Punk
Globe:
Thanks
for bringing the
Tiernan
band to our attention here at
Punk
Globe and
where in Canada are you from? Being that the band's name is your last
name, I assume you are the founder of the band.
Laurier Tiernan : Thank
you for having us. I was born in Edmonton, Alberta but moved
to
Vancouver and Victoria after high school. Bassist Devin Wine
is from
America and our drummer, Toru Hirasawa is from Tokyo. Yes, I
am the
founder of the band. A few months into our existence, after
we
released our first demo, there was a journalist from Geek Monthly
magazine who wanted to do an article on us, and there was some question
at that time as to whether we'd change the name to sound more
"band-like."
In
the end we decided we should just stick with "Tiernan."
Punk Globe: How
did you end up in Japan? Did you come to teach English or
French? The
band is a trio. Can you tell us about the other members of the band and
what they play?
Laurier Tiernan :
I
came to Japan to record my first solo album for two-eight records but
we've since parted ways, amicably. Devin Wine is an ex
American sailor
turned bassist who's studying online with Berklee, and he also records
electronic music, quite successfully, under the moniker Admiral
Anderision.
Toru Hirasawa, the drummer for Tiernan,
is a
classically trained jazz musician and classical composer.
He's our own
little Stewart Copeland and is one of Ryuichi Sakamoto's favorites.
Worth his weight in gold.
Punk Globe:
I
really enjoyed your sound how would you best describe it?
Laurier Tiernan : Thanks.
A lot of our fans ask me the same question, and I'm really
torn. I
tell people it's punk or powerpop or indie rock depending on the
circumstance. I mean, when I hit my teens I simultaneously
fell in
love with political punk rock and pretty much every gay dance music
band you can name; from Pet Shop Boys to Man 2 Man.
As a
result the
songs I write can be angry and tender at the same time I guess.
Punk Globe: Who are
some of the band's biggest influences?
Laurier Tiernan : Let's
see. I think our biggest influences might include Jawbreaker,
Propagandhi, Sense Field, The Weakerthans, Nirvana,
The Smalls, Pig
Farm and S.N.F.U. I think Devin would add Tool and Rage
Against the
Machine in there as well. Toru would probably agree with me
on Nirvana
but he would also add Elvis Costello.
Punk Globe: From
reading your Biography you were are also a solo act? Do you still play
solo as well as with the band?
Laurier Tiernan : Yeah,
I performed off and on as a solo artist for years, kind of haphazardly.
I am actually starting a proper solo career this year though,
with an
acoustic album that I'd like to put out before 2009. I went
to
California to play a few acoustic shows by myself in January of this
year and that's something I'd like to do again. I had a lot
of fun.
Punk Globe: How
do you enjoy living in Tokyo? What part of Tokyo are you in?
When I
was in Tokyo I stayed in Nakano are you familiar with that area?
Laurier Tiernan :
By the
Kanda river.
I
enjoy living in Tokyo a lot. I mean, there are a lot of
inconveniences, being 6'7" and white, I have to duck a lot and I get a
good deal of racism, but for the most part it's a really safe and
friendly city that is full of life and where anything seems possible.
I live in Sumida-ku near the Sumida river.
Yeah, I know Nakano.
It's a nice area.
Punk Globe: Have
you played The Loft in Shinjuku ? Is Nate's Records still there?
Laurier Tiernan : Tiernan
have never played the Loft but I used to go see a friend's band,
Dstolemybear, play there before they went on hiatus. I never
saw
Nate's Records.
Punk Globe: How
did you find your band mates? Did it take long to get rolling
as a band?
I
found Toru and Devin through myspace. It actually didn't take
long for
us to click at all. Devin and I had played one or two shows
as a duo
before Toru jumped on board and when he did it just FIT. I
closed my
eyes and almost cried during our second practice because I couldn't
believe how good we sounded.
Punk Globe: Had
you learned any Japanese before moving there? Did you have any troubles
with finding the right musicians because of you being from Canada?
Laurier Tiernan : I
had learned the hiragana and the katakana before coming over, as
building blocks for learning the language but the kanji are still
daunting to me. Yeah, I did have difficulty finding the right
musicians due to my being a Westerner.
I mean, many people
are
enthralled with being in a band with a white guy over here because the
western rock myth is very much still alive, But, by the same token,
some musicians who might be drawn to the opportunity might not
understand why I don't want to cover "Hotel California," amongst other
things.
