Visual novels are games that depict a series of narratives through illustrations of characters and text. It adopts an animanga art style, and the interactivity of these games can be at the viewers’ choice, meaning you get to choose what you want the character to do. However, there are visual novels (kinetic novels) that can be read like actual books, such as Umineko, Higurashi and Muv-Luv Alternative, and involve very little choice, if any at all.
Muv-Luv Alternative
Visual novels were quite popular from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s in Japan but have fallen out of style in favour of other mediums like anime, manga, and other video games. It was always considered a niche in the West, but it’s gaining a bit of steam online—at least discourse-wise.
This leads us to the question, what do we think of visual novels, truly?
Umineko
The perception of visual novels by the layperson is general confusion, people considering them boring, and/or viewing visual novels as mostly pornographic material for “weird” otakus, and while there are a lot of visual novels that do carry quite a bit of adult content (eroges), many fans of the medium argue that the narratives and storylines in anime and manga, even in a light novel, do not go as deep as those in a visual novel—thus justifying the appeal.
Saya no Uta
I agree with them, it is very elaborate; most visual novels can be anywhere from five to 10+ hours, with some of the classics reaching around 50-100 hours long. These visual novels are left with compact detail and integrity, meaning there is little to no filler for the intended target audience, ideally. Of course, this is something that is beneficial towards visual novel fans; if it falls into the wrong hands, these people will consider it boring and a waste of time. To clarify, not everyone is willing. However, none of us were raised as fans of visual novels. We simply gave it a chance because we were open enough.
Summer Pockets
In fact, this all depends on a person’s tastes. There are probably tons of visual novels that feature nothing but formulaic character tropes with banal character development and solely focus on lewd depictions of female characters. This is wherevndb.org comes in handy; it filters a tag system for people who want to find a visual novel just right for them and avoid the poor writing. Visual novels on this site are ranked, and it’s usually skewed to stuff with better storytelling.
Visual Novel Database / vndb
Now, why do creators make visual novels? For one, creators may be inspired by another visual novel itself. After all, the most popular Western instance of a visual novel, Doki Doki Literature Club, was influenced by Higurashi.
Doki Doki Literature Club
More importantly, I believe people create visual novels because visual novels are a great form of artistic expression. Sure, one might point out how it typically has a low-budget nature compared to other games and anime, but I argue that this allows for more risqué and daring choices by creators, ones that would be vetoed by a typical video game, manga, or anime company. This allows for more artistic freedom and lack of restriction.
Yes, this is a double-edged sword, evidenced by the infamous Euphoria, and less known titles that I won’t mention here. However, it tends to work. A Western visual novel, Katawa Shoujo, in its early development, was shared on 4chan, and it’s centered around a young man and five other young women living with varying disabilities—talk about daring, eh?
Katawa Shoujo
Visual novels are a black sheep in the art of both visual media and literature; they exist in the intersection of both and yet are extremely niche in both departments. Why is this? In my field of view, we in fact overestimate how relevant (not culturally important or influential, mind you) visual novels actually are. People in otaku circles online, like TikTok, Twitter, Discord, and Instagram, tend to talk about titles like Saya no Uta, Chaos;Head, Class of ’09, and YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story, creating the illusion that visual novels are more relevant than they actually are. In all honesty, most of us, especially if we are young, are merely interacting with the surface here.
I wonder if I’m projecting when I say people that interact within this sphere are suffering from some sort of FOMO.
Class of ’09YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story
To answer my earlier rhetorical question, visual novels take a huge chunk of your time to read; users online may talk about them, but they aren’t interacting with them. I promise I’m not trying to make this a “poseur” or “tourist” rant post. This criticism includes me; I have not played a lot of what the visual novel community considers good to great (I promise, I will play The House in Fata Morgana and Ever17 some day, heh), and yet I participate, anyway (with mindful consideration, of course).
The House in Fata MorganaEver17
I insist, I understand because initially I didn’t want to play visual novels either, I had my preconceived biases as well. I would rather prefer a manga, an anime, or even an actual book as it combines all three, as well as music when I’d rather just have one. Now, this begs the question. Why do we read visual novels?
I like visual novels, but don’t get me wrong. It’s completely understandable if someone discards it completely without giving it a try, and likewise for visual novel fans, anyone who solely reads visual novels and discards other mediums is doing themselves a disservice.
Sayonara o OshieteShizuku
I mean, the majority of them are untranslated, anyway!
Let me clarify, my enjoyment for this medium is recognizing that I like visual novels because they are suited for me. I love its compact design and its contingence with otaku culture. As a result, I will argue against visual novels being an inferior medium. It’s a hasty, dismissive generalization, and the tweet above is a false analogy that works on misinformation. Manga and anime that is depicted from a visual novel, is far more condensed and dare I say, reductive.
Also, comparing visual novels to traditional books, knowing they pace and develop characters, is erroneous. The visual aspect of visual novels is lost on someone who criticizes from this angle—visual novels tend to visualize characters, scenery, objects while books spend time trying to illustrate this in words. As a result, visual novels like The Fruit of Grisaia and CROSS†CHANNEL, two stories known for its psychological depth will spend its time developing the meticulous character narratives, and let the visuals, well, be visualized.
The Fruit of GrisaiaCROSS†CHANNEL
Take an example like School Days, which only depicts one of the bad endings in anime. It is considered a 5.51 on MyAnimeList, which is incredibly low, while it’s a 6.58 on VNDB.
Higurashi is condensed from a nearly 100-hour-long visual novel to roughly 20+ episodes as an anime, completely cutting storylines and arcs that were in the visual novel.
It’s a shame that Higurashi’s sound novel aspect, which emphasizes atmosphere through music, sound effects, and silence rather than focusing solely on a text box, cannot be replicated in anime. Consequently, they make do, but of course, it’s a far cry from the original iteration.
