Interview — Milo's Favorite Star

Skratch Magazine

Milo's Favorite Star is lucky enough to be based in a city with a real music scene: Los Angeles. Jason (guitar/vocals), Yuji (bass/vocals) and Mikey (drums) play dark pop punk that blends the edge of Alkaline Trio with the catchiness of New Found Glory. They draw their influence from a smorgasbord of classical music and modern rock, and of course legendary performances that make their way to La La land. Check out what they had to say to Skratch.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?

Yuji: I grew up with Classical music in Japan and started playing piano at age five. Mikey: My uncle played drums in a metal band in the 80's and started teaching me when I was 11 or 12, but I didn't get serious about it until high school.
Jason: I learned to play guitar at 9, but gave up on it and started again when I was 13. When I was 14, I saw the Ramones at the Palladium and that was it for me.

Skratch: What is your song writing process like?

Mikey: I wouldn't call myself a song writer…guys?
Jason: All backwards! I usually come up with a hook for the chorus first, then the verses and pre-chorus that fits the chorus.
Yuji: I make chord progressions and just jam with it until a melody sticks in my head.

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?
Jason: Eddie Van Halen, the Ramones, Dinosaur Jr., The Get Up Kids, No Motiv, Hot Rod Circuit and even Propagandhi and hair metal.
Yuji: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman and other great guitar players.
Mikey: Uh, Bonham, Keith Moon, Danny Carey from Tool is friggin' awesome, Byron McMackin from Pennywise, Ringo. They're kinda everywhere.

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.
Yuji: I get inspiration from J-Rock and Classical 'cause I grew up with those.
Jason: A little of both for lyrics, my environment and people I know.

Skratch: What is your musical background?

Jason: Pretty much self-taught, listening to different stuff.
Mikey: I heard all my music through family members, first classic rock and Motown, then 70's and 80's hard rock and metal through cousins and my uncle, AC/DC, Metallica, Slayer, SOD, and punk from friends in high school and I've usually just played those kinds of styles.
Yuji: I've played piano for about 3 years, then later guitar for 3 years now.

Skratch :Tell us about how you got started as a band.

Mikey: Me and Jason, or Jason and I, have known each other since high school but never played in a band together. We were at a party and Jason asked me if I knew a drummer and bass player who weren't in bands. I said I didn't and asked why. He said he had been writing songs that his band (360) probably wouldn't play because they were too different. I told him that the singer in my band (Third String) and his girlfriend had just had a baby, so the band was gonna change a little, and move slower so the singer can focus on his son, so if Jason wanted, I could play drums temporarily and he only needed to find a bass player, but temporary became permanent.
Jason: And I met Yuji at the Guitar Center…
Yuji: I was playing guitar in Hollywood and Jason liked what I was doing and played me one of his songs and asked me if I liked it but that he was looking for a bass player.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?

Yuji: It's fun! I'm having a great time with them, they might have thought something else 'cause I'm not very talkative, but I'm having fun playing with these guys.
Jason: I like starting a song and having it come to life with the band.
Mikey: I really like the challenge of now playing a different kind of music besides playing nothing but punk rock for 12 years.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?

Mikey: Money!!! Like wanting or needing a certain type of equipment and not always being able to get it.
Jason: Yeah, that's hard.
Yuji: Now the biggest challenge is trying to get a sound for my guitar that's really different from other players. I'm still working on it.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?
Yuji: "I'll Say Goodbye", the guitar solo on there will blow your mind…
Mikey: I actually like "Guilt", which isn't one of the two songs on the CD so there you go…
Jason: "I'll Say Goodbye", I put a lot of time and heart into it.

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?

Yuji: The first album I ever bought was Sugar Ray.
Jason: Motley Crue-"Too Fast For Love".
Mikey: "Presence" by Led Zeppelin when I was 12.

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?

Jason: I hope being able to make a living with the band.
Mikey: Yeah, I think just still having this much fun would be the main thing, but being able to focus on the music and maybe experiment a bit with no distractions would be awesome too.
Yuji: Yeah, playing in a large venue with fans going nuts…

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.

Mikey: Um, well like we said right now, long term, being a band and focusing on that. Jason: And maybe being on a label.
Yuji: The band is the long term, but my ultimate goal is to be a really good guitar player.

Skrathc: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?

Mikey: It's a lot easier to get our ideas across to each other 'cause we're getting to know each other much better and learning new songs is easier too.
Yuji: More richer in overall sound.
Jason: We got a lot tighter as a band, and relaxing a little and having more fun with it.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?

Yuji: I play on my own usually 5 hrs. a day and band practice is 2 hrs on Saturdays. Mikey: We've done twice a week before…but yeah, usually on Saturdays around work and other band's schedules.

Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain. Jason: I can't think of one. Yuji: Feel the music and have fun!

Mikey: I couldn't really either, but that sounds good…you can't have fun with something if you're not feeling it.

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.

Jason: Just getting the songs right and sounding good.
Mikey: Yeah, maybe not any release plans just yet, but hopefully to get some shows together with bands we know and people we're friends with so it's more comfortable.

Skratch: Where have you performed? Tell us about the experience.

Jason: Once 360 played at the Dragonfly and from that show we were invited to play at the Coconut Teaser and I have a picture with the band name on the marquee outside. Yuji: I've performed at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood with another band and the drummer made this big mistake and we laughed at him after the show.
Mikey: My most memorable show was in a back yard with Third String actually, years ago and the cops showed up and I guess they didn't realize how drunk I was and I was able to talk them into letting us play one more song and seemed to enjoy it. They didn't seem to understand the slamming though…

Skratch: What sets your stage show apart from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?
Jason: Hopefully just putting across that our energy and the fact that we really like what we're doing is genuine and it comes across to the audience.
Mikey: Yeah, it's not just going through motions or being on autopilot.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?

Jason: We're still working on new songs pretty often, we're focused on doing our first record and we'll start playing new stuff and hopefully people come out and enjoy it. So we would tell people to just keep checking out the website, everything will be up there. Mikey: And we recently found out that Yuji is actually a pretty awesome guitar player, so we may be getting a new bass player in the near future and we'll have two guitar players…AND I have three nipples. No, that's not true…
To get more info on Milo’s Favorite Star visit www.myspace.com/milosfavoritestarmusic

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