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Hailing from Osaka, Puppypet are a five piece poppy punk ska band headed by two typically cute female vocalists, Sachi (lead vocals) and Tomo (vocals and the melodica). With traditional Japanese vocals (thanks to Sachi's background) against modern rock melodies, the band has that unique sound only Japan can produce.

"Our influence is from old Japanese music but we've taken it and fused it with recent music. This has created a new sound which suits Puppypet and individual to us." And a quick listen to one of their songs will prove it. On one hand it's the usual fun pop rock stuff, not that far away from your average Japanese band. While on the other hand, it has that kind of traditional Japanese vocal sound that’s laid out on top but done in a catchy way. It’s almost like enka but on speed.

 "We have a Japanese punk-rock style" the lead vocalist Sachi tells us. "It's a kind of typical Japanese music, plus a punk-ska type of mixture, along with an old Japanese folk taste added into it." By looking at their line-up, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart from the usual other bands. They have one lead vocal, one other vocalist, one drummer, one guitarist and one bassist. But look a little closer and you'll find they're a bit more unusual.

Tomo for instance, in many of the songs plays the unusually cheap sounding melodica. But instead of giving it that obvious cheap sound, it works on a bit more of a cuter level, accompanying the vocals and melodies rather then clashing with them. Then there's Sachi's childhood training in traditional Japanese instruments, the Koto and Shamisen, which no doubt contributes to the traditional Japanese vocal style of the band.

With such a traditional influence on the band, I wondered what kind of things they learned from using it in their music. “Traditional Japanese music has their own musical scale” answered Sachi, “which is different from European one. Based on this traditional tonal scale, we created a unique Japanese style of music.” But even with this unique quality to them, they still manage to hold that punk sound into their music. 

The band formed back in 2003 back in their hometown of Osaka, "We started off busking in Osaka. At that time, it was quite an experience" Sachi recalls. "Of course we were really pleased that people gathered to listen to us play."

Osaka is one of the prime places for young Japanese musicians to start out. A breeding ground for buskers trying to attract all the right people and make it big in the music industry. Although, for Puppypet, it wasn't always the right kind of people, "There were many times when weird people were in the audience. They'd dance around and get drunk. That kind of stuff often happened. Once or twice we even got someone that would just start urinating in front of us. "

Now attached to the EMI label in Japan, they've had a small string of releases, and not long ago they participated in tours in the US and the UK.

“The America tour was our first tour abroad. I was happy because the audience enjoyed our music a lot. I realized there that music is actually understood regardless of their countries or nationalities.” Tomo explains. “It was funny because even though we found that Japanese music is created for a much younger generation, then with American music, when we played our first gig in America, everyone just seemed to get into it straight away. They were really friendly, it was a lot of fun.”

Only a couple of hours before performing their first gig in London, they start to chat a little about the city. “I really like London” says Sachi. “It’s my third time visiting here. Before it was just sightseeing though. I am so excited now because finally I can do a live concert in my favourite city, here in London.”

“Are you really?” questions Tomo, and Sachi replies with a little giggle. “Anyway, I will enjoy playing here.”

Coming all the way from Japan and with little English between them, I thought that they must have found it quite surprising and even a little over whelming how many western fans were interested in Japanese music. “Umm, I don’t know if there were that many young people at our gigs, but it’s really good that there are a lot of people that like Japanese music” says Tomo. ” It makes me really pleased. I’m not sure they understand unique Japanese musical scale, but we are sure that they accepted our music and enjoy them. What about you Sachi?”

“Of course, with music, a live show is not the same as with a CD” says Sachi. “With a CD you don’t get to see. With the live shows I like to think that they also enjoyed the visual aspect of the performance.”

Just before we ended our interview, I asked if they had any messages to their fans:

Tomo: I would like you to come and enjoy our live performance. See you there!

Sachi: I would like to play in Puppypet until the age of 80. Please support us until you die!

Jpop.com would like to thank Puppypet and their managing staff for the interview. Interview conducted May 2006 by Jason Chin and Yuki Melodies. Special thanks to Yamaguchi Nozomi for translations.