Hoppy’s index: Hoppy Kamiyama; Pink; Optical*8; Pugs; ESP; O.N.T.J.; Saboten; Bubbleman; Links
--Hoppy has many talents (producer; God Mountain president; keyboards plus) and many faces--
HOPPY KAMIYAMA
On March 13, 2000, I met with Hoppy Kamiyama. He was friendly, personable, and I enjoyed the time I spent with him. Hoppy’s in-depth responses stretched the interview to an hour and a half. Rather than run the full interview, I’ll provide one segment at a time, approximately every two weeks. Enjoy!
Last updated April 30th--This is the third segment of the interview.
(Hoppy
continues his discussion of the indie scene in Japan:)
Now, in Japan, major companies make ‘major indies’. Indie labels are very popular now in Japan. Major labels just use the name ‘indie’. Every listener understands that means good music, but the music is very similar to major pop music. I was disappointed in the major company attitude. They were just using the name ‘indie’, and the music was so bad it sounded like demo tapes--just low-budget of major CDs. Really bad! Now, if we go to a big shop like Tower Records, they have a good indie section. ‘Major indie’ is eighty percent, and we find the true indie CDs are like twenty percent. Now original indie labels’s power is going down. Our sales are really going down. I hate major labels’s attitude. It’s really bad. Indie labels don’t have money or power. We have only spirit, inside our minds.
In America you have really good college radio stations, and uncommercial radio like WFMU. They are so great! In Japan we don’t have college radio stations. We have only commercial radio. Commercial radio is boring. They only play pop music. Record companies pay huge money to commercial radio, like sponsors--pushing money. So in Japan, commercial radio can’t play indie CDs, because indie labels can’t pay money to be commercial radio sponsors. Indie labels and indie artists don’t have a chance. From such a low level, we can’t take it step by step. In America you have a good situation. College radio stations play some good music and the audience catches some good music. The music can take the first step, the second step, and the third step. We have no chance. We need money. We just need money. In Japan, it’s really bad.
Good underground artists just don’t have a chance. Normally, a good artist will just go to a foreign country. Some bands are very popular in New York and America, but these bands are not popular in Japan. It’s a crazy situation. Japanese magazine critic people and commercial people ignore the foreign situation. They focus just on inside Japan, on the domestic market. THE BOREDOMS and SHONEN KNIFE got major companies in America. BOREDOMS got Warner, and SHONEN KNIFE got MCA. In the past, Japan’s major companies totally ignored BOREDOMS and SHONEN KNIFE, “Oh, they are just avant-garde.” After they got major company deals in America, Japanese major company staff said, “Oh, BOREDOMS are so great!” Then the Japanese Warner could release BOREDOMS titles, and Japanese MCA can release SHONEN KNIFE titles, but the major company staff can’t understand BOREDOMS and SHONEN KNIFE music. If Japanese A&R people ignore that American situation, BOREDOMS and SHONEN KNIFE getting major deals, critics and everybody attack the A&R people, saying, “Oh, you are very stupid!” I think everybody’s stupid! That’s the regular story.
| HOPPY KAMIYAMA | |
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Ongaku Ou (King Of Music) -- (53:10) -- (1991) -- Toshiba EMI -- TOCT-6165
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| This was the first solo Hoppy release, but, of course, he’s not solo at all. He’s got lots of his friends with him, and they’re funking it out in grand style, with lots of outer-space references and sounds. It feels like a party, and the musicianship is, naturally, first-rate. Six of these tracks made Groovallegiance, and those probably are the highlights. The one’s that didn’t are often just as good, but perhaps a bit less adventurous. There’s a bounciness throughout, with lots of fun twists and turns--a journey of sound into a big, beautiful, new world. | |
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Ongaku Ou 2 (King of Music 2) -- (64:21) -- (1992) -- Toshiba EMI -- TOCT-6487
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| Subtitled “Welcome to forbidden paradise”, the variety of styles presented here is frankly awesome. Some of them may never be returned to again by anyone. Five of these songs made Groovallegiance. Marc Ribot (guitar) is on almost every track, Sebastion Steinberg (bass) and Steve Eto (percussion) are on most of them, and lots of others are credited. ‘Au Naturel’ (listed as the bonus track) is over sixteen minutes, in a jazz improv vein, and is a magnificent, multi-faceted monument, which deserves to close this wonderful offering. | ||
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Groovallegiance -- (50:53) -- (1992) -- Zoom Republic -- PCDZ-1455
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| In ‘91 & ‘92 Hoppy released solo recordings. They featured guest appearances by George Clinton (Hoppy joined FUNKADELIC for a gig in ‘90), Maceo Parker, Syd Straw, Yuka Honda, Steve Eto, John Zorn, Marc Ribot and many others from New York and Tokyo. After two years Toshiba EMI discontinued them. In ‘96 Hoppy released this collection from those recordings. Is it funk? Pop? Rock? Avante-garde? Yes, all of the above, in about that order, with big smiles. It’s great to hear a new version of THE OSMONDS’ ‘Crazy Horses’, too! | |
