ミツメ(mitsume)
Mitsume subscribes to an easy-to-get-behind ethos regularly found in indie-rock communities: “Since our first album, we’ve been under nobody’s control but our own,” says lead vocalist Moto Kawabe. “We prefer to do whatever we can ourselves.”
Accordingly, the Tokyo-based quartet has released all its singles, EPs and albums through its own self-titled label, including third full-length “Sasayaki”.
Refusing to compromise artistic control is noble, but risky if you never go anywhere. Since Mitsume formed in 2009, though, it has garnered more attention with each new release. The band has made it into popular music magazines such as Rockin’on and Indies Issue.
Kawabe, guitarist Mao Otake, drummer Yojiro Suda and bassist Nakayaan (who goes by one name) all attended Keio University and were in the same music circle.
The four shared a similar taste in U.S. indie rock and eventually started writing their own material.
“We didn’t know what Tokyo’s indie-rock scene was like, we were mostly just listening to music online at home,” Suda says. “We weren’t focused on playing live, just on recording music first and sharing it through sites like MySpace and SoundCloud.”
Mitsume’s eponymous debut was released in 2011. It is, especially compared to subsequent releases, a pleasant, albeit unremarkable collection of indie-pop-by-numbers highlighted by the occasional Built-To-Spill-esque guitar jam. It’s the sort of sound a band could coast on — and many do — but Mitsume was restless.
“We always want to do something new when we start recording,” Otake says, and this approach helped shape 2012’s “Eye” into a musical leap forward. Mitsume intentionally stepped away from the traditional rock mold to introduce squiggly synths and drum-machine beats into its music. Whereas guitar solos lingered on “Mitsume,” the four-piece tightened up to the point where cuts such as “Cider Cider” and “Towers” sound dancefloor-ready.
When “Eye” popped up in stores, Mitsume had become a regular in the Tokyo indie-rock live scene. Suda says they became close with Tokyo-via-Kobe outfit Teen Runnings after releasing “Mitsume,” and were soon sharing bills with acts such as Nag Ar Juna, Super VHS and Canopies And Drapes.
“We do all of the promotion for the albums, especially online promotion,” Suda says. “Otake has a programming background, so he designed our website himself.”
The band also handles the pressing of all the CDs with its own money. “We submit an order to a pressing company, and it gets expensive, but we’ve been able to recoup the investment money,” Nakayaan says.
For all these hallmarks of the indie lifestyle, Mitsume have attracted more mainstream media attention, album sales and higher-profile gigs than many of their contemporaries in the city. Mitsume’s music is good, but so are plenty of other groups scattered about Tokyo. Suda says the reason they’ve done well is simple.
The band continues their active appearance in Japan music scene in 2015 with the release of their second single “memai” (“めまい”) in May and a release tour. The band performed their first ever hall-live in Aoyam Spiral Hall (Tokyo) in July and the show was very well-received.
Now, mitsume is ready to bring their music to more places outside Japan.
DYGL
DYGL is an indie rock band founded in 2012 when the members were in college in Tokyo. They hold lives mainly in Tokyo and will release their first physical work, the cassette EP”EP#1″ in June, 2016. In the summer of 2015, they performed lives in LA and Philadelphia.
DYGL finally made their album debut with Say Goodbye to Memory Den, the band’s first LP since forming in 2012.
Mostly comprised of members from the indie pop outfit Ykiki Beat, DYGL (pronounced Day Glo) are shaping up to be Japan’s next top indie rock export.
Produced by The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. and recorded in NYC, Say Goodbye to Memory Den sports 14-tracks of top rate indie tunes catered towards the international music market. Upon release the album debuted at #26 on the Oricon daily album chart.
Performing at this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, DYGL are now preparing to kick off their first nationwide/Asia tour. As well as shows up and down Japan, the tour will take them to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, and China. The tour also includes a set at this year’s FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL, one of Japan’s biggest music festivals.
Tickets online: https://yoopay.cn/event/ygys20170812
- Start:
- Tickets: Rmb 280 (door) / 200 (presale | on a first-come-first-serve-basis)
