Boris x TOKIE Special Interview Vol.2

“TOKIE the Bassist” and “Takeshi the Non-bassist?”

—I heard TOKIE got interested in bass from playing contrabass in concert band and went to NY in 1993. Could you tell us about the history of your activity, briefly?

TOKIE: That’s right. I went back and forth between NY and Japan for nearly 2 years and played in a multinational noise band called Sulfur. I call it “noise” but if I listen to it now it sounds pretty normal, though.

—What was your life like after coming back to Japan from NY?

TOKIE: I’ve been supporting bands for work and sometimes play live when I was invited to. RIZE was one of them and made its major debut in 2000, and around the same time I was invited to join AJICO.

—You played in many different kinds of bands, and Boris’s music is different from all of them.

TOKIE: Totally different. Boris’s genre of music was completely unknown to me and opened a new door.

—As a bassist, how do you feel about TOKIE’s playing, Takeshi?

Takeshi: Well, I am not really a bassist (laughs).

Everyone: (laughs).

Atsuo: Takeshi was originally a guitarist and happened to pick up the bass during the course events. Same thing happened to Wata, she became a vocalist through our development.

Wata: Absolutely.

—Atsuo also wasn't originally a drummer either, right?

Atsuo: I was the vocalist at first.

TOKIE: For me, that is so innovative and shocking. They didn’t start using a lot of pedals to make a huge, distorted sound for reasons like "because it’s cool" or "as an obsession," so I was astonished by the type of musicians they are.

Atsuo: We really don’t have musicianship though (laughs).

Takeshi: That’s why when I see TOKIE play bass I honestly think, “What do you have to do to be able to play like that? She’s got talent!” (laughs).

TOKIE: Is it OK to have that written in the interview? (laughs)

Takeshi: I really do think so from bottom of my heart (laughs).

Atsuo: When we first did remote recording with TOKIE, her sound was so uniformly good and we could tell she had true skill in her hands. Her foundation is different from ours.

Takeshi: Because we don’t have a foundation!

TOKIE: (laughing) Quite a declaration.

Atsuo: I declare! (laughing) Because it’s true. What we have is based on “concept”, “texture”, and “world view”, and what we are good at is conveying that through musical expression. That’s why someone like TOKIE is so compatible with us.

"Reincarnation Rose" Music Video Chaos?

—Were you planning to ask TOKIE to be in the music video from the beginning?

Atsuo: Yeah, both TOKIE and Sugar took part in the actual recording so we were planning to ask them to join for the music video. But then I thought, “What are Takeshi and I supposed to do?” So we came up with the idea to ask Yuka Yoshimura to also play in the video.

TOKIE: Yuka was playing the most active role in this music video (laughs).

Atsuo: We went to a brand clothing shop called "pays des fées" with TOKIE to try on some outfits, and when she tried on the first outfit chosen, she was saying "Huh?....eh?" in a panic. (laughs)

Wata: The skirt was too short and she kept saying "You will see my butt!" (laughs) Actually you couldn’t but she felt like that.

TOKIE: I felt like, "Can I actually wear this?" (laughs)

—It's unfortunate that the miniskirt outfit was shelved. Was it smooth for Wata to decide on an outfit?

Atsuo: Actually Wata was planning to wear what TOKIE was wearing for the video.

TOKIE: Oh yeah?

Atsuo: I realized the outfits were switched before I could notice. TOKIE decided on her outfit, and Wata is wearing a leather jacket for a hard image as the lead singer. Finally, Yuka has a strong character with sexy posing, like something out of a Nikkatsu adult film (laughs).

TOKIE: Yes, it does have a bit of a 70’s-80’s Japanese "Showa" era feel (laughs).

Atsuo: On one side you have TOKIE playing bass with a smile and Sugar as this cool beauty on the other side... naturally, individually characters came out, which was really good. On shooting day, everyone besides Yuka was worried, “Is everything going OK?”

Wata: I was also surprised by the hairstyles. "What? Wigs?" (laughs).

Atsuo: Wata was anxious about it, asking, "Is it OK? Are you sure?" during the middle of editing the video.

Wata: I wasn’t sure about the balance between my face, clothing, and hairstyle, wondering if was OK. Hopefully everything turned out alright.

TOKIE: Right, I’m anxious. So I want to know the response ASAP. (laughs)

—Wata is the only actual Boris member in the music video. When people see the video for the first time, it seems they won’t know who is who.

Takeshi: We are sure everyone will be confused. I am excited.

TOKIE: Can’t wait to release it.

Atsuo: It’s our first collaboration with Yutaro, the director. I think it turned out great and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Boris / Reincarnation Rose (CD)

Live photo by Miki Matsushima
Translated by nyd/Greg Mudarri