Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

YOU WONT BELIEVE: Mick karn - What They Never Told You

“Sylvian then felt justified in mixing our work alone – which by any other name would be known as hijacking”: The destructive breakdown of a band that reached artistic greatness only to fall apart due to internal tensions – twice!

While Rain Tree Crow was an unlikely second chapter for Japan, its existence proved that their collective talent was too rare to walk away from

“Band dynamics are always good when times are hard. When you achieve things the landscape shifts. There was an issue we couldn’t get past”: Richard Barbieri on why art rockers Japan split, and why their reunion imploded

“Band dynamics are always good when times are hard. When you achieve things the landscape shifts. There was an issue we couldn’t get past”: Richard Barbieri on why art rockers Japan split, and why their reunion imploded

The Porcupine Tree keyboardist explains the ambition behind his earlier band’s acclaimed fifth album Tin Drum, and what he really thinks of their later reconnection as Rain Tree Crow

“I was still sending him music. He was saying, ‘That sounds great, but you should use it for your solo album.’ I thought, ‘OK, I’m getting the message’”: Richard Barbieri on the much-needed Porcupine Tree hiatus

“I was still sending him music. He was saying, ‘That sounds great, but you should use it for your solo album.’ I thought, ‘OK, I’m getting the message’”: Richard Barbieri on the much-needed Porcupine Tree hiatus

Keyboardist admits he wasn’t such a nice person in the run-up to their 2010 hiatus, explains what changed when they released 2022’s Closure/Continuation, and hints at what might be next

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

inkl

“I’d get thrown out then brought back in. I just couldn’t play in a conventional way”: Japan’s Richard Barbieri on coloured hair, lipstick, a fingerless glove and the unusual reason he joined the band

Future Porcupine Tree member recalls being put off playing keyboards by Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, and feeling culturally homeless before the new romantic era

“Bowie’s literally three feet away, then the hairs on the back of my neck went up and I was like, this is insane – how does this happen?”: David Torn tells us about the time David Bowie's genius was on full display in the studio

Famed for his unconventional approach to guitar, film scoring and work with Bowie, David Torn returns with expansive new LP, Now I Imagine a Place Not the Same

“One room, six of us in bunks, sleeping with the light on or the cockroaches would come in… that was the lowest point – before we got in the recording studio”: Japan’s career was much more fun than it seemed

Attacking punks, getting stuck on a disco label, fighting the New Romantic tag: Steve Jansen recalls how the schoolmates’ natural sense of rebellion became unique music before egos got in the way, and the flukes that made them big in actual Japan

“They just looked at each other like, ‘What the hell are we doing with this bass player?’” The late Mick Karn recalls his first tour with David Torn and Bill Bruford

Few electric bassists have a style as singular and strong as Japan’s fretless sorcerer

inkl

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

David Sylvian's career-spanning Everything And Nothing gets first ever vinyl release

David Sylvian's career-spanning Everything And Nothing gets first ever vinyl release

David Sylvian's Everything And Nothing features collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Robert Fripp and Mick Karn as well as tracks by Japan and Rain Tree Crow

“John Paul Jones is one of the only musicians I’ve been around where I was starstruck. I asked him some stupid questions about Achilles Last Stand… but he was very kind!” Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament names 11 bassists who shaped his sound

“John Paul Jones is one of the only musicians I’ve been around where I was starstruck. I asked him some stupid questions about Achilles Last Stand… but he was very kind!” Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament names 11 bassists who shaped his sound

From Dee Dee Ramone to Eric Avery, fretless to 12-string bassists, Jeff Ament believes all his influences can all be heard on the latest Pearl Jam album Dark Matter

“I made a point of never listening to Jaco until I was forced to in 1995!” Mick Karn: an interview with Japan’s fallen bass hero

“I made a point of never listening to Jaco until I was forced to in 1995!” Mick Karn: an interview with Japan’s fallen bass hero

"I tend to look at the bass guitar in much the same way as a vocalist might a lead vocal": Words of wisdom from the avant-garde fretless icon who would have been 65 this year

“Without naming names, I have spent time onstage playing music I hate, wishing it was over”: King Crimson, Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief’s Gavin Harrison on being a pro

“Without naming names, I have spent time onstage playing music I hate, wishing it was over”: King Crimson, Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief’s Gavin Harrison on being a pro

The eclectic drummer has been the jokey one in some bands and the serious, grown-up one in others - but it all comes down to the same approach

"Fripp-ishly brainy" - the magic of Japan's Tin Drum

"Fripp-ishly brainy" - the magic of Japan's Tin Drum

With their final studio offering as Japan, the Catford art rockers made pretentiousness danceable!

1

People

Ryuichi Sakamoto

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

inkl

Organisations

Yellow Magic Orchestra

inkl

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Places

148,956 stories

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.

Download on the AppStore

Get it on Google Play