Jake Arntson (vocal, trumpet, harmonica) Grant McGaheran (synth, beats, melodica, vocal) and Tatsumi Ochiai (synth, computers, vocal)
Influences
Prince, Roland Kirk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, The Cure, Lee Perry, Horace Andy, King Tubby, Scientist, Mad Professor, CAN, Kraftwerk, Steely Dan, Depeche Mode, DAF, Divine, Sisters of Mercy, Quasimoto, MF Doom, De La Soul, Public Enemy, Throbbing Gristle, Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band, The Smiths, XTC, Booker Little, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Elvis Costello, Bill Hicks, Peter Cook, Serge Gainsbourg, Devo, R.E.M., Wilco, Death Cab For Cutie, Nirvana, Yes, King Crimson, Camberwell Now, Guernica, Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley, John Oswald, Residents, Arthur Russell, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Faust, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Magazine, UB40, The Specials, Madness, Material, Stereolab, Massive Attack, Portishead, Tindersticks, pumping Italo, dusty European folk records, early house, funk and the need to dance...
Sounds Like
At the moment, mutant electro-blues, melancholy psychedelic disco, pumping gothic exercise music, ambient jazz nightmares. Subject to change at any time.
Abikyokan was formed in 2004.
We are Japanese, American and British and are based in Tokyo.
We are:
Ochiai Tatsumi - from Chiba, a longtime progressive rock and experimental music fan, a veteran of numerous avant and noise projects and a mash-up DJ and ace producer par excellence.
Jake Arntson - from Seattle, prolific songwriter and player of all instruments, Jake brings an open mind to new kinds of music while keeping his melodic roots in rock and soul and a razor sharp pop sensibility.
Grant McGaheran - from Sheffield, and a believer in that city's roots in dance and electronic music, Grant mixes influences as diverse as dub, Italo disco and East European folk into his sampledelia, beats and non-musician musicianship.
Abikyokan started off attempting to cram all their influences into one new kind of pop music with the benchmarks of Prince and Slayer. When they were joined by a drummer and guitarist in 2005 the band took the tunes on the road and they mutated into all kinds of rock and dub positions - they got noisy, hard drinking and accidentally earned a reputation as a dangerous and unpredictable live act. The loss of the drummer and guitarist, led the three-piece Abikyokan remain to strip back the sound to their most basic feelings about music - that experimentation is best when it isn't forced, that pop can be genre-defying and strange while still accessible. and that technology and dance music are both deliciously primal and fantastic things and also conveniently deplored by the rock conservatism they see as their enemy.
Abikyokan released their second, band-defining album "Zuper" in 2005 and will follow up with "Novaya Zemlya" this year.
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