When Nomeansno toured Japan last, in the spring of 2009, I wrote two articles, one for Doll Fanzine and one for a slim paper that was distributed by Japanese record store Disk Union. A Japanese fan that I think I connected with on the old Nomeanswhatever forum did the translation (the only time I got Rob to sign anything, I had a hell of a time getting him to spell "Yuko" on her copy: he started with Uko and then when I said "no, it starts with a Y" he didn't seem to follow and I confess, I wrote portions of her Y myself! But don't tell her that).
As you will see, these were written with a Japanese audience in mind; I had lived in Japan, from 1999 to 2002, so I had some sense of what a Japanese reader might be interested in, though some of this was guesswork. It occurred to me this morning that neither one has been published in English. I want to post this while members of Dead Bob are in Japan (apparently Byron is a Godzilla enthusiast, so I hope this doesn't distract him from Godzilla tourism). Since it's time-sensitive, I'm just sticking this up now quickly, without much fuss, but note, I have found recordings of these concerts circulating online!
Disk Union flyer version (in conjunction with the promoter, we had to pay a couple hundred bucks to place this -- to date it is the only explicit "advertising copy" I have written, I think):
Nomeansno: Legendary
Vancouver Punks Return to Japan
By Allan MacInnis and Yuko Tonohira
Of the members of Nomeansno, drummer John Wright probably fits best into stereotypes of what a “Canadian” is. He loves beer, and brews his own; he’s a huge ice hockey fan, and he has a summer cabin in Lund on BC’s Sunshine Coast, where he and his family spend a lot of time fishing, boating, and relaxing in the outdoors. “I’m eating fresh prawn and crab pretty much every day all summer long, just fresh off the bottom of the ocean and straight into my pot,” Wright says happily. Living close to nature is an important part of being Canadian to him. “I think part of the beauty of Canada is that we’re perched on the edge of wilderness. Even though America’s such a big place, and it’s got some wide-open spaces, Canadians just live on the edges of this big country. Even in Vancouver, if you drive to the north shore and just start walking north, within half an hour, you’re going to be in bear country and if you’re not careful, you’re going to get lost and die. And this is just right beside a major city of two million people!”
Nomeansno’s previous album, 2006’s All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt, bears a bit more of John Wright’s touch than some of Nomeansno’s previous albums. “I’m fully involved in all of the records, of course, but Ausfahrt had a little higher percentage of my music on it,” he acknowledges - though none of his lyrics. His favourite tune off Ausfahrt is “Slugs Are Burning,” which he wrote originally as a short, fast, catchy punk tune in the style of Nomeansno’s hockey goon alter-egos The Hanson Brothers. “But then Robbie put these lyrics on it and this melody and it sounded more like an R&B song. So I said ‘well, we gotta get some female backup singers in here,’ and gave this kinda punk rock song a little bit of a twist. It worked out great - it’s a catchy, singalong song,” which his brother, Nomeansno bassist and lead singer Rob Wright, explains is about how all things in nature are “on fire.”
Rob is known for darker, heavier songs, with complex, prog-influenced bass lines and lyrics that often take in pain, suffering and confusion. He is currently assembling demos for Nomeansno’s next LP, the working title of which is Codename: Old. “It’s amazing how good you can get a simple sketch of a song on the technology that’s available now. It’s just learning it which is a bit of a pain in the neck, especially for an old fart like me,” he laughs. After piecing together a demo using ProTools, he explains, “I’ll present it to the band and go, let’s learn this, and then I realize - I have to learn it myself, because I’d never at any point played it or sang it all the way through!”
As Mr. Wrong, Rob is also working on a collaboration with Italian thrash-jazz band Zu. “I’m going against their strength,” he tells me. “There’s no way I’m gonna try to outdo them in their 13/7 time signatures, 12 parts here 2 parts there. Uh-uh. I’m just going to lay over some rock and roll on top of that. I’m puttin’ a couple of lyrics on and makin’ them sound like a blues band!”
Nomeansno fans who attend their March gigs can expect selections from every stage of the bands’ catalogue, dating back to 1982, as well as a few new songs from the upcoming album. I asked if a setlist had been sketched out. “We just haven’t really got that far,” guitarist Tom Holliston replied. “The only thing that came up was that maybe we should do ‘Oh No Bruno’ - we haven’t done that for a long time!” A John Wright punk raveup, the song appears on Nomeansno’s most famous record, 1988’s Wrong.
