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When you join one of the InsideJapan Tours, you will probably be wondering what your tour leader will be like – will they be knowledgeable, will they be interesting, will you like them, will they have a secret life and rock star alter-ego?!?!?! Perhaps you won’t be considering the last question there, but with tour leader, Steve Parker, that’s what you’ll get. Steve, is interesting, knows his stuff and is a likeable chap, but he also has band in Tokyo. If you are thinking of making it big in Japan, here are a few tips from Steve..
Having spent a good few years of my life in Japan, the land that brought the world “karaoke” (empty orchestra), I have long strutted my stuff and strained the vocal cords to David Bowie, Muse, Billy Joel, The Kaiser Chiefs and endured painful renditions by 50-something tone deaf British men of Bohemian Rhapsody (vocally, no problem apparently) and the 12-plus minute long Stairway to Heaven (which rapidly descends into a fast track to hell!).
Hence 18 months ago, I really was starting to feel the emptiness of the orchestra and the urge to create something of my own. The obvious solution? Start a band.
A year and a half on, with limited success, I can proudly introduce myself as the vocalist of the completely unknown rock band, “The Cinders”, dedicated to introducing the locals to a little dark indie Brit-rock.
It has been a challenge to get to this stage, least of all the search for members in a city of millions. Thankfully the eternally painful task of finding a bassist was made easy with my friend, Justin’s, coincidental return to live in Tokyo.
We then uploaded online ads for “musicians sought” and they eventually appeared in the form of a male Japanese drummer and a lead guitarist. It took us around 8 months to become a 4-piece band, but a major part of the struggle was, of course, over. Now it was onto the easy stuff – the music and maintaining harmonious human relations within the band!
To practice in Japan is majorly hassle-free. In most Japanese cities there are underground bunker-like rehearsal studios or multi-storey affairs with 4 soundproof practice rooms or so on each floor. For around 2000yen (15 pounds) each you get a decent drum kit, guitar and bass amps, as many mikes as you can throw a (rhythm) stick at, and even a mirror on the front wall to see how you look when you are set up and playing!!! And, most importantly, 3 hours to make an aural mess!
So with hours of practice under our belts we were next ready to show the world what we had created. And herein lies the eternal challenge of performing live in Japan. Tokyo, being a megacoolopolis, suffers no lack of venues, however, there are 1000s of rock and punk, jazz and funk bands, troubled acoustic troubadours and colourful keyboard wizards vying to procure a night slot to play in.
Once you have an invite to play, unlike in your home countries perhaps, in Tokyo, it is the BAND that ends up paying to play. If, as we have been lucky enough to do recently, you manage to get on a bill with 3 or 4 other bands, the venue usually stipulates that you owe around 40,000yen (300 pounds) to start with. Any guests of yours that turn up pay nominally 1500yen (ten pounds) to hear your noise. That amount is subtracted from your final bill, so as in life in general, it’s good to have friends around, and friends that like your noise!!!. Oh, and they must buy at least one obligatory drink too, so as a band, we never expect to be bought a congratulatory drink after a gig!!
So there you have it – your band is part of the Tokyo scene. I have recently been putting up posters all over and contacting all I know in order to have someone to share our music with at gigs. People have come and the usually reticent crowd (unless at their favourite band’s gig, when they crowd surf to ballads), are always a little difficult to get moving to music that they are unfamiliar with. However, our confidence is growing, our wallets may be shrinking but Tokyo is starting to move to our music, even if it is for now just an embarrassed foot tap or head sway! I think we are on the road to a minor part in the Tokyo rock scene. Whatever our limited status, we still DON’T and never will however, do requests for old Queen or Led Zeppelin tracks!
The Cinders play live in and around the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Their only release to date is the Evenings EP – available on itunes.
