When Lake Trout morphed from an electro-oriented improvisational band to a more hard-edged indie rock outfit, the group’s Michael Lowry (drums), Matt Pierce (keyboards/woodwinds) and James Griffith (bass) formed the ambient, all-instrumental offshoot Big In Japan. The outfit toured the East Coast between Lake Trout shows and, eventually, scored a gig as the backing band for the massive English group UNKLE. With Lake Trout playing less shows in recent years, the members of Big in Japan focused more on UNKLE, and Griffith became and important part of the band’s songwriting/production team. He even relocated to England.

In an odd turn of events, Lake Trout guitarist Ed Harris filled in for Griffith on bass in Big in Japan, and the ensemble started working with both Lake Trout frontman—and the only member of the band not in Big in Japan—Ed Harris and Celebration singer Katrina Ford. Given their change in lineup and style, Big in Japan has changed their name to Mt. Royal. The group—which now features all of Lake Trout with the exception of Griffith—is working on a new batch of tunes. For information on their upcoming shows, please click here.