Robby
haven’t toured over there for seven
years now. And I’ll be back there again
this Christmas. But regarding the music,
IE: How do you find your bands? And
you prefer female-fronted ones, right?
RT: That was sort of the idea. Once we
got involved with Shonen Knife, I was
courted by a whole bunch of majors
over there, who started calling when
they saw that I put out their album. So
we released a couple of records that
were on majors over there, and it was a
nightmare, just dealing with the whole
corporate structure in Japan. I’m not cut
out for that. So for the bands we deal
with, we write contracts together and
come up with agreements that work.
And it’s tough these days with immigration laws – it’s really difficult now for
visas and stuff like that for bands,
11•2016
there’s something so pure and foreign to
me about how a lot of Japanese bands
interpret Western ideas. The scales they
grew up with are all different – it’s a
minor-sounding world over there – and
they were brought up with J-pop. You
can’t escape it over there, and even for
people that hate it, it kind of makes its
way in. So even the noisy bands, like
Melt Banana, have things to grab onto.
Even though you’re like, “What the hell
are these guys doing? This scares me a
little bit,” there’s still something about it
that’s kind of drawing me into it. So in
Japan, they’re just thinking about music
from a whole different place than we do
here in America.
because they’ve gotten so strict. I think
at Japan Night at SXSW this year, three
bands couldn’t make it in for the shows.
Even with paper work, they couldn’t
make it in. So it’s getting tougher and
tougher. But these bands do this because
they love it – it’s their life, and I respect
that.
IE: How is your Festival doing?
RT: We’re going on our 12th year this
year, and it started out as just a little
party in my studio backyard. But little
by little, it picked up momentum. I think
we had 14 stages last year, and Goo Goo
Dolls actually headlined last year.
During a driving mrainstorm, which
seems to be what always happens to us
10 illinoisentertainer.com november 2016
November 4
Bon Jovi – This House Is Not For Sale
Common – Black America Again
Jim James – Eternally Even
Alicia Keys – On Safari
Out Out – Swan/Dive?
Chris Robinson - If You Lived Here...
November 11
Gord Downie – Secret Path [Vinyl]
Olly Murs – 24 Hours
Emeli Sande – Long Live The Angels
Sting – 57th & 9th
Umphrey’s McGee – Zonkey
Wakrat – Wakrat
Jim James
November 18
E-40 – The D-Boy Diary: Book 1 & 2
Miranda Lambert – The Weight of These Wings
Lamb of God – The Duke
Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
Metallica – Hardwired…To Self Destruct
Solange – A Seat At The Table
November 25
Garth Brooks – Gunslinger
Sister – Stand Up, Forward, March!
The Weeknd - Starboy
Metallica