Making It!
I spent the last five years in England floating from band to band and eventually to acoustic night playing my way around drunken venues. Always with a key message in my head about my belief in music and how I would never "sell out" or "be an ego" when it came to becoming famous. On arrival in Japan I thought "f#ck it". I decided that this was a great place to "make it" in the music business so that in the future after i at least break the market I could start to record what I enjoy. I auditioned for a few western bands around tokyo but eventually found solace in an all Japanese band. Their idea was that they would crack the American market with a brand of J-Rock/Emo/Indie/Alternative music style. I have never really been in touch with the cool kids when it came to naming genres so I merely nodded when they suggested this particular style.
The First stage was to write English lyrics for songs tunes that had been written by a very Japanese mind. I was given themes and drawn a host of pictures to describe the feeling in each verse, chorus or bridge. It was then my role to turn the pictures in to passable English poetic lyricism. The four tunes were all generally about a group of 25 year olds and their thoughts on what was wrong with the world. Those thoughts largely saying: Politicians are bad, People are corrupt, the pop industry is turning the average person into a dumb sheep and that there is no longer a place for true creativity because the laws of the land are now so quick to crush any radical thought. A fine idea in practise however I have yet to find anyone who can back up there beliefs. One of the songs was about the Asian conflict and the constant trouble between China and Japan. Why do we fight? Why does china hate Japan and why can't we all just be friends?(super cliche).
The second stage was to practise regularly in one of the overpriced practise studios in the metropolis area. The studios consisted of recording equipment, microphones, amps and PA systems much the same as a western studio, however in the Japanese studios you're also surrounded by 3 walls of mirrors. I was horrified to find that the mirrors are there so you can "check your image" while your playing. I stood and gazed in ore through the other studio windows at the pretty boy hair done up to the nines "boybands"(which said they were Punku bando) staring at themselves while they jumped in unison and created a Blink 182 look. I was horrified to find out that all Japanese bands are like this. I know its harsh to stereotype but I'm hoping someone will read this and disagree with me, thus introducing me to a decent non commercial Japanese band. Go on I dare you.......
The Third stage once we had perfected our 30 minutes song catalogue was to play in a live house. Great, I thought to myself finally I can expose the public to my strict problems with society. I'm sure it will be in a liberal bar filled with all classes and creeds who have come to the bar to be enlightened, such as it (sometimes but rarely) is in England. Alas I was sadly mistaken. When scouting the bar in Ebisu we found that the current live band were dressed as the toys in "Gundam Wing". A stage full of Japanese guys with there instruments, playing self written J-Pop whilst wearing perfect replica pilot outfits from the kids anime show. What was left of my shattered soul then found out that we had to indeed "pay-to-play" in all live houses around tokyo unless we wished to go to a gaijinJapanese word meaning "outsider" commonly used to describe foreigners. Considered somewhat impolite. bar and play on their open mic night. I was more than happy to do so , but was told by the band members that "it is not za Japanese way". After forking out nearly a hundred pounds to play I was then given a host of tickets to sell to all my gaijin buddies. My sales technique went as follows "come see my amateur JAP/ENG band play songs that you've never heard before at 4.30pm in ebisu, you'll surely be amazed at our "stage look". Oh and by the way its fifteen pounds a ticket. A similar price to a newly founded Brit band who had been signed and had at least one chart hit under their belt.
This was not the way in I had hoped for. although believing that my pretty white face would be worshipped in some kind of Jesus like stature I still found that this was not enough to satisfy my now trodden down hope that being in a band in Japan is the right thing to do. My final idea is to have my eyes sown together as some sort of tribute to Ayumi Hamasaki, thus creating a niche market and becoming famous merely upon my look. This is the way of the Japanese music industry. Bitter as a lemon. Full Stop.
| 
| 
