Thanks so much to Mayumi for the interview! I reached Mayumi a few weeks ago as I was interested in learning more about the classic Japanese band Three Berry Icecream. Of course, Mayumi has been in so many bands and involved in indiepop for a long time, and would be great to cover other bands she’s been in like Bridge, The Bachelors or Daffodil-19. Today we thought it was a good idea to learn
++ Hi Mayumi! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?
Hello, Cloudberry Records! I’m really happy to have your interview. Thank you very much indeed. I’m fine.
Of course, I’m still involved in music.
In the last few years, I’ve released several records and CDs as Three Berry Icecream, and I’ve also played accordion and sung with my friend’s band’s live and recording support. At the request of a friend, I played the accordion as the theme song of a soccer program.
++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?
I was probably 5 years old when I made my first song.
A song about a fictional girl named Tatapico wishing to climb Tokyo Tower.
The first instrument is the piano. I started taking piano lessons with my sister when I was 6 years old.
I had some movie music records at home. I studied classical piano, but I liked to play my piano scores for The Carpenters songs. I also listened to Japanese pop music.
I’ve been playing pop and rock bands since middle school and high school. But what is close to the current music is the band of the group I met at the design vocational school.
++ Had you been in other bands before the Three Berry Icecream? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?
Yes, I was in a band called Bridge from 1989 to 1995. Bridge released a 1st album produced by Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) and later belonged to the Shibuya-kei music genre.
Bridge has released several CDs from the TRATTORIA label of POLYSTAR Records.
My song “Windy Afternoon” became our first single CD.
Before BRIDGE, I was in a band called The BACHELORS. The BACHELORS (1987-1989), BRIDGE (1989-1995), ROOF (1990-1991), MARBLE HAMMOCK (1990-1993), DAFFODIL-19 (1995-1999).
Some of the bands other than BRIDGE and MARBLE HAMMOCK have been active before I joined, and there are some that I left. The years indicate the period I was part of the band.
++ What about other members?
Three Berry Icecream (3BI for short) is my solo unit. There are no other members. But I’m getting help from support members.
++ Where were you from originally?
I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan.
++ How was Tokyo at the time of Three Berry Icecream? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?
In Tokyo, there are many places to express various genres of music, from small to large, so my band can also perform live in various places such as live venues and cafes.
I have a lot of favorite Japanese bands.
The first 3BI cassette sold 90 out of 200 at my friend’s record shop Maximum Joy. The store was in Shibuya at the time, and I heard from the owner Susukita that Tom Ardolino of NRBQ came to buy it. After that, thanks to another friend, I corresponded with him for several years from around 2005.
For the last few years, there has been a very nice record shop called Disques Blue-very in Koenji, Tokyo. There are HMV and Tower Records, but I always go there. Kei Nakamura, the manager of the store, is also a label owner, and more and more musicians gather to meet and become friends, leading to something to do together.
++ How long has Three Berry Icecream being going?
Three Berry Icecream has been active for 22 years and I am very blessed with support members. I’ve always had great musician friends supporting me every time I play live or record. Performing at the same live event, getting along well, scouting, and so on.
++ How do support members work for Three Berry Icecream?
Support members are organized differently for each event. Sometimes I play an accordion and a glockenspiel, and someone accompanies me on guitar.
Other times I perform with a band of many instruments: drums, bass, guitar, piano, violin or viola, chorus, percussion. There are times with trumpets and flutes are included.
Sometimes the same members continue playing several times, and there are some cases where the members started a band because they met at 3BI. I’m very happy about that.
++ Support members these days, in which bands are they in?
Support members are active in their respective bands: The Caraway, h-shallows, Chidori Quartet, Vasallo Crab 75 and more.
++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
When I practice alone, at home. When we practice together, we rent a rehearsal studio.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
I found a picture of a dessert called Three Berry Icecream with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a magazine, and I liked the name because it was so happy. I hoped to become a band that makes such happy music.
++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?
Felt, The Monochrome Set, The Go-Betweens, The Velvet Underground, Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends, The Carpenters, Claudine Longet, Yumi Arai, Friedrich Sunlight, more…
A lot of my favorite bands. In particular, I was influenced by Martin Duffy of Felt as a keyboard player. However, I may be most influenced by the band members of Bachelors and Bridge who taught me about them in the 1980s and 1990s.