School DaysHigurashi
Of course, there are near-true adaptations like the Fate series, depicting a good set of variations that happen in the visual novels; however, this takes a copious amount of time and effort to achieve, which is why it’s not done more often. Steins;Gate is another example of a well-received anime based on a visual novel—it is one of the few 9+ rated series on MAL.
Fate/stay nightSteins;Gate
Key have also released several anime that are considered a 7+ on MAL, which are Kanon, Little Busters, Clannad, and Air. In any case, these are exceptions—not the rule. Visual novels can only be considered inferior in your opinion if you believe anime, manga, video games or even a book itself, holds more merit inherently; even then, the argument doesn’t hold.
Clannad
Outside of Umineko, my favourite visual novel is KeroQ’s Wonderful Everyday (Subarashiki Hibi), a melancholic psychological story with a multifaceted cast. What initially intrigued me was the story’s exploration and depiction of the human psyche. The delicate mind and the fragility of our connections, paired with abrupt contradictions in both tranquil ‘yuri’ and slice-of-life moments, to utter despair and hopelessness—it left me speechless, and I’m not just saying that. Each chapter opens with a different perspective and tone that is gradually set in, woven with a narrative that forces the reader to confront the deeper corners of consciousness. It is 40-50 hours long and took up a significant portion of my time in 2024, but I did not regret it. Not one bit.
Wonderful Everyday
For the record, I still believe that visual novels will remain a niche medium. The lack of gameplay is a dealbreaker for most people who enjoy video games, and the amount of text is a dealbreaker for most anime and manga fans.
I recently finished 13 Sentinels, an ADV/graphic adventure that is influenced by visual novels but features actual mecha gameplay. It’s a lot of fun, and I like how they illustrated each aspect separately. On that note, there’s a reason why Ace Attorney, Muramasa, and Danganronpa are so popular: they’re ADVs, or something tentatively similar, the Persona series, rather than traditional visual novels.
13 Sentinels
It’s also worth noting that eroge isn’t particularly popular in Japan. Most anime adapted from eroge drop the overt sexual elements in order to achieve greater commercial success. I believe that visual novels’ underground status stems from a confluence of these factors.
In all honesty, I do not want visual novels to become mainstream. Not in the sense of gatekeeping; it makes no sense to devote time and energy to advertising outside of the otaku subculture, given how inextricably linked visual novels are. It is by design.
Summer of 2025 was one of my favourite seasons of watching anime in recent history. This spring and summer has been stacked, and I’m here to highlight some notable shows. I hope you enjoy my rundown.
The Summer Hikaru
The Summer Hikaru died is an interesting horror story. The style and narrative style it goes for is a psychological horror. The anime is about the life of a boy named Yoshiki and his best friend who is replaced by something. Hikaru is still somewhat present, at least in his cocoon, he tries to emulate how Hikaru used to act, but he’s cognitively very different, and in this anime we find out. The animation is very good, and the characters are balanced well in the story. It’s definitely a chilling story that I recommend.
CITY The Animation
CITY the Animation is joy epitomized, packaged in a 13-episode anime. The show is centered around Nagumo, Niikura and Izumi, who balance and parallel each other quite well. The gorgeous animation is done by Kyoto Animation, who were famous for previously adapting Nichijou. It’s a funny, charismatic and great show to watch during the summer. Its vibrant art direction really emphasizes the unity between the background and character art. Its whimsical nature is infectious and is guaranteed to make you laugh.
Once in a blue moon you'd be remiss not to miss out on CITY THE ANIMATION. It's a work of love that defies production norms, exemplified by KyoAni's stellar track record of amenable scheduling and consistent workflow, all to provide an experience that sparks the imagination. pic.twitter.com/deT6jJSYl8
The girls are back! It’s raunchier and edgier than ever, and the animation and art, courtesy of Trigger, are amazing. People were quite worried it would be toned down, but it isn’t, and thankfully they didn’t double down or tone it down without reason. I watched the sub, and I’ve heard the dub feels off due to new actors, but I’ll go in with saying I am not basing what I’m saying on the dub. However, people are defending it:
the panty & stocking dub is apparently “viziepop” now y’all really just switch up on anything pic.twitter.com/9WYFnvC9N1
— Daily Panty and Stocking (@scantykn33socks) July 21, 2025
Personally, it is a great watch, but it is very off-putting, vulgar, and edgy, so I’m not sure if I would recommend it to everyone, but if you like more Adult Swim stuff, I definitely recommend it. I loved the skits and film references, but at points the dialogue and ideas stagnated, but overall it is a great watch. What I disliked a bit was the lack of Stocking in the show; it felt like she took more of a backseat for other new characters to shine, like the Demon Girls, but I digress. I really do like the new male additions, Polyester and Polyurethane, and how they did seem like a reasonable parallel to Panty and Stocking. Also, my new favourite character is Gunsmith Bitch. Anyway, the absurdist, slapstick action is very fun and carries over to the new season, but it is far more ramped up and even more wild.
One thing I think is really fun about panty & stocking season 2 is all the movie references pic.twitter.com/Oq6kSC4URb
Sakamoto Days Part 2 starts off where it left off, with jam packed action that’s in your face. If you enjoyed the first part, the second part will definitely blow you away. The shift from a satire-comedy to a more action-based comedy with actual stakes at hand, as we quickly realise that Sakamoto has trouble this season will keep your eyes peeled. The core still remains the same, a former hitman trying to lead a normal family life, but getting pulled back to his former organisation by his friends, and his foes, paired with new characters and familiar faces which will draw you in. I really enjoyed this anime, but the animation had a lot to be desired, in my opinion. I wish another studio had adapted it, but the rough comic style is satisfactory for certain fights.
