Shonen Knife In Australia Next Month!

Naoko, Atsuko and Risa make the sugar rush for the stage as these gigantors of Japanese punk pop fire up their quarto decade plus power packs and rocket to their best place… Australia 2024. Hey ho day glo!

Since their humble DIY beginnings in late 1981, Osaka, Japan’s Shonen Knife have been building a faithful following of rock enthusiasts and alternative rock elite, their relentless journey securing the band’s place as one of the pioneer ambassadors of Japanese rock music and culture on the international stage. The rock and roll dreams of three girls blossomed into a reality and the trio continues now into its forty-second year of international touring and recording with their twentieth release Our Best Place released last year. Naoko answers a few questions about the tour for Hi Fi Way.

Another Australian tour, are you excited to be coming back?
Of course! Yes, I am. I love the audience in Australia. They are friendly and lovely. I also like beautiful towns there.

After 43 years of touring internationally do you enjoy it more now than ever before?
Yes, I do. I enjoy touring more than before because I got to know how to do it and how to prepare for the tour. My English has improved a bit and more than before and I can spend time overseas more easily. We have internet and I can do many things than before during tours.

Was so many songs to choose from how hard will it be working out the set list?
Since we have released so many albums, it is difficult to choose. I would like to show our newer side but I also like to play our best hit songs in one show. I usually spend a few days to make the set list.

Sonically, how would you describe new album Our Best Place?
Fun, Pop and Rock album which is early pure Shonen Knife taste.

Quite a few songs are inspired by food. What drives you to write songs about food?
I like to eat delicious food. Food is an international topic and people all over the world understand our songs easily, don’t they? Eating is fun. I want to sing about fun things. I don’t want to sing about negative matters. If I sing about fun things, people who listen to our music may have happy feelings. My hope is I want to make people happy through our music.

Talking about food, what are some of your favourite Australian dishes/ cuisine?
I like fish and chips. I also love Australian wine. So good!

Was it a hard album to make?
Writing lyrics in English is very hard for me. I’m not a native speaker and English lyrics need rhyme. It is so difficult. Putting melody lines are easy for me. Making musical arrangement is hard but fun.

What are your favourite songs from the album?
Everything! But I like MUJINTO ROCK, The Story of Baumkuchen or Vamos Taquitos. MUJINTO ROCK is one of our typical type of songs. The Story of Baumkuchen is a taste of early Shonen Knife. I think Vamos Taquitos is a kind of our new style.

Is there more new music to come?
I hope I can get much inspiration from this Australian tour and make new songs.

So who is the best new band out of Japan right now?
I wish I could introduce new bands but I don’t know. I usually listen to 70’s and 60’s bands.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Shonen Knife on the following tour dates, tickets at https://shonenknife.net/live.html