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Hypnotique--Hoppy Kamiyama Visual Works -- (61:13) -- (1993)
--God Ocean --GOCD-001
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| ‘Metaphysic’ (30:16) is a quivering mass of sound, searching ominously, at times impatiently, for a soul. ‘Night Apple’ (6:39) is a pleasant, thoughtful tune. ‘Stag Party’ (10:29) is an other-worldly possession, eerily resembling the grinding whir of a torture machine. ‘Sin-Sational’ (1:34) is a few odd tapes. ‘Lullaby From The Womb’ (5:43) features Honey K (the only real vocal) singing sadly as her broken merry-go-round spins through a town of angry ghosts. The final track (6:32) takes a train to a beach, where the ocean washes away all. | |
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SUPER GOD MOUNTAIN ORCHESTRA |
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Gesshoku (Solar Eclipse) -- (53:52) -- (1993) -- Media Ring -- MGCD-1002
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| This is a stage production put on by some of Japan’s top avante-garde artists: Amon Miyamoto (director & choreographer), Tadanori Yokou (stage effects), Osamu Hashimoto (playwright & lyrics). Hoppy Kamiyama composed and conducted this music, which from the start had my jaw on the floor. It sounds colossal and interweaves musics from around the world, like a radio dial gone mad. It’s simply the biggest and best thing I’ve heard by him. Could anyone else have done it? The range is awesome. He was obviously inspired, and you will be too! | ||
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Nympho Has Some Great Elements--Hoppy Kamiyama Visual Works 2
-- (75:07) -- (1994) -- God Ocean -- GOCD-002
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| Most of the musicians (Masafumi Minato; Yasuhiro Yoshigaki; Kumiko Takara; and Steve Eto) play various percussion instruments. Even Junji Hirose, Hoppy’s other accomplice, plays some percussion. In the notes Hoppy writes, “...the sound image is primitive and cool trance, and exactly, the harmony between ancient and future.’ It’s very tribal (a future tribe?), and sounds like selected excerpts from a 24-hour, non-stop jam. These instrumentals are diverse and exciting! Plus, instead of an extra track, one is missing. Ha-ha! | |
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Juice And Tremelo the works of chamber music -- ( 58:59) --
(1998) -- Sonore -- SON-02 -- U.S. re-release w/ new cover in late-February
2002
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| Sonore is a French label. The CD was recorded between ‘92 and ‘97. Much of this is Hoppy doing interesting things with classical music. Even among the classical pieces, there is a true variety. The first three tracks feature a string quartet. On ‘Fantasm*8’ a harp and percussion are added. ‘Flesh For The Jet Set’ is a pounding performance by OPTICAL*8. ‘Nucleon’(14:34) is a somber Hoppy on solo piano. The TVCM pieces are short, intriguing, and each unique. ‘Insects Dream’(7:21) is a quiet tape, oft repeated, of insects and a dog barking. | ||
--Pink were a popular ‘80s J-pop band, and brought attention to Hoppy’s production skills--
PINK
Yutaka Futuoka--vocal & guitar
Hajime Okano--bass & guitar
Atsunobu Yakabe--drums
Hoppy Kamiyama--keyboards
Hidehiro Shibuya--guitar
Steve Eto--percussion
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Pink -- (34:47) -- (1985) -- Moon Records -- 32XM-5
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| While listening to this, Pink’s first full-length, a friend noted a Roxy Music influence I hadn’t noticed before. Here it’s stronger than in the other releases, but it’s there too. It’s especially present in Yutaka Futuoka’s vocals, but when he’s really in his Bryan Ferry mode, he does it better, showing off the rich smoothness of his gifts. There’s a wide range of material here, and (except for the last track) it’s more uptempo than their later releases. It’s a strong introduction to the band, and if you're inclined, would serve you well in that capacity. | |
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Hikari-No-Ko (Children of Light) -- (42:04) -- (1985) -- Moon
Records -- AMCM-5002
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| This is PINK’s second release. They were very successful in Japan, and it’s no wonder. This is slick, ‘80s, AOR J-pop. You want a western comparison? It reminds me of Phil Collins, but the slick production is a bit more tasteful. ‘Don’t Stop Passengers’, with a YMO/Bowie influence, is the one song I can’t help but like. The musicianship is strong throughout, and the self-production is overly impressive. Like the best pop music, these songs are so warm and all-encompassing that they grow on you, even if you never really learn to like them. | |
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Psycho-Delicious -- (40:11) -- (1986) -- Moon Records -- AMCM-5003
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| This is the third release for PINK. Again it’s self-produced, and again it’s an ‘80s, AOR J-pop sound. This time the production is a bit sleeker, and sometimes incorporates more of a new wave/dance quirkiness into the mix. The Phil Collins thing is still going on, but they’ve stirred in some Peter Gabriel. The song-writing, though better, doesn’t rival the brilliance of the production. Still, this is an improvement, and takes their sound in some interesting directions. Plus, the vocal/sampling shenanigans in ‘Scanner’ make me bounce. | |