Dandadan 2nd Season
Another summer series where it continued into summer of this year. I absolutely loved this season of Dandadan. It gets more mysterious, tapping into the supernatural even further. Old curses, UFOs, kaijus, and more–with the old cast getting more wild with new villains like Evil Eye being an absolute menace to deal with. Okarun is dedicated to getting stronger and the cast helps him. Kinta was also introduced, and I feel like contrary to what people have said about him, I do like his addition. He’s a total self-centered geek, but I love how he balances within the cast. There was also weird misinformation about the character development of Momo and Okarun, but thankfully fans have cleared that up.
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity is a tranquil romance story. Starting with your standard Romeo & Juliet fare, with the protagonists Rinatrou and Kaoruko, who is evidently shorter, both at Chidori High School and Kikyo High School, respectively. The schools are shown to contrast with each other. Rintaoru, with his stifling height, often scares away others, but he is rather gentle. Kaoruko recognizes this, and she treats him gently with no preconceived biases, and he appreciates that. This show has a decent shoujo vibe and reminds me of His and Her Circumstances, but it feels a bit more melancholic than that. The animation is very good; I was attracted by the bright colours used and expressions on characters’ faces vividly showing what they’re feeling—as well as the voice actors doing a fantastic job. I definitely recommend this anime if you are in a comfy but longing mood.
Takopi
What begins as a typical comedy/shoujo cliche, Shizuka meeting a magical octopus-like creature, quickly becomes horrifying. Takopi is the story of an abused elementary school child with neglectful parents. Takopi does his absolute best to alleviate Shizuka’s suffering with his naive worldview, granting her a specific wish every day or so, to little avail. Marina, her counterpoint, blames Shizuka for all of her problems, making her life a living hell. But then, we learn that Marina’s life is filled with melancholy as well.
This is one of my favourite anime of the season because it depicts very real events that occur in real life. Abuse, neglect, and seclusion. A psychological drama along the lines of Pun Pun. If you enjoy darker media, I highly recommend this show.
Important Hair is Connor Kurtz, who uses an array of electronics, synthesizers, turntables, and most recently, the organ. They mainly create noise music and promote concerts in Kitchener and Waterloo as Senseless Sensibilities. Important Hair has been active since 2016, turning 10 very soon, with over 20 records released digitally and physically. The music they create is vocal-focused, improvised, and loud. They insist that the subject matter of the music is typically personal but relish in the fact that personal references will often be lost on the listener and instead filled with assumptions and projected feelings.
I connected with Connor through our shared interest in experimental music, having properly met them in 2024 online and keeping lightly in touch since then in their very own experimental music community. I have purchased and listened to several Important Hair albums, and what strikes me first about Connor’s work is the sheer intensity and personal individuality layered with every track. Feedback electronics, analogue synthesizers, and turntables defy conventional structure, while melody and rhythm are discarded or subverted.
What makes Important Hair interesting to me is not just the control over instruments but the emotional impact you can feel through the vocals. Connor dubbed their music as “distorted screamo” to me. With each track that passes, it feels like it was meant to envelop the listener in sonic meditation despite being so loud. Important Hair blends analogue instruments with manipulated vocals and samples—it feels humanized. The humanized sine tones are best described as high-pitched overtones that emerge from a plethora of writhing noise. To me, their body of work challenges the listener to ponder what music can reach and transforms noise into a profoundly personal experience.
Noise is interesting, it gives us an idea of something that seemingly appears incoherent to the layperson, but it is a pure expression of raw emotion. Connor talks about that with us today.
CONNOR: I suppose you want to know about music? In truth I’m back to school this semester, so that’s been taking much of my time. I’ve done some fun stuff lately too though. Last night I had some friends over and played some music for them on a cello I rented from the library, I don’t know how to play the cello, to be clear. Monday there was a “promoter roundtable” event for promoters in my area that I attended, that was fairly interesting and alienating as well. Otherwise I just announced a Hallowe’en show I’m putting on.
ASH: Mmm, I see, and the prep doesn’t have to be limited to music 🙂 That’s nice though. Can you give more details about the Halloween show?
CONNOR: Sure I can, this is a bit of a silly one for us. So I’ve been putting on concerts for about 1.5 years now, and have been able to cultivate a small audience. Nothing huge, but enough to secure that there will at least be some audience if I put on a show, which I’m very thankful for. Anyway, I work with a lot of amateur local acts who are very new to noise, and am happy to give them a platform, but I try to book at least one serious out-of-town act per show to demonstrate to the audience that this kind of music (noise, improv, etc.) is something worth taking seriously. This one’s just local acts, I’m the only act on the bill who’s even played more than once before. It’ll be fun though, it’s a free outdoor event. Since I’m promoting it as a Hallowe’en thing it’s fine to be a little silly and amateurish, bar’s not that high. I tried to do a lineup of people who want to do something vaguely spooky or Hallowe’eny, we’ll see how it goes. Spot’s in a lookout tower in a big park nearby; it’s real beautiful this time of year especially as the sun goes down.
ASH: Honestly, I’d love to go; hopefully, you can provide me with more information if it’s not too far from where I am and I’m available that day.
CONNOR: Oh if you’d like to I can give you all that info later 🙂 I do come play in Toronto fairly often though. It’s Hallowe’en night in Waterloo but the location is currently private, we don’t exactly have permission for these outdoor gigs so it’s a little hush-hush.
ASH: Mmm, I see. I need more noise/experimental buds. ^_^
CONNOR: I can point you towards some promoters who put on great events in that field within Toronto, if you’d like.
Lily Platt, Sept. 2025
ASH: That’d be lovely. I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer.
