve read and understood all instead of directly jumping to a new concept. A certain point where you believe knowledge could sometimes bring back some of the old concepts to replace some of the new ones. Fixing the mistakes of the neo-generation because the upgrade demands stability which neo-minds fail to execute due to lack of knowledge in history. It’s important to know “what all happened in all these years” before you think “what should come tomorrow”. A bridge between spiritual development and practical life where you can cosmic heal a disease yet you learn modern business statics. Basically, no boundaries.
Andrey: Easily one of the best avant-garde composers. You could say, he was one of the fathers of ambient music.
Q2:Do you think you are still involved with prog-rock/metal scene? Or does your interest focus on avant-garde/contemporary/jazz soundtrack music?
Vishal : The music itself is a complete misfit, it is very unstable. With all due respect, I don’t really know. But for now, it’s soundtrack music for ears.
Jim : Throughout my studies and playing, I always tried to play many different styles. I fit right in with contemporary/jazz, avant-garde, pop. I like playing music with dynamics and feeling.
Andrey: Genres kill music. When you want to simplify understanding, you create genres and styles. But music exists outside the boundaries people set. Call it ‘original soundtrack’ if the name makes it clear and simple for you.
Q3:So the core members in Amogh Symphony are multi-instrumentalists and composers. In addition to that, this album has a lot of instrumentalists, engineers and singers. The horns and brass sections are unbelievably unique in the songs. Tell us more about it?
Vishal: This time, I wanted to get an entire big band together. But I wasn’t happy with same old classic brass sections I hear in every record these days. Nothing bad about that. I work with different artists every day and produce different styles of music every day. Just tired of hearing the repetitive sounds again and again. The Goregaon Brass Orchestra is a bunch of horn players from this place called Goregaon located in Mumbai. My friend Venkat Iyer with whom I’ve worked in many commercial projects founded and recorded/engineered these phenomenal guys. Venkat is an experimental engineer/producer and I always wanted to include him in this album. He experiments a lot in recording/engineering with strange artists and musicians. Andrey played many instruments in this album. Then Mathieu Marcotte (Augury, Humanoid) introduced me to Youri’s monk vocals which he recorded and engineered. Youri is a stellar guitarist and experimental vocalist in his band Unhuman.Andy Nesbitt’s photography with cosmic and supernatural subject helped Andrey and Vasiliy to collaborate and create a great artwork for the album. Nikhil Nandakumar’s Carnatic microtonal harmonized violin, Shankar Das’ phenomenal microtonal trumpet work. Guest bass work of Manas Chowdhary in one of the tracks. My mother Kasturi Singh’s vocals and late Grandma’s mysterious poetries. It’s a full-fledged symphony. We need larger and bigger stage now if we ever decide to perform because there is absolutely no chance of using backing tracks.
Andrey: The endless album recording sessions were filled with experimentation. Prepared instruments, original one-of-a-kind playing techniques, inventing new approaches… The idea we had in the beginning was ‘to have the sounds of the whole world stuffed into the album in the most eclectic fashion’, but in the same time the sound would need to represent the concept. We tried to keep it as minimalistic as possible, but still ended up with something super dense. The album was re-written and re-edited dozens of times.
Q4:Would you tell me five albums that changed your life?
Andrey: I could name thousands but they won’t fit. The awesome thing is, any musical album has at least one message. Many of them influence our choices. I can’t be more specific. If you’re looking for suggestions, you’d rather start a habit of listening to a ‘new unexplored genre’ every day. This simple technique is sure to make your life and musical scope way richer.
Jim : Every album changes my life. I will list some good ones.
Chick Corea Elektric Band 1986. Come on, any drummer who was serious about the craft of drums heard this, and wanted to practice or quit.
The 5th Dimension – The Magic Garden 1967. Was this the first concept album? Incredible stuff.
Janis Ian – Miracle Row 1977. Made me ultimately realize that cool songs are worth listening to the words. Very nice album (Between The Lines too!)
