The White Stripes make live return in Nashville

NME.COM: The White Stripes made their live return last night (May 18) at The Cannery Ballroom in Jack White's new hometown Nashville, Tennessee.

Announced less than 48 hours prior, the pre-tour show sold out in less than five minutes with fans ecstatic to see the duo perform for the first time since December 2005 - and the first time in Nashville since 2001.

Without an introduction, The White Stripes quietly took the stage and quickly began with a cover of Hank Williams Sr's 'Tennessee Border', a fact not lost on the Tennessee crowd who hooped and hollered their approval.

As usual the entire stage was done up in red, white and black, a theme that went so far as to include the stage hands who wore black fedoras with red feathers and even the lighting woman who had dyed her hair red.

Meg White wore a black and white polka dot dress with a red and white polka dot scarf while Jack wore a plain black t-shirt with red trousers and had cut his hair in a way that recalled the his looks on the cover of second album 'De Stijl', possibly in an homage to the band celebrating their tenth anniversary.

Before launching into the title track for their forthcoming album 'Icky Thump', Jack asked the crowd "How's my new hometown doing?" to an overwhelming response but after that the dup got down to business, pounding their way through a set cherry picked from their five album back catalog as well as a few covers including a crowd pleasing version of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'.

The band did showcase several new songs from the forthcoming 'Icky Thump' including the acoustic, country-leaning 'Effect And Cause' and the downbeat story song 'I'A a Martyr For My Love For You'.

However the band had to struggle through some sound issues and an increasingly chatty crowd, which even saw the duo cut one new song, 'I'm Slowly Turning Into You' off after just one verse.

After ending the set with 'Wasting My Time', a smiling Jack returned to the stage for the encore armed with a Polaroid camera which he pointed at Meg and then the crowd before launching into a head banging version of 'Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground'.

The frontman then told the crowd, "We've heard from Hank and we've heard from Dolly", before adding "there's one more" the pair needed to cover in order to complete the Tennessee song cycle.

They then launched into Loretta Lynn's Rated X' featuring Meg handling some off key vocals to the delight of the crowd.

After that Jack announced "Now we've blessed our first show in Tennessee" before ending the show with a raucous version of 'Seven Nation Army'.

The White Stripes played:

'Tennessee Border'
'When I Hear My Name'
'Black Math'
'Do'
'Cause And Effect'
'Jolene'
'Death Letter/Motherless Children'
'Hotel Yorba'
'I'm A Martyr For My Love For You'
'Cannon/John The Revelator'
'Ball And Biscuit'
'I'm Slowly Turning Into You'
'We're Going To Be Friends'
'Apple Blossom'
'Wasting My Time'
'Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground'
'Rated X'
'Seven Nation Army'

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STEVE REICH & SONNY ROLLINS WINNERS OF THE POLAR MUSIC PRIZE FOR 2007

The winners of the Polar Music Prize Award for 2007, were unveiled on Thursday the 25th of January at The Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. The Chairman of the Board and Award Committee, Mr. Åke Holmquist, read the Award Committee’s citations.

The Steve Reich Citation
The 2007 Polar Music Prize is awarded to the American composer and musician Steve Reich. The award recognises his unique ability to use repeats, canon technique and minimal variation of patterns to develop an entire universe of evocative music, endowed with immediate tonal beauty. Inspired by different musical traditions, Steve Reich has transferred questions of faith, society and philosophy into a hypnotic sounding music that has inspired musicians and composers of all genres.

The Sonny Rollins Citation
The 2007 Polar Music Prize is awarded to the American tenor saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, one of the most powerful and personal voices in jazz for more than 50 years. Sonny Rollins has elevated the unaccompanied solo to the highest artistic level – all characterised by a distinctive and powerful sound, irresistible swing and an individual musical sense of humour.

He is still active and the greatest remaining master from one of jazz’s seminal eras.

The prize winners will receive the prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall to be followed by a celebratory banquet at Grand Hôtel on Monday the 21st of May.

The event, which is broadcasted on national television (TV4), attracts international media, members of the international music business, celebrities, artists, musicians, government ministers, politicians and leading members of society and industry.