Rob, John, and guitarist Tom last toured Japan in 1997, with Ultra Bide. Other than a trip to an okonomiyaki-ya and an izakaya, they didn’t get that much sightseeing in. I was curious: this time around, would the band be interested in a trip to an onsen or sento? (Public nudity and communal bathing are unusual in Canada.)
“I would do it in a second,” John Wright says agreeably. “I was only one time in a public spa - it was in Germany. It was the same sort of thing - the saunas, you could strip down. That was just the way it was done. No one really bats and eye - it’s mostly just fat old men! It doesn’t bother me at all.” Rob Wright is similarly agreeable: “I’ve never had any problems taking my clothes off in any situation,” he chuckles. Tom, on the other hand, finds the whole idea a bit unsettling. “I’m perfectly content to just have a shower, to be honest. I don’t think I’m afraid of trying things, but I just don’t see why I would. I’m already clean!”
Nomeansno Says Yes to
Japan
By Allan MacInnis and Yuko Tonohira
Vancouver punks Nomeansno have been together since 1979, and have a widespread audience in Europe and North America, but they have only made it to Japan once before, in 1997, touring their album The Worldhood of the World (As Such). That was their first release with current guitarist Tom Holliston. The band at the time were signed to Alternative Tentacles, and their Japanese label-mates Ultra Bide, who had previously toured the USA with Nomeansno and Alice Donut, helped organize the tour.
“Ultra Bide were good guys and a really good live band,” John Wright feels. “Their frontman, Hide, was crazy! But my best memory of that tour is that after the whole thing was over, we had this wonderful dinner with the production company and the people involved in all the shows. Beers would come around and then more food and more beers,” a style of dining that is unusual in Canada, but which Wright immediately took a liking to. “None of us could speak Japanese, and they spoke almost no English, so it was just eating and drinking and these gesturing conversations,” he laughs. “But it was fantastic! It was a real pleasure.”
Every member of the long-lived Vancouver punk three-piece has different associations with Japan. John probably has the most up-to-date relationship with Japanese mainstream popular culture, thanks to his two boys’ love of manga and anime. “I love Miyazaki’s movies - I’ve seen all of them. My Neighbour Totoro was the first one I saw. And Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, all those were great.”
Quirky, inquisitive guitarist Holliston - leader of the Show Business Giants and a solo artist, as well as a Nomeansno and Hanson Brothers member - is more drawn to Japanese literature and music than film. He admires Abe Kobo and Oe Kenzaburo, and has recently finished reading the English translation of A Man With No Talents, the memoir of a Japanese day labourer, “Oyama Shiro.” Holliston was really excited that members of Ruins came to see them in Tokyo during their previous tour, and he’s a great admirer of Okinawa’s Kina Shokichi.
John’s older brother Rob Wright (lead vocals, bass, and primary lyricist) has been mostly interested in Japanese techno and electronica of late. He’s a big fan of Kayama Akiko, Inoue Tetsuo, KK Null, and NHK, a project of “extreme experimental electronic sounds” by Matsunaga Kouhei and Munehiro Toshio.
Rob’s primary association with Japan, however, is Zen Buddhism. “I really like the attitude of the Japanese Zen Buddhists, which is strictly non-formal and about practice, not study,” he explains. “The Japanese have a quality of appreciating the world in its intricacy and delicacy which I don’t think any other culture really approaches - the way they paint, the way they do everything is with this meticulous reverence for materials and context. Zen Buddhism is sort of the pinnacle of that. The Japanese seem to have their eye on the world a little more focused than we do. In the west, we all live in our heads; there, they sort of live in an aesthetic of textures and rituals and scenes.”
Rob’s interest in religion and philosophy is apparent in his songwriting, for example on “The Hawk Killed the Punk” - a song that Tom sings, while the band plays in three different time signatures. Rob’s lyrics for that song were inspired by a Zen poem “about how costumes are a way to belong, but also a trap - you become what you look like. It’s funny, because Buddhists all end up with shaved heads, dressed in a uniform, but that in itself is a kind of selflessness. Often punks too - they want to be new and different, and then they all dress the same, and become completely anonymous within a crowd of people with Mohawks and black leather jackets,” he chuckles. “The Hawk Killed the Punk” - the Mohawk, that is - is from the band’s most recent CD, All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt. Nomeansno are hoping to get Ausfahrt distributed there before they arrive.
