Yesterday, Junnoske Watanabe announced that the WACK management company’s current system will end in 2026. We have seen Watanabe dismantle entire idol units on a whim before, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that he would seemingly do the same with his entire agency. To his credit, operating by instinct amidst (at times, self-inflicted) anarchy has served him pretty well over the years so, why stop now?
A ton of news on this topic dropped yesterday, but here’s what we know so far:
If you’re a regular concert-goer in the UK, then you’ve probably been to any number of the “WACK in the UK” gigs over the past year and a half. ASP have been bringing along their friends from the most notorious company in Japan, and giving our dreary little island a taste of their unique brand of glorious, noisy chaos. In fact, the next one is this week, with ASP themselves, ExWHYZ (formerly EMPiRE) and MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN on the 5th and PIGGS (Pour Lui), MAPA (Coshoji Megumi) and ZOCX (Oomori Seiko) on the 6th.
These shows are possible thanks to JPU Records, arguably the most successful label working with exclusively Japanese artists outside of Japan… well, ever! You’ll know them if you’re a fan of Japanese music outside of the idolsphere for sure, and around last year, they added ASP to their roster.
Recently, we had the chance to sit down with Tom Smith from JPU and subject him to our (self awarded) prize winning journalism. We got to talking about a few things WACK fans had been wondering regarding his recent foray into things, so if you’ve ever wondererd what working with your favourite groups can be like, come step behind the curtain with us and take a peek.
Homicidols: So… I guess a good place to start is, well, how did all of this start?
Some enchanted evening, under a moonlit summer sky, a drag queen is performing her cabaret number at London’s Ku Bar. Watching her show with our intrepid reporter is none other than the person behind acts like BiSH, BiS and GANG PARADE: Junnosuke Watanabe. The man in question is kicking off the night with a pint of Staropramen , while Cal from Homicidols and Porin from the band Awesome City Club (who just happened to be in town) both enjoy a pornstar martini each.
Homicidols: You always get beer don’t you?
Watanabe: Oh yes (laughs). Cocktails are too sweet for me.
It has been just over a week since WACK in the UK and, yes, I’m just now getting around to hitting the “Post” button on this piece. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is DayJob® which has been crazy busy and eaten up all my time since I got back to the US, primarily because I took almost a full week off to go to the aforementioned WACK in the UK. But DayJob® pays me money that allows me do things like travel to other countries and see idols, so I must give it my attention. The other reason is that what started off as a straight-up show report kept growing and morphing into what is really at least two if not three different articles. At Papermaiden’s suggestion, I will now focus on the show itself and get this thing published before WACK in the UK 2: Electric Boogaloo has come and gone.
ASP in the UK – Historical Photo
First article of 2023 and already a strong contender for worst headline of the year. Can we entice you to not close the page with a new music video?
If you haven’t caught the buzz lately, EMPiRE are no more. Just as nations become lost and empires fall, so do idol groups.
What, too hamfisted? It was a sentimental break-up, so we wanted to use some powerful language! Still no? Well… they broke up and released their final four songs as a group, out to stream right now.
When Kerrie spread word of the WACK train, I had to say, I was intrigued.
Did WACK make their own version of Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari?
How how how many times can we write things like this? You’ll just have have have to read on and find out. While streaming new single from BiS “DA DA DA DANCE SONG” of course!
This new song is pyotty good!
No? Not even a giggle? Alright then just stream the damn song.
Never a dull moment at camp WACK eh? Their OG group has had a tumultuous but dynamic history, changing up their sound multiple times and doing some absolute insane stunts to get attention. That’s right, GANG PARADE are back from the dead with a new single and music video but this time, they aren’t planning on leaving.
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