Who are Texas 3000? A rock band, avant-garde performers, or just three friends abusing their livers in bars across Japan? The answer is all three and so much more. 

Texas 3000 consists of leader and main vocalist Jojo, bassist Kirin, and drummer Sakiyama. The trio met partying in the depths of Tokyo’s underground club scene. Over heavy drinking and noisy DJs, they formed the band, naming themselves after a pachinko parlour Jojo saw from a passing train. With no plans and fewer expectations, they hit the ground running, playing their experimental alt-rock to any sweaty punter who’d listen. Their notoriety from DIY parties swelled to full-blown excitement, culminating in 2023’s ‘tx3k’ and follow-up EP, ‘Weird Dreams’. Recently, they completed their first-ever national tour, playing bigger rooms and larger crowds while still bringing the same energy they had in Shibuya’s dive bars.

Firstly, congratulations on the tour so far. How has it been so far travelling around Japan and playing shows? 

Thank you! Tour has been fun. It’s our first ever ‘one-man performance’ tour and our first three shows in Matsumoto, Nagoya and Tokyo sold out. Osaka and Kyoto were nicely packed and the kids had lots of energy. Every show has ended with going to the club, another event or just partying until 5:00AM. We’re wreaking unimaginable havoc on both our bodies and savings accounts, but nothing’s worth more than fun.

I believe that the seed of the band was sewn when Jojo and Saikyama met at a show in Tokyo. What do you remember about those days? At what point did you decide to form Texas 3000 as we know it?

We’ve pretty much never decided anything. We started in deep corona times. The only thing that’s changed is we party with a much bigger crew of folks from the underground music scene. Back then it was just go to the studio, drink with friends, go to work hungover, get in trouble, rinse and repeat. Now it’s play shows, drink with the other people at those shows, go to more shows, get in trouble at work (still), rinse and repeat. From the beginning, we’ve always put on our own events all around Japan. I think that’s an important part of our identity, maybe even more than the band. Texas 3000’s more than just music in Japan, it’s about not taking yourself too seriously, it’s about having fun.

One of the many things that makes Texas 3000 so special is that two thirds of the band weren’t born and raised in Japan, with Jojo coming from California and Kirin hailing from Tsingtao. Do you think that this point of difference has influenced the band’s sound in any way? 

Sort of. Our backgrounds are different, but we are more similarly weird than we are culturally different. We’re a product of the DIY scene here so it all felt pretty natural. We met at a weekly party called KATO MASSACRE, where more often than not the DJ’s play 5 tracks at once and there’s usually one likeminded indie international act. I’ve seen dudes light an organ on fire. I’ve seen my bandmates throw up in a camping chair in the middle of someone’s b2b. When we played our first show, no one really cared about where we were from because we had already been partying for a while.

In the past, you’ve talked about having a diverse array of musical loves, from Tool and Khruangbin to Elliot Smith and Jim O’Rourke. What is the process like of bringing all these different inspirations to the table when making your own music?

We don’t ever talk about music when we make music. Usually we just talk about food, haha. Last recording session we were traveling 2 hours just to get to the studio and staying in an un air conditioned apartment in Nagoya that hadn’t been cleaned in years. Trash was everywhere, we were taking care of someone’s cat, and weren’t sleeping at all. We all like different music and that all comes out when we play, but the major unifier is the things we are going through together and what we want to eat to get through it. But yeah, rarely do we ever talk about influences or even the other music we are listening to. The big exception being other local indie bands we’re playing with. Those are the bands we all like. 

What is the most midwestern emo thing about Texas 3000? 

None of us have ever been to the America’s Midwest or ever listened to emo. I listened to some math rock growing up. That’s about as close as it gets. The other 2 members probably not at all. But we are down with the label! I think in Japan, the emo label is slowly getting challenged. However, when we played in mainland China we were warmly welcomed with open arms as a Japanese Midwest Emo band. The world is a funny place. 

You guys hit the ground running in 2023 with the release of your debut album ‘tx3k’. Were you surprised at the overwhelming positive reception from fans and critics alike? 

Yeah, It was just like our first show at KATO MASSACRE. We came in expecting nothing, maybe at most to have some fun and be extremely hungover the next day. We were really surprised to see videos of the show all around Japanese Twitter the next day. With the album release too, I was super surprised to see how many people it reached out of Japan. Like I said about the emo label before, I don’t know much about the genre itself but it’s really cool to see people resonate with the music.

From the videos I’ve seen of the tour, many of your live tracks seem imbued with a different kind of energy. Do you prefer the studio or playing live? 

Sakiyama and Kirin like playing live. I like it… less. But our live act is totally different than the recordings. Different arrangements, keys, and tempos. We never do something the same twice. We want to play a show that you won’t see again.

It’s nearly a year since the release of the EP ‘Weird Dreams’. How do you think the band has grown in the last twelve months? 

Kirin was the last to join the band, (after the release of tx3k) and I dunno if I have the license to say this, but my perspective as the band leader is that we’ve really come to realise our own band’s sound. We are making music as the three of us for the first time. Learning to compromise, to be stubborn, to try new stuff. Our next release, hopefully out this year, will fully showcase what each member really wants to do with the band. Maybe not for every single song, but in moments for sure.

How would you describe Japanese indie music in 2026? 

The best bands are not in Tokyo. The coolest thing about touring Japan is hearing the best bands in other local areas. Lots of it is really engaging and pushing boundaries. Sapporo, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Okinawa, etc etc… Everywhere we go I’m surprised by an incredible band and artist.

What does the future look like for Texas 3000? 

A new full length record soon. We’ve pretty much exhausted all the creative juice from tx3k, so hopefully people resonate with us again, but it’ll certainly be a little more obtuse. We’ve had fun playing outside of Japan too. We would love to get to Australia soon 🫡 . I think people would dig our show, the energy is out of the roof.  

Thanks to Texas 3000 for taking the time to chat and providing all the images. To see what they have coming up, including a show with Australia’s own The Belair Lip Bombs, follow them @tx3ktx3k.