Do you have a story behind your artist name?
Back in high school, Matt Reilly, a founding member of the band with Mike Glita and Lester Munoz – none of the original members actually survived Y2K lol – was admiring a classmate’s natural assets, so to speak, when she caught him gawking. To avoid the consequences of the “My eyes are up here” conversation, as Matt tells it, he quickly diverted his gaze to her US History textbook turned to the page on Japan’s involvement in “dubya dubya two” and found the section on Iva Ikuko Toguri aka Iva Toguri D’Aquino aka Orphan Ann aka Orphan Annie aka Tokyo Rose and thought it was a great name for a band. Little did he know there was already an 80s hair metal band from the UK, hence the Tokyo Rose (NJ) on all our releases and our socials.
Tells us a bit about your music journey. How has it shaped you?
For me – much like how for AFC Richmond’s Dani Rojas, “Football is life.” – music is life. Starting piano at 5, woodwinds at 10, guitar at 13, and writing music soon thereafter, music marks every significant chapter of my life.
From playing a Star Wars-inspired ska-punk song in Day 19 to working in my local movie theatre to get see free screenings of Episode IV’s 20th anniversary and save up to go to Warped in Asbury, to eventually playing Warped and being on the compilation CD 10 years later, and being mentioned in the same conversation with past and current Warped bands and artists, music has been the red thread in all variants of my timeline.
How would you describe your sound to someone unfamiliar with it?
FFO Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, and Bon Jovi
What drew you to the genre /instruments you’re playing right now?
Growing up listening to the Beatles and Michael Jackson’s music, discovering Nirvana, Green Day, and Weezer in middle school, and Saves the Day, the Get Up Kids, and Jimmy Eat World in high school definitely ingrained in me strong musical preferences and predilections.
What inspires you to write music?
Life in general – both the MxPx album and existence.
Would you tell us about your current project, album/EP, or song you’re promoting?
Sonically, Never Say Die EP is kind of an evolution of our sound, not departing completely from our pop-punk and emo roots, but definitely incorporating modern recording techniques and some songwriting influences that we may have picked up in the almost 20 years since we recorded the “Promise” record. It’s like if we were Marty McFly & Doc Brown and took the DeLorean to 2026 instead of 2015 and decided to start the Pinheads back up.
What do you want listeners to take away from listening to your music?
If Morpheus unplugged Neo from the Matrix and instead plugged him into my Walkman in 1999, it’d sound like our new EP. Equal parts MTV nostalgia, rhythmic futurism, and Jersey jughandle jurisprudence, Never Say Die is the result of old friends reconnecting over the white hot embers of a fire that never went out.
Who are your top three artists right now?
- toe (Japan)
- Sweet Pill
- Sonoa
If that’s not a fair question, what’s your favorite song right now?
Anything off Paul Meany’s solo record
What’s the easiest way for fans to connect with you?
Our socials: @tokyorosenj
Be on the lookout for our MySpace profile and add us to your Top 8
What’s next for you?
Tour with Punchline this fall and new music in the pipeline for mid-2027! You heard it here first!
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
This all has been so rad to come back to Tokyo Rose after all this time! Thanks to all the fans, new and old, and all the media folks who found us out here again!
And specifically to Kevin Lyman and Matt Cutshall, we’d love to play Warped again and on your boat because, just like emo’s not dead, guys like Tokyo Rose never say die!
Connect with Tokyo Rose:
Spotify
Apple Music
Instagram
Manic Kat Records
Bio:
An emo-influenced pop-punk band from New Jersey, Tokyo Rose was formed in 2001, while singer and guitarist Ryan Dominguez and bassist Chris Poulsen were both students at Rutgers University. Though both were playing with other bands, the two shared similar musical interests and decided to launch a band of their own. Tokyo Rose played local shows when the members’ busy schedules permitted and they booked tours to coincide with vacations and between-term breaks. Tokyo Rose also recorded a self-released EP, Chasing Fireflies, which became the band’s calling card after Dominguez and Poulsen graduated and made the band a full-time priority.
Following a number of personnel changes, the band had a solid lineup with the addition of Greg Doran on guitar and Jon Smith on drums, and in 2003, during a tour of California, the band signed a deal with the independent label Sidecho Records, who released the group’s first full-length album, Reinventing a Lost Art, in July 2003. Extensive touring followed, including playing the 2003 CMJ Festival, the 2004 South by Southwest Music Conference, and the 2004 Warped Tour.
In 2005, after returning home from a tour of Japan, Tokyo Rose began work on their second album, New American Saint, which was released in October 2005 and featured a new lineup, with Josh Lurie taking over for Doran on guitar and Tom Roslak replacing Smith as drummer. Lots more touring followed, both in America and abroad, and by the time Tokyo Rose began work on their third album, Lurie and Roslak were out of the band, with Tokyo Rose reshaping themselves as a trio and Jake Margolis on board as their new drummer. The third album, Promise in Compromise, was released by Sidecho in July 2007.
