In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Kawabata Makoto, lead guitar player for Japanese psychedelic rock band Acid Mothers Temple took to Twitter to express his condolences and announce that AMT will be returning to the UK for the first time in three years, saying, “R.I.P. finally we will come back to your country next month for the first time in 3 years.” The band’s MettaReboot Tour 2022 will start their seventeen-date UK run in Margate on October 6th ending in London on October 21st. Details can be found on the band’s website and tickets to some of the gigs are available here.
R.I.P.
finally we will come back to your country next month for the first time in 3 years. pic.twitter.com/KVdhWkWBj8— Kawabata Makoto (@SpeedGuru69) September 9, 2022
Like the rest of the music world, the worldwide pandemic put paid to their plans to tour outside of Japan. Earlier this year, Makoto told Psychedelic Baby magazine that the band were able to organise a tour in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics, explaining, “ When the Tokyo Olympics were held last summer, we organized “Acid Mothers Olympic 2021” at 5 venues in 4 cities, an insane production as the Tokyo Olympics. We played music and also original athletic sports, like guitar archery, drums, rhythmic gymnastics, bass ball, guitar tennis, et cetera on the stage! [Laughs].”
Asked how he dealt with lockdowns, the guitarist told the magazine, “ I live in a Buddhist temple on the top of the mountain. Only 6 old farmers live around here. So it looks like natural quarantine. I don’t see neighbors often, but I see deers and raccoons, and also many wild animals everyday. I set up my recording studio in my temple. So I recorded a lot of new stuff, and overdubbed and mixed many previous recordings that I couldn’t before the pandemic, because I was too busy and I started playing acoustic guitar solo.”
He went on to explain, “When I drink in my dining room or kitchen, I start to play acoustic guitar by improvising. In November 2020, one promoter offered me a solo show at a small venue. He said there are no amps there (usually all venues have a backline in Japan, so musicians don’t need to bring backline), so I decided to play an acoustic guitar solo. Many people loved this show, so I continued with an acoustic guitar solo. It’s a totally new thing even though I have played electric guitar since 1979”.
Speed guru, Kawabata Makoto and his band mates, Higashi Hiroshi/fishing god (synthesizer), Mitsuko Tabata/maratab (moog guitar, voice) Satoshima Nani/another dimension (drums, synthesizer) and Wolf/space&time (bass), playing as The Acid Mother Temple & Melting Paraiso U.F.O, released Demi-Demoniac Daemoog on January 3rd of this year. The band started recording the album in London in 2017 and finished it at Acid Mothers Temple in October 2021.
Makoto told Psychedelic Baby how it came about, “Our booking agent Tom Relleen offered us to record with a wall of Moog synthesizers in London when we had a European tour. I think Moog Lab organized this recording and prepared all the synthesizers. We recorded all the tracks in two days at the recording studio in London.”
Continuing, “On the first day, we (mainly I and Hiroshi Higashi) tried to find any interesting sounds from the wall of Moog synthesizers. First we recorded all synthesizer playing, then we recorded basic tracks by the band with all instruments by improvising. On the second day, I started to edit basic tracks and also Moog recordings. Then I placed edited Moog sounds on edited basic tracks and overdubbed some instruments and voices, so we had done this recording in two days in London. When I decided to release it on AKTI Records last Autumn, I overdubbed some instruments, and mixed again.” You can listen to the album here.
Acid Mother Temple UK tour dates:
06/10/2022 – Elsewhere – Margate
07/10 – Rubicond Space – Falmouth
08/10 – The King Arthur – Glastonbury
09/10 – Nortons – Birmingham
10/10 – The Crescent – York
11/10 – The Hug & Pint – Glasgow
12/10 – The Star And Shadow Cinema – Newcastle
13/10 – The White Hotel – Manchester
14/10 – Club 85 – Hitchin
15/10 – Norwich Arts Centre – Norwich
16/10 – The Continental – Preston
17/10 – The Cellar – Cardigan
18/10 – Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
19/10 – The Lanes – Bristol
20/10 – Komedia Studio Bar – Brighton
21/10 – Studio 9294 – London