A whole weekend of activities is being planned under the name of Polar Music Prize Week, encompassing exhibitions, workshops, seminars, film screenings and live performances at various locations in Stockholm. This is an important area of expansion for the prize and it is a means for increasing both local and international awareness of the Polar Music Prize.

Each recipient receives a total amount of one million Swedish Crowns which is equivalent to approximately USD 140.000 or EUR 108.000.

February 1st a reception and press event will be given by the Consul General of Sweden in New York to honour the winners of the Polar Music Prize Award for 2007.

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, one of the true greats in the history of popular music. As the publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA, he played a key role in their enormous success. Anderson donated a large sum of money to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music to establish The Stig Anderson Music Award Foundation in The Royal Swedish Academy of Music and to create what was to become known as the Polar Music Prize.

Its name stems from Anderson’s legendary record label, Polar Records. The Polar Music Prize is an international music prize and awarded to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. The prize breaks down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.

The board of the Stig Anderson Music Award Foundation, consists of representatives from the Stig Anderson family, SKAP (The Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers) and STIM (The Swedish Performing Rights Society). The task of scrutinizing nominations submitted and selecting the ultimate prizewinners is undertaken by an Award Committee comprising of experienced members of the music industry.

Today, the Polar Music Prize has become one of the most prestigious music prize in the world. The list of prize winners bears witness to this. Sir Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Witold Lutoslawski, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Quincy Jones, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Pierre Boulez, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Ericson, Ray Charles, Ravi Shankar, Iannis Xenakis, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Isaac Stern, Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sofia Gubaidulina, Miriam Makeba, Keith Jarrett, B.B. King, György Ligeti, Gilberto Gil and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Valery Gergiev and Led Zeppelin have all been bestowed with the Prize since its inception in 1992. In 1992, the Baltic States were also awarded the Prize to encourage them in their work for protection of copyright.

January 25 was Stig Anderson’s birthday and the year 2007 marks
the 10-year anniversary of his death.

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Rufus Wainwright "Release The Stars" (2007)

If ever there was an artist that embodied both the urbane popular songsmithing of Cole Porter and the epic winged-grandeur of Richard Wagner it is Rufus Wainwright [MySpace]. Having not so much perfected as succumbed to this yin-yang pull on his laboriously ambitious and intermittently inspired 2003 and 2004 albums Want One and Want Two, Wainwright once again delivers a baroque collection of songs on 2007's Release the Stars [iTunes]. Recorded at least partially in Berlin and London with Pet Shop Boys lead Neil Tennant, the album finds Wainwright casting himself as a kind of expatriate torch singer, a veritable Marlene Dietrich of emotion who, as he laments on "Going to a Town," is "so tired of America." In that sense, Release the Stars is at once intensely personal and utterly theatrical with Wainwright playing both ingénue and femme fatale in a series of increasingly cinematic pop-operas about true love gone not so much bad, but sad. He pleads to make it to the other side of town, and possibly the other side of monogamy, with his brown-eyed lover in "Tiergarten" and dreams lazily about, "the boys that made me lose the blues and then my eyesight" on "Sanssouci." While these songs are lushly produced, often with full orchestration, and while Wainwright has a knack for pretty, lilting melodies and concrete imagery there is nonetheless a distinct lack of pop hooks here. In fact, only the chugging T. Rex inspired glam rock of "Between My Legs" gets at any real pop meat. The main problem is that it's never quite clear if Wainwright, who has always been to pop music as cabaret is to Broadway, is dressing opera up as pop or vice versa. However, when you wear custom Lederhosen as well as Wainwright does throughout the album liner notes, does it really matter? [The CD was also released with a DVD.]

Knud Odde "The Lonely Nudist"

Three 45 rpm singles in a box

Produced by Anton Johannes Hejl
Mastering and treatments by Henrik Munch
Graphics design by Morten Ehrhorn
Cover art by Knud Odde
Instruments played
Vocals, kazoo, drums, tapes by Knud Odde
Lap-steel, clavinet, drums, electric guitar, banjo, electric organ by Nikolaj Heyman
Guitar, double-bass, percussion, 8-string electric bass, banjo by Anton Johannes Hejl

Story
In the fall of 2006, Knud Odde was invited to Hjortdal in Hanherred to record music. This location on the northwest coast of Denmark is known for its hard wind and roaring waves.

On the singles you will hear 3 musicians who meet for the first time in a barn - equipped with musical instruments, coversongs, sketches - a starting point for music.

Fabulous Gramophone insists on recording principles, where the musicians work around one microphone. This makes editing out mistakes impossible, which was tough for Knud who is not used to stand out as a singer. This, combined with the uncertainty of the goal, made for some challenging days that were also fun and sometimes really crazy - the musically strong moments took us by suprise.

These are the moments that we now communicate through 3 A and B-sides.


Release

The box will be presented at the opening of Knud Oddes exhibition in Berlin 11. May. More details at PRAXIS HAGEN The music and the artwork are pressed in a limited 500 copies. Which will be sold at PRAXIS HAGEN from 11. May - 7. June 2007.

DJ Peder

PEDER

1/3 of The Prunes
1/3 of Pelding (Jazzfudge Records UK)
1/2 Comedy Show “Gramsespektrum”
1/2 Lizardshakedown Records
1/1 of Peder

Peder [MySpace] has spent too much time in front of his computer screen. Despite working multiple careers that include acting (he has acted in an Emmy Award winning TV show and has appeared in Dogme films), childrens radio show host, DJ (nominated for best Danish hip hop DJ), professional photographer, producer of a Platinum-selling comedy album, and recently becoming a father, he knew it was time to record an album with a new perspective.

As an award winning producer and member of the hip hop production team The Prunes, he has produced, remixed and released a long list of somebodys including the Beastie Boys, DJ Krush, The Roots, and DJ Vadim for labels like Mo’ Wax and Grand Royal. The computer has served him well. But after reading an interview with Rick Rubin, Peder decided to follow the super producer’s lead, and close his eyes and listen instead of looking at the screen. “When you produce music using a computer there’s a risk that your work methods become visual, meaning you look at a screen and try whatever usually works instead of listening," says Peder, "and that’s not what music is about.”

The Rubin intervention led to the album “And He Just Pointed To The Sky.” It’s a very different piece of music for both artist and label. It’s slow, dark, cinematic, soulful and it demands your attention. This is party music for ghosts, Twin Peaks tunes for cold winter nights, and disturbingly eerie and creaky sounds for your iPod. Imagine subtle Hip Hop production on Tom Waits or Nina Simone with Nordic Psalms for extra flavor and you’re getting a little closer to what this album is about. Partly an instrumental record (including a collaboration with Shawn Lee), “And He Just Pointed To The Sky” also features vocalists like Bay Area soul man Nino Moschella, New York based gospel singer Dean Bowman, Danish singers Ane Trolle and Joy Morgan.

Has Peder, the man who was a catalyst at the beginning of the trip hop era and has since produced a massive amount of Hip Hop, grown up, gone mad, or simply lost the plot?

“Producers of hip hop music or any type of music that involves looking at a computer screen will empathize with me!” says Peder. “The album is not a reflection of my mental status, I feel absolutely great. I just love when music, film and art in general takes you and your imagination somewhere else.”

So please, sit back and crank up the gothic, crackly, theatrical, beaten up, and slightly grown-up sound of Peder.


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PEDER TIMELINE:

1973
Born in the suburbs of Copenhagen..

1991
Enters his 1st DJ compettion and The Prunes starts making beats.

1994
Hosts a hiphop show on DR/P3 (National Danish Radio)

1995
The Prunes remixes Beastie Boys “Sure Shot”.
The Prunes releases “Tracks from the darkside” on NewBreed US

1996
Starts working on radio comedy show “Gramsespektrum” with colleague Simon from The Prunes.
Remixes Beastie Boys “Root Down”
Resident DJ at nightclub Pub Elvis

1997
The Prunes remixe Dj Krush feat. The Roots “Meiso” and release “The Plot” on Mo’ Wax amongst others.
Liveband Pelding releases EP for Jazzfudge Records UK.

1998
The Prunes produces “Cantona style” and 8 interludes for the legendary Headz 2 compilation for Mo’ Wax records and remixes Gary Burton amongst others.

1999
Releases comedy album “Gramsespektrum” which earns him a Grammy for best entertainment release and sells platinum in Denmark..
Hosts “Childrens Radio” for DR (a legendary radio show which is spectacular in its complete abssense of education value).
Pelding releases 12” “Days In Shades Of Grey”.
The Prunes remixe and produce different Danish acts and deliver music for the danish motion picture “Pizza King” amongst others.

2000
The Prunes remixe Beastie Boys “Putting Shame In Your Game” and DJ Vadim amongst others and is nominated for a Copenhagen award.
Goes to Photgraphy/Art school “Fatamorgana” for 6 months.

2001
The Prunes remixe “Pass The Mic” for theBeastie Boys DVD release and releases “Rockin’ the mic” EP for Grand Royal records amongst others.
Shoots photos for different Copenhagen nightclubs and labels.
Pelding releases their debut album “Pelding” on Jazzfudge Records UK featuring Motion Man (US) and Jan Kincaid (Brand New Heavies). The album wins a Copenhagn award and receives great rewievs.

2002
Works as a photographer – Clients include BMG/Welt records/DR/EMI/ and various Danish labels and clubs.
The Prunes releases “APX” as a collabo for Danish clothing brand APX..
Resident DJ at internationally acclaimed Vega nightclub in Copenhagen and Ultra Lounge in Dublin.
Plays a part in dogme movie “Se til venstre der er en svensker”
Pelding Scores the movie “Se Dagens lys”
Produces for the project “Nobody Beats The Beats” with Track72..

2003
The Prunes releases “Red Moon” EP for Jazzfudge Records and produce for Maylay Sparks’ album “Graymatter” amongst others
Nominated as DJ of the year at Danish Hiphop Awards.
Shoots photos for K7 and Morr Music amongst others.
Performs live as a keyboard player and DJ with Danish rapper Jokeren

2004
Shoots photos for the book “Saras Dagbog” amongst others (lizardshakedown.net/peder)
Has various small roles in Emmy winning danish series “The Eagle” and the movies “Kinamand” and “Voksne Mennesker”
Produces the track “You know what we about” feat. Louis Logic with Track72

2005
Pelding releases the album “Spine” which is a collabo with jazzsinger Joy Morgan on Peders own label Lizardshakedown Records. The album wins a Danish Music Award for best Urban releases a DR/P3 Gold nomination, great rewievs and heavy airplay.
Acts in the movie “Allegro” and the comedy show “WulffMorgenthaler”
The Prunes releases the compilation album “Odd Jobs” on Japanese label Tri_Eight

2006 Tours Europe (including Elysee Montmartre, Paris and the Infamous Jazz Café, London) as keyboard player and DJ for the Track72 live outfit.
Produces music with Track72 for the movie “Princess”
Acts in the comedy TVShow “Dolph and Wulff”
Performs at Copenhagen Jazz Festival with Pelding & Joy Morgan.
Becomes a father to Malcom, 16th of August.

2007
Releases 1st solo album on Ubiquity Records [iTunes].

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Pure Hell

The world's first original all black punk rock group documented in history established in 1975, originally from Philadelphia. One of the last groups to play with Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols before he passed into "punk rock heaven". Pure Hell came together during NYC's post "Warhol Factory" era of music, hookers, drugs and even murder! A time that shifted the views and attitude of a whole generation. Like the few that they were proud to be of, PH had a short lifespan eventually pulled apart in different directions at that particular time. For instance, their debut album titled Noise Addiction, was released after twenty-eight years. This was part of the results of firing manager Curtis Knight(same person who claimed to have discovered Jimi Hendrix) who seized the original recordings. He then threatened to interrupt their european tour which was arranged through Roy Fisher in 1978(Stinker nailed a Dutch girl)that Knight wanted. Then finally, Knight tainted the bands reputation by molesting a fan at PH's flat in London, England. Then Fisher obtained and attorney and proceeded to take over management of PH. Also, an altered description in advertisement stating that we were other than "typical punk", descended our popularity with die hard fans, at the end of our second and final european tour. Leading to how Mike Snyder of Welfare Records purchased the sessions from Kathy O'Connell. Which was sold upon Knight's demise. In 1986, Spider and Stinker continued appearing and recording on the east and west coasts with various personnel. Spider and Knight both deceased during this current decade. Gordon aka Stinker, Morris aka Chip and Boles aka Lenny remain the existing original members. Our original name in 1974 was Pretty Poison. The title of a movie I took from featuring Anthony Perkins(Psycho) and Tuesday Welds. It may be a bit uncanny that we were enthused with the underground, but it was a time of venturous drug indulgence and mind-altering genre crossing. Art spars with transcendence. Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Alice Cooper were all in a melting pot. In 1975 we checked into the Chelsea Hotel. New York's nightlife accommodated - Wayne County, Patty Smith, The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Dead Boys etc. The Dolls moved us into their loft where particular bands also rehearsed. This was the last stages of their lineup that included Jonny Thunders. I first met Thunders at an after hours club(he smacked me up with dope for the very first time)and later met David Johannsen(in a fedora hat, cashmire coat and high heels) Watching re-runs of "The Untouchables" w/Sylvain. Jerry and Author were in rehab so Spider sat in for their red-patented leather revival shows at the Hippodrome Theatre. Spider and I, would practice "Boots Made For Walking" with Thunders and I kept it for our debut UK single. Malcolm McLaren was managing them and they finally went to Florida where Jonny and Jerry split and eventually formed The Heartbreakers. By 1978, we were preparing to tour Europe. Sid and Nancy had moved to to the states after the breakup of the Sex Pistols. Due to our affliliation with the Dolls and McLaren, it was seemly that we would do a show together. Sid could be intimidating to people who were already envious of his reputation. People were afraid who didn't know him. I think Nancy's family kept them at an arm's length and refused to have Sid's ashes near her grave. One minute we were taking photos at our soundcheck, smoking pot and fooling around. Then at showtime, Sid was so wound up about Nancy or something, that he was kicking doors off their fucking hinges! I dont know what happened to them in the Chelsea Hotel and don't want to speculate because I wasnt there. But it was part of the end for some of the New York/London(sex shops/doll) influenced international gang. Gordon has been examining the concept of returning to the stage that put him in contact with guitarist/co-songwriter that has recorded the Black Box music, Carlos Kamakaze aka Carlos Andreas. He replaced the original guitarist Preston "Chip Wreck" Morris since 1991. Steve Dior London Cowboys (Sid Vicious' guitarist from France), Jeff O'Hara current member of Asylum 66 Thus, recording tracks with the latter during the summer of 2006. Now a quinquagenarian, any project he undertakes should have a new feel. But the motto on the swastika t-shirts designed by Malcolm McLaren will always mean just what it said: NO FUTURE FOR ANY KIND OF DICTATORSHIP!!! [MySpace]

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Alan Vega "Station" (2007)

Five years in the making, Alan Vega's tenth solo release, Station [iTunes], is a blistering statement of intent from a rock'n'roll shaman whose work has always stretched parameters, managing to defy expectations at every turn.

As Vega himself says, “Station represents a kind of culmination point for me. It gathers up many of the elements that have been in my previous work and takes them all the way. In many ways, it's my most truthful record in that I'm now at the age where it’s easier for me to listen to my own heart-beat and act on it creatively.”

Station marks the latest decisive stage in a musical journey that began for Alan Vega way back in 1970 in downtown New York. A visual artist and singer, Vega teamed up with the classically trained Martin Rev to form Suicide.

For the past twenty years, Vega's music has continued on its ever-innovative, fiercely uncompromising course. Twice, in 1988 and 2002, he has reunited with Martin Rev for Suicide tours to coincide with the release of albums (A Way Of Life and American Supreme) that found the duo at the full extent of their sonic potency.

Since the mid-80s, Vega has released five solo albums: Deuce Avenue (1990); Power On To Zero Hour (1991); New Raceion (1993); Dujang Prang (1995); and 2007 (1999). These are works of steep, accelerating imagination and intent, supremely innovative in their employment of beats, riffs and electronic dissonance. The intensity refuses to relent on the eleven wildly diverse tracks that make up Station which offers itself as Vega’s most antagonized and politically focussed work to date.

“I guess it is an angry album,” says Vega. “People have always told me that my music is angry. To me, it was always just an energy. It was the way I perceived the world. When Suicide started out, the Vietnam War was going nuts with Nixon dropping bombs everywhere. Suicide was very much a reaction to all the shit that was going on around us. The key Suicide song was Dream Baby Dream which was about the need to keep our dreams alive. I knew back then that something poisonous was encroaching on our lives, on all our freedoms. When I started work on this new album five years ago, it truly felt that that dream was beginning to die. It’s like all the fears I had about the world in the 70s had come true. I’d get so close to finishing the album. Then the world situation kept evolving, my anger kept rising and the music kept moving closer and closer to the heart of the matter. Y’know, people have always said that my work was ahead of its time. But I’ve always believed it’s been right on time.”

Right now, Alan Vega sounds like he’s never been more on time. “I’m hot,” he says. “Hot like a pistol, man.” [MySpace].

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Elliott Smith "New Moon" (2007)

On May 7, 2007, Domino will release a double CD of music by Elliott Smith entitled New Moon. The album contains 24 songs recorded 1995-1997, a prolific time in Smith's career, when he recorded his self-titled album Elliott Smith and Either/Or (both also released by Domino).

Arguably the most gifted song-writer of his generation, Elliott Smith produced a large body of work that includes five solo albums, as well as From a Basement on the Hill (2004), a collection of songs completed before his death in 2003. Like his other work, New Moon reflects the power of Smith's ability to integrate rich, melodic music with poetic, multi-layered lyrics.

Click here to order your copy of 'New Moon'.

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Gallhammer @ Viceland

Tokyo’s Gallhammer are three hot teenage girls who look cute and play in a band. Big whup, right? Well how about the fact that they play fucked-up crusty punky black metal and are obsessed with Celtic Frost, Hellhammer and Amebix?

From what we heard, they have G-Anx seven inches underneath their beds, Crucifix bootlegs in the kitchen sink and the master tapes to the first ever Bleaaaaauggh! compilation hidden at the back of the wardrobe. They wear shredded Nausea T-shirts to go to the shops and take group baths listening to Anti-Cimex. Rumours also circulate that they each own a copy of the Infest Slave 12 inch where the vinyl is blue on one side and green on the other.

Are any of the crust punks with dogs on strings reading this in love yet? Why not?

Vice: So what music did you grow up on?

Vivian Slaughter (bass, vocals): When I was a little girl I listened to heavy metal. Example, Judas Priest and Metallica. When I was around 14 years old, I found death metal. And then, I had been in the free jazz and noise scene for a while in my teenage years. But when I was 20 years old, I came back to listen to old school metal and UK hardcore.

Why did you decide to release a CD with demos/rehearsals on it? When will a real new album come out?

Vivian: At first, Peaceville wanted to re-release Gloomy Lights. But that was released from Goat Sucker Records of Mexico and Bestial Beast of Finland. People can buy that album still now and we declined label proposal. Maybe the next album will be released this summer. We are mixing it now.

How did you develop such a heavy singing voice?

Vivian: I sang for grindcore and fast punk bands before, so it developed naturally.

Are you trying to create a Hellhammer-vibe with the lyrics too? What do you sing about?

Vivian: I write lyrics about my personal things and my inner feelings. I am not conscious about a Hellhammer vibe. And my lyrics has many Japanese words too.

Risa Reaper (drums): I wrote only one lyrics for Gallhammer (a part of Blind My Eyes). I expressed simply a negative part of my inner feeling. However, I make much of the sense of rhythm than meaning.

It seems that Japanese artists, like you, have this ability that you find only in Japan—to take musical styles and looks from the West, and create a new, original version of it which makes it even more extreme. You always know how to catch the things that are the most important elements of any style, focus only on that, and the result is always a wonderful exaggeration of those styles. I think Gallhammer are also like that. What do you think?

Risa: I think there are Japanese national traits in Gallhammer.

Vivian: I am influenced by overseas bands and by Japanese underground bands that I had watched too. There are a lot of great bands in Japan. And, I think Gallhammer is very unique because we do not fit into a frame of a music scene. Also, I was born in a Catholic family. That is one element that makes our music different from other Japanese bands.

Ok. Here’s a lazy question to end up with; got any funny tour stories?

Risa: We once got stuck on a 12-hour long traffic jam.

Vivian: The other day, we went to tour by public bus from Tokyo to Osaka. At the rest station of a highway, me and Risa was forgotten by driver, we were almost left there two times. That was funny for us. And, we do not yet have a strange experience.

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