Punk Globe: Tell
us about your song about Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming the next
President of The United States and how it became a hit in
Japan. Tell
us about the song and the some of the lyrics. Is it a pro Arnold song?
Laurier Tiernan :
The
song is called "The End of the World", and it's really funny
how it
took off over here. I had written it a few years back and
performed it
as a trance track to many frightened crowds before it came to life in
it's current incarnation. As Tiernan
were about to record their first
demo, I really insisted on squeezing in a recording of this punk
version we had rehearsed a few times because I was really hit with it's
energy.
The producer of the demo balked because he thought we
wouldn't
have enough time but we did it anyway. A few weeks later a
friend
called me and told me Arnold Schwarzenegger had actually been cast as
the president of the U.S. in the Simpsons Movie. I got excited and a
friend suggested that we make a video for the song, so I called a
friend who is a producer at InterFM and asked him if he'd
announce on
the radio that we would be filming a video at our next gig.
He said
he'd do better than that, that he'd actually spin the track on his
Friday morning show.
We were thrilled and expected
it to end at
that, but the station staff and the people listening to the station
started requesting it and it just took off.
The
chorus goes, "Arnold Schwarzenegger will be president of the United
States and he will usher in the end times for the human race."
The
first verse starts off, "The Bush family had business ties to Nazi
Germany and Arnold's father was in the S.A."
I
wrote the song out of pure frustration after reading that Bush's
Republicans were trying to change the constitution to allow anyone to
run for President if they had been a U.S. citizen for 20 years.
I
don't have to remind you of who got his citizenship about that long
ago. You know there's mad planning going on there.
No, it's not a pro
Arnold song.
Punk Globe: When
Arnold won the fist election as the Governor of California he was the
less of two evils from The Republikkkan Party and his saving
grace was
tthe fact he was married to Maria Shriver who is a Kennedy....Now it is
his second term and he is showing his true colors with cutting
education budgets and more....Are there many Japanese people who are
aware of his background as a Politician or are they thinking more about
him as The Terminator?
Laurier Tiernan :
Of
course many Japanese people tend to see him more as the Terminator
because in mainstream Japanese society there is a HUGE cult of
celebrity.
I think most people here think it's a big joke
that he's
the governor of California now.
Punk Globe: When
I was last in Japan ... most people thought "Bush was Bakka
(CRAZY). "I hope I spelled it right.
Laurier Tiernan :
You
were close. One "k"; Baka, or 馬鹿（ばか）in Japanese.
Yeah, the political
views haven't changed much. He's really not helping the image
Japanese
people have of Americans.
I've actually had acquaintances
tell me that
recently some Japanese people just stopped talking to them when they
found out they were American.
Punk Globe: What
are some of your favorite live houses to play in Tokyo?
Laurier Tiernan : I
love What the Dickens in Ebisu because they have a gorgeous room and
great sound but they have a policy of requiring that you play some
covers, and that really doesn't work for me. I like the Baron
in
Roppongi as well, although it's a bit small.
Punk Globe: Do
you get on shows with touring bands from Canada and the USA?
Laurier Tiernan :
We've
only been together for 10 months, and I spent three of that undergoing
and recuperating from heart surgery (due to a condition I was born
with) so we've not played out a lot yet. Most of our shows
have been
just us, or on a bill of different bands at benefit concerts for
organizations like Amnesty International.
I don't
think a lot of
bands from North America know we exist yet. We are getting in
touch
with a lot of bands recently though, so the situation will change
Punk Globe: Do
you drive in Japan, as most of the clubs have the gear at the clubs for
bands to use?
Laurier Tiernan :
Oh
no, I don't drive in Japan. The public transportation is too
good, I
am an environmentalist and, as you said, most clubs have house gear.
Toru (our drummer) has a car though because he's got a kit that he
likes to use for recording and he can't very well carry that on the
train.
Punk Globe: I
was also very impressed with the fact that most every club that my band
White Trash Debutantes played there was Women involved with doing the
sound. Is that still standing? I met the lead singer of a band called
Romantic Gorilla named Gori she was wonderful and very helpful.. Do you
know the band or her? I also met a girl in Osaka named Chiharu who now
lives in Tokyo that had a band..,She visited the States a
couple times
and was a hoot.
Laurier Tiernan :
Oh
yeah, there are a lot of female sound engineers over here. I
don't get
their attraction to the work, because most Japanese girls are prissy to
the extreme, but I'm glad that it's an equal opportunity field over
here. I had never heard of Romantic Gorilla but I
just checked out
their fansite on myspace. Nice sound.
