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Q & A: THE LAMB

We chat with Japanese city pop band The Lamb

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR US WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOU AND

YOUR MUSIC AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.

Hi, we’re The Lamb, Japanese “City Pop" band.

Noboru Watanabe (vocals, guitar), Junpei Ogino (bass), Yushi Nakajima (drums), Kyuto Uno (keyboards), and Shinjiro Yamada (saxophone).

Formed in Tokyo in 2019, they have self-released 4 EPs.

The song "Plastic Girl" was ranked #24 at the highest on Spotify's Japanese viral top 50, and has been featured on many official Spotify playlists.

In 2021, "Tokyo" has been featured on international music blogs and reaction videos, and is attracting attention from city pop fans in Japan and abroad.

March of the same year, we signed a contract with Luuv Label, a music label in Shanghai, China.

In September, we signed with UK music label, The Animal Farm.

In November, we start to release 3 singles which we produced together.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM OR SINGLE?

The new single is titled "Atlantis" and will be released on November 12.

This is the first track to be released on the UK label. The rainy streets of Tokyo are like a sunken civilization, and there's a bit of irony about the Olympics being forced to be held in COVID-19.

WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM OR SINGLE?

Ville from the label approached us after hearing our song "Tokyo". He encouraged us to release a new song together. It was a great honor. In Japan, it's very rare to release a song on a UK label, so it was very difficult to think about what song to write.

CAN YOU SUM UP THE ALBUM IN A FEW WORDS?

Thanks for the last one. Try to make the answers a bit longer, a bit more elaborate. Use the space to be as interesting as possible.

Do you know the music called "City Pop"? It seems to get more attention overseas than in Japan these days. European DJs are digging up old Japanese records, especially from the 70s and 80s.

This is probably the same for our music, I think this style of music was originally born in the UK or US. It came to Japan many years ago, changed, and is still here today.

How do you feel when you hear this music? Nostalgic? Or new? I don't know, maybe the sound of Japanese words is strange.

But I hope you like it.

WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND WHY?

"Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" (Derek and the Dominos), maybe. 14 years old, I practiced guitar all summer vacation. I wanted to be Eric Clapton.

And I learned that it's okay to put my personal feelings and passions into my music. So I didn't have to be politically correct or sing about world peace.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO FILMED BY YOUR BAND OR ANOTHER

ARTIST?

Our video would be "Tokyo". I bought my first house last year, and I invited my band members there to shoot. It's very relaxing.

For other artists, there are too many music videos to choose a favorite but... I love everything by Radiohead.

WHAT WOULD WE FIND YOU DOING WHEN YOU'RE NOT MAKING MUSIC?

I work out every day. I also cook, read, and work.

DO YOU GET NERVOUS PERFORMING LIVE, IF SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT?

When I was a teenager, I used to throw up in the backstage area. But as I've gotten older, I'm not nervous at all. I don't know why, either I've experienced too many more awful things, or my sensitivity has dulled, haha.

HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?

Yushi (drummer) and I are local friends since we were teenagers. I think he is the person I can trust the most in music, except for myself. He can do a lot of things that I can't.

Junpei (bass) was introduced to me by Yushi when the ex-bassist quit. He's older than me. He is the band's mascot with his trademark hairstyle.

I met Shinjiro (saxophone) at one of the sessions. I loved his saxophone and invited him to join the band right away.

Shinjiro introduced me to Kyuto (Keyboads) and said, "He's the best one I know”. He was right.

HOW DO YOU WRITE? - DO YOU HAVE A KEY SONGWRITER, OR DO YOU ALL WORK

TOGETHER?

Songwriting is done by me alone. The band arranges the songs, so the ideas keep changing.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Ex-girlfriend.

WHAT IS NEXT?

Singles will be released on November 12, January 7, and March 4.

PLEASE TELL US ANY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS SO WE CAN SHARE.

Website: https://www.thelamb.info/