USGKZ Interview Chapter3. Osaka era

USGKZ: After graduating from high school, I came to Osaka to attend a music school, and while I was still in Onomichi Specter, I formed a band during my first year at the music school.

▶ Was that LARGE400?

USGKZ: No, it was a band called "Floppy ass." We took the name from a Stikky song title. When I was in my third year of high school, there was an Indies Magazine with Droop on the cover. Inside were bands like IdolPunch, OAC, and Hashdum. Floppy ass was influenced by these three bands, and we wanted to do something similar. At that time, I ordered a cassette tape from OAC through a phone call to Sakai-san's (OAC's member) home.

▶ What role did you play in Floppy ass?

USGKZ: At this point, I finally became a guitarist. I had been playing bass during my time in Hiroshima, so finally (laughs).

▶ Was the guitarist position available at that time?

USGKZ: Yes, there were a bassist and a drummer. In this band, we performed at places like "Namba Bears(難波ベアーズ)." But I think we disbanded after about a year. I don't remember the exact reason. After that, in my second year at the music school, LARGE400 was formed.

▶ Speaking of which, it's said that LARGE400's predecessor band was featured on the compilation album "Murder Sudden death3"(殺害サドンデス3) by MURDER VINYL CHLORIDE(殺害塩化ビニル). How did you end up participating in that?

USGKZ: During my second year at the music school, our LARGR400 vocalist Uchi found out about the open call for the compilation " Murder Sudden death3" by MURDER VINYL CHLORIDE. We thought, "Why not give it a shot?" So, we recruited members from the music school. Our only goal was to get on that compilation, so we only recorded once and never played any live shows. We went by the name "Hasegawa Macho."

▶ Hasegawa Macho?!

USGKZ: Yeah, it was because Hasegawa Machiko, the creator of Sazae-san (サザエさん, a popular manga series in Japan), passed away on the day we recorded. I think that's why we chose that name.

▶ That's quite the MURDER VINYL CHLORIDE-inspired name (laughs).

USGKZ: Exactly.

▶ Did the music sound like LARGE400's style?

USGKZ: Well, since it was a music-focused school, there were a lot of skilled guitarists around. We called in two guitarists and told them to shred as fast as they wanted. So, amidst an endless barrage of totally different shredding sounds from left and right, Uchi would shout, and I would try to play the drums that I couldn't really play.

▶ Did you get accepted after submitting that recording?

USGKZ: We got accepted, and that became my very first CD in life.