Fujirockers: The official Fuji Rock Festival blog

Japanese fans may have heard of Taiwan’s Sugar Plum Ferry for accompanying Mono on a tour through mainland China in 2009, and any associations with Japan’s top name in post-rock will surely not be mislaid. Both bands helped usher in the genre to their respective countries, both have become more or less the definitive post-rock groups for their national scene, and both started around the same time – Mono in 1999 and Sugar Plum Ferry in 1997. Being in Taiwan, SPF’s avenues for international exposure have been relatively limited, but their home scene in Taipei always knew they were something of a powerhouse waiting to happen. In the last couple years they’ve played New York’s CMJ festival and Canadian Music Week in Toronto, and now they’re making their Japan debut at Fuji Rock!

The lineup has shifted just slightly over the last dozen years, but Fujirockers was happy enough to do an email interview with two members. Xiao-bai, who goes by the stage name Insecteens, is a guitarist and founding member who is responsible in a big way for not just the sound of Sugar Plum Ferry, but also of Taiwanese post-rock, as his side projects have constantly been in the fore of Taipei’s instrumental music scene. Guitarist and synth player Su is a later addition to the band, but no less a key member of the current lineup. The ensemble is rounded out by bass player Leaf Lee and drummer John Wu. Here’s what they had to say about the history of post-rock in Taiwan and what Japanese fans can look forward to in late-July and early August.

Q: I heard your first CD, Lack of Something, sells for a lot of money in online auctions. I have a copy and it is signed by the drummer at that time, Yoz. How much do you think I can I sell it for? Continue Reading…

“Fuji Rock won’t really be like Glastonbury until the Emperor shows up in a pink wig.” – Jon Helmer, Fuji Rock documentarian

In case you’re looking for the perfect Christmas present for a fellow Fuji Rocker, the chance comes early this year. Jon Helmer is bringing his double-DVD documentary on ten years of the festival to Naeba. It’s called Tents & Bugs & Rock N Roll, and he’ll be screening the four-hour video at a mobile cinema that will move around the festival grounds. He’s also selling copies for ¥2,000. Instead of a history of rock stars, legendary performances and big name acts, Heller has turned his camera on the fans, the staff and occasionally the artists back stage. This is a people’s history of Fuji Rock, with no narration, no titles, and a roughly chronological structure that covers the years 1999 (Fuji Rock’s first year in Naeba) to 2008. The video was produced in 2009, and now it’s ready for it’s grand debut. A few of the gems you’ll witness amidst the sprawling 245 minutes of the DVD’s length include Joe Strummer planning out the lot that went on to become the Palace of Wonder, Henry Rollins getting psyched up to hit the Green Stage, Jam Master Jay backstage at the Red Marquee…. Continue Reading…

Go Chic, a band of three Taipei girls and one guy in their early 20s, this year becomes the first ever non-Japanese band to compete successfully against 1,500+ applicants and make the FRF Rookie a-Go-Go stage. Mostly former high school classmates, they blast out electro dance songs with riot grrrl energy, and the stage shows kick into full on party mode. It’s no wonder that at this moment, they can boast one of the biggest followings in Taiwan’s indie scene, but lately they’ve been pushing that envelop as well, earlier this year playing SXSW, getting ready for gigs in China, and now they are also no doubt busy shopping for neon rubber boots for FRF 2010. This all comes with the released of Go Chic’s debut album this spring, I Am Confused! (2010), which got a thumbs up from the Taipei Times for its “catchy beats, punk verve and a sassy, irreverent wit.” The members are Sonia Lai (Guitar/Synth), Sarah Wen (Bass), Winston Li (Drums) and Ariel Zheng (Vocals). Ariel recently answered some of our questions by email. Continue Reading…

Dangermouse and James Mercer from Broken Bells gave this interview to Los Angeles radio station KCRW just last Friday. Aside from about 30-minutes of live studio recordings, they talk about doing cover songs, what The Shins are up to, learning to play instruments, and a documentary soundtrack project. Here are a few highlights: Continue Reading…

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BURTON-LEWIS, WHO STILL WON’T ANSWER WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO BETWEEN 5 AND 10AM

Who dreamed up with the idea that we needed an All-Night Fuji? And who envisioned that the dance party might possibly carry on past 5am – albeit after an inexplicable 5-hour break – in a distant, mountaintop field at an FRF extension known as Daydreaming? What originally put me on the track of Bryan Burton-Lewis was Tokyo’s red hot electro duo Dexpistols, the team of DJs Daruma and Maar, who, having blown up over the last few years in the Tokyo scene and on Fujirock stages are now getting major international props, the latest of which is headlining The Fader’s “Asia” mixtape (download it free!!!), just released last week. Within the last year, Burton-Lewis convinced Dex to go indie and help him found the Roc Trax Crew, which meant luring them away from major label BMG. But that’s just a little bit of what he’s been up to. Get the rest, including the inside story on Fujirock’s all-night party scene, in our following chat via that network of electronic chips, resistors and cables better known as the Internet: Continue Reading…

If you’re wondering what to expect from the French pop electronic band Air at this year’s Fuji Rock, you can get a lot of great hints from an interview they gave just over 6 weeks ago to Los Angeles radio station KCRW (watch a video version of the entire thing here). The 45-minute segment features not only interviews with the two-man team that masterminds the band, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, but also lots of in-studio performances, especially stuff from their latest album Love 2 as well a couple classic hits like Sexy Boy. The most interesting thing – and what you may not have guessed from hearing their recorded stuff – is that Air performs every aspect of their music live, especially drums and vocals. (For interview excerpts, keep reading) Continue Reading…

Few musicians can claim a career trajectory like UA, Japan’s favorite anti-diva.
Links, Vids and more info after the jump.

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Put Your Shit on My Leg. Photo: www.craigfergusonimages.com
Here’s the second part of the interview: Podcast part 2
(There’s actually no need to listen to these in order)
More photos of the gig after the break.

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Boob Scotch. Photo: www.craigfergusonimages.com
Bob Log III might not be at FRF09, but as a festival alumnus and a one-man guitar party, he’ll always have a place in my heart. Tuesday, June 9 he played a gig in Taipei, and the next afternoon I caught up with him for this interview before he got too drunk and wandered off to the sauna. This interview is in two parts and will also air on Radio Taiwan International, but I’d like to offer it up here as what is possibly this blog’s first ever podcast. (BTW, if there is some way to have this streaming, let me know.)
Podcast: Part 1
-Dave

For Japan’s premier blues-punk outfit, Guitar Wolf, burning out was the only option. Until now?

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