The Day Off and D.V.D.

Wow, I feel like I just wrote the last entry, and it's already been 2 days since I was sitting here doing this. Where does the space-time go?

So apparently, Eric has decided to stop blogging, making me the sole blogger in this Live From Tokyo family. Wow...that's a lot of preasure...I mean what if my photo selections aren't adequate? What if I forget to mention something epic? What if there are tyep-o's? WHY ME?!?!

Actually I don't mind...now I have all the blogging power! I rule supreme...what I say, is. So now you can't go cross checking facts...maybe I'm lying right now...maybe there is no Eric, no Lewis, maybe there is no Tokyo. Who's to say?

Me, or no-one...

Okay, power-trip: accomplished.

So, the last two days have been very enjoyable, from both a R&R standpoint and a work standpoint. Following are some photos I took throughout the day. When we don't have to film shows, I find I am much more willing to pull out the camera and take photos for pleasure.

Yesterday was our first day off in 9 or 10, and it was great. We took care of renewing our leases at the Sakura House office in Shinjuku. Then we hit up this great sushi place we've been to 2 or 3 times before. It has a mini conveyor belt that constantly runs, and you just grab little dishes of the mobile sushi. They have all sorts going around, so if you don't like what you see, you just wait a few seconds. Fun with food! Different colored plates are different prices...but just to give you an idea, I had 6 green plates (usually two sushi rolls on each) and they cost about $1.25 a plate...so for $7 or $8 I had a large sushi meal. Not half bad.

We've talked about trying to put a camera on the conveyor belt at some point, riding with the sushi, getting shots of all the people eating as it passes 'em...we'll see, might be too riskay for the restaurant...

So after that, we went to Lewis' and did some music writing/dailies/photography...nothing too serious...after all it was our day off.

But while were there, a thunderstorm erupted, cutting out the power for brief moments. The thunder was incredibly loud, and the lightning was very frequent...I tried to capture a lightning bolt in a photo, but wasn't getting very lucky...here's a few images that show the intensity of the light flashes. Here's the skyline before and during the lightning:

It's been raining for at least a week straight now, and the forcast predicts at least 10 more days of it. I think it may have to do with the intense humidity here...all that moisture condenses in the evenings, and precipitates as a result. This may be complete BS, but I like pretending to know something about meteorology.

So today was also great. Well, it started abruptly. Despite being woken suddenly from a dream in which I was stashing camera/lighting equipment in my church back home, afterhours, with the lights out in most of the building, the rest of the day was fun.

We got some work done on the new website...

Lemme give you the scoop on the Live From Tokyo website as of now, because a lot has gone down.

So last year, Lewis made a website, which was essentially a blog. That's the website you've probably seen up until now. So a few months back, while we were still in Burlington, a friend of a friend said he'd make our new and improved website, pro bono...

Uh oh... pro bono is a pro no no...

Basically, this guy bailed on us, leaving us hanging with a half built website. So Lewis took over, and has been trying to learn how to be a web designer/computer programmer in his off time.

Needless to say, it's a big task, and there have been many problems. Domain switches, server changes, FTP debaucles, among other problems. Anyway, we are now actually very close to launching LIVE FROM TOKYO . NET 2.0

However, because of our limited web experience, it's going to be going through further changes down the line...

Moral of the story: Check out the website in the next week or two, and feel free to comment on my blog with feedback/ideas, but be aware that we're doing the best we can with the very limited time/experience we have.

Alright, so after working on that this afternoon, we left Tokyo!

Zang!

We took a train to Yokohama (a city that adjoins Tokyo) and then a subway to a stop a few minutes further out. We interviewed D.V.D. and filmed their show at the gg Lock Art Festival.

These guys are so cool.

Probably my favorite show as of now. Not just in Tokyo, but anywhere...I had a blast.

D.V.D. stands for Drummer Video Drummer, and as you probably guessed, there are two drummers and a video graphics guy performing together.

How can I describe them?

They play music, kind of.

They play video games, kind of.

They make art, yeah...but...

They make art by playing music which in turn controls video games, but also they play video games, which in turn creates music, while art is being produced because of the video/audio interaction...YES! That's it! I think...

So the two drum sets are rigged up with electronic sensors for each drum/cymbal.

When one drummer hits the snare, it's like pressing A on a nintendo controller. The bass drum is B...and so on...

So now you've got two drummer, playing beats, which are also commands for a video game. It's like The Grateful Dead meets Atari meets Jackson Pollack meets Chris Karuda.

Holy wow.

But not just video games.

Some of the sequences involve each drum creating a different paint-like splotch on the screen.

Some of them involve a stick figure on the screen whose individual extremities are controlled by each drum sensor. So the beat makes them dance in unison...

Anyway, each song has a different program/video/game...

