Wooden Shijps guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada emerged in 2009 via San Francisco fusing the futuristic pylon hum and transistor reverb of Suicide or Silver Apples with the heat-haze fuzz of American rock ‘n’ roll to create tracks of blistering, 12-cylinder space rock that comes in a form of Moon Duo.
Currently on tour with Dinosaur Jr. and JSBX, Moon Duo have announced their own headline show in Melbourne at Northcote Social Club on Sunday March 17th with support from Children Of The Wave.
Ahead of their Northcote Social Club show we caught up for a chat about Japanese food, cake cooking disasters, tour van munchies and what they might cook for Dinosaur Jr. and Jon Spencer.
What were your food influences when you were growing up and what kind of food did you eat at home or with your family?
My dad is Japanese, and my Mom is from the American South, so it was kind of a Japanese food/soul food mix when I was a kid. There was always a 30lb bag of rice in our pantry; that was the staple. We ate it every single night – sometimes with grilled fish and seaweed, sometimes with fried chicken and tapioca pudding. And salad. There was always salad.
What are your favourite tour van munchies?
It’s unnervingly easy to let your eating habits devolve on tour, especially when you’re rolling through overseas zones with, for example, exotically flavored potato chips and chocolate you’ve never seen before, so I try to avoid the whole junk food paradigm entirely. In the van, I like almonds and fruit. Oranges or bananas are the best because they don’t need to be washed.
What type of food do you hate, and what is the most disgusting thing you’ve ever eaten?
I can’t think of anything food-wise that I actually hate, though one thing I cannot bring myself to put in my mouth is escargot. I think it’s because when I was a kid our garden was infested with enormous snails. My mom would pick them out of the lettuce and throw them into the street. They would usually get run over by cars and squashed into phlegm-y smears on the asphalt. So I’ve never actually tried them. Does that count?
What type of food do you make sure to avoid before a gig or going on stage?
Anything involving cream sauce or similar. The heavy stuff does me no favors.
Imagine for a second you can request anything on your rider for your upcoming show at The Northcote Social Club in Melbourne. What food and drinks would you put on it?
Thai green papaya salad, extra spicy, and tofu satay with some nice cold, dry sake.
What has been your biggest cooking disaster to date?
I made my brother a birthday cake when I was thirteen and he was ten. It was the first cake I ever baked, so I was quite proud of myself, and my brother was really stoked. When it was done I left it out to cool, and our dog stole it off the kitchen counter and ate the whole thing.
When you tour overseas, what food from home do you miss the most?
Rice from the rice cooker, with soy sauce and seaweed.
Where’s your favorite music venue to eat at in Australia and internationally?
We haven’t had very much touring experience in Australia yet, but did we have some excellent veggie burgers at The Northcote Social Club in Melbourne. Internationally, I always love the Vera Club in Groningen, Netherlands. It’s not so much about the food as the room where you eat – the club has been around for decades, and the walls are completely covered in old posters and press kit photos of all the bands that have played there, from Bo Diddley to Johnny Thunders to Dead Moon and Sonic Youth. It’s got loads of character.
What music do you like to play when you’re cooking?
Depends on mood, weather and what I’m cooking.
If you had to cook a meal for Dinosaur Jr. and Jon Spencer what would it be?
Wow. I don’t know. I make a pretty decent Japanese-style curry, so maybe I’d make that. And they would definitely get rice. It seems wise to stick to known skills when cooking for people you haven’t met before.
