The Mootekkis
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The Mootekkis

Tokyo, Tōkyō, Japan | SELF

Tokyo, Tōkyō, Japan | SELF
Band Rock Classic Rock

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Music

Press


""There’s a base energetic drive to this that defies all genre allegiances""

They’ve already taken the Tokyo scene by the shirt collar and roughed it up, and now The Mootekkis are Japanzine-certified Good Guys™ thanks to this brilliantly unhinged ode to rock, rock and, yes, more rock. You can’t not like this. There’s a base energetic drive to this that defies all genre allegiances and brings together all listeners in a mosh-pit of something that unites any gaijin-and-Japanese audience: the desire to rock … Er, did I mention that this one rocks? - Jonti Davis - Japanzine Magazine Nagoya, Japan


"“This was pure rock’n’roll in a way that most people around here haven’t seen for a long time…""

“This was pure rock’n’roll in a way that most people around here haven’t seen for a long time…it was just amazing.” Ishmael Osekre, Aputumpu Festival Organizer Brooklyn, NYC - Ishmael Osekre, Aputumpu Festival Organizer, Brooklyn, NYC


""The Mootekkis represent a kind of eternal present in rock'n'roll...""

"The Mootekkis represent a kind of eternal present in rock'n'roll ...straddling territory somewhere between classic punk, hard rock and Libertines-style UK retro garage rock. They do it in style, with a boozy, loose feel that makes almost palpable the crush of bodies in a dark live house..." Dan Grunebaum, Metropolis Magazine, Tokyo - Dan Grunebaum, Metropolis Magazine, Tokyo


Discography

The Mootekkis Demo (2009)

The Mootekkis EP (2011)

Milky Way - Single (2012)

Photos

Bio

The sun is rising in the suburbs of Tokyo. Beer-soaked and broke but never defeated, The Mootekkis front man Mike and lead guitarist Jude, place a six pack on a convenience store counter. Guitar-in-hand they launch into an impromptu set of acoustic numbers. The clerks dig it and the two chuckling reprobates walk out with a brick of free beer. Understanding this shameless rock-for-beer work ethic will bring you one step closer to grasping the essence of The Mootekkis.

Meanwhile, trapped in a flaccid music industry where rock’n’roll success usually means applying make-up and dressing up like a boy band, Koji was performing solo round the Tokyo underground circuit donning his still-to-this-day unwashed “No Beer No Life” T-shirt. Masafumi was drumming at festivals for well-known local acts while Yocchan worked in a beef-bowl joint, reading up on Roman history in his free time, his bass collecting dust. Enter Mike and Jude.

Jude, a beer-guzzling ladies man hailing from Connecticut, was recording a solo project when he stumbled across Mike fronting a cover band called No Burrito. Mike, whose only singing experiences before Japan involved stage-crashing other bands shows in Melbourne, had a vision of a band with a fast, loose-canon approach to dirty rock which shook hands with Jude’s metal and surf-rock leanings.

Koji the pint-sized, tattoo-sleeved convenience store clerk was introduced to Mike through a corner shop owner in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo’s bohemian epicenter. A couple of years beforehand, he had played with an afro-toting Yocchan in a Rolling Stones cover band called Morning Stoned. Masafumi was Mike’s English language student and seized the opportunity for free English lessons.

The Mootekkis was born. Koji’s classic rock and blues sensibility, coupled with Masafumi’s clock work drumming and Yocchan’s Stone Roses-esque driving bass lines brought a radio-friendly dimension to Mike and Jude’s offbeat intensity. It wasn’t long before the band had their first magazine front cover (Japanzine) and airplay on InterFm 76.1, one of Tokyo’s biggest radio stations. Their high-energy beer-fuelled rock’n’roll was also sought after for remixes by local drum’n’bass DJs.

In August 2012 they embarked on a 10 day tour of New York where they played Manhattan hot spots Bowery Electric and Piano’s as well as New Haven’s Elm Bar and a handful of basement and loft parties in Brooklyn. Brooklyn’s own Ishmael Osekre, organizer of the music festival Aputumpu had this to say after seeing the The Mootekkis at a Bushwick loft party: “This was pure rock’n’roll in a way that most people around here haven’t seen for a long time…it was just amazing.”

With 2011’s eponymous EP and the newly released single “Milky Way” up on iTunes, The Mootekkis recently recorded 4 new songs which will be used as teasers for their debut album. The future’s looking pretty good for these five brothers from different mothers.