Luby Sparks: We Love a Mixture of Happy and Sadness

Photo: Eggi Hadian

Listening to Luby Sparks is an exciting experience. The band, formed in Tokyo back in 2016, combines an alternative rock approach centered on guitars with a strong dreamy pop atmosphere. The result, as they put it, is a mix of sadness and joy. A happy sadness.

As a band that grew up in Tokyo, a cosmopolitan city that serves as a melting pot of many pop cultures, they boldly break boundaries—both in terms of musical references and geographical borders. Their first album, Luby Sparks (2018), was recorded in London. It received a warm reception, producing hits like "Tangerine," "Thursday," and "Sparks."

Luby Sparks has also gone through some important milestones in their nearly eight years of existence, including a change in vocalists. Not long after releasing their debut album, vocalist Emily Obaidey decided to leave.

Through a friend's recommendation, Erika Murphy, a Japanese-Scottish-Irish woman who loves Paramore and All Time Low, auditioned as the new vocalist of Luby Sparks. From her home in Hyogo Prefecture, Erika traveled to Tokyo and met with Natsuki Kato, bassist and founder of Luby Sparks. Natsuki asked Erika to sing Luby Sparks' songs, and voila, there was chemistry.

What followed is the Luby Sparks you see and hear today. With Erika as the vocalist, Luby Sparks paved a new path with their second album, Search + Destroy (2022). They also embarked on several tours, including a U.S. tour in March 2023 and a China tour, which had been delayed due to the pandemic and finally took place in September 2023.

The Joyland 2023 stage was Luby Sparks' first time performing in Indonesia. They were pleasantly surprised to see many enthusiastic audience members during their performance on the second day of Joyland 2023, Saturday (11/25).

"The audience was really fun. I saw some people singing our songs. It felt great and quite surprising to see that we have fans here," said Erika.

That night, a few hours after their performance, I had the chance to have a chit-chat with Luby Sparks: Natsuki, Erika, Tamio Sakuma (guitar), Sunao Hiwatari (guitar), and Shin Hasegawa (drums).

In this ten-minute conversation, they talked about the nostalgia of meeting before becoming a band, their songwriting process, and their future plans. Most of the answers were given by Natsuki, the band’s founder, with Erika chiming in now and then.

A cliché question, but maybe many people don’t know yet. How did you guys meet and eventually form Luby Sparks?

Natsuki: So, we initially met at a music club on campus. Actually, it wasn’t my campus, but they had a lot of music clubs. So we met there, and at that time, we played different kinds of music compared to what we do now.

Back then, we were focused on Black music like soul or R&B. But I really loved indie music, like indie rock or alternative rock. Something like that.

Then I left the music club and decided to start my own band with my own songs. I tried playing alternative rock, shoegaze, dream pop, or indie rock. So, we met again at the same club, and we decided to form a band together. In the beginning, we covered music by bands like My Bloody Valentine or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. After that, we started writing our own songs.

Then Tamio joined our band because we met at another music club. He played Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins. We ended up playing My Bloody Valentine songs together and hit it off. So we decided to start a band together. After we released our first album, our vocalist, Emily Obaidey, left.

Some friends from the same circle introduced Erika (Murphy, vocalist) to us. After chatting and an audition, Erika joined. And we released our second album last year.

Search + Destroy is your latest album, released in 2022. Hearing the title, I imagined there might be some influence from Iggy Pop and The Stooges in this album?

I actually only know that song, not really influenced by it in any deep way. But the title did catch my attention. At that time, I was looking for a name for the album. Coincidentally, the last song on the album is "Seek + Destroy." So, I rewrote the title, changing the word "and" to the "+" symbol.

I think the symbol is important for the visual. It looks like the kind of music we want to play—music from the early 2000s. I often saw some songs from that decade using symbols like + or - in their titles. That’s why I chose that symbol.

This band is from Tokyo. Almost everyone who loves music knows that Tokyo is a vibrant city when it comes to music. From small to big venues, record stores, and music instrument shops, Tokyo has it all. How do you think this city has influenced all of you in growing as a band?

We believe Tokyo has had a big influence on us. As a city that brings together many cultures, we can find various musical references here. And this has shaped our mindset about music. All of us happen to be influenced by Western music, especially from the UK and the US. But we’re also influenced by Japanese bands.

In particular, since we live in Tokyo, we often play with other bands from the city. So, we frequently meet bands that share similar musical influences with us.

Your music often blends dreamy and atmospheric sounds with energetic rock, like in the song "Depression." I think this song strongly shows an alternative rock influence, especially from the Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins. Can you tell us about your process for making songs like this?

So the usual process goes like this: Tamio creates the chorus and riff, and then Erika writes the melody. I usually add elements like synthesizers. Tamio and Erika happen to share a taste for rock music with heavy and loud guitar sounds.

Erika: Yeah, it just so happens that we have pretty similar tastes. So, it makes it easier for us to write songs.

Natsuki: That’s right. Our tastes are quite similar. The one who’s a bit different might be him (points to Shin Hasegawa, drummer). He’s a drummer with a jazz background. He really loves jazz. His drumming style is actually different from the kind of music we play.

Your songs often talk about heartbreak and losing someone you love. Do you usually write songs like that?

Erika: Often? I don’t just write those kinds of songs often, I always write them (laughs).

So, are you the kind of band that writes songs based on personal experiences or from people close to you?

Natsuki: For me, my style of writing lyrics is like writing a story. It’s not a personal story, and it’s not my friends’ stories either. I usually write music inspired by films. I’m very influenced by movies, especially old and classic ones. That’s why I write a lot of songs about heartbreak, but they’re not always sad.

So maybe the lyrics will sound sad, about things that make you feel down. But the music is pop, and maybe a bit cheerful. You know, the combination of something sad with happy music feels enjoyable to me personally. Kind of like The Cure, that happy sadness.

Erika: As for me, I write based on my own experiences. Since I’m the vocalist, when I write a song, I imagine how it would be easier to sing—not in terms of technique, but more about the feeling when singing. Because when I sing, I want to convey my emotions and feelings. So, that’s why I choose to write about my own experiences, because I want to feel connected to what I’m singing.

Last question, what are your plans moving forward after this? A new album, single, tour, or something else?

Right now, we’re writing songs. We’ve already made a lot of songs. And it seems like this third album will be quite different from our first and second albums.