Coming Up Kyoto MOJO Live House and Thoughts

The great thing about being retired for me: 

This is a 16bar sequenced synth part under heavy guitars. But is it "my style" or am I just making almost the same bit of music over and over again?  Can't tell, and as just an old grandfather entertaining myself, it really doesn't matter either.

This Reaper Project shot shows the 59sec bit used in this on the time line, but I record much more and it is really a longer piece. I have no idea if anyone but me has the sound on when watching my music+comics anyway.

On X I saw ASTERISM and DR. CAPITAL are having a gig at Kyoto live house KYOTO MOJO that is practically in my own backyard.  Not that I have been there before. I booked my ticket the day after it was announced. 

AND close by O.C.Burito , that has food that is something of a novelty to me as I am not an AMERICAN, and haven't even tried the Burrito yet. Been there twice, and a third time sounds good, it is in a B1 food court, OPEN 11:00~22:00(L.O 21:00).

Been aware of ASTERISM for some time. The guitar chops of HAL-CA, the guitarist are something else, and the brothers bass and drums match her.  Skill and technique, but not sure what  "voice" they have though, even after playing their Spotify Playlists.  Steve Via is an amazing guitarist too, and only a year younger than I am, but unlike Joe Satriani, he hasn't interest me, and lacks that something for me, a simple man, that likes memorable melodies and riffs. 

A double gig with YouTuber and academic  Dr.Captial. He can sure play and sing, but not sure what kind of show he will do, as 95% of what he seems to do is JPOP covers, and teaching about the songs.   

Calling himself Dr.Metal for this gig.  Probably a good thing. Expect anything he plays will be very well done.

First I learned about him was on the way too weeboo for me UNPACKING JAPAN YouTube channel, and found him interesting.  Seen some of his channel, but his interactions with Marty Freidman on ROCK FUJIYAMA and his passion and technique for  Brazilian Acoustic guitar was what really caught my attention.   He can play 3 independent parts simultaneously, and discuss it all. 

The gig is 5 days away now.  I expect to be the oldest person there by a wide margin, even though I don't look it.  On NHK this Sunday morning there was a news item on a city in some prefecture I don't remember, putting on a music performance/show for "over 65 seniors".   That is me, but it wasn't the kind of show I would want to go to!

The First Lady Prime Minister of Japan

And big local news is Japan will have her first female Prime Minister.  She beat the nepotism that was trying to install the idiot son of a former Prime Minister, of the same party, and the same party that has been in charge for decades here. A follower of the recently assassinated Abe. She is the one my wife and own kids barracked for with her "don't let the foreigners in Japan take advantage of us" views.  

If I mention "that may have a bad impact on me too, you know...", she says "they don't mean good foreigners like you".  Time will tell. I am a self funded retiree, so don't get any pension or such government money and pay for my own health insurance, so guess any regulation changes she makes to stop the "reported" foreigner abuses (from the Chinese and Turkish?) will not impact me at all.  

Right Wing propaganda everywhere says undeserving foreigners coming in are get big payouts that local citizens don't. This stuff is always untrue, but don't know about the Japanese case, but expect it too is untrue.  

Almost through Marty Friedmans book. Mmm.  Can't say the first  half is a "fun" read...  probably more "I really didn't need to know that", and lowbrow.  There is a YouTube episode of The Captain Meets Marty Friedman on Andertons UK music channel where The Captain is surprised he is interested in a very crude UK cartoon. 

It picks up after that though. His getting to Japan and making a living is a very different journey than my own (I came here as a degree holding electronics design engineer with a Japanese wife and son, and industry cred). 

My sister in law is a big fan of Marty, but she didn't even know he was a musician. Just an interesting テレビ外人芸能人  ,which for the majority of them, is like having a talking dog as a cast member of the TV show.  Marty is very aware of this but also knows that is how he makes his real living now, and funds his music career, he gets to dip into regularly with his own band.  I have never seen any of his TV appearances. But I also don't watch any Japanese variety TV. Just some of his YouTube Rock Fujiyama.    

He is passionate for JPOP and other Japanese music, and that helped him a lot in his music career in Japan. 

