The Japanese House performs in The Current studio
by Mac Wilson
January 06, 2024
Singer-songwriter Amber Bain — known by the musical moniker The Japanese House — released her latest album, In the End It Always Does, in June 2023. Written at the time of immense change in Bain’s life, including the end of a relationship, the album addresses challenging themes head-on, while also embracing the joy that the love of a dog can bring.
In this new session, The Japanese House and her band perform tracks from the new album. Afterwards, Bain sits down for a conversation with host Mac Wilson, tracing the origins of the album’s songs, and reveling in their shared love of dogs — dachshunds in particular.
Watch and listen to the entire session above, and read a transcript of the interview below.
Interview Transcript
Mac Wilson: Hello, friends! My name is Mac Wilson from The Current from Minnesota Public Radio, and I am joined today by Amber Bain of The Japanese House. Hello, Amber.
Amber Bain: Hi, thanks so much for having me.
Mac Wilson: Thanks again for coming in today. You're playing at the Fine Line and you brought your band in, played some songs in the studio. And you also brought another special guest, as we can see down here. Who is this a wonderful lady?
Amber Bain: This is Joni Jones, the original Joni Jones. She's my little dachshund dog. She's really under her blanket right now. But she's come on tour with us for like five weeks, which has been interesting. But I think she's had a great time. But yeah, one of the songs on the album is kind of dedicated to her.
Mac Wilson: So I'm a dachshund owner, as well. And my dachshund is not as well behaved as this. And it got me thinking about the ways that — what dog owners need to do. There's sort of an inherent patience that you need to have, especially with a dachshund, that I don't even know if I have necessarily. And we've been chatting beforehand about how you got blessed with a wonderful dog. But you're clearly doing something right with just your attitude and your training towards the dog. I guess in these last couple of years, as difficult as life has been, you've clearly been doing something right. So I guess that sense of mindfulness, how have you brought that to the rest of your interactions with other people?
Amber Bain: Yes, she's really, definitely taught me patience. Because they're so stubborn. So like, sometimes, she'll be a little angel. And sometimes she'll be quite difficult, but she never does anything too bad. But I just feel like when I was writing this album, and finishing the album, I was in this like, weird place of my relationship was ending, but I was also coming towards like this other — like, going back to my creativity, which I felt like I'd lost partially during the pandemic, and moving out the city, and so I was in this kind of like really unstable place between these two very different feelings. And she was kind of like a constant throughout that. Like, every single day when I was at the studio, even if I just had an argument with my ex, or I just had the high of finishing another song, well, I still had like walk her every single day. And that kind of routine is hard to find, especially if you're a musician, you're on tour and you're writing, whatever. So having a constant is really important. And also just something that you have to look after no matter how, like, you're feeling or what you're doing. You have to be there for this other being. So yeah.
Mac Wilson: Yeah, you know, even thinking about the dogs that we have, where, no matter what's going on in your life, sometimes they're gonna cry at five in the morning and you have to take them out. Like, that's a constant, and it's a very grounding thing at the same time.
Amber Bain: Yeah, and like, like in song I wrote that we played, "One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones," it's "one for sorrow," there's like a magpie thing. It's like, I don't know if they have it in the States, but in England, there's this rhyme it's like, "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy." And the first bit of the song is talking about how there's this magpie, there was at the time this magpie that was always like, singing, if you can call it that, outside my window. So I was like, "One for sorrow," and then "two for Joni Jones," instead of, because she's my joy, and I think like, going through, like an extreme change in your life like a breakup or moving countries as like I just have done, having her has just like, grounded me in a way that I don't think many other things could have done.
Mac Wilson: I've noticed many other musicians use the metaphor of the magpie, and they're not really prevalent here in Minnesota. It's got to be like, is it an English or European thing? Like, I don't know what their usual habitat is.
Amber Bain: There are other magpies, but they don't look the same. I don't know. The English magpie is a sort of black and white bird, and they're like, notorious for stealing shiny objects. And they have like a very distinct — I personally think very annoying — birdsong. I can't really do an impression. It almost sounds like if a bird was doing an impression of like a dolphin. It's like that [throaty sounds] kind of thing.
Mac Wilson: That was pretty good.
Amber Bain: Thank you. But yeah, they're quite ... They're not my favorite bird, but now I quite like them.
