VANILLA, STRAWBERYY, FUJIYA & MIYAGI: IN CONVERSATION

Ahead of their tour in support of the new release Lightbulbs we catch up with Fujiya & Miyagi to talk about chess, dinosaurs and jet packs.
Noize: Ok so where have you been before London then?

Matt (bass): we've kind of just started the tour properly I suppose and we went to Switzerland first.

Steve (keys): Yeah then we went to France and we've just been to Ireland.

Matt: We're still recovering from that!

Steve: Yeah that was good fun...and we just did London last night and now we are here! Where are we after that? I guess we're going to do a bit more in Europe like Germany and then we're going to America.

N: That's pretty exciting?

S: Yeah, really excited about that. And then we end up in....Brighton.

N: So is that a kind of homecoming gig?

S: Not really...

M: Well it's gonna look like it, but we haven't played there for a while.

S: I always get more nervous doing the Brighton shows cos my friends are there and that.

N: And are your family ever there at the back going "yaay Steve!"?

S: Haha no well my mum hasn't seen us yet

M: Hasn't she? Awwwww (sounding very disappointed)

S: Well I'll have to get her to come next time!

N: That's funny actually 'cos we (me and photographer) play in a band and our parents are normally the only ones there!

S: Haha well my dad sees us but my mum hasn't... I feel bad for not dragging her along actually

M: Well our support act that we've got with us are called Project Jenny, Project Jan, and we got them over from Brooklyn 'cos we played with them once before in America last year and we loved them so much and they were such good guys that we thought we'll get them over here, and Jeremy's mum and dad have flown over from America so that's dedication from parents! And they'll be selling the merch as well probably [laughs].

N: And will you be returning to any favourite venues, if you have any?

M: I suppose in America. Are we going to play in Portland?

S: Yeah that's my favourite one too. There's this bar there and it's all wood and it just sounds great. And the people are crazy there too.

M: Yeah 'cos we toured America four times last year which is quite a lot!

N: And how was the reaction over there?

S: Yeah good in America actually, I think it was actually better than it was here at first so that was really encouraging.

M: Yeah but the places we like to play in England...we always go down well in London and Manchester.

S: Yeah and I'm not going to slag off anywhere, but there's certain places that you don't need to go to.

M: There are places that have never heard of us so fair enough!

S: And Dublin! They were the first lot over there who really got into us for some reason so we really like playing in Dublin too.

N: So how has the record release been? Has it gone smoothly?

S: I'll tell you what, we had a nightmare getting the record out. We had one nightmare after the other to be honest. We had trouble mastering and then it was cut wrong or something.

M: Yeah it's kinda like you just wanna do it then say "there it is, now put it in the shops"

S: Yeah but now it's out it's fine.

N: And are you happy with it?

S: Well I can't listen to it anymore to be honest...I've probably heard it more times than anyone is ever going to hear it [laughs] erm yeah and I just have no perspective on it anymore.

N: And so does that affect the way you play the album on stage then?

S: No not at all 'cos live's very different isn't it - it's fun and your adrenaline's going and you also concentrate a lot more don't you.

M: Yeah and also the way we record means it's a long process and we do a lot in small confined spaces on computers and things so live is completely different. And now we've got Lee [Adams] drumming with us now so it's a huge difference because we haven't had live drums before. It's very exciting.

N: So a bit of history then, how did you start out as Fujiya & Miyagi?

S: Me and David started about 10 years ago this September, but the idea was to just do electronics that's why we called the name Fujiya & Miyagi 'cos we were going to be like producers...so we thought we'd give it a Japanese name instead of just calling us 'Louis and Best' which would sound a bit rubbish. And then we did an album that was kind of quite mellow, and ambient I guess as we were into Warped Records and all that stuff in the 90s. Then it just evolved into a band 'cos we tried to do it live but it didn't really work. Then Matt joined and now 4 years on Lee's joined, so it's slowly evolving into a band!

N: Did you expect it to take the direction it has then when you started?

S: No not at all. Well firstly Dave was never meant to sing. We were doing this track and we thought it would be nice with some vocals and I originally asked him to see if he could come up with something, and I had no idea he was going to whisper or anything like that, and he did, and I thought 'oh that's quite nice'....and we've done it ever since.

N: So if Dave had never done vocals before, how did he find that and songwriting in general?

