Mop of Head

By KEITH CAHOON

Mop of Head was formed in 2006 by George and friends over a common interest in breakbeats, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass, and house, and the desire to perform it themselves live. Enjoying their first attempts at performing live immensely, they decided to pursue music full force. Essentially Mop of Head are a rock band that plays club music live, a style which has drawn...

Mop of Head

By KEITH CAHOON

Mop of Head was formed in 2006 by George and friends over a common interest in breakbeats, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass, and house, and the desire to perform it themselves live. Enjoying their first attempts at performing live immensely, they decided to pursue music full force. Essentially Mop of Head are a rock band that plays club music live, a style which has drawn comparisons to Prodigy, Qemists and  KLF . 

Their debut EP “Retronix”  was initially sold only at their live performances, but in 2011 was released to retail stores, and did especially well at Tower Records. This created an even bigger stir, and led to their being invited to play at the welcoming event at Fuji Rock 2011.  Drawing over 5,000 people to the Red Marquee, they scored a musical knockout with a dynamic performance, which won them high praise from music fans and the industry.

Amongst those who picked up on Mop of Head early was BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson, who played them often on his show “World Wide” and Taku Takahashi of m-flo, who is also supervisor of internet radio station TCY Radio. Via the band’s live performances, radio exposure and club play, the band’s popularity continued to spread. 

In October of 2010 they were asked to join the Japanese tour of German electro house duo Digitalism.  Continuing on a roll, they were invited to play Japan’s biggest year end live event “Countdown Japan 11/12” at Makuhari Messe arena.  The band delivered a mighty performance, and gained the reputation of being a band not to miss.  

Coming into the new year, Mop of Head changed drummers to Satoshi Yamashita, who joined the existing band of keyboardist/ machine manipulator George, bassist hitomi Kuramochi and guitarist Tukuma Kikuchi. They have played festivals and clubs across Japan, opened for acclaimed British band Teeth and have been invited to again play at Fuji Rock this summer.  Also on May 9, 2012 Mop of Head released their second official EP  “Uncontrol”, and were featured on the cover of Tower’s pamphlet for this year’s “Odoru Rock” campaign.  With a strong rep for performing live, and growing international acclaim, Mop of Head seem ready to soar.