Mac Wilson: So you mentioned that the new record was written in the wake of a breakup, sort of concurrently or whether in the aftermath of it. I remember I was reading a quote from John Prine back in the day where he went through a divorce. And he said, "Well, that means that the song truck backed up at my house and dumped out a whole bunch of new songs." Was that sort of how it went for years? Did it happen more concurrently?
Amber Bain: Well, it was, yeah, some of the songs I started kind of when I was still in the stage of having, like, hope for the relationship and wanting it to carry on, and then I actually finished them after we'd broken up. So like "Sunshine Baby," I think the chorus is actually like a chorus of like, hope. And yeah, like, hope that something can be fixed. And then the verses are kind of an acceptance that it's ended. So it was a weird experience to sort of, like, write these songs alongside my relationship ending. And some of them aren't yet. I think the last song I wrote... Well, actually, even the poem, I started "One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones" with a poem, and we were still together at that point. So that was kind of like, for me and my ex, probably quite like a difficult thing, because we were still together when I was writing these songs. And often I feel like when you write songs, probably because they're coming from such a deep part of your subconscious, that they end up being prophetic in some way. And they end up kind of like telling you the truth that you didn't really want to know. Or at least for me, that's usually what happens.
Mac Wilson: So is this a case now where you listen back to your full length record, and you go, "Oh, well, this seems obvious in retrospect, that all the clues were there." Is it a case like that?
Amber Bain: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, sometimes I'm like, "Oh, my God, I can't believe like, I wrote that song while we still together," or, well, there's, I mean, it's not all about a breakup. There's other stuff going on in there. There's like themes of gender, gender searching and gender confusion. And then there's also like songs that kind of encapsulate the spark of, like, an initial relationship. Like the spark when you're initially in a relationship, like "Touching Yourself." But yeah, it's definitely one of those ones where I'm just, yeah, kind of, can't really believe that I didn't see it fully at the time, if you know what I mean.
Mac Wilson: You talked about the ideas of gender as one of the themes of the record, and I was reading an interview with you where you said that you, you're coming — I don't remember the exact terminology you used — where you said you're sort of on the verge of maybe identifying as non-binary while still using she/her pronouns, to the point where I almost felt presumptuous, like, should I have asked for your pronouns before beginning the interview?
Amber Bain: I mean, I personally, yeah, I use whatever pronouns really; I don't really, really mind. I'm still figuring it all out. I haven't really come to a final decision on like, what my gender is, and I think maybe that is my answer is that there is, it's kind of fluid. And it changes; like, some days, I'll feel like I'm a girl, and then sometimes I'll feel like I'm a guy, and then sometimes I'll feel like I'm nothing or both. So I don't know. And I think my understanding of it for myself is that I don't actually, I don't think I need to come to the conclusion. And yeah, my conclusion is, is that I'm just changing all the time. And I think for me, accepting that has been the most powerful thing.
Mac Wilson: You mentioned earlier, too, that you made a move that you're currently based out of Detroit now. So what was the impetus for moving to Detroit?
Amber Bain: I moved for love, obviously. Yeah, my girlfriend lives in Detroit. So I, yeah, I moved, because I can luckily live over there. So yeah, me and Joni now are in the Midwest.
Mac Wilson: The Japanese House in the Midwest. Well, I feel like I could just, I want to ask about dogs the entire day.
Amber Bain: Feel free!
Mac Wilson: We're definitely — this is a one of a kind situation: like, I don't remember the last time that I had a pet dog, let alone a dachshund in the studio with us. So, Amber, thank you again for stopping by today, it was wonderful to have you in, to bring your band and your pup.
Amber Bain: The star of the show!
Mac Wilson: The star of the show. Thank you again, and best of luck on the rest of your tour.
Amber Bain: Thanks.
Mac Wilson: Thank you.
Video Segments
00:00:00 Sunshine Baby
00:03:44 One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones
00:08:17 Boyhood
00:11:33 Amber Bain interview with host Mac Wilson
All songs from The Japanese House’s latest album, In the End It Always Does, available on Dirty Hit.
Musicians
Amber Bain – vocals, piano, guitar
Cicely Cotton – vocals, saxophone, piano
Dominic Potts – vocals, bass
Kamran Khan – vocals, guitar
Credits
Guest – The Japanese House
Host – Mac Wilson
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video Director – Derek Ramirez
Camera Operators – Derek Ramirez, Eric Xu Romani
Audio – Evan Clark
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor
External Link
The Japanese House – official site