News Arhive: Zoobombs Blowing Up In Canadian Venues |
If anyone is dying to meet the Zoobombs before one of their upcoming shows in Ontario and Quebec here's what you should do — find the coffee shop nearest to the venue and wait patiently. According to guitarist and singer Don Matsuo, the only thing the Japanese quintet relies on to fuel their mind-boggling performances are a couple of cups of java, a half-dozen apple fritters and some good conversation.
"We always try and go to a café to eat donuts and drink coffee before a show," explains Matsuo. "We like to talk about how everyone's day has gone and try to find something to laugh about." Spending time together and truly getting to know each other is high on The Zoobombs' list of priorities. Matsuo feels that interacting with one another away from the group has a positive effect and ultimately strengthens the band. "The relationship between all of us is the most important thing for us," he says. "If we have no understanding of each other, trying to make music will be a struggle. However, if we respect and trust one another the music will be very beautiful."
The Tokyo-based act released their most recent effort, New San Francisco, in Japan this past October. Since their inception in 1994, the group have constantly been tweaking their songwriting process in order to further develop their sound. This time around the band decided to let the bulk of the album come together naturally. With only four of the record's nine tracks written, they headed into the studio with jazz producer Syuji Kitamura. Over the next two days they just jammed together, recording over four hours of new music from which the remaining five songs were chosen.
The end result is the band's most diverse and expansive work yet. Mixing elements of rock, jazz, psychedelic pop and half a dozen other music styles, New San Francisco is damn near impossible to pigeonhole into any one genre. Although no North American release date has been scheduled, Matsuo is hopeful that someone will put it out here soon. Unfortunately the band will not be selling any copies of the record at their shows. They will, however, be bringing an album that was previously available only to members of their fan club for attendees to purchase. Entitled Vamos A Bailar, it's comprised completely of unreleased tracks and also includes early versions of a few of the songs on New San Francisco. The Zoobombs' new approach to making music has been incorporated into their live set as well. Performing without a set list, the band play whatever feels right, letting the music travel in whatever direction it chooses. Matsuo says that doing this allows the group to constantly create something new and makes things more exciting for both the spectators and the band. He admits that occasionally he is astounded by how the music evolves.
"Our way of thinking about playing and making music is very different from the past," he says. "We know that the music is born inside of us. But we don't make music, we catch it. We are always surprised to find how the music is changing. Sometimes it takes us somewhere we never imagined. That is a big surprise because we can see the music's ability. It could be said that through this we can see the ability of human beings. Once through jamming, our music changed into a Turkish rhythm. It was a very magical experience because I never listen to music like that." |
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