A quick update

Hello, dear readers. This is just a quick message to apologize for the lack of updates and to assure you that the blog is still alive and well!

Obviously the interviews we had planned to release in May and June have taken us longer than anticipated to translate and release. The main reasons being lack of time. Personally I'm in the midst of a life change. My current job is ending and I'll be moving to a new city very soon. (Sapporo here I come!) So I've been trying to wrap up my life here and it's taken up nearly all my free time. The other members have had equally busy schedules for the past few months and so we've not been able to sit down and polish the interviews.

I don't want to release them until I'm completely satisfied with the product, and so I've held off in the hopes of a free night to get em done. A night which hasn't happened yet...

So, apologies for being so far behind! But in lieu of immediate interview release, here are the interviews that we have coming up for you:

Cherry Boys - Mark Mowbray, Kanno Kiyomi, Morimoto Kozue, Munekata Takao　

Meme8 - Osamu Sakurai, Kenji Suzuki

OKI - Oki Kano

They'll all be posted ASAP!! Sign up for email alerts on the right. We'll only email you when we add a new interview (or short message like this).

-Emilio Buonanni

3skins - Clive, Alex, Jon

     Hello and welcome to the fourth installment of Hokkaido Band Hunt!! It's been a long winter here in Hokkaido, but spring has finally really sprung. Finally!! The warm weather is slowly melting all the snow and the joyful song of birds (specifically Japan's monstrous death-crows) can be heard all around. Human song is equally abundant this spring, and we caught up with one of the baddest three-pieces in Sapporo before they played at a recent Dead Rock Stars event. This month we bring you, 3skins! Here's a short bio from their facebook page:

     3SKINS formed in 2008 in Sapporo, Japan. Whether your favorite music is the 70s, 80s or rock songs of today, you won't help but jump into the sound that is the 3SKINS!! The 3Skins perform in and around Hokkaido making every experience one that all who attend will remember.The group is composed of:

Clive Stansfield

Vocals + Bass

Alex Balazik

Lead Guitar

  

Jonathan Mott

Drums

This month:

 HBH: Hey guys! Thanks so much for sitting down with us before your show. Do you want to introduce yourselves?

Alex:   I’m Alex, I’m the guitarist of the band.

Clive:   I’m Clive I do bass and vocals.

Jon:   My name’s Jon, I am percussion and the overall cement that keeps this band together.

HBH:   What are your individual backgrounds?

Alex:   I started playing guitar 21 years ago now and I’ve been living in Japan for 13 years. Clive here is my best friends from Oz, we were in a band together in high school and then I moved here and Clive followed about 6 years ago.

Clive:   Yeah, I had to follow.

HBH:   Where are you from?

Alex:   Sydney, Australia.

Clive:   I’m also from Sydney, Australia.

HBH:   You two went to high school together?

Clive:   Yeah I went to the same high school as Alex. I started around the same time playing guitar. I played acoustic and listened to my mother play classical, which was cool. Then I got a taste of a guy doing blues and I started to want to...

Jon:   (Laughs)

Clive:   Well not tasted him... A taste of some music which was uh...

Alex:   (Laughing)

Clive:   Yeah, let’s edit that part out…

HBH:   (Laughs) It’s ok, I’ll make it “I tasted a guy”

Jon:   “I tasted a blues man, and I was hooked!”

Clive:   (Laughs) So anyway…I started with classical, and then did blues and then moved and started playing bass for the first time with a band in high school.

HBH:   What kind of music did you guys play?

Clive:   We played originals. Rock and funk, kinda fusion, and we used to play in a lot of venues and stuff. We used to get a rider, it was excellent.

Alex:   It was a lot of fun, a lot of work.

Clive:   We did a lot of parties though.

Alex:   Yeah, a lot of parties.

Clive:   Which we don’t really remember anymore. (Laughs) Yeah, and then I followed Alex, He said the scene for music over here was amazing, so I came over and we started this band. Then we met Jon.

Jon:   So, I’m not from Australia. I didn’t go to high school with these guys. I didn’t meet them until 3 years ago.

HBH:   So where are you from?

