Interview ~ Thee Out Mods: November 10, 2007
PMX Los Angeles, CA
Thee Out Mods are a Los Angeles-based Japanese band under the label 7 Samurai Records. We got a chance to interview them at Pacific Media Expo--and we got it on video! So, while we do have a transcription for the interview, we encourage you to check out the video footage we have. Make sure you watch both parts of the video! (Check the Videos section of the website)
Can you please introduce yourselves?
Sana: I’m Sana and I’m the vocalist.
(Yoshiki and Kenny: Yay!)
Yoshiki: I’m Yoshiki. I’m the bassist!
Kenny: I’m Kenny!
You guys call yourselves Thee Out Mods. What does that mean?
Yoshiki: Mmm, this is a very difficult question… Thee Out Mods. It means… (Laughs)
Kenny: We like the sound!
Yoshiki: We like the sound of the name!
How would you describe your music?
Yoshiki: It’s like… London! London falling! Oh yeaaahh!
Who are your influences?
Yoshiki: The Damned, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones… All that goody-goody stuff.
What message do you try to convey through your music?
(Kenny taps on his chest)
Yoshiki: Our music is from our hearts!
How did Thee Out Mods form?
Kenny: Yoshiki and I had a band together and then…
Yoshiki: (gestures to Sana) We picked her up from the garbage.
You’re from Japan but you’re living in California. Do you prefer one place over the other?
Sana: Here.
Yoshiki: We like it here. Japan’s really small. Here it’s very sunny. Very big. Wide. Everything! Everything’s big! Pizza is big. Hamburgers are big.
What about shopping?
Yoshiki: Well in Japan, all the clothes look similar. I mean they have a lot of unique stuff but to me they look really similar. All the girls in Japan… They all look the same to me!
What are the challenges of being a Japanese band living in the USA?
Yoshiki: Well we also sing in Japanese and people who come to see us, they speak English. They don’t know Japanese. But I think that’s not very important. We’re Japanese! We don’t wanna sing in English you know? It’s like… samurai spirit!!
If you fail will you commit seppuku?
Yoshiki: I’ll get naked and run around!
How did you all get into music?
Yoshiki: I started two years ago. I met these guys, Rio and all these other people. I met them and I just got into it.
Kenny: I’ve been playing drums ten years. When I was in Japan, my cousin had a drum set. And I would start playing the drums. Then I came here and met (points to Yoshiki) him.
Sana: I’ve been singing for one year.
What do you want to accomplish as Thee Out Mods?
Yoshiki: Our goal… We’re planning on going back to Japan and we’re gonna play there and we want a lot of Japanese people to like us. Yeah, big place, lots of people, say what we wanna say through music.
Sana, you have really strong vocals! Sometimes you scream! How do you keep your vocals so clean?
Sana: Nothing.
Yoshiki: She smokes, eats hamburgers, drinks…
You guys have been drawing a lot of comparisons to The Blackstones from NANA. What do you think of that?
Yoshiki: It’s like a coincidence. We don’t care. We barely know about it. The band in the comic book itself is also a copy. We don’t care what people think. We’re Thee Out Mods.
Your myspace is all decked out in a piratey theme. Is that a theme of Thee Out Mods?
Yoshiki: We’re gonna release a new album. It’s coming out around December, and our theme is Treasure Island. We have a song called Treasure Island. It’s our main song, our theme.
What does the theme mean?
Yoshiki: It means look for treasure. We’re gonna go, go, keep on going. We’re gonna become big. We’re gonna keep on going! We’re not gonna stop. Looking for treasure everywhere!
Occasionally you play for a monthly event called Judo Chop. What is Judo Chop?
Yoshiki: It’s an event we do every month pretty much, first week or second week. We’re trying to get a lot of Japanese bands to get together. We want lots of people to come. Everybody likes different genres of music, so we want lots of people to come and watch lots of bands who are different.
Rio: We’re trying to create a new music scene. As a label we need to be more unique among the LA music scene. There’s so many music events in LA. But they’re all the same. We’re trying to make a new kind of music scene, like an asian, mostly Japanese, with American bands. We want Japanese bands to get involved with this local music scene. We’re trying to get more attention for Japanese musicians who come to the United States to find their opportunity. Usually for asian people it’s pretty hard to get attention from the local people if they play alone. But if we get together we can get more attention.
*(Rio is the manager of Thee Out Mods and coordinates Judo Chop events)
You guys have played lots of different venues. What’s your favorite venue?
Yoshiki: There’s a place in Burbank. It’s called CIA. There’s like an alligator boy. It’s like a little museum, very tiny. It’s a livehouse also and it’s a very cool place, like a little circus.
You’ve played at venues and conventions. What differences do you find performing at each?
Yoshiki: We’re the same wherever we go, but the people who come to see us play… Their eyes are different and the way they move is different.
How do you guys prepare for shows?
Yoshiki: We practice a lot before the shows. On stage we try to do what we learn in practice.
Do you guys do anything entertaining on stage?
Yoshiki: Yeah, like… (laughs) Yeah. Like showing my ass! (Band laughs) We’re different on stage. On a regular day there’s people watching me, but we’re not the main event you know? On stage we get very energetic and pumped up!
What do you want audiences to feel from your performance?
Yoshiki: We want them to have fun! And we want Sana’s vocals to reach into their hearts.
How would you describe your fellow members?
Sana: Yoshiki...pervert.
Yoshiki: Yeah she thinks I’m a pervert.
Sana: Kenny...cool.
Yoshiki: Sana’s a very good vocalist, very powerful. I really enjoy being on stage with her, with him also. It’s a happy moment for me.
You think Kenny’s cool too?
Yoshiki: Oh yeah.
And Kenny?
Kenny: Yoshiki? Baka. Nah, he’s a fun person. He’s always funny. And Sana, she’s a great vocalist. Its been one year but she gets better and better. It’s amazing.
Earlier this year you opened for LiN CLOVER. How do you feel opening for them again?
Yoshiki: We did it for them in San Francisco at Slim’s. It was really fun. This time LiN CLOVER wanted us to play an opening for them. So we were like, “All right yeah, lets do it!”
So you guys are friends with LiN CLOVER. They’re cool people—
Yoshiki: I’ve never talked to them. (Band laughs)
Rio: We have a good relationship with their promoter, JapanFiles.
Yoshiki: We’re planning on talking with them tonight if we have time.
What’s in the future for Thee Out Mods?
Yoshiki: Future? Future… No future. (Band laughs) We don’t know yet. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re just gonna keep going, you know? Find that treasure island.
Got any last words?
Sana whispers to Yoshiki “Get the glory”
Yoshiki: GET THE GLORY!
Sana: YES!
Rio: Buy a CD please!
Thee Out Mods: Please please! CD!
Yoshiki: And t-shirts! (Band laughs)
interview by Sarah and Kei
Thank you to to 7 Samurai Records for arranging this interview, and thank you to Thee Out Mods for taking their time to answer our questions
links
Thee Out Mods Official MySpace
7 Samurai Records
Thee Out Mods at PMX LIVE REPORT
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