Whatever you do, don’t call Asobi Seksu “nu-gaze”. They get really funny about it. I mean, they do openly admit to being part of the new wave of shoegaze bands, which is kind of what nu-gaze means. Well, whatever. No one ever wants to be part of a movement with a “nu” prefix. Anyway, nu-gaze band Asobi Seksu (meaning “playful sex” in Japanese) were genetically engineered for the summer. Their flirty layers of buzzing guitars, multiple glockenspiel-sounding instruments and sweet oriental muttering wouldn’t fare winter’s cruel sting. If you ask me, they’re putting all their eggs in one basket. But what can you do? You’ve got to let people make their own mistakes or they’ll never learn. So right now, it’s crunch time for them. They’ve got the next four months, tops, to milk the cash cow and then stock pile for winter. Best of luck to them. Maybe that’s why they have two album releases over the next month.
Vice: When does sex stop being “playful” and start becoming unnerving?
Yuki (singer): When you’re spanking a cat by its tail and you can’t tell if it’s just playful or something more... that can be unnerving.
Cats? OK, different strokes. What’s the happiest place in New York City?
Central Park when you get one of those rare spring days when it is 75 degrees and sunny. That kind of weather happens about once every year and I’m usually nowhere near Central Park. So I’m rarely happy.
If you were going to start a Second Life account (internet-based virtual reality world), how would the way you live your virtual life differ from reality?
My virtual life would have a swank apartment and a nicer cat. And I would be nicer. And I would never ever miss a train or see a dead rat in the street.
We’ve heard your band have a reputation for giving people the horn. How do you feel about being the musical equivalent to a portion of asparagus and a bumpy ride on the L train?
Giving people a musical boner is cool, but the thought of an actual horn is a little weird. What does asparagus have to do with that?
Never mind. Apart from the obvious developments in air bubble technology, how has shoegazing changed in 20 years?
It seemed dead for a long time, but now there are some bands who incorporate those elements into their sound. We happen to be one of those bands. Does this mean we’re shoegaze? Whatever the answer, as long as we’re not “nu-gaze”, we’re cool.
ALEXANDER EATON
www.myspace.com/asobiseksu
