OC Music Awards 2012: Italian Japanese Fuses Different Influences For A Unique Rock Sound

[Photos] OC Music Awards Showcase Series…

“ That's what makes our music interesting because we do come from different musical backgrounds.
” Celebrating its 11th anniversary, the OC Music Awards kicks off on January 3rd with seven weeks of free showcases at different venues across the county. 35 local artists will compete for the titles of Best Live Band or Best Live Acoustic and a performance slot at the 2012 OC Music Awards, March 3 at the Grove of Anaheim. And, the voting is open now!

“We wanna find Kat and give her a big hug,” said Italian Japanese as they walked into the doors of KROQ for an interview.

Forming in 2009, the Laguna Beach-based band has been played on KROQ’s Locals Only for the past year, recently debuting their new song, “Two Islands,” one of a series of singles that the band plans to release this year.

With a sound laden with lush ’60s-style melodies, dark expanses of opaque vocals, and tinges of brooding layered within a danceable sound, the self-described “rock” band said that their influences are so varied that when writing songs, they all bring something different to the table.

“That’s what makes our music interesting because we do come from different musical backgrounds,” said JG, the drummer. “Being a drummer, I listen to a lot of rap. I love beats. I love pop music. I grew up on Michael Jackson, Madonna. All that sh*t…I bring some of that with my drumming style.”

“ It's very rare that someone comes in with a song complete...It's usually just an idea and we develop it together.
” Frontman Allen, who is the actual Italian Japanese of the group (he showed me a picture of his parents), lists his influences as Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, Pink Floyd, and in complete contrast, country music.

“I’m just realizing this now, but I have a love for country music, like old country,” elaborated Allen. “I’m figuring it out now because my Dad used to play country music all the time.”

“And I’d just sit in the back of the car and I’d hate it. But over the past couple of years, I’ve been kind of researching old country and getting into that.“

“What did Joaquin [the bassist] say?” asked Allen to JG, “‘All the bands we like are dead now.’”

Allen, JG, and Joaquin are joined by guitarist and keyboard players, Chris and Sean, and the band are very much what JG dubs as a “collective.”

“It’s very rare that someone comes in with a song complete,” said Italian Japanese. ‘It’s usually just an idea and we develop it together.”

“It’s weird, because when we come in and there’s an idea sometimes the ideas spawn from a band,” said Allen, explaining their songwriting process. “Someone will come in and go, ‘Hey. I’ve been listening to this Ronettes song all day and I was thinking this would be a good idea for a song.’”

“And then it will start off with maybe a ’60s influences and by the time it goes through the Italian/Japanese machine it sounds totally different.”

“ We definitely have a certain way of writing music that's unique and pinpointing our style...I guess we are just a rock band.
” “There’s a song called ‘Capo’ that I like a lot,” the singer elaborates. “I like it a lot mainly because of the guitar work. Our two guitar players are totally opposite style-wise. The way they play on that song really meshes together in a unique way, so I like the energy and the vibe when we play that song.”

“We definitely have a certain way of writing music that’s unique and pinpointing our style,” concluded Allen. “I guess we are just a rock band.”

This is the third year in a row that Italian Japanese is heading to SXSW and now they are riding high on the popularity of their song “Two Islands,” which has not only been played on KROQ but on radio stations in San Diego and Orange County.