Big Frog Interview／ビッグフロッグインタビュー

On Tuesday July 19th , Big Frog, Japan's premier act that can be lumped into the ever widening "Jam Band" category (think high-energy engaging live performers like Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic), rocked the Nagoya Bottom Line with a loud and rowdy CD release party. For those unfamiliar with their sound, a look at their touring partners may give you an idea: Moe, Phish, and the The Zen Tricksters to name a few. Big Frog is the first Japanese band to make an mark on this growing international scene, and will only continue to get... ...well, bigger.

Nursing a stubborn hangover, Lighthouse caught up with Big Frog the day after the show at a Nagoya recording studio where they were busy laying a new album:

Listen to the interview here: Big Frog Audio Interview



LH: We understand your name, "Big Frog", comes from an old legend that big frogs are the ideal battle vehicles for ninjas. It only seems logical that ninjas would fight on giant toads, but, is it true that you named your band after them?

Big Frog: Well, we wanted to give the band the name of an animal, and we also wanted to name it BIG something…so… BIG... FROG!

LH: In America, there is a very famous frog called the Sonaran Desert Toad, or the Colorado river Toad. This frog’s saliva is very, very, very psychedelic, and some people smoke this frog’s saliva, because contains a super-psychedelic called DMT…so…you are Big Frog. Have you ever tried to smoke your salvia ?

BF : (Bursts out laughing)

LH : Have you tried ? Do you want to ?

BF : Well…I’ve thought of smoking that frog’s sweat, but mine…I don’t know…now that you gave us the idea, we’re definitely going to try !

LH : Please tell us how it is !

BF : My dog does it.

LH: Ok... so, most of your songs are in English and Japanese. So who writes your lyrics ? Who writes the Japanese lyrics and who writes the English lyrics ?

BF: We write the Japanese lyrcis, but Jason writes the English lyrics most of the time.

LH: Jason? Who's Jason?

BF: He’s a very old friend of ours. He knows many jokes. Before, it used to be Shaggy, a weirdo. And then this other fat guy. But, in the end, we chose Jason. He has this feeling...

BF: He has a funny feeling. He’s really ...funny.

LH: The jam-band scene is huge in the US - but in Japan, there are very few jam-bands… Big Frog, the Meltones... but is there a chance for Japanese jam-bands to get big? What has to happen to help the jam-band scene in Japan?

BF: (Laughter…) What’s needed is DOPE ! That’s from School of Rock, isn’t it? No... seriously tho, so long as young people don’t come and see jam-bands, the highschool and university students, there is very little chance that the jam-band scene will grow any bigger in Japan.

BF: The hard thing is launching it…you know how the Japanese musical scene is…there are many walls separating the categories of music… so before reaching Jam music, people need to get through those walls, and that’s not easy. The bigger he category is, the harder they are stuck into it. It’s true that the jam band scene is rather small, which could also explain why people don’t come, but…I think people just don’t understand…

BF: Yes, that’s why we try…

BF: We try to get them into it, into this experience…that’s why we tour all around Japan.

LH: You played a lot in Tokyo, for many years, you come to Nagoya often…

BF: WE LOVE NAGOYA!

LH: Really? Why?

BF: When you compare it with Tokyo... I mean, Tokyo’s grown a little bit sketchy…Of course, we are Big Frog FROM TOKYO, but you know... recently, Tokyo is not the place! There’s still the Super Deluxe, though.

BF: Yes. There’s something we like about Nagoya - people like to party! Also, the difference between Tokyo and Nagoya isn't that big. Osaka and Tokyo are definitely different, but Nagoya is very close to Tokyo, there’s no real border, the feeling is the same…We kind of feel at home here.

LH: Last night, at the Bottom Line we noticed that your band is only 4 people, but Big Frog actually seems to be more than 4 people. Tokyo Ale for sale travels with you everywhere, and you have a travelling hempstore from InSunFlower, and many fans were wearing InSunFlower T-shirts…

BF: That’s Big Frog’s uniform!

LH: …and you have a hip-hop DJ, DJ Quietstorm, and many friends that work with you…So how did you make that kind of network ? It’s like a big family.

BF: They’re just friends!

LH: So, what’s next to join the Big Frog family? You have beer, you have clothes…so what’s next?

BF: Well, we need a big frog! BIIIIIG!!!! What else? A travel agency! Also a convenience store and a highway! And a gas station!

LH: One more question : In the interview we did before, we asked Afrilampo if they had a fist fight with Acid Mothers Temple, which band would win. Afrilampo said that in a fight, they could beat Acid Mothers Temple, so now, we are making a kind of score card to see which band can kick the most ass, and right now, Afrilampo is the winner…so…if you could challenge Afrilampo to a fight, who do you think wins?

BF: The Mafia!

LH: Do you have ninja tricks ? Can you do back flips and disappear in smoke ?

BF: Yeah! that’s me!

BF: We’d win a smoking contest, it’s our tonic ! But in a fist fight, it would be Afrilampo, there’s no doubt about it! What we could do is smuggle ourselves into their dreams, and bring the PEACE!



The next area Big Frog performence will be 8/13-8/14 at an incredibly heartful independant called the Summer Music Festival held at a campsite in Yokkaichi. In it's 9th year, the all-volunteer charity (almost unheard of in Japan) event will feature a great line-up from all over Japan, and is strongly recommended. 2,500 yen with one free drink.

Contact Richard 0593-22-7879 and

http://www.cty-net.ne.jp/~rtjordan/yokkaichi_promotions/.