S: Well that's interesting actually because the first album wasn't really songwriting, it would just be Dave putting little bits in, in almost the way you write electronic music where you use loops. And I did a lot of the structure on the comp, and on Transparent Things we did a little bit of both - he started to actually write songs and I would cut and paste things as well. With Lightbulbs it's definitely more songs - we had written a lot of the songs before we started recording, so it was a more traditional style.

N: And lyrically how did he find that, if he hadn't done that before?

S: Well he really enjoys it and he definitely has his own style. And also a lot of it is to do with rhythm, as he's whispering all the time, and so he uses certain words at a certain point. Other than going for songs that necessarily have a really deep meaning.

N: So is that something that you've never really been too interested in, going for sentimental, emotional songs?

S: Well there's one song on Lightbulbs that I always think is, but he does sing it very deadpan I guess.

M: Yeah it is slightly more intimate then the others.

S: Yeah, but Dave is never going to over emote when he sings.

N: The whole deadpan thing, I think, is really good and distinctive and important a lot of the time.

M: Yeah and you can get away with a bit of humour as well which is always good.

S: We've just done this thing for Nike which is like a running track, LCD Soundsystem did one, we just did that over 5 weeks and it's just a little bit more like a jam, like it was more improvised, and Matt started singing, so I can imagine that being a bit more of a feature, 'cos that definitely worked well. And matt sings a bit more traditionally, if you like.

M: It's almost influenced by doo wap backing vocals, that kind of thing.

S: Yeah and it really works

M: It's another kind of rhythmic thing

N: So the rhythm's obviously a big part of it then?

S: Yeah definitely

M: Ever since you started that was a main part of it wasn't it?

S: Yeah, I mean I'd like to think there's some melody in there as well, but there are no real dramatic chord changes and it's not really up and down. Maybe in the future who knows though....

N: So even though you've listened to it to death, what are your favourite songs off the new album?

S: For me I'd say to play would be...[thinks]....none of them![Laughs] But if I had to pick one of them I guess it would be Sore Thumb, I really like that one.

M: Songs to play live, for me, off the new album...I think it would have to be Uh. But Goosebumps we play live now which is a bit moodier and downtempo. From touring, you see, we've been playing a lot of clubs so we have always felt the need to keep the beat going. If people started dancing then keep 'em dancing. But sometimes you can see half of them dancing and half of them thinking as well which is sometimes a strange sight!

N: I can imagine! Right, now I'm going to ask you some questions which are based on some of the names of the songs off Lightbulbs. Firstly Knickerbocker, the first single off Lighbulbs. So what is your favourite ice cream flavour?

S: Chocolate for sure

N: Just chocolate?

S: Yeah just straight chocolate. Love it. You can't go wrong.

M: I always go straight for the mint choc chip...

N: I always do that but I don't know why because I hate After Eights and any kind of mint and chocolate hybrid other than mint choc chip ice cream...weird.

M: I think it's the green colour.

S: I like lemon sorbet too. I like them all actually I could eat it all day.

M: One of the good things we thought about doing for Knickerbocker was that we could have our photos taken for the cover of the single just eating knickerbocker glories but it didn't happen did it?!
S: Well we did look into it but we found out that it would cost us loads of money so we thought no fuck that.

N: You should just incorporate it into your live show. Just shovel it down whilst playing…

S: Haha yeah good idea!

N: Next one - there is a song called Pterodactyl, how do you think the dinosaurs died?

M: Poor diet and lack of exercise definitely.

S: I'm not going to agree with that. I'm going to go for global warming. They probably farted too much and it killed them.

N: Haha good stuff. Next one is Rook to Queen's Pawn Six. We were trying to think of a good chess question but we couldn't really think of one…[has brainwave] right I know. Say you were interviewing us and we had a song called that, what chess related question would you ask us? [sits back and looks like a smug prick probably]

M: [immediately] what's your favourite opening move?

S: Ooooh that's a good question!

N: I don't know really. I normally get the pawn in front of the king out pretty quickly!

M: I've recently started playing chess on Facebook against the support band.

S: Are they good?

M: They are, they're really good. But I'm on the lookout for some good opening moves and some defenses. I think to get those first 4 pawns in the centre straight out and then your knights out is what you want I think.

S: Maybe we should play to get ourselves better and then take on the Americans. They are really good though. They were looking in the paper at moves and everything!

N: That's got to be cheating…. Anyway, the name of your new album is obviously Lightbulbs so what is your favourite invention?

S: Hmmmm…the synthesizer. Ah but that's really obvious though!