CONNOR: Ministry of Phonic Services — there’s a little bias here because this is an organization co-run by my brother and a good friend of mine, but I do genuinely think they’re the most exciting experimental music promoter in Ontario right now. Doing great stuff very regularly at this point. More Noise Please — this is run by the beloved SuperJen, probably the most supportive person in the whole Ontario noise scene. It’s all noise-focused as the name suggests, but she curates it well, has good audience turnouts, it never feels like a lame boys club or whatever. She has a radio show by the same name too.
ASH: I think I am familiar with your brother… Owen, right?
CONNOR: Correct. And the other co-runner is Colin Cudmore, a good friend as I said. I kind of think that post-COVID in Toronto we’ve been witnessing the big experimental institutions (Music Gallery, Array) become quite boring, and people are becoming less interested. Music Gallery are currently running their X Avant festival. Toronto’s biggest experimental music festival, and I’d suggest that MPS’s recent Back to School festival was much more ambitious and experimental, with stronger lineups and locations, and all done with no funding whatsoever. But again, I have some bias.
ASH: I have seen them in the EML server, I’ll be sure to check it out. As for More Noise Please, I’ll also note that. Good to see some clearer context from someone within the scene. I honestly wanted to become more in touch with the scene and what goes on, but I didn’t know where to begin.
CONNOR: Begin just by going to a show! Find a lineup that seems fun, or just go to one at random. You’ll probably find the people at these shows are incredibly kind and welcoming. The scene’s quite big these days, there’s so many players in Toronto and a really wide range of musical practices too. I kind of prefer the relaxed culture of my city where it’s just a few of us freaks, but I can be antisocial like that. I’ve enjoyed lots of Music Gallery shows in the past by the way, it was a big part of my upbringing within experimental music.
ASH: Just gave it a follow. I follow quite a few punk and indie pages on Instagram but weirdly enough haven’t given this one a follow until today.
CONNOR: They’re putting on Sisso and Maiko at one of their shows soon, really fantastic dance music producers from Tanzania. I’m sure that will be fantastic and I hope to make it out to it. But I do think it’s a little embarrassing for the only exciting names of an avant-garde festival to be international EDM musicians.
ASH: I saw Slauson Malone in 2023, and he performed with a jazz musician whose name I forgot, but it was more performance art-focused, which drew me in and made me want to see more of that.
CONNOR: Heh, quite sure my brother was at that show.
ASH: Slauson got in my face and yelled which was great.
And oh, like the Singeli act? They are pretty awesome, lol. The Sisso album I heard was nearly an hour, and it was just a chaotic, percussive, pulsating sound that stuck in my head for the entire week. I thought about them and another Singeli act (Duke) for a month. I believe I discovered the former act through Nyege Nyege, which is a great label and an avid interest of mine.
CONNOR: Correct! Yes, it’s really exciting music. Nyege Nyege does really wonderful stuff. That annual music festival they put on in Uganda seems like the most fun thing anywhere. They even bundle it with a tourism pack so that people flying in for it can see the festival and then spend some days experiencing Uganda, it’s a nice idea.
ASH: That’s really swell. What music are you messing with this year? And can you tell me about your interest in Coil?
CONNOR: Sure, let’s start with Coil. I only brought them up because I saw you were bumping them. But they’ve been my favourite band in the world since I discovered them at 19. I’m not sure how much time we really want to take talking about a band that broke up when I was 10 years old, but they’ve always been massively inspiring for me. I was even playing Love’s Secret Domain for my friends last night. The way they made their music, the band’s inner politics, all the themes and concepts, how the music sounded, the tragic legacy, all of it is so inspiring and wonderful in my eyes. In 2025 I’ve had two big music interests. The first being classical music, more specifically church music with choir. That started when I got into Mozart’s Requiem — a famous one, but I never really heard that stuff before. It’s really incredible, I’m not sure how much better than that music could possibly be. It blew my mind a bit. Since then I’ve been very interested in exploring choir music, especially exploring the intersection of sacred music vs secular music. I guess I’ve been making music for long enough that “why do we make music?” has become a very interesting and complex question for me, and there seems to be an answer within some of this very serious Christian music.
Connor at the organ, art by Lukey
ASH: I’m also a huge fan of Coil; The Ape of Naples is probably my favourite album of all time. I didn’t speak much about Coil despite them being one of my favourite acts in music, it’s like, probably the best story ever written in music imo. A quote that sticks with me lately from them: “Nature is a language, can’t you read,” taken from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Also, I was recently introducing some of my school friends to Coil; I can attest to your points about how tragic their legacy is. I was talking to an online friend about the evocative themes in Horse Rotorvator. Recently listening to that album with a friend makes me want to watch 120 Days of Sodom tbh.
CONNOR: The other big interest is idol group Band Ja Naimon! Maxx Nakayoshi, especially the two live albums they put online last year. I’ve always enjoyed Japanese idol music. On those live albums there’s so much energy and beauty and excitement, I absolutely love it. I also appreciate that it’s comprised of idols that would otherwise be considered too old to be idols. It seems they don’t care about that type of thing much, and the fans respect it.
CONNOR: I’ve been exploring Pasolini’s work lately too! Haven’t made it to that one yet though. Obviously I’m familiar with that film’s legacy though, aha.
ASH: My go-to is Matthäus-Passion and as you said, Mozart’s Requiem. I was into that stuff a few years ago, but I’d like to get back into the groove. As for the sacred vs secular music dichotomy and the question that popped up in your head, I hope you come up with an answer that makes sense to you.
CONNOR: Matthew Passion is wonderful, yes. I actually have the Herreweghe recordings of that sitting on my desk right next to me, and a vinyl box set of it in my bedroom. I’d heard that one years ago, it’s even been sampled in Important Hair works. Much respect to JS Bach, but the truth is it didn’t open my mind in the same way Requiem did.
ASH: Completely fair! For me, JS Bach was the go-to for my commutes, especially airplane ones when I wanted some choir music.
