Choosing to shed guitar atmospherics and rerecord select songs acoustically, Asobi Seksu is definitely mixing things up.  Be sure to catch them on their Rewolf acoustic tour at the Old Rock House this Thursday, February 4th.  Eleven had the chance to speak with vocalist and keyboardist Yuki Chikudate about recording in the world-famous Olympic Studios and what “shoegaze” really means.

How did you guys decide to take on a project like Rewolf?

Yuki Chikudate:

I wish we could take credit for it, but I can’t (laughs).  It was really our label head in the UK, Derek Birkett, from One Little Indian, who kept talking to us about it, and would send us not so subtle messages about why we should do it – like put on Pixies acoustic stuff and be like, ‘see, see them do it.’  He was being so idealistic and just talking about it, and finally we just gave in and said OK.  We kinda went in dragging our feet a little bit, we were just being bratty (laughs).  It was really fun, I’m glad that he got us time and we had a day to go in on our day-off during a tour, and we just went in and had fun for like ten hours.  That was basically what Rewolf was.

How did you get the opportunity to record the album at the world renowned Olympic Studios?

YC:

It was Derek.  Derek is a guy with lots of cool friends, you know, he was friends with Bjork for a long time, and he’s friends with Paul McCartney – he knows a lot of people.  He’s just an incredibly cool guy, and had an in with Olympic, and they weren’t booked that day, and it all worked out!

Was it really inspirational with the energy of the building?  So many music legends have recorded there!

YC:

I can’t say I felt anything.  I was excited for sure that we were going in there, but you know, [but] it looked like any other studio, really.  I wish I could say I felt the ghost of some of those musicians, but I didn’t really, but it was really exciting. And U2 and Brian Eno were in the studio at the same time – I didn’t run into anybody, but they were occupying 99.9% of that place.

You didn’t get Bono to do any guest vocals on the album?

YC:

(laughs) Well, if that happened, this album would be getting much more attention.  But, you know, Paul Walton, who engineered the record, was saying that Bono is a nice guy and he’s come into his studio in the past when he was recording bands, and he’d come down and give them some advice and suggestions.  So, I guess, he’s (Bono) one to help out young musicians still – that’s nice to know.

So, are you guys excited to be playing a more stripped down acoustic set during your upcoming live shows?

YC:

Yeah, I am excited!  We’re actually rehearsing for it right now, I’m sure you can hear the other guys making a racket in the other room.  It’s nice to not have any gear, not really have a load-in or a load-out – that’s very very exciting for us (laughs).  And to play a really quiet, subdued, hopefully pretty show, anything new like that is interesting to me and to the rest of the guys, and we’re up for the challenge I suppose.

I’d like to hear about how you managed to help finance your European tour through Kickstarter.com – it’s a very avant-garde system.

YC:

Matt Lunsford, the President of Polyvinyl– it sounds so official (laughs), he’s just a dude to us, he’s such a nice guy – he’s friends with the guy who started Kickstarter.  Polyvinlyl had a project up on Kickstarter as well, and they were really successful, they were like 350% successful.  Matt knew that we were going through some tough times with money, and touring was just really draining all our funds, so he invited us to be one of the projects on Kickstarter. And thank God, because we didn’t make all the money back on these two tours, but [at least] we don’t have to go sell all of our instruments or anything.  And we consider that a success (laughs).

Do you think the label “shoegaze” is been being used too loosely lately?  What does that label really mean in 2010?

YC:

I don’t know anymore, to be honest.  You’re right, everything is described as shoegaze or influenced by My Bloody Valentine, like you hear that about almost every band.  It’s like ‘what, that’s almost nothing like My Bloody Valentine!’  I don’t know, I don’t really pay attention I suppose. People can call whatever they want, whatever they want.

I can imagine it gets frustrating to have every group with atmospheric guitars labeled as MBV.

YC:

Well, its good press for My Bloody Valentine, and it made them come back and tour, so in that sense, I’m glad they did that so I got to see them!  So it’s OK by me, if that means more of those bands come back, even though I guess I’m a little torn about the whole reunion thing.  But the My Bloody Valentine reunion was awesome!

Are people generally surprised by the English translation of Asobi Seksu? (note: it’s ‘casual sex’)

YC:

I guess so, I guess some people are.  I’ll admit, I sometimes get slightly embarrassed when somebody asks me.  Like, ‘aw why did we choose that name, I’m so sick of explaining, and getting slightly embarrassed.’  But we stuck by it, and we’re kinda stuck with it, and some days I’m happy we chose that name, and other days I’m like ‘what was I thinking?’

Well, it’s pretty original, I’d have to say.

YC:

(laughs) Yeah, it is original!

And, Asobi Seksu is a nice sounding name – but people have a double take when they find out what it means.

YC:

That’s kind of why we stuck with it, to be honest, it sounds nice – we liked the sound of it.  And then, I guess there’s a bit of a wink in the meaning.

Finally, what are you guys looking most forward to in 2010?

YC:

I’m excited about our new songs – we’re going into the studio in April.  I love going into the studio, and we’re recording with our friend Chris again.  It basically turns out being a bunch of friends getting together and making something cool, it’s all stuff to be excited about.  I’m sure we’ll have a fight and be mad at some point (laughs).  But for now, I’m excited about it!

Related posts