Being in a Rock band means touring, however few bands embrace this as comfortably as Electric Eel Shock (EES). Even before their first commercially available album “Go Europe!” came out in early 2004 they had already toured 25 countries around the world. Now with that album out on different labels in UK, Europe, America, Japan and Australia they have taken that tally to nearly 30 different countries and moved onto their next album.
The Early Years
Akihito Morimoto (Guitar & Vocal) and Kazuto Maekawa (Bass) were brought together whilst still at school in Osaka by a mutual obsession with Black Sabbath. They learned English from the bands they read about in Burrn Magazine and played together in several bands that often covered their idols from the western world which, as well as Sabbath, included Twisted Sister, Van Halen, Rainbow, MSG, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Queensryche, WASP, RATT, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne Band, Motorhead, Guns and Roses, Motley Crue etc…
Aki and Kazuto first tasted commercial success after moving to Tokyo and playing as guitarist and bassist in a five-piece band that had some pop rock success at home in Japan. Aki would say that one of the main reasons for this bands demise was that they acted on everything that they were told and eventually became directionless as a result. It was this lesson that helped form the attitude of Electric Eel Shock – listen to everyone BUT if you are going to make a mistake then make sure that it is your own mistake and that you only make it once...
After this band they stayed in Tokyo Aki followed his other passion of fishing and became a competition angler (he still writes for Japans largest fishing magazine Basser Magazine) and Kazuto joined The Apollo’s a well-known Japanese Funk band as session bassist. Kazuto’s low slung bass and unkempt appearance was at odds with the suited and polished image and led to his time in this role being short lived, however it left a lasting impression on the drummer Tomoharu Ito. The leader of The Apollo’s had given his drummer the more familiar name “Gian” due to his similarity in appearance to a well known Japanese comedian of the same name. Gian, who had a day job making false teeth, was soon introduced to Aki and the three started practicing together shortly afterwards.
This was not quite the start of Electric Eel Shock as we know it, the first public performances of EES were actually as an 11 piece band with keyboards, female vocals, horns etc… it was not until the logistics of getting all of these members together on the same day to practice became unbearable that EES stripped down to the three piece we know now. It is thought that Gian took up playing with four drumsticks after he moved from Funk to Rock and wanted to increase the impact, it is any ones guess why he likes to drum naked!
Electric Eel Shock decided against making demos and sending them to labels etc instead they dived straight in and set up Micro Music with their friends releasing their first full length “Maybe I think, We Can Beat Nirvana” they then followed this with “Live Punctured” and set about making a major impact on the independent rock scene of Tokyo.
Go America
In 1999 EES recorded Slayers Bay Blues on an eight-track recorder press up enough to take on the road and set off for their first gigs abroad. They had lined up a hand-full of dates in and around New York with their friends Pealander-Z who had relocated there some time earlier. The gigs were a massive success and a handful of dates turned into 20 or so. They went back to Japan with many offers to return.
Electric Eel Shock then sold their property and left their homes they continued to tour America near constantly for the next two years. Their tours grew and grew as word of mouth spread that this was a live show not to be missed. The numbers of gigs around the states and the people attending them went up and up and all the while Electric Eel Shock survived on sale of CD’s and T-Shirts. They recorded again and pulled together another full length titled after their current phase “Go America”
Go Europe
At the end of 2002 an email out of the blue from a UK fanzine writer, who did not realise what he was getting himself into, was to open up a new phase. The only question EES answered was the one that asked: “Have you got any plans to come to the UK?” that was the only invitation they needed and the reply was: “No! But we want. You get gig and we will come…”
A month later on Jan 16th 2003 Electric Eel Shock landed in London for 5 hastily arranged gigs. History was to repeat itself and due to their overwhelming show these 5 gigs ended up 12 gigs in 10 days with the London underground being their only form of transport! They returned to the US with the above fanzine writer as their new manager!
EES spent the rest of 2003 between the US and Europe including highlights of playing at both SXSW and CMJ festivals in America and headlining a stage at Roskilde Festival in Denmark and a supporting Danko Jones on a 40 date European tour.
At the start of 2004 Electric Eel Shock went into the studio for the last of the Go sessions and although it was still relatively low budget and paid for the band themselves it was the first time the band had gone into a studio as opposed to practice room, kitchen, cupboard etc and they even had an engineer. The results (Go Europe / Go USA) were licensed around the world and the band followed it on promotional tours that took in 25 countries and 27 European Festivals.
The band’s European base camp for much of their touring in 2004 was The Suicide Motel in Utrecht Holland, which they set up with Dutch band Wasted. Whilst spending time in Holland they developed their friendship with a producer they had met in Amsterdam during the Danko Jones tour. EES were soon making plans with Grammy nominated producer Attie Bauw (Judas Priest, Scorpions etc) for a new album. This was going to be a move away from their garage roots. The aim was to catch all the energy and individual character of an Electric Eel Shock performance with a production that would sit alongside the early Sabbath albums that had inspired this journey many years ago.
EES finished the recordings for Beat Me at the end of Dec 2004. They went back to Japan for the first time in a long time to do a few gigs back home. The Japanese media is just starting to get hot under the collar about how much these three guys have achieved away from home… Before Aki left he made an innocent comment which sums up EES’s attitude. “I think we have just started…”
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