Taffy… Not just a Welshman

Showcase: Taffy

Published on July 10th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

So enamoured were we with Taffy’s recent “Tumbling” single, describing it as “a light-hearted, energetic and fuzzy take on the current trend of resuscitating C86 pop”, that we decided to fire them over some questions in the hope of finding out more.

Here’s what they replied with…

How would you describe your music?

Ah… sweet but hard, pop but cool.

A lot of people say our sound is rock, pop, shoegaze, fuzzy sound, alternative and bubblegum pop etc. etc. and I think you can feel all that in our songs.

Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?

We are a band based in Tokyo, Japan. We use basic instruments such as guitars, bass, drums and that’s pretty much it.

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

Yes, we release our songs from ClubAC30 in the UK.

We had met him (the owner of the label, Robin) a few times when he visited Japan with other bands from his label. And eventually we just talked and decided to work together. We’re really honoured about that.

What can you tell us about your new album?

Well, it has many types of music than just the pop ones as we are expected. So maybe people who were not interested in us can also enjoy this one. Several types of musics coated with the “Taffy-sound”.

Where can we hear your music online?

We have double A-side single out and you can try that here:
https://soundcloud.com/taffy8

Or, if you’re in the UK, on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, and etc.

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

All the shows we play are exciting but if we were to pick one, maybe the first show we played in the UK. It was our label’s Christmas event and we were like we just joined a Christmas party on our trip to the UK. At first people were like, “So, how is this Japanese band going to be?”

Then as soon as we started playing, people just kept gathering and gathering and we were relieved to see all the people enjoying our music. We had no idea what it would be like to play in this country where most of the great musicians come from. But as we were accepted, it gave us a confidence that what we have been creating at least meant something.

And it all started from there.

Oh, there was another one. A show at the festival in Mongolia was also a memorable one. Many metal bands played before us, so there were many metal fans going crazy in a mosh pit and head banging to our music, too. That was rather unusual.

But I found it something new to have a mosh pit in my sight and sing some sweet melodies. Weird but very fresh!

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is)

Yes, we have a UK tour coming up!
These are the dates and places.

JULY

12 Bridport Electric Palace
13 Scarborough Spa Complex
14 Doncaster The Leopard
15 Newcastle Think Tank

17 London Camden Blackheart – AC30 night
18 Bristol Thunderbolt
19 York The Basement
20 Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s
21 Manchester Night and Day
22 Glasgow King Tut’s

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

The gig in London’s gonna be our label’s event, Club AC30 night, so it’ll be something like what we did the first time in the UK, or maybe something different. Anyhow, it’ll be an interesting one.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

The Beatles, The Who, The Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra.

Taffy, thank you.

You can buy “Tumbling”/”Boys Don’t Cry” on iTunes or on Amazon.

Artists: taffy

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.