Coming at you with the attitude and general musical style of an edgy Dollyrots, Tokyo Taboo release their debut album 6th Street Psychosis on the 25th of November. Just time to get to know the band before release date…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are both Londoners but Mike is from Poland and Dolly is from the countryside.
How did you meet?
About seven years ago Dolly auditioned Mike as a guitar player. We’ve been inseparable since!
How long have you been playing as a band?
Seven years but Tokyo Taboo is only three years old as we were a different band before!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We really love Japanese culture and are fascinated by Tokyo. All bright colourful weird things we love! We love being outspoken and loud so that’s where the ‘taboo’ bit comes in. We like to say what we think and don’t hold back.
What are your influences?
David Bowie is a huge one. We just recently saw the ‘David Bowie Is…’ exhibition in Bologna and the amount of music, film, theatre and art he created is unbelievable. We try to listen to all kinds of music and take ideas from films, music and everyday life.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is us in musical form. Colourful, energetic with dark lyrics. We’ve never heard a band who sounds or looks exactly like us.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We write about everything from global issues and politics to more internal subjects like depression, self destructive tendencies and relationships. Nothing is off the cards!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Wow we’ve played a lot of shows! Hundreds. We love to wear weird costumes and often get told off for throwing water at each other. We swear a lot and head bang
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We were banned from playing Whisky A Go Go as we called them the C- word as they were charging bands to play the venue. (Pay to play) Pretty good going considering they are a rock and roll venue.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Mike has a thing for Fender Telecasters. His is a 1985 Japanese make. A beautiful pink paisley model. He loves her!
What are your plans for the rest of 2016 / 2017?
The album release is a big one! We are playing a huge show at The Black Heart in December that we are really looking forward to. We have a lot of exciting videos still to release so really looking forward to those!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We are really big fans of LA bands like Dead Sara and Deap Vally as both are similar in style to us. (Dead Sara was produced by our producer Noah) They would be a great fit and the fans would love it!
Tokyo Taboo: official | facebook | twitter | soundcloud | youtube
