INDEX
Finding Reassurance in OGRE YOU ASSHOLE’s Live Shows
In December 2025, you invited OGRE YOU ASSHOLE to your own curated show.
Kaneko: Yes, that is right. It was incredible.
Deto: You were amazing too.
It came together pretty suddenly, right?
Kaneko: Yeah, it did. I just really wanted to see them, so I reached out
Deto: Thank you.
Kaneko: I would love to keep doing shows together, maybe once a year or so.
Deto: Sounds good, let’s do it.
Manabu Deto guitar, vocal
Kei Mabuchi guitar
Takashi Katsuura drums
Takashi Shimizu bass
OGRE YOU ASSHOLE are one of Japan’s most compelling live bands, known for their mellow psychedelia and a sound that has inspired a wide following. Emerging with guitar textures in sync with 2000s US indie, they went on to establish their reputation through a conceptual trilogy produced by Yo Ishihara, incorporating elements of psychedelic rock and krautrock across Homely, 100 Nen Go, and Papercraft.
With their first self produced album Before Letting Go of the Handle, the band further expanded their distinct sonic language, earning strong critical acclaim.
In 2010, they were invited on a North American tour, performing across 18 cities in the US and Canada. They appeared on the White Stage at Fuji Rock Festival in 2014, and held a solo show at Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall in 2018.
They released the album Atarashii Hito in September 2019, followed by Asa alternate version / Akuma no Numa remix and workshop3 in 2020. In 2022, they performed on the Red Marquee stage at Fuji Rock Festival, and in 2023 released the four track EP Ie no Soto e.p..
What stood out to you in particular?
Deto: They have songs with a strong sense of emotion, and others that feel almost narrative driven, and of course the performances often reinforce that mood or storyline. But then there are moments that do not follow that direction. Moments where the vocals or the playing shift into something that feels slightly out of line with the song’s intended mood.
It is in those moments, that sense of misalignment, that things suddenly feel very raw and immediate. That is what makes them such a compelling band to me.
From your perspective, is that something intentional, or does it happen naturally?
Kaneko: I am not totally sure. The people I play with tend to be quite intense in how they perform, so when we all lock into that energy together, that might be part of it. Maybe that is something we share.
But in a way, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE always has this kind of cool, almost mechanical feel, and then as the repetition builds, you suddenly catch glimpses of something very human within it. I think those moments are incredibly powerful.
That kind of intensity can actually get harder to express as you get older, but those flashes are exactly what make a band so moving. I feel like I have always been drawn to music because of that. Even when I start thinking, maybe it is not so easy anymore, I watch an OGRE YOU ASSHOLE show and there are these moments where everything just hits, and I think, this is it, this is exactly what it should be. I feel genuinely grateful in those moments.
