Three1989 talk songwriting and collaborations

05 August 2019, 08:14

Original Photography by Joyce Jude

(Three1989)

You may know Three1989 from frontman Shohey Uemura’s stint on Netflix’s smash hit, Terrace House: Opening New Doors, but there is more than meets the eye with this Japanese funk collective.

We got to know Shohey Uemeura, Hideaki Adachi (“Dach”), and Shimo Yutaka a bit better in Tokyo this month. As we explored their rooftop and homey studio set-up, the trio chat about the band’s origins, Shohey becoming a meme (from showing his sentimental and sensitive sides on Terrace House), and plans to go abroad.

How did you all meet? How did you all start this band?

There’s a music school in Tokyo, and we were all classmates.

Datch approached the two of us to audition for a music festival in Japan. When we came together and started to create some music together, we instantly clicked, and decided we want to be the best. This was about 5 years ago. We were under a different name when we first started out, but three years later, we started as three1989 and signed to an independent record label.

What’s the dynamic like in the band with writing songs?

Usually, I (Shohey) write the lyrics and song, and the rest focus on the production behind it. Sometimes they bring a track to me, and we all write lyrics for the song. But ultimately, we all contribute together. Some of the producers we work with have that 80’s style genre music that vibe with us really well. K. Matsura in particular is someone we’ve worked with in the past.

Do you listen to American or International bands? Any plans to promote more overseas?

We listen to a lot of 80’s disco, ambient, and soul inspired music. Jamiroquai, The Brand New Heavies, Incognito are some examples. We’re very much inspired by them, but we also try to influence our Japanese sound and identity into our music.

This year, we went to Korea, Taiwan. We want to go to Hong Kong. And we definitely want to go to the States some time! Well, knowing that we have international fans, we are trying to make moves. We definitely want to play SXSW in the US.We’re playing in a Japan festival in Spain in September. Weekend Live in Japan Weekend.

How has being on Terrace House affected you and the band? Do you still keep in touch with the members?

Terrace House definitely helped with exposure to international fans. We notice it at shows too. There were fans that came to shows with my crying face (Shohey) on a poster. And yes! I keep in touch with the members quite often; I just had drinks with Taka the other day.

Do you have any plans for future albums?

There’s some international session tracks that we’re doing, and from either the end of July or beginning of August, we plan on releasing a new track on Spotify and Apple Music every week for a few months. That might end up coming together into a full length album. We’re hoping by the end of Autumn.

How do you feel about it non-English music (e.g., K-Pop, J-Rock) gaining traction in the western world recently?

We’re happy that there are more Asian representations in music being prominent throughout the US and Europe. We recently met up with an Indonesian artist that told us they were tackling the US market as well, and it made us realize that now is the best time to do that despite not speaking English in the songs. Even with KPOP becoming so prominent, I think we’re just happy that people overseas are reacting positively with Asian music.

Do you have any desire to collaborate with international artists?

We’d love to collaborate with international artists. There’s a lot of similarities with underground music in Europe and Japan, so we think we’d vibe well together. But for US artists, Tom Misch, Anderson Paak, Mayer Hawthorne would be amazing to collaborate with.