Where are Shonen Knife From and Who are they?
What kind of music do they play?
What bands do they like?
What label are they on?
How old are they?
Are they married?
Will they marry me?
But SPIN said they were housewives!
What are their day jobs?
Who designs their costumes?
When did they start playing?
Why do they sound so much better on "Let's Knife!"?
Which one is the cutest?
Does anyone else think they're sexy?
Do they have boyfriends?
When are they playing in my city?
When is the new album coming out?
Why can't I find their more obscure albums?
Why isn't Knife Collectors sending me stuff anymore?
Can I write to them? What's the address?
Have they ever made a video?
What guitars/bass/drums do they play?
Should I play Yamaha guitars and drums too?
Have they ever toured with Nirvana or played Lollapalooza?
Why do Sonic Youth, Redd Kross, and Nirvana all love Shonen Knife?
Are Shonen Knife as innocent in real life as they seem on their records?
What is their best album?
Are there any other Web Sites?
Are you tired of typing yet?
**********Unofficial FAQ on Shonen Knife**********
*****by Brian McKenzie*****
***Version 2.0, January 24, 1997***
A Brief Explanation...
Hi. After a year, I thought it was about time to update the Shonen
Knife FAQ. I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner, especially since I've known
that alot of this information was out of date for months. I have
conclusive answers now to some of the questions we all love to ask,
like are they married. I'm also going to add some more questions that
people have asked, and questions that I happened to think of. Hopefully
this update will be accompanied by a new version of the Shonen Knife
Freaks' Home Page.
If you want to ask me something that isn't on here, just chat, etc
etc please email me at:
b-mckenzie@uchicago.edu
mckenzie@mo.net (I check this address less frequently)
I answer my mail daily unless I'm out of town or my account is
suspended temporarily.
Although I feel I know as much as anyone I've met about the band,
I don't claim to know everything about them, because I've never met
them. I have read everything printed about them almost religiously for
the past four years, if I could get my hands on it. I have talked to
many other Shonen Knife fans over the years, and heard alot of things,
some of which are true, some of which aren't.
Much of the corrected information in this FAQ came from a
short email conversation with a source who is a close personal friend
of the band. I vaguely recall promising not to reveal who this person
is, so I won't. I'm very confident that the information he gave me was
correct.
If you think I'm really screwed up on a certain issue, please take
it up with me and we'll work it out. I don't claim to be the last word
on Shonen Knife by any means.
Oh yeah. This file is Copyright 1997 by Brian McKenzie and please
ask permission before you use it anywhere else. This information is
intended to be free, therefore don't sell it!
On with the show...
Q: Where are Shonen Knife from and who are they?
A: They're an all-girl band from Osaka, Japan. Noako Yamano is the lead
singer who plays guitar. Michie Nakatani is the other lead singer (she
sings slightly less often than Naoko) who plays bass. Atsuko Yamano
sings backup, plays drums, and designs their stage outfits.
Q: What kind of music do they play?
A: Different people call it different things. Their style seems heavily
influenced by the Ramones, The Beach Boys (or any early 60's West Coast
surf band), and on Rock Animals L7. They like to describe themselves as
"super-eccentric-pop-punk-cult-band-shonen-knife!". That's pretty
close, I'd say. :)
Q: What bands do they like?
A: The Beatles, The Supremes, Redd Kross, White Flag, Sonic Youth,
XTC, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, and probably millions of others. Those
names keep popping up though.
Q: What label are they on?
A: MCA-Victor in Japan, Big Deal Records in the USA. They've just
recently been signed to Big Deal. They have previously been on
Rockville, Giant, Sub Pop, and Gasatanka Records, as well as a couple
others I don't remember offhand. And some Japanese labels like Zero
Records.
Q: How old are they?
A: No one is 100% sure, as they have never revealed it in anything
I've read. A friend of mine said she saw an article in YM, which said
they were 24, 26, and 28 years old. That was in 1994, so it's safe to
assume, if that was correct, that they are now 26 (Atsuko), 28
(Michie), and the big 3-0 (Naoko). But remember that was from YM.
It probably doesn't mean anything. Mamiko Nagawa sent me some pics of
them from back in the summer of 96', and they look they're probably in
their early thirties.
Q: Are they married?
A: Shonen Knife have rarely or never discussed this in the music press or online,
so out of courtesy to them and by request of a few friends (theirs and mine)
I won't say anything about their marital status. If you really want to know,
you can find out. Besides, I've found and been told alot of conflicting information. I'm
not exactly sure myself.
Q: What about that book on Alternative Music put out by SPIN? It said
that they were bored housewives! Why would they say that?
A: Because SPIN is apparently staffed by morons. If they think Atsuko
Yamano was married at the age of thirteen, when Naoko was seventeen,
they probably think Jimi Hendrix was white. I suspect that they're just
culturally prejudiced freaks who don't bother to come up with real
facts.
Q: What were/are their day jobs?<BR>
A: They have been "office ladies" (a common female job in Japan) for
extra cash, and Atsuko is a fashion designer. They just quit their day
jobs in April of 1995, so the band hasn't been a full-time thing for
very long.
Q: Who designs those spiffy stage costumes?
A: Atsuko.
Q: When did they start playing?
A: They formed the band in December, 1981, and played their first show
in March of 1982. They were very young then, and their early recordings
show it.
Q: But they sound great on "Let's Knife"! How did they get so much
better?
A: I suspect it's the quality of the recording (major label). They
probably got better instruments with the money from Virgin, too. Music
has not always been a full-time thing for Shonen Knife. You can tell on
records like "Shonen Knife" that their instruments and recordings were
really bargain-basement. I mean not even 4-track quality. They _do_
play in tune, though. :)
Q: Which one of them is the cutest?
