Having released their fourth album last year, Lite have stormed straight out of Japan to become one of the most prolific math rock outfits out there. In the process they have influenced numerous bands across the globe, a number of whom are making a name for themselves in Ireland today.
Nobuyuki Takeda spoke to Goldenplec ahead of their show in The Workman’s Club.
The band are known for their thrilling and emotional compositions, progressive, edgy riffs and complex rhythms. Over the space of a decade they have risen to the top of Japan’s math rock scene. “I’m so happy to hear that. But I really DON’T think we got to the top, we are just half-way, climbing a really high mountain. Anyway, there are so many good bands in Japan. I guess we are just lucky compared to those bands.”
Modesty aside, the band are widely regarded as one of the most exciting to emerge from Japan in the last decade. And when questioned on what we can expect from the band, Takeda answered with attitude. “I guess we will be still playing instrumental rock. Because, we are sure to find some exciting sound there, I don’t know if it’ll be new instruments or new types of music. But we will be doing something exciting, because instrumental rock is very flexible we can change to any kind of band. We don’t care if any music we play is classified. We will do what we want to do.”
Throughout their career, Lite have made a point of mixing things up with their sound, revolutionising their style with every release. “It’s a natural progression, when we write new songs we think about what we’re missing in the last album. In this way, we have progress, of course including experiments as well. After we released ‘Installation’ which is our latest work, we tried to use less synth and get more organic which also meant aggressive at the same time…”
Like so many Irish acts, finding an audience outside of your own island is something of a harrowing task, and expansion ends for many at the shoreline. Lite caught a lucky break in making an Irish friend. “About ten years ago, I got to know an Irish guy who came to visit in Japan. He came out to our show, and he said he would establish his own label and asked us to release our CD from there. Then we did a tour in the UK and Ireland which was organized by him after we released the CD. It was first time we’d toured overseas.”
Expect to hear the bands much-loved Bond and Alter Ego when they take to stage tonight because in Takeda’s words, they are “very powerful live.”