Suffocation – Pierced From Within 1995. Made Death Metal the coolest. Saw them twice in a week that tour. (Malevolent Creations 1993 and 1995 releases kicked ass)
Frank Zappa – Man From Utopia 1983. A fun one! Only the vinyl is worth listening to. The CDs are messed up. Really dug the vocal transcriptions of Dangerous Kitchen etc…
人生を変えた５枚のアルバム 【ANDREY】:何千枚でも挙げられるけどどれもしっくり来ないんだ。驚くべきことにどんなアルバムも少なくとも一つはメッセージを残してくれる。そしてそれらの多くが僕らの選択に何らかの影響を与えるんだ。明確には言えないけどね。助言するなら毎日、新発見のジャンルを聴くようにするといい。単純な事だけど君の人生と音楽観が豊かになると思うよ。 【JIM】:どのアルバムも僕の人生を変えるよ。幾つか挙げてみるね。
Chick Corea Elektric Band 1986.真剣に技巧を学んでいるドラマーがこれを聴いたら練習するか止めるかどちらかだね。
The 5th Dimension – The Magic Garden 1967.最初のコンセプトアルバムじゃない？信じられないよ。
Janis Ian – Miracle Row 1977.クールな曲は歌詞も聴く価値があるって究極に教えられたよ。
Suffocation – Pierced From Within 1995.デスメタルを最高にクールなものにしたね。このツアーは一週間に二回彼らを見たよ。(Malevolent Creationsの1993、1995作も最高だった)
Frank Zappa – Man From Utopia 1983.面白いよね。ヴィニール盤だけ聴く価値がある。リイシューのCDは失敗だよ。Dangerous Kitchenなんかのボーカル改編はホント無駄だったよね。
【MESSAGE FOR JAPAN】
We are also looking forward to “Part 2 under progress”, What is your target now? Finally, Message for Japanese fans!!
読者の皆様はAUDIOTREEというシカゴの会社をご存知でしょうか。音楽PVを製作したり、LIVE SESSIONを配信したりと多方面に事業を拡大する音楽業界のセブン＆アイホールディングスのような会社です。
彼らのセッションは今や若手ミュージシャンの登竜門的な場所になっており、例えばメタルならVEIL OF MAYA, SCALE THE SUMMIT、オルタナならNOTHING, THE DEAR HUNTER、マスロックならAND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR,THIS TOWN NEEDS GUNSなどなどこれでも氷山の一角で実に錚々たるメンツが出演しています。
そのAUDIOTREEが契約を結んだアーティストが今回特集するTHE SOIL & THE SUNなのです。例えばSIGUR ROS、例えばRADIOHEAD、そんなバンドを思い浮かべました。様々な楽器を使用したアーティスティックな音楽でありながら高いPOPセンスを有していてアトモスフェリック。即座に魅了されました。
【THIS IS THE ALBUM OF A BAND CALLED ADEBISI SHANK!!】
アイルランド出身のMATH-ROCKバンド、ADEBISI SHANKがマスロック先進国ことここ日本でTELA MELOSなどと共に注目を集めたのは２００９年の事でした。 BATTLES,DON CABALLEROとHARDCORE/PUNKを掛け合わせたようなアグレッシブなサウンド、来日公演でみせた狂気すぎて弾いてねえ時あるぜパフォーマンス、「完全に一人見た目がヤバすぎる・・・」などの理由により強烈な印象を残したのではないでしょうか。現在注目を集める日本の若手マスロッカーで影響を受けた人も少なくないかもしれませんね。
その彼らの新作「電球マッチョマン」こと”This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”が３年ぶりにSARGENT HOUSEから発売となりました。2ndアルバム「シマウマ」でELECTRONICAへの扉を開いたADEBISI SHANKの最新章はさらにその方向性を推し進め、成熟させた作品となりました。最早1stアルバムで見せたようなトリッキーさは存在しませんが彼らのクリエイティビティーは健在です。 DAFT PUNK的ダンサブルなサイバーロックからELO,MIKE OLDFIELDのようなソフトで情景豊かなサウンド。加えて日本のゲーム音楽のような8-bitまで詰まったおもちゃ箱のような素晴らしいアルバムだと思います。”This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank” is exactly “This Is The Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”!!!
