BO NINGEN got together in London in the dark old days of Tony Blair and have been cooking up an avant-garde noise rock storm ever since. Revenge... caught up with the band's Amsterdam-based guitar ace Kohhei Matsuda, mainly to ask him why his hair is so long and whether he had been radicalized by wrongly-shaped bath tubs!
Yoko Ono respecter, Kohei Matsuda
RoRR: Recently you did some shows in the UK. How was that?
Kohhei Matsuda: It was great! As always. We all met each other and formed the band in London so playing there especially was so precious. We also had some rare appearances of guest musicians. We don’t normally do that but thought it’s time to bring long-time friends GRIMM GRIMM and KENICHI IWASA on stage. We knew that it would be good, but the chemistry was so good that it even felt alchemical. We made something very beautiful.
RoRR: Tell me about your "packed" touring schedule. I see from your website that you’ve got a gig in Germany in August. What else are you looking to do, or do you hibernate in the Winter?
Kohhei Matsuda: We are preparing a new album! Long time in making but pieces are coming together.
RoRR: Bo Ningen is remarkable for being a Japanese band based outside Japan. There are a few others - SHONEN KNIFE and ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK (in the past?). How hard is it to exist like that? Food, language, funny-shaped baths, etc. What are the benefits of being the “strange Japanese band”?
Kohhei Matsuda: I don’t know if there’s any “benefits” of being outside of our home country. It just happened and stayed that way. I came from very small town in Japan so London was my first big city. I now live in Amsterdam which feels like a village compared to London but still way bigger than my hometown. I never imagined myself living in Tokyo! It’s too hectic. Megalopolis. Food was the toughest part, but I grew my cooking skills so it’s kind of nicely paid off.
RoRR: Why did you leave Japan? Was it because of the long hair? I mean, that must be hard in the Japanese summer. Or was it the consumption tax?
Kohhei Matsuda: I left Japan to study art in London (I later converted my major to Graphic Design). I had very short hair when I arrived but it just grew. I hated going to the hairdresser. Having to talk to a stranger through the mirror is not my best skill. My uncle is a hairdresser, so he was taking care of my hair stuff while I was in Japan.
RoRR: When was the last time you were back in Japan? Did you do shows? Where and with whom?
Kohhei Matsuda: I went there during the New Year time. We didn’t perform as Bo Ningen but I played a solo show and I think some of the others did similar things. Everyone was in different places, like Tokyo and our respective hometowns.
RoRR: The main thing is your style, which seems crazy and psychedelic, a bit like a mash-up of SABBATH, TOOL, and BJORK. How did that unique Bo Ningen style evolve?
Kohhei Matsuda: This is the first time we got referenced with Bjork I think! It’s great to hear that. We started as a more noise improvisation group. Introducing riffs, even the simplest ones, we would make these noise jams sound like tunes. Riffs acted like a keel. Or riffs gave the meaning to total chaos. So, we started introducing “a riff (per song)”, no other structure etc and over the years we slowly learned to carve tunes out of noise.
RoRR: What influences did you start with and why -- and why the really long hair?
Kohhei Matsuda: Our influences varies, but some of our mutual favourites are CAN, BOREDOMS, CIRCLE, KING CRIMSON, BLACK SABBATH, DNA, TORTOISE. Some newer stuff like WU-LU, LUNCH MONEY LIFE, and VOKA GENTLE are great inspirations. My long hair thing was NEIL YOUNG.
RoRR: Last year you did a live soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain. Are you fans of the movie? How did that come about? Were there any limitations or requests from the Jodorowsky side?
Kohhei Matsuda: I am a big fan of the film. A London promoter ‘Deeper Into Movies’ first approached us with the idea and we were like instantly “Yes, let’s do it”. We have watched the film so many times, so it almost feels like there is The Holy Mountain inside our soul. Our unique vision of the ‘mountain’.
RoRR: Where is your music heading, or are you going to keep it more or less on the same track?