Japanese audiences will be the first to hear material from
Nomeansno’s next planned recording, tentatively titled Codename: Old. One of the songs, “Old,” is available in a demo form
on the Nomeansno Myspace page (www.myspace.com/myspaceiswrong)
- one of a dozen songs that Rob has written on his new ProTools program, a new
experience for him as a songwriter. “There’ll be a new record by the end of the
winter, I hope. The album will be different basically because of the way it was
written - it’s written on technology, not on instruments.” Also being
rehearsed, Rob tells me, are “No Fun 2010,” “a rave-up song” based in part on a
sample from a Kayama Akiko record, and “Jubilation,” a “punk rock anthem about
the joys of losing everything, and being without all that encumbrance.”
Rob - who, in his mid-50’s, is soon to be a first-time father - also finds a sort of transcendent calm in the sport of golf. If time permits, he would love to visit a Japanese course. John, Tom, and soundman Blair, meanwhile, hope to visit a Japanese distillery. Tom tells me the band also hopes to check in “with a very good friend of ours by the name of Sen, who was living in Vancouver in the mid-90’s.” Sen appears in the crowd on the back cover of Nomeansno’s greatest hits anthology, The People’s Choice. Sen currently brews beer in Tokyo. “One of the highlights of this tour will be to see him again!” Tom says.
Beer is something John Wright knows well; he has been brewing his own since 1991-1992 and now averages 35 litres a month. “At Christmas time, I’ll load up and make, say, 100 litres for the holidays. The only time I buy beer is when I’ve been away and I haven’t had time to make it. I’ve probably saved about $20,000 in the last 15 years!” You can learn how to brew “Johnny’s Rockin’ Ale” in an instructional video, All-Grain Brewing with Johnny Hanson, included with Nomeansno alter egos the Hanson Brothers’ new It’s a Living live CD, though you may have to brush up on your “beer English,” since there are no subtitles. John particularly likes that you can get beer in vending machines in Japan, which you cannot do in Vancouver.