++ And what about Japanese bands? Which are your favourite bands from your country? And if there are any that you would recommend me as obscure bands that deserve my attention?
My favorite Japanese bands are advantage Lucy, Rocky Chack, Round Table, Corniche Camomile, The Caraway, Smokebees, Johnny Dee, these bands are the ones I recorded or played live with, doing accordion or back vocals. I also like Sloppy Joe and Neil and Iraiza, and I’ve done live events with them. I recommend a band called The Bachelors, of which I was a keyboard player. In the late 80’s, it was called Japanese Felt or Japanese Go-Betweens. We re-released the cassette in 2019, so please check it out.
++ Your first release, as far as I know was a 7″ on the US label Dogprint Records in 1999. How did your music end up in a US label?
3BI started its activities by self-releasing cassette tapes in 1998. Another version of the song on the cassettes was recorded on the appendix CD of a Japanese music magazine. The magazine was also sold in the United States. After hearing the song, Dogprint magazine and records label owner Lenny sent me an email and decided to release the record.
++ Who were Dogprint Records? I don’t know much about this label!
Dogprint magazine & records is an indie label run by an Italian named Lenny who lived in New Jersey at the time. It also made a magazine. The records sold at the same time as 3BI were in various genres such as punk, emotional rock, and folk pop.
I wonder why 3BI was chosen there, but he liked it very much. I appreciate it very much.
Lenny, I haven’t been able to contact you in the last few years so if you read this interview, I’d love to hear from you.
++ Did you ever travel and play in the US?
Yeah. Around the same time as Dogprint, I received an email from the San Francisco band The Fairways’ Brent Kenji. Brent also contacted the magazine after listening to the magazine’s appendix CD.
The email exchange with Brent has begun. Then, in the summer of 2000, I was invited to an American tour with The Fairways. We played live together. That was the first time I went to America and haven’t been there since.
++ And before this release, you must have had recordings, right? Maybe demo tapes? Or was this your first time in a recording studio?
Of course I did recordings.
At that time, there was a recording studio at the bassist’s support member’s house, so I recorded there. ABRIR studio, it was the first recording studio for 3BI.
++ Your next release was the “Apricot” CD on Channel Records. Again, this is a label I have never heard about. Who was behind this label and how was your relationship with them?
For channel records, Mr. Uchikoga is the label owner and graphic designer.
I met Mr. Sakurai of my label mates Corniche Camomile, and he has been helping me with my band’s recordings since. Mr. Sakurai accompanied me as a guitarist on the American tour.
++ Another thing I notice from these two first releases is the cool art with robots. Wondering who made this? Was it your idea to use these illustrations?
I drew the illustration of this robot. Thank you for saying it’s cool art.
++ And how was the experience of recording at Studio Abrir? Did you like working there?
I recorded the 1st 7 inch record, the 1st mini album “Apricot” and the split CD with The Fairways at Studio ABRIR. I also recorded game music and movie music. It’s a place of fun memories.
++ Then came a cool split CD EP with The Fairways. Did you already know this US band? Or was it the label who put together these two great bands? What would be your favourite Fairways songs by the way?
It was decided to go on an American tour with The Fairways, and Lenny of Dogprint said he would make a split CD of 3BI and The Fairways.
One new song by each and one cover of each other’s songs. The song covered by 3BI is “K-L-M line”. I love this song, but my favorite song by The Fairways is “Emily”. They were singing the song on the American tour. When I was working at a cafe restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo for four years, it cheered me up to hear it play often on the in-store music broadcast.
++ Then in 2007 you worked again with Brent Kenji from The Fairways on a 7″ with two songs titled “Three Cheers“. You made a great friendship with him. Did he go to Japan to record these songs? Or how did you work together?