Kohhei Matsuda: I don’t know! It’s a journey with very little information on the map. I hope we have some kind of a map. A map that we have made over the past years of our musical journey. It is certainly not a straight line towards somewhere else so there are chances we come back to a familiar track but I think we move in a helix, so we’ll be in a different level even if it looked like we came back to the same track.
RoRR: How do the songs/music get written? Who kicks that off and how do they get finished?
Kohhei Matsuda: In recent years, I normally make the first ideas in the form of demo tracks. Guitars, bass, synth, noise in general and programmed drums. And then the others add their bits. Finishing the track or knowing it’s finished is like an eternal mystery. I think there’s no end, so we must record what we have anyway.
RoRR: Your performances seem pretty wild but I get a sense that you are quite a tight band and much more “disciplined” than you seem. What is the story there? Do you actually plan and rehearse everything precisely beforehand, or is really as wild, chaotic, and unplanned as it seems.
Kohhei Matsuda: Both. We rehearse a lot, but there are places in songs where we can go wild. It’s like implementing chaos in songs. We are also very good at dealing with troubles e.g. amp blown, string broken, power cut, someone starts a jam to fill the gap.
RoRR: One thing about Bo Ningen that intrigues me, is the stoner, hippy vibe that is combined with a kind of punk energy. How do you keep the energy levels high without using, ahem, substances or breaking vital recording equipment?
Kohhei Matsuda: I’m glad to hear you say punk energy. I think we had, and still have, some sort of anger within. Anger outwards and inwards. Powerful live shows could sublimate that anger, generally associated with negative feelings, into something collectively, beautiful and positive with the crowd.
RoRR: One of the burning issues in the history of rock is whether YOKO ONO was the talented one in the BEATLES. Do you have a view on that? You played with her back in 2013. How did that go?
Kohhei Matsuda: We didn’t actually play with her on stage, she invited us to perform in her curation program. She is one of the loveliest people we ever met! That’s our view on Yoko-san!
RoRR: Tell me what you think about the other guys in the band without sucking up or being cruel.
Kohhei Matsuda: We’ve been together for a long time, so it’s not easy to even come up with what I think about them. You don’t normally think about the air when you breathe, right? One thing is for sure that no other band I may form in the future would feel the same as Bo Ningen.
RoRR: Any final message to our readers?
Kohhei Matsuda: Thanks for reading! We are making a new album, it will be our best one, so please keep your eyes on what we do. And hopefully some of you can make it to one of our shows in the near future. I still believe music can change the world so let’s start it from you, us, precious individuals.
Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
2nd August, 2025
RoRR: Bo Ningen is remarkable for being a Japanese band based outside Japan. There are a few others - SHONEN KNIFE and ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK (in the past?). How hard is it to exist like that? Food, language, funny-shaped baths, etc. What are the benefits of being the “strange Japanese band”?
Kohhei Matsuda: I don’t know if there’s any “benefits” of being outside of our home country. It just happened and stayed that way. I came from very small town in Japan so London was my first big city. I now live in Amsterdam which feels like a village compared to London but still way bigger than my hometown. I never imagined myself living in Tokyo! It’s too hectic. Megalopolis. Food was the toughest part, but I grew my cooking skills so it’s kind of nicely paid off.
Playing "Koroshitai Kimochi" (= Killing Feeling) November 6, 2015
RoRR: Why did you leave Japan? Was it because of the long hair? I mean, that must be hard in the Japanese summer. Or was it the consumption tax?
Kohhei Matsuda: I left Japan to study art in London (I later converted my major to Graphic Design). I had very short hair when I arrived but it just grew. I hated going to the hairdresser. Having to talk to a stranger through the mirror is not my best skill. My uncle is a hairdresser, so he was taking care of my hair stuff while I was in Japan.
RoRR: When was the last time you were back in Japan? Did you do shows? Where and with whom?
Kohhei Matsuda: I went there during the New Year time. We didn’t perform as Bo Ningen but I played a solo show and I think some of the others did similar things. Everyone was in different places, like Tokyo and our respective hometowns.
RoRR: The main thing is your style, which seems crazy and psychedelic, a bit like a mash-up of SABBATH, TOOL, and BJORK. How did that unique Bo Ningen style evolve?