So after watching them duke it out in pong, and then creating a jam out of the game, they'd move on to pinball...

All of the games/graphics are very cool, not detailed but more geometric shapes. The video guy is also controlling these different games, and I think was playing samples...because there were basslines/melodies going on too.

Anyway, they were amazing. Fun night.

Oh before I forget, we went out for dinner tonight at this nice place called El Secreto (The Secret). It was a classy mexican restaurant. Except only too late we found out what the name of the place meant. The secret is, they serve you the smallest portions ever. $10 for a duck in wine sauce entree, not bad...but then...wow, those little slivers of duck cost about $3 a bite...

So immediately after the dinner we went to an AM/PM which is kind of like CVS or 7/11, and we bought rice balls. These are not like gooballs in a headie Phish parking lot. These are triangular rice patties, stuffed with different unknowns, and wrapped in seaweed. For $1.30 I got a riceball that was larger than my entire dinner, and it was stuffed with tuna. Awesome...

Ok, so that about does 'er...

Sayonara!

Ian-san

Oh yeah...one last thing...apparently we've been invited to film a 2-day festival near Mount Fuji. It's about 2 hours away, and is set on a lake. There's going to be some big names there, as well as a few groups we've had trouble getting in contact with. We've been allotted press/backstage passes...(woo! free music is always a great thing)...but we need to figure out if we have overlapping shoots/financial ability to spend two days even further abroad than we currently are...I'll keep ya'll posted.

Curry and Kareoke...

So today was the bomb. It was phat, phresh, and a whole lot more.

We finally got our full interview in with Suishou No Fune. This couple is awesome. I have a lot of respect for them and their lifestyle. We met them early this afternoon at the Kichi-Oji train station, then headed to their small curry restaurant. This is another one of those amazing mini restaurants. It had 5 seats, and was about 7 ft square, which included the kitchen, counter, sink and seating...alright, compactness! Here we are in front of the place:



We had a great interview with them, in which they told us about their lifestyles, thoughts on music, and their modest mindset. They both wear black outfits all the time (she wears a shawl too), pants and shirts, even when its 105 degrees out. They told us that they do this for their music and for their restaurant. They are priests of both of these things, they said. They take both of these things very seriously, and in homage to this feeling, they wear specific garb.

They also say that black contains all other colors, so it represents freedom for them. They do not like to confine themselves to one color, but rather allow themselves to contain all colors.

They told us about their modest beginnings, and their current way of life. They play 60 or more shows a year, and run the small curry restaurant in their off time. They have traveled the world, and seem to have smiled the entire way doing it. It was really great to see this couple, so in touch with what's important, enjoying themselves to the fullest.

It was a real pleasure to meet them once again. In fact, I couldn't help but feel a slight guilt or akwardness by the fact that these humble folk were being interviewed by us, while we aimed high-tech HD cameras, and 10 megapixel digital SLRs at 'em, with shotgun mics on booms, and XLR cables plugged into this and that.


I mean, talk about a contradiction in ideals or something. I dunno...in either case, there seemed to be mutual respect going on, and it was groovey.


After the interview, they opened the restaurant for us, and made us the best curry dishes I have ever had. I had chicken curry with yellow rice, and it was perfect. The large pieces of chicken fell apart as I touched them, tender and saturated with flavor. The curry was spicey and delicious. Amazing. Afterwards, they served us a refreshing yogurt drink. She described it as yogurt, with a small amount of cumin in it, and a bit of water. Totally cooled the curry heat. Zang!



After we left, we stopped by a music store and bought a mic clip. No more taping the microphone to the boom. One step closer to being professionals, yet still so far far away.


So then we went to Lewis'. Eric passed out immediately, and we recorded his snoring for a song we've been working on, called Kraft Singles. We've formed a band, called Return To Hamburger...which is playing off the name of Chick Corea's band Return To Forever.


And, while we were at the curry restaurant, Keiko called Muzenji Monk from Muryako Muzenji and helped finalize a gig for us!


Alright! We're gonna play an official gig in Tokyo!


So we've been inviting all the bands we interview. On September 26th, the Live From Tokyo crew will be playing Live in Tokyo! It's gonna be our big finale, and from the sound of it, many of the musicians we've met will be attending.


Needless to say, we're extremely excited.


So after leaving Lewis' we went to Shibuya and met Jonny for the Sexy Sythesizer show. Lewis stopped by Shinjuku and met Makoto, who gave us back our 2nd camera which he had repaired! Once again, this guy is amazing. Can't thank him enough...here's the 2nd camera, new and improved before the Sexy Sythnesizer show...

We had seen them play after The Lady Spade, and had really been into 'em, but now we had press passes, and filmed the show in detail. (Although the photos didn't really come out).


