Tag: Hello Tokyo

Categories
Festivals

SXSW Recap

No, unfortunately I wasn’t one of the lucky ones to attend the festivities in Austin, Texas, this past week, but hopefully one of these years I’ll cover South by Southwest! Anyway, below is a list of some bands that a bunch of music mags/websites have been covering as well as some of my picks. I’ve been lucky enough to have covered quite a few of the bands that attended this year’s festival for my blog, and at least one band on this list is bound to impress you. Be sure to check out sxsw.com where hundreds of songs are available to listen to from many of the bands that performed at the festival.

Who the music mags and websites are telling you to check out:

Duffy
I was covering a show at the Knitting Factory a month or so ago and met some guys from her record label, raving about her, telling me that “my homework” was to go home and MySpace Duffy. Well, I slacked a bit on my homework assignment and a few weeks passed, but her name kept coming up all over the summer festival lists so I finally checked out Duffy’s website and was quite impressed with her vocals. She’s been compared to Amy Winehouse, but to me sounds a bit more sophisticated with an old school ’60’s vibe. Check out her catchy song, “Mercy.”

My Morning Jacket
I’ve read that they play incredibly live. A blend of rock and folk music, one of their songs, “Gideon,” featured on their MySpace vaguely reminds me of U2.

Be Your Own Pet
South by Southwest seems to be the preview of their international tour promoting latest album, Get Awkward, available in the U.S. March 18th. The female-fronted punk rock band definitely has lots of energy and plenty guitar riffs to satisfy any guitar-fiend.

Vampire Weekend
Their MySpace groups their music as punk/new wave/classical, an eclectic combination of genres for sure. Interestingly enough, by listening to them, you can see a bit of each genre resembled in their music. Could there be a flute in their song, “APunk”? Take a listen for yourself.

Liam Finn
This New Zealander was named a Rolling Stone “Artist to Watch” in 2007 and I can see why. His mix of folk rock is intriguing to listen to. Check out “Second Chance” on his MySpace, the song starts off with a soft drum beat that blends well with his voice, later slowing down for an instrumental feature mid-song before picking back up again.

My picks:

Sparky’s Flaw
From the beginning chord in their song, “Under Control” I was hooked. I also love the back story on the band – four friends from high school + 1 college roommate = Sparky’s Flaw. Not to mention, three of the guys are in their last semester of college and are recording their debut full-length album (due out this summer) during winter and spring breaks. It’s a pop/rock mix comparable to Maroon 5 and The Fray with a soulful blend of saxophone, keyboard and guitars.

Hello Tokyo
This Brooklyn-based female-fronted band has been building up a strong fan base over the years, playing gigs throughout NYC and D.C. while their debut full-length album is due out this April. While some songs are a bit down-tempo, “Radio” is one of their most upbeat, energetic songs and definitely showcases the strength of the band.

Happy Anarchy
When I caught up with them at a recent show of theirs and asked how they would describe their music, they couldn’t. Which I think is a good thing. They compared it to many different genre’s, not wanting to put it into one certain category. “Its classic American rock music,” guitarist Yuhei explained. “It has a little bit of everything. We take influence from the Chili Peppers to Radiohead to older bands like The Who. I think the cool part is just whatever anyone thinks it is. I’ve learned to like the fact that you can’t be like, ‘Yeah, they’re like this.’ There’s potential for a lot of people to like our band.”

Jon Foreman
The Switchfoot frontman has been getting much praise for his recent solo EP’s from both critics and fans alike. Two of the four EP’s released, titled “Fall” and “Winter,” have that stripped down acoustic feel of being in his living room while watching him play.

Sia
Sia’s live performance showcases her incredible vocals and her stage presence is impeccable. Constantly interacting with the audience, taking song requests and nailing high-powered crescendos in many of her songs had the audience erupt in applause and screams at a recent NYC show. This Australian singer definitely is making her name known in America.

There were well over 1,000 bands featured at this year’s SXSW so there’s no possible way any music magazine or blogger could have it all covered. Check out sxsw.com to listen to some of the featured artists and for more SXSW coverage from people who were actually there, check out Rollingstone.com as well as MTV’s concert blog.

