Yamaguchi by Jacky Hall Out of the ashes of Dummy Head Stereo come Yamaguchi, like an electronic sample-fuelled phoenix that will make you dance. L2SB had a word...   If the bastion of the Sheffield electronic scene is Heaven 17, then Yamaguchi are preparing to be the next big thing. Describing themselves as “somewhere between Pink Grease and King Have Long Arms”, they’ve already been in Sandman as the ones to watch and you can listen to them on the Grapes’ jukebox.    Not bad as they are yet to play a gig and their demo CD is very limited edition, having passed through the eager palms of an elite few. But with their first live performance in December at the Grapes approaching (with the Japanese group Yumi Yumi), it’s time for the mystique to fade and to discover just what’s going on.    Arising from the ashes of the now defunct Dummy Head Stereo, Yamaguchi have been honing their sound for over nine months now and with four rehearsals a week haven’t had much time to get out – well, except to the pub. The creative driving force is Robin Firth, already a band veteran having learnt bass guitar from the age of eight. Joined by Andy on drums, together they wrote some tunes and recorded them at Robin’s home studio, apparently housed somewhere in “the wilderness that is Deepcar”. It took several months of adverts and auditions before Hannah was chosen to complete the trio as guitarist. “We really didn’t want to steal anyone as it causes competition between bands,” Andy says. “But there just weren’t the guitarists we were looking for out there.”     Hannah doesn’t think there’s any need to feel guilty: her previous band was comprised of school friends. “I got a phone call from Andy’s brother one day asking if I wanted to audition for Yamaguchi,” she tells me. “So I went ‘all right then!’”     Dummy Head Stereo provided a valuable opportunity for Robin and Andy to learn about the difficulties of being in an unsigned band. “With hindsight, it was going quite well. But with hindsight I can also see where the cracks were,” Robin remembers. Having formed the band over three years ago with his older sister Dawn, they were both becoming interested in different musical directions and so decided to move on. But with such an electronic based band there is simply the risk of saturating Sheffield venues like the Casbah or Boardwalk, but also the practicality of moving equipment. Especially a fully electronic drum kit.     “Nobody wants to play a kit like that because it just isn’t cool. Particularly for punk bands,” Andy says. Despite his drummer father, Andy didn’t start playing the drums until eight years ago. Having learnt on an acoustic kit, he explored the possibilities of drum pads whilst in the Dummies. For Yamaguchi though, he’s settled into a hybrid kit.     After their experiences of working in the Dummies, Yamaguchi has been something of an evolution. “It’s the fusion of electronic and non-electronic,” Robin tells me, whilst Andy adds that “It takes the Dummies stuff and twists it.” Robin has also developed his confidence of performing over the past three years under the guise of cabaret act Stumpy Ovation. Perhaps not the greatest experiment in creativity, he concedes that his time as Stumpy has “helped with learning how to interact with an audience away from a band situation”.     It was at a Stumpy gig that Andy and Robin met for the first time. “And it was the first time I smelled the mustiness of the tux!” Andy jokes. Not wanting something that began as a bit of a laugh between friends to become more notorious than his other work, Robin is reluctant to discuss any more. Perhaps there will be few opportunities to watch lounge versions of songs like Electric 6’s Gay Bar in the busy, Yamaguchi-filled future.    Self-confessed computer gaming nerd Andy (“Steel Battalions sums up his mentality,” Hannah tells me) is responsible for the band’s name, taken from an obscure ‘80s arcade game Go! Go! Mr Yamaguchi. The band definitely incorporate kitsch irony. “I like it because Yamaguchi is the Japanese equivalent of Smith,” Andy muses, whilst Robin sardonically considers himself to be “the Japanese Morrissey!” However, their songwriting method differs to that of guitar-based bands as they prefer to “work backwards”. “We don’t start rehearsing a song until it’s finished,” Robin explains. “It makes you sit back and listen to what you’re doing.” Singing, playing bass and keyboard does take practise.     In the rehearsal studio, I’m given an exclusive preview of what to expect from their live show. Groove is a fantastically exciting song that is good enough to dance to. It also contains samples from Eddie Grant and an obscure Kenny Everett track delightfully titled Snot Rap. Their genius cover version of ‘Novocaine For The Soul’ features a hairdryer – a first for popular music as I know it.     Hannah, who started out learning her favourite songs by Queen and Guns ‘n Roses two years ago after receiving a guitar for Christmas, tells me that: “Robin and Andy are massive fans of the Eels and got me into it. I just grabbed my hairdryer and used it as a guitar pick-up.” Covering the band was a natural choice. “The idea behind Eels is where we want to go – a lot of samples but a lot of live instruments too,” Robin explains. Not that sampling is the basis of Yamaguchi’s music: instead of choosing an instantly recognisable snippet of music, the band agree that creating something new is more important. “The intention is to take something that is genius and to make it better,” Robin says. Without irony.    When the question of musical influences enters the conversation, David Bowie apparently has “a lot to answer for.” Not just musically, but also for his showmanship. The band are eager to prove that they can put on a live show instead of getting up on stage and plugging through a twenty minute set. As Andy puts it: “we live in a media age! People don’t want to see four blokes strumming guitars and playing drums”.     Although he worries that it’s “uncool”, Robin names The Beatles as one of his major influences. “It’s songs I like more than anything,” he explains.  As for the future, Yamaguchi want to keep on improving. If resources allow, they hope to put on a bigger show combining visuals and lighting. “It’s frustrating though as we’re limited by resources and have to drag people in to help us,” Robin says. “And they know you can’t pay them. Except in beer. Sometimes…”    To finish the interview I ask if they would like to appear on Top of the Pops and receive much affirmation. “It would be a nice appreciation as we’ve not stuck to any genre or formula,” Andy declares. That may be far away, but when music channels are submerged under gyrating young ladies and androgynous dance ‘anthems’, the glam electronica of Yamaguchi would definitely brighten up Friday evenings.   November 12, 2003 7:13pm