Emerging from Tokyo, Japanese alternative rock band The Vounds are forging an identity with edgy, aggressive sounds, distorted bass, and Ayaka’s raspy, breathy vocals. Blending British rock, American alternative, hip-hop, and electronic influences, the four-piece are determined to push beyond genre and geographic boundaries.
The band formed in autumn 2024, when bassist Lefty, guitarist Haruka, and drummer Tetsu began writing together. In summer 2025, they met Ayaka at Abbey Road Studios in London, where she was living. Within days, they had written songs and recorded the instrumental parts for their debut EP, Culture Vulture.
The Vounds create music without chasing trends, relying on the chemistry of four musicians playing together rather than overdubbing—even in the studio.
In this City Stories feature, The Vounds discuss their unconventional beginnings, the creative philosophy behind Culture Vulture, the stories behind their songs, and their ambition to break musical boundaries.
Their message to new listeners is simple: “We want you to get obsessed with The Vounds.
For readers discovering The Vounds for the first time, how would you describe the band and the sound you’re creating?
Tetsu(Dr.): We’ll describe our music as an edgy, aggressive indie rock sound, with Ayaka’s raspy, breathy vocals that add a cool, seductive vibe to the song.
It’s creating a modern alternative sound that feels fresh yet somehow familiar, I think.
How did The Vounds come together, and what made you want to start making music as a band?
Tetsu(Dr.):Around autumn 2024, Lefty(Ba), Haruka(Gt), and I started writing songs in Tokyo.
We knew we needed a singer, ideally someone from overseas, but we headed to Abbey Road Studios in summer 2025 to record the instrumental parts anyway.
That’s when Lefty introduced us to Ayaka, his long-time friend. She used to live in London at the time. We clicked instantly, wrote ‘Soul Sister‘ and ‘Cunty Gyal‘ on the spot, and tracked the whole EP two days later. You could honestly say we formed right there at Abbey Road!
Where did the name The Vounds come from, and what does it represent to you?
Tetsu(Dr.): We wanted to mix the word “Bound,” as in boundaries, with the word “Sound,” plus the letter “V,” which looks like an arrowhead, and I simply like the sounds of it. That’s how we got “The Vounds.“
There are all kinds of boundaries out there in terms of genres and countries, but we want to break right through them with our distorted sound and Ayaka’s vocals, and connect with rock fans all over the world.
Your music carries a strong rock identity. What artists, bands, or musical experiences have influenced the way you create?
Tetsu(Dr.): I’ve grown up listening to post-90s UK rock, US alternative rock, and electro stuff. Bands like The Stone Roses, The Chemical Brothers, Primal Scream, The Strokes, The Music, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, The Police, Mutemath… the list goes on.
Ayaka(Vo): I’m all over the place! Rock-wise, it’s everything from The Strokes, Nirvana, Garbage, and Hole to The Police, The Smiths, and Queens of the Stone Age.
For hip-hop, I love Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, JAY-Z, Lil Kim, Cardi B, and JT. Then you’ve got divas like Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Charli XCX, Shygirl, Uffie, Tinashe, Beyoncé, and Rihanna Plus, I also DJ and love dance music too, so Barry Can’t Swim, Charlotte de Witte, DJ Gigola, CINTHIE, Disclosure, Todd Terry… Ugh, don’t get me started- I could talk about music forever!”
How would you describe the Japanese rock scene from your perspective, and where do you see The Vounds fitting into it?
Tetsu(Dr.): I think different genres have really established their own scenes and ways of doing things now. Both J-Pop and Japanese hardcore bands are getting solid recognition overseas, but I feel like Japanese alternative rock bands haven’t quite broken through on a big international scale yet. So that’s definitely the target we’re aiming for.
Your debut EP Culture Vulture introduces listeners to your world. What does the title mean to you?
Lefty(Ba): When we were tracking down the EP at our mix engineer Toshi Watanabe’s studio, the name of a piece of gear caught my eye—it had that exact name.
I absolutely fell in love with it and actually wanted it to be our band name at first, but then we came up with an even cooler name, so we used it for the EP title instead. Besides, when people talk about ‘culture vulture’ or cultural appropriation, it usually means Westerners or other regions consuming traditional Asian culture, right? So us being Asian and using that title feels like a nice, clever bit of irony, don’t you think?”
Photo Courtesy of The Vounds
Was there a particular idea, emotion, or story that shaped the creation of Culture Vulture?
Lefty(Ba): We just wanted to make the music we genuinely wanted to make, without trying to please anyone else. We focused entirely on being ourselves, totally untethered from trends or movements.
Which song from the EP feels the most personal to you, and why?
Ayaka(Vo): Honestly, all of them. I moved back to Tokyo from London right after we formed a band, so every single track captures stuff I saw, heard, and went through during the two years I lived in London. But if I had to pick one, maybe “Red Flag.”
People tend to replay their relationships with their parents inside their romantic partnerships, and I feel like that side of things really comes through in that song. Also “Cunty Gyal.” I used to ride London’s Central Line every single morning to get to work back then. My friends and I, we were all working multiple jobs, working on our creative stuff after hours, just surviving and dreaming of the day it would all pay off.
Your single “Red Flag” has a strong and memorable title. What inspired the song?
Ayaka(Vo): The inspiration came from past romances, a messy clash between anxious and avoidant attachment styles. I’ve been on both sides, though I don’t usually get that weak-willed, so part of it was written while deliberately getting into the mindset of a passionate Latina lover(Laughs).
I thought that the more miserable the verse and pre-chorus are, the more the resolute attitude in the chorus stands out. I wanted to create that contrast.
I personally believe what makes a true lyricist is facing ugly, embarrassing emotions that make you want to cover your eyes, yet conveying them fully without being gratuitously dark or nasty.
When writing lyrics, do you usually begin with a personal experience, an emotion, an image, or the music itself?
Ayaka(Vo): It usually starts with the melody. When jamming with the band members, I hum the top-line melody that pops into my head using gibberish. I take that rough demo home, load it into my DAW (Ableton), and refine the melody further.
As soon as I pick up a pen, past personal experiences, my current mood, or a specific theme naturally emerges from the sound. Sometimes I get stuck finding the right words due to constraints like rhyme, rhythm, or trying not to sound cliché. Personally, I believe songs aren’t something you actively “write”, they already exist in the subconscious, and a musician’s role is simply to give them a physical existence through sound. So, I face it calmly on my own until I can tune into that.
How does the songwriting process work within The Vounds? Does one member usually bring an idea first, or is it more of a collective process?
Haruka(Gt): It starts with getting into the studio all together, discussing what kind of song we want to make.
As we enthusiastically make noise, ideas keep flowing. Lefty controls it all from the bass, we play passionately, and Ayaka puts a spell on with words and her vocals, then it turns into an incredible track!
What is something about your sound that you feel people might not immediately notice on their first listen?
Haruka(Gt): Actually, this band doesn’t use overdubbing, not just live, but in recording too. It’s purely the sound made by the four of us starting together at once, from which we build depth, spatial presence, and various sound arrangements.
Lefty(Ba): I spent a ton of time tweaking my pedalboard so my bass gets this super thick, distorted guitar-like tone. That’s why the four of us sound like a five- or six-piece band. We pack all these subtle tricks and techniques into simple rock songs. And one thing’s for sure: we never rely on AI, fuck AI.
How important is live performance to The Vounds, and what do you want people to feel when they see you on stage?Lefty(Ba): We’ve been standing on stage since we were kids, so being up there feels as natural as walking into the bathroom or bedroom. It’s that essential to us. I want us to rock out as hard as we possibly can and lift the audience up to that exact same energy level. That’s all I’m thinking about up there.
Lefty(Ba): We’ve been standing on stage since we were kids, so being up there feels as natural as walking into the bathroom or bedroom. It’s that essential to us. I want us to rock out as hard as we possibly can and lift the audience up to that exact same energy level. That’s all I’m thinking about up there.
Is there a particular live performance or moment since forming the band that has stayed with you?
Haruka(Gt): To me, recording this EP at Abbey Road Studios in London was huge. And we had literally just met our singer, Ayaka, two days prior at a rehearsal studio, which is where “Cunty Gyal” was born! It was such a fast, thrilling chain of events-I’ll never forget it as long as I live. These days, AI is changing songwriting process drastically, and anyone can make music easily these days, but as a band, we want to keep hitting people with raw, analog human emotion.
Ayaka(Vo): Before releasing this EP, we actually shot a live performance video in an irrigation canal 18 meters underground in Japan. There was no elevator, so we had to haul everything down the stairs-from our instruments to heavy speakers. It was still pretty cold, cold enough to see your breath, so I was literally freezing while singing. I caught a cold the very next day.
It was exhausting, but I’m so glad that many people loved that video, so it’s rewarding. Though, honestly, I’d never do it again. The video’s on our YouTube channel, so definitely check it out!
What challenges have you encountered while building The Vounds, especially as an emerging band?
Haruka(Gt): Every member has such a huge range of musical backgrounds, so while we can make all types of music, we had to jam a lot to figure out that core sound that makes us say, “THIS is The Vounds!” This EP is our answer to that. Of course, we’re gonna keep evolving from here, so stay tuned! We’ve already got a bunch of tracks ready for the next phase.
Beyond music, what kind of culture, art, places, or everyday experiences influence your creative identity?
Haruka(Gt): Doing active stuff like driving cars, riding bikes, traveling, and camping. But honestly, nothing beats sitting at home, relentlessly hunting for new sounds and tweaking audio-that’s pure bliss for me.
If you could collaborate with any artist or band from Japan or anywhere in the world, who would you choose and what would you want to create together?
Ayaka(Vo): I can’t think of a specific artist right now, but I personally love dance music.
So it’d be amazing to have a DJ or producer we love do a dance remix of a The Vounds song. Like, A-Trak’s remix of Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Soulwax’s remix of Fontaines D.C. are super cool.
What do you hope listeners outside Japan—especially people discovering Japanese rock for the first time—take away from The Vounds?
Lefty(Ba): Our goal is to get people to drop any preconceived notions about ‘Japanese rock’ and just enjoy it with an open mind.
What can we expect next from The Vounds? Are there new releases, performances, or projects you can share with us?
Lefty(Ba): We’re planning to drop new songs roughly every month from here on out, so definitely keep an eye on our socials. I really hope we can hit the road for a world tour soon; I can’t wait to eat some Adobo in the Philippines!
Finally, if The Vounds could leave one message with everyone discovering your music through City Writer, what would you like them to know?
Haruka(Gt): We want you to get obsessed with The Vounds.
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