The New Mastersounds have many old friends in Japan. The British four-piece was first noticed on these shores by fans of Scottish Northern Soul and funk DJ Keb Darge's "Deep Funk" series of compilations in the early 2000s, and an impressive live resume has followed.
Funky guitar licks and jazz-club style jamming are a fixture at the band's gigs. It's all executed with the skill required to avoid seeming self-indulgent, but bassist Pete Shand has suggested there is a certain "British scratchiness" to their sound. He hints that it was this, and quirks like keeping the same strings on his bass for more than two years, to really feel his way around the instrument — "music magazines in Japan can't believe it when I say that" — that has contributed to their overseas success.
In fact, "we rarely play shows in the U.K. or Europe nowadays, traveling really is a perk," guitarist Eddie Roberts says, and "kicking off our latest tour in Hawaii and ticking off another," means the band have played shows in all but three U.S. states. Alaska, Arizona and New Mexico audiences will have to wait — first come Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.