music debut

I haven't updated in almost two months! I can't believe it! To be honest, ever since Ri and I got back from Kyoto towards the end of July, August got insanely busy and I barely had time to sleep or call my parents much less blog.

Most of you probably don't remember,  especially since I barely blog lately, but back in April I mentioned helping out an acquaintance's band with something and now, after almost 4 months I can finally talk about it! 

Recently I received FEAR FROM THE HATE's first full album, "Birthday of 12 Questions as a present. Want to know why? Look really closely at the names, notice anything?

If you missed it, miss wave! Vocalists MEG of ARTEMA and Taama of ROACH lent their voices to this album as well.

Okay so in my case, it's not an actual singing debut but this is certainly the first time I've ever participated in anything like this and I'm really thankful to the members for giving me this opportunity. I'm happy to have participated--even if it was just a little bit--on what turned out to be a really great album.

For those curious↓↓

FEAR FROM THE HATE is an indies post hardcore/emo-core band from Tokyo. Their music is electronic and very easy to listen to with elements of metal and screaming thrown in as well. If you're in the Tokyo area, I definitely recommend going to a show of theirs. They usually play with a lot of other really great acts as well.  The PV for their single "Paint a trip party" below.

I realize that metal or emo-core etc may not suit a lot of the tastes of my readers but I wanted to post this anyway because this was a really big deal for me and inadvertently has been gradually opening more and more doors for me along the way and hope I'll get to work with them again in the future.

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kyoto day one

I have so many things to write about but unfortunately not nearly enough time to cover even half of them.

For now though, part 1 of my trip to Kyoto with Ri! I had been planning on going in August with my family when they came to visit me but unfortunately due to various things going on in America, I'll be going back to visit my family over summer holiday instead.

Things have been kind of hectic lately and I really just wanted to pop out of Tokyo for a bit and breathe.

Kyoto Station

Kyoto Tower

We hopped on a night bus at on Friday night at about 10:30pm out of Shinjuku and arrived at Kyoto Station at about 6:00am on Saturday morning. Not nearly as tough as I thought it would be. Though I do have absolutely the worst time sleeping on moving vehicles.

Stopped for breakfast at Mister Donuts and walked around a bit before having second breakfast at a little cafe on the way to our ryokan. We were such fantastic little hobbits when it came to meals that day.

We had something to do that night so we spent most of the day walking around and...eating. A lot more.

I swear my arms aren't that skinny IRL.

This is kind of vulgar but it needed posting.

Bath house from Spirited Away, anyone?

I do kind of hate when people post only these types of Japan photos but to be honest, I've lived in modern Tokyo so long it was really nice to get out and see something different. It's taken me a year and a half to finally visit Kyoto but I'm so glad I did.

More tomorrow!

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damselfish

Yet another belated entry! Usually my life is so busy during the week, when I get home from work I'm so tired I usually just end up watching Criminal Minds and pining endlessly over Dr. Spencer Reid. Then by the time my weekend rolls around I get really busy again and end up running out of time to blog. It's a vicious cycle.

Anyway, went to HOOTERS by Akasaka-Mitsuke the other weekend with my roommate(s). It was one of those days where I could find absolutely nothing to wear in my closet. Plus it made me wish I'd bought this SLY sweater back in March in black instead of grey.

SLY X EGOIST

Mine and my roommate's dear friend from Australia is staying with us right now so please ignore the futon behind me.

Around this time I also went to a few shows with Ri and my other friend including one at Marble in Shinjuku. This was such a good show and had a lot of really great bands performing in it.

The same week we also went to another show at ANTIKNOCK and felt it necessary to commemorate with purikura.

If you're wondering, DAMSELFISH is my session band. Or well, what I hope I can make into a session band. Anyone in the Tokyo area who can play drums or bass, please let me know, haha.

Also speaking of bands, today Izzie and I interviewed FEAR FROM THE HATE for their first interview geared towards overseas readers. We had a hard time finding a spot but ended up settling on a nice outdoor cafe. Thanks for a great interview guys!

While Izzie and I were waiting, we stopped into Tower Records and I picked up this.

Along with a flyer for 激ロック！

I saw Ashley Scared the Sky for the first time recently at a show at Black Hole in Ikebukuro. I had gone to see another band that I'm hoping to cover an event for and, though I had never heard of the above band, I was so impressed with their set I bought their EP today.

