I Spend A Lot Of Time Thinking About...

The J-pop trio are massive at home. They’ve influenced Passion Pit and Porter Robinson. Can they cross over?

Well, this was the highlight of my year in terms of music writing.

I talked to Perfume about a month before they played their first ever shows in America, about how they were preparing for these shows and more. This story is partially an introduction to the group, but also a chance to talk about how secretly influential their music has been (oh what timing, a new PC Music song came out).

Rounding this out, I also interviewed Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit and Peter Berkman of Anamanaguchi, two acts who have taken a lot of cues from Perfume (and producer Yasutaka Nakata). Both of them were extremely thoughtful and insightful, and I probably could just publish the full interviews with them, they were both great.

Also, because I couldn’t fit it in, here is what each member of Perfume said they were listening to when I asked what music they like now:

Nocchi - Arctic Monkeys and Sheena Ringo

A-Chan - “Strong female singers”

Elle Varner - Don’t Wanna Dance (feat. A$AP Ferg) http://itunes.apple.com/album/dont-wanna-dance-feat.-a$ap/id896847472

Mazego & Vitesse - Lost Tonight http://soundcloud.com/mazego/mazego-vitesse-lost-tonight