Live music is always a treat, and one of the many things that South by Southwest 2026 offers is the chance to see both big-name and indie musicians perform. Every year, SXSW hosts Tokyo Calling: a mini, Japanese music festival featuring up-and-coming artists. On a warm afternoon at the Downright Austin, I got the chance to learn more about the independent Japanese music scene by talking to two of the bands performing — BANSHIMOKU, a punk rock duo, and GOKUMON, a heavy metal act.
I had initially planned to interview only BANSHIMOKU. But once I was on-site, I was directed and encouraged to speak to GOKUMON first, due to their immediate availability, and then interview BANSHIMOKU once they arrived. In lieu of an interview room or even a green room, I conducted my interview a couple of yards away from the concert stage. It was a very laid-back experience; both the members of GOKUMON and BANSHIMOKU were pleasant to speak with, and excited to talk about their music. With the help of an interpreter (and my fledgling Japanese), I was able to learn a lot about their music.
GOKUMON
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, GOKUMON guitarist Atsushi Osawa, drummer and vocalist Asuka Kawamoto, and bassist junko spoke about starting the band.
“Originally, (Kawamoto and Osawa) started the band with a different bassist and they started back when they were in school, so it’s just been the continuation and then junko joined later,” Osawa said.
GOKUMON draws heavy inspiration from American hard rock bands, in particular musicians from the Los Angeles metal scene.
“I’m a fan of western bands, like, Mr. Big, Extreme, Motley Crue and System of Down.” said Osawa.
Kawamoto and junko also mentioned liking System of Down, Kawamoto highlighting Marilyn Manson as a big inspiration, and junko citing Nikki Sixx as her idol.
GOKUMON has dubbed their sound “Seikatsu Micchaku-gata Loud Rock,” translated as “Life-Immersed Loud Rock.” Osawa describes it as singing about universal day-to-day experiences, “like having breakfast in the morning.” It’s a pretty apt explanation for the themes of their music; they sing about the benefits of consistent muscle training and how much they like tuna. To allow for all audiences to understand their lyrics, they also employed someone they called a “visual jockey.”
“(The visual jockey) is just putting the lyrics on the screen,” Osawa said. “Because we have a heavy sound, it would be a shame if the audience wouldn’t be able to understand the lyrics. Hence, why we have a VJ so that everyone can see it, and they could have fun while understanding.”
This is a slight understatement of what the visual jockey was up to during the show. The lyrics on the screen were music videos in different styles — ranging from Pop Art a la Roy Lichtenstein, or in the style of manga. Every video also seemed to have been translated to English specifically for SXSW.
BANSHIMOKU
This show was BANSHIMOKU’s first time in the U.S. They seemed to be enjoying Austin, Texas. When I asked for their thoughts, drummer Yamato Iohara remarked on the atmosphere of the city, while vocalist and guitarist Shion Chiga was more focused on the abundance of dogs in the area.
Similar to GOKUMON, BANSHIKOMU started in high school.
“I started making music in high school because my teacher told me to,” said Chiga.
Iohara added that he started at a similar age, mostly attempting to emulate the bands and artists he liked at the time. Chiga continued, explaining:
“The band started out back when (Chiga) was in the first year of high school, and it used to be three girls, but then the drummer quit, and (Iohara) joined and we continued from there. So the core members are us (Chiga and Iohara), then we have a support bassist and a ‘hired gun’ bassist.”
Chiga is into ’90s grunge, citing inspirations like Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Her bandmate Iohara, on the other hand, prefers Japanese artists like Gen Hoshino, Unison Square Garden and Necry Talkie. Their tastes stand in stark contrast to each other, but you can sense the interplay between the two in their sound; in some songs, like “Shinsetsu,” you can hear the grunge influence with a fast and low sound punctuated by the power in Chiga’s voice and Yamato’s intense drumming, comparable to the feeling of grunge bands like Pearl Jam. At the same time, “SPANKY ALIEN” is a J-pop and J-rock blend, matching Chiga’s vocals with atypical bass rhythm, guitar sections and a highly melodic chorus. It’s rawer, but the influence from J-rock bands like Eve or Frederic is palpable.
The synergy of these two genres gives BANSHIMOKU a unique texture, and they commanded the stage during their set. Their music had complex, interweaving melodies, toe-tapping basslines and phenomenal vocals. Chiga’s voice is deep, intense and compelling; she could sing a mile a minute or howl into the microphone while staying on beat and in tune.
Interviewing both bands, I was quite surprised by the similarities the two shared despite the difference in genre, presentation and performance. Both bands originating in high school is fascinating to me; people can just get together to make music — it doesn’t have to be complicated.
As the night progressed, the crowd of “Tokyo Calling” was split between hipster music festival goers and Japanese business people, who had come from the other ongoing conferences. It was a liminal space for me; an intersection of interests, peoples, and music that is only possible through SXSW.
Daily Arts Writer Nicolas Eisenberg can be reached at niceisen@umich.edu.