--Optical*8 was Hoppy’s NYC project. It’s now a Tokyo foursome with a formidable range--
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OPTICAL*8 |
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| Hoppy Kamiyama--synth, samples
& gram-pot Marc Ribot--guitar Sebastion Steinberg--bass Douglas E. Bowne--drums E.J. Rodriguez--percussion Steve Eto--metals |
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Optical*8 -- (54:18) -- (1992) -- God Mountain -- gmcd-001
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| This sounds like a collection of free-form jazz jams. Recorded in NYC, the musicianship’s top-notch. ‘Ambidextrousness’ starts with sampled “goodnight”s and “once again”s, and travels through a number of quirky, sometimes frantic terrains. The shortest (at 9:59) and spaciest track is ‘Undercover Man’. ‘Jungle Protects The Past’ starts in the jungle and eventually moves into a funk groove. ‘The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name’ runs through a series of disjointed musical dialogues. Each track is a unique world. You'll know if it’s for you. | |
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The Last Waltz From Distorted Honky-Tonk -- (40:16) -- (1992)
-- God Mountain -- gmcd-004
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| The improvisation doesn't start with much momentum, but it loses it five minutes in and flounders for the next ten. Then Dougie Bowne picks it up, but that only lasts a few minutes. Several other attempts are made by various members to start something, but the band inevitably returns to disfunctional noodling each time. Nearly thirty minutes into the jam, I believe it’s Hoppy who starts off the most interesting section of the improv, and things pick up some with intriguing, and frequent, directional changes, till it again winds down and ends. | |
| OPTICAL*8 (two) | |
| Hoppy Kamiyama--synthesizers,
samples, neuz-violin, gram-pot & vocal Reck--bass, guitar & vocal Yoshihide Otomo--guitar, turntables, bass & bg vocal Masafumi Minato--drums & bg vocal |
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Bug -- (67:40) -- (1994) -- God Mountain -- gocd*011
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| I believe this is OPTICAL*8’s third release. It’s a different band and a different sound. Though there may be improvisation, most of the tracks sound fully-developed. This is a rocking band, playing agressive music with elements of noise in the attack. A few songs stick fairly close to a hard-rock formula, but many radically shift directions unpredictably. Synthesizers predominate, with horns, bagpipes and unclassifiable sounds fighting for position. This music is meant to be challenging. Hoppy’s absurd humor appears only on the cover. | |
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Gender -- (49:25) -- (1994) -- God Mountain -- GMCD-011
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| It’s the same band as Bug and was recorded and released at the same time. It’s the darker, unstructured side of Bug. ‘Dare To Be Uncool’ is the cyclical feedback of various instruments intertwined. In ‘Blessed Bloomer’ a throbbing provides the foundation for a jam into distortion. ‘Otto Hypnosis’ (24:05) starts with an austere reverence, as if performed in an abandoned church. A distant rabble acts as its choir, then consumes the ceremony. ‘Dispossable Heroes Do Lunch’ is the spirited sound of machines joyfully breaking down together. | |
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All Over -- (110:01) -- (1995) -- God Mountain -- GMCD-022 & 023 |
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Liquid Disc:
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Gas Disc:
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This double-CD collection is the most satisfying OPTICAL*8 release yet. Excepting studio dubs on ‘Halle Halle’, these live recordings are selected from three ‘93 & ‘94 shows. Some tracks are improvisational and atmospheric, others engage in bold attacks, and, of course, most mix those approaches in subtle and/or startling ways. These performances are powerful, and have a grittiness, and a fate to the winds spirit that the studio recordings haven’t approached. It’s a band; you’re there; anything can happen; and two is definitely better than one! |
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--A supergroup chosen from Tokyo’s underground, their mission: to change pop music forever--
| PUGS | |
| Honey K--vocal & trumpet Hajime Okano--bass & bg vocal Hikaru Yoshida--guitar & bg vocal Hoppy Kamiyama--synthesizers, samples, tapes, violin & bg vocal Steve Eto--percussion, gong, meat grinder & bg vocal Kazuhisa “Roger” Takahashi--drums & bg vocal |
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Pugs -- (43:33) -- (1993) -- God Mountain -- GMCD-006
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| This, the first version of THE PUGS, also included a second bass guitarist (Keith Yokohama). It’s a pounder. This is rich, rumbling hard-rock, by a talented collection of Tokyo undergrounders. Honey K’s vocals are the cream on this rockin’ box of chocolates. She regularly gets caught up in the rough surf here, but she takes to it with an inspired glee and emerges triumphant, though not always in control. This is not straight hard-rock. There are certainly some crazed segments where art, jazz, and chaos have their say, but that adds to the fun. | |
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Bambie Boo! -- (17:17) -- (1993) -- White Dog -- ???
