So tonight marked 2-weeks since coming to Asia. Although time seems to have lost its significance. I don't have a watch, and my phone doesn't work here...so most days I don't know what time it is, what day of the week it is, where I am, what anyone is saying, what I'm eating, what that rash is...etc.
Basically, consistent delusion...
The only constant is the filming routine. Once the show starts, I remember what I'm doing, where I am, who I'm with, why I'm here, what that guy is doing on the stage and my name.
So...again I've fallen behind pretty quickly on blogging.
We're now done with day 4 of an 8-day-in-a-row section of shooting. Yesterday we took a train out west to interview Suishou No Fune. We went to this great park with the band, and Jonny, and started filming what was shaping up to be a great interview, and then...
A park manager dude came by and started power-tripping...he told us we couldn't film, despite it being a public park and what-not...and was not being very friendly. Moments after he left, he sent another croney to basically kick us out. He wanted to get us in trouble because we had already filmed, but the the two band members stood up for us and got us off the hook...phew...angry dudes suck...at least I got a phew shots before they kicked us out.
Apparently its a cultural occurence that if there are rules, they are strictly abided by, despite the circumstances. The park was empty, and we were out of the way, but the guy said rules are rules and wasn't willing to make an exception...some people lose track of what's important. I'm not saying we don't need rules...but I am saying we also need the ability to understand the purpose of rules, and be willing to sidestep them when it's for the right reasons.
So after that bout with authority, we headed to O-Nest where we did 2 interviews and saw 2 bands...Mahiruno, and the solo project for the former drummer of The Boredoms.
Mahiruno was great. These guys have a definite Zappa influence, crazy rock with a lot of changes. The guitarist played in another band we've seen. This guy is a technical wunderkind, playing licks out the wazoo.
Their interview went pretty well too. Micah from Elevation helped out as a translator. Afterwards they introduced us the the drummer who we later interviewed. He used to play for The Boredoms, which was a band who was very well known a few years back. He has now left the band and is working on a solo act, where he plays tribal fusion jazz rock type beats over samples he activates. Really cool, and a very talented guy.
The interview was a bit makeshift, taking place in the stairwell, but it went well. Afterwards we were done for the day.
So then we slept.
And today, we woke up and went to Lewis' to watch the first 5 tapes in the pending footage bin. Most came out pretty well...after the viewing session we went to an izakaya (bar/restaurant) and ordered a bunch of dishes and beers. The beers were enormous, and the food was spicey and crispy and everything was great...UNTIL....
We realized we had to be at the shows for the night in 30 minutes!
So we sprinted back to Lewis', packed up, and sprinted to the train station...
As we transfered trains at Ogikubo, we lost Eric, and everything started falling apart. The show had already started, we were late/lost/separated. So after a quick call, Lewis and I found our way to the venue, and quickly set up the cameras in time to catch the last 3 or 4 songs of The Tokyo Pinsalocks. This all female trio was cool from what I heard. The bass/keyboard/drums combo was fun and energetic rock type stuff (I'm not a music journalist). We didn't get any still photos of the performance, but here they are during the interview afterwards.
They had a lot of great things to say about Tokyo fashion as it relates to music, as well as how they see the underground music scene in the city. After their interview we checked The Zoombombs show. The 6 person band is straight up ROCK N' ROLL. Led by Don, the king of leadmen, they play hard and heavy rock start to finish. Not the most diverse music, but certainly all the energy anyone could every ask for...an unreal light show made for some epic photos as well. Here's a l'il sample:
So that's about it...gotta catch some Z's before we do it all over again....
Ciao,
Ian
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