The Interest Group

Philly's The Interest Group—a new project by BAnanas Symphony's Yohsuke Araki with Marissa Lesnick—are following up their debut 7″ single, “The Passenger” with a heftier release, a 5-track EP coming out today. The first single off the EP, a track called “Wire,” came out Valentine's Day in a strong show of what they'd been getting ready to unleash. The track starts with a protracted, ambient intro and leads into the main attraction, a pop song mixing The Bangles' catchiness with a deep appreciation for 60s psychedelic layering. - Impose Magazine

Philadelphia soft-focus rock project the Interest Group is the new group headed up by Yohsuke Araki, who also is a member of local bands Bananas Symphony and the recently disbanded Blackhawks. "The Boys and the Girls" is one of two songs on the Interest Group's Bandcamp page; head here to check out the other one, "The Passenger". - Pitchfork

The Interest Group is a project comprised of Philadelphia-based songwriter/production team Marissa Lesnick and Yohsuke Araki. Together, the duo create wistful pop that is self-consciously out of step with the times. The latest release from the band is "Vagabond Dreamer," the gorgeous b-side from the duo's new The Passenger 7". By mixing delicately plucked Spanish guitar and sepia-toned harmonies, the duo conjure a palpable feeling of timeless cool. (It's easy to envision the song's protagonists smoking cigarettes and wearing tastefully retro overcoats.)




"The thing about ‘Vagabond Dreamer' is that lyrically it was written through stream of consciousness, yet it's a story," says Araki, who wrote the track. (It was produced and sung by both members.) "I like to think that the two characters in the song were meant for each other, even though they might just be on their own paths for the rest of their lives."

Lesnick views the song in similarly wistful terms. "To me, ‘Vagabond Dreamer' is about falling in and out of love and seeing life through others' eyes," she says. Both band members focus on the track's autumnal imagery, with Araki saying that the song "[feels] universal... [to] anywhere that experiences a typical autumn." Lesnick points to the lines "And I can see you're strange / Right through those autumn leaves that I've learned to love / That I've learned to see," as a favorite part of the track for her. "We can all end up in similar situations with different individuals," she says. "Life moves in pattern."


THE PASSENGER 7" IS AVAILABLE NOW VIA STRATOSFEAR AND DIGITALLY VIA ITUNES. FOR MORE ON THE BAND, VISIT THEIR FACEBOOK. - Interview Magazine

The Interest Group is a project from Marissa Lesnick and Yohsuke Araki, and below, we're premiering "The Passenger," the A-side from their recent Stratosfear Recordings 7". The heartwrentching song is a melodic swirl of 60's pop with modern day soundscapes, lyrically focusing on the struggles of youth. Recalling a quiet shoegaze nostalgia, the track still feels very much of the moment, as if the Dum Dum Girls played a game of catch with Mazzy Star. - Noisey

Remember the ultra-dizzying, frantic sonic acid trips of Philadelphia’s BAnanas Symphony aka Blackhawks member Yohsuke Araki? Well, forget about them for now. He’s not the hyperactive kid from school anymore but that über-hip guy dressed in a black suit with shades who’s standing in the dark corner of your favorite secret location du jour, effortlessly dropping infinitely elegant jams for the sophisticated if absent-minded downtown crowd while you’re apathetically sitting at the bar, zipping a perfect Moscow Mule. Don’t believe me? Then listen to “The Passenger”, the first of The Interest Group, a new venture launched by Yohsuke and his friend Marissa sometime last winter. Judging from this particular three and a half minute gem, to call it “promising” would be an understatement. - No Fear of Pop