Takano Men aka L.P.D. 's Looong Interview 1.

at "Piss Alley" Shinjuku, Dec. 2002
 
 
 

Nerd core Techno?

Japattack: Have you received reactions from techno fan saying something like "Leopaldon isn't real Techno?" 

Takano: Yes, even since a long time ago. Those people are techno fans who admire Ken Ishii's style of Techno. To me, one Ken Ishii is enough. It is no fun to do the same thing he is doing. 

J: Would you describe your kind of music as "Nerd core"? 

T: That term was spread by the underground magazine "Quick Japan." By calling us "Nerd core", we got too much attention from certain types of fans. We were recognized as representatives of otaku culture, even though we don't only like anime. There are some other groups also called "nerd core techno," such as SHARPNEL or KARATECHNO. SHARPNEL became very successful because of otaku fans. They are making thousands of dollars at komike (Japan's biggest comic convention) by selling their CDs. 

J: At a comic convention? 

T: Yes, so they are not related to the club scene. They are very popular among Akihabara kind of people (Tokyo's electric city also known as the hang out town of dirty comics, video games, anime, and peeping gadgets). Therefore, I think they are more suitable to call SHARPNEL "nerd core" rather than us, especially if you think about what kind of fans are listening to them and also the meaning of the word "nerd". To me, what they are doing is not fun. If you are not an otaku, a fan of anime or playing ero-games, the samples they use won't make sense. Simply, I like phrases that are funny. For example, even though you might not know "Yukie" (a track on Leopaldon's second album), the sampled conversation can make you laugh. 

J: It seems like there is no universal humor, but actually there is. 

T: Yeah, that is something we like to do. 

J: I see. 

T: We are trying to stimulate subtle areas. 

J: What about films? 

T: Well, simply if there is are any funny conversations in them, like to use it. 
 

To became a sampler man

J: You guys have become more fashionable since Melty joined. (Laughs) 

T: That's not fashionable. It is bad taste from the 80's, isn't it? (Laughs) 

J: But now, isn't reviving the 80's a trend? 

T: That's right, it is very popular now. Just as Kylie Minogue came back, the new wave sound came back too. The same for old techno sounds as well. Most clubs in Tokyo now playing that kind of sound. 

J: Is that so? 

T: Yes, the Pico Pico sound. (like an old eighties video game) 

J: What sort of place does Leopaldon perform at? Clubs? Live venues? 

T: We play at both kinds of places. Like Shinjuku Loft, where rock kids hang out, or at Shibuya clubs with DJ people. 

J: That's great that you can do both areas. 

T: As long as I play Yoshi Ikuzou's (Enka singer) sound, anyone will listen us, so we are tricky. (Laughs) 

J: No, but no one else would come up with that idea. (Laughs) Originally you were doing it by yourself? 

T: Yes. 

J: Since you entered college? 

T: When I was in high school, I used to listen to Denki Groove (a Japanese techno group) a lot. Then, when I entered college, I purchased a sampler thinking I would make some songs. Of course, I only created a nerdy kind of sound. Whenever I turned on the TV and if there was some funny scene, I would immediately pull out the cable and do the sampling. I was doing that alone at home, and I also did events with a guy who now is my label's owner at tiny clubs. 

J: How long ago was that? 

T: About 5 years ago. We were very minor. So, we had thought that if we only doing live events we won't go anywhere. Then, we've decided to make a music label sampling sounds from "Dog of Flanders" or "Yoshi Ikuzo" with my friend Shibuta and we made an analog LP. Some young DJs who liked weird stuff liked our LP, and because they played it at clubs, we became better known. 

J: I read about you for the first time about 3 years ago in QUICK JAPAN. (The same issue that also introduced other indie techno group under the "Nerd Core Techno" banner) 

T: Yeah, looks like other groups were also doing similar things that I was doing back then. At that time, I had to start job hunting (due to the graduation from college), so I stared using the internet. Although the job hunting was not successful, I discovered various techno groups in Japan, who were doing similar stuff. So we thought it would be fun if we all got together and did some event and name this movement "Nerd core" as a joke. And we did it. 

J: So the Nerd core label was also created and other group started to release albums? 

T: Shigeto (AKA =232 COMIT) was doing solo stuff, but I was asking him to also work on my stuff for mastering or other engineering jobs. Then, since has so much technical skill, we decided to do music together. 

J: I heard a German label ripped off 232 COMIT's song when he was 16 years old. 

