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SHONEN KNIFE: Cutting Their Way Back From Osaka To ZED51 · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So are you anyway. Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. Excellent.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: So we have Naoka from the band Shona Knife.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: And you come all the way from Japan. First of all,
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: welcome to Heavy Mag. And would you like to tell
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: the good listeners here at Heavy a little bit about
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Shona Knife, who you guys are and kind of music
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: you play and we'll go from there.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: We... We are Shonen Knife and consists of three Japanese females.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: And our music is very pop and fun and punk.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: And also, we would like to... I'm very happy if
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: people get happy through our music.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And let's have fun. Yes, that's what it's all about,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: isn't it? It's having fun.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: You guys got to play with Regurgitator when they did
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: their Japan tour. Yes.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: That must have been the best time. Yeah, it was
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: so fun.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you guys are going to be a part
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of Z51 celebrations when that happens in October, which is exciting.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so excited because I like– many, I visited
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: many cities of Australia and every city foods are delicious
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: and people are so friendly.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: So I'm very excited. That's wonderful to hear.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: No, we, it's, it's funny.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: We have a lot of our bands that, so as
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: you know, in Japan, the heavy metal side of stuff,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: it's really popular over there. And a lot of bands
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: really look forward to how we get to tour Japan and,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: and say very similar stuff. You know, the people over
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: there are so lovely and, It's just a great experience.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And so you guys are doing a bit of a
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: tour after Z51, is that right, of Australia?
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Doing some more shows?
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we had a tour and we've just finished a
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: US tour where we support for Men at Work.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, another great Australian band.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Their music is so powerful. good melody line and the
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: voice of Colin Hay is excellent and he played the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: guitar very well and I love their music a lot
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: so I was so happy to tour with them.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I bet.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: And their iconic song, Land Down Under, that's almost the
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: unofficial Australian anthem in a lot of places, isn't it?
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: It's been remixed and redone. It's great. Oh, that would
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: have been really exciting. So they've just come off their
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: US tour. That's great.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: And so when you're doing more shows in Australia as well?
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: Yes. I think we totally.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Over three weeks tour and for this tour we will
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: go the place we never been so.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Excited.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: We just went to big cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth,
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: like that, or Hobart. But this time we will go
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: to many other places So please check our tour schedule. Yeah.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: And we'll post those details up as well. Yeah.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: So you're doing the regionals, which is what Regurgitator and
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: a couple of other artists have done here recently with
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: their tours. And then the regionals of the regionals, so
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: like the really small towns, which is really great to
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: bring music to those places that you might.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Not get to see them.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: And especially experiencing someone different like yourselves was really cool.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's excellent. So you guys have been to Australia before, obviously,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: and toured. When was the last time that you were
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: out here?
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: It was two years ago. And the first time was,
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: I think, 1997. Oh, wow.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: 1997.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: So we visited, we toured Australia many times.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Wow. So you guys have been doing it for some time.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: You've been shown enough. Yeah, yeah.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Been a thing that's really cool so yeah you would
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: have seen a lot change in the music scene from
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: 97 so now it's um gone through its phases and
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: for yourself so in japan um is it like other
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: bands do similar to yourself or do you find yourselves
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: are quite you know unique in that sense of you
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: know you play pop punk metal and and girls as
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: well which is so awesome i love that more girls
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: in rock.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah yeah um i'm a I'm basically inspired by Western
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: rock music, so I don't know much about Japanese bands.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: But in July this year, we invited Regurgitator to Japan,
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: and we played with them and many uh our of
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: our audience uh had having a very good time with
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: them oh.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: That's great and so where they or like had a
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: bit of.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: A following over there where um the other Japanese fans
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: had already engaged with their music or was it something
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: new that you guys brought to them.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: Um we we supported regurgitator uh four years ago maybe
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: in australia and they uh wanted to come to japan
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: so uh it's a very good opportunity to cultural exchange.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure no that's great that's great they've um.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah we we have very good relationship yeah.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: They're lovely the the three of them are kwan and
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: ben and sarah and indeed they're all just so lovely
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: and paul as well they're They're really good people to
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: work with and I feel very lucky to be able
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: to do that and speak to people like yourselves and
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: many other great artists as well. So it's going to
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: be a big day for Z51. We're really looking forward
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: to that. It's going to be a nice vibe. Last year,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: the celebrations they had, it was the same, very good
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: day that Gershon had played.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Along with many other bands and it was just such
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: nice energy.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: And so everyone's got the same sort of outlook and
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: expectations that the day is going to be very similar
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: in that. the fans and the bands and everyone just
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: jump on board and are there for all the right
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: reasons to celebrate community radio, which is never a bad thing. It's, um,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: a lot of our artists do, I guess, get their, um,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: you know, their first startup is being played on community radio.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: So a lot of respect and homage is certainly paid
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: to 4ZZZ. That's been a, definitely a, um, a pillar
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: in a lot of their early careers.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: So it's good. Yeah.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: So, um, anything that you're wanting to hope to do
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: when you come out to Australia that you haven't done yet?
