Z-Punks

Published August 28th, 2024 at 12:00 am

The Launchpad is cleared for a special landing Aug. 30. Some very high-energy life forms will be hitting the stage with their out-of-this-world brand of poppy, “Japanese-action-comic-entertainment-punk-rock,” but the musical performance by Peelander-Z may be eclipsed by their cosmically amusing costumes and stage show. Peelander-Z frontman Kengo Hioki — known on his home planet as Peelander Yellow — doesn’t break character when he divulges the details of his travels through the universe, a bizarre tale about the band’s trek from Japan to New York City before crash landing in Austin. It’s a story filled with pro-wrestlers, Power Rangers, and tacos. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

The Paper.: We’re excited to have you here in Albuquerque. I’ve seen you there a few times.

Peelander Yellow: Yes. And that is August at the Launchpad.

Is Peelander-Z a punk band?

Punk rock is like a lifestyle. I try to do my best to make something happy. Try to make something good, something nice. That is punk rock. So I have to go my way, that is punk rock. So don’t worry, it doesn’t matter the sound, it doesn’t matter the music, try to do you. That’s why we can say we’re a Japanese-action-comic-entertainment-punk-rock band.

Yeah, we are a punk rock band, but people say, “Oh that is not punk rock because the sound is not punk.”  It doesn’t matter, we can explain ourselves: We are Power Rangers meets Ramones. Sound like punk rock?

I’ve been communicating with you as “Peelander Yellow.” Your name is Kengo Hioki, right?

My name on this planet is Kengo Hioki. My other name on planet Peelander is “Peelander Yellow.”

Where is Peelander-Z from?

That is a good question. So if you think about the Peelander planet, it’s on your brain. If you’re never thinking about the Peelander planet, there is no planet. But if you start thinking about the Peelander Planet, it starts to be on your brain. Planet Peelander is the name, and Z is the area.

Where did you get your sense of style — the things you wear on stage?

Before we started Peelander-Z a long, long time ago, I think 1990 — this year is our 26 year anniversary — before we were “Yellow,” “Red” and “Blue,” we would wear a suit and tie and play regular songs, but nobody came. So we decided, “Okay, we want to have wrestling, we’ll have cosplay, we’ll be action heroes, we’ll have old-school wrestling, we’ll have animation, we’ll have comic-Japanese blah, blah, blah, and then we’ll mix it on the stage.

What are some of the wildest things you’ve done on stage?

Our action is like mad-tiger-dancing. Limbo dance, jump rope, human bowling. I don’t play guitar, I don’t play music, that’s why I wanna do some crazy action with the audience.

Have you ever gotten into trouble for something you have done on stage?

Yes. Some venues — like a country venue — somehow we played over there, I don’t know how. They had played country there from the beginning. They said, “It’s too much, too big, too crazy.” So finally we did the limbo dance together and everybody loved it. That’s why we chose the limbo dance.

How important is crowd interaction to your performance?

The crowd and audience is 99% and then Peelander-Z is just 1%. It’s all for the audience, all for the people, we really want to make them happy. That is our project on this planet.

What is the song So Many Mike about?

A long, long, long time ago we played in Texas. I met a band with four or five members and three members were named Mike. I said, “So many Mikes.” They said, “Too many Mikes.” I didn’t want to say too many, I just wanted to say so many, so that’s why I made the song.

Where did you first start playing music? Besides planet Peelander?

We were on planet Peelander and then we moved to Japan, then we moved to New York, and then moved to Austin because of their tacos.

How is playing for crowds in the U.S. different from playing for crowds in Japan?

I played with my solo project in Japan last month. I spent one month over there and then came back here, and the people drank beer all night. It makes it easy for people to dance with us. Of course, Japanese people have beer and they dance with us, but they are a little bit shy. Here in the USA, it’s easy to make people dance, easy to make them happy. That’s why I live here: for beer.

Do you prefer playing in big venues or in the smaller club?

This tour, we’re going to play with Mac Sabbath and The Dickies and we play the big places, but usually we play small places. 200-300 capacity. I like dive bars, I like small venues because people are dancing, jumping and screaming, but sometimes I try to do big places. So everybody bring your family, your pet and your alien friend.

What are some of your favorite acts that might have influenced you either musically or as a performer? Do you get inspiration from any other performers?

I like the eighties, old-school U.S. wrestling and Ghostbusters. Maybe in the future I will make a Peelander-Z version of Ghostbusters.