T: Yeah, that's right. He sent his demo tape to them, and SPEADFREAK stole it and released it as their song. It became a mega hit over there. (Laughs) 

J: That is an awful story! Why didn't he sue them!? 

T: I guess he didn't know what to do since he was only a teenager. 

J: That's amazing that he was making music at such a young age. 

T: Yes, it is pretty scary. 

J: Is he a genius?! 

T: He is an artisan. He has been making techno since he was in Jr. high listening to YMO. 

J: Wow, since the early 80's? 

T: Yes. Back then I just was watching Tokusatu (Ultraman, Kamen Rider, etc) TV shows. 

J: How old is he? 

T: Same age as me, 26 years old. (a.o. 2003)

J: He must have been listening to techno since he was a baby. 

T: Yeah, he is amazing. I am much sloppier when it comes to music creation than him. The difference is, there was an event called "Let's make music about GOLF." I came up with a sampled from a Yoshi Ikuzo's song called "Yoshi Ikuzo's this is a real golf". But on the other hand, 232 COMIT created a new sound from scratch that remind you of the atmosphere of golf! (heard in "GOLF" on Leopaldon's second album) It made me laugh very hard. 
 
 

LEOPALDON Members

J: Who was your main partner the early days of the group? 

T: The guy who used to perform with me first was name DJ Kyukou (DJ Express) 

J: Was his name in the album credits? 

T: No, he was an only live member, and he never worked on the creation of the album. 

J: Was he an MC? 

T: Yes he was. One time, DJ Kyuko and Shigeto (=232 COMIT) and I were the members of LEOPALDON, but there were some friction. (Laugh). And I started to feel silly being an arbitrator, so I quit it. And I made a big distance from Kyukou. Then, a friend of mine named MB George from my college joined as an MC. 

J: When did DJ Kyuko quit Leopaldon? 

T: He was completely out from Leopaldon this February (2002). There was some member changing. 

J: So, is he away from music scene? 

T: No, he is still doing music. Like organizing evnts and doing happy-hardcore techno or gabba DJ. He is pretty popular.

J: Did he say, " I can't follow "Yoshi Ikuzo" any more, man!" (Laughs) 

T: Oh, mmmm, that mgiht be right. 

J: (Laughs) So is your song "Parasite" talking about that friction? 

T: You can guess so... well, maybe that would not be a right answer.(Laughs) I mean that is not an only reaon for that track. A person whom I am singing about in that song could be found in anyone's life, you know.

J: I was not sure if I should asked you or not. 

T: I heard that he was talking shit about us after he (DJ Kyuko) quit. Then I said, "Fine, I will make a song to reply to him!" You see, I had to sing it! 

J: That's nice. 

T: I tried to act like a real hip hop artist. (Laughs) 

J: Like, " East Coast vs. West Coast". (Laughs) 

T: Yeah, yeah, just like The Notorious B.I.G. But I am dealing with DJ Kyukuo normally now. I know to that person, it is unbearable. (Laughs) . Okay, let me apologizes to him now. "Sorry!" If you get bashing, you do it back, period. Then, shake hands.

J: It's nice to be a man (Laughs) 
 
 

Album Reactions

J: I heard your first album was a number 2 on Tower Records indie chart. 

T: Back then, that chart was only based on the sales of the Shinjuku and Shibuya stores. And now it is the indie chart for all of Japan. This time our second record made it to number 5, so that is even better than last album's result. 

J: Really? That's great! But I still think your first chart placement was amazing. You were so minor back then. 

T: That's true. Also we were only doing live shows at small clubs. Now our live show gets very hyper every time we play tracks from the first album. 

J: You mean the chicks are screaming? 

T: No, mainly guys. (Laughs) We are doing shows mainly at Shibuya's techno club "ISM". Even there, it's rare to sing with a microphone, so we are the winner. (Laughs) 

J: The mic lets you really interact with the audience, huh? 

T: As long as you call yourself "techno", you become techno. I just wish that I could be in a position where Denki Groove used to be (currently they are not active). Right now, we are making our 3rd album. The concept is about "a funny salary man". Maybe a funny and popular man in the office would buy our next CD and tell every other employee saying "Hey, this is funny stuff" as if he made the CD himself. We hope it will stimulates those people. I 'd like to make something to make a salary man laugh. 
 

Asian culture obsession

J: It seems that salary men in their 30s don't have much energy, but the ones in their 20s are doing some weird things. Also, there is less and less longing for foreign (mainly western) things among Japanese kids in the last 5-6 years. 

