[Editor’s note: This interview was conducted before the current crises in Japan, there are links to relief efforts at the bottom of this article, please donate.]
East meets West. It’s a typical theme, one that’s often explored throughout various types of art. For a band like Uzuhi though, that idea wasn’t even in their minds when they started.
“Music helps me and educated me,” says Gosha, singer for Uzuhi, “when I was in Japan I didn’t speak or understand English, but I still listened to music from America and England, punk music, and I didn’t understand what they were saying but I could feel it.”
Comprised of Gosha on vocals, Tsubasa on piano/keyboard, Shu on drums, and Katsuragi on guitar, Uzuhi has been a solid unit for three years now.
While they might sound like a Japanese inspired punk band, hearing about their influences paints a much different picture. “Everyone’s from different backgrounds. I’m totally into hardcore, oi oi punk,” says Gosha, “Tsubasa never listened to punk and listened to mostly jazz and classical.”
As a classically trained musician, even learning how to play punk songs was a new experience for Tsubasa. “When they ask me to play punk, I feel like it’s something I want to do because I feel something from that music,” says Tsubasa, “I don’t think I can do it, but I want to try. I can learn something, or I can get a new idea. That’s why I joined them.”
“I learned with classical music, I can’t make a mistake. When I came to jazz, people said, what’s a mistake?” says Tsubasa. Indeed, the idea of no mistakes and the idea of precision comes through when you hear Uzuhi’s music.
Katsuragi’s razor sharp riffs with Gosha’s frenetic vocals come together for most of their songs, but there are other very Japanese influences in their music as well. “[In our song ‘Simplicity of Satisfaction’] I thought ‘oh it would be good to use a Japanese instrument, the Koto, I played a little bit of the Japanese scale with that instrument and everyone liked it,” says Tsubasa.
Uzuhi’s varied influences show themselves in different ways. Decidedly less in-your-face-songs, like ‘Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile’, still retain a strong punk influence, albeit filtered through a ska lens. While other songs like, ‘This is Our Generation’ sound like something you might hear from the Clash in 1977.
But, musical backgrounds aren’t the only influence in Uzuhi’s music. Their distance from their homeland and their desire to collectively succeed are also a strong part of what makes Uzuhi a band. “Not being in Japan inspires us, we want to make our families back home happy, and we want to be successful,” says Gosha.
Japan is a major influence on the members of Uzuhi, but it should be noted, they aren’t a Japanese band. Something Gosha and Tsubasa were quick to point out. “We wanted to pick a Japanese name. The sun is our symbol, I think. The sun has no border, you know. We believe music has no borders. We wanted to have something like that in our name [to include everyone that might listen to us],” says Gosha.
The lack of borders that Gosha sees through music is the central message of ‘This is Our Generation’ one that’s even more important today. “Generation is one of the key words for us,” says Gosha, “We’re Asian people, you don’t know me and I don’t know you, there are a lot of bad things happening in the world: wars, disasters, people are poor. But this is our generation together, no matter what.”
Check out Uzuhi here, here, and here. Donate to Japanese relief efforts here.
