Q&A: Japan Guitar Shop Unveils Genre-Defying Debut Record ‘Done You Right’
IN THE VIBRANT STREETS OF PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – Japan Guitar Shop, the eclectic blues-rock band, has set their music scene ablaze with the release of their highly anticipated debut record Done You Right. A culmination of their diverse influences and musical explorations, the album is a testament to the band’s unwavering dedication to their craft and their ability to interlace genres seamlessly.
It all started when three friends found themselves drawn to a quaint neighborhood thrift store. This wasn't just any ordinary store; it housed an upstairs music rehearsal room where creative souls converged, fueled by the allure of dollar beers and the promise of boundless expression. This store bore the name Japan Guitar Shop which became the birthplace of the band as they named themselves after the very place where it all began as a homage to their origins.
Japan Guitar Shop’s multidisciplinary sound reflects the diverse backgrounds of its members, each hailing from different countries and bringing a unique set of influences to the table. The band, comprised of Cove Aaronoff (lead vocals, guitar), Colin Hodgkins (vocals, bass), Francesco Scarfone (lead guitar), Felix Gross (keyboard), Chema Rodriguez (drums) and Jesse Ricketson (percussion, synth), have lived abroad and immersed themselves in various cultures, they found themselves seamlessly integrating elements from their past into their music.
Khmer music, with its intricate melodies and soul-stirring rhythms, became a significant source of inspiration for the band. The guitars in their track “Promised Land” bear the imprint of Pen Ran recordings, a testament to the profound influence of Cambodian musical heritage on their craft. However, it wasn't just the traditional sounds of Cambodia that shaped their music; it was also the melting pot of talent that they encountered within the country's borders.
Living amidst a community of incredibly gifted musicians from around the world, the band found themselves constantly inspired and challenged to push the boundaries of their creativity. It was in this vibrant atmosphere that their debut album Done You Right flourished.
Done You Right involved a slow but steady process, and was completed over the course of a year at 60 Road Studios on the outskirts of Siem Reap. That studio is down a dusty, unpaved road and appears humble from the outside, but has state-of-the-art equipment combined with all kinds of vintage amps and instruments, and a talented co-owner, Steve Bloxham, who produced the album.
At the heart of Done You Right lies a rich tapestry of soundscapes, each track offering a journey through the band's eclectic musical landscape. From the soul-stirring blues melodies to the infectious rhythms of soul, every note is imbued with a sense of authenticity and raw emotion, captivating listeners and transporting them to another realm. Tracks like “The River” and “Promised Land” showcase the band's prowess in capturing the essence of blues and soul, with haunting melodies and soulful vocals that tug at the heartstrings. Meanwhile, “Boatcaps & Obituaries” takes listeners on a journey through a kaleidoscope of sounds, blending elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop into a mesmerizing sonic collage.
Through their music, the band pays homage to their roots while embracing the diverse influences that have shaped their journey. With each chord and every lyric, Japan Guitar Shop invites listeners on a captivating odyssey, and as they continue to weave their musical tapestry, one can't help but marvel at the chain of events that began in a small thrift store in Phnom Penh — a testament to the power of passion and the universal language of music.
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar yet, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: Somewhere between 70s rock and hip-hop. All five of us come from different backgrounds and music styles because we grew up in different places.
LUNA: How did Japan Guitar Shop form?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: We started as a group of three. There's a thrift store here in Phnom Penh that has a place to rehearse in the back, so we just started hanging out there and playing music. We played basketball together and just started playing at a place called Japan Guitar Shop that we ultimately took our name from. It's an amazing spot that sells dollar beers and has everything you need if you're a musician. In the context of the pandemic, that was a great place to be all the time when things were closing down, where we could hang out as friends did something that we love.
LUNA: You guys are part of Cambodia’s music scene, and for any readers who aren’t familiar with its music scene, how has the scene and its community inspired or impacted your sound?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: It's a very diverse community because there's so many people coming from all over. It also has a rich history here. Cambodia, especially in the 1960s and 70s before the Khmer Rouge, had a great rock n’ roll scene. There's some Cambodian music that has inspired us, but mostly it's that we live in such a diverse community that it's people from all over the world, which is reflected in our band. The best way I can answer that question about how it inspires us is that it introduces us constantly to people from everywhere, and it's a really supportive community. We all have each other's backs, even though we span all kinds of genres. It's cool because I think it's still as vibrant as it is for us. It's a relatively small community, so nobody has to adhere to a genre. As long as you're doing something, everybody's showing up and everybody supporting it. I think that may affect how much people are influencing each other. They're just appreciating it.
LUNA: You just released your debut album Done You Right and I adore the genre-bending elements in the record and the diverse experiences you all bring to the project. What is the inspiration behind the album?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: I think the inspiration was trying to find a way that these like 20 or 25 songs we had written through the pandemic that were really different from each other and how we could unify them into one cohesive album that made sense. A little bit from all of us and put together in a comprehensive way.
LUNA: What is your favorite song off Done You Right and why do you love it? Is there a specific lyric or message that you gravitate towards the most?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: There’s a song called “Rest” and I loved the recoding process. Our keyboardist was there in the session and the microphone cables kept rubbing on his shirt and rubbing on his pants, and so by necessity, we had to make him strip his shirt off and then his pants off. Then he had to just get naked in the studio and he's like, a big burly Italian dude. The AC was also making a lot of noise and we had to turn it off. Cambodia is really hot. So now our keyboardist is a sweaty, naked, Italian mess. To me, that was my favorite moment and I listened to that song so I can visually see this guy putting his everything into this one intro to the song. When I listen to the album now, I have those memories. We never solved the problem. You can still hear the Italian man's chest hair rubbing against some chord. It sounds very organic and messy.
LUNA: What was the hardest song to bring to life?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: There’s a song called “Boatcaps & Obituaries” that was very ambitious because we wanted to have a real BB King feel in the intro and then dive into 90s hip-hop with a break beat. We also wanted to bring in like a bossa nova section, so that was a lot logistically to figure out and make it seem like it flowed in a way that actually made sense. That one had room to allow us to paint ourselves into a corner artistically. It was one of those songs that was an outlier from the record almost and it could go anywhere and we didn’t mind fucking with it. We just kept throwing stuff at it, but that was the one that took the longest.
LUNA: What has been your favorite or most rewarding part of the creative process for the record?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: Hanging out with your friends. We're just really close. We spent almost a year creating the album and two months recording everything, so all those conversations late at night about it was the most rewarding. As a whole, we would travel to Siem Reap which is six hours away from here. There’s a studio out there that we found and we would play shows out there and link it up to little tours we’ve been doing. Recording was almost like touring and we kept going back, so everybody's together and you get to have that. You’re taking a road trip with your friends for six hours to go record the next day and play a concert that night. There's a lot of solidarity in that.
LUNA: What messages, emotions or story do you hope listeners can take away from the record?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: I guess in our little bubble, it would be that you can do that. Over here. You can get together and produce an original album, be an original band, tour around Southeast Asia. Cambodia is not a wealthy country. There's definitely a lack of resources, and so to be able to do what we did, we’re really proud of what we ultimately produced. But there were inherent challenges. I think being able to put everything together from here is something that we're really proud of. We’re not going anywhere, so the richer the scene here gets, the better it is for us. As much as we tour, we definitely want to always have a foot in the door in Cambodia. This is our home. We’re really proud of the music scene here.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
JAPAN GUITAR SHOP: We’re working on touring in Europe and Vietnam next. We’ve been touring in Thailand and Cambodia. We might record a little bit for the next record and continue to tour a ton and play many live shows.
