Tank full of Oil: Friction

Friction

One of the first Japanese punk bands, formed by Reck, Chiko Hige and Lapis in Tokyo in March 1978. Reck and Hige had previously been members of a group called 3/3.
- - -
Originally formed in 1971 as an avant-garde music group by bassist Reck, saxophonist Chico Hige, and drummer Sakuro Watanabe in Tokyo, Japan. They changed the band's name to 3/3 in the mid 70s, and Reck and Chico later moved to the United States, where they would form the band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with Lydia Lunch and James Chance, and later became the original founding members of James Chance and the Contortions before returning to Japan.

Renaming 3/3 to form Friction, they recruited guitarist Tsunematsu Masatoshi, who had studied art at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. They released a live album and single in 1979, and their first studio album, Atsureki (軋轢, meaning 'friction' in Japanese) in 1980, produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Tsunematsu left the band in December 1980 to become an artist, and from then on Friction has had numerous guest instrumentalists for lives and studio releases, all revolving around frontman Reck. The live video titled Dumb Numb was directed by Sogo Ishii. In 1999, Friction went on hiatus when Reck started producing for other musicians, but restarted in 2006.

Members

Reck (vocals, bass, guitar), Chiko Hige (drums, saxophone, 1978-87), Lapis (guitar, 1978-79, 1989-), Tsunematsu Masatoshi (guitar, 1979-80), Emiko Mogi (guitar), Sher-Z Haruna (percussion, trumpet), Sato Minoru (drums), Serigano (keyboards), Higo Hiroshi (guitar), John Zorn (saxophone), Imai Akinobu (guitar), Seigen Ono