I think having a skill and passion that has commercial application in Japan is the key for non Japanese living and working in Japan, along with language ability. Any Japanese kid from school does Japanese.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology

The Unasked Question: Who Am I?

 

There is usually a short answer, simple but not accurate, and a long answer for most things. 

One question I am rarely asked is "why are you in Japan?".  

The short answer is my Japanese wife wanted to live in Japan, and I am completely okay with that. Lived here for 20+ years now.  But working and living in Japan isn't easy without the correct background and qualifications.

In my case, it was because I had a Japanese wife and done the electronics development of the later versions of the music production system that changed the music and instrument industry in the 1980s that presented a job worth having in Japan as a foreigner. Initially, anyway. I hadn't gone to school or university to study Japanese and the Culture, but electronics and software. 

The 42+ page collection of memories webcomic has more details and historic context, and isn't an autobiography at all.  

BUT, now in retirement I am getting to do what I wanted to do most, and be who I am.  Make silly drawings and music, go to art exhibitions, make miniatures and sculptures, go to concerts and visit a cafe listening to music when I want.  Not doing anything my career involved.

When you retire you become invisible to the bulk of society.  You are not in the work force, travelling in peak hour or climbing the corporate ladder or whatever.  I am now mostly out and about when everyone else is at work, or doing my own thing in my studio.

My Studio is a very modest affair though. Basically a 1.7m x 1.8m alcove, just big enough to sit with a Jazz Bazz and not hit the walls moving around.

But I have my REAPER based DAW, MOHO animation, Printer/scanner, Wacom tablet, drawing supplies, painting supplies all within easy reach. 

It is the perfect place where I do the stuff I want to do. 

When Covid stopped being the problem it was, and I started going out and meeting people again I made up some name cards, as it is normal to exchange them in Japan.  Made up stickers too, and give those out to people I randomly talk too, just so they might remember me next time we meet at an event. It doesn't matter if they just throw them away, or give them to their kids... 

I even gave the Flame Throwing Kyoto Truck sticker to Urasawa Naoki when I met him this week and he signed my MANNON CD.  He may have just left it on the table when the sign-kai finished and not touched it.  I don't know, I just left after meeting him.  

I have on my name card I am a Musical Cartoonist.  

I think that is pretty good for a short answer...

On my social media bios I have some thing like "Musical Cartoonist, Illustration, Music Production."   

Music Production?  

Yes, I am more interested in making music, even if only 60 seconds long, than I am of saying Guitarist or Synthesist. Don't think of myself as a guitarist or keyboard player at all. Think that applies to people that play live to an audience.  I make my original music in my studio, the way I do illustrations.    

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology KYOTO JAPAN

Urasawa Naoki "Rhythm & Drawing", Yes Theater, Osaka 2025/9/23

 

Urasawa Naoki is a respected Manga artist and writer. Know for his works like: 20th Century Boys, Monster, Pluto, Billy Bat, Yawara!, Master Keaton and Happy!

He also has a Radio Show, and the wonderful Manben (Manga Study) series on NHK TV.  He has a very serious hobby(?) as a musician, singer/song writer. He released his Love Songs CD earlier this year, his 3rd album(?).  The story telling songs of Bob Dylan & John Lennon are significant influences. 

So when he announced an Osaka Show for his "Rhythm & Drawing" I thought I wouldn't mind seeing that. On YouTube I had previously seen videos of such events he did solo in Europe. 

I didn't rush to book a ticket though.  A few days later when chatting with my wife, she offered to buy me a VIP seat as a 40th Wedding Anniversary gift.  On the same day she would be going with her sister and friends to OSK. One of her friends daughter is one of the "stars".

Hadn't been to the YES THEATER before, but it is in the connected maze of Shotengai to the east of Namba Station. It was a public holiday and everywhere was crowded with tourists and Japanese alike. Lots of places to go and lots of cafes/restaurants.

The forecast was for rain from noon. Darn... a character from his current ASADORA!

But it didn't rain enough to need an umbrella and most of the streets are covered in the area anyway.

