A Q&A with The Wisely Brothers
90’s retro indie trip, from Tokyo…
What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
The title of our latest EP is “THINK WISELY”. In order for us to keep making our music, we believe that we must choose what we feel comfortable with, connect, and move on. We’d love everyone to enjoy “THINK WISELY” like we do.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Before the recording, we found it difficult to set goals for the EP. But it turned out that in the recording session we just really enjoyed ourselves but mixed with a little sense of tension which propelled the creative process.
What do enjoy most about producing your own material?
We normally write songs during jam session in rehearsal studio, we put our current mood and sound into the songs. The recording was like we were sending/writing message to UK as we had known that we got a plan to tour in UK. We had a big inspiration from Hiroshi Ikeda the recording engineer of hmc studio in Tokyo during the recordings and mixing process. He picked up our idea of the sound that we wanted to create. We are so grateful for everything that he did for us and the EP. Someday we’d really like to do recording session at studio where it is surrounded by nature and would like to do something experimental!
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
Music has no rules, the feeling of expectation for what you can get from our music, and the feeling we hope we project of us connecting with each other and our instruments, as if in conversation with them – That’s all what we want the listener to feel and experience through our music.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
We normally make music in a jamming session at the rehearsal studio as mentioned. We have no idea what we will make when we start. It really starts from scratch. It’s always like if someone plays a riff or comes up with a phrase, the others join in and put the melody on it. We keep those pieces in our stock, then pick some out and put together. Sometimes we set a theme for our jamming session, like name of country, scenery etc.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
We’d say The Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo and The Pastels. They all are from the countries far away from Japan but, for some reason, we feel like their music is at the root of what we do. Also, regardless of genre differences, they play music that they really want to. That’s why we love them!
What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
That’s Glasgow, because We love the Pastels and Stephen Pastel has got his record shop there! Unfortunately, we can’t visit Glasgow on this tour, but we’d love to play there next time. We’d like to tour in Europe after the UK visit if we have a chance. I hear Germany have got night clubs. So, I will be able to experience various cultures. I’m sure that those experiences would inspire us musically.
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
We would pick ‘Heroin’ by The Velvet Underground. We love it because the song has not only got a kind of empathy to others, but also freedom and strength in it.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
Through the experience of our band activities such like making songs, playing live shows, and checking music of other artists, music always encourages us to play music somewhere we’d like to visit. That’s what we’ve doing and what we would like to keep doing.
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
“Let’s meet again sometime, somewhere!” Because we may have a chance to meet again in our music or at a gig in some country by coincidence in the future.
For more info visit: wiselybrothers.com