Towards the end of my conversation with Rob Wright, I ask him if he feels he has a moral responsibility to his audience. “Absolutely!” he answers immediately. “Good music is hard to come by - it really is!” he laughs. “I feel like we’ve been very privileged to make a living playing music in the way we’ve done it - by just doing what we wanted to do, and keeping it on a cottage-industry level. Not many bands have managed to be quite apart from the music business as we have and still make a living and have a musical career. So I feel a responsibility when we get onstage to give whoever is there, whether it’s twenty people or a thousand, the best damn show they ever saw. And if we get fed and housed and have some money left over when we get home - wow! Great. What a privilege!”
Thanks to Bingo, Toshio, and John Chedsey.
Nomeansno tour dates
March 23 Shibuya club
QUATTRO
March 24 Nagoya APOLLO
THEATER
March 26 Kyoto
UrBANGUILD
March 27 Osaka FANDANGO
Yuko's translation (only the Doll part -- I don't have the other):
-Nomeansno Says Yes to Japan-
文：Allan MacInnis (訳：殿平有子)
バンクーバー・パンクス NoMeansNo （以下NMN)は 1982年の活動開始以来、主に欧米で着実な人気を得ている。しかし過去の来日は1997年『The Worldhood of the World (As Such)』リリース時の一度きりだ。このアルバムは現ギタリスト、トム・ホリストンが加わってから最初のスタジオ・アルバムとなったものだ。「初日の渋谷クアトロ公演、でかかったね。」ドラムスのジョン・ライトはこう回想する。「でも大阪のほうがNMNを知ってる人やオルタナティブ・テンタクルズ（当時の所属レーベル）を知ってる人が多かった気がするよ。」この時の来日公演をサポートしたのは同じレーベル仲間で過去にNMN、Alice DonutsとUSツアーを共にしたウルトラビデである。
ジョンも「ウルトラビデはほんとにいい奴らでライブもすごくいいバンドだったよ。」と語る。「ボーカルのヒデ、奴はクレイジーだ！でも俺の一番の思い出は、ツアーの全部が終わった後に食べたあの豪勢な夕食だね。ツアーに関わってくれた日本のみんなと、バンド全員でね。ビールが出てきて、さらに食事がでて、そしてまたビール。」ジョンは日本での食事の進み方が気に入ったらしい。「こっちは一人も日本語がわからなくてさ、むこうもほとんど英語が喋れなかったから、ただひたすら食べて飲んで、あとはジェスチャーで会話してね（笑）。でもあれは素晴らしいもんだったよ！めちゃくちゃ楽しかった。」
ベテラン・パンクスのNMNはそれぞれ、日本に対して全く違う捉え方をしているようだ。メインストリーム文化にもっとも近く接しているのは二人の息子がいるジョンだろう。マンガとアニメ好きの息子達に影響されて、「宮崎駿の作品は大好き」だという。「彼の映画は全部観たよ。一番最初に観たのは『となりのトトロ』で、あとは『魔女の宅急便』と『千と千尋の神隠し』が良かったね。」ジョンは『 攻殻機動隊』のファンでもあり、息子のひとりは『マンガの描き方』という本を愛読中という。
奇癖と好奇心の持ち主であるギタリスト、トム・ホリストン（NMNとHanson Brothersの他に、Show Business Giantsのリーダーでありソロ・アーティストでもある）は、 日本の文学と音楽に愛着を持っている。安部公房と大江健三郎を敬愛するトムは、 大山史朗作の『山谷崖っぷち日記』という本を最近読み終えたばかりだという。音楽に関しては、前回の来日公演でルインズの二人が見に来てくれた事を嬉しそうに思い出す。そんな彼は、 喜納昌吉の大ファンでもある。
ジョンの兄であるロブ・ライト（ボーカル、ベースと主な作詞を担当）はもっとも最近の日本のテクノ・エレクトロ音楽にハマっている。アキコ・キヤマとテツ・イノウエ、それににNHK(コーヘイ・マツナガとトシオ・ムネヒロによる超実験的エレクトロ音楽)の大ファンだという。
しかしロブの最も大きな日本との接点は禅仏教だという。「禅僧の考え方ってのがすごく好きなんだ。律儀的じゃないところとか、習得よりも日常の積み重ねに重点をおいているところ。日本人には、とても入組んだデリケートな方法で世界を捉え評価する姿勢があると思う。こういうアプローチの仕方って他の文化ではあまりないんじゃないかな。たとえば絵画の描き方ひとつとってもそうだけど、物事すべての段階で 、念入りに尊敬をもって素材や 背景と向き合う。禅仏教はその 頂点みたいなものだと思う。世界に対する日本人の目ってのは、僕らのよりもうまく焦点が合ってる気がするよ。言ってみれば、欧米ではみんな頭の中で生きてるけど、日本では日常の風景やテクスチャーにある美の中で人間が生きてる、って感じかな。」