あの覆面ベーシスト、VINCENT MACCREITHに解説してもらいましょう。
【ABOUT ALBUM RELEASE】
Q1:Your new album”This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank” has just released. How is the reaction?
【Vin】:Reaction is really really positive which is nice because we worked harder on this album probably than anything else we’ve ever worked on in our lives! It seems like people are really into it. It makes us so happy to see people embrace it so fast. It’s the first time that’s happened for us.
Q1: 新作”This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”がリリースされましたね。反響はいかがですか？
Q2:You take a ‘say what you see’ approach to naming records, this time too. Please talk about that approach.
【Vin】：We like to keep things simple! We also feel like the feeling of each album being a step forward from the last. And it should be obvious to people which is the newest album.
Q3:Why did you contract with Sargent House Records?
【Vin】：We loved Cathys attitude and passion and we loved all the bands on the roster. We knew it was the right home for a band like us who are kinda crazy sounding but still want our music to be heard by as wide an audience as possible. We knew she could help. We didn’t know she would become one of our best friends in the process! It’s a family atmosphere and that is so important for us.
【ABOUT ”This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”】
Q1:How have you progressed from “This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”?
【Vin】：That’s a great question! Firstly I think we’re technically more proficient, both on our respective instruments and from a production standpoint. Secondly we’re more confident about what we want sonically and how to get it. Thirdly and most importantly, I think we’ve all become better songwriters and are more determined than ever to make each song unique and special.
Q1:前作”This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank”からどのような部分が進化しましたか？
Q1:I think you have a lot of aspect of music. Cyber Metal/Rock, 8-bit like Game Music, Dance, Math/Post Rock,Prog(I think especially German Prog), and Jazz. This is only a part of your music. What is the suitable expression for your music?
【Vin】：I don’t know! I would sum it up by calling it rock music. I think rock is a broad term in that it should make you want to move your body. Beyond that I think genres are just restrictions. I’m happy to let other people figure out what we’re doing, in the meantime I’ll just keep making it! We do love cyber music though.
Q1 ：Adebisi Shankの音楽には様々な音楽的要素が入っていますね。Cyber Metal/Rock, 8-bit like Game Music, Dance, Math/Post Rock,Prog(I think especially German Prog), Jazz・・・これでも氷山の一角ですが。我々はなんと呼べば良いでしょうか？
Q2:And do you think you are involved in the movement of Math Rock?
【Vin】：I don’t think so. To be honest I’m not even sure what it means!! But I see it mentioned a lot beside our band. Again I’m happy for people to call us whatever they want but it has no effect on what we do.
Q3:You’re three piece and almost instrumental band. Is that style important for you?
【Vin】：Definitely being a power trio is important to us. Any more than 3 people and it gets too hard to organise things. 3 is important because there can be a disagreement but always a majority, 2 to 1. So things move forward.The last track on our album is called (trio always). Three is a magical number for us. It’s not so important for us to be instrumental. We love the human voice and the robot voice.
Q1：Ireland have a lot of good musicians, like U2(off course), My Bloody Valentine, Van Morrison, The Cranberries…Are you influenced a lot by them? And what is the identity of Irish music?
【Vin】：They’re all outstanding artists that you mentioned and I’m sure they all influenced us in different ways, particularily early U2 records, but what I find more inspiring at the moment is the bands currently in Ireland – such as Sunken Foal, Heathers, Solar Bears, No Spill Blood, Jape, Adultrock, Le Galaxie, Spies, The Gloaming, Chequerboard, Girl Band, Tvvins and Speed of Snakes…there are literally so many amazing acts in Ireland at the moment and none of them sound anything like each other. The music scene has never been stronger than right now and we’re proud to be part of it. The Irish identity is therefore one of differing styles but a very high level of musicianship throughout.
