Tokyo
Rose
Tokyo Rose is a great band
with an over 20 year history behind them. "Dry Your Eyes" is the band's
studio effort that reveals 4 pure rock diamonds that will take your mind
away! See what Derek and Val answered to our questions and make sure to
check this band out!
1. FIRST OF ALL PLEASE PRESENT THE BAND TO
THE READERS. YOU EXIST SINCE 1980 SO I’D LIKE YOU TO POINT OUT YOUR BIGGEST
ACHIEVEMENTS UP TO NOW….
Our greatest achievement took 20 years. We
self financed our vinyl single, forced our friends to buy it because no
one else would, then never thought anything about it. 20 years later we
have vinyl collectors contacting us, offering to pay £100 (see gemm.com)
for something we could not give away. It’s the vinyl single that’s worth
the money not the CD. It’s a shame we only have one copy that’s how good
we are at business.
2. THE EXTRAORDINARY AND WORTH TO CONGRATULATE
YOU FOR, THING IS THAT YOU HAVE MANAGED TO “LIVE” THROUGHOUT ALL THESE
YEARS… HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT? HASN’T EVER THE THOUGHT OF QUITTING OCCUR
TO YOU?
We love playing guitars so why stop something
you enjoy doing.
3. YOUR MUSIC IS HARD TO BE LABELED. HOWEVER I
THINK I’M PRETTY CLOSE WHEN I SAY THAT YOU ARE A MELODIC ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
BAND. DO YOU AGREE? IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO DESCRIBE AND PRESENT YOUR
MUSIC TO THE LISTENERS WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS
POSSIBLE?
We try and write good songs but the guitar
always ends up rocking.
4. PLEASE GIVE US A FEW INFORMATION ON “DRY YOUR
EYES”. WHERE WAS IT RECORDED? WHO WAS THE PRODUCER? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY
THE FINAL RESULT OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE? HAS ANYTHING
WEIRD OCCURRED TO YOU DURING THE RECORDING SESSIONS?
We now have our own studio set up so we are
always recording and never finishing things.
5. YOU ALSO HAVE SOME GUEST VOCALISTS AND YOU
ALSO USE VIOLINS AND OTHER – OUT OF THE ROCK MUSIC- INSTRUMENTS. WHY DID
YOU DO THAT?
When we record if someone comes up with an
idea it’s recorded then who ever argues the most gets their instrument
heard. We have lots of friends who are musicians so sometimes we feature
them, it’s all good fun, we are not that serious.
6. WHICH ARE, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST AND WHICH
THE WORST PARTS IN YOUR MUSIC? IS THERE A FIELD OR ANY ELEMENTS YOU’D LIKE
TO EXPERIMENT WITH IN THE FUTURE?
The worst part is when you write the song
you think it’s great by the time you finish recording you can’t make your
mind up if it’s good or not.
7. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
SHOULD THE FANS EXPECT TO SEE IN ONE OF YOUR GIGS?
Yes we play every so often because we think
we are missing something like all the hard word and the late nights and
the expense, but we still do it from time to time.
8. ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK YOU’VE GOT
THIS FAR? WHAT WAS THE BEST AND WHAT WAS THE WORST AND MOST UNFAIR COMMENT
YOU READ ABOUT YOUR MUSIC?
9. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE RECORD LABELS AND
YOU? HAVE YOU MANAGED TO FIND A BIG LABEL THAT HAS THE WILL AND GUTS TO
SUPPORT YOU? WHY DO YOU THINK, DESPITE THE FACT THAT YOU PLAY GREAT MUSIC,
YOU HAVEN’T MANAGED TO AROUSE THE INTEREST OF A MAJOR LABEL?
We’ve had major labels checking out the music
it’s never happened and these days we can’t be bothered to beg anymore.
10. ON THE OTHER HAND WHAT SEEMS WEIRD TO ME IS
THAT, ALTHOUGH YOU HAVEN’T GOT A LABEL SUPPORTING YOU, YOUR CD SINGLE “DRY
YOUR EYES” HAS GAINED A CULT STATUS AND IT COSTS £100. ISN’T IT CONTROVERSIAL?
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?
See answer one. It’s a good song but I thinks
it’s the cover.
11. BY THE WAY TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE
LYRICS. SO PLEASE TELL ME WHICH YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION ARE… I’D ALSO
LIKE TO KNOW THE CONNECTION OF THE TITLE “DRY YOUR EYES” WITH THE LYRICS
IN GENERAL 9IF THERE IS ANY CONNECTION OF COURSE).
The song "dry your eyes" which is not on the
cd but is on the website sang by Dave Ditchburn is song about a parent
comforting his daughter after she has been dropped by her boyfriend. Who
hasn’t been dropped. The song is going to be feature in a Hollywood movie
called My Place we are looking forward to seeing the film.
12. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COVER ARTWORK?
THIS IS VAL FEATURED IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN. RIGHT? SO, HOW DID THIS IDEA/COVER
COME UP?
The cover does feature Val the idea of the
tear and the war emblems was to let people know that the worst thing about
the any war is the sadness. We get asked all the time if we are anti American,
we are not political it’s entertainment.
13. DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW SONGS READY? IF SO, WHEN
DO YOU PLAN TO RELEASE THEM AND POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES
AND SIMILARITIES TO ALL YOUR PREVIOUS COMPOSITIONS...
We are always writing songs. I don’t think
we will ever change our style.
14. IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WAS A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
15. IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS
TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE OF TOKYO ROSE’S LIVE SHOWS, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE
AND WHY?
Val-Jim Morrison Derek- Paul Mc Cartney. Pete
Jimmy Hendrix Geoff Debby Harry.
16. IF YOU WERE GIVEN A BIG BUDGET TO SHOOT A
VIDEO CLIP, WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE
IT TO BE?
The song "Cover Girl" got it all worked out
aint got the money.
17. WHAT TITLE DO YOU THINK IS IDEAL TO REPRESENT
THE BAND AND YOUR EFFORTS UP TO NOW? A HEADING THAT COULD BE USED AS A
REFERENCE TO TOKYO ROSE…
Tokyo Rose the Cover Girl of ROCK she’s still
beautiful.
18. BY THE WAY I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CURIOUS TO FIND
OUT HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THIS MONIKER. I MEAN YOU ARE A UK BASED BAND SO
WHY TOKYO AND WHY DO YOU USE THESE LET’S SAY “JAPANESE” REFERENCES IN YOUR
IMAGE? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST? I’D LIKE TO KNOW THE STORY BEHIND IT…
Tokyo Rose radio announcer the rose a blues
singer.
19. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU?
Christine enjoyed doing the interview - Keep
in touch- Derek
Christine Parastatidou
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