THE GEROGERIGEGEGE

RRReport on Japanese Subdivision

Taken straight from RRRecords’s RRReport on Japanese Subdivision included with the Noise & Junk Omnibus from 1991 as is; the questions themselves weren’t included. The version of this text on the artnotart fansite lacks the release section and fixes Juntaro’s typos/introduces new ones.

Juntaro has sold copies of Showa with this interview included as a booklet. (It’s also where I got the images from.)

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From Tokyo With Love

The Gerogerigegege

Replies by Juntaro Yamanouchi, Head of the Gerogerigegege

I organize a rock band called the Gerogerigegege and perform noise. The one who has stripped himself naked is Gero 30, 51 years old. He has been a member of our band since we organized a band and likes to show his naked body in public. We are not afraid of the police, and hurting the others doesn’t bother us too much.

We could make love on stage any time if we want to. But we are not interest in doing it. We prefer to experience something more exciting and thrilling feeling like we feel when we are doing masturbation.

A part of Shinjuku area in Tokyo become a popular street for gays since 1960s. There are more than gay bar in this area. The Gerogerigegege was organized for the show at the membership SM Club. We are for homosexual love but not willing to get involved with any activities.

We have the O.C.C.U.R., the association for gays in Japan (this is not a musical band). But gays here in Japan seem to have no guts to parade like gays do in the USA. I think that you will see more progressive attitude in the Gerogerigegege show.

First of all, gay people are not frank in nature. If they try to hide who they are and to avoid associating with straight people, it is kind of natural that they are discriminated and looked down. I am always in a woman’s dress but nobody can tell I am gay. Because I have been very open about it and living as a woman without any problem.

I have known nobody who died of AIDS among friends of mine. Beside, talking about AIDS is already out.

Some journalist accused me for producing a record that was influenced by leftism. But I never intended producing such a kind of record nor expressing an idea of it in that record.

There was no problem at all. We like the Ramones a lot. You will see if you lisening our CD Tokyo Anal Dynamite.

I believe that we have the best sales of records / CD and the greatest popularity in Japanese noise / industrial music. It’s because that the Gerogerigegege perform a variety of music and appears on musical magazines and TV programs. I also work as a composer and get a royalty from record company. We made 3,000 copies of Tokyo Anal Dynamite last year (1990) and have sold more than 2,800 copies up to now here in Japan. The rest of market for our music are RRR and Holland. Our first two LP Senzuri Champion (1987) and Showa (1989) had a price of 20,000 Yen ($142) at the used record store. And I have heard that it was already sold.

We organized our band in 1985. The first show we had outside of SM Club was October 1986. It was one of activities for student involvement by Japanese university Waseda. We performed at the auditorium of Waseda University with the member of me, Gero 30, two men from Grim (ex-Whitehospital), and Mr. Elle from C.P. Formal member of the Gerogerigegege are me and Gero 30, but more than 30 people have helped and supported us to have a show up to now. We have a show at club (not SM Club) about two times a month.

No comment.

On June 1988, we announced on some musical magazine to have a show in Enoshima Beach for celebrating the first come out of flexi disk. And we poured gasoline and burned 2,000 copies of flexi disk in front of the audience. It was used for the cover of some music magazine.

Since we produced our first LP, Senzuri Champion, we have been able to get into the field of rent CDs since last year (1990). And everything seems to be on the way.

Vis a Vis Audio Arts is a legal establishment, approved by the Japanese constitution. The Gerogerigegege earns 90% of total sales. In another word, I make my living letting Gero 30 do masturbation on the show at show.

VIS A VIS AUDIO ARTS

THE GEROGERIGEGEGE RELEASES