I had a front row seat. The theatre seats 300, but there was a disappointing turn out of only 60, so just the first few rows had any audience in them.  After a full theatre in Tokyo:

He joked about some mistake criticism of OSAKA EXPO, or it is finishing soon for so few people. Urasawa san must have been gutted, and he looked that way when they came on stage. 😞  And next week is Kobe, an even smaller city. Maybe bigger manga fans.

The show was really good. They played for over 2 hours. No photos or video allowed, but venue staff were taking video and photos, these from Urasawa's post on X about it:

The band are all great, and Urasawa himself is a much better guitarist than I expected. He can also play and sing at the same time, I can't do that at all 😀.

Not just strumming chords on an acoustic or semi electric but doing solos on his Telecaster, through his VOX amp, too. Front of stage, in front of me, with his guitarist.

He didn't just leave all the fancy playing to his support band of pro musicians.  Sounded to me like he had quite a thickening delay and something on his vocals.  

During many of the songs, the band would do an extended instrumental in the middle and Urasawa san would come down the front stage steps to a table with a camera set up and draw characters and scenes related to the songs.

Like during his song Mr. Postman, he drew a traditionally uniformed Postman running to deliver a letter, sealed with a heart.

He related how the death of author Ray Bradbury impacted him.  His novel Something Wicked This Way Comes was inspirational and what his song カーニバルがやって来るみたいだ (Kanibaru ga yattekuru mitaida) is about, and the significance of the harmonica.  

In his introduction to his Manben TV show theme, he said he had just finished filming yesterday for a show for November broadcast. A really big well know artist, but NHK wouldn't let him say who it is (I would love to see Masamune Shirow and Mamoru Nagano who both put on exhibitions in the last 2 years).  

He said NHK doesn't give him any real assistance with the show.  He has to get his own introductions to the Mangaka, then keep going back to them as they always so no, they don't want to be on his show. He has to be persistent. When he finally arrives, by his own car, to the place the final interview will take place, NHK staff put a radio mic on him, they say "go!", and he just as to make up on the spot the introductions we all see.  He has to write what the narrator says, and correct her pronunciations. 

He thinks NHK maybe losing interest in Manben Neo, "but we haven't, have we?!". No we haven't!

The last image he drew:

There was a "sign kai" after the show, for those that had purchased merchandise. They fenced him in with a table, and barriers each side. Was this to stop him from trying to escape? I wondered to myself, loud enough for a staff member to hear 😀

I bought the LOVE SONGS t-shirt with the SOBA GIRL on the front, and his 8 year old release MANNON CD. 

He wouldn't take any photos with anyone today, not even for VIP ticket holders.  I had talked to others waited to get into the theatre with me and they said sometimes he will take photos, other times not.  The ones I talked to were there because of the manga artist he is, not for the music.  They also didn't follow his recent works though, but loved older stuff like MONSTER and YAWARA!

The gifts included with the VIP Seat and my signed MANNON CD:

Everyone got a really brief time to chit chat and get something signed.  You were given a piece of paper by staff  with instructions to put on it the name etc you wanted him to write. When giving him the paper, have it the right way round.  😐  That may be normal, but it isn't something I have experienced before. Never been to a Sign-Kai before, anywhere. 

He chatted he had just met and done something with a drummer/percussionist XXX, but that name  didn't ring a bell with me, but it could have just been his pronunciation.  The same way he has no idea who Mattias Eklundh is... 

Weeks ago, on an X post that the band had finished rehearsals for the first Tokyo gig, I replied I had a VIP seat for the Osaka show, and added my  60 second music+comic of my English version of his song Yurei.

When signing my MANNON CD, he said he had played the video, heard my English lyrics.  He didn't say what he thought about it though, with a smile. I had always assumed an assistant did all his posts, but it seems he does read them, even if he will never reply. 

Then he shook my hand, and my turn with Urasawa san was over. Next.

Yurei was the second song in the set last night. The live band seems to make all the songs seem more Rock'n Roll.

I don't know of anyone else having a gig with music and drawing like this.

