Tokyo Round Two - The Big Finale

First off, apologies. We clearly are no longer writing this from Japan. I had planned to write this a few days after getting back, but since we actually still had to do Kyoto and Yamaguchi's posts and I've recently started work, it's not quite happened. But our second time in Tokyo is definitely worth mentioning, and then some!

The first day in Tokyo was gig day, and the venue was ERA in Shimokitazawa. Whilst it may seem odd that both of our Tokyo gigs were in Shimokitazawa district (the first being at Three), Shimokitazawa is the live music district in Tokyo, and hence it was great to play there twice. As usual, gig day was dominated solely by musical endeavours. In this instance, the time was taken up by a practice in ERA's practice rooms with Fumi to finalise our collaboration with her on our song 'Imprint'. Fumi had been hard at work on her parts since Yamaguchi, even falling asleep at her laptop one evening and had come up with some fantastic stuff. The practice was therefore mainly spent sorting out technical issues, and once we got to playing, everything fell into place.

Fumi's hard work pays off in soundcheck

Mellow melodies from Sur

We then carted our gear up two floors in the cramped lift to our soundcheck, and then went for lunch - Italian! We'd made it so close to home without resorting to proper Western food... but it was glorious. The pasta was delicious! After this we wandered back in time for the first band, called Sur. Sur's music mixed jazz and folktronica with a pop aesthetic to keep the songs honest and structured, and the result was a really nice, chilled vibe. The musicians had previously played together in a rock band, illustrating their versatility as musicians. In fact their last gig at ERA had been a number of years ago in this band, which the singer said meant that a few members of the audience got very confused when they started playing in a totally different genre!

His Wednesday actually practice on Wednesdays

Sur were followed by His Wednesday, who had some post rock influences but more accurately recalled alternative/indie bands like Death From Above 1979, plus the occasional use of some Daft Punk-esque vocoder/talkbox effects. Finally, Anrietta provided a fitting segway into our set, providing a formula that sounds on paper identical to ours (guitar-based post rock with female vocals) but proving different enough for us to complement each other well. The band's dynamic range extended into their stage presence as well, as they built from introverted shoegazing to all out rocking.

Blue Fumi

Red Fumi

Anrietta

As for our set, it was probably our best performance of the tour. We opened with our collab with Fumi, for which a video should appear soon, before playing Number 3 and Phineas Gage (thereby fulfilling our promise at our first Tokyo gig that we would play a completely different set - and probably our darkest set as well). Over half of the audience, it transpired, were actually there to see us - a very humbling experience and one that made us feel like the tour had definitely been a success.

Mike and Anrietta at the ERA afterparty

After we finished, there was the requisite afterparty, with the usual rounds of 'kanpai!'s. We were also really happy to see that 3/4s of our friends Sgt. had come to the gig, who as usual dominated the party, shouting what we could only assume was light abuse at ERA's manager and seemingly scaring Anrietta's unassuming singer. We then drove back to the hostel with Yuka's friend Shintaro before heading out again for a meal and more beer - finally finding somewhere in the early hours of the morning.

Decisions, decisions...

The morning after we groggily drove back to Yuka's house from the hostel to drop off the band gear. Then we (minus Mike, who had a stomach bug... poor Mike) took the train into Tokyo, back to ERA, for another gig! TIMNS are musical maniacs after all... this time we weren't playing, but had come to see Fumi's boyfriend's band, Chiina. The few objectives of the day (get home, unpack van, figure out our way into Tokyo, etc) had all taken longer than expected and so we had to grab some snacks for dinner from a nearby Lawson and smuggle them into the venue in order to make sure we were there in time to see Chiina, who were on first. This was undeserved - the musicianship of the band was superb, and their energy and obvious happiness on stage was uplifting. Adam described Chiina's music as 'pop music by classically-trained musicians', and this was accurate - most of the members of the band (composed of vocals/keys, double bass, violin, drums and bass/guitar) were teachers of their respective instruments.

The night's lineup was a special label-specific night, but despite this, the three bands on all sounded very different. After Chiina were a fairly standard but nevertheless fun punky rock band, whose primary purpose seemed to be to rock out as much as possible (and why not?) After this came the headliners, who sadly will not be named for two reasons: firstly, I've forgotten their name, and secondly they were... well... a bit rubbish. Lacking both musicianship and energy, both of their support bands completely outclassed them; although we did have fun trying to guess the percentage of the frontman's waking life was/is spent on hair maintenance. We therefore decided to call it a night halfway through their set, and so we said goodbye to Fumi and headed back home to try and get a good night's sleep before our final day in Tokyo as a band.

