It’s time to meet Tokyo Taboo, there is a lot here for you to listen to and to watch. We live in times that demand artist to step up and wave that flag of expression in opposition to the bullshit. Tokyo Taboo does all that and more, I’m adding Tokyo Taboo to a list of artist that make a difference , give a listen and see why.
from Tokyo Taboo.com
London duo Tokyo Taboo’s debut album 6th Street Psychosis is out 24th March 2017 via TT Records. The album features ten tenacious, in-your-face tracks that combine the band’s rock and pop punk influences.
The duo comprise of singer Dolly Daggerz and guitarist Mike, who are joined by a band for their live shows. Dolly takes inspiration from iconic performers from Heart to David Bowie and Karen O and Mike simply loves a good riff. Tokyo Taboo is a perfect amalgamation of Dolly and Mike’s influences; inspired by Manga, Japanese culture, drag and 80s fashion, they are true performers, with an image that equals the intense vibrancy of what you hear on record.
Featuring hectic, heart-pounding hooks and soaring rock-inspired vocals, Tokyo Taboo cover a range of subjects on the album, which was recorded in Downtown LA. From Dolly’s quarter life crisis to politics and vulnerability, they aren’t afraid of smashing the expectations of ‘the industry’ whilst wearing their hearts on their sleeves – cuts, bruises, tears and all.
On the album, ’Bubbilicious’ is a racing, high-octane opener, whilst ‘Emotional Suicide’ is filled with an uptempo, feisty power and ‘N.A.R.C.I.S.M’ oozes brutal honesty, raw riffs and dark undertones. Meanwhile, single Make It Out Alive was inspired by the vote to bomb Syria and the feeling of frustration, hopelessness and anger Dolly felt, which seethe through the music as she spits and snarls each lyric over Mike’s raucous riffs
Meet – Tokyo Taboo
For those unfamiliar with your band’s history, can you tell us all how you all met up and decided to start a band.
Dolly started as a solo singer and auditioned three guitarists to accompany her for open mic nights all over London. There was one old guy who made up his own guitar chords, a complete beginner who had never played any shows before and Mike! An easy decision made! Gigs were played, songs written until we evolved together into Tokyo Taboo!
Who would you list as your musical influences?
David Bowie, Bjork, Freddie Mercury, Debbie Harry, Lene Lovich, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The White Stripes, Cyndi Lauper, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Prince, The Offspring, Amy Winehouse, No Doubt… An eclectic mix if ever there was one.
What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you as a band since you started up?
We’re engaged and we have a debut album coming out! Now is an amazing time for us!
What are your hopes and dreams as a band for the next few years?
We hope to keep growing musically and trying out new things visually. We are going to hire a bus and tour the US. We want to play as many shows as we can all over the world.
What are some of your favorite albums from the past few years?
Top 5:
1) Dead Sara ‘Pleasure To Meet You’
2) David Bowie “Blackstar”
3) Fidlar ‘Too’
4) Iggy Pop ‘Post Pop Depression’
5) Bring Me The Horizon ’That’s the Spirit’
Do you see any real use for social media, or is it all just a pain in the ass to keep with?
We are big Instagrammers and Facebookers. We have a lot to say and a lot of content to post so we don’t see it as a chore. Direct contact with TT fans and potential followers what’s not to love? The Facebook advertising bill at the end of the month is a bit of a downer though!
Do you pay attention to reviews or comments from people about your music or do you just turn that noise off?
We listen to positive comments very happily but filter out anything that’s not helpful!
We delete negative comments on our videos as by keeping that stuff on the internet we feel we are inadvertently breeding more hate. Someone posted that ‘some people deserve to be bombed’ below our anti-war video. To me that’s just attention seeking! So we didn’t rise to it. Just clicked delete so that they didn’t gain anything from posting such offensive drivel.
If you could tour anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?
We want to tour the USA. We have two shows coming up in LA this month so we’d love to return with more dates and go on the road for a longer tour. We both suffer from severe wanderlust so we plan to tour far and wide.
9) Can music save the mortal soul or is just a good backbeat to your life?
I think if you are a creative person and you don’t create you have a real risk of mental illness and will probably find it hard to live a fulfilling life. We could never not be involved in music. We both teach music and it’s the only thing that cuts through the bullshit of every day life. There are a lot of things you can get away with saying in song form that you can’t do in real life. It’s a good way to clear out the mind clutter!
10) Any last thoughts for your fans?
We are so excited to share our new album with you. We have a video for every song on that album coming your way!
You will, we hope, be visually and sonically hooked.