They play 8-bit music, which is music that uses the same audio technology from GameBoy or other oldschool devices. However, they also merge house, funk, and electronica into the music. It makes for some of the most amazing, intense, energetic, awesome audibles that I've ever heard. And throughout the entire performace, 8-bit graphics are playing on projectors throughout the club. The guy behind the Apple computer is running all the custom graphics.

So after a great show, we went to do an interview. But it was raining outside, and it was loud inside. Where to go?

KAREOKE!

So we hit up a 6 floor Kareoke Bar in Shibuya. We rented out a room which had a massive flatscreen HDTV, a BOSE soundsystem, couches, cameras, lights, etc. and ordered some beers before delving into a great interview. These guys were cool doods.

They weren't camera shy at all, and really gave flushed out descriptions of Tokyo's electronic lifestyle, and their role in music here. They talked about video-game culture, about Nightrider, Chuck Norris, about Rice-Rockets, and tons of other stuff. They talked for almost 2 hours, and they still had more to say. I think we'll probably be doing a follow-up interview at some point.

So after they covered the bill (which was pricey), we headed out...thanks Sexy Synth. Anyway, we have our first day, in 9 days, without filming tomorrow. I'm not going to set an alarm clock, which is the best feeling there is.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Oh, if anyone knows how to post an .mp3, I'd like to post some tunes I/Return To Hamburger have been working on. I found a html embedding code, but how can you use that from a blog (no server space). Any ideas?

Konbonwa!

Ian-san

P.S. Did you know that it's a very common ice-breaker question for Japanese people to ask each what their blood-type is? It's supposed to tell you a lot about someone, like their zodiac symbol.

While you think about that, think about this:

Alright! Party Time! Excellent! Bonus...

So yeah...we've been quoting Wayne's World nonstop over hear. (Try reading the rest of this blog as if Wayne were saying it) Ok. Cool.

Here's the thing:

When you're away from America long enough to forget the taste of PBR, you start hanging on to those miniscule moments of home. So after we watched Wayne's World, Wayne Cambell and Garth Algar have become homeland heroes of ours. Aurora Illinoise! Alright! High five!

Ok, so I thought you should know, it's been raining for a week straight! What gives?!

Although I must admit, a zesty bowl of ramen never tasted so good as after a night in the rain.

Also, there are umbrellas everywhere...excellent! People just seem to grab em as they go, and they get passed around. The other night, I had 4 different umbrellas over the course of the evening...I dunno if that's typical, but I felt dirty...and kind of excited...haha

So today we watched 4 hours of footage....starting to catch up with ourselves...only 16 hours of fottage pending currently...

Then we split up for two shows...only there wasn't two shows...which we found out upon arriving at one of the venues...so Eric and I hopped back on a train and got to Koenji to catch the second half of Akinori's set. He plays classical guitar in a unique way, often scraping the strings, and using different objects percussively to make obscure noises. He has a heavy influence from the noise genre of music, in which melody is avoided, and the focus is more on individual sounds...sometimes coallescing into a moment of layering, sometimes standing alone in sonic space.

His music made for some very pensive moments. I found myself thinking deeply about all that has happened since coming here. In many ways it was like dreaming. My thoughts varied and flowed freely from one subject to another. At times, I felt very tired, although maybe the sensation was more like hypnosis than fatigue. It's the same way I felt when I watched 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini.



After the show, we did an interview with Akinori, fascilitated by Makoto's translation, and then hung out with them and other performers and friends who were at the show. We got some recommendations for places to visit when we travel around Japan our final week. Alright! Bonus!


So time to sleep. Got another day of production tomorrow.


In unrelated news, here's a picture this guy sent us the other day...he's a big fan of the video's online. Alright, our biggest fan!

Also, check out this short clip we've uploaded from the Elevation show. Micah is the drummer, and has been translating for us...cool dood. Again sorry about the poor video quality...it's hard to watch HD footage get downconverted into this mess...but you'll get the idea.



Alright, peace from the East.

Ian

The Past Few Days: A Recap Of Sorts

Ok, days have lost their distinction at this point, so I'll start by saying that everything in this post may or may not be in chronological order. There are no more guarantees.


Anyway, a few days ago, we took a train out to the Tokyo fringes to meet Makoto. Makoto is a sound musician of sorts, who makes many/all of his own instruments and tries to push the limits of sonorous creations. He experiments a lot with feedback, both in audio and video forms. Many of his instruments implement feedback in ways in which it can be "played". In addition to being a interesting musician and engineer, he's a really awesome guy. Lewis had met him last year, and had become friends with him, so for the interview, we hung out at his place/recording studio. This was a great change of pace from the run-and-gun interviews we've been doing in stairwells and basements.


After the interview, he demonstrated a new creation. He had three independent machines that would send electric currents through a piece of sheet metal, causing it to reverberate. The Sheet metal was attached to a wooden box with an amplifier built into it. By twisting bolts drilled into the sheet metal, Makoto could control the frequency of the reverberations, and create some amazing sounds.