CONNOR: Bach is a very interesting figure to me; I’ve heard a lot of his music this year. I want to read the biography on him by conductor John Eliot Gardiner, I think that will interest me lots. But for now I’m just listening and imagining what this music could have even possibly meant to him, as a sincere Christian in a time so separated from where we are now. It’s hard to even imagine, really.
ASH: Jhonn Balance depicted Pasolini’s tragic death in a way that stuck with me, Pasolini, the Hyde Park bombing, and how the AIDS epidemic affected them. Quite morbid themes.
CONNOR: You know, Jhonn Balance was quite inspired by the Requiem mass and by church choir music as well. There’s references to it as early as on Horse Rotorvator. I was listening to the track Batwings recently, the song from Musick to Play in the Dark with the great wordless vocals section at the end, and I’m quite sure that some of those “wordless” vocals are actually lifted directly from the Dies Irae sequence.
ASH: I actually like Band Ja Naimon! Maxx Nakayoshi, wtf. I didn’t even know they still did stuff. I definitely need to check out the live albums they released!
CONNOR: They do! It’s bandleader Misako’s 40th birthday today actually, or yesterday, in Japan, I guess.
ASH: This is interesting, I didn’t really know this!
CONNOR: You probably don’t know this but she was diagnosed with cancer quite recently. Her social media posts suggest fans shouldn’t worry. Another member of the group recently announced her departure because she’s been diagnosed with Grave’s disease. I guess it’s difficult getting older and still making music like that, but I admire them very much.
ASH: The more abstract references in Coil’s music are kind of lost on me, unless it’s some sexual innuendo. I was trying to figure out what the cover of Black Antlers even was, lol.
CONNOR: That’s natural. Maybe you’ll get some things, but it’s ultimately for Jhonn to understand, not you. And honestly, I highly doubt Jhonn even understood it most of the time. Which is something that inspires me about Coil! I’d like people to think about Important Hair in the same way.
ASH: Funny you mention that, I was trying to make some interpretations of the Important Hair releases I was listening to earlier.
CONNOR: Which releases was that? And did you come to any interpretations you wouldn’t mind sharing?
ASH: The Barber of Seville and In pluralis, but I also listened to Natasha Ritchie I Love You Until the Sun Dies earlier this morning/noon.
CONNOR: Oh nice, those are the recent ones, which I guess you know.
ASH: Hmm… Worrying about the ants reminds me of a Berserk quote from Guts: “If you are always worried about crushing the ants beneath you, you won’t be able to walk.” Let me think of another, unless it’s a literary metaphor instead lol.
CONNOR: Sometimes ideas will be references to things — yes, on Barber of Seville there’s certainly literature references. I don’t find it so important if something is an exact quote, a rephrase, or an original thought though. There’s also references to pop music, films, personal conversations, all sorts of things.
ASH: This is a bit of a cliché observation but I like how Proustian Imagining Myself Sitting Next to Somebody Who I Would Like to Be Spending Time With is despite its length. Also, Adult Literature as opposed to Young Adult Literature. Can’t think much of anything else, but I’m really enamored by the titles. Great release btw! Sonic references — I couldn’t really tie it to another PE/noise release I’ve heard; I think that’s a good thing. I purchased it and took someone’s review tip for the sequencing, and I really think it was a neat touch.
CONNOR: I was really happy that RYM reviewer mentioned the gapless playback and that the files should be downloaded. I think listening through the Bandcamp would spoil the experience quite a lot. But I don’t like to be pushy on these things, people can listen to the album how they like.
ASH: I mean, I get listening to it on Bandcamp for a first listen, but I think it would better the experience if you download it, yes. (I’m gonna improvise and talk about your music more/journey and reorder the other stuff later btw :p)
CONNOR: Adult Literature I can tell you is a bit of a joke. When I think of those words together, I assume it’s pornography, not a serious literature. The question of what serious and important culture/art is, and how our society relates to it, is pretty core to that record. It’s why it’s named after a comic opera that’s become irrelevant enough that many don’t even know it’s comic.
ASH: I see. So I want to know more about Important Hair. How did the alias Important Hair come to be, and what does it represent for you artistically or personally? (You don’t have to answer the latter part.)
CONNOR: It comes from Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise, from a line of dialogue where two men are discussing one of their wives. The other man says, “She has important hair.” The husband replies, “I think I know what you mean.” It’s a funny line, because, well, what does it mean?
ASH: Honestly, I love this backstory haha.
CONNOR: So I like that for a music project. I’ve even had people come up to me at concerts and say, “I totally got what you were going for” — that’s a real quote. And I thought to myself, “I really doubt that.” I like how people will make their assumptions, how they’ll project their own experiences onto something without even realizing it in an attempt to understand.
Lily Platt, Sept. 2024
ASH: LOL, I would totally project my own experience on something niche, personal, or specific like Important Hair.
CONNOR: So that’s the origin story, but Important Hair means whatever the audience assumes it to mean really. To me, it means nothing.
ASH: I’ll put White Noise on my list; the synopsis captured me enough.
CONNOR: The dialogue in it is fantastic. I think we all do it, I think it’s very natural. And I don’t think people realize to what extent they’re doing it. People are naturally a bit pretentious like that, I think.
ASH: For sure. What drew you to working with sound in the way you do? Was there a catalyst or curiosity that started this journey for you?
CONNOR: Oh, I’ve told this story lots of times, it’s pretty funny. You know Raspberry Pis? It starts with one of those. Well, I played guitar a bit as a kid too. I wanted to be a rock guy. I didn’t like practicing and that never went far and I gave up fast though.
ASH: Vaguely familiar.
