This is your first time touring Japan. How was the audience?

 Jeffrey) Great! I heard they were kind of quiet but they were as wild as the audience in LA. I was surprised there were so many girls.
Steven) Girls everywhere! It was like watching the Beatles movies.

You had a different set list every day and played many cover songs...

 Jeffrey) Yes! We got a lot of requests from our fans.

Jellyfish played a Pink Lady song in Japan so I was expecting you would play a Finger 5 song. You like them, don't you?

 Steven) Oh, we should have done that. But we played a Shonen Knife song in Osaka.
Jeffrey) And I forgot the lyrics in the middle of it.
Steven) We hope to record some Japanese songs some day.

[Pink Lady were a girl pop duo. When Jellyfish toured Japan, they were guests on a comedy program on TV and played one song with 2 members of A Japanese band called Unicorn. Finger 5 were a group; the members were all brothers and sisters. The youngest one was 10 or something. Both of them were popular in the '70s.]

You look good with your Sumo t-shirt on. Any favorite sumo wrestlers?

 Steven) Sure! I like Akebono and Mitoizumi... somebody said I looked like Takanohana. What do you think?

Oh, yes, maybe... how about Jeffrey?

 Jeffrey) I also like Akebono, and Wakanohana. I'm always on the older brother's side.

[Wakanohana and Takanohana are brothers. Wakanohana is the older.]

You played for the Carpenters' tribute album, right?

 Jeffrey) Yes! There have been a lot of tribute albums recently. I knew most of them weren't that good so I didn't want to do that, but it was the Carpenters and we just did. I am very happy we did that. We could meet Richard Carpenter, too!
Steven) We were influenced a lot by the Carpenters. Just as much as from the Beatles.
Jeffrey) That album will never be a joke. Every band respects them.

Alternative bands played for that album and some people say that Karen Carpenter and Kurt Cobain are much alike...

 Steven) I kind of agree. It's something like the Ramones and the Shangrilas are much more alike than most people think. They worked in different fields but that doesn't mean that are totally different. So, that album has very deep meaning, it was made by alternative bands, not by Mariah Carey or Michael Bolton.
Jeffrey) Karen's songs had something dark, full of sadness... that's something similar to Kurt, I think. Both of them are real singers with real soul.

The Ramones sound has some influence from the Shangrilas and girl-pop music, for sure. And you say you like both the Ramones and The Shangrilas. Sounds like that's how Redd Kross are...

Steven) Yes! If you play Shangrilas very loud and fast you can hear the Ramones.
Jeffrey) I believe a good 3 minute pop song is the perfect art. Some people say pop is disposable and meaningless but I never think so. I know the songs of the Shangrilas were written by commercial writers but that's no reason to deny the songs are wonderful.

Redd Kross in the early days were more punk. What is punk for you?

Jeffrey) When we started the band in '76-'77, the LA music scene had every kind of music - 60's sound to glitter sound, so it was easy for a new band to get into the scene. Of course I loved the Ramones, Patti Smith etc. but in the '80s I just couldn't get into the LA hardcore punk which had some messages for society, and I walked away from the punk movement.
Steven) I would say the hit chart these days is better. At that time I never wanted to buy anything on the chart.
Jeffrey) A lot of Mariah Carey's and Jason Donovan's! But now I see many different kinds of music on the chart. We have hip hop and many bands that were supposed to be underground, too. It's very exciting to see someone like Beck just breaking through.
Steven) The '60s might be back - the time we had the Byrds and Supremes together one the chart.

You two are always together... for about 30 years. Don't you ever get tired of each other like the Davies brothers of the Kinks or the Gallaghers of Oasis?

Steven) Sometimes. A long time ago we had some fights on stages, hit each other..
Jeffrey) ...And we grew up and are trying not to do that lately.