Japanese label WATERSLIDE RECORDS reissued THE WIMPY'S first full length album DO THE WIMPY'S HOP! with no less than 7 bonus tracks! In their own words, THE WIMPY'S play the perfect soundtrack for an American teenage movie i.e. they are mixing the oldies Rock & roll vocals and harmonies with a power pop/70's punk energy. Time for this blog to talk to bass player Hirocky:
1) For the viewers of this blog who would not know you, What would you tell about The Wimpy's to introduce yourselves? How long are you together as a band? Who is playing what instrument in the band? How did you come up with the name of the band?
We are punk rock & roll band, The Wimpy's from Osaka Japan. Our line up has been same from the beginning, Hirocky (Bass, Chorus), Sobby (Guitar, Chorus), Yummy (Vocal & Guitar) and Annie (Drums). We love punk rock music and oldies music equally and want to combine together.
We started this band as The Wimpy's around 1995-1996. All members went to the same college and we belonged to the same music/band association in that college.
I (Hirocky : Bass & Cho) was in other two bands before The Wimpy's started. One of them called "Gas 3" which was Rip-Off record styled killer garage punk and we released one single on Skippy Records. And the other one was called "Bug Sneakers" which was more Lookout record styled pop punk and we also released some singles.When these bands broke up, I asked Sobby (Guitar & Cho) to start a new band together.
He was in other band called The Rabies which was more Screeching Weasel/The Queers style punk rock and they also released one single on Skippy Records but they were not so active. I asked him to join as guitarist because he likes pop punk but also he also likes more rock & roll style. We started to play as a trio with our friend as a temporary drummer, but we soon realized we needed another member who could sing well as a lead singer for more pop style and also play backing guitar because we want to play several styles songs, but we wanted to develop our own unique sound with keeping pop punk rock style, so we asked Yummy (Vocal & Guitar) to join. He always hung around with us and we knew he was a very good singer. In the end we needed an actual drummer, so we asked Annie (Drums) to join. He was playing drums in Bug Sneakers with me before.
About the name, we did not have an actual name until our first show, so we had to decide it. Sobby picked up this name because of the former singer of The Queers, "Wimpy". Also we like the meaning of this word too. A Couple of years later Wimpy actually came to Japan with The Queers for some shows here and we met and he gladly gave us his permission to use this name!
2) About your full length record "DO THE WIMPY'S HOP!", what can you tell about the recording process? Was this a "live" in the studio recording or a track by track recording with lots of overdubs?
We always record our music at the same recording studio in Osaka called "Studio A" with the same recording engineer named Mr. Nakajima. Their recording charge is very cheap, so it was very helpful for poor punk rockers when we recorded this 1st album. We recorded the basic instruments part as "live" in the studio, We were not so mature players and we still did not have any digital recording equipment like pro tools, so if somebody made a little mistake, we had to do the song all over again. However I think we did all songs in one day. We added the lead vocals and choruses and some additional guitars part. We always record all the vocal/chorus part twice and put them together, but we try not to do anything that we cannot do on the stage because so many times we got disappointed with some bands because they don't or they can't play or sing their own music the way it is captured on record, you know what I mean??
3) Do you use the nowadays digital recording technology or do you guys only work with analog machines in analog studios?
We are not so picky about that. We only want to record songs with some decent quality and charge. First time I recorded songs at a studio, it was still recorded on reel tape, and it was very tough because we could not make any mistake. So nowadays digital recording help us a lot, but also even young not matured bands can record their songs like some very experienced bands, so as my opinion it makes music not exciting, especially punk bands. Sometimes young and not mature punk sound make some miracle.
4) Is there a main composer in the band or is everybody involved in one way or another?
Mostly Sobby writes songs, and I write a few songs, but we arrange the songs all together at the studio.
If we have it difficult to decide about some ideas, mostly Sobby or I will make the decision. Also we are Japanese and English is not our native language so my wife, Beccee is American so she helped us with English from our 2nd album.
5) What is your favorite topic/topic that comes easily when you write a new song?
Definitely heartbreak/love like 50's or 60's rock music and some irritated situation we are facing in our life. Actually our 1st demo, we sang about some Ramones related fake story, but Chris from Surfin' Lungs suggested that it would be better for us to sing more our own real stuff, so we changed our style.
6) To what kind of music did you listen to as teenagers and does it still influence your today work? What were your favorite bands as a teenager? Name 3 bands that you consider still have a influence on your own work today.
My first purchased CD was "Tribute to Randy Rhoads" by Ozzy Ozbourne when I was 11 years old. I think I was a metal head as a teenager. Definitely it does still influence me today because the first time I watched the video of a G.B.H show, I thought their music was very good but their live performance was very boring. Their audience seemed to be more aggressive and passionate than the band itself. Mostly metal bands perform in a more exciting way on stage, in my opinion, so I still like doing head banging or dancing around on stage and that's the influence. 3 favourite bands as a teenager and still have a influence on me : probably Misfits/Anthrax/The Wildhearts
7) Do you have a new video on youtube featuring a track from the CD?
We don't have it now . But soon we will have movie clip with our Muffs cover song for my friend youtube channel.
8) What can concert goers expect at a gig of The Wimpy's? Are you playing any famous cover songs during the gig?
Fun & Smile! If you will know the songs, you can enjoy to sing along. We do some cover songs, but maybe they are not very famous. These days we do alot "Little Wild One" from movie called "That Thing You Do", "Work Out" of Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumbler and also "Beat Your Heart Out" by Zeros. Before We covered "She's The One", "Hawaii", "Loyola" and "You Make Me Crazy".
This month we recorded a Queers cover "I Met Her At Rat" for the Queers tribute Vol.2 which will be released by Council-Pop Records & Pro Rawk Records sometimes in the future, and also a Muffs cover "End It All" for my friend's youtube channel.
9) Are there any bands in Japan today you consider yourself close to, musically speaking?
Piggies (They released their music only Japan, but Waterslide will release their new album soon, so they will be known more internationally), Supersnazz (I really miss them!), Charlie & The Hot Wheels (Real Surf punk rock & roll band but they released their albums only in Japan)
10) How would You describe the music you're playing?
Soundtrack for American teenage movie. Or Rock & roll music with oldies heart and punk rock engine. We are trying to present music in Pop Punk Rock & Roll style with mixing oldies/power pop/70's punk.
11) What are the plans for 2021 as far as The Wimpy's are concerned?
We will release a new album. The recording is finished. So it will be released this summer.
Also we will join the Queers tribute, but I am not sure when will it be released.
12) Anything you wanna add?
Thank you for interview. I wish people will check our songs on Spotify/Youtube/Apple and if you will like us, please buy CDs anywhere you can buy.
No comments:
Post a Comment