Tokyo Police Club Are Drop Dead Delicious
June 3, 2008
So considering their new album Elephant Shell is out now I met up with tokyo police club before their show at The Cockpit, Leeds. We discussed tattoos, pick up lines and heroes. I only put in the best bits so check it out, and buy that album!
What makes Elephant Shell different from other albums?
Graham: It’s shorter than most of them
Josh: It has three Ls and three Es in the title.
Graham: I think that’s the main difference.
Greg: Are there any good anagrams you can take from the words Elephant Shell?
Graham: Shell Elephant?
Greg: Oh yeah, I guess that would work… Elephant hells!
Graham: Elephant hells!
Greg: There are infinite possibilities.
What song are you looking forward to playing tonight?
Do you know any good pick up lines?
Graham: Yes! I didn’t make this up or anything but, how much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice! … I’m Graham.
Josh: Hi?
Do any of you have tattoos?
Greg [sounding really disappointed]: No…
Graham: I have a full flesh coloured tattoo over my entire body.
Greg: I think I would only get a tattoo if I knew this would be a very long lasting career. If we had like, a ten year career then maybe I’d get a tattoo.
Dave: You know those concert t-shirts with all the dates printed down the back? You could get that tattooed on your back!
Graham: We could have a set list tattooed on our palm!
What’s the most unusual thing you know how to do?
[long pause]
Josh: Wow… no tattoos…
Greg: No pick up lines, really, really easy interview questions!
Me: Can you wiggle your ears?
Graham: Pardon?!
Me: Can you wiggle your ears?
Dave: I can wiggle my ears.
Greg: Can you?!
Dave: Yeah a little bit [Demonstrates]
Greg: It’s just your forehead.
Graham: I can see the whole of your hair moving.
Dave: No, you really have to look at my ears though! [Demonstrates again]
Everyone: Oh yeah!
Josh: Last time we were here our tour manager could open a beer bottle with his teeth and I tried to do that and I did but I also lost a third of my tooth.
Dave: And he could also whistle whilst speaking.
Graham: Oh yeah, everything about him was crazy! If he was here you could do the interview with him.
Josh: He had tattoos and everything!
Me: He sounds like quite a guy.
Graham [with more than a hint of nostalgia]: He was.
What’s the first concert you ever went to?
Graham: Radiohead!
Greg: Ringo Starr and his All-Star band…
Graham: Nice.
Greg: It was great. We all waited for him to play With a Little Help from our Friends… and he did.
Graham: Of course. How old were you?
Greg: Like, 13 maybe?
Me: That’s quite a good answer though. Mine was like some boyband
Graham: Oh yeah, which one?
Me: Wait my first one wasn’t a boyband. My first one was from a reality show.
Graham: S Club 7?
Me: Well, I think I saw them by accident once.
Graham: I love that show I used to watch it all the time.
[I like to think Graham knows the popular television series Miami 7 and L.A 7 weren’t actually reality shows, but it is hard to tell]
Josh: It was just a chance that Radiohead was the first concert. I sort of wish it hadn’t because it ruined all other concerts. No other concert could be that great.
Dave: Mine was incubus, which isn’t cute like Ringo Starr or a boyband or like ‘that’s ironic that you like that band,’ its more, ‘oh that’s a s**tty concert.’
Greg: Was it s**tty then or did it inspire you to pick up a bass*?
Dave: I had a bass before that.
Greg: They should have named themselves Suckubus
Dave: Well no they probably shouldn’t have named themselves that. You can make a cover band of incubus and it can be called Suckubus.
Greg: Yeah maybe.
You’re holding a party –
Graham: wait, what’s happening?
You’re holding a party.
Graham: Yeah, absolutely.
You can book 3 bands to play dead or alive, which do you choose?
Greg: I’d have like a festival…
Josh: We’re holding a party!
Graham: It’s going to be like a big festival party.
Me: Well you can have 5 bands then, I don’t want to hold you back
Graham: Alright! Radiohead… The Beatles… It’s going to be so obvious. The National.
Josh Hook: Yeah we should probably have the National… R.E.M?
Graham: Yeah let’s throw R.E.M in there too and then…
Josh: Ra Ra Riot
Graham: Ra Ra Riot! And Vampire Weekend, 7 times.
Greg: In between every band!
Graham: We’re playing tomorrow in Manchester and the tickets were selling briskly and then Vampire Weekend announced they were playing the same night and ticket sales just went down and that was it. They stole all our fans.
You’re fairly well known for your baked goods fetish, have you found any good bakeries in England?
Graham: Yes! Where was that place we were at yesterday? Nottingham?
Josh: It was called like, Lee Rosy’s Café
Graham: It was primarily a tea house-
Josh Hook: It was called Lee Rosy’s tea!
Graham: Lee Rosy’s tea. They had a seven page menu of like, different teas and they also had this crazy cake. Profiterole smash! Do you know what a profiterole is, what is that?
Me: It’s like a pastry with cream inside.
Graham: Well that’s what that was! It was like an ice cream cake with that and it was absolutely drop dead delicious.