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| It’s nice to see an EP with no songs from other releases. Though two were justifiably repeated on The Memories With Pugs. Keith Yokohama is still in the band, as is Takashi Furuta, who was the drummer till ‘95 when Kazuhisa Takahashi took over. ‘Bambie Boo’ and ‘Soul Free’ are great PUGS songs. ‘Pussy! Pussy!’ is under two minutes, but memorable, as Honey K emphatically repeats the title regularly. ‘Rolling Boots’ is the filler here, but it pulls its weight with pounding drums and some rare horns. THE PUGS hath arrived! Bambie Boo! | |
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Sports? -- (43:16) -- (1994) -- White Dog -- WDCD-002
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| This was THE PUGS’ second full-length, and Keith Yokohama was still in residence. ‘Spock On’, ‘Bullpen’, and ‘Shizku...’ appeared on both the collections. ‘Chim Chim Cherry Boy’ made The Memories With Pugs, and ‘Tequila’ (a classic PUGS restyling) made Pugs Bite The Red Knee. Not a bad showing! They had found their sound here, and are obviously having a great time. It closes with some short out-takes and a noisy jam, as if they ran out of material, but till ‘Victor Ken #1’ this is a classic PUGS CD that defines their unique strengths. | |
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The Memories With Pugs -- (67:53) -- (1996) -- God Mountain -- GMCD-025 |
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| Pugs, Bambie Boo! and Sports? provide the material for this collection. Two short instrumental pieces, which frame the CD, and a nearly ten minute ‘Space Kappa’ (w/vocals) are not previously released and seem improvised. Except for these three cuts and two from Pugs, all songs appear on either Chimato Kubiki or Pugs Bite The Red Knee, both of which I prefer. This is certainly a good collection of early PUGS material though, and displays a less pop approach to their artful experimentation. | ||
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Otona No Kimochi (Adult Feelings) -- (51:47) -- (1996) -- Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. -- COCA-13274 |
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| THE PUGS here include a bassist/percussionist (Atsushi Tsuyama). Otherwise, the personnel remains the same, but the modus operandi is much more eclectic. Every song seems to come from a different direction. The rock still rules, and only the tango numbers slow things down, but there is a wide diversity of crazed influences that stick out of these songs like pipes sticking out of a motorized scrap-heap. They reach impressive speeds, veering dangerously, but not too far off the road, and Honey K’s classy vocals add a nice pop sheen. | ||
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Mushi Mushi Tengoku (Insect Heaven) -- (52:58) -- (1997) -- Nippon Colombia Co., Ltd. -- COCA-14011 |
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| Diverse influences are at play. Fact is, they’re loose and running wild! Sometimes THE PUGS don’t even seem to be in control of this bizarro world they’ve created. We don’t care, as long as it keeps revolving around Honey K. She’ll make sure we remain out of harm’s way, I hope. The band is now wacky beyond comprehension, and its powers and habitable terrain are growing at an abnormal speed. If they could contain this energy, and streamline the design they’d be incredible, but the craziness is obviously way too much fun! | ||
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Pugs Bite The Red Knee -- (59:03) -- (1997) -- Casual Tonalities
-- XOCD9702X (US release)
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| This is THE PUGS only U.S. release and is a kind of ‘best of’ collection compiled from their first four Japanese CDs. I didn’t get it at first, but now I love it. The musicians are obviously quite accomplished. I’ve read it’s a super-group, hand-picked by Hoppy from the Tokyo underground. Honey K is the star, but it’s led by Hoppy and is easily the most accessible music of the bands listed here. It rocks in a rich and wonderfully wacky way, and regularly mixes up the salad with odd sounds. They try many styles here, and everything works! | |
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Chimato Kubiki -- (55:23) -- (1999) -- Wax Records -- TKCA-71612 |
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| This is a wonderful collection, and many of the selections seem to be remixed or rerecorded. Joe Yabuki joins the party as a second bass guitarist. There’s some powerful rocking going on, with some very strange undercurrents, but Honey K is no longer perturbed by any of it. As the percentage of English lyrics grows, her poetics are impressively revealed. When the band slows down, the sound is often ominous. They break it up with short humorous bits, as they have in the past. BLONDIE’s ‘One Way Or Another’ closes the show in wild style. | ||
