Japanther
by Matt
Dixon, March '07 Photo by Paul
Hammond
River
Phoenix from Scuffed Up My Huffy
1. Please introduce Japanther/Tapes
Records.
Hi my name is Ian Vanek and [in] 2001 my friend Matt Reilly and
I started playing shows under the name Japanther. Three years
prior to that I started a tiny imprint called Tapes Records (Ha
Ha) to release Black Dice and Federation X 7 inches in conjunction
with tours I did with both of those great bands.
2. How would you describe Japanther?
Well, we like cartoons and hip hop a lot. So imagine a punk band
that got caught in a cartoon like pokimon or something. Then limit
those cartoon punks to whatever they can scrap together in their
bedroom. Instant money magic! Wha-la you have Japanther.
3.
What were the original goals of the band?
Matt, I have to say the goal was to travel and friendship and
that has been achieved ten fold! We are continuing the endless
mission to play every city on earth. Our dreams just keep getting
bigger as we make more friends.
4.
How did the idea of using telephones for mics come about?
We broke a lot of gear before we knew what we wanted out of it
and then we made a phone mic on a whim and it sounded great. Light
distortion is just what the doctor ordered. I think I got the
idea from Doo Rag (Bob Log) or Bowie or Lauri Anderson... does
it matter? We have pink ones now from Berlin!
5. What are some of the things you try to communicate through
your music?.
That is tough. Our personal politics aren't as important as our
goals as a group. Japanther intends to unite as many people as
possible through dancing and singing. In order to achieve this
we have to drop a lot of the politics and focus on similarities.
Lyrical themes include: advertising subversion, divorce, personal
health, death of a loved one, hollywood, abortion, travel, oil
crisis, bicycles, etc...
6.What inspires you as a band? What are some of yr major influences?
Man, our friends influence us the most. Bruce Odland cooked us
dinner in Croton on the Hudson in upstate New York two nights
ago. He is a major influence on us collectively. Good food inspires
us a great deal. Illegal grafitti makes us smile. I walk around
collecting photos of "Fillins" for my zine. We listen to pop punk,
hip hop, country, books on tape, wbai, npr, soul music, folk music,
comedy records, and pop music old/new.
7.What has been yr most memorable live show to date?
There are too many to list here but off the top of my head I would
say the Swoon Opening. We played using a generator out of the
back of a rented truck in Soho (Lower Manhattan) to about 1000
people dancing and going nuts. They blocked traffic and crowd
surfed all the way down the black. We snapped the door shut and
got away before the cops could get through the massive crowd.
People were cheering and beating the truck so loudly, we felt
like the Beatles.
8.
What made you want to be in a band of yer own?
Lack of good bands in NYC.
9.
What are your current top five?
Car Can Be Blue, Hold Steady, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Allergic
to Bullshit, Pine Hill Haints. I really dig the Haints right now
and Allergic to Bullshit.
10.What can we expect
in the future from Japanther / Tapes?
Bent Outta Shape LP/CD just came out on Tapes [Records] last year.
It is steadily selling out of stores but we have a few more. They
sound like Springstein esque DIY punk rock soul. Japanther just
did The Living Grave EP on Tapes and Menlo Park Recordings. We
have plans for a DVD of our punk rock puppet show and a few singles
(one American and one Australian) and finally a new LP this fall.
11.How can kids
get in touch with you?
Japanther.com, Tapesrecords.com, p82a@yahoo.com, 76 Franklin Apt
2r Brooklyn, NY 11222.
12.Final
words? Fuck
yeah, you can start a band and do as well if not lots better than
us. We know very few chords but we love music. Our common love
of The Ramones and comedy drove us all over the U.S., Canada,
Europe, Australia and continues to pay for our trips all over.
You and only you can make Rad American (Canada) a reality. Make
your square foot totally rad! We must unite and destroy the old
way!
