Ahead of their gig with us on 7th November, we chatted to Simon Kobayashi from Hurtling about what’s going on in their world.
First of all, who are Hurtling?
Jen: wonder singer/guitarist extraordinaire. Jen has a way with riffs and melody that always grabs my attention. She’s played with tonnes of amazing musicians and is currently part of the My Bloody Valentine touring band.
Jon: Jon is a bonafide multi instrumentalist, and learned to play drums for this band which is pretty incredible. He’s developed a style that combines garage rock and his extremely musical background.
Simon: this is me. I play bass enthusiastically so I *think* that’s why the other two let me hang around. As far as the band goes, the other two have played together for so long, so I (like to) think having another perspective always helps.
Your debut album ‘Future From Here’ has been on heavy rotation in my headphones since it came out on 18th October, what did you get up to to celebrate the release?
We had a launch gig the night before in Islington at…The Islington! It’s a venue with some good memories for us as that’s where we shot the video for our first single, ‘Feel It’ a couple of years ago. We recorded it over a Christmas period, at Jon’s (drummer) studio in Loughborough Junction. We’re obviously very lucky to have that time and physical space to be comfortable and try out different ideas, but we tried to work quickly and capture the live feeling as much as possible. We all feel really proud of it, and for me personally it’s almost become part of my DNA.
The launch was a surreal but wonderful night seeing so many people turn out to support us. Stephen Evens and Junodef were great, and the audience were lovely. Even though everyone there probably lost half their body weight due to the heat, we made up for it with the specially made Hurtling launch cake.
If you were going to try and convert someone to your most recent musical discovery, what track would you play them and who is the artist?
The biggest discovery for me over the last year has been 70s/80s Japanese music, and the person at the epicentre of a lot of it is Haruomi Hosono. To win people over I would play them the song ‘Sportsmen’, which is an alchemical cross between New Order and Van Dyke Parks.
Where do you go when you want to discover some new music?
My current fave record shop is World of Echo on Columbia Road in East London (https://worldofechomusic.com/). It opened only last year and its coincidentally concurrent with my diving back into vinyl (mainly led by said discovery of older Japanese music). Run by music lovers for music lovers.
We’re really keen to break the stereotype of complex / progressive music being ‘white man’ territory – which artists / bands do you think we should be listening to or championing?
I think, in terms of complexity and musicality, one of the top current bands has to be Otoboke Beaver. They’re an all-female Japanese band who are ridiculously good live. They make complex playing look (and sound) easy and fun. We’ve also been fans of Anna Meredith since her last album in 2016, and love her approach to electronics and composition.
Tell us about a track that you think is an overlooked classic.
This is a weekly, sometimes daily question for us! Currently, with the passing of Ric Ocasek I’m listening back to the Cars and discovered the unreleased-till-2017 track ‘Shooting for You‘, which could have slotted in seamlessly with LCD Soundsystem’s last album.
Which live band would you cross hell or high water to see?
If we had to decide between us it would probably be Fonda 500, a band who always provoke something magical in the audience.
What other art / culture outside of music has made a big impact on you recently?
Being half Japanese and raised in the UK, I’ve been really enjoying seeing more second-generation Asian representation in mainstream/Western culture with TV shows like ‘Kim’s Convenience’ and ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ . Being set in the 90s, ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ in particular hits some sweet spots for a teen of that decade!
Could you share some of Hurtling’s current favourite tour bus tunes with us?
Yeah sure! This could go on but have limited to the below!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0BFpHE8AIBKqVVo2Jtg1nc?si=rECKktDSQxm7EYmqmBHGzg
Enjoy!
Praise for ‘Future from Here’
“Future From Here is sonically perfect. Technically faultless. The guitar sound(s) and playing are things of sheer beauty.” – Louder Than War
“Details hide in this album and while a first spin through will be pleasurable, it’s really getting to know it which will make you fall in love. Don’t rush, take your time with this one, it’s a keeper.” – Popoptica
“A glorious woozy fuzz. Confident and in control, but when they want to, Hurtling can let rip and tear us all a new one” – The Quietus
“Summer is known from live sets as the epic one with the big psychedelic rock out ending. “Let’s start on an even keel / let’s touch what we cannot feel / my heart wouldn’t even sink” sings Jen and you feel your heart softly break, before the chorus lifts you up and then that big ending makes all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.” – Loud Women
Hurtling play at Cafe Totem on Thurs 7th November 19 alongside The Stephen EvEns Band and VSTRS-3.
Event details here.