Q1:アイルランドはU2, My Bloody Valentine, Van Morrison, The Cranberriesといった偉大なミュージシャンを産出しています。彼らからの影響はありますか？
【Vin】：君が挙げたアーテイストは皆偉大だし当然様々な面で影響を受けているよ。初期のU2からは特にね。ただ今現在よりインスパイアされるのはアイルランドに今存在するバンドなんだ。Sunken Foal, Heathers, Solar Bears, No Spill Blood, Jape, Adultrock, Le Galaxie, Spies, The Gloaming, Chequerboard, Girl Band, Tvvins and Speed of Snakes…アイルランドには今現在素晴らしいバンドが沢山存在するしどれ一つとして似通っていないんだ。ここまでシーンが大きくなった事はないしその一部になれた事を誇りに思うよ。アイルランドのアイデンティティーは様々だけど特筆すべきは高いレベルのミュージシャンシップじゃないかな。
Would you tell me 5 albums that changed your life? And recently what are you listening to?
（人生を変えた5枚のアルバムと最近のお気に入り）
Ah great question! In no particular order I would say –
Prince: Sign o the Times
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk
Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Oingo Boingo: Only a Lad
The Cure: Disintegration
Recently I’ve been listening to Alan Menken, Hudson Mowhake, Planxty, Rush and Haim.
【MESSAGE FOR JAPANESE FANS!】
Q: Do you hear Japanese music and play Japanese video games?
And finally,Message for Japanese Fans!
【Vin】：We play far too many video games. I love the Silent Hill games. Also Hideo Kojima’s games like Snatcher right up to the Metal Gear Solid series. I love the atmosphere and excitement of Yu Suzuki’s work. And Final Fantasy VII. We love Japanese bands such as our good friends LITE, Rega and of course Casiopea, Cornelius, Mad Capsule Markets, Zazen Boys, Perfume, and my all time favourite Yellow Magic Orchestra 🙂
Message to our Japanese fans —> TOMODACHI! Mata Nihon ni kimasu! xx
Q:Your new album “Nothing More” has just released. How is the reaction?
【Jonny Hawkins】:The reaction has been amazing – it has surpassed our expectations. One of the coolest things about it is hearing personal stories from people we meet on the road about how one of the songs got them through a difficult situation in their life. We met a guy who lost his wife and was left as the only parent to their 2 young boys – he said that all he did for the month after she died was blast “God Went North.” It helped him through the uncertainty of his wife being gone and not knowing what to do being a single parent.
Q:新作”Nothing More”がリリースされましたね。反応はいかがですか？
【Jonny Hawkins】:素晴らしいよ。完全に予想以上だね。ロードで会った人たちから僕らの曲のおかげで彼らがそれぞれの困難な状況を切り抜けられたって話を聞けるのは最高にクールな事だ。
妻に先立たれて二人の男の子のシングルファーザーになってしまった人に会ったんだ。彼はこう言っていたよ。「妻が亡くなってから一ヶ月間やった事といえば”God Went North”を爆音で流す事だけだったよ」とね。妻を亡くした不安とシングルファーザーとしての心配事からこの歌が彼を救ったんだ。（”God Went North”は恋人、妻を病気で失う歌）
Q:Please tell me why did you contract with Eleven Seven Music?
【Jonny Hawkins】:This is our first label in our long history of DIY work – they stood out to us because of their sheer passion and love for their bands. At the end of the day money and a reputable name and a big building can all go away – but the thing that remains is the passion with which the label works.
Q:Would you tell me the origine of band’s name Nothing More? And why did you titled your band name on this album?
