The International Language

After 12 years of playing hard in their native Japan and gaining strong standing in the rapidly growing indie rock scene there, Eastern Youth are finally bringing their emotional, powerful brand of blistering independent punk rock to American shores.

The Sapporo, Hokkaido-based trio - Hisashi Yoshino (guitar, vox), Tomokazu Ninomiya (bass) and Atsuya Tamori (drums) - built a reputation in their homeland with more than a decade of fiercely independently-minded music and business practices, starting their own label, Sakamoto-Shoten, through which they released their own material. To augment their record releases, and to help build a strong reputation, Eastern Youth started a battle-of-the-bands-style live performance series called Kyokutoh-Saizensen, a concert series they ran with the same emphasis on independence and honesty as they run their label.

Earlier this year, Eastern Youth toured Japan with new American indie darlings, At The Drive In, and things worked out so well that the bands reunited - along with The Murder City Devils - to tour the US. (Please see the Synthesis' review of the show, this issue.) Along the way, Eastern Youth singer / guitarist Hisashi Yoshino took some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions via e-mail about the band's sound, their reverence of Japanese culture, and why, unlike so many other Japanese indie rock bands, he chooses to sing in his native tongue rather than in English, relying on the international language of rock to get his points across.

Americans have always been fascinated with Japanese popular culture, which can often reflect, to a certain degree, American popular culture. How has American indie rock music influenced Eastern Youth's music?

I am certainly influenced by American punk rock bands such as Fugazi, Jawbreaker and Hüsker-Dü. The reason is those bands are free in creating and arranging music in a way only they can do. Their music is based on punk rock, which originated in the UK, but somehow the music they create is totally different from UK punk rock. They interpret punk rock in their own ways and mix it with American culture and music they make is like nothing else. What I am the most influenced by those bands is the spirit; music can be free.

Lyrically, Eastern Youth often refers to traditional Japanese culture. Is that respect and reverence for your culture something that's common among young Japanese indie rock bands?

I think many young bands are singing in English. I sing in Japanese, and my style in writing lyrics is quite different from other bands.

You chose to sing Japanese rather than English, unlike many other Japanese rock bands, especially those who want to get heard outside of Japan. Why did you choose to sing in your native tongue rather than in English?

One: I don't speak English. Two: I am fascinated by the beauty in its sound and textures of Japanese. I am

influenced a lot by poetry and novels in Japanese.

 

What are some of your non-musical influences?

Many things, things I see in my daily life - novels, poetry, paintings, art in general, people I meet, things I talk with them.

 

What are the differences between touring in America and touring in Japan?

The landscapes; this country is just huge. And the language. It's hard to communicate here.

What has touring the world taught you about yourselves and your music? What has it taught you about the global music community?

I think I find what I learn after finishing this tour; looking forward to what this tour brings me. I feel real excited about music from diverse cultural background come across globally. I would like to see more of that to happen. And I think you, English-speaking people, have a lot to do for that.

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