Tonight I also went out to eat with Caroline and her K-Man at T.G.I.Friday's. We even dragged the poor man to purikura. Sorry Kenjer!

I have so many blogs I want to catch up on so hopefully I will do that tomorrow instead of TV...

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"a wish to end the tragedy" release party

Recently I was asked, "Hey yeah! Promote us!" when I told the guitarist of ARTEMA that I had a music, fashion, and lifestyle blog. That live is next week. This one I wasn't asked to write about but it's one that I wanted to anyway. 

2011.06.12(sun) 「A Wish To End The Tragedy」Release Party!!

Bands　
sever black paranoia
FEAR FROM THE HATE
Remembering Sensation
NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST 
INFECTION
One Last Breath
THE TWISTED HARBOR TOWN

 hosted by FEAR FROM THE HATE at THE GAME in Shibuya.

Situated right by PARCO and miu miu in Shibuya and right under Milkway and almost on top of Chelsea Hotel. I'd never been to GAME before but more than a livehouse it felt like a club. It's also much newer than Milkway so it felt a little more...fancy? 

Anyway. The purpose of the event was to promote an eponymous compilation CD--A Wish to End the Tragedy--by various artists in the Japanese metal/screamo/hardcore scene as well as similar artists from Europe and America as well. Proceeds are donated to the relief efforts for the Tohoku Earthquake and well, a lot of really great bands participated in it. 


Of course if you don't like heavy music this may not be your cup of tea but...


My friend who I've recently started to cover events with took some really great photos during the live with her normal digital camera. Why doesn't my normal camera take such good photos? 

© izzie

Most of these bands I've seen before but a few of them were new for me. What's amazing to me however, is Japanese musicians (or people in general) see something they like and replicate it so effortlessly. It's like they look, observe, comprehend and do. They look like foreign metal/screamo bands, they sound like foreign metal/screamo bands, they're just not. It's actually really impressive.




I love girly fashion and I'll be the first person to hop on a Spice Girls or Avril Lavigne song at karaoke but for some inexplicable reason I really, really like metal. I love the way it sounds and I love the energy you get from it. Like somehow it makes me feel stronger? I don't know. Some of it can be just as superficial as pop I'm sure but from what I hear, I like. Even if I don't understand all of it, if I can feel it that's all that matters to me. 


Of course it's not everyone's scene but if you're near any of the bands in this genre, I say definitely give them a shot. 

..............................................

I have 3 lives next week; 2 of which I'm attending and 1 of which I'm covering. I'm going to be exhausted but I'm really looking forward to it. Also going to Sendai this weekend so I probably won't have time to blog again before I leave. Sorry I'm so behind on reading too!

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chocoholic cafe

Today's super I'm-so-late entry will be about Chocoholic Cafe! A lovely little sweets cafe that I visited for the first time with Ri in the middle of a torrential downpour last weekend. I'd already been a bit sick and now I have full-blown bronchitis --which is awesome--but it was really fun nonetheless.

Such a dreary day ;___;

New shoes from Esperanza & F21 Dress :3

Going down into the station from Roppongi Hills

I had to go to Roppongi Hills that morning for a press conference for LUNA SEA that I completely wasn't prepared for but managed to turn out pretty well. It was really interesting to be witness to a part of the music scene in Japan that I'd come into contact years and years before. It was an opportunity I never though I would get so I hope I can continue to do a good job in the future. Here's my article for those curious!


After that I met up with Ri at Ebisu Station and we began the walk to Chocoholic Cafe in the torrential downpour. It's kind of situated between Ebisu & Daikanyama Stations so it's a little bit of a walk but I really loved the route we took.

And then finally we arrived! 

This is their store--filled with so many cute things you will cry--that's situated on top of the cafe. The cafe is down the stairs to the right and, because it was raining so hard were actually somewhat terrifying to go down.

Fresh ham & vegetable gratin

My face cake!

Ri's face cake!

This place was actually one of the cutest places I've been in a while.

It's really tiny and the atmosphere was so relaxed. The perfect place to spend an icky, rainy day. The price is a bit high--normal for Japan--but if you want the full experience of real food + the dessert expect to spend about 1500-2000 yen.

But I mean really. Are you going to pass up bear cakes with faces on them? Really.

For more info you can check out their OHP here. They're only open until 7:30pm and they're closed every Monday though so it's definitely not somewhere you can loiter all night like Starbucks or something (and there's no Wi-Fi which we were hoping) but the atmosphere is wonderful and perfect for a rainy day.

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