ザ50回転ズ - THE 50KAITENZ : "funny rock bands has been a consistent theme for 20 years"

I've always had a soft spot for rock bands with infectious energy. You know bands like the Hives, well, 50 Kaitenz from Osaka are one of them. There's not a lot of information out there about them, and you'll notice that a lot of what you read on the internet for the interview is wrong. In any case, we strongly advise you to go and discover them if you don't already know them. Thanks to Danny for answering our questions and listen to "No Future" !

First of all, you have already done two European tours, but as far as I know, you have never been to France, whereas Guitar Wolf and others have. Why don't you cross the border and go to Germany, where you have been every time?

We want to go there because I've heard that the French R&R scene is very active and cool!
I'm planning to go there in 2025 maybe, so please look forward to it.

Are you the only Tondabayashi garage band in Osaka?

There are a lot of cool bands in Osaka.
But Tondabayashi is a town with a lot of university students, and there are probably not many bands that are doing permanent activities like releasing vinyls.

You have been active as a trio since your formation. Please introduce yourself. Danny, Dolly, Bogie... Or ‘Drunkard of Tokushima’, ‘Monster of Izumo’, ‘Son of Naniwa’... Explain these nicknames!

Danny, a weak drinker but a lover of alcohol, is from the even more countryside of Tokushima, a provincial city in Japan,
Dory is from ‘Izumo’ in Shimane Prefecture, which is said to be a spiritual city where all the gods of Japan gather and there are many legends of ghosts. Bogie is from Osaka, which was called ‘Naniwa’ in the old days. Drumsko is an expression that makes fun of boys who don't have regular jobs, but it has ‘drums’ as an anagram, well, it's a kind of joke in Japanese.

What did you do before you started the band?

We were art school students. I studied film, Dory studied wood printing and Bogie studied oil painting.
So we designed the band's merchandise and record jackets ourselves. The high tuition fees we paid for it helps with the band.

Does the band's name have anything to do with submarines, or have I misunderstood?

It has nothing to do with it. KAITEN means ‘spinning’ or ‘RPM’ in Japanese.
It's 50 RPM, so we can play R&R faster than records.

Why did you decide to make this kind of music? Who are your biggest musical influences?

RAMONES, CHUCK BERRY, Dr Feelgood, TOYDOLLS, AC/DC, BOYS, COCK SPERRER,.
Bo Diddley, Little Richard, DAMNED,Eddie & The Hotrods, DEEP PURPLE, FAST CARS, Inmates, Lew Lewis, MC5, Motorhead, Pirates, T-Rex, WHO, Vibrators, of course ROLLING STONES & BEATLES etc...

The vocalist of The Routes said that Japanese bands are all copying and have no originality. What do you think of this view of rock bands in your country?

If he feel that way, then so be it, and it's none of our business!

In France, the problem is that many of your lyrics are incomprehensible. Can you tell us what themes inspire you and what kind of humour you use?

It's all in Japanese, Alcohol, cigarettes, pretty girls, love songs, war, politicians, pirates, life, longing for rock and roll, money, home town, our way of life, etc. Anything can be a theme, and we don't think it's necessary to know what the lyrics mean in a gig performance.
Sometimes it's direct, sometimes it's double-meaning, like in blues.

In Japan you release records on labels such as SONY and WARNER, but in Europe you are considered a small band from the inner circle. How do you see this difference?

We're actually not a big band in Japan also. Hahaha! Tell your friends that we are big stars in Japan.

On the other hand, you seem to be quite successful in Canada, the US and Australia.
Tell us about your relationship with these countries and your success there.

I don't think we've had any success at all in terms of numbers of fun or record sales.
But if we go and play live and have a night of fun with everyone in that venue, it's a great success.

You have also toured in China. Can you tell us how a garage band managed to play in China? Do you have any memories of that tour? I can't even imagine.

A friend of mine who lives in China made that tour and it was a lot of fun.
The Chinese people are all very emotional and there were people crying and dancing during our shows.
I'm glad we came. Even Bogie, who never gets drunk, was sobbing with his Chinese friends on the last day and collapsing on the white chinese alcohol drink. There's a lot going on politically, but there's nothing between people, and R&R crosses borders.

You worked in the film industry in Japan. Do you want to continue your career in the film industry?

I act in few films.Acting is a job what the director tells to do and get paid for it, and you shoot congenially on set, but when it's over they go back to hotel alone. There's a solitary side to it.
Everything is the opposite of a band. The band decides what to do, writes the songs, we all perform together, and they all travel together. It was interesting to see a different world. I would do it if I had the chance, but the band is too busy.

Your name has become known in Europe thanks to the Hamburg label Sounds of Subterrania. Can you tell us how that came about?

The label owner found us. One day he sent us an e-mail and said he wanted to make a German release. We're lucky and grateful to him.It's nice to be able to play gigs in cities we've never been to.
And the Europeans are all very kind.

Why did you start your own label, Magic Box, when you were signed to a major label?

It's to do what we want to do more quickly.
In a big company, everything has to be approved by the big boys, from the planning to the budget and everything.
To spend big money on promotion, they also have a say in the work. We wanted to be a bit more nimble, so we set up our own label.

In 2020 you did an acoustic tour, which is pretty amazing for a garage band.

Thank you, that's very unusual. This was due to the constraints of the Japanese box office at the COVID-19 disaster.

As you may know, back then in Japan, audiences were restricted from dancing and singing.
It was a decision made in consideration of the Japanese national character, and all gigs were forced to have the audience seated.
So we came up with the idea of an acoustic live tour. That way they can enjoy themselves while sitting in their seat. We had a lot of fun and I think we grew as musician, but it was a tough tour. There's no cheering after every song. Just clapping hands.
I'm grateful to all the fans who clapped as loudly as they could. I'm sure your hands must have hurt.

You've released several albums so far, which song do you think is most representative of each album?

1st - 50 RPMs Theme
2nd - MONEY MONEY
3rd - Boom Boom Boom
4th - Vinyl Change The World

Who does the artwork for the record jackets? There is a lot of self-deprecation. What do you want listeners to think of it?

Most of the artwork is done by me, Danny(me). I don't think it's self-deprecating, but funny rock bands has been a consistent theme for 20 years.
And then every once in a while we sing a good song and people impressed 😁.

Tell us about the current Japanese garage scene and which artists you think should be better known in Europe.

I can't refer about garage bands that want to recreate authentic 60s sound,
because I don't have the knowledge. In that sense, we're not a 60's garage band either.
Yokohama's HAVENOTS are great, they move tastefully between Punk and Power Pop, MACKASHOW is also great, with a Japanese R&R feel. The band SO-ON-JI from Kyoto is also great, with a hint of blues, and Bored from Miyazaki is PUNK and R&R at its best.

What is the best memory from your career so far?

Of course it was memorable to play with regend band I admire, but the unusual part was releasing the theme song for Gegege no Kitaro.
It is a famous anime that everyone knows in Japan, but the original manga is also a great work.
We are fans of the manga as well as the anime. We were able to sing the theme song for the anime, and we were also able to say hello to the manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, which is something we can brag to our grandchildren about.

And what are the band's plans for the future?

First of all, we want to stay healthy and play our best R&R every weekend, and we definitely want to go to France next year!

Finally, what do you know about French rock? How do you see it?

We played with Weird Omen in Darmstadt the other night, they were cool and all nice guy,
I also we like Dogs, although they are not what you call garage, maybe.
Maybe not even rock, but I have one Johnny Halliday record. I like it 😁.

Thank you Danny

https://www.50kaitenz.net/music