ロブの宗教や哲学に関する興味は彼の作詞の中にも姿を現す。ひとつは、トムが歌い３つの異なる拍子からなる曲『The Hawk Killed the Punk』。この曲の歌詞は禅仏教の詩にインスピレーションを得たという。「いかにファッションが人に帰属意識を与えているかということ。でも実はそれは罠で。人はその人の身につけるものそのものになってしまう恐れがある。面白いのはさ、禅僧って頭を剃って揃いの衣を着るだろ、でもそれ自体が私心のなさ、という意味にもなりえる。パンクスだってそうだ。人よりも新しく違った何かになろうとするつもりが、みんな同じ服装でいたらモヒカンとか黒い革ジャン着た連中の中に隠れて完全に匿名化してしまうんだ。（笑）」そんな「モヒカン連中」を歌った『The Hawk Killed the Punk』は最新アルバム『All Roads Lead To Ausfahrt』に収録。今回の来日公演ではこの中から数曲を聞けるだろう。そしてもちろん、多くの昔の作品からも。NMNは来日前のこのアルバムの日本発売を望んでいる。
さらに今回日本のファンは、レコーディングを控えた次作『Codename: Old』（仮題）からの曲を生で聴く最初のオーディエンスになるという。その中の１曲『Old』はMyspaceで視聴できる。(www.myspace.com/myspaceiswrong) 今回はじめてPro Toolsというソフトを使って作曲したというロブ、現時点ですでに十数曲書き終えている。「冬の終わりぐらいまでにはリリースできるといいね。次作は今までとは違うものになるよ。曲の書き方という面で。楽器じゃなくて、テクノロジーを使って書いたからね。」 日本の4公演では『Old』の他に2曲ほど新曲お披露目の予定ということだ。『No Fun 2010』は前記のアキコ・キヤマの曲からのサンプリングがベース。「どんちゃん騒ぎ、って感じの曲だね。それからもうひとつ『Jubilation』って曲、これはパンク・アンセム的なもの。全てを失う事とか妨害が全く無くなる状態に対する喜びについて書いたよ。」
次作にはNMNの過去の全作に共通するテーマが同じように 流れているという。「基本的に、ダークな曲でもアップテンポでもブレークビートでもダウンテンポでも、 全て超越についての曲なんだ。 僕らの曲は大抵、殻の外に出る事とかある状態を超える事を歌ってる。業界にいる大抵のミュージシャンはアルバムを出すとそれを何百万枚も売る事を望んでPRのためにツアーに出るだろ、でも僕らは違って、ツアーを宣伝する為にアルバムを出すんだよ。僕らの楽曲作りは全て、ツアーに出てファンの前で演奏する為の土台作りみたいなものなんだ。行動する事、プレイする事が全てだ。プロのミュージシャンとして音楽業界での位置を獲得するためでもないし、あれを売ってこれを売って、ってことでもない。ライブハウスに行って人々の為に演奏する、そしてできればその約１時間の間お客を楽しませて彼らの足を軽くしてやる、そういうことなんだよ。それが超越なんだ。いつの時代も音楽は、みんなバラバラの人々を一体化して、人々は集団の中の個の存在というレベルを超えて、その中でハイもロウも喜びも悲しみも共有してきた。そこでちょっとした陶酔感をも与えてくれる。音楽はそういう超越のために無くてはならない手段だね。」
50代半ばを迎えたロブはもうすぐ、初めて父親になるという。 そんな彼はもうひとつの超越を趣味であるゴルフの中に見いだそうとしている。来日中、時間があればぜひ日本のコースも回ってみたい、それと神社仏閣めぐりも、と話す。それに対しジョン、トム、エンジニアのブレアーは、日本のウイスキー蒸留所を訪れたいと言う。またトムは、90年代にバンクーバーに住んでいた、セン、という名前の親友を訪ねるのが楽しみだと言う。そんなセン氏は、2004年リリースのファン投票によるベスト版『The People’s Choice』の裏ジャケットに登場している。現在は東京でビール作りをしているとか。「このツアーのハイライトのひとつは彼に再会することだね。」
ビールといえば、ジョン・ライトは自家製ビールの専門家。91年頃から自宅でビール作りを初めて以来、月に約35リットルも作っているという。彼は素晴らしい醸造家なのだ。「毎年クリスマス時期になるとね、たぶん100リットルは作るだろうな。市販のビールを買うのは家から離れてる時か作る時間がない時ぐらいだよ。この15年間でたぶん200万円ぐらいは節約したぜ（笑）！」 彼のオリジナルビール作りは、自作のビデオ『 All-Grain Brewing with Johnny Hanson (ジョニー・ハンソンンと学ぶビール醸造)』の中で学ぶ事が出来る。このビデオは、NMNのサイドプロジェクト、ハンソンブラザーズの新作ライブアルバム『It’s A Living』にDVDとして収録。残念ながら英語のみ。観たい人は『ビール英語』を習得する必要があるかも。ジョンは日本では自動販売機でビールが買えることもえらく気に入っている。バンクーバーではそうはいかない。
インタビューの終わりにさしかかった頃、ロブに訊いてみた。「音楽家として、観客に何かを与えるという責任があると思う？」ロブは「もちろんだよ！」と即答。「いい音楽にありつくって難しい事だからね。いやホントにそうなんだよ（笑）！僕らがやってきたやり方で音楽家として食って行けてるってのは、凄くありがたいことだと思うよ。本当にやりたいことだけをやって、ビジネスとしては最小限にとどめてきてる。 僕らのようにビジネス面から距離をおきながら、かつ音楽を生活の糧にしてミュージシャンとしてのキャリアを築けてる人たちってそう多くはないからね。だからいざステージに上がると、たとえお客が20人だろうが1000人だろうが、こりゃ今まで観た中で一番すげえ、って思われるショウにしなきゃ、っていう義務感はあるよ。それで飯まで食わせてもらって、泊まる場所も与えられて、家に帰る頃に少し金に残りがあれば・・・WOW！なんてありがたいこった！」
Thanks to: Bingo, Toshio, John Chedsey
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