You’re an American traveling in Tokyo and your friends take you to a very packed room in a small concert hall. You’re a little cautious, you’re not sure what the sound is going to be like, but you give it a try anyway. Holidays of Seventeen steps up the stage and starts their show. It sounds familiar- like some of the alternative rock back in the late 90′s. Then, Hey Scissorman comes on and immediately you think “Weezer!”

It’s a good guess, actually. Chris Shaw, of the Weezer fame (among many, many other bands), is the producer who worked with them on their first album release “YEAH.” Bringing years of experience to the picture and his intense love of aurally pleasing vibrations, it marked an excellent collaboration. New York – Tokyo got to see them live, interview the band, and get a few minutes with Mr. Shaw himself. Both interviews are after the jump!

Interview with Holidays of Seventeen (ho17)

NYT: Where did the name “Holidays of Seventeen” come from?
ho17: Thats a big question. Actually, we were doing a band with the same members but the name was Shimetta Kuuki (Wet Air). We got together in university, four years ago. We began to get offers from venues which were outside of the university. We had to decide the name… because the old one didn’t make sense and it’s a bit embarassing. It’s good but it’s funny, but we wanted to make a real name instead… so the guitarist said “put 17, we must put the 17 on the name,” everyone in the band had really big experiences at the age of 17.  Like, first times for a lot of things. That kind of stuff. The holidays comes from memories that we made that year. When we were 17,  we had long vacation summers, and winter vacations… sunday, saturday off. It’s a fun feeling for all of us.

NYT: Why did you choose to sing in English as opposed to Japanese?
ho17: We are Japanese, but English is the most common language in the world. We want to tell everyone in the world, the things we sing about, which are felt and understood everywhere… like love and peace and the things that everyone has in life. I think that there’s a universal message. English is just the best way to communicate this message to as many people as possible.

And more personally, when I make a melody, the English just comes up because the first song I ever wrote was in English. That feeling always stays with me.

NYT: What are your musical inspirations? (American and Japanese)
ho17: Well, a lot of our music is inspired by American artists. We really wanted to mix all the aspects together. It’s kind of like alternative rock meets American rock meets J-pop, all coming together. But, in particular, bands like Weezer, Jimmy eat World, Oasis, and Fountains of Wayne. We feel like this sort of music is enjoyed all over the world.

And the band members too, all like different kinds of music, that’s why I call it a “mix up”. It’s really a mixture of American and Japanese music together.

NYT: What do you feel sets you apart from other bands?
ho17: We make songs, and other bands make music too. Everyone seems to think the same way, but we really don’t. In fact, we think our music is great. When we think about making new things, we want to say “this is great, so let’s do this.” We’re confident about that. :)

NYT: A lot of times the Japanese artists that come to play in America have been in the industry for a long time. How do you feel playing here as a fresh artist?
ho17: It’s a dream come true.

We just talked about it, all the time. It was a dream of ours, in the band. We talked to the label, and CMJ just wanted to pick us up. Chris Shaw is the producer for us and Local Sound Studio. He really found us interesting, and his company wanted to do something with us. So, it just so happened that things worked out in the end. And we’ve heard about the CMJ Festival a LOT in Japan. So we were approached enthusiastically. Since we’ve got really good music, why don’t we show it to the US with these other bands. That’s how we set it up.

NYT: Would you prefer to play at small indie venues or a packed Madison Square Garden type place, and why?
ho17: We haven’t played much at big places. But we’d prefer big ones, because we can expose ourselves to many people.

NYT: Lastly, where do you see yourself in the coming years, in regards to your music?
ho17: This is the first time for us to be in the US. We want to everyone in the world to know us. That’s the goal. It’s a great chance to do that. This is the first time in a foreign country, and playing our music here. Maybe we can even get a chance to do our own tour in the states, so that’s maybe later the idea.

And in japan, after this, this is our first time to do a big tour. We want to see what happens after that. And since we’re always thinking up new songs, we want to start recording again after. But, we want to do some recordings after the tours, because we are making new songs.

We want to be number one in Japan! :)

Interview with Chris Shaw

NYT: Your project list seems very long and really hits on a wide variety of genres, from very indie roots to the very mainstream. Is the production process different for each band?
CS: No, I really don’t think that the production is different for each band. You know, when I was working in Japan, it was kind of interesting. Here in America we take for granted all the production equipment that we have, but the recording studios there were a bit less fitted.

NYT: What elements appeal to you as a “good band to produce”?
CS: Well, for me, it’s all about how it sounds and what the vocals are like. For example, sometimes it’s difficult for me to work with English music from the UK because they don’t know how to implement bridges that well. But overall speaking, it’s how the melody fits. That’s what I like the most about a song.

NYT: How did the collaboration with ho17 come together?
CS: Actually, they contacted me through myspace. I guess they didn’t know how to get me, but once they did, I listened to their music and that’s basically how it started. Not long after, I was taken to Japan for a month, staying in the Azabu-Juban area. It was really a great experience

NYT: You can definitely see some of the qualities of WEEZER in ho17, at least in the sound style. ho17 has even opened for them. Do you feel that they’re the Japanese WEEZER?
CS: Well, I kind of think so. They were all really big fans of WEEZER, so that’s how they wanted to style their music. Sometimes after doing recordings, I would sit down with a guitar and show them how some of the chords were played for Weezer songs, and their eyes just got really big, like “Oh!!! That’s how it’s done!?” They were really eager to learn and I’m glad we could work together.

NYT: Lastly, what projects do you have slated for release?
CS: Well, this February there’s a release of a CD I recently worked on, so please keep your eyes on my myspace page!

By Steven Fuller @ NYT
Photo by Sylvia Yi