Introduction Vinyl's aggressive post-punk emo sound has given way to a post-rock feel. Recently completing their last album as Vinyl, the band will emerge in May, live in Tokyo, with a new direction and new name, Yura Maira. Resigned to a deeper commitment to their music, the band has come closer together, drawing on each members' talents and spiritual journeys. Keikaku talks with Vinyl's Tsuda [Guitar, Vocals], Sumi [Bass, Chorus] and Nori [Drums] about Vinyl's past and the future of Yura Maira. back to features		Vinyl First, could you tell me your names? Tsuda is Vocal/Guitar and handles most of the song writing duties. Sumi is Bass/Chorus and does the art work and web design. Nori's in charge of the drums. Tsuda and Nori are Men, and Sumi is a woman. Could you please tell us a little history of Vinyl? The band was formed by Tsuda in Tokyo, December 2000. At that time we had a louder, more aggressive sound. There was also a 4th member of the band a guitarist named Hassy. But after we finished recording our first album as Vinyl, "Flammable," Hassy left the band. Because we'd been a 4-person band up until this point, right after he quit it took some trial and error to adjust to being a 3 piece. But as a result, we transformed into a band that could write music more freely and introspectively than before. We're using this spring's release of "The World Lying Ahead" as an opportunity to change our name to Yura Maira. What instrument brands do each member play? Tsuda uses a Fender USA Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul. Sumi uses several different "Bossa" Basses. Nori doesn't play any particular brand of instrument. When is your new album "The World Lying Ahead" being released? Unfortunately we haven't chosen a release date yet. One reason for this is the fact we've already decided that the moment we finish this album we're changing our name to Yura Maira so promotion has been rather difficult. Actually, the album has been pretty much finished for a while now but perfecting it has taken too much time and it's already a little bit separated from what we're doing musically right now. Incidentally, one of the reasons why finishing the album has taken so long is because Tsuda, who's the producer, had a nervous breakdown and had no choice but to take a break from recording. Nonetheless, it's a work with a lot of memories, and we'd like it to see the light of day in the near future. Now wouldn't it be nice if there was a good label somewhere... "Flammable" was a very eclectic, almost post-punk album. Could you describe the new album's sound? Whenever I listen to our first album, I always think, man, we were pretty young back then. I would take the aggressive parts of my musical personality and let them shape the direction of the band. Like "Let's just be true to our impulses." And as a result, the album turned out to have a feel something like post-punk or Emo. I (Tsuda) personally think that our first album mainly as a way to get people to listen to "Spiral." Since the first album I've renewed my commitment to expressing myself because I started feeling obligated to escape from the naive notion of "I want to be in a band" and become conscious of "What should I express?" Compared to the first album, the second has more of a Noise/post-rock feel. It'd probably be more correct to say that it's an album that is "heading in that direction." Basically, it's a transitional album. I think that the second is a more introspective album than the first and the fact that I had a nervous breakdown halfway through is certainly somewhat connected to this (I'm all better now!). What decided the inclusion or exclusion of a song on "The World Lying Ahead?" Was there a concept behind the album? The album covers an extremely wide range of musical styles, and of course, we made a conscious choice to make the breadth as wide as possible. The album evolved as sort of a documentary of the band's trial and error song writing and Tsuda's spiritual instability. There's probably not one musically unifying theme, but because of the contradiction inherent in that instability it could be said that it's a very human, personal album. The songs on "The World Lying Ahead" all have a nuance of "On the Edge." Sanity and insanity, past and future, life and death, hope and despair, justice and evil, friend and foe. For modern day people, the boundaries between these types of things are so vague. We are living in a time when it's extremely difficult to divide these things. That is the concept. What is your favorite track from "The World Lying Ahead?" I particularly like MUGEN and Gift. I originally got the inspiration for MUGEN from artist Yayoi Kusama's work "infinity nets." In Japanese, the word "Mugen" can mean both "Limitless" and "Fantasy." I think that this nuance is a perfect match for this album. "Gift" is like a continuation of "Spiral." It's the story of a paranoid man who created a shelter to protect the person he loved from nuclear war. It's an unusual song, but I want to convey a reality unique to these modern times. Who in the band is the writer? Could you describe the process you use to write your music? Tsuda creates the basic concept for the songs and then the members all get together and work on arrangement. As Vinyl, Tsuda had a tendency to slightly egotistically choose the direction of the musical process, but as Yura Maira the members have been more free to express their personal opinions equally. "The World Lying Ahead" is the last album as Vinyl. Would you explain the name change to Yura Maira? There are three major reasons. Although I mentioned it in the previous question, while Vinyl was a way for Tsuda to strongly express himself through music, Yura Maira is more of a way to fuse together the individual characteristics of all the members of the band. Another reason is because our sound had changed. We're making a crossover into more Noise/post-rock territory. Finally, the lyrics are now in Japanese. So, we decided that with all these changes that we should make a new start, and that's the reason for the name change. Will Yura Maira's sound or focus be different than Vinyl? With regards to the band concept, Yura Maira incorporates Zen concepts, attempting to squeeze something more spiritual from within ourselves. Instead of imitating the West, we want to create something where the sound exudes Oriental personality and culture. Musically, we use a lot of atmospheric reverb, increasing the number of calm, composed tracks with particular attention paid to how the music rings. Also, a higher level of commitment to expression will be required from every member of the group. Before, Tsuda's influence over the band was strong, for better or worse, but in Yura Maira we're aiming to have every member's individual characteristics melted together organically and sublime to the next level of communication with our listeners. When can we expect to hear Yura Maira in the future? In May we'll have a live performance in Tokyo. After that, we want to start producing our first single as Yura Maira, "Swimy," so it will probably be ready sometime in the summer at the earliest. What artists have inspired you? Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Low, Appleseed Cast, Jeff Buckley, MUM, Bjork, The Velvet Underground and others. In terms of Japanese artists, as introduced on your site, Kenichi Asai's Sherbets have been quite an influence. Tsuda bought a Gibson Les Paul because he wanted to be like Asai. Has Vinyl thought of touring other countries? We definitely want to go on a tour of America! But we'd like to go to small towns more than big cities, interacting with the various people of the region and enjoying ourselves. We'd like to try playing at book stores, garages, those kinds of places, not just live houses. Keikaku.com [sic], please invite us! Do you want to say anything to your fans outside Japan? Thank you very much for listening to our music. Keep up the good smiles, the good sex, and the good music. [The next 3 questions are for Mr. Tsuda] Could you tell us something about Mo'future Records? Tsuda: Mo'future Records is a label that releases Vinyl/Yura Maira records and records of the members' solo projects. It's not really a properly organized label. Much like Tomato is to Underworld, it's a vessel for expression. I'm looking to develop it more directly in the future. I think it'd be great to get artists besides ourselves involved as well. By the way, "Mo'future" is taken from "Spiral"'s lyrics: "Hey call my name, give me future, more future." Could you tell us something about your project "Felt?" How would you describe the music? Tsuda: At the present I'm really busy with Yura Maira so I've suspended it for the time being, but it's my electronica solo project. Actually, I haven't seriously started up yet, but I plan to expand it more this year. Anyway, I think that sometime this summer I may be able to release a single. As a photographer and a musician, have you combined these talents? Tsuda: I think that I'd like to do an event that goes beyond the borders of traditional live events, creating an art event that communicates with the listeners from many different angles such as sound, imagery, and speech. Originally the goal of Mo'future was to create this sort of combination art event. I'm looking towards taking some sort of action towards this next year. Interview from 2005.04.21, translation Graham. Keikaku.net staff would like to thank Yutaka Tsuda and Vinyl for their participation in this interview. - Denise Smith and Graham
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