Monchan Monna (drums)/ Yuki Tsujii (guitar)/ Taigen Kawabe (bass, vocals) / Kohhei Matsuda (guitar, electronics)
Kohhei Matsuda: This is the first time we got referenced with Bjork I think! It’s great to hear that. We started as a more noise improvisation group. Introducing riffs, even the simplest ones, we would make these noise jams sound like tunes. Riffs acted like a keel. Or riffs gave the meaning to total chaos. So, we started introducing “a riff (per song)”, no other structure etc and over the years we slowly learned to carve tunes out of noise.
RoRR: What influences did you start with and why -- and why the really long hair?
Kohhei Matsuda: Our influences varies, but some of our mutual favourites are CAN, BOREDOMS, CIRCLE, KING CRIMSON, BLACK SABBATH, DNA, TORTOISE. Some newer stuff like WU-LU, LUNCH MONEY LIFE, and VOKA GENTLE are great inspirations. My long hair thing was NEIL YOUNG.
RoRR: Last year you did a live soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain. Are you fans of the movie? How did that come about? Were there any limitations or requests from the Jodorowsky side?
Kohhei Matsuda: I am a big fan of the film. A London promoter ‘Deeper Into Movies’ first approached us with the idea and we were like instantly “Yes, let’s do it”. We have watched the film so many times, so it almost feels like there is The Holy Mountain inside our soul. Our unique vision of the ‘mountain’.
RoRR: Where is your music heading, or are you going to keep it more or less on the same track?
Kohhei Matsuda: I don’t know! It’s a journey with very little information on the map. I hope we have some kind of a map. A map that we have made over the past years of our musical journey. It is certainly not a straight line towards somewhere else so there are chances we come back to a familiar track but I think we move in a helix, so we’ll be in a different level even if it looked like we came back to the same track.
RoRR: How do the songs/music get written? Who kicks that off and how do they get finished?
Kohhei Matsuda: In recent years, I normally make the first ideas in the form of demo tracks. Guitars, bass, synth, noise in general and programmed drums. And then the others add their bits. Finishing the track or knowing it’s finished is like an eternal mystery. I think there’s no end, so we must record what we have anyway.
RoRR: Your performances seem pretty wild but I get a sense that you are quite a tight band and much more “disciplined” than you seem. What is the story there? Do you actually plan and rehearse everything precisely beforehand, or is really as wild, chaotic, and unplanned as it seems.
Kohhei Matsuda: Both. We rehearse a lot, but there are places in songs where we can go wild. It’s like implementing chaos in songs. We are also very good at dealing with troubles e.g. amp blown, string broken, power cut, someone starts a jam to fill the gap.
RoRR: One thing about Bo Ningen that intrigues me, is the stoner, hippy vibe that is combined with a kind of punk energy. How do you keep the energy levels high without using, ahem, substances or breaking vital recording equipment?
Kohhei Matsuda: I’m glad to hear you say punk energy. I think we had, and still have, some sort of anger within. Anger outwards and inwards. Powerful live shows could sublimate that anger, generally associated with negative feelings, into something collectively, beautiful and positive with the crowd.
RoRR: One of the burning issues in the history of rock is whether YOKO ONO was the talented one in the BEATLES. Do you have a view on that? You played with her back in 2013. How did that go?
Kohhei Matsuda: We didn’t actually play with her on stage, she invited us to perform in her curation program. She is one of the loveliest people we ever met! That’s our view on Yoko-san!
RoRR: Tell me what you think about the other guys in the band without sucking up or being cruel.
Kohhei Matsuda: We’ve been together for a long time, so it’s not easy to even come up with what I think about them. You don’t normally think about the air when you breathe, right? One thing is for sure that no other band I may form in the future would feel the same as Bo Ningen.
RoRR: Any final message to our readers?
Kohhei Matsuda: Thanks for reading! We are making a new album, it will be our best one, so please keep your eyes on what we do. And hopefully some of you can make it to one of our shows in the near future. I still believe music can change the world so let’s start it from you, us, precious individuals.
Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
2nd August, 2025
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