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Mop Of Head live at Nagoya Club Quattro October 6, 2011
“It was a wonderful experience,” George says. “I think everyone there was listening to our music for the first time – it was just like first contact. Still, they all danced.”
With that goal crossed off their list, Mop Of Head have been invited back to Fuji Rock, this time to play on the Sunday of the 2012 edition. It will be another step up for one of the more kinetic rock outfits in Japan today, a quartet squishing Britpop, house and all sorts of other styles together to create a sound pulsing with energy.
George first started assembling Mop Of Head while he was still in high school, and several years later the band’s current lineup settled into place. George told The Japan Times last year that he didn’t select members based on technical ability, but rather individuals who enjoyed the same music as him. That taste leaned toward 90’s dance music, with Mop Of Head taking cues from acts like The KLF and The Chemical Brothers among others.
These influences burst into focus on the group’s first full-length album, last year’s Retronix. An all-instrumental affair, Retronix blurred the line between rock and dance music as the group’s sharp guitar playing crashed up against all sorts of electronics. George says some of the songs have hyper-specific origins – “Istanbul” is Mop Of Head’s tribute to The KLF, while the boozy-jump-around “Hocus Homage” is directly influenced by Blur’s “Boys & Girls” (besides dance music, George also likes Brit Pop…he says the act he’s most excited for at Fuji Rock this year is The Stone Roses, adding “they are my massive heroes”). This manic mashing of styles continues on this year’s brief Uncontrol, featuring five new songs.
Live is where they shine most, though. Although Mop Of Head takes a lot of influence from dance music, George told The Japan Times he wants the group to not just rely on machines. “Recently, many musicians, especially dance music artists, use laptop computers at home, in the studio and at their gigs, too. I like seeing music played live, I really like seeing humans play. That’s our same attitude in the studio.” It comes through – in person, Mop Of Head thrash about on stage, and George frequently jumps around behind his stack of keyboards, imploring the crowd to “come on.”
Mop Of Head seem just as energized for the 2012 Fuji Rock Festival…George says he has been to several Fuji Rocks before, saying that it “is very peaceful and a great place for music lovers to gather.” Even though the group’s set will be earlier in the day, Mop Of Head will provide a great spark to start the Festival’s last day.
Photo by Yoshitaka Kogawa courtesy Smashing Mag
