Queen of Japan - Identity

Identity

As is often the case with artists on the electronic music scene, the identity of Queen of Japan is more complex than casual inquiry reveals. Neither their official website nor their page on My Space explains it. It is, however, an "open secret" and is discussed in interviews and on other websites.

Credited group members are Koneko (vocals), Jo Ashito (vocals, guitar) and Jason Arigato (bass guitar). Their website features the following description "translated from the japanese by arakiha miho":

The band naming their persons queen of Japan was not always in the threesome they hold to their beating hearts today After many tours of hard sexual energy and costume change the queen of Japan became known well across country and town never giving in to a life of modest no glamour Schools will replace sexual theory lessons with headrush album in order to save the money of tax pay. Queen of Japan influence politics and reforming. Everybody loves everybody and fun and feeling.

Despite the name of the band and the Japanese-sounding names (actually stage names) of its members, the group has no direct connections to Japan and no member of the trio is of Japanese ethnicity.

Catriona Shaw (a.k.a. Koneko, Miss le Bomb), a Scot and the youngest member of the band, is the lead singer and was hailed as a "new exceptional singer". The first Queen of Japan CD "Mercury Rising" only features Platzgumer and Shaw as a duo. Her vocal talents are also featured on the CD Miss Me credited as "HP:CS" (Hans Platzgumer:Catriona Shaw) as well as with Electronicat.

Hans Platzgumer (a.k.a. Jo Ashito, Seperator, Disko B), is an Austrian-born musician and music producer and lead guitarist/backing singer. He is co-founder (with Andi Pümpel) of the Grammy-nominated NYC band HP Zinker in the late 1980s and is member the punk band Die Goldenen Zitronen (founded 1986 in Hamburg) since the late 90s. More recently he has collaborated with other artists and released music under such codenames as Convertible, Aura Anthropica, Cube & Sphere, Fingerfood, and Shinto.

Albert Pöschl (a.k.a. Jason Arigato), Queen of Japan's bass player and co-producer, is from Bavaria and has a diverse portfolio as a musician and music producer. He has worked as a sound technician for various bands including Chicks on Speed and Die Goldenen Zitronen, which is presumably where he and Platzgumer made their acquaintance. He joined Queen of Japan in 1999, one year after they had formed.