Deerhoof Vs Time Out, Part 2

On recent albums you've been singing more and more in Japanese. Is that a conscious decision?
Since we tour all over the world, I think it doesn't matter so much. I put the translation on the album artwork, but we wanted to minimalise the vocabulary on this album. I really like scat singers — they're very universal. If I repeat the words over and over, they become really catchy and go into your brain more. So I wanted to make it less difficult to understand. It's already difficult for people to understand what I'm saying anyway! [Laughs] People always ask, 'What is Satomi singing about?'

But you're singing in Catalan on this album! That can't be easy for anyone...
I have a friend from Valencia and he said he wanted to help if I ever wanted to sing in Catalan. I thought that was cool, like a mix of Spanish, Italian and French. He said it's been like 20 or 30 years since anyone wrote a song in the original Catalan language. I thought, wow! We should be the ones! [Laughs].

How do you divide your time between Tokyo and the States?
I moved to Tokyo again two years ago and I stayed there for one and a half years, but I had to tour so maybe I was there in total for six months. But we really don't have a schedule. This year we have tours until November, on and off, so I can maybe go back to Tokyo twice for my private time. I hope I can be home longer...

What do you miss about Tokyo when you're not here?
Food, of course, and friends. I made so many friends there, and I was with them, like, everyday. You know how it is when you're in your own country — it's so easy to connect. Japan's so peaceful. It's really nice.

Do you have any favourite restaurants here; places you like to hangout?
Yeah. I lived in Ebisu. My friends often have shows in the café at Liquidroom [Time Out Café & Diner]. The Toga designer I mentioned earlier — she's always there, like three times a week, or something. That was like five minutes away from my apartment. I like a soba place, too, near Ebisu Station. It's called Kaoriya. They have good duck. Oh, and Dommune. They have a very good VJ.

When you're playing around the world, do you feel like you're representing Japan in some manner?
I don't really know. I'm in a wierd position, I think, because when I'm interviewed in Japan people call me Satomi Matsuzaki, which makes me sound like I'm from some other country. Matsuzaki Satomi is my name! And they put it in katakana, so I'm kind of like an imported/exported figure. More than half of my life has been spent abroad, but I was born and raised in Japan and went back to Japan quite often, so I feel like I'm a pure Japanese. In America they treat me like a Japanese, but I don't really want to be one way or the other. I want to be an international person who just goes back and forth.

Any plans to play in Japan this year?
We're still setting it up, but probably in November. Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, hopefully Fukuoka. That's a great place — the people there really like their music. Hopefully we can do an onsen tour.

On a slightly different subject, why do you play the Paul McCartney bass?
Because it's light. Not because I like him. The Hofner bass is loud, and it sounds really nice when I mute it with a rubber band. It makes a rhythmical tone. And I like dancing with the bass, but I can't dance with a solid bass. I used to play a Rickenbacker and it just hurt my shoulders because it was as heavy as me.

Paul McCartney said a similar thing. It's light, so he could move...
But I think I move more than him! [Laughs].

He's also got a song called 'C-Moon', and there's one on your new album with the same name. What's going on, Satomi?
Really? Wow! I didn't know that. I recently watched him on some documentary, and he put the song list for his shows at the exact same spot as I put it on the Hofner. Maybe we think in the same way...

And why does Greg play such a tiny drumkit? It seems like it's nine times too small for him!
Ha! I think he said that if it was bigger he'd keep filling up the music. But we just went to a drum shop today and he bought a new kit, and now he has a floor tom. Maybe next time you see him he'll be playing a full kit!

Deerhoof Vs Evil is out worldwide this week