CONNOR: They’re very small computers, cost about $20. Anyway, I was given a Raspberry Pi for my birthday one year. I’m a computer programmer, by the way. My idea was that I’d turn it into a gaming device to stream games from my PC upstairs to the TV downstairs. Anyway, that didn’t quite work due to network issues. So I thought, what else could I use this for? For some reason my first idea was that I could build a digital effect pedal, so I did that. I wrote a program which read in audio, transformed it with keyboard input, and then played that, so, it had continuous sound and worked like an effect pedal. I played it with my guitar because it was what I had. I was new to noise/improvisation as a listener, but had a hunch that anyone could do it if they were willing to try. So since I had fun with that, and was employed at the time, I started collecting some gear and built a nice little noise setup in my bedroom. Half a year or so later, the first record was out.
ASH: I love how things gradually fell into place and worked out in the end, though I’m sure it wasn’t without bumps.
CONNOR: That’s true, but you’re right that it all came together pretty naturally. It has to be stated that at this point I had the privilege to not have to worry about money or time, not everyone has that privilege. But with that prerequisite stated, I do think that these things will come together very naturally if you let them.
ASH: Correct, and thank you for addressing that part. Bringing it back to the present, and you could talk about previous experiences if you want, but how do you spread the word about a new release you have? I’m sure you have more going on than just Important Hair; I’ve heard you talk about Senseless Sensibilities, but I’m decently unfamiliar with the series. How does promotion work in that regard? (Sorry if this is offensive in any way, it’s working on assumptions.)
CONNOR: Poorly, I think! It’s hard to get people interested! I can post about it on RYM, post about it on Instagram, tell my local friends about it, tell my Discord friends about it, even give out CDs. But it can be tough. My latest CD release currently has 0 ratings on RYM despite being out for a month, likely because it’s not under the Important Hair alias, but still. It’s an uphill battle. Concerts are easier. People like going to concerts, they’re fun, especially if they can get in for free. Convincing someone to listen to an hour-long noise record is harder.
ASH: Honestly, I feel that. I’m sure I can bring my mainly rock/pop friends to a noise concert, but I don’t think I can even show them an album I think they’d like most of the time, let alone an hour-long noise record haha.
CONNOR: I feel confident in my music though, I think it’s good and it deserves an audience. And I think that if people will hear it, they’ll like it, and they’ll tell their friends, and the ball will roll and more people will like it. Yes, I’m aware all of this is overly confident and maybe pretentious, but it’s how it’s been working for Barber of Seville. It isn’t to say that I think I’m better than anyone else, I think everyone should be confident in their art. You know, who are we even making this stuff for if we don’t love it ourselves?
ASH: I wouldn’t be concerned about coming across as ostentatious in this context. You should enjoy your music and be confident in it, especially if it brings together your friends and potential fans. Totally agreed.
CONNOR: Absolutely! At the concerts, a lot of my audience is more from punk circles than the noise world. I bet many of them would never listen to an Important Hair record in full, and if they would, they wouldn’t give it the attention I think it deserves. That’s fine though! I’m glad they enjoy the shows. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys an hour-long noise record, you know who you are, and I’ll do my best to give you something you’ll appreciate.
ASH: Making music for others seems very exciting, I hope to get into that field some day. Sorry if this sounds silly, but I wanted to ask a question about the kind of music you make. When you think about noise, whether it’s raw sound, static, feedback, sine waves, silence — what does it mean to you?
CONNOR: Hm. Excess? Overstimulation? I don’t necessarily see it as so different than any other music. I mentioned Band Ja Naimon earlier, now that stuff’s overstimulating. Hell, Mozart can be too. I think that for all three of us, we’re basically just trying to make something beautiful and sincere though, whatever that means. I like noise because of how excessive it is, it’s throwing so much at you that it’s hard to deal with. It can be screaming right in your face and sometimes even completely literally. I’ve always hated emo bands. Sure, you got dumped and you were sad and you wrote some lyrics about it. What does this cute pop rock song have to do with that? And you’ve played this song live, what, 30 times now? Does it really still make you emotional? It doesn’t make me emotional. Noise is much more direct. It’s just the emotion, it’s so unavoidable.
ASH: What role does silence play in your composition?
CONNOR: I’m a Cagean, there’s no such thing as silence. I can give you a practical example on this.
ASH: Sure.
CONNOR: In my most recent organ composition, you can find this on the Senseless Bandcamp if you’d like, I can give you a YouTube link for a video of it too if you’d rather, it starts with these huge gross dissonant all-stops-out chords. One huge chord. Extended silence. Second huge chord. Extended silence. Third huge chord. And then basically no more silence ever in the whole piece. Now here’s the thing, there’s no real silence in that room. When the organ’s on, you can hear the fan running. You can hear the traffic outside. There’s things happening. So when I stop playing, there’s this whiplash where the listener is transported back to reality. When I’m playing, I assume they forget there’s traffic right outside. Empty space can be used to give the audience a breather, but I’m very interested in what they’re experiencing and thinking during that breather.
ASH: When I first heard Cage’s 4′33″ I made a similar observation, it’s not silence, there’s audible background noise. It doesn’t matter that the sheet music is blank.
CONNOR: Cage has a famous story about what I’m describing. I’ll just send it the way he wrote it instead of paraphrasing.
ASH: This is great haha.
CONNOR: Well, the organ as I mentioned, it’s really an incredible instrument, and I feel incredible playing it. When they were first making these big pipe organs for churches, they were the most complex machines in the world. Isn’t it incredible that humans would work so hard on something for no purpose other than to play music? What are our most complex machines in 2025? I like to play the piano as well, it’s a really beautiful instrument and easy to play. I like keyboards in general, I suppose. I’ve never been good with string instruments. Holding down the strings feels weird and I can’t get my mind or body around it. Keyboards come quite naturally to me.
ASH: I can attest to this, the guitar feels off even though guitar music is primarily what I listen to.