Jon:   I’m from the sprawling metropolis of Lovettsville. Which is a little country town 45 minutes west of DC. Born in DC, raised in Lovettsville. Which explains my redneck flavor, my affinity for large monster trucks, Metallica, and PBR. I started playing drums my dad had, it was a 1950’s Slingerland sparkle snare, and a sizzle ride with the rivets in it. So I used to slam on that. When I was 15 I bought a beat up Ludwig from some upper classman, got a double bass pedal and tried to mimic Dave Lombardo from Slayer. I ended up having to play Nirvana tunes cuz Slayer was too fast. Had a couple bands in school and then stopped playing drums for a couple years.

HBH:   So when you were in high school you played mostly rock?

Jon:   Yeah. Played nirvana, tried to play Tool.

HBH:   Tool in high school is always hilarious.

Jon:   Yeah, I had like four or five toms and I tried to dothese Danny Cary rolls all the way down. And my moms like “Honey, please stop.” But yeah, we tried to do covers like that, we would do Neil Young, Zepplin, The Eagles. I had another buddy, a bassist, and we would do Primus tunes. And ever since him I’ve never been able to find a bassist who loves Primus like I do. (Looks intently at Clive)

Clive:   I love Primus! I do.

Jon:   Ok, name three Primus songs.

Clive:   Um...Primus 1...

Jon:   (laughs) See? There ya go. Then in college my roommates and I, we had a full basement, so we had a kit and PA. Then I didn’t play for a couple years again. And then I came over here and met these lovers, these Sydney lover boys.

Alex:   The first time we met was at a barbecue I was like, “Who is this tall, long haired dude?”

Jon:   And that was the beginning of it all.

HBH:   So when did you get together?

Alex:   Three years ago.

Clive:   Three and a bit, maybe.

Jon:   Yeah. Since then we’ve written six songs.

Clive:   Technically it’s six and half. (Laughs)

Jon:   We’ve written about six and then, if you combine all the halves, we’ve written 100.

HBH:   How did you come up with the name?

Jon:   I think we were drinking and I said something…

Alex: Yeah he came up with the name foreskins as a joke, and then I said “Well, we’re a three piece, so let’s call ourselves the 3skins.”

HBH:   (Laughs) And how would you describe the sound of the group?

Jon:   Edgy, avant-garde, experi-pop, blues, funk n’ roll…

Alex:   yeah there’s definitely a little bit of funk in there, blues.

Jon:   …funk-punk…

Clive:   We’re trying to get a little bit heavier, eh?

Jon:   …Swedish black metal…

Alex:   We do a lot of groove.

Jon:    …grind…

Clive:   Have we kind of talked about every genre possible?

HBH:   I think so, yeah.

Jon:   …we’re a rock and roll band.

Clive:   Yeah.

HBH:   So how would you describe your songwriting process?

Jon:   Evolutionary.

HBH:   In what sense?

Jon:   In the sense that it takes a long time and it travels the path of least resistance, but ultimately the product is a beast of nature.

Clive:   Well, there’s that. (laughs) I think recently we’ll all bring something in and jam the shit out of it. See how it goes and then try and create different parts. Alex always records the practices so we always get a copy and listen to it as much as we can.

Alex:   Yeah, recent songs I think Clive comes up with a main idea and we just kind of add our input into it. I’ll write the bridge for it or a different part of the song.

Clive:   Yeah, and then Jon cements the whole thing.

Jon:   It’s an equal collaboration. Definitely I would say that Clive and Alex put in more of the ideas and I come up from the bottom and support them with my big funky fills.

HBH:   So, you guys are currently in the process of recording a CD, have you been writing new material for that?

Clive:   Yep!

Alex:   Actually we have two new songs.

Clive:   Yeah, they’re a bit quieter. We’ve got a few other ones we’d like to do, but I don’t think they’re going to make it into the recording.

HBH:   When are you planning on releasing the CD?

Jon:   Japanese release is in May, I think the American/European release is in June?

Clive:   Yeah, June

HBH:   Are you releasing digitally on sites like iTunes?

