F&M
Forget the Name—They're Just a Few Blokes Looking for a Good Time
Trying to classify Fugjiya & Miyagi within the glossary of music criticism has proven extremely difficult. Initially, one might call their music electronic, but that puts them in the company of countless techno groups, numbing minds while blaring out of the hippest club’s sound system. Maybe they’re Indie rock, that perpetually problematic clump, but that imparts the image of rising corporate influence on a genre with hipper credibility and sensibilities. Fugiya & Miyagi lies somewhere in between these two genres, within a gray area that forces comprehension by active participation. The only way to understand F&M is by listening to F&M.
Despite the exotic name, Fujiya & Miyagi is a trio of Brits: David Best on vocals and guitar, Steve Lewis on the synthesizer and Matt Hainsby on bass guitar. A first listen of the album Transparent Things, released January 23 in the United States, reveals a medley of electronic music with a solid core of guitar melodies. Bass bottoms provide foundations and add color. As each track progresses, it becomes apparent what the band is trying to do: record a cohesive pop album. In this task they definitely succeed, but it comes at a price. While each song has a different rhythm and tune, the construction of each song comes across as strikingly similar to the one prior to it. One could pop in the album and not notice that it has has progressed from the first track to the last.
While this is not usually the mark of a stellar musical act, Fujiya & Miyagi somehow makes it work. Their ability to create interesting music can be seen in the inception of the band: “When we first started we weren’t even doing songs, just electronic stuff with me whispering on it,” admitted Best. Their emphasis on experimentation is what keeps each song fresh.
Best accredits his inspiration to ‘70s Krautrock bands such as Neu and Can, evident in the band’s fusion of electronic music and live instruments. The combination of these two elements makes the music an accessible pleasure, extracting the driving beat of techno music and coupling it with the humanity of live instruments. This musical base is mirrored in the Best’s vocals: his whispering, metered voice allows it disappear into the background creating wall-of-sound-like immersion while keeping the music light.
Once F&M realized that they had something genuinely new, the band wanted to share it with the public. However, they were more interested in making music than being a band, and this was the philosophy that brought about the title Fujiya & Miyagi. Best rationalized it like so: “If we had an exotic sounding name people wouldn’t ask us to do anything. We could just sit at home watching the telly and hire other people to perform for us.” However, as F&M gained popularity they conceded that they might need to start playing shows, which would require spicing up their live act because, according Best, “You don’t wanna just be two blokes behind a keyboard.”
It was this growth that necessitated the addition of bassist Matt Hainsby, a friend of Lewis’ from university. Hainsby provides a backbone to the music that has proven invaluable. With its line up complete, Fujiya & Miyagi was able to start transforming from a personal project to a traveling band. They still hold their office jobs and keep their debauchery for the weekends, but the impending U.S. tour will likely force them out of their day jobs and into the lives of professional musicians. Don’t think that success will get monlighting musicians. Best reports that he has plans for the future: “I want to be less indebted to the past and be more futuristic. It’s the stuff that you don’t want to do that shapes what you do do.”