While all three of these are running, the waveforms align at certain moments and a pulsating effect is produced. Because of these waves and pulses, Makoto had named the instrument an oniphone (I think - which means wave or pulse in japanese).


So after the interview, we were off to Shimo-Kitizawa for an Arcorhyme show. This band was definitely the lightest music we've heard thus far...mostly covers of bands like Lovin' Spoonful and other American pop 60's bands. Cheesy stuff. The interview took place in a room the size of a closet. The photo makes it look way bigger:


Okay...the next day, we split up because two shows were overlapping. First, I went to Makoto's performance. It was taking place in a space not far from where we live in Sendagaya, so it was the first show I saw without taking a train/subway to get there. Makoto performed an experimental noise set using a video-camera as his instrument. By holding the camera in certain positions, and pointing it at a monitor he set up, he created audible and visual feedback. There was a projector displaying the psychedelic images he was producing. Very awesome stuff. (photo or video clip coming soon)

So after the show, I hopped on a train and headed back to Shimo-Kitizawa to catch up with Eric and Lewis at the Para show. These guys have a futuristic jam band sound, although in their interview they clearly said they were not a jamband. I guess it's more composed than jamband stuff, but it was totally quirky. One of the guitarists had 3-pedal boards...a mini space station at his feet...these guys played one of the best shows thus far. It was many layers of catchy melodies, and overlapping rhythms. It was built like electronic music, but done with instruments live.


So after the show, once again, we interviewed...and it was the worst interview yet. They didn't want to talk about anything. Which was akward and boring. What gives? These guys rock onstage, and then they totally freeze up on camera!


So after taping an hour of them nodding and responding with one word answers, we left, upset and tired.

But after a few amazing bowls of ramen, we were psyched and back on track for the next day.

So I need to explain ramen in Tokyo. When we in the U.S. of A. think of ramen, we imagine the 25 cent chicken flavored packets you get at the supermarket. They're salty and cheap and taste alright with an egg cooked into 'em.

But here, a bowl of ramen is incredible. You buy a $6 bowl of ramen, and it's a stew with fresh veggies, meat, spices, and dumplings in it. The bowls are enormous, about 3 times the size of a hefty portion. And there are onions, peppers, mushrooms, scallions, pork, chicken, chili, noodles, egg, among other things in there. It's the most filling meal, and it comes out piping hot. And GET THIS! When you eat ramen, it's polite to slurp! It's so hot, you can't help it anyway....but it's actually a compliment to the chef...so we've been heartily slurping down ramen every chance we get...fills the ol' tank, and is a tasty/fun meal ta boot.

So then yesterday (I think), we saw Kuuru Krew, which is a heavy metal band. They were intense, but short lasted. Their set was only 20 mins. or so. The sets tend to be very short here, as many bands co-bill a show. However this was even shorter than usual. They played two songs. Woo. No great photos from the show unfortunately...here's a blur of what happened...which is actually similar to how I experienced the show...


Anyway, afterwards we talked to an American radio crew that was at the show too. KFJC 89.7 of the San Francisco area was doing a live broadcast from the venue. I talked to 'em a little, told em about my brother's gallery, GoForALoop (goforaloop.com), and then we headed home. Wham bam kazaam!

Okay, on to today. So I forgot to mention it, but our second camera was partially broken a few nights back. The microphone input (a cheap mini input) was broken and jammed inside the camera. So today, Lewis met up with Makoto, the king of electronics, and they went on a scavenger hunt for a replacement part. Makoto is gonna rebuild the pieces, which is amazing of him. However he's going to actually have to make some moderations to the camera. So in turn, he's going to replace the plug with a quart-inch plug instead. Alright, circuit bending our HD Cam! Suping it up!

So this evening we went to an interview/show with Marble Sheep. This band formed in '87 and has been rocking hard ever since.

They play classic down and dirty rock, and play it pretty well.

The drummer was also a member of Kuuru Krew (who we saw the night before), which was a surprise for us. We're starting to meet a lot of people who know each other, and in turn are getting a sense of the underground music scene over here. Names are becoming more and more familiar. This is good.

There was a double encore, during one of which, this white animal thing came out on stage. I love this country.


These guys rocked it oldschool. And they had the light show to prove it. The light show and stage backdrop were being lit by two people who sat behind transparency projectors. They put colored theater gels in front of the projector lense, and glass plates of oil and water on the projector surface. Looked awesome, just like those visualizations you see in the Grateful Dead videos. Here's they are, hard at work:

So overall the show was cool. It was also the longest show yet, almost 2 hours. After it ended, we came home, I sat down, and wrote this post...

I feel like I wrote an essay, so I apologize if it's too much to read.

Anyway,

Adios

Ian