So my big events for 2025:  Sound Messe Osaka 2025, Freak Guitar Camp in Japan weekend, Masamune Shirow exhibition in Setagaya Tokyo, Freak Kitchen + Rikugo and Urasawa Rhythm & Drawing concerts in Osaka are all concluded. 

Also bought a MOUSE PC Windows11 GTUNE  PC to replace my 9 year old not upgradeable to Win10 ( support ending Oct 13) machine. By far my biggest expense this year😠. This has been a really big event year for me.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology   KYOTO JAPAN

Freak Kitchen & Rikugo LIVE! Club Quattro Osaka 2025/9/16: Behind The Scenes

 

It was truly amazing to see Freak Kitchen LIVE this week. It was billed as first time in 22 years, but Mattias said this week was actually the first Freak Kitchen performance in Japan, as the first event was a guitar clinic all those years ago.

Their musicianship, charm and humor was AWESOME. You will find lots of clips from the audience on X via the hashtag #freakkitchen_live_in_japan  of the Osaka and Tokyo shows as it was agreed non commercial recording of the show was allowed.  Many of those clips are far better than any of the ones I took!

The opening act was local band Rikugo and they were great too. The crowd was there to see Mattias of Freak Kitchen, but they warmly welcomed them and they did an amazing job, with their Visual-Kei DARK METAL.

But apart from saying it was an amazingly awesome show, this isn't a concert review, but more about how it all happened.

It was all organized by fans, for fans. The main fan being the head of Zanshin Instruments , purveyors of the worlds finest instruments in Japan,  and Zanshin Records.  

While visiting True Temperament in Sweden he had met Mattias Eklundh and apart from organizing to sell his new guitar in Japan, wanted to bring him and his band too.  Mattias is one of THE Guitar Virtuosos and very well known in Japan and Japan has a lot of guitar players.

The first event Mattias attended was Sound Messe Osaka 2024, with a special clinic at MUSIC BAR M in downtown Osaka on the Saturday night. I attended this and met Mattias then, and took some video he used in his Kintsugi video.

Mattias came back for Sound Messe Osaka 2025, and presented his FREAK GUITAR WEEKEND in Osaka Japan. I attended that too and met the Zanshin president Ishida san.  Around then the Freak Kitchen tour was announced and the ticket lottery happened via the eplus ticketing website.

It was the first time for me in decades to go to such an event, and the first time to go to CLUB QUATTRO UMEDA.  Really well set up. The front of house sound (and lighting?)

The side stage foldback  consoles:

Freak Kitchen on recent tours have no amps and cabinets on stage, using Line6 HELIX modelers instead, and use the house PA .

Mattias only uses 3 presets in his Helix Stomp. Rhythm sound, Lead Sound and Lead Sound with delay. He uses a foot volume pedal to control distortion, gating and everything else. 

The band use Shure In Ear Monitors.

Sound Check was as much about setting up their individual IEM mixes as front of house sound. For example not just levels, but Christen, bass and vocals, wanted reverb and delay on his vocal in his IEMs.

The drum kit was rented, to save costs of shipping Bjorn's kit, the same as they have done in Europe. Dressed up with EVERYBODY GETS BLOODY artwork on the dual kick drums.

Opening act Rikugo's drummer Uchida san had to use the same kit too. But he did swap out the throne, snare drum and kick pedals for his own, and put the originals back when he finished.  He managed fine but said that Bjorn has his kit set up very low, and he had to just work with that.

I used ALPINE MusicSafe Pro EARPLUGS during the gig.  Has filters for LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH protection. I had LOW in at the start of Freak Kitchen's soundcheck, but had to rush off back stage where the light was better to swap to HIGH protection, as they were LOUD!!!  

Rikugo has a more traditional stage setup with amps, cabinets and large pedal boards.

And using fold back wedges on stage.

Before sound check the Rikugo guys presented Mattias with a Tea Cup with all their last albums song titles on it, that all use really complicated kanji.

And Mattias, Bjorn and Christer signed posters, drums sticks and organized pics to throw to the audience.

Sound Checks all finished at 5:30PM. Audience started to come in 6PM for a show start of 7PM.

