Sunday, June 19, 2011

SERAFIM ZONE - 005 - COOL'N'PUNKISH FJ - 19 June 2011

Hello everybody!! 
Today I want to tell you that I am a very huge admirer of the awesome and dark experimental band Dakuu. This band is very special for me always. If you still don't heard Dakuu - do it right now! They are really kick-ass and rocking!
So... Today is cool day. I want to present you the A to Z interview with amazing person and talented musican FJ from Dakuu. I love him so much! He is my mental brother. Yeah!! This is it... Let's read and enjoy it... C'mon!! 


 


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A – ANGELS 
FJ: Do you remember a band called Angel? Anyway, when I was a child, I often read Greek myths, but I don’t know a lot about angels. But what about an image of this word, I like it. In Japanese this word is Tenshi. And there are some masterpiece songs named Tenshi or Angel. For example: Kitamura Masashi's song “Tenshi”. (Kitamura was an originator of Trans/SSE records, Fools Mate Magazine,YBO2, Differance, Canis Lupus) 
dani: Awesome! I also like Criminal Angels by Der Zibet. Sounds so mystic. I think would be cool to do such angelic compilation.  
B – BASS 
FJ: My musical career started with guitar when I was fourteen. Originally, I am a guitarist.

Later after playing guitar, I started compose original tunes and home recording with 4tracks tape recorder, because copying famous band songs was difficult for me. So I was needed bass sounds for multi tracks recording. At first I used guitar-synth for bass part, but it was not good bass sound. So I got a my first bass guitar when I was fifteen. I think I am a guitarist, but most people or bands wanna get me as a bassist. People says my bass play is active and melodious. I think my bass play is very guitaristic. The bassists who influenced me are Paul McCartney, Kitamura Masashi, Simon Gallup. Some people says my bass play is similar to Peter Hook, but I don’t think so. 
dani: Yes, indeed, I think so too! Your bass-lines is very guitaristic. I love this in your bass-playing so much! 

C - CHILDHOOD
FJ: When I was child? I was introverted, not active. I was liked play inside home, drawing, reading books, singing. When friends said: "hey, lets do baseball!" (or football), I always go away from them. 

D - DAKUU 
FJ: Dakuu was started in 2007. At first, Asa was looking for members for forming new band. She wanted to form band with some words as theme. The words were "positive punk", "dark and noisy", "junk", etc. She said she loves The Birthday Party, Lemon Kittens, PiL, Einstruzende Neuabuten, Swans, NO NEW YORK, BAUHAUS, Sonic Youth, The Cure, Diamanda Galas, early industrial musics, etc, and wanna form new band influenced by them. At first she asked me playing guitar or bass, so I suggested using rhythm machine and inviting Morimoto as guitarist. This name – Dakuu - was named after YBO2 song called "Sora ga Ochiru". "Sora ga Ochiru" means "Sky falls down". "da" is Kanji letter of "Ochiru", means fall, drop, corruption. "kuu" is Kanji letter of "Sora", means sky.

E - ETERNAL THINGS
FJ: I wanna make the music like the jewel with eternal shining that never goes out.

F - FJ 
FJ: My family name is "Fujii". "Fuji" means wisterias. FJ is abbreviated letters of Fujii.

Personality of FJ? Mmm, lazylech

G - GUITARS
FJ: Stratocaster is best for me using by myself. In Dakuu's history, there are two guitarists, present guitarist Mark, and former guitarist Morimoto. Both are good guitarists, each one has his own guitar style and tone. Morimoto's guitar play is very improvisation style, his tone is very treble edged and very strange, little bit similar to Keith Levine. Mark's guitar play is more distorted and noisy. His guitar sounds made Dakuu become simple, punkish, powerful. I think his guitar play has New York underground taste though he's from England. My friend says Mark's guitar tone is just like barbed wire. Exactly!

H – HORROR THINGS
FJ: Human being. Hippies. Ideology. Vertical relationships with violence in the scene around some old bands at land of rising sun.

I – ILLUSIONS
FJ: I've never seen it.

J – JAPAN
FJ:  Yeah, "Gentleman takes Polaroid" is best! Lol Mick Karn (RIP) is one of best bassist! David Sylvian is also great musician. Well, are you talking about a country called Japan? Yes, I am really Japanese and I love Nippon.
dani: RIP Mick… He was so great…

K – KINDNESS
FJ: "Your small act of kindness will make our community a more pleasant place." - from The NEW ANCHOR ENGLISH DICTIONARY-

L – LONELINESS
FJ: Sometimes I like to be alone, sometimes I feel lonely when I’m alone.

M – MUNDUS PATET
FJ: I've never known this word before "MUNDUS PATET" CD. I heard its like Japanese "Obon". "Obon" is a kind of Buddism festival for welcoming dead human's spirits returning their home.  That CD is nice. Dakuu's tracks have worst sounds quality on that CD, very rough low sounds (but I like it).
dani: DAKUU sounds so raw and this is awesome!! I am HUGE fan of DAKUU's part of Mundus Patet! 