A: You have asked the hardest question of all, little one. Atsuko has
nice eyes.....:)
Q: Am I the only one in the universe who thinks they're the sexiest
band alive? Do they have boyfriends?
A: See the question about marriage. I'll give you a hint. None of us
would put all this effort into making web pages, publicizing tours,
etc., if we only liked SK's nice music. :) But we rarely admit it. I
don't know much about their love lives, but I seriously doubt that it
includes backstage flings with people like you (or me) so don't bother
to ask.
Q: When are Shonen Knife playing in my (medium-size) city?
A: Shonen Knife usually play only very big cities, because they know
they have a fan base there. If you live in LA, San Francisco, San
Diego, Houston, Chicago, New York, or Boston, you have a good chance of
seeing them live. It is possible that they might put on a larger-scale
tour sometime in the future, and come to medium-sized cities, too.
Q: Shonen Knife seem long overdue, by their standards, for a new album.
When is it coming out?
A: Brand New Knife has been out in Japan for six months or so, and
it'll be out in the U.S. in a matter of weeks. I have it, and I can
unequivocally say that it's their best effort since 712 and therefore
worth the wait.
Q: I keep hearing about all these different Shonen Knife albums, like
"Brown Mushrooms", "The Birds and the B-Sides", and "Do the Knife". Why
can't I get them at a record store?
A: SK have released a very large number of albums and EP's in the USA,
Japan, and Europe. Many of these are country-specific, and have
different song orders and artwork. For instance, I once saw a European
version of "Let's Knife" with only 15 songs (instead of the usual 17),
and a different color cover for sale at a used/import record shop in
Silver Spring, Maryland. Just remember that you don't need to buy all
these albums, as the songs are simply duplicated, unless you're a major
SK freak. I buy almost anything Shonen Knife that I see, but I passed
up the previously mentioned CD because I had the same thing at home,
and this one cost thirty dollars! The Birds & The B-Sides is their last
Virgin release. It's very similar to the XTC Fossil Fuel collection in
that Virgin got the rights to put it out when SK got out of their
contract. I strongly reccomend Birds & The B-Sides. Nobody should miss
the "Top of the World" cover.
Q: I joined the Knife Collectors (the SK fan club mentioned on the
liners of several albums). I got the 4-track CD and the first
newsletter, but nothing has come from them in the last two years. What
is going on?
A: The Knife Collectors was set up partly by Virgin Records, which
turned out to be a problem when the band left that label.
One person has told me they called him (after he bothered them for a
long time) and they said they were backlogged. I think we shouldn't
expect anything else from them, and be happy we even got the CD. A guy
I know said they told him they would sell him the CD and the newsletter
for seventeen dollars.
Q: Can I write to Shonen Knife? What's their address?
A: You can write them at this address:
Shonen Knife
c/o Zero Communications
1-4-2 Gently Bldg. 4F
Yariyamachi,
Chuo-Ku, Osaka 540
Japan
They will get what you send, and they have been known to reply by
postcard before.
Q: Have Shonen Knife ever made a music video?
A: Yes, but it only made it as far as Beavis and Butt-Head before MTV
stopped playing it. That was the video for "Tomato Head". There is also
a video of "Brown Mushrooms". You may be able to buy these somewhere, I
don't know. Some people have live videos, but I've never seen one. I'm
supposed to be getting one soon.
Q: What guitars/bass/drums do they play?
A: In the last pictures I saw of them, Naoko was playing a contemporary
(not vintage) Rickenbacker (sp?) through an unidentified Fender amp.
Michie was playing a Yamaha bass with a smiley-face sticker on it, and
Atsuko was playing dark green Yamaha drums. In the acoustic show, Naoko
and Atsuko had Ovation acoustic guitars, and Michie had a bass that
looked like a Yamaha.
Q: Does this mean that I should play Yamaha guitars and drums?
A: Yes. You should also know that if you buy the right shoes you will
be able to jump like Michael Jordan.
Q: Have they ever toured with a really big band like Nirvana or been on
a major tour like Lollapalooza?
A: Yes, they have both toured with Nirvana and played at a couple of
Lollapalooza stops in 1994.
Q: Why do all these high-profile bands like Sonic Youth (they've been
on the Simpsons, for God's sake!), Nirvana, and Redd Kross like Shonen
Knife so much?
A: I think it has something to do with the fact that Shonen Knife is
cool.
Q: Are they as innocent in person as they seem on their records?
A: The answer to that question seems to be an emphatic "Yes!" according
to everyone I know who has met them. They do seem a much more complex
when someone who knows what they're doing translates them from
Japanese, like in the Alles interview. I suspect that they're very
intelligent people, behind those cute Japanese accents.
Q: What is their best album?
A: 712. But that's just my opinion, and I'm sure alot of people would
disagree. 712 takes awhile to get used to, but once you learn to
appreciate it you realize what a work of subtle genius it is. Let's
Knife and Brand New Knife are also very very good. I'm not especially
big on Rock Animals, but it has its bright moments. Birds & The B-
Sides is good, in that it has better-recorded versions of some old
classics.
Q: Are there other Shonen Knife Web Sites?
A: Yes, lots and lots. I won't list them all here. I will, however, put
links to as many as I can find on my updated page. GWiz also has a
library of links to everything he can find. Go and look at GWiz's LA
Shonen Knife Nexxus...it's good. And GWiz is my friend. :)
Q: Are you tired of typing yet?
A: No, but I can't think of any other questions I've been asked. Please
come up with some more and e-mail them to me!
*****END OF UNOFFICIAL SHONEN KNIFE FAQ FILE*****
Copyright © 1995-97 Brian K. McKenzie
b-mckenzie@uchicago.edu
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