Biography
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Years Active
1999 – present (24 years)
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Founded In
Chiba, Chiba, Japan
TsuShiMaMiRe (つしまみれ, also known as TSMMR) is an all-girl Japanese rock trio. Members are Mari, Mizue, and Yayoi. Their style is energetic hard rock, mixing punk and pop tendencies with idiosyncratic, quirky, and often funny or disturbing lyrics. They are one of the many bands to have become famous in the United States through the Austin, Texas "South by Southwest" music festival, and also through their performances at anime conventions alongside the Suicide Girls, and at Benten Label's "Japan Girls Nite" U.S. tours.
Although "tsushimamire" sounds like a Japanese word, it is not. It is a combination of "Tsushima" (the family name of bassist Yayoi) with "Ma" (from guitarist/vocalist Mari) and "Mi" (from drummer Mizue). In addition, "mamire" means "mixed up" in Japanese: thus the effect is that of "Tsushima (Yayoi), Mari, and Mizue all mixed together."
TsuShiMaMiRe's musical style can be broadly classified as hard rock, with eclectic influences of punk and Japanese pop music. Several of their songs begin with strong bass lines by Yayoi, but Mari's guitar and Mizue's drums finally make equal contributions. Several songs combine sweet female vocal harmonies with hard drum playing and punk guitar riffs, for a deliberately ironic effect, for example in their signature tune, "Tea Time Ska." The lyrics are consistently quirky and idiosyncratic, with the most common themes being sex, food, and death, and sometimes all three at once. Underneath sweet vocal harmonies, the lyrics frequently hint at far darker, scarier themes.
Food is a noticeable subject in their lyrics. In the rap-rock title song from "no-miso shortcake" ("brain shortcake"), lead singer Mari invites the listener to eat her brain. In "Kamaboco" ("Fish Cakes"), all three girls play the roles of food ingredients in Japanese hotpot, with fish cakes (Mari) feeling rejected and lonely because she is never added to hotpot. In their very first single, "American Hamburger," an upbeat pop song, the singer describes herself as fat and food-loving but beautiful; the first line is, "I'm a pig so I eat pork." (Actually, all three band members are usually quite svelte.)
Some of their most powerful songs address death and its inevitability. In "Na-mellow" ("Nameru"), the singer plays the role of the young daughter of a fisherman, who gradually realizes her father will never return from a fishing voyage. In "Manhole," the singer speculates about where manholes in the street might lead to, perhaps to the land of the dead.
Another common theme is sex, which is frequently juxtaposed against the squeaky-clean stereotype of the innocent-looking Japanese girl. In the title song from the album "Pregnant Fantasy," the unborn baby of a pregnant teenager asks why her mother will bear her when she is not wanted. In "World Peace & BOU," the singer appears to be speculating that world peace can be brought about by a cartoon penis.
"Tea Time Ska," the song which often closes their live shows, features a unique mix of punk-rock screaming and sweet harmonies. It describes an innocent young girl who invites her first boyfriend home for tea. However, her father, "who loves me too much," becomes jealous of the boyfriend because his daughter has never made tea for him.
Mari (Vocals & Lead Guitar), Mizue (Chorus & Drums), and Tsushima Yayoi (Chorus & Bass Guitar) formed TsuShiMaMiRe in 1999 while they were all still college students. They started playing in various clubs in the Chiba prefecture, as well as releasing their first demo single, "Hamburger Set," in 1999 and then their second demo single, "Bloody Mohawk" ("Ryuketsu Mohikan"), in 2001.
In 2004, they toured with other native Japanese bands Petty Booka, Bleach, Noodles, and Kokeshi Dolls in the United States, as well as performing at the South by Southwest music festival. On August 25 of the same year they released their first full length album, "Pregnant Fantasy," on Benten Label.
In March 2005, they toured the United States once again in the “Japan Girls Nite US Tour.” Along with some of their previous tour mates, this excursion included notable rock group The Pillows. Though the short tour only went through a few cities such as Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the tour was met warmly and gave them extra exposure. This prompted Benten Label to release the girls' first album and future records in the United States through the Australian Cattle God label.
Also in 2005, they performed as an opening act for the "Suicide Girls Live Burlesque Tour," which involved a grueling thirty-five shows in about one month's time, September 30 through November 5. After the Suicide Girls tour, they also played a few small west coast dates with other Japanese girl bands, once again part of the Benten Label's “Girls Nite Tour.”
In 2006 they were invited as musical guests to perform at Anime Central, making it their first American convention appearance. Afterward they toured a second time with Suicide Girls. This tour was cut short when the Suicide Girls changed plans to become the opening act for Guns N' Roses. As the last several shows were suddenly cancelled, TsuShiMaMiRe played a few hastily arranged shows on the west coast.
On July 7, 2007, TsuShiMaMiRe released their most recent album no-miso shortcake (脳みそショートケーキ, called "brain shortcake" in English-speaking countries). This was released through the July Records label, unlike their earlier CDs which were released through Benten, apparently indicating a change of label. This is an enhanced CD, containing seven songs and a Flash animated music video for "Air Control Remote Control." The CD was initially listed as available on Amazon.com in the USA, but later its status was changed to unavailable. As of September 2007, the CD was currently available as an import from Amazon in Japan and from www.hmv.co.jp.
On Sept. 15th. 2007, they were featured on the Firefox Rock Festival which was streamed from Tokyo live over the internet.
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