Wednesday 23rd dawned bright and sunny, and I headed off to meet two of the band's publishers who had come over from the UK, Andy Graham & Lisa Cullington. Meeting them in the confusing warrens of Tokyo Station took a flurry of phonecalls but eventually we hooked up and took the local Yamanote line round to Shibuya, where they were staying in a very cool boutique hotel called the Granbell ( notable for it's 24-hour bar/restaurant which for some reason is called "Plate Of Pie.Pop". We headed out for lunch - this time at a 30th floor restaurant - where this time the possible view of Fuji was thwarted by smog and haze. We bumped into Jez who was foraging for guitar strings in the local music shops, and generally helped them get their bearings in Shibuya.

I then headed off to the band's hotel where we had an interview for Beat Scratch magazine with some very switched-on people who asked a lot of great questions. Observing that it was now the height of rush hour in Tokyo, I deduced that it was probably the worst idea in the world to try to get the equipment to the HMV instore by train, and so put most of the band in a cab whilst Jez and I went by train. Compared with the last HMV instore we did, this one was potentially shambolic as for some reason nobody from HMV seemed able to operate the store's PA. Luckily we were helped out by Nobu's friend Ozaki-san who also lent us a great second acoustic guitar and general ly saved the day. A certain amount of managerial arsiness was required to keep things on an even keel, due to mild irritations like nobody at the store thinking to turn off the irritating J-Pop from the store's speakers before the performance started. A good crowd turned up - the band played 6 songs, with Dana improvising a snare drum from a cardboard box - and then dutifully queued up after the performance to get their CDs signed. Afterwards, everybody trooped up the Dogenzawa Hill to a restaurant I know well - Gonpachi - for a huge dinner with about 16 people in total. Sadly, the sheer number of people and the barrage of food and beer orders from every angle of the table sent the waitresses into a tailspin. I watched dolefully as favourite dishes I had ordered disappeared up the other end of the huge table, but eventually succeeded in wrestling some food onto my plate. Not that I'm a dreadful control freak or anything.

Afterwards, Andrew Michelle and I took the semi-comatose Dana back to the hotel whilst Jez and the rest of the party decamped - or in some cases, camped - to the upstairs bar for a few more "liveners". I am told that certain people may possibly have fallen off their bar stools later that evening, but as they say "what happens in Tokyo, stays in Tokyo".

Thursday 24th. I awoke with some relief that the "tour proper" was about to start ( I was a tad "over" Tokyo by that point, having been there for a week ), and enjoyed the Toyoko Inn's breakfast of rice cakes, miso soup, pickles and green tea. It's actually a great way to start the day. I then hooked up with Andy, Lisa and June for a great lunch in a famous "tonkatsu" restaurant ( fried pork in breadcrumbs ) and showed them around for a few hours. Unusually, the Tokyo show was the first show of the tour ( it's normally the last ) and we had plenty of guests to sort out. The club was somewhere we had never played before - Shelter, in the Shimokitazawa district, which is one of the new "cool" areas in Tokyo. We were mildly concerned that the venue seemed to be quite a way out of town, but soon relaxed as the soundcheck went fantastically well, assisted by the excellent sound engineer Tont ( I hope that's how you spell it ). In Japan, support bands are not the norm so Farrah took to the stage around 7.20 ( just after Andrew had finished editing and burning the new intro CD in the dressing room ) and generally rocked the joint to a great response from a packed crowd. One highlight was Michelle and Jez's version of "Things We Shouldn't Say" from "Cut Out & Keep", but in general everything worked well, although the band felt maybe the set was few songs too long.

After the show - as is normal - the band went into the crowd to meet friends, sign CDs and shirts, and generally say thanks to the audience. After that, most went off the the "British Pavilion" night at the Hub bar in Shibuya where famous Japanese DJ "Terry" ( yes, he plays it ) was spinning some quality UK guitar pop. I bailed and went for several large cigars to calm my jangling nerves.

You have to see a Japanese audience in action to truly understand their uniqueness - they go crazy during the songs, sing along to the words, but then listen quietly to the stage patter between songs, and after the show just bombard the band with general affection, little presents, and beer. It's very gratifying and many of the fans in Japan have become friends of the band in the process. I think one reason is because the band genuinely enjoy hanging out after the show with these lovely people. When people from the UK see the reaction, they are amazed, as it is so far removed from a typical London audience who I often think could do with a little "cattle prod action" to liven them up. I think a lot of this is due to the different attitude to life of the Japanese people. They seem quite content, and determined to enjoy life and work hard without any of the cynicism and barely-repressed aggression we see in the West. I am told that in Japan people genuinely believe that society is more important than the individual. I'm not sure if that's true, but they certainly seem very focused on oiling the wheels of everyday life to make it as pleasant as possible. You rarely hear car horns or people shouting at each other, or see any anti-social behaviour. Basically - people are nice to each other. So you find yourself - despite being a somewhat curmudgeonly old Westerner - following suit.

from the studio. READ...

More vlogging in the studio. READ...

