It was a hot day for November and it was the time of year when hotter than average days felt good.  At about 4pm, I was scheduled to interview Tetsu Fukagawa, the lead vocalist of the hardcore group, Envy, at Club Upset in Nagoya, Japan, a city of over two million people.

To get to the club from Nagoya Station, one has to take the subway to a little station called Ikeshita station.  Ikeshita station is a small subway station that contains a large bus station.  That day, it looked kind of dumpy, littered with cigarettes, Styrofoam noodle cups, and rustling brown leaves.  Pigeons waddled freely across the bricks, feeding on random morsels of refuse.  There is a large mural that is visible upon exiting the subway gates.  It is a highly textured, black and brown piece that appears to depict two long-necked birds facing each other.

I walked around the surrounding area looking for the club.  During my walk, I saw many cheap restaurants selling low quality chicken and cheap beer.  There was also an abundance of adult video arcades and openly publicized brothels. Suited men stood in front of the walls, which were plastered with large numbered photos of the young women working.  The defining features of the women’s faces were blurred out.

I eventually found Club Upset, which was located upstairs in a brick building, five floors above a pizza kitchen.  Once inside the door I came to a small lobby.  The walls were plastered with posters of shows past; almost exclusively Japanese acts.  There was also a small ticket booth, but nobody was in it, so I opened the thick black door opposite the unmanned station.  There was a small hallway that led to another thick black door; a sound proofing technique used by smaller clubs in Japan to avoid noise complaints.

The club was of modest size with a two-level, black and blue checkered board.  Envy’s two guitar players were on stage with their instruments.  The people in the room were surprised to see me and nobody seemed to know what I was talking about when I said that I was there for an interview.  Finally, after some discussion amongst various folks, the singer, Tetsu came out and said, “Hey.”  Then, in Japanese, he explained that he had to do a soundcheck, which might take about an hour, but that I could watch if I wanted, so that’s what I did. Read the rest of this entry →