So is this your first trip to Japan?
Bassist Nikolai Eilertsen: For me, yes, but the other guys in the band have been before with different outfits.
You had a real Hammond B3 on stage. You didn't ship that over, did you?
No, no. The costs would have been astronomical. At first the organizers wanted us to use a newer digital organ, but the whole thing about our band's sound is built around the sound of the Hammond, and you really need to use one of the mechanical models, so we had to insist on getting the real thing. With Japan being a country that has lots of collectors and people into vintage stuff, we just knew there had to be one somewhere, and luckily we were able to get one for the set.
You had a good size crowd out there before the rain really came down.
Yes, I think it was OK. I didn't really know what to expect because it's the first time Elephant9 have come to Japan, so we haven't yet built up a fan base. We played a gig at a smaller venue last Thursday and the turnout was pretty low, but today was OK. Just a pity about the rain.