CONNOR: Otherwise, voice, my own voice! What expresses me as a person better than that? It’s so natural and pure. I can easily implement text and completely forgo it. People will assume so much meaning just because there are words coming from my mouth, it fascinates me. I’m sure it’s obvious, but there’s also a cathartic element to making noise. Most people make noise because they’re upset about something. What’s more cathartic than screaming?
ASH: That’s why I like emo music (classic screamo especially).
CONNOR: Sure! Screamo is a huge influence for me, actually. I’ve even categorized my genre as “distortion screamo” before.
ASH: Completely agreed, vox is a great instrument. I wish I was better at it. I was a part of a children’s choir in Christian elementary. My voice has only gotten worse at singing since then, but I think I could be a good screamer — or anxiously singing emo music, I think.
CONNOR: Should I expand on that?
ASH: You can!
CONNOR: So Important Hair’s near a decade old now, but as a live act it’s only been a couple years. I never did it live before COVID. A big part of the inspiration for that was starting to attend local screamo gigs. Not necessarily my favourite music, but boy did I love the energy. And it had me thinking, how can Important Hair become something this audience would enjoy? That’s where Barber of Seville / Natasha Ritchie came out of really — that’s why I’m shouting so much, even more in the live stuff.
ASH: I love supporting screamo acts, especially local. I try to go to New Friends Fest every year, but I didn’t this year. That’s awesome. I love the backstory and inspiration on the “distortion screamo” label.
CONNOR: Yep 🙂 I mean that term pretty sincerely.
CONNOR: By the way, I have a couple of upcoming projects where I’ve remixed material by local screamo acts.
ASH: I’ll be on the lookout! What acts?
CONNOR: Beggin for Oxys (noisecore act from Toronto), and Basque (great local screamo act, already broke up in the time since I made the recordings).
ASH: Not familiar with Oxys but I like Basque, and what, they broke up? They were really good live!
CONNOR: They were great live, that’s what the whole project was about. It’s all recordings of their live shows. There was some band drama, it happens. The vocalist is in a great new band called Searing with a good friend of mine. Actually, the vocalist of Basque makes noise now as part.parasite as well, he’s played at a bunch of my shows and we have a duo tape coming out on some label at some point. The guitarist Ali, she was really great and was making noise for a bit too, I’m not sure what she’s up to these days though. They were both very supportive towards Important Hair in the early days of me doing it live.
ASH: I’ll be on the lookout. You mentioned idol acts earlier, and I believe you are a fan of 3776, You’ll Melt More!, dots, the various Pop Kaidan collabs (Hijokaidan x pop idols) based on my time following your account on RYM, and of course, the anti-idol queen Jun Togawa. Could you explain how that relates to your musical journey, whatever it may be? I’m a huge idol fan as well, and I would love to hear your answer! You might kill me for even relating Jun to the idol verse, haha, but her influence on alternative idol is undeniable.
CONNOR: Well, Togawa’s been my profile pic on RYM for a decade now, as you probably know. She was the OG anti-idol, what’s not to love? That 1984 live Yapoos release is pretty much my favourite vocal performance ever captured on record. However, as a Westerner who doesn’t know Japanese, I don’t quite understand Jun Togawa’s art though. I don’t listen to her a lot for that reason, because it seems she’s trying to do something very serious.
ASH: Discovering Yapoos was really my start of discovering that side of weird, ‘80s, eccentric Japanese new wave/pop music that’d probably be labelled as zolo on RYM haha. The language barrier fails me as well, though I’d love to learn more one day too. (Also, rating Guernica a 5 for RYM street cred.)
CONNOR: Let’s talk about those modern idol acts you mentioned, I have more to say there. But it all starts with that lack of understanding, with the cultural alienation I feel as a foreigner. I’ve never liked Western pop music much, I find it annoying. I can’t stand listening to a pop song about how much you like to party, or how much you love or hate your boyfriend, or anything meant to be “relatable.” I find it alienating and annoying. J-pop solved that problem by being in a language I don’t know. I’m just experiencing the music now, it’s more pure in a way. It took me years of listening to it to realize that the language barrier wasn’t a deterring factor, it was actually part of the interest. That’s one practical thing that’s inspired me, I like knowing that the audience doesn’t know what I’m saying. This concept really comes together in Barber of Seville, where there isn’t any language on the record whatsoever, except for on Future Diver, which is in fact a J-pop cover where I didn’t write any of those words. I guess I see the lack of lyrics making the audience’s connection with the music more pure, just like how it allowed me to enjoy pop music. The audience should be thinking about their own anxieties and whatnot, not mine. I’m currently working on a record in Latin for the same reason.
ASH: Future Diver being a cover makes a lot of sense, holy shit. I realized it’s a Dempagumi song right now. RIP.
CONNOR: Yes, that is indeed a Dempagumi cover. “Dedicated to でんぱ組.inc” is even written in the liner notes for the CD, it was released the day of their final show. That act meant a lot to me.
ASH: Yeah, I was following them for years. One of the more interesting idol acts, bringing denpa to the idol forefront. Also I agree that it is more pure.
CONNOR: Dempagumi.inc is a great example of how fantastically joyous and beautiful that genre of music can be. It’s so erratic and wonderful, six girls who aren’t very good at singing and are more so defined by their personalities, coming together as this kawaii choir. I just love it. I love a vocalist who will just belt it out or come off awkward, I couldn’t care less about talent. You know what I mean, you listen to emo and screamo music. Those Band Ja Naimon records are incredible in this regard.
ASH: I believe that not understanding Japanese or any other language can make art appear more poignant in some ways, but even if I did, I don’t think it would be shallow or banal. I enjoy deciphering the meanings of songs I’ve been listening to on repeat. Shinsei Kamattechan is a band whose lyrics I analyzed. I really like the raw tone of Noko’s voice, but it’s even better knowing what these songs are about!
