Electronic group’s sound spans ocean
By Mia Sable
May 25, 2005 9:00 p.m.
The members of the electronic group Pine*am may live on opposite
sides of the Pacific Ocean, but that hasn’t stopped them from
writing songs together.
The group is currently on tour to promote “Pull The Rabbit
Ears,” its third release, which will be available on May 31.
The tour culminates in Los Angeles on the day of the release, with
the group’s final live shows being held at noon in Westwood
Plaza and later that evening at 7 in Hollywood, at Amoeba
Music.
The all-female group has a choreographed look and pop vocal
harmonies reminiscent of ’60s girl groups. Its white rabbit
logo appropriately matches the fluffy bounce in its songs. The
members have appropriately categorized themselves as electro techno
pop, and “Pull The Rabbit Ears” conjures sounds from
old-school Nintendo games, Saturday morning cartoons and upbeat
’80s synth-pop.
Pine*am started out on a local Osaka, Japan label called Orange
Records, then moved on to Secondhand Records in Miami. With the
group’s latest album, it has found a new home at Los
Angeles-based Eenie Meenie Records. The trio has yet to acquire any
major “Hollywood” credentials, but its
soundtrack-friendly tunes suggest that Los Angeles is a good choice
for a hub.
According to band members, Tsugumi Takashi holds the role of
group leader, and is also the one who, along with performing vocals
and bass, programs and produces all of their various contributions
into one song. Chizuko Matsubayashi adds guitar and vocals, and
Taeca Kinoshita handles the keys and some of the programmings.
While all of the girls originally come from Osaka, each one
currently lives in a different city ““ Tokyo, Osaka and
Vancouver, Canada. But thanks to today’s accessible computer
and home recording software, they are able to construct their songs
by e-mail.
“First the three of us make brief demos and send them over
to each other,” Matsubayashi explained. “And then we
can develop the sound and exchange files through (the)
Internet.”
The group’s live show is a combination of prerecorded
sounds and live music, and is a format with which many emerging
bands are experimenting.
“In a way it is difficult; some songs that we recorded in
the album we can’t really play at the show. Usually we just
use the rhythm track and we play instruments live,”
Matsubayashi said.
Some things remain the same, though, as far as bands go ““
the three girls have to share a hotel room along one of the many
stops of their North American tour. The group members said they
especially enjoy performing for American audiences because they
find them to be uninhibited and very open to new bands.
“They’re more supportive in America and (people)
will tell us if they really liked our show,” Matsubayashi
said. “It’s easier to feel how the show was here than
in Japan. People are more shy there, and they’re there to see
a certain band. They’re not really interested in other bands.
And they don’t bother to come up and say “˜Great
show,’ or “˜I like you guys’ or anything like
that. ‘Cause we’re not famous.”
But when it comes to future fame, the group members are divided
over their aspirations.
“Me, (I’m) personally not (interested in
fame),” said Matsubayashi. “Tsugumi says she
wasn’t doing this to become famous, but since we are here
now, she will become famous.”
Fame may be further down the line, as style seems to be the
group’s current priority. The band’s unusual name is
derived from its quest for cuteness.
“We were just playing with our family names, trying to
translate it into English, just to kill time,” Matsubayashi
said. “(We) picked up the cutest sounds from it.
Taeca’s family name literally means “˜under the
tree,’ Tsugumi’s family name literally means
“˜high master’ or “˜high teacher,’ and my
family name means like “˜pine tree wood,’ or “˜pine
tree forest.’ So we just thought “˜pine’ sounded
cute, and added (“˜am’) like Pan-Am Air.”
