Zoobombs Still Rocking Hard After 15+ Years 200111

It’s 11:30am on an almost unbearably hot Sunday. I’m sitting on the patio of a Toronto pie shop, chatting with The Zoobombs, the Tokyo-based rock band known for their explosive, freewheeling live shows. Singer/guitarist Don Matsuo is detailing the beginnings of the group he’s fronted for over 15 years,
which also features original members Matta on keyboards and Moostop on bass, along with newest member Pit on drums. In mid-sentence, Don pauses, unable to find any words. “Sorry, my brain isn’t really working today,” he says. “I’m just too tired.” That’s not surprising, considering it’s the day after an intensive three-week U.S./Canada tour (June 22 – July 10) filled with endless hours of driving in a van from city to city, and capped off with 10 shows in as many days. AMERICAN GIGS The American leg of the trip, which saw them play gigs in a handful of cities, including New York, Philadelphia and Toledo, was noteworthy for the fact that it was their first tour – though not their first show – south of the border in a decade. It’s no secret The Zoobombs love Canada – they’ve played here countless times and regard Toronto as their second hometown – but the band all agree that the decision to leave the comfortable confines of the land of hockey and maple syrup and re-enter the American market was a sound one. “It was good to spread our music to the U.S. and not just Canada,” says Matta, as she works on a hunk of pie. The Zoobombs liked the taste of their American experience and are ready to take a bigger bite. An expanded U.S. tour is already being planned for the fall. “We felt really excited to play music in America,” says Don. “It reminded me of the first time we ever played music. It was that kind of feeling.” 1994: BIRTH OF THE ZOOBOMBS It was back in September of 1994 that The Zoobombs formed and played music together for the first time. Don, who had been toiling in groups that were only interested in imitating “Teenage Fanclub, Smashing Pumpkins, or some kind of grunge band,” was bored, unsatisfied, and looking to make some original music. Moostop, whose resume included a stint in a Japanese pop band that Don calls “awful” and Matta calls “interesting”, was also looking to start afresh. The two of them met through a mutual friend, who became the original drummer for the band, and their relationship was cemented after a successful rehearsal session in which they were impressed by each other’s playing abilities. (It was Don who gave Moostop his nickname, which was inspired by the large amount of mousse that the bassist styled his hair with at the time.) In need of a keyboard player, Don posted an ad and the position was soon filled. There’s nothing unusual about this part of the story, except that the ad in question was placed on Don’s kitchen fridge, and it was his wife Matta that joined the group. “It was kind of a joke,” says Don. “I knew she could play keyboards, but she was really shy and she had no experience with a band, so she refused at first.”

Once Matta was on board, it was “all systems go” for The Zoobombs. They’ve been rocking hard ever since, albeit with a revolving door of drummers, which is largely due to Don’s stringent, taskmaster-like requirements for the position. In 2009, current drummer Pit joined the lineup. The story of how Don and Pit first met is a surprisingly improbable one. “I found him in a dumpbox. He was just lying down in the street,” says Don about their initial, random encounter. “He was a stray sheep.” The details of what the newest and youngest member of the band was doing lounging in the gutter are somewhat unclear, but it was a fortuitous meeting. The Zoobombs were in need of a new drummer and Pit, floundering in a band that was going nowhere, and having wandered from his dream of becoming a professional player, was in need of some guidance and direction in his life. “I couldn’t find a way,” says Pit, whose pseudonym was taken from his father’s jazz record shop – Pit Inn. Don took him under his wing and put him through vigorous testing, making sure he had the right stuff to be the next Zoobombs drummer. “Actually, I didn’t like Pit. But he had guts. I knew it would be hard for me to grow such a stupid kid into a good drummer,” says Don. “I push the drummer really hard, and I want them to have lots of knowledge and lots of feeling, so he was surprised by that. But he said, ‘I want to try, and I want to grow up.’ So, all right.” 15TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW Pit’s 2009 debut also happened to be the year of the band’s 15th anniversary, which they celebrated with a special performance at Basement Bar in Tokyo on September 9 – a show I had the pleasure of attending. “Our energy and the audience’s energy joined together (that night),” says Moostop. “It was a really happy time.” The band stuck around after the crowds had left and recorded the tracks that would make up their “Nightfriend of ZOOBOMBS” album, which is a collection of many of their all-time best songs. That was followed up with “Midnightfriend of ZOOBOMBS”, a condensed album that was quickly put together by Don and Matta for their Japanese tour last May. The full band will go right back into the studio this summer to begin recording the next proper Zoobombs album, which should be released in Japan later this year. ‘I JUST WANT TO PLAY MUSIC’ As for passing the decade-and-a-half mark as a band, while it represents a great milestone in their career, it isn’t something on which they’re dwelling. “I don’t want to think, ‘It’s been so long,’” says Matta about the last 15+ years. “It doesn’t matter. I just want to play music.” Don agrees. “Fifteen years is not really a short time, but we’re still finding our way and we’re still finding our own original music style,” he says. “Now, I want to focus our activity in America and maybe Europe next year, and then come back to Canada.”