Not everyone’s lucky enough to be able to stage a reunion for their turn-of-the-century indie rock band, especially one that is well received. Then again, not everyone has made music as memorable as the first two albums from San Francisco’s Ee. Ramadan and For 100 We Try Harder hold titles as retroactive college radio classics. Their set at LA festival And Always Forever last November had one of the most engaged crowds of the weekend, going toe to toe with the lineup’s buzziest indie acts. It was easy to spot kids with newly-purchased Ee shirts tied around their necks. Before the festival, we asked vocalist and founder Tobin Mori about friendship, supermarket preferences, and his return to the stage. Read his answers below.    

How did you link up with 7th heaven for the Ramadan and For 100 We Try Harder reissues? Was it easy to track down the masters?

Tobin Mori: Brock (of 7th heaven) found me a while back and said he was interested in re-releasing Ee, and I said, “sure why not?” I couldn’t believe that people wanted to hear us on cassette tapes. Still astounds me. Unfortunately, I no longer have the complete masters of Ramadan, despite trying to recover them. They were backed up to CDs, which have since degraded; however, I did just find the drum tracks for Ramadan—so if I wanted to re-record everything else, I guess I could. I think we may have the For 100 masters on two-inch reel to reel tape lying around in somewhere’s attic or garage.  

Do you still shop at 99 Ranch, the supermarket chain you’ve referenced in both artwork and titles? What should people buy there?

Hah. Nowadays I tend to shop at Japanese marts if I have my way. Or, H-Mart, since they’re the popular East Coast Asian grocery store. Hmm … People should buy tamarind at 99 Ranch. It’s an underused ingredient in Western cooking. They should make Vietnamese soup with it, or a dessert of some kind. 

What’s the sweetest message you’ve received from a fan?

Hmm, the most impressive message I’ve received was from a woman who messaged us on the Korea Girl IG. She has, not one, but TWO Korea Girl related tattoos. Now that’s incredible dedication! Of Ee fans, one fan meticulously drew the cover art of Ramadan in a parking lot with chalk and sent me a photo. That was most impressive, and very endearing.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of indie rock?

Hmm, throwing tens of thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of hours of time, creating something intangible and ephemeral … Music, that is. Music is very irrational; on one level it seems incredibly trivial, but conversely, for me at least, it’s absolutely necessary to my survival. If I’m honest, I’m baffled and puzzled by people not into some kind of music.  

As you’ve aged, does music still factor into your friendships?

Absolutely. People often need an excuse to get together, especially we introverts. Music is a great excuse to just hang out. For the past couple years, I was playing in an amateur jazz group, and it was a good excuse to get into a room with a bunch of strangers to learn the same thing, but also a good excuse to slowly learn more about your fellow humans.

How did your relationship to your art change once you stepped away from performing? How are you feeling about your imminent return to the stage?

Great question. During the pandemic, when I was stuck inside for a year, I took to brushing up my jazz chops. It was an exercise in discipline more than anything else. I worked on sight-reading, learning new chords, improvising. So that was a twist for me: focusing on the traditional musicianship, rather than focusing on the art; I hadn’t really done that since college. Coming back to play Ee stuff has been a nice pendulum swing back in the other direction, back to focusing on the art. Music for me is a highly gravitational star (or black hole?) that I orbit. Sometimes I’m pulled in close, then I leave, and move away from it, but, reliably, I always slide back around the ellipse and return to it.

Your other band, Korea Girl, has a new Instagram profile—is a second reunion in the works?

Perhaps! Well, I spoke to Liz recently and she is not totally closed to the idea, but not totally up for it either. I told her that I’d offer her up some songs that I have in the vault and she can try them on for size. But, no pressure, so, also, no guarantees. If it goes well, I’m sure you’ll hear some new Korea Girl songs someday. I do have some old live Korea Girl tracks I want to re-release soon though, so look for those sometime soon, later this year or early next year!