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: Um, I, I, uh, I know, uh, there are many
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: good food in Australia and, uh, very fancy cafe in Australia.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: So I enjoy the tasty, uh, coffee and some, uh,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: sweets at Australian cafe.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Excellent.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's plenty of those and there's plenty in the
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: cities as well. And actually some of the regional places
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: have got really good food and coffee that often, you know,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: only the locals might know about. So I'm sure on
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: your travels, you will definitely get to experience some nice
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: food and some nice coffee at the bakery. Yeah, yeah.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: Australian style cafe is very in fashion and In America,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: I think.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's quite different. But, yeah, we
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: love good coffee.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: I believe Melbourne probably has the best coffee, if you're
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: asking a coffee expert, which I don't even pretend to be,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: even though I love coffee.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: But there is, yeah.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Melbourne apparently has been holding that out for some time,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: being the best coffee in the country.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: So, yeah.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: And you're planning to go to Tasmania as well as
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: part of the tour?
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, we will have a show in Hobart.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, excellent. Yeah, it's really lovely down there.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: And it's nice to see that you're doing the whole
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: lot because I know places like Canberra and Hobart tend
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: to get left.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Off tours when bands come out, just the logistics and time,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I guess. But you guys are going to be inclusive.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: So all of Australia is going to know who Shona
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Knight is very soon, if they don't already.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Definitely, you've been around for some time.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: And so is Australia the last leg of your tour
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: that you guys have just been doing?
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, after Australia, we'll go to New Zealand for one week.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. And so have you guys been
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: working on some new music as well?
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: New music?
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: For me or Shonen Knife music?
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Shonen Knife, yeah.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: For Shonen Knife, we've just released our, album called Let's
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Knife Re-Cut. It's a recording from a 1992 album.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Let's Knife.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: And we will play, uh, songs from Let's Knife Re-Cut
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: a lot. And for other bands, um, Men at Work
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: is my, uh, very, uh, trend for me. Um, I always, uh,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: their melody lying in my brain everywhere.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: It's a very catchy line, the riff, isn't it?
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: And just when you hear a good song, even if
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: it's just a particular one, it can stick in you
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: when it's sung. It does become the inspiration for your
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: writing and whatnot. And just when you hear a good song,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: even if it's just a particular one, it can stick
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: in you when it's sung. It does become the inspiration
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: for you. writing and whatnot. So you're saying that you
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: write yourself aside from the band. Do you, are you
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: doing some stuff yourself individually?
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So do you play drums or guitar?
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I play the guitar on stage, but I write songs
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: and I'm arranging the songs.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Nice. Yeah.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah. So I'm trying to make good melody lines and
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: pop songs. So recently I'm very inspired by Mel at Work.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, that's great.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: It'll be interesting to see what comes out of that
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: and the new music that you are inspired by and
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: make the connection.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: It will be good.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe you could do a cover and a remake
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: of a song with one of your songs with Men
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: At Work.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: That would be kind of cool. Yeah. That's always fun.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Sheldon Knight remix of Men At Work.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's so many endless possibilities when you start looking
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: at things like that, which is lots of fun.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Well, look, thank you so much for coming and having
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: a chat with us today at Heavy Mag.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: It's been a genuine pleasure and we are very much
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing you guys when you come down under.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: And I'll be definitely there at Z51 on the day and, yeah,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: and for the start of your tour, which is exciting.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Three weeks and a lot jam-packed by the sounds of it.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Arigato.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: And I'm very looking forward to see you guys at
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: our shows.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: And we'll post those tour dates up with the interview
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: and go check them out if you haven't already.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Good stuff. More girls than rock. Yes, rock. Thank you.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Naoka. Arigato. Arigato.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Bye.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Bye. Thank you.