【Jonny Hawkins】：When we set out on this journey as a band, we were testing out if the experience of being a working musician was for something for people of privilege, or if it was something we could create from our limited resources. We discovered that you can do whatever you want, if you are passionate enough about it. We want all our work to point back to the fact that we are nothing more than human beings like everyone reading this. Success is not a testament to things out of your control – you can achieve your dreams. We made that the name of our album to reinforce that point.
Q:How have you progressed from “The Few Not Fleeting”?
【Jonny Hawkins】：“The Few Not Fleeting” was my first experience as a singer – having been a drummer for many years, singing was a bit foreign to me at first. The Self Titled release that we have out now is really just a coming-of-age / maturation for me as a singer and the other guys as writers and musicians. This record encompasses a lot of things we always wanted to communicate and sound like. “The Few Not Fleeting” was more of an experimental process.
Q:前作”The Few Not Fleeting”からどのように進化しましたか？
【Jonny Hawkins】：“The Few Not Fleeting”はシンガーとして初めての作品だったんだ。何年も僕はドラマーだったからね。最初歌うことには少し戸惑ったね。このセルフタイトルの新作で僕はシンガーとして成熟しているし他のメンバーはそれぞれライター、ミュージシャンとして成熟しているよ。このレコードには僕らがこんなサウンドにしたいと思っていたものが入っているよ。”The Few Not Fleeting”はもっと実験しながら作った感じだね。
【MUSICAL INFLUENCES】
Q：I think you have a lot of aspects of music. Metal,Alternative,Prog-rock,Djent,Dubstep…But in the same time,You have strong and beautiful melody. Is that important for you?
【Jonny Hawkins】：Melody and lyrics are really at the heart of all of it. If you don’t have those done right it doesn’t matter how you dress it up. We go through phases of music that we are listening to that span a variety of genres but the thread throughout them all are strong melody and a real story. Without that you might as well be an instrumental band.
Q:Do you hear bands of new generation like Periphery,Karnivool,Chevelle?
【Jonny Hawkins】：YES! We love all of those bands. Periphery and Karnivool (along with many others we listen to) are at the forefront of what the new generation of rock is going to be.
Q:Would you tell me five albums that changed your life? And recently,what are you listening to?
（人生を変えた５枚のアルバムと最近のお気に入り）
Life-changing albums, in no particular order…
Tool – AENIMA
Brother Ali – THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH
Karnivool – THEMATA
Rage Against The Machine – EVIL EMPIRE
Ben Folds – ROCKIN THE SUBURBS
Listening to right now …
Soliloquist of Sound – NO MORE HEROES
M83 – HURRY UP, WE’RE DREAMING
【ABOUT JAPAN】
Q:Most of Japanese likes melodic rocks. And we still buy more CDs than any other countries. Do you think Japan is going to be important market for you? And do you hear some Japanese musics?
【Jonny Hawkins】：We played with a Japanese band called CROSSFAITH at DownloadFestival in England this year and they were excellent. We also toured with a band called SUPE some time ago and we are goodfriends with a guitar player who was in OPUS DEI. He really peaked our interest in playing Japan. We have been discussing the market with him and the feasibility of us getting over there. It is absolutely in our sites. We would love to learn about other Japanese bands – tell us about YOUR favorites!
彼らは明確にライブとアルバムを区別しています。と言うよりもJambandという枠だけに彼らの才能が収まりきっていないと言った方が正確でしょうか。 Steve Reichのようなミニマル・ミュージックの要素に、バンド全員が影響を受けたというTORTOISEのような実験性。Pat Methenyを敬愛するギタリストはジャジーでサウンドスケーピーなフレーズも奏でます。
特に近年はジャム、インプロはライブでといった考えが顕著なようでアルバムは非常にキャッチーでカッチリと仕上げている印象がありますね。と言うことで彼らの作品の中から自宅で聴くのにオススメなアルバムを紹介します。