We first met Brent when we toured the US with The Fairways in 2000 and we all shared our favorite music. During the tour, we made a song called “Sunshine on my Mind” together. After that, there are several co-written songs such as “Just a Dream” and “Majestic Monochrome” that I composed and sent a demo to Brent to write the lyrics. After touring with The Fairways in the United States, we performed together in Japan in 2002. And after that, once every few years, Brent came to Japan to play live and record with us. For “three cheers”, I sent a demo of this song at night, and the next morning Brent wrote the lyrics and sang and sent it to me. After that, we exchanged recordings on the net and completed it. When I found it difficult to convey the harmony and how to put the song on the melody, we talked on the phone. When Brent lived in Germany, he was in the daytime but in Japan it was midnight. I used to sing in a soft voice and play the accordion to convey the melody while my family was sleeping. I really enjoy making music with him.
++ For this record and then for a retrospective compilation called “Sunshine of My Mind 1998-2018” you worked with another label that is not very known for me, Miobell Records. Care telling me a bit about them? And what about this compilation I mentioned? Does it have all of your recordings? Or is it missing some songs?
“Sunshine on my mind 1998-2018” is 3BI’s 20th anniversary greatest hits CD album. I have collected all 27 songs I wrote, from the first 2 songs on the cassette tape to the latest song. Most of the lyrics are written by myself, but I asked others to write some songs. Also, I wrote and sang some lyrics in game music, but I couldn’t put them in because I didn’t compose. It doesn’t include cover songs, and it doesn’t include songs that I participated in by playing the accordion such as movie music.
++ In 2006 there was a self-released CD mini-album titled “Rain Drops” that included songs by Brent Kenji, Hideki Kaji or Yuichi Abe. Did you pick these songs yourself or did they lend you the songs? How did that work?
The six songs included in “Rain Drops” were all written by me, and I asked Hideki Kaji, Yuichi Abe (Archaic Smile), and Brent Kenji for the lyrics. I chose to ask them with Mr. Sakurai and the label owner, and each wrote great lyrics of their own style. I like all of them. Hideki Kaji was the bassist in Bridge.I wrote the lyrics for the other three songs myself.
++ Then last year, in 2020, Blue-Very label, released an LP compilation called “The Selection of Three Berry Icecream” with 15 songs on the LP and 4 more on CDR. One thing that I notice it has the same artwork as the “Rain Drops” CD. How come?
The artwork for “Rain Drops” was made by my husband. Both the Dogprint 1st 7inch jacket and the split CD with The Fairways are his designs. My daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, held an umbrella on it, and my husband took a picture and designed it. For the umbrella, I asked my friend Pom., a handicraft artist, to express the six sides of the umbrella according to the image of each of the six songs.
When I was planning a selection LP record last year, the label owner of disques blue-very recommended that this jacket would be good, and I thought it was a good idea.
++ I didn’t have the luck to get this release because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stuff being difficult to ship from Japan, but I read that it came with a special zine. Care telling me about what was in this fanzine? Did you make it yourself?
My husband designed the special zine that I wrote.
It consists of self-liner notes about the 15 songs included, a discography, a live history with lots of photos and flyers.
++ And are there still many unreleased songs?
There are still more unreleased songs. I was wary of Covid-19 and wrote more and more songs while I was at home. Whenever a friend or family member passes away, it reminds me of my will to continue making songs. I think that’s the least I can do.
Maybe we’ll be making and releasing a new album later this year, so check it out on social media. We will also record songs we wrote with my friend Santi from Captain Sunrise in Spain.
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Happy Day, Happy Time!”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
Thank you very much. The reason I made this song is that, I had made the music a long time ago, and my friend Tarai’s blog had this title, so I wrote the lyrics as the theme song for that blog. I wrote the lyrics with a lot of song titles from my favorite bands such as The Velvet Underground, Strawberry Switchblade, Felt, XTC, The Millennium, The Zombies, The The.
++ If you were to choose your favorite Three Berry Icecream song, which one would that be and why?
It’s “Fine day”. I made this song for my previous band, Bridge, but it was crap. However, I was able to record in good shape with 3BI. It’s probably the oldest 3BI song, so I think it’s maybe filled with what I want to express as a band.
At the time of the split CD, Brent covered this song, and when I first heard it, I was so happy that I couldn’t stop crying.
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
Yes, 3BI has performed 71 live shows in total. Besides Tokyo, I played in Osaka, Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Niigata, Kamakura, Sendai, etc.
Besides Japan, I did live tours in the US, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Last year there was talk of a live concert in Europe, if there wouldn’t have been the Covid-19 pandemic. Live events in Japan were also canceled or postponed even though there were various schedules every month. But it was good to be able to perform live only once in November.