CONNOR: It’s also interested me that. Sure, they’re pop acts, but there’s not a lot of money in idol music! You just brought up Kamattechan, which is a pretty noisy and strange project in a lot of ways. Kamattechan is much more popular than Band Ja Naimon. Kamattechan makes the money; Band Ja Naimon is a pure passion project. We think of pop music as where you go to sell out, but in the Japanese idol world that is not the case. It only exists for passion, for the most part. I have these recordings I made in Akihabara of an amateur idol singing to an audience of three dudes and I love it. Her vocals are just awful but the vibes are immaculate. I really treasure those recordings.
ASH: It’s why a lot of idol acts unfortunately disband. Sometimes they can make too much money or hold too much fame and leave their idol groups. There’s also label or personal drama, mental health issues, family issues, creative differences, etc. Idol careers are often short and it’s a shame, because it’s one of my great fascinations in music. I watched Perfect Blue in theatres with my friends a few days ago, it touched up on this, I’m sure you know. I love those niche, underground idol acts that have a small crowd of fans. I would support them personally if I ever lived in Japan.
CONNOR: Yes, this is true and part of why I really respect acts like Dempagumi and Band Ja Naimon. They really worked hard and persevered for a long time, it’s hard work.
ASH: I spoke about Pop Kaidan earlier, are you a fan of the trend? It’s combining your two loves: noise music and idol music. Or is that a shallow observation to assume you’d be crazy over it?
CONNOR: Sure. Those BiS Kaidan records were huge inspirations for me, some of the most important music I ever heard. It shifted how I think about music in a very meaningful way. So with that first BiS Kaidan record, you probably know this already, but those were just BiS songs, already finished and released, with Hijokaidan playing noise on top. It’s barely a collaboration, really.
ASH: I think one of the more meaningful Hijokaidan contributions was the one with Avandoned, yes?
CONNOR: But I think hearing that made me realize that, a song is also just a layer of sound. A guitar is a layer, a vocalist is a layer, a full pop song is a layer that comes together as something. But also, the pop song on its own means something, just like the guitar does. You may know I sample music a lot within Important Hair, it comes from this philosophy. Sure, they did some more ambitious collabs later I suppose, but it’s the BiS Kaidan ones specifically which mean a lot to me.
ASH: Fair enough. The BiS Kaidan, and BiS in general, was kind of a moment in idol music. Really ushered in a new era for alternative/anti-idol, imo.
CONNOR: That BiS Kaidan Last Gig video is so remarkable. Have you seen it? It feels like, how could music possibly be pushed further than this? It’s a total destruction of “pop music” as something remotely meaningful, and simultaneously an embrace of it.
ASH: I love it. That’s my favourite of theirs. Junko goes pretty crazy on that one too, right? It’s been a while since I’ve heard it.
CONNOR: For so much of it the girls aren’t even bothering to lip sync along to the music, they just let the track play, it’s incredible. You may know this already, but that project was originally supposed to be with a different idol group, Momoiro Clover Z, but they turned it down for reasons unknown to me, perhaps they were busy. BiS only got involved after bandleader Pour Lui reached out to JOJO on Twitter and proposed them doing it instead. BiS was a very brave group in some ways, but they were so horrifically managed that I don’t have much good to say about it in hindsight.
ASH: No, I didn’t know! Good to know, and yeah, I’ve heard the internal rumblings with regards to their management. Momoiro Clover Z are pretty interesting themselves, but I don’t wanna take too much of your time so I’ll try to wrap up soon!
CONNOR: Haha, yes. Any non-idol questions you want to make sure we get to?
ASH: Yes, just one or two more. I feel like you addressed this earlier, but as a final message, how do you hope people experience your work?
CONNOR: However they want to, I just hope they take it seriously.
ASH: Where do you see Important Hair heading next? Is there a larger thing you are trying to follow?
CONNOR: More organ music. I have a nice situation with a church near my apartment and potentially will get to play there more. Noise comes and goes, I rarely record solo noise these days. I have the Latin power electronics record in the works, that will be exciting, it’s an adaptation of the Requiem mass. I like duoing with amateur musicians in the area, they can sometimes bring something really magical to the table that I never receive from more experienced musicians. I could see a strong record coming out of that in the next year.
ASH: Very exciting plans.
CONNOR: I discovered a community gamelan club recently and want to make some music with them. I like this kind of amateurish community music.
ASH: So they utilize gamelan?
CONNOR: Yes, taught by a guy from Bali on proper gamelan instruments. He’s so wonderful, has a very true love for the music.
ASH: Awesome. Did you see they added American Gamelan on RYM? Pretty interesting.
CONNOR: Hahaha.
ASH: It reminds me of the various comments calling this form inferior on RYM.
CONNOR: Let me not opinionate on that one.
ASH: 😭😭 I mean, I love gamelan and gong-chime ensemble music in general. It’s why my Southeast Asia map is pretty white [this means I have listened to a decent bit of Southeast Asian music].
CONNOR: Sure, I’ve joked about this before with this community group. I’ve said, “They may not be the best gamelan band in the world, but they’re probably the best gamelan band in Waterloo.”
ASH: I’m excited if you ever do collaborate with your community gamelan club though!
CONNOR: I don’t know, I think it’s cute and very heartfelt.
ASH: Haha, that’s great.
CONNOR: I gotta get going, I’m going to catch a screening of Perfect Blue, funny enough. Any final questions you want to ask while I walk to the theater?
ASH: Yeah, that was pretty much the end of it! I thought the showings would be finished by Monday, but I got the wrong information and thankfully saw the movie on Thursday. And not much, but I wanted to say I love the insight you brought to me today — I really do appreciate it and I hope to connect more with you and your community in the near future. You’re really cool, btw! But I really enjoyed this, Connor. I hope you enjoy the show 🙂
CONNOR: Sure, was a pleasure. Feel free to reach out any time.
