London duo Tokyo Taboo return with news of an upcoming UK tour supporting J-Rockers Esprit D’Air and a brand new single, Papercut, out February 2nd (2018) via TT Records.
Papercut races with frenzied riffs alongside front woman Dolly Daggerz’ trademark powerful vocals, creating a seething slice of punk-pop, with shades of the likes of American duo Deap Vally.
Accompanying Papercut is a tongue-in-cheek video depicting a group of apathetic 20-somethings participating in an experiment run by evil scientists. Of the video, director Gabriel Ralls explains: “… (it’s) about how we view and treat Millennials in the Instagram Age; but similarly how we fuck ourselves over as we often know better. Like the scientists in the video, the warnings signs are all around us.”
In this interview spotlight, I spend a few moments chatting with Tokyo Taboo about the new project, influences, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the band and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
We love heavy riffs and amped up vocals. Anything with a hook and that says something new is definitely what we are attracted to.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
As Tokyo Taboo roughly three years but we were in a band before this one so we’ve been writing and sharing music with the public for eight years. Only just feel like we’ve scratched the surface too!
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
Our shows really motivate us to keep going. Any good energy / feedback is so important to keep us working hard! We went to Palestine recently and visited a refugee camp there. It was heartbreaking so it’s definitely inspired some lyrics and new music!
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Dolly really wanted to write exactly how she was feeling and show some vulnerability as previously she felt she’d hidden behind a strong on stage persona. Our aim was to go towards a more guitar heavy sound. Everything else we ended up with developed organically whilst demoing / recording with Noah.
What was the last song you listened to?
Currently listening to WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE by Marilyn Manson. It’s quite distracting!
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl! We have a nice sexy white ice one on sale. Something special when someone buys a vinyl after a show.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp as we have all our merch on there and have a chance of making money back and putting it into new music / touring.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
It’s hard to get people to come to gigs in London just because everyone is crazy busy. We are looking forward to playing shows outside of London this year. I think it’s difficult to keep coming up with new creative ideas and feeding people new content. No end to our creative ideas yet though!
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
Yes we have our UK Tour coming up next week supporting Esprit D’Air! Lots of shows this year! Come rock with us!
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
Add Dolly Daggerz as a friend on Facebook or follow Tokyo Taboo on Facebook or Instagram. We are most active there!
Our album is available to stream on Spotify or buy it direct from us on Bandcamp!
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Shout out to all the girls who want to rule the world! PUSSY POWER!