Everybody was in 30 minutes before the start of the opening act and standing around waiting. The audience space is all standing only.

Fan Ke-kun had made a flag to get everyone to sign. He was also going to the Tokyo show to give it to Mattias there.  The Flag:

I signed it too.

Then 10 minutes before the start, Mattias comes from the back thru the crowd to the stage with them to cheers and applause and high 5s.  It was a very friendly atmosphere.

Rikugo was on stage 7:00 till 7:30PM. 

TOKYO METAL CITY, a guitarist I met at FREAK GUITAR CAMP (also the guy that introduced me to the head of Zanshin), gave an introduction to Freak Kitchen about their 22 years of being active and it is quite something they are here doing this.  

Freak Kitchen were on stage 8:00 till around 9:15PM or so.  Freak Kitchen threw to the audience signed t-shirts, drum sticks and picks during the show. 

And joked around with great musicality:

Merchandise for both bands was on sale at a table set up near the bar.   

I bought the Freak Kitchen Japan Tour T-Shirt and the Rikugo black hoodie.

The final event of the night was that those that bought the 12" vinyl of EVERYBODY GETS BLOODY could get the band to sign them. Those that had bought a FREAK GUITAR LAB guitar also got to meet Mattias. 

It was the first time for me to meet Bjorn and Christer too.  Mattias showed me what their setlist was for the show but didn't want me to tell anyone, so I didn't take a photo of it.  It is a mix of their old and new album songs.

It was a really great night for everyone. 

But must be tough for the guys. They arrived at KIX Osaka around 2:30PM of Monday 15th after a 22 hour flight from France with lots of stops. They performed Tuesday night the 16th. Go to Tokyo by Shinkansen on Wednesday 17th. They had the Tokyo show Thursday 18th. They get Friday for some tourism (Bjorn's wife is with him and it is her first trip to Japan), and fly back to Sweden Saturday 20th.  

Mattias has two presentations on Saturday 20th. A Line6 HELIX and FREAK GUITAR LAB PEDAL. Possibly the Made In Japan FREAK GUITAR LAB guitars too. 

The True Temperament Swedish made guitars are extraordinarily expensive in Japan, made worse by exchange rate and taxes (some applied twice I have been told).  I did mention to Mattias his wonderful Ulv8 is 20 times what I paid for my most expensive guitar.  Probably means, I am only 1/20 of the guitarist needed to buy it.

I almost never get asked "Why are you in Japan?".  My answer is way too long, and I will now just say "My wife is Japanese, and she wanted to be here".   It isn't really that simple, but is good enough, and I must sound like a jerk giving the whole story.  

About 10:15PM with his staff packing the gear on stage, I thanked Ishida san, (he was saying everyone needed to hurry up as Club Quattro changes for extra time (after 10PM?) ), waved goodbye to those that noticed, and left the building for my hotel. 

I dropped into a Lawson (a convenience store like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart here) for a pizza bread for dinner on my way back to the cheap Hotel Kansai I organized to stay at.  Interestingly, I bumped into one of Rikugo's guitarists, Hazuki Harada, in the Lawson too.   

And a guy in the audience in front of me had a shirt with a wonderful Zappa quote summing up everything:

UPDATE: Sunday 2025/9/21

Last night, Saturday 20th,  at IKEBA in Shibuya Mattias demonstrated his FREAK GUITAR LAB distortion pedal, designed by Shingo Koga and talked about the 2 year development and what it takes to get the sound Mattias wanted on an 8 string guitar. Mattias made the point he really needs to be able to use anything with his brand on it. 

Ishida san ("Babi" on right), Zanshin boss, acted as translator (which is much easier if you don't try to  explaining EVERYTHING he says.   "I dropped out of school at 16, I am Swedish and a left handed vegetarian, but play a right handed guitar, so to me, the way you all play a right handed guitar is strange, hey, that s a great t-shirtt!, and this is a really good distortion pedal"  translation: "he is left handed and Swedish and this is a really good distortion pedal" 😁).   

