Pocket Face
continued from page 7
formed Pocket Face. Horota, the
former drummer for the Japanese
ska band, P Up Area, heard his
friend Mastrogiovanni was form
ing a new band in America, so he
decided to quit his jobs in ac
counting, merchandising and Web
design and fly to the United States
to live in a storage closet in Mas
trogiovanni’s house.
“This band was worth it,” he
said.
He said he is moving into a real
room next month.
Horota and Mastrogiovanni’s
previous experiences in the Japan
ese music scene has helped them
maintain contacts with their
Japanese label, “All in One
Record,” that helped make the
Japan tour possible.
Ska hit the Japanese clubs in
the mid-1990s, inciting a surge of
copycat ska bands that reached
their peak popularity about two
years ago, according to Horota.
Although America experienced a
similar phenomenon, he said ska
was more popular in Japan than
in America.
Mastrogiovanni said one major
difference between the two coun
tries is that Japanese audiences
want to be involved in the shows.
“They want to participate,” he
said. “If you raise your hand up,
everyone raises their hands up.
Japanese kids are very active, and
they jump whenever you do.”
“We’re not pop. Pop is like
Britney Spears; we’re not
Britney Spears.”
Taylor Morden
trumpeter
And Pocket Face does a lot of
jumping.
Although Pocket Face’s music
does not fit any current rages in
Japan, Mastrogiovanni said he
hopes they will start a new ska
funk trend with what they call “a
new international horn-blasted,
power-pop, funky-punky style.”
When music crosses international
and cultural borders, the dash be
comes a band’s best friend.
Once Pocket Face formed,
Horota said they realized they had
less genre limits, which allowed
them to branch out from the tradi
tional ska beat. He said they were
then introduced to the new genre
of “power pop.”
“That’s not a genre,” Morden in
terrupted.
Classifying a band invariably
leads to a debate on what genre best
fits the band’s style of music, and
each band member has a slightly
different opinion on that point.
“It’s a feeling — a power-pop
feeling,” Mastrogiovanni compro
mised.
“We’re not pop,” Morden insist
ed. “Pop is like Britney Spears;
we’re not Britney Spears.”
“We’re like power-Britney
Spears,” Mastrogiovanni said.
Though Morden still looked
doubtful, Horota settled the debate
by informing the others that the
term “power pop” is used in Japan.
As a send-off for the Japanese
tour, Pocket Face will perform at a
show called “Icky-Ma-Show, Vol.
2” June 20 at the Wild Duck with
four or five other bands to be an
nounced nearer the performance
date. Tickets for the show will be $2
at the door. Their CD, “Many
Faces,” is set for release in the Unit
ed States in September.
E-mail reporter Jen West
at jenwest@dailyemerald.com.
Lang
continued from page 7
Catchy? Yes. Original? Hardly. Mr.
Lang knows that every band sounds
like a previous band, but, to steal
from fellow sarcasm-ite David
Spade: I liked the Strokes better the
first time, when they were called
The Velvet Underground and Nico.
So what do the Strokesters do on
SNL in a stab at another five min
utes of fame? The drummer wears
the Andy Warhol banana cover
from “The Velvet Underground and
Nico” album. And it was hot pink.
Mr. Lang almost fainted. Please,
Strokes, New York, midwest, Eng
land, I don’t cate where you’re
from. Just go back there.
Industry item: A group of labels
and publishers have filed suit
against file-sharing service Audio
galaxy, the No. 3 music site accord
ing to Neilsen/NetRatings. The
complaint accuses the Texas-based
company of being worse than Nap
ster because it allows people to
download cover art and entire al
bums straight.
During Mr. Lang’s summer opine
session, Weezer showed up fre
quently. So, back to basics. Former
bassist Matt Sharp contends he
owns a quarter interest in all but one
of the songs on “Pinkerton” and a
third interest in “The Sweater
Song. ” In the California suit, a letter
written by frontman Rivers Cuomo:
“Looks like we’re gonna start mak
ing money again so we (you and I)
had better get this thing squared
away sooner rather than later so the
money flows to all the right places
without getting hitched up. ”
An abrupt farewell to you, dear
readers. Mr. Lang, a media darling
in his own right, is up to Portland
on Friday for the show by media
darlings the White Stripes. Next
week, Dandy Warhols. 01’ Merle
Haggard will be in Springfield in
no time. Huzzah.
E-mail managing editor Jeremy Lang
at jeremylang@dailyemerald.com.
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