N – NEGATIVISM
FJ: Sometimes, people says: the bands that have dark taste like Dakuu are "negative", but I don’t think so. We are very healthy and positive band. Destruction for make progress is positive. It is not negative nihilism. Nietzsche said: Be a superman.
dani: I think so too. We can't be positive without negative vision. When I see or hear negative things it push my mind in the searching of positive final.

O – OPTIMISM
FJ: I think I’m not optimist. Maybe I'm reverse of it, well, what is it in English?
dani: Pessimist. But I guess that you are the realist just like me.

P – PUNK
FJ: I was taught to I can do it myself after Punk. When I was a junior high school student, most of student who likes music were metal kids. They were crazy about fast picking metal guitar solo. But I couldn't enjoy it. I was bored. Then, I was find great Punk and post punk music. First LP of The Damned, Pubic Image Ltd, BAUHAUS, Siouxsie and The Banshees, etc. And I think "yes, there are no need to learn methods, I can do and make my own way by myself".
dani: Indeed!!! We are not metal kids, we all punks inside. It is like a peg inside and we can string any things we need on this. I guess it's main reason why - PUNX not DEAD, PUNX UNDEAD

Q – QUALITY vs QUANTITY 
FJ: I adore about the musician who has both of quality and quantity, just like Prince. But my composing pace is slow. I cant make so much. So quality is important for me.

R - REBELLIOUSNESS
FJ: Maybe, it is hiding deep in my mind. I think it’s not so important for music. But sometimes I feel dissatisfaction about environment of Japanese music and some of elder bands. Is it rebelliousness?
dani: I guess alternative (underground) music scene is some kind of rebellion always.

S - STALIN and MICHIRO ENDO
FJ: When I was fourteen, I got "For Never" double LP of The Stalin. Its their last live record. That psychedelicful sound made me crazy. Their sounds are exactly punk, hardcore but its also has very dark, doomy, very native, psychedelic taste. It reminded me my favorite band The Doors. Of course, Dakuu is influenced by The Stalin.
dani: Yes! The Stalin reminds me The Doors too. And Bauhaus sometimes. The Stalin is mast cool punk band for me ever! DAKUU has same atmosphere sometimes. Very raw-vivid but dark-gloomy. I love this really!

T – TREASURE  (of your life) 
FJ: Music. Time that flows slow. Nature. Women. Girls. Boys. Lipsticks.
dani: Lipsticks? That's so fetish and hot!!

U - UNISEX
FJ: I am straight, but I like to be dressed up girls clothes. I don’t know why. I had interesting about it since when I was child. Sometimes I feel if I change my sex freely, sometimes male, sometimes female. Sometimes I want cool beautiful boobs on my body lol. Pervert? lol
dani: No!! Boobs is really cool!! So… why not?! :) 

V - VISUAL
FJ: First, and this is important, I am NOT Visual-kei. Opposite. Anyway, visual is important for rock music. Just like Bowie. Someday, I wanna make visual appealful stage art and movie clips of Dakuu. 
dani: Yes, I know about your position. It is main reason why I ask you about. I guess we have big difference between visual (like Bowie, Bauhaus, The Stalin, other cool bands with concept looking) and fashion visual key (for fun and cool-looking, nothing more). I was tried to talking with one person about this, but that person said that visual key it is music style. Nonsense? When I heard your opinion about visual and visual key I was think - FJ telling very close things for my mind and soul.

W - WEAKNESS
FJ: I am not strong. Weak mind sometimes make something crazy.

X - X-CITATION
FJ: When the music occur chemical reaction (just like best chemistry in bedroom)
dani: It sounds very exciting! :)

Y – YOUTH 
FJ: He is a good musician. Original bassist of Killing Joke.

Anyway, I think getting old is not so bad. Musicians don’t get old. Is it due to magic? Since we met wizard? Ancient times, all musicians were kind of wizard or alchemist, you know.

Z – ZOMBIE
FJ: I don’t know a lot about Zombie. Maybe I should watch some famous zombie movie.
dani: I guess all you must to know about from movies thats you must shooting in the zombie’s head to kill them, ahaha. :)
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Thank you so much for your awesome answers, dear FJ!!
I wish you and Dakuu ALL the BEST always!!
We are your huge admiers forever!!
RED-HOT-KISSES, dear!!



 

(art by Selvio, special for SERAFIM ZONE)

So...
That's all for today.
FJ is really so cool and sexy, isn't he?!
Please, don't forget about comments, because I want to tell you more next time!!
I wish GREAT DAY for dear FJ and for ALL my friends around the world!

with RED-HOT-KISSES,
your Daniel Vice



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