Mattias then introduced the first FREAK GUITAR LAB Made in Japan 6 string superstrat. This is manufactured by HARRY*S ENGINEERING.  I think this is a much improved shape over the sample I saw at the SOUND MESSE Osaka 2025. Note it is black and this first version has traditional frets.  All to make a guitar more of us can justify buying.  Maybe the 7 string version for me... 

UPDATE: Saturday 2025/9/27

Young Guitar Shibuya Concert Review covers it all, and has the set list at the end, which was the same as Umeda show.

1. Everyone Gets Bloody

2. Morons

3. Taste My Fist

4. Push Through

5. Speak When Spoken To 6.

Porno Daddy

7. Professional Help

8. Så Kan Det Gå När Inte Haspen Är På

9. Down The Drain

10. Raw

11. Medal

12. Troll

13. Silence!

14. Razor Flowers

15. Propaganda Pie

[encore]

16. Freak Of The Week

17. Nobody's Laughing

And Zanshin_records Live Stream reflecting a week later, on what it took to put the shows on. Some of what they chat about:   

It is impossible to interpret Mattias's really long replies 😁 during the Ikeba puppy demo. The Umeda audience was better behaved than Shibuya.  They expected to have 60 vinyl EVERYONE GETS BLOODY, but only got 30, as Mattias thought shipping was too expensive. It was like TETRIS getting the rented drum set into the van to drive from Tokyo to Umeda. It was Ishida san's idea for Mattias to walk thru the crow 5 minutes before Rikugo's set, and it was so well received.  Umeda venue was about a 1/3 full, Shibuya was comfortably full. They were all worried about would people turn up. More than one has said it was the best live event ever attended. Things did not all go smoothly, like forgetting a bag leaving Hotel and getting to Shin-Osaka JR station, and a guy having to go back and get it. Driving back to Tokyo with the drum kit after 3 hours sleep. Mattias wanting to record for a music video on the Shinkansen and being asked to not make so much noise & not being able to get a shot of Mt.Fuji due to clouds. The unusual decision to allow filming the gig and that everyone did the right thing on posting to social media. It was SO much work. Club Quattro staff said they had never seen a company president run around helping so much. Maybe Freak Guitar Weekend in Osaka 2026 should be 2 (or 3) days and focus on bands. 

All very interesting. 

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Preparation for FREAK KITCHEN & Rikuogo 2025/9/16

 

It has been 6+ months since this concert was announced and I actually booked a Hotel Room and bought the ticket.  That seemed like so far away at the time, but it is now tomorrow night.

When I heard that Rikugo were the opening act, I bought two of their CDs and listened to what they had put on streaming. Described as DARK METAL, the directions north, south, east, west, down and up, and emotionally that too is how they describe themselves. I would add eyeliner too, and maybe not un-influenced by Visual-Kei.  Not old style riff based is how they strike me. Lyrics seem also so earnest.

I booked a hotel room so I didn't have to panic with catching one of the last trains home and not be able to (possibly) chat with people after the gig.

So I have a small backpack to leave in my hotel room, with a check in time of 3PM before getting to CLUB QUATTRO Umeda, some 4 minutes away.

I have gotten to Umeda Osaka quite a few times in the last 7 years, so know the area in and close around the station, but the concert club and my hotel are a bit further out. 11minutes walk.  Looked up where they are, all good, and it looks like it will mostly not be raining tomorrow.

The merchandise for Freak Kitchen and Rikugo has also been announced, and will go on sale at 3PM tomorrow, and I expect to get a t-shirt for each band.

Luckily, Rikugo also has their design on a white shirt. That is the one for me, as in Kyoto (and Rikugo are from Kyoto), it is far too hot to wear a black shirt outside in summer. A black shirt burns my skin, and summer is the only time to wear a t-shirt.  

I will be there early and hope to get close to the action to do a detailed coverage in what I now know is a HAND MADE tour, put together by Japanese fans. The same ones that brought Mattias to the Osaka Guitar Festival the last 2 years. Not by a record label or such organization. 

And early afternoon Sept/15, Mattias, Bjorn and Chris arrive at KIX in Osaka.  They pretty much caught a flight after a gig in France yesterday!  

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology