B O R I S

Japanese quartet, Boris, will be heading to Australia next week. Ahead of their tour, Atsuo answered a couple of questions.

1.  Do you guys ever fight or disagree, and if so what about?
Atsuo:  None at all these days. We had some long ago though as I was control freak. It is quite peaceful among us now, we have realised that democracy during song writing process is way wiser and it will lead better result and possibility. Any specific visions or goal hide the best one.

2. Apart from playing gigs, is there anything else you specifically want to do or see in Australia/Melbourne?
A: Wata would like to hold koala. We haven’t had a chance, we visited zoo last time.

3. What type of music do you listen to and what are your thoughts and opinions on music trends today?
A: Now I am listening to new Boris music over again. We are quite busy on production process that is for some new release. Honestly, I haven’t had much idea on music trends at all so there is very few comment on that. What is a trend in Australia nowadays? Is there popular local artist who is well known over there even though they are not common overseas? By the way I bought many Rick Springfield ‘s 7 inch vinyls at secondhand record shop in Detroit, US. I am big fan of his previous band called ZOOT, are they popular? The only one I have is a bootleg of their 2^nd album in 1971. I would like to look for their original vinyl during next tour. I just realised that they have reformed last year!

4. Jim Jarmusch has described you guys as “jazz musicians” in the way you perform. Do you think that this is an accurate assessment or interpretation of your working/jamming/performing?
A: Everyone has their own way to feel music and nothing is accurate, right? I don’t really care how other people accept BORIS music, we don’t even understand who we are. I would really like to meet up with Jim once again. I feel really comfortable with his tone and tension of his voice, like what his film is.

5. Wata, you sing on the Attention Please album. How much different are the musical dynamics in the band when you stepped up to the microphone for the entire album?
A: That will expand not only our music but also our vision including music. That leads another world that Takeshi’s vocal can’t bring. BORIS’ activity is to see and describe our vision in our heads more than to say ‘songwriting’.

6. Does the music world today beyond BORIS still interest you?
A: Music is just a small part of the world. The world is always beautiful and nasty, but it is still interesting to me.

7. Does Australia ever surprise you as a touring destination to promote your music?
A: No time zone difference between Australia and Japan, which is really good! Usually we have a hard time when touring especially early part of it. I am very looking forward to another great tour over there, see you very soon!