Clive:   Yeah, I think. We haven’t really thought too much about distribution and stuff. I think people still want that hard copy.

Jon:   Hard physical gratification. Owning the disc. Having it.

Clive:   Then using it as a drink coaster.

Jon:   (Laughs) Yeah after you rip it once you’re like “This is trash.”

HBH:   Let’s talk about live shows. You recently did the Sapporo TED conference. How was that?

Clive:   Yeah! It was very good, it was excellent.

Alex:   That was just an acoustic set.

Jon:   I went snowboarding. I was there in heart and spirit.

Clive:   The only problem was I think that on the live internet feed there was no sound.

Alex:   Yes, you could see us, but you couldn’t hear us.

HBH:   What other shows have you guys done lately?

Jon:   We had a show at Pete’s Bar

Clive:   Yeah we haven’t been doing much lately. We just been trying to get this album thing up and running.

Alex:   Yeah, focused on the recording.

Clive:   But after the recording we’re going to play at Colony and then maybe Craps Hall, and then Otaru Goldstone. The guy who’s producing the album has other bands and we’re going to go around with one them and tour all we can.

HBH:   Who’s producing the album?

Clive:   Mimi

Alex:   From Kannon Records. He’s taking care of us and will be helping distribute the CD, and organize gigs and the release party for us.

HBH:   Any other live shows you have fond memories of?

Clive:   Mole was great.

Jon:   Mole was really fun, it was maybe 2 years ago. Some guy had made an Indie movie for the Sapporo Film Festival and his buddy wrote a song, which he sang to and we jammed. Then we did three original songs.

Alex:   That was our first gig actually. And it was great, it was packed. It was good fun.

Jon:   The last show we did at Sound Crue was an S&M show.

HBH:   Just you guys? Or...

Jon:   No, no, no! The last act before us was a chick, naked except for little cotton panties, who was tied, hoisted and whipped. There were a hundred dudes watching it and then we were the next act up. It was nerve-wracking. We owned it, but it was tough.

HBH:   So how about Dead Rock Stars(DRS)? Have you been playing at these events for awhile?

Clive:   Well that’s pretty much been it, eh?

Alex:   Our first show at Sound Crue was a DRS event.

Clive:   We really haven’t been solidly looking for gigs. So for a long time whenever someone would ask, we would do it. But we haven’t actively been searching. But we will do it.

Alex:   After this record.

HBH:   How would you describe your live shows?

Jon:   Well it depends on the audience and how long we’re going to play. When we played in Niseko, for a bunch of Aussies who didn’t know who we were, we did a lot of covers.

Alex:   Yeah, we had to fill an hour.

Jon:   But when we do places like Sound Crue we’ll do more originals.

Alex:   If its a 20-30 minutes set we’ll do only originals.

HBH:   What kind of covers do you like to do?

Alex:   Rock and roll, some AC DC.

Clive:   Yeah, and we do funk as well.

Jon:   Crowd pleasers, Sex Machine, some James Brown.

HBH:   Well that sounds like a killer show. Speaking of shows, you have to go on soon! Thanks so much for talking with us today! Is there anything else you want to add?

Clive:   Anyone that reads the blog, please come and check us out! Anyone and everyone is welcome!

The 3skins have some shows coming up within the next few months! Check them out at:

• June 23rd - Goldstone in Otaru

• July 7th - CD release show!! At Sound Crue

• July 27th - Colony in Sapporo

For more information on future gigs (or the band in general) follow the links below!

3skins on facebook 

Kannon Record

3skins Official Website - Coming Soon!

That's it for this month's HBH! Hope you enjoyed the interview, I know I did. I had to cut out a fair amount of it to keep it short and sweet, but I had to get rid of some hilarious sections. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll release an unedited version for you all. Let me know if that's something you'd want to read! Next month we'll be bringing you another great interview so be sure to check back often! You can always sign up for email alerts on the right so you don't miss our updates! See you in May!

Also we're always open to suggestions for bands to interview! You can find our contact details in the "Contact HBH" page (link at the top!).

Emilio Buonanni

Una Volkova

Kohtaroh Takaizumi