Ken Hirai, CHEMISTRY, ORANGE RANGE, Tackey and Tsubasa, KinKi Kids, Natural High, Mika Nakashima, Gackt, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Dragon Ash, Stance Punk, Daisuke Kawaguchi, Husking Bees, L'arc~En~Ciel, Pierrot, Porno Graffitti, The Gospellers - and plenty more.
LEGENDS:
CHEMISTRY = Band // Artists // Singers
Now or Never = Song Titles
Satoshi Tsumabuki = Actors // Actresses
Hirono Shimizu = Character Names
Ryu Murakami = Books // Authors
With the exceptions of Ken Hirai and Dragon Ash who I have started listening to back in 2000 // 2001, I have not started to enjoy listening to Japanese Music until very recently. A couple of months ago in fact and although I have heard of Asian Kung-Fu Generation,The pillows and Husking Bees beforehand (during my love for Punk music which I do still enjoy), the other artists were pretty non - existent in my mind.
So it is probably surprising for me that after first hearing 30 seconds or less of a CHEMISTRY track from a movie trailer '69' that I find myself with two of Chemistry's albums after a month or so. How did I find myself in this position?
'69' is a Japanese movie based on Ryu Murakami's book with the same title starring Satoshi Tsumabuki and Masanobu Ando. Masanobu is the actor I fell in love with ever since I saw him as Kazuo Kiriyama from Battle Royale earlier this year. It aired on TV in England around May but at that time I never saw the entire movie because I was revising for my end of year exams (Yes! I was revising, perhaps the most diligent that I've ever been in my life!). The only bit I saw was when Hirono Shimizu (played by Anna Nagata) confronted Mitsuko Souma (played by Kou Shibasaki), up to the part where she gets shot in the back. I didn't think about it much then but when I got another opportunity to watch the movie and I thought "hey! I can finally watch this movie in full and see why that girl shot her". Then I saw him in the classroom, Kazuo Kiriyama (Masanobu Ando) and instantly…phwoar XD Not only did I finally found some sort of idol after a long period of nothingness (whilst my other girl friends always nattered about James Marsters, David Boreanaz etc - don't get me wrong, I liked James at some point but it was short) but Battle Royale rekindled my taste in the dark, violent and morbid genres (which is why I am hoping to watch Zatoichi, Hero, Ichi the killer, Uzamaki etc)
From that day, I wanted to know more about this enigmatic actor who didn't utter a single word throughout the entire course and like any newbie fan girls, I went on my little mini quest to find out more about him. I knew instantly that the chances of finding anything on Ando is virtually nil in magazines and DVDs because I live in England. So, I went searching for information on the internet, luckily I knew a few Japanese phrases and words to know where to go and where to look, when I came across the movie trailer for '69' (I think this is his most recent role) Upon watching this trailer and their "making of" trailer, the first thing I was en-tranced by was not Ando's voice but by this short snippet of a song. Ando's voice was great though ^^ but it was the short snippet that was "Itoshii Hito" which became stuck in my mind, making me think "I've got to find the full song somehow".
I was tempted to download it off the net through some program or another but I've resisted it for some time, and then SONY Japan came to the rescue, enabling me to listen to not only all of CHEMISTRY's snippets but every other artists that is with Sony (and that isn't all of them because Husking Bees, Malice Mizer and Pierrot are not on the list). That made me convinced that I should buy their album, rather than download all of their albums. I do want to contribute in some way towards their talents and then I finally decided that I should try and support them in some way. It also applies to other artists like Ken Hirai who I've idolized since 2001. I don't have a lot of money to buy loads and loads of albums so whenever it is possible, I will try and support.