M: Didn't Thomas Edison invent the record player as well? The light bulb and the record player. I'm not 100% sure but if he did then that makes him pretty shit hot!

N: And if you were an inventor today what would you try to invent?

M: More space. Portable space please.

S: I've always wanted like a jet pack, but one that was environmentally friendly. Maybe it would run on water or something.

N: So if you were offered a go on one that was really environmentally unfriendly what would you do?

S: I've always wanted a go on one! I'd be a little bit torn but I'd have to have a go really. I mean, shit, we go on loads of aeroplanes, why not have a go on a jet pack, right?

N: Exactly! So, more seriously, musically what is your inspiration?

S: I guess we always try to listen to new stuff. Everyone listens to different stuff in the band and influences each other. For example Dave's listening to loads of Northern Soul at the moment.

M: When I joined the band I think the main connection I had with the other guys was stuff like Talking Heads and Roxy Music, which is still there. And we all love Brian Eno.

S: They're the kind of links but we're all into slightly different stuff you see.

M: Yeah like folk stuff, I am really into Fleet Foxes.

S: You know what, I don't really listen to as much electronic music as I used to. I used to be hugely into it, it used to be all I listened to, like all Aphex Twin and all that 90s stuff. I suppose now I like that Dan Deacon guy, and Metronomy are really cool and quirky, and sounds really nice and fresh. I really like electronic acts that are trying to do it live, but like I said I haven't really been listening to the techno type things that I used to.

M: There was a time before I was in the band, and I've known Steve for about 15 years, when I lost him to techno. I never saw you! You were always in those techno clubs. I was like "I don't want any of that."

S: Yep, so I'm the one who's kind of making the band a bit dancey.

N: It seems that there's a bit krautrock influence in your music too, is that fair to say?

S: Yeah well that's one of the types of music that crosses all those bridges. I know they did it in the 70s, but it was quite amazing, you know, with Kraftwerk and Can. And when I first met Dave I was really into Kraftwerk but he said I should listen to Can and that I'd probably really like it 'cos they were kind of doing repetitive stuff so it's kind of like dance music and they kind of evolve the track as it's going along and I just totally got into it and that was like a first. Especially with Transparent Things, Can was a huge influence and that's where everyone talks about it from. And also we use the motorik beat which is associated with Neu! Which I think is great. A really simple beat and that's why I like it really.

N: And what would the motto of the band be if there was one / is one?

M: Don't show off!

S: Yeah that'd do! Or keep it minimal or something.

M: Yeah you rarely get a guitar solo or bass solo or anything!

S: Although we were talking about buying Dave a little fuzz pedal so he could have a go at a solo, 'cos we are a bit too minimal sometimes I have to say! We sort of frown upon solos and stuff. But now I think "well maybe a solo isn't so bad maybe once in a set"

M: And if it makes sense for the song then it's alright.

S: We should maybe all do a solo at the same time and it would be horrible then bring it back to super-minimal again for like a minute.

N: Yeah or you could do the Spinal Tap thing where they thing the solo that they're playing at the same time?

S: Haha yeah that'd be interesting!

N: So would you say that you're reluctant performers?

S: I wouldn't say we're reluctant really. It's easier now with Lee, isn't it?

M: Yeah it's so much different having the drums come from behind you rather than in the monitors from the drum machine. It sometimes feels like you've got the audience, the line of monitors and then us, and it felt like a bit of a barrier but now it's a lot difference.

S: Yeah it's more fun to play now.

N: I saw Ratatat recently and because they didn't have a drummer it was a similar thing where they just lined up and played and it was a bit strange to watch.

M: But there's only a certain number of line ups you can go for on stage anyway….

N: You could always go for the flying V?

M: Haha yeah or you could all crowd up on one side of the stage.

S: Normally, when it's a longer stage there are three of us at the front and just Lee at the back but I like being at the back with Lee. The 2-2 formation works I think. I notice a lot of bands put the drums up front recently actually, like Battles and LCD Soundsystem and a French band we played with the other day called Ponyhoax.

N: Last question now, where do you want to take Fujiya and Miyagi? Is there a plan or a target?

S: Oooh a target, that's really corporate! It's a tricky one…obviously we're not making huge amounts of money so it would be nice to just carry on for a few years at least without worrying. At the moment it's our job and it's brilliant. But we did it for 8 years when we were doing it when we had jobs and it was like a hobby then. So it's changed a bit but I just hope it carries on for a bit longer! But we don't have a plan to take on the world or anything like that!

By Graham Allchurch

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