Hello friends, Dee here. I’m happy to once again write an article for the Remove blog, It’s been far too long: Among all bands in the American underground music scene of the 70s-80s none have been quite as unique as Coldwater, Michigan’s own, Half Japanese. They may as well be their own genre. In my opinion, Half Japanese are one of the greatest bands in the universe and should be spoken in the same sentence as The Beatles & Elvis when one discusses all time greatest rock performers. It was a pleasure speaking with Jad & David Fair (very nice guys, might I add), founding members of Half Japanese, check it out.
You are both visual artists, what was some of your favorite things to draw growing up?
David: In first grade I drew a pig with a bowtie. It was made out of circles and triangles. Then I copied drawings from Mad Magazine, then Monsters by Big Daddy Roth.
Jad: I liked to draw dogs and stars. I had a dog named Bess. I liked to do drawings of her.
Whats your earliest musical memory? What got you interested in music?
David: My parents had show-tunes: Music Man, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, and Louis Armstrong records. When I was about 8 I started buying my own records. That was Beach Boys and Jan and Dean and stuff we heard on the radio. We had a great radio station in Detroit that played a lot of Motown, and a station in Fort Wayne that played Beatles and everything that everyone wanted to hear.
Jad: We grew up in Michigan and I thought it had some of the best music. I listened to the radio a lot. I was a huge fan of Motown. When I was a bit older my favorite bands were the MC5 and The Stooges.
How was growing up in Michigan? Any favorite memories from that time?
David: I had a lot of great friends and we lived on a lake in the summers. I didn’t care much for school. On my first day of Kindergarten I walked home during recess. We just lived two houses away from the school. I decided right away that school wasn’t for me. It didn’t stick. I had to go back. My mother walked me there and then the teacher grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me and screamed in my face “Don’t you ever do that again!” That didn’t help me like school any better. But I had fun riding my bike around town and doing anything or nothing with friends. It’s too hard for me to answer questions about favorites because favorites change.
Jad: I bought Fun House when it first came out. It was great having so many great Michigan bands. I was also a big fan of
Question Mark and The Mysterians.
Some of your early songs were inspired by monster movies, what are some of your favorites?
David: I liked all of the Universal Monsters; Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy, Hunchback, Phantom of the Opera, etc. And then Space monsters and King Kong, Gorgo, Mother, Godzilla. Plus all of the giant insects and Shrinking people. I liked the Blob a lot. It just looked like Silly Putty but it terrified the town.
Jad: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman.
What was the first concert you saw? Any particular favorite shows you’ve seen?
David: I had friends in local bands that I would see, but the first real concert was the MC5. There is no way to top that unless you start your own band, so that’s what we eventually did.
Jad: My parents took the family to see a Joan Baez concert. I think that would have been the first concert I saw.
When I lived in Maryland I would go to see NRBQ any time they had a show in Maryland or DC. I went to a lot of their shows. I've seen hundreds of bands. NRBQ is the best live band I've seen.
If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would they be?
David: I’m sure that would change from day to day. Alexander Calder, Marcel DuChamp, Charlie Chaplin, Relatives who have passed away, Howard Finster, John Prine, Jesse Winchester, Mark Twain, Paul Rhymer, and many many more. I love having lunch with friends that I do have lunch with whenever I can, Bill, Wendy, Rolly, Mark, Jackie, Janise, Chad, Thomas, Jad, Patty, Swab, Cydney, Craig, and way too many more to name.
Jad: I prefer having dinner with someone that is alive. I always like having dinner with my family. I get along real well with my brothers and my sister.
Whats your all time favorite band?
David: Again, that would be impossible to name just one, so here are a few of the first ones that I think of: The Tinklers, KfriendR, Modern Lovers, Van Morrison, The Band, MC5, Stooges, Kinks, NRBQ, Howlin Wolf, Pogues, Little Richard, Patti Smith Group, Ramones, Buddy Holly, Waits, Prine, James Brown, GTOs, Beefheart, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Aretha, New York Dolls, Yo La Tengo, Hendrix Experience, Danielson, GoPillX, Burrito Brothers, Commander Cody, Shangra Las, Stones, so many more. On a certain day any of these could be my favorite.
Jad: NRBQ is my favorite band. I have all of their albums and listen to them a lot.