DMBQ | Profile DMBQ, sometimes explained as Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet, were formed in Sapporo in 1988, and moved to Tokyo in 1990. Since then, the band have steadily built a following, largely on the strength of their live show, despite not fitting neatly into any particular scene. Their sound starts at psychedelic hard rock, stampedes through the garage rock, trance, blues, noise and free jazz categories, and staggers to a place, as their bio puts it, where there is a "fistfight between Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin". The band have a wide range of influences, and are known to namecheck such diverse artists as Ike Turner, Television, and Throbbing Gristle in interviews. Also given their immense, intensely overdriven sound, DMBQ are frequently compared by the media to Blue Cheer. The band are friends and contemporaries of the Boredoms and Buffalo Daughter, with whom they share a free spirited approach to music. DMBQ released their debut album in 1992, and have made at least ten in total, some currently out of print. In 1999 they made I Know Your Sweet, and in 2000 Jinni for the well established indie Lastrum. In 2001 they released their first major label album, Annular, on Parco/Nippon Columbia. In 2001 they also released the remix album Resonated, which featured the handiwork of Eye Yamataka from the Boredoms, and Buffalo Daughter, among others. In 2002 the band moved to Avex, where they have released three albums, the most recent being Hercules Hits-DMBQ Best. The band's de facto leader is guitarist, vocalist and sub-culture writer Shinji Masuko. The band has gone through a few member changes, and at one time included an on-stage dancer. Long-time members are second guitarist Toru Matsui and bassist Ryuichi Watanabe. Recently the female drummer known as China, real name Mana Nishiura, who has toured with Shonen Knife and is well known in Osaka indie circles, joined the ranks, replacing Yuka Yoshimura. Masuko and Yoshimura once toured the States with Bob Log III in their side project band Hydro Guru. They were disappointed that American PA systems were not loud enough, but otherwise enjoyed the experience, and DMBQ have since played in the States a number of times with the likes of Fugazi, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mudhoney and the Dirtbombs. They now have something of a base camp in San Francisco. The DMBQ will undertake an extensive tour of the States in the spring of 2005, including a show at SXSW, east coast shows with Lightning Bolt, Detroit with Demolition Doll Rods, Oakland with Drunkhorse and Coachwhips, and a house party in Santa Cruz. by Keith Cahoon
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