The following day saw us make the long slog through town to return the van. With that done, with no penalties for scratches or any other damage despite a thorough search by the rental guys (far more thorough than their initial tour round the vehicle when they gave it to us, we might add... strange, that), we headed into the centre and spent the day browsing the music shops of Ochanomizu. Whilst we were all very tempted to make a final big blow to our already crippled bank balances by grabbing yummy second hand instrument deals, we managed to resist and instead treated ourselves to a coffee and cake.

Weird and wonderful instruments in Ochanomizu

Heading for the fireworks festival

We then headed back towards Chiba for a fireworks show of epic proportions. The streets were lined with people all rushing to get to the banks of the river whilst the fireworks exploded overhead. It was particularly hard for the big eaters of the group (naming no names) to avoid the plethora of food vendors tempting us with their culinary smells on our way, but the sights were worth it:

After the display we wandered back and filled our stomachs with food and beer. A couple of octopi's worth of takoyaki was consumed. The following photos were taken at some point during the evening although where I'm not quite sure:

Our tour had finally come to an end, and it was with teary eyes we said good-bye to Fumi for the last time. Well, hopefully not for good! And she gave us all presents! I love presents. Thanks for a great tour Fumi!

The following morning Mike, Dave and Non headed for the airport for their (thankfully uneventful) flights home, and the TIMNS touring machine split and went its separate ways. We'd like to thank everyone we met on the road, everyone who came to see us play, and all the other people we met. Forgive the clichés, but the tour wouldn't have been the same without you! Obviously. There would have been nobody there if those two people groups were taken out...

TIMNS will be back with new material/new gigs back home shortly. Sadly I (Dave) am leaving the band to start work in London, and hence if you are a drummer (or know of a drummer) who is interested in filling the space, please get in touch with the band! It's great fun I can tell you :-)

Thanks for reading about our adventures!

Much TIMNS love,

Dave & TIMNS

Work and Play in Kyoto

Cultural sightseeing in Kyoto(!)

Finding parking in Kyoto was a manic experience to say the least - the venue, Whoopee's, was right on a main street and in stark contrast to the almost-invisible-from-the-outside Organ's Melody. Whoopee's was also massive inside, but with a very bizarre layout with a triangular stage facing 45 degrees away from the main standing area of the venue. The lineup for the evening was good - mainly math-rock bands, but with sounds not a million miles away from our own. Sadly though, the size of the venue meant that a good atmosphere never really arose - a big shame after such a warm, intimate vibe from Yamaguchi the night before. Nevertheless, we felt that our performance was one of our best on the tour so far. Special mention should go to Sow, a young band from Osaka who had only been playing together for 6 months, but whose tight and energetic performance suggested a far more established act.

The (slightly odd) stairway down to Whoopee's

Fumi rocking the house

We were lucky to have Yoshi, a friend of Adam's, offer us a place to stay for our next few nights in Kyoto, so we made tracks to his house right after the gig. Yoshi's newly-renovated house was sparklingly clean, and a brilliant mix of traditional Japanese styles - tatami flooring and the like - and modern Japan, including remote controls for everything, including the oven and even the bath (allowing one to set the temperature of the water whilst still upstairs)!

The steps up to Kiyomizu-Dera

Kiyomizu-Dera

Ceremonial washing at Kiyomizu-Dera

We spent the next two days sightseeing around Kyoto, utilising the extensive bus system. The buses was a welcome break for drivers Dave and Mike, although at times they seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace. The first day we visited Kiyomizu-Dera, a wooden temple/shrine with beautiful views over the city. The site was an odd mix of serene altars and shrine buildings, and touristy stalls selling good luck charms for traffic safety and curing relationship woes.

Nutritious snacks

Also available: 'Deepen Relationship' for 1,000 yen. An indication that finding love is easier than keeping it?!

After wandering around the place we hopped on the bus again to the Philosopher's path, a scenic walk beside a small canal, lined with tea shops and cicada-filled trees, and ending with the entrance to a beautiful palace called Ginkaku-ji. This so-called silver palace was originally the house of Yoshimasa Ashikaga, and boasts perfectly sculpted lawns of sand, and a network of ponds and streams amongst manicured trees and bushes. Like the rest of the shrines and palaces we visited in Kyoto, visitors are not allowed inside the buildings themselves, but the visual experience of the gardens easily makes up for this.