Categories
Interviews

Hello Tokyo

With their first full-length album, Sell The Stars, expected out in April, Kat explained how it all began – interestingly enough in a coffee shop and music store. She spotted John while in a coffee shop and eventually they started writing music together. Soon after, she met Sam at a music store and the three began playing shows and house parties before deciding to make Hello Tokyo a priority.

Below is my interview with Kat. I especially like her answer to how she describes her music. What do you think? Be sure to check out Hello Tokyo on MySpace and their latest music video for “Radio,” filmed at the infamous Sunset Sound in Hollywood.

Being a Jersey girl, did you decide to move to Brooklyn to start the band?
I am a Jersey girl and my band mates, at times, find me very annoying (especially when I tell them that no one drives better than Jersey drivers – I think only Jersey people understand this fact). I moved to a town in Maryland, right outside of DC, in ’98 with my entire family. I was in and out of school for about three years. Nothing I was doing with my life really made sense or mattered to me. I always looked to writing and singing as an outlet but never really took myself seriously until I hit a wall with my studies and family and just kind of stepped back and reassessed my priorities.

I started auditioning for any music projects I found in the classified ads around town and slowly found myself busier and busier with various musical endeavors. John really encouraged me to focus on writing more and so we just started working together and eventually Hello Tokyo was formed. John and Sam grew up together and reconnected soon after the band was formed. When we found out about his incredible drumming skills, we asked him to join. I decided to make a move to NYC in ’04. Living in NYC was something I wanted to do for a long time and it just seemed like the right time to do it. I continued to work with John and Sam and traveled back and forth from DC to NYC almost every weekend for two years until they both moved to NYC. The rest is history.

What can be expected from your first full-length CD?
A very different sound. We had the luxury of time and focused on a lot of things we never really had the chance to focus on before, like adding more keyboards, re-writing parts that we thought could sound better and just allowing each song to develop into something we felt 100% about. The songs were written without industry goals and really came from the heart, they’re honest and different and something we’re really proud of and can’t wait for all our fans to hear.

What was the process of recording your album?
We recorded half of the songs at Chicken Water Studios in Brooklyn, NY and the other half at Music Mania in Greensboro, NC. Originally this release was going to be another EP but we were encouraged to do a full length since we had a bunch of material to work with so our release date kept changing every time we added a new song to the album. It was kind of annoying but we couldn’t turn away from some of the songs we felt really good about so we stuck it out, worked our butts off and now it’s complete and sounding over and beyond what we had originally expected.

I read that you re-recorded “Radio” in the same studio as Maroon 5 and Goldfrapp, how was that?
I think for me personally, re-recording “Radio” at Sunset Sound in Hollywood was one of the best experiences I’ve had in Hello Tokyo. Greg Richling, a super amazing producer in Hollywood, heard about our band and asked if we’d be interested in recording “Radio” with him. We had originally recorded “Radio” a long time ago with a completely different line up at a low-budget studio. We were poor, unsure of ourselves and to be honest, not really ready to record.

Greg really loved “Radio” and wanted to re-record it at Sunset Sound so we jumped at the opportunity. We flew out to Los Angeles last summer and found ourselves in a really awesome situation recording in a studio that was built for Prince during his Purple Rain sessions and also where Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, to name a few, recorded. We said hello to Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory of Goldfrapp, looked like a bunch of dorks, and some of the members of Maroon 5 were recording right next door.

What is the inspiration behind your music?
Most of the inspiration comes from basically living life, how sometimes it’s difficult to do even the simplest things, and the struggle to hold on to some form of hope. It also comes from our experiences while listening to our favorite bands and the emotions and memories, good and bad, they evoke. Music that makes my tummy leap. Blur, REM, U2, Oasis, Fugazi, Jesus Jones, Blondie, Metric, Muse and more recently Kings of Leon and Rilo Kiley are a few bands that have influenced Hello Tokyo’s musical direction.

What is the music writing process for Hello Tokyo?
We write all our songs and the process varies. John comes up with some sweet guitar parts or a funky bass line and I’ll put a melody to it, eventually lyrics. Sometimes, I’ll just freestyle like Jay-Z or Lil Kim or Run DMC or like Leslie Hall and start putting words together on a beat and just come up with a melody off the top of my head. John later adds some meat and Sam, of course, adds the sauce with his sweet drum skills.

