Recently the Japanese Oi!/mod/punk band The Solution released an official video for the track “Sound From The Street” of their 2012/2014 album “Then, Now, Always” for Bootstomp Records and Bords De Seine. After seeing the video, that was made possible by Three Stroke Productions, I immediately started listening to the above mentioned debut full-length again only to have it on repeat again for days. Such a great record! Time to have a little chat with frontman, vocalist and guitarist Prince Nakamura!
Konnichiwa Yoshitaka! Thank you very much for doing this interview! How are you doing? For those who aren’t familiar with The Solution, could you give a brief history of the band?
We got together in 1999 to perform real street rock & roll, we are from Ogaki-city, Gifu, Japan. Original members were myself Prince N. (Vo & G) Kensei(G), Ryoei(B) and Michio(Dr). We were all influenced by original UK Punk and Oi.
We released a couple of singles and LPs one a joint venture with then Tokyo Punk band The Basements and played on a various artist compilation comprising of Japanese Skinhead bands. We played the live scene regularly around Gifu and Nagoya. We went through some line-up changes, and from 2008 our music evolved into a more Mod and British Rock sound and style. We released our 1st full Album “Then Now Always” in 2012. Then in 2013, we did a best of album. In 2014, “Then Now Always” LP was released in Europe on the Bords de Seine in France. The current line-up is Prince N. (Vo & G), Daisuke(G), Ryoei(B), Naoshi13(Dr) and Bazz. Bazz has been working with us since 2004 as vocal coach and co-songwriter while he lived here in Japan, he now lives back in Ireland, but is still very much involved in making songs.
I know you were in another Japanese (Oi!) band called United ’97, but did the other members in the band have any prior band experience before The Solution?
Everyone used to play for other local bands. Kensei was one of United ’97 members and also original member of The Solution, but now he helps us as a staff. Ryoei (B) used to be a roadie for United ’97.
In United ’97 you were more in the background being ‘just’ the bass player, was your desire to be more to the forefront, or leading a band, the reason you started The Solution?
Yes, exactly. I was already writing songs for United ’97. ‘It’s up to you’ is the song I really wanted to sing and express by myself.
Despite your first release, the “I’m Pissed Off!” MCD, being released back in ’99 already, it took 13 years for your first full-length, “Then, Now, Always”, to come out. How come it took you guys so long to come up with a full album?
I never thought it would take so long… there were some opportunities to release, but I just wanted to wait until I was satisfied with the quality. We just continued to work on being a tighter unit and delivering a good sound. The album tells the story of how we lived and learned through those years and has the sound to match it.
Your sound shifted over the years from a straight up Oi! band to a sound more influenced by other British youth cultures such as the mod and casual scenes. How did this change of style developed? What (bands) influenced you then, and what (bands) influence you now?
When I was stuck with my music, I listened Oasis by chance. And I knew that their music was the one I was looking for straight away – sounds of The Beatles, Sex pistols, Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses. Gallagher brothers are known as passionate Man C fans, and I was influenced by their high market sports fashion as well, like Stone Island and Lacoste, and it lead me to casuals. Our band has always been constructed with music and fashion.
Although your sound is completely different, Eastern Youth, rooted in the Japanese Oi! and skinhead movement, accomplished this as well. Is there something about the scene that makes you want to get out of it by changing your style or isn’t that the case?
I wouldn’t say that we got out from the Japanese Oi!, we are rooted from Oi and Punk, as you know our label is Bootstomp. But I didn’t want just to do my music in a smaller category, I wanted to get at everyone and get everybody going. Honestly, I was so fed up with it and just wanted to do rock’n roll for Punks, Skinheads, Casuals and Mods – all lads! Things change, times change but we still dig the beat.
Recently you released your first ever video for the song “Sound From The Street” endorsed by British clothing company Three-Stroke Productions. How did this collaboration got together?
Alan from TSP contacted me when he listened to Then Now Always (BDS, France). Since then, we have been exchanging ideas about music and fashion, and now we trust each other. We collaborated The Solution T-shirt, and then we did music video as you have seen on YouTube.
(For those who don’t know) Three-Stroke is a brand that specializes in casual and terrace wear and it seems like that people go all-out on sub –and youth culture in Japan, how is this with the casual scene? Is there a scene at all and are there similar bands like yours active in your country?
My local lads love their products and there are shops opening in Tokyo and Osaka so it seems to becoming more popular here but we’ll see. We are still playing many of the same places here and alongside many of the same Oi and Punk bands that we always have, it’s working, the people still enjoy listening to us.
The main team sport in Japan is without a doubt baseball. How did you got introduced to the game of football?
I played football from age 7 to 17. It attracted me as a player from a young age and as a fan. I always felt and identified with the passion, energy and aggression of the football fan. I just never got into baseball at all.
I know you are a West Ham supporter, how did you become a West Ham supporter in Japan?
I saw Cockney Rejects wearing the jersey, and they were singing “Bubbles”. We can watch the games on TV in Japan, so it was not difficult to get more interested in the club. It was really exciting moment when I first went to a game at Upton Park. The atmosphere was fuckin’ unbelievable!
Is there also a Japanese team you support?
No….I don’t support any Japanese team, you cannot just compare, its different stuff!!
Okay, back to music. As said, your album “Then, Now, Always” already dates back to 2012 (although it was issued on vinyl in 2014 in Europe through BDS), is there anything new in the works? Can you tell a bit about it?
I am writing at the moment, hopefully we start recording by the end of this year.
Alright, I am about to round this interview up, I am curious about one thing though… If you had to make a top 5 of the following bands: The Jam, Cockney Rejects, Oasis, Cock SParrer and Cobra, who would be on what spot in the list?
1. Oasis
2. The Jam
3. Cock Sparrer
4. Cockney Rejects
5. Cobra
Thank you very much for the interview! If there is anything you would like to add, feel free to do so!
Hope you enjoy our album “Then Now Always”, thank you for reading this until the end.