The entrance to the Philosopher's Path

Sand garden in Ginkaku-ji

View overlooking Ginkaku-ji

The following day, we visited the 'modest' (Mike's words) golden palace 'Kinkaku-ji' - the pad (Adam's words) of Yoshimitsu Ashikaga. Overlooking a large pond, this dazzling structure and its grounds were apparently where Yoshimitsu would attempt to gain peace - seemingly whilst an army of workers tended the trees and shrubs that appeared even more extremely manicured than that of Ginkaku-ji. We then hopped on a bus to Arashiyama, a lovely district divided by a wide, lazy river, for yet another green tea ice cream cone and some lunch. It wasn't Adam's day as he managed to spill his cone down his t-shirt and then have an episode (best described with the video re-enactment below) with an unnecessarily powerful water fountain when cleaning himself up.

At the Golden Palace

Yoshimitsu was a fan of treehouses

Yuka by the river at Arashiyama

Watching the boats from the bridge

Fun with the water fountain - well done to Non for not taking the bait!

After lunch we got in the van and headed out on our last long journey of the tour back to Tokyo, arriving in the late evening to check in to our hostel. For once, absolutely nothing of note happened during the journey - it seems that after three weeks on the road, we have finally tamed our unreliable satnav (earlier named Miho, apparently a common name for prostitutes in Japan, for her constant disobedience)!

Yamaguchi

After looking round the Peace Museum in Hiroshima we headed straight for Yamaguchi for a dinner date with Little Phrase, the headline band we played with the following night. Taka(guitars/keys/vocals) and Tatsuya (drums) took us to a tiny restaurant that was more like someone's flat, up a fire escape off the main streets of town. One benefit of touring is definitely being invited out of the tourist traps! The restaurant specialised in organic food and beer, and it became clear why Little Phrase were regulars - the walls were lined with rows and rows of CDs (including Little Phrase's own album on display on the counter) and the owner happily played us recommendations throughout the night. Broken conversations about the universal nature of music, of Little Phrase's influences in Western bands (and hence their decision to sing in English themselves) were the theme of the evening.

The following day we met up with Taka and Tatsuya again at Yamaguchi University, who had managed to blag us a slot in their practice rooms. This was the first of our collaboration attempts with Fumi, a reworking of our song 'Imprint'. The session was sadly dogged by technological issues, but was nevertheless fruitful helping us clarify the sound we were aiming for, and the steps needed to get there. We then rushed to lunch and then to soundcheck.

The intimate Organ's Melody in Yamaguchi

The venue itself, Organ's Melody, was the smallest venue we played at on the tour; according to Taka, it is also the only music venue in Yamaguchi. What it lacked in size, it made up for in character - lanterns hanging from the ceiling and carpets lining the walls. Even by the time the first band came on the place was fairly full, and by the time we came on the place was packed. We took to the stage after a rather confusing (but enjoyable) act which involved dancing, spoken word passages, a drum machine, and a man wearing a lampshade on his head.

Would you like to see more lampshade wearing at TIMNS shows? Please send all comments/suggestions to normal.state.band@gmail.com

Despite worries that our music might have been 'too large' for the venue(!) we had a good response, and then eagerly awaited Little Phrase's set. Their music, a combination of post-rock/ambient elements with an indie rock attitude, translated well live. The indie side was provided by Taka, looking like he was born on the stage, and Tatsuya, thrashing the drums with gusto. This was contrasted by Taka's brother Tosh (guitar/vocals) and bassist Fumitaka's more laid back presence; they provided beautifulswirling guitar drones and imaginative basslines to complete the sound.

Tosh and Fumitaka of Little Phrase

Action Shot

After the gig we headed to a nearby restaurant for another round of shared plates of food similar to our experience after the Kokura gig, as well as beers for the majority and calpis (a freshing, milky soft drink) for the designated drivers. Sadly, we had to leave early - an 8 hour slog to Kyoto in order to arrive for our soundcheck at 2pm awaited us the next morning.

The Real Japan?

