"It wasn't so much the style of music as the attitude toward performing and doing shows. That's what we wanted to bring back from America to Japan," says Yasuaki Sakai, reminiscing about his immersion in America's Pacific Northwest music scene that began nearly a decade ago as the singer/guitarist of Tokyo indie-rock band Moools.
Lounging in a Shibuya cafe next to his label (7 e.p.) boss and translator, Koji Saito, that is otherwise entirely populated by serious-looking businessmen, Sakai, with his wild shock of hair, is the living embodiment of the word "easygoing." He's also one of the most charming and engaging frontmen in Japanese rock. But it could have been otherwise.
"I started playing guitar from junior high, but I switched to drums for a while because I wanted to be like Motley Crue's Tommy Lee," he muses of his early life in northern Japan's Sendai City, where he grew up. "But once I saw their drum scores, I gave up. If I'd picked an easier band, I might have ended up as a drummer."