Hello all, I thought i'd take a moment to plug our labelmates The Wellingtons. Their new album "Heading North For The Winter" was released last week in the UK. It's ace. If you like the punky-pop-rock side of Farrah then you're probably going to love their stuff too. I suggest you buy it i READ...

Signs I haven’t grown up. I will fashion my hair into a ‘Shampoo-Mohican’ when I wash it. I kick up leaves. I am tempted to shoplift. I will put an unattended tea cosy on my head I still don’t like going to school. I like to cycle non handed. On cold days when my breath free READ...

Now then everyone. I hope all is well. Recording is going great at Diversion Studios. Dana has been laying down some more monster grooves and Michelle has added some thundering bass. The songs we've recorded so far are an eclectic bunch - from skiffle to rock (and visiting New-Wave on the way). READ...

Hello all, i hope you enjoyed the last remnants of summer. I just thought i'd keep you posted about news on the new record. We've recorded 6 songs so far although i'm still re writing lyrics and tweaking things. The songs are turning out really well so far. We're ambitiously hoping to record about 2 READ...

Thanks so much for everyone for coming out last night to the show. I had a great time. We hadn't played a gig for a while and it was fun to try out a couple of new songs from the new record. It was a fantastic lineup of bands- The Wellingtons were brilliant, The Magic Bullet Band made me wish i live READ...

It's no wonder we take so long to make records. We're *very* picky about songs and none of us can agree on which ones to use. And we waste way too much time messing about with mobile phones... acx READ...

Hi all, greetings from the studio on a sultry Monday night. Michelle has come in to track some bass on the songs we did drums for. Unfortunately for me, Michelle is Australian and used to sweltering heat so has banned the use of the Aircon while she's laying down her parts. It's about a hundred degr READ...

Hello all of you out there. Here’s the latest news from the studio. Me and Andy have been here all day tracking guitars for the first songs from the new record. It’s funny to be recording our fourth album. I didn’t have any idea when we recorded the first one that we’d be lucky enough to carry on ma READ...

ooooh we've got all techy and decided to try our hand a "vlogging". more soon! x READ...

Hi all! I just thought I'd mention that Glastonbury was a blast this year. I haven't been for a few years (and avoided trenchfoot in the process)but the sun shone as did some of the bands. The highlight had to be Glenn Tilbrook (of Squeeze fame) And The Fluffers. with a back catalogue to make mos READ...

I've only just discovered Boston Legal. For those who haven't seen it, it's a US TV series about an 'unconventional' law firm, and it stars James Spader, William Shatner and Candice Bergen, along with midgets, cross dressers and a lawyer with Aspergers. My mum says she doesn't like it because it's f READ...

We were sorry to leave Okayama and the guys from Comatose helped with getting our gear to the station. What a marvellous bunch they are. Little did we know we would be seeing them later... After a very short train ride to Shin-Kobe station we were met by the promoter and taken to his amazing club READ...

After piling on to the Shinkansen at Osaka we were at Okayama incredibly quickly - but by this time we had got the train exit strategy down pat. I am sure one of these days we will turn round and realise we have left some vital equipment on a bullet train that is heading out of the station but touch READ...

Friday April 25th signalled the start of our foray out of Tokyo. I for one was glad to leave the mayhem behind and, after schlepping across town via taxis and on a local train to the main Tokyo station, we settled down in the comfortable seats of the Shinkansen for the 3 hour trip to Osaka. I never READ...

Day one Tokyo Tokyo is one of the cities we know best in Japan as we often fly in to Narita and have days off here. Japan's capital is a technicolour assault on the senses- vendors with megaphones outside camera shops, the pungent smell of fried octopus balls, tranquil temples and tasty tempura, READ...

Having just returned to a rainswept, freezing London I should give everyone some insights into the Spring 2008 Japanese Tour. The idea for the tour was hatched when I was in Tokyo in November last year with our label, Egging Records, who thought it would be a good idea to keep the Japanese market fe READ...

hello everyone! I thought i would drop a brief line to tell you about our fantastic Farrah Japanese tour which ended in Kobe last night. It has been an amazing experience to play in Japan again. We were here to promote our new single Can..t Kick The Habit and the week long tour has been a whirwind o READ...

What do you get when you attach a posh lens to a cheap video camera, break into a deserted office building and add a killer tune? Farrah’s latest video of course. Shot over a couple of days in a top secret location and directed by the legendary Swiss auteur Anders Campbellson it’s a 3 minute READ...

Greetings everybody from the cigar smoke-wreathed offices of Farrah Management. I though I should write a little insight into where we are at and give a tantalising glimpse into plans for this year. At the moment the band are busy in the studio "laying down some tracks", as they used to say, for a f READ...

Hey everyone, how’s it going? I’m having a sober January. It’s something I do every year to give my liver a break. I’m not missing going t o the pub…honest. I’ve been too busy to be pining for Guinness as I’ve been working on ideas for the new Farrah record. I find a diet of Halloumi cheese and READ...

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was a frenzy of rich food and exceptional hangovers. I always start off the New Year with good intentions and many resolutions which rarely last through January. Firstly, my Christmas present to my liver is to not drink for 30 days. I’ve done READ...