++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
I have good memories of each gig, but if I choose one, I participated in the Formoz summer festival in Taiwan in 2006.
On a midsummer night, we performed on the outdoor stage at a very good event with a lively audience. Two days of meals were offered instead of money, but it was a fun memory to be taken to famous Taiwanese restaurants such as Din Tai Fung and to go to the night market with all the members.
Then in 2007, the Taiwanese label Silent Agreement released the Taiwanese edition of 3BI’s 2nd mini-album “Rain Drops”.
++ And were there any bad ones?
I have been hospitalized for an imminent miscarriage during my pregnancy and was unable to attend a scheduled event once.I’m really sorry about that.
At that time, The Fairways’ Brent had just arrived in Japan and performed live on my behalf.
My daughter was born safely after that.
++ Aree you involved in any other bands?
At the same time, I’m in bands called The Paselines and Sushi backpack, but we can’t do it because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
++ Was there any interest from radio? TV?
When there are new releases of records and CDs, I have the opportunity to do promotion on some of my friends’ radio shows. Hideki Kaji and Maki Nomiya (ex-Pizzicato Five)’s show on Shibuya radio and The Bookmarcs’ on marine FM. 3BI has never been on TV.
Come to think of it, I appeared on the radio twice during the US tour: a radio show on KALX Berkeley in San Francisco, and a recorded performance on the Davis KDVS college radio. Recently my friend Patrick’s Canadian Internet radio show, called Tokyo’s Coolest Sound, has played 3BI songs several times. It’s nice, so please check it out if you like.
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?
Last year’s LP record “The Selection of Three Berry Icecream” was released at an event called Record Day in Japan, so it was reviewed in a pamphlet for record shops in Japan. Miobell records, which released the greatest hits album “Sunshine on my mind”, published a music magazine called “Popsicle Clip. Magazine” which featured a long interview.
++ What about from fanzines?
Fanzines have interviewed me several times in Japanese and also I have been interviewed for fanzines in Sweden.
I don’t know if it’s a fanzine or not, but a song was featured in the appendix CD of a music magazine called Sofa in Hong Kong in 2001.
++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
After all, the 2000 American tour cannot be missed!
The Fairways (San Francisco), From Bubblegum To Sky (San Francisco), My Favorite (New York), Aero Space (Sweden), Three Berry Icecream (Japan). These 5 bands drove from LA to Seattle and played live at 6 locations in 8 days. 3BI was a band of 6 people. 7/14 Spaceland in Los Angeles 7/15 The Glass House in Pomona, 7/18 Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, 7/20 Meow Meow in Portland, 7/21 Eye and Ear Control and Paradox in Seattle.
Especially Pomona’s indie pop summer2000 was really fun with Le Coupe and Majestic in addition to these 5 bands! During the tour we appeared on the radio, went to Slumberland records’ party, got a parking breach in our rental car and went to the police. We all stayed at Brent’s house and recorded. These most wonderful memories all glittered like a road movie.
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
Watching movies, reading books. I also collect a few Lego, Playmobil and miniature toys. I also have snow domes, and I bought a lot of them during the US tour. “Snowdome” sometimes appears in the lyrics of my songs.
++ Never been to Tokyo, but I hope after this pandemic is over I will be able to visit. I want to take advantage ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?
Asakusa is of course a good place. When Santi from Captain Sunrise in Spain came to Japan two years ago, I guided him. But if I have more time, I would like to show you around Mt. Takao. Mt. Takao is in Tokyo, but it’s far from the center of the city and it’s in the countryside where I live. Anyway, the view is wonderful. Especially in autumn, the autumn leaves are beautiful! We recommend delicious tororo soba, mushroom soup, and walnut miso sauce dumplings!
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you to everyone who has read this far. A few days ago, I posted a remote live video on Our Secret World, a project of shiny happy records in Indonesia, so please check it out if you are interested.
You can listen to my recent sounds at the links below.
Our Secret World Quarantine Session
You can access various streaming services from here.
Please search for Mayumi Ikemizu on Instagram.
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Listen
Three Berry Icecream – Happy Day, Happy Time!