T: That's true. When we started to sample Yoshi Ikuzo, people used to say "you guys are using Japanese samples, how un-cool!" I said, "I can't understand the non Japanese samples!" I have been thinking that some of them are shouting cuss words in English, but if you would say that in Japanese, you can communicate. We still get rejection from some Japanese, though. Some Japanese are still pleased if they hear foreigners sample Japanese material, but they think it's not cool if actual Japanese sample Japanese stuff. 

J: It 's a question of who decided that the Japanese language doesn't match with techno, isn't it? 

T: Yes, you know, YMO (part of the first generation of techno groups) is Japanese! 

J: Korean musician, E-PAKSA's Pongchakk (traditional Korean hyper crazy street music) became popular in Japan even though we won't understand the words. I heard he also ripped off your stuff! (Laughs) 

T: Yes (Laughs). We did not know. There used to be one techno label in Korea which doesn't exist any more. Originally, I and 232 COMIT used to always saying " Korea is funky!" Do you know, Korean idols are all so exciting? 

J: There is "BoA". 

T: We were focusing on her even before she debuted in Japan. Male idols are also fun as hell. 

J: Really!? 

T: Some of them are wearing open finger gloves. Or wearing bike protectors! 

J: Yeah, there is a group call "G. O. D" ! 

T: Yes, "G.O.D.". And There is also a group call "H. O. T." and "SHINWA" (Written in Chinese character of "Legend") (Laughs). Those groups are so amazing. Watching their promotional video clips, I was like, "Wow! They are so awesome!" Then, we really wanted to go to Korea, so we researched the techno scene over there, saying "We are a Japanese techno group, so let us play there!" Eventually we went there to play. Back then about 2 years ago, there was a techno boom in Korea, and that time, E-PAKSA was booming, partially because people were laughing about how uncool he was. And at that time, he was using one of our songs. 

J: I see. As for some Korean American people, they seems to think E-PAKSA is totally out of fashion. 

T: In Korea, they think he is the embarrassment of the nation. 

J: But maybe in 10 years, he might be re-recognized as a cool musician. 

T: Perhaps, so. 

J: I feel like various countries are awaking to their nationalism right now. 

T: I think so too. 

J: Not following other county's stuff, but digging their own roots. It seems that rappers are doing this too. 

T: Uuum, like KING GHIDORAH? (Japanese rap group) 

J: I heard that some of their lyrics were bashing gays. 

T: "Fake man, Homo man" right? I actually like KING GHIDORAH very much ... as long as I have some distance from them. 

J: With a name like GHIDORAH they sound like your kind of band. 

T: The leader, named K DUB SHINE is funny as hell. He can make you laugh hard. 

J: What? You can laugh at him? 

T: I mean, he is a super serious man, but because of his extreme seriousness, he is like Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi (Don't know any suitable American celebrity here. A charismatic guy who attracts extreme fans, but if you are not in that world, it seems very pathetic and make you laugh hard. If you can think of any person like this, please let me know!) He is serious but the people around him are laughing. There is a song called "SAVE THE CHILDREN" singing about child abuse. At the line where he raps "If you see any beaten child, just let me know!" at the end of the song the he changes the lyrics to "If you see any beaten child just you go fix it!" (Laughs) But he is still serious. Of course, there is some people who would laugh at him, simply because K DUB SHINE can be so ridiculous. But he gets so upset, and starts preaching "What are you laughing at? I am serious!" He is awesome. Recently, he is contributing a song for a nationalistic movie call "Kyoki no Sakura" (Mad Cherry Blossom). 

J: The hot spirit is attractive. 

T: I like him very much. He's half-attracted and half -laughable.

J: That kind of behavior, to respect something, does exist in the US, too. (Like The Osbornes). But on the other hand, to make an audience laugh on purpose can help them think about the serious side. Michael Moore's approach is that way. By the way, did you laugh when North Korean brought all those beautiful cheerleader girls to South Korea when there was a Asian sport festival?

T: That was super funny.

J: I am sure there were some Korean guys who also laughed hard, even though they may not be appear in the media.
 
T: It looks like now the younger generation of (South) Korean have more modernized minds. The older generation though are very anti-Japanese still.  When I went to Korea, I was talking with young people joking about Kim Jonil, saying "Nodong, TaePoDong, Leopaldon ". They were laughing like hell! 
They seemed to understand that kind of humor and were getting a lot of information about Japan from underground roots.