You’ve seen the memes of Gen X’ers telling both Boomers and Millennials to get over themselves and get on with it, and about them being the generation who despite being raised by the TV are more resourceful, educated, balanced, and indifferent to the momentary wanes of society, which has perhaps developed within them a type of insolence and insubordination that only fellow members of their generation find distinctive, familiar, and well, charming. Unfocused intellectual slacker recognizes unfocused intellectual slacker.
So during my last visit to Like a Fool Records, it was this familiarity apparent when I met Yoichi, pictured here, who immediately had me suspecting that we were cut from the same cloth, fundamentally and perhaps musically aligned. I admit, I had to go home and sleuth around for his Goo-ish t-shirt by the hardcore band Lifetime. So too on the tip of my mental tongue were Starcrawler and Fakenames, who I knew only by name, but now after having listened to all three, my atonal youthful sonic sensibilities have been satisfied for another day.
Yoichi, who also goes by Yoill, his Korean name (having one parent from “The Land of the Morning Calm”) shared with me that growing up in Kyoto and with a loose mixed identity that connected him deeply to neither of his parents ethnicities, and had him seeing himself as “Zainichi” a sorta of in-between resident status of national Korean but permanent migrant of Japan, who would someday be expected return to Korea. This gave him a sense of unbelonging which I could and can relate to. Yoichi went on to explain to me that in his school days he eventually found his sense of belonging in hardcore punk, in skate culture, and in the alternative and grunge boom that was taking over the airwaves both on his side of the ocean and mine. When he got to college, he started a proper band, joined others, and played DC hardcore-style music, finding his community playing out and gigging at livehouses, eventually moving to Tokyo.
When I asked him about some of his favorite bands, he replied, “Since high school, I’ve been listening to all kinds of music, so there aren’t many genres I don’t like. Punk and hardcore are my roots both culturally and mentally, and the band community gave me a place to belong. But I also liked anything cool, from alternative, ska, roots reggae, hip-hop, techno, house, to recently a lot of soul, funk, disco, and rare groove.” This I could really relate to, never being really tied down to one genre of interest. “As a performer and a listener, I love music with energy that makes me want to dance.” Yoichi added.
Last thing I want to add is that Yoichi recently started a new record-listening event called Tokyo Listening Lounge. The idea is more intentional listening, and not just spinning individual tunes, but entire sides of albums to really get a sense of an album and a band, and to listen to these records at volumes that we can’t often listen to at our home. I was bummed I couldn’t make it to his launch event but hope I can make it to the next one. Please follow him to know about the next Tokyo Listening Lounge.
Great to meet you Yoichi, and great to share a chapter and page in life with you! Long live all that 80s and 90s punk, metal, alt, and grunge. It may not appeal to all but happy and proud it’s the soundtrack of our generation!
Starcrawler – Starcrawler
Label: Rough Trade – RTRADLP890, Rough Trade – RTRADLPE890
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, White
Country: USA, Canada & UK
Released: Jan 19, 2018
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Punk, Alternative Rock
https://www.discogs.com/release/11426225-Starcrawler-Starcrawler
Fake Names – Fake Names
Label: Epitaph – 7732-1
Format: Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM, Album, Limited Edition, Pink
Country: Europe
Released: May 8, 2020
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk
https://www.discogs.com/release/15257617-Fake-Names-Fake-Names
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