Interview: Ryoko

When I met Ryoko, she said she used to be in a band. She didn’t make much of it - she never even said the name of the band - so I didn’t try to get any deeper into it. Instead, we just talked a bit about Kofu life and what we wanted more and less of. I thought her point of view would make for an interesting interview.

We arranged to meet, and she sent me this profile she’d prepared when her old band, Thug Murder, was putting on a reunion show (last year.)

THUG  MURDER profile / English 英

They formed girls street punk band called THUG MURDER in Tokyo, Japan in 1999.

The style was very rare and unique at that time in Japan.

They were active for only 2 years, but they became an influential punk band in Japan and worldwide punk scene. 

They toured USA and EU with DROPKICK MURPHY'S, LARS FREDERIKSEN AND THE BASTARDS, REACH THE SKY, SWINGIN' UTTERS etc.

They're also known for playing with RUNNIN' RIOT, THE VARUKERS, KING OF NUTHIN'  and THE UNSEEN, and many other punk bands in USA.

Their American debut was released  from Ken Casey (Dropkick Murphys) 's Flat Records.

They set up their shows DIY, they made their flyers and all the artworks DIY, they were always true to the original punk spirits and ethics.

They've toured in Japan, US and  EU.

Also, they've released their records from STRAIGHT UP RECORDS in Japan, TKO RECORDS in USA, and PEOPLE LIKE YOU RECORDS in EU. 

THUG MURDER stormed to the top of the Japanese punk scene within 2 years, and broke up all in a sudden.

They were praised from world punk scene for their aggressive live performance and their simple rebel songs.

But at 2001, they broke up before the US / EU WARPED TOUR.

Later, Chisato started the rock'n roll band called THE VICKERS THE VICKERS (2003 ～2010) , TIMELESS TIMBER.

RYOKO started street punk band called LAST TARGET (2001～2009), and she plays her band project and acoustic one.

In the beginning of 2019, 20 years after the beginning of the band and 18 years since the break up of the band, the three members have finally come together motivated for the reunion, and has decided to do a show.

I had no idea the band was so well-travelled and rubbing elbows with such good company. I found out later that they also played a festival with Motörhead and Ryoko was familiar with Philadelphia from playing a show at the Electric Factory. It wasn’t hard to find mention of them in  the Japan Times, Florida’s Ink19, Colorado’s Hybrid Magazine, and even NYC’s Village Voice and the Taipei Times. There are also fine reviews of their CD, 13th Round on Amazon.

Ryoko took time to meet me while she was preparing for an upcoming show with her current band, Ryoko Band, and filled me in a bit on her story. She said,

She could never relax at home, in Shizuoka, and found relief in heavy metal music. She just read and spent all her money on metal records. She listened to AC/DC’s The Razor’s Edge again and again. Her hero was Nikki Sixx (from Mötley Crüe.) Once in high school, hanging out with older kids, she got into the Clash and the Ramones. With the older kids, she played in her first band at 16. All through high school she played whatever - bass, guitar, vocals - punk, metal, pop - and whenever she could. 

In Tokyo, she started Thug Murder. They were kind of based out of Shimo-Kitazawa.

Followed by Last Target, also out of Shimo-Kitazawa.

And now Ryoko Band, here in Kofu.

I feel like my blog has been validated upon receiving this CD from Ryoko. As though I’ve really received promotional items.

If you’ve heard a few songs by now, you may have noticed that most Thug Murder songs have English lyrics, but in her more recent music, she sings in Japanese.

At first she was influenced by foreign bands but, after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima disaster, she needed to use Japanese to write more personally, to address the contemporary Japanese spirit. Her writing also started to build on a foundation of love rather than anger. She hopes that will be effective in her music reaching kids who feel like outcasts, the way she felt when younger. She points to Tupac Shakur as an influence. She hears big love in his music.

You may notice that Ryoko is kickboxing in the 決意 video. Actually, she does kickboxing professionally. You can see her in the flier below.

I wondered why kickboxing and not one of the Japanese martial arts (Judo, Karate, or Aikido) instead. I wondered if kickboxing would offer spiritual and cultural rewards as well as a physical one. She set me straight on this.

Her coach told her that kickboxing is originally Japanese. She said it’s really good for concentration. She’s spent some time training in Thailand. And training and competing brings her into closer proximity with violence, an intimacy with fists and knees and shins, and the damage they can do. The presence of violence in the ring makes clear to her how inappropriate violence is outside of the ring, and she has developed a really profound disgust for people who use violence to assert themselves.

Not knowing anything about Japanese punk and hardcore music, I hoped that Ryoko could give me some advice; kind of guide me through the subdivisions and make some representative recommendations. As it turns out, she doesn’t really listen to that much Japanese music (more on that below.) 

She likes her friends’ band for their good lyrics - the Knockers from Sapporo. And for hip-hop she likes Kohh.

So, with regard to Japanese punk, Ryoko’s a little frustrated. She respects the patience of Japanese people, though sometimes you need to get a little angry when you have something to say. The problem with a lot of Japanese punk, is that the anger is artificial. It comes down to songwriting. If you witness injustice, it makes you angry, and you may channel that anger into lyrics. The singer sounds angry because anger is intrinsic to the song. But too often anger is an ornament added to anodyne music. The singer sounds angry merely to meet some expectation.

So if you can make it, Sunday, August 30th, 2020, at Kazoo Hall. No artifice. Anger and love and honesty. (This show will have special social distancing requirements in place.)

Thanks Ryoko for letting me use Facebook photos and YouTube videos.