Now one must wonder how one thirty seconds (or less) of a song inspired me to do such a thing for a Japanese pop duo? (After all, I have made a layout with this duo involved). I guess it is probably the power of music and a combination of inspirations that comes into the play of destiny. I suppose, if I didn't become mesmerized by Ando's acting and appearance as Kazuo Kiriyama from Battle Royale then I suppose I would never have come across CHEMISTRY (and believe me, I didn't have many teen crushes on movie // music stars unlike my other friends who had tons to like and adore. At one point in my life, I honestly thought I wasn't human)
The funniest thing that comes out of this is that no one has told me about CHEMISTRY beforehand. Most of the people I do chat to online and in life discuss about Ayumi Hamasaki, Aya Matsuura, L'arc~En~C'iel, Utada Hikaru…you get the idea? The more known artists. When I did try and ask some of my friends, they all gave me the shoulders. "I don't know who you're talking about", "buy it online", "download it", "never heard of them"
I guess that summarises my taste in music over the past few years because the same thing happened when I was into my underground punk music. Even then I wanted to know whether such an Asian punk group existed and there are some in Japan and China though not that many, and none too popular. With punk in general (which didn't come into my musical preferences before the college years) I started to enjoy the lighter genres of punk when one of my college buddies introduced me to this whole new genre. The likes of Sum 41, New Found Glory and Fenix TX thrilled my heart. Well, the old materials anyway, especially from New Found Glory. Their old materials like "Suddenly me", "Sucker", "It never snow in Florida" and "2's and 3's" were the ones that made me listen to them a million times (I grew out of Sum 41 in under a month but I was disappointed to hear Fenix TX split up in 2002) . There was one point when New Found Glory came to my hometown, but I never went because I didn't find the time which I ended up regretting even now. Then they went mainstream and even more pop when they pulled out the "Sticks and Stones" album.
Luckily, by then I was still listening to Ken Hirai after the transition from pop // emo punk to underground // hardcore punk. I think by then, I was up to date with Ken Hirai who released the "Strawberry Sex" single back in June 2002. I was also listening to the kind of music that made the normal folks who dared to listen go "what the heck is this?"
From then, even during the first year of my university life, I was gradually transitioning from listening to Bad Religion and Riddlin' Kids to the relatively unknown bands like Undeclinable Ambuscade, H20 and The Icarus Line. This was all my doings by the way. No one influenced me to transcend. It was also in my first year that I went even further into the genre and with the help of knowing of couple of guys that I started going to local gigs, supporting the British hardcore punk bands scene.
There is something that I've learnt from being passionate about music and that is you don't necessary need to conform yourself to the masses in order to appreciate the music you enjoy. You don't need to be swayed by cultural pressure in order to feel accepted within the realm. I remember the first punk gig I went to. A quietly known band called "Steel Rules Die" which formed in 2002. I was worried (I am a teenager still, after all) that my clothing which consisted of a freakish amount of light pink might be ridiculed by the so called Punks who had spiky hair, outrageously torn jeans, spiky bracelets, pierced everywhere and so on. I thought at one point, I was going to be pounded to the ground. So I went in ridiculously normal clothing, in baggy green jeans, couple of beaded bracelets, a black "animal" t-shirt and a chequered shirt with one of my friend to tag me along. Now when I went there, no one pointed fingers going "OH MY GOD, WHAT IS SHE WEARING" and I was glad to see that no one was that superficial to judge me because after all, I was there to listen to the music and not to be judged. Alcohol also helps as well but not too much because like I said, I wasn't there to be hammered but to listen and appreciate the music live. It turned out to be a great night, and I bought a few stuff to help support their group. I still listen to the band even now and hopefully I'll see them again.
If you got a talent to show, there is bound to be someone who will appreciate your kind of music. I guess that's why I've come to hate western music because most don't really utilise in their musical talents anymore but elsewhere like scandals, promotions etc. It probably applies to the Eastern kinds as well to some extent but there is something that attracts me to Japanese and Classical music and that is even though I don't understand their language well, it's the music that carries for them. Music is a powerful medium to use, if you can attract the audience to your music, not your personal life.
So where do I go from here? I am into Punk, Japanese and Cantonese music and Classical Music and the road of destiny still intertwines. I am sure with Ken Hirai however, the only Japanese artist that I've come to idolise, his music will be listened by me till the day I die. My interests in music are swayed through inspiration and I don't need people to tell me which musician is better because a man who can play a tune will be listened by another to appreciate and smile (and that goes a long way). For things fall into place for me like a chemical reaction.
~ Pancakes
25//10//04
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