Can you tell me a little bit about being featured in Fashion Fights Poverty‘s 2007 look-book?
The Fashion Fights Poverty Look Book is a style guide supporting a community development through ethical fashion. We were a
sked to represent the New York City edition of the 2007 Look Book which we were more than happy to be a part of. You can get more information about the organization and book here.

What are your plans for 2008?
We’re definitely planning to tour this spring/summer and also releasing a couple more music videos. We have tons of unreleased songs we’re planning on recording for our next album this year. Most importantly, we are going to keep the momentum and keep moving forward.

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?
It’s hard to describe, I think it falls along the pop/rock genres but it has its own place. I would say our music is like if The Big Bopper came back to life and had a kid with Fiona Apple, whose kindergarten teacher was Patsy Cline and school principal was Chewbacca.

Categories
Concert Reviews

New Jersey Welcomes Brooklyn-based Band, Hello Tokyo

Many people often forget about the New Jersey music scene being that New York is a train, bus, ferry or car ride away. Sure we have the greats – Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi and you can’t forget Frank Sinatra was born here also. Indie-band Thursday as well as current teen pop sensation the Jonas Brothers are all Jersey natives too. Even Jimmy Eat World sings “I’m a New Jersey success story” in one of their songs, “Big Casino” from latest album, Chasing This Light, despite being from Arizona.

Often, it’s not just these bands, but the venues that encompass New Jersey that makes for a great place to discover new bands. Starland Ballroom in Sayreville always has a great, for the most part extremely eclectic, tour line-up. Even Rutgers in New Brunswick puts on good shows, both on campus and at The State Theater on George Street. And then you can’t forget about Giants Stadium which hosts the Bamboozle Festival in May, the many concerts that go on at Continental Airlines Arena or even down in Asbury Park.

Hoboken is also a great live-music spot, especially Maxwell’s, where I was Friday night covering Brooklyn-based band Hello Tokyo. Although they may be based in Brooklyn, lead singer Kat is herself a Jersey girl. She told the crowd Friday that she was born in Hackensack and grew up in Wayne. And boy does this Jersey girl know how to sing.

Hello Tokyo is definitely a band to be on the look-out for. Their music has been featured on various MTV shows and they were a part of Fashion Fights Poverty’s 2007 Dress Responsibly Look Book. The female fronted power pop band is an eclectic mix of pop, rock and even dance music, or rather just music that makes you want to dance.

Having been working on their first full-length album, Sell The Stars, due out later this year, their performance Friday night gave a glimpse to what can be expected. While Kat fronted the band on vocals and keyboard, the rest of the band – including Sam on drums, John on guitar and guest performer Michael on bass – greatly accentuated her singing style.

I’m not sure how to best accurately describe their music style to be honest. It’s a mix of many different flavors and styles which definitely helps Hello Tokyo’s live performance and credibility. For more of an idea of their style, check out their MySpace and decide for yourself. And let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Hello Tokyo played a 40 minute set featuring 10 songs on Friday. While I recognized a few from their MySpace page, such as “The Affair” and “Run To You,” others were a pleasant surprise, like “I Spy” and “Alert the Authority,” which Kat told the audience is a song about living in New York City. You could definitely sense the New York City lifestyle with the fast beat throughout the song as well as when she starts whispering during the song, slowing down the beat and then picking the tempo right back up again. Lyrics such as, “You’ll never save me because I won’t ask you to” definitely gets the independent New Yorker lifestyle across. This song encompasses strong singing on Kat’s part and strong guitar features as well. Hello Tokyo definitely has the blending between singer, drummer and guitarists well polished.

While “Rain or Shine” might have had the best guitar sound of the set, the keyboard feature in the song slowed the night down for a bit, but Kat was able to quickly pick it right back up and continue through the rest of the song. A few of the songs played had longer intros, featuring Kat on keyboard while the rest of the band jammed in the background.

My favorite of the night was “Radio,” which Hello Tokyo closed with. This song, by far, had the most energy of the night and got many in attendance dancing along or tapping their feet and bobbing their heads to the music. You can check out their video for this song on YouTube.

Stay tuned for a complete interview with Kat from Hello Tokyo later this week.