Taffy - Interview

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 29 / 10 / 2012

intro

Anthony Strutt chats to young Tokyo-based four-piece Taffy about their music and influences

Taffy are a young Tokyo-based four-piece who have been described as channeling “the best bits of fuzztone bubblegum pop, shoegaze, and psych, with just a dash of Britpop.” The group, which consists of Iris (vocals, guitar), Koichin (bass), Asano (lead guitar) and Ken (drums), have also drawn critical comparisons with Echobelly, the Ramones and the Throwing Muses. They released their debut album, ‘Caramel Sunset’, earlier this year, and in late October and early November played their first ten date tour of the UK. Pennyblackmusic spoke to the band collectively about their music and influences. PB: Taffy is an unusual name. There was an old US singer called Taffy and it has Welsh implications. What was the thinking behind it? T: The band name used to be Salt Water Taffy, but everyone was calling us "Taffy" so we just decided to rename it as it is. We actually didn't know about the Welsh implications until quite recently! PB: Describe your sound in one sentence. T: Art punk. PB: Why do you think movements like Britpop are so popular in Japan? T: We think it's great to share good music regardless of which country you are from, as some bands can are often more popular outside their own country than inside. PB: How do British crowds differ from Japanese crowds? T: British crowds are focused a lot on music whereas Japanese crowds focus more on the bands' appearance and profiles. PB: What other bands or artists do you take inspiration from? T: We don't get much inspiration from other bands, but if any it should be like the Beatles and any classical music that our parents were playing in our childhood. PB: What are you up to for the rest of the year? T: We have finished recording the songs for our next album and they are being mixed right now. We only have a few more months till the end of the year! Everything is happening so fast. PB: Thank you.

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