TIMNS with Shinta and his father outside their rice field

The Fuse gig not only marked the halfway point of our tour (4 gigs down, 3 to go), but also the start of a much-needed 4 day break. The next morning, after sleeping in accidentally (who knows why that happened...) we made our way to Shimonoseki for its famous fish market. The market was packed with beautiful platters, tanks filled with fish and eel and free samples of seaweed. The main market itself was long past the early-morning bustle by the time we got there, so we headed for a Sushi restaurant within the complex. With our table cunningly positioned right at the front of the conveyor belt of food winding round the restaurant, we got to try an incredible array of different types of fish (including fugu, the infamous puffer fish which is fatal if you eat the wrong bit). The meal is aptly summed up by the photo of Yuka below, sometime after her 'last' 6th dish:

We then headed to Hiroshima, where we stayed with a man named Shinta, the owner of the Novel Sounds label, and his family. Shinta lives on the outskirts of Hiroshima with his wife and his parents in a traditional house which has been owned by their family for over 100 years. The village, which was outside the area most affected by the A-bomb, is surrounded by tree-covered mountains and a wide clear river. It was in this setting that Shinta and his family set up a BBQ to welcome us, including Kobe beef. Shinta told us that in japan, Kobe beef cuts are classified into 15 levels, and that we were being served number 1 - the finest. To illustrate just how fantastic this was, you need only look up Kobe beef on wikipedia! The perfect accompaniment to this? Home-grown vegetables (including tomatoes, onions, pumpkin and watermelon) and rice.

The following day, Shinta took us on a walk and showed us where he and his family grow some of their crops. We then visited the local Buddhist shrine, which was around 530 years old. Stone steps paved the way to the entrance which was shadowed by two dragons (the east and west dragons) crafted from wood. The shrine was small but spectacular, and the priest was warm and welcoming. All major events of village life are celebrated there: blessing newborn babies, marriages and funerals.

After an impromptu paddle in the river to cool off from the heat of the day, we went to a Okonomiyaki (a large omelette with noodles, meat, onion and cheese inside. Yum!) shop to get take away. Our second major autograph experience came when the shop owners asked us to sign their wall(!) Yuka hesitantly made the first marks, followed by the rest of us:

Our packed day of sightseeing ended with a tour of a sake brewery. The small business is only operational in the winter due to the need to keep the heat low during production, but the massive 7000 litre barrels used in production still smelt strongly of the sake. The brewery utilised a mix of both modern and traditional techniques; some types of sake were predominantly prepared by machine, but some were the craft of the master sake makers, who spend 48 hours at a time preparing the alcohol. The trip ended with a tasting session of the various different types of sake, and the prices were so reasonable that we came away with a good many bottles ourselves!

We'd like to thank Shinta and his family for their incredible hospitality: they gave us ample sleeping space and kept us incredibly well fed, which we are incredibly grateful for (sleepiness and hunger being the two most defining features of TIMNS members according to Fumi). They showed us a way of life in Japan that is incredibly far removed from the bright neon lights and noise of places like Tokyo and Osaka, yet just as obviously and uniquely Japanese.

The following day, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum. The effect of this place is obviously not something that can be easily blogged about. The museum itself is huge, and covers in an unbiased manner the history of Hiroshima, spanning from its time as an industrial pre-war city, through the wartime period, to information on the current nuclear climate worldwide. We were particularly impressed with Hiroshima's desire not to seem like the victim of a catastrophe but a voice for disarmament: to use the experience of its people to help fight for a safer world.

After this sobering experience, we set off to Yamaguchi for a dinner date with Little Phrase, who we were supporting the following evening. More to come on our Yamaguchi and Kyoto experiences next time!

Bloggingly yours,

Dave, Non & TIMNS

Lighting the Fuse

The rollercoaster that has been TIMNS' first ever tour continued the morning after the Minus Festival. We piled into the van ready to hit Osaka's funky shopping district. Mike turned the key in the ignition and... a loud mechanical sound, then nothing. Once the mechanic arrived, we found out our battery was dodgy and even though we managed to get the engine going it was unlikely to last the day. Changing a battery is not something you have to do every day, particularly with a minimal grasp of the language, but thanks to the help of the (unfortunately named) Heart-on Hotel staff we went off to find a suitable garage to buy and fit a new one.
The garage had the usual Japanese characters adorning various car accessories, including an entire Hello Kitty section, and also had a bizarre advertising campaign involving Leonardo Di Caprio selling the benefits of a new type of eco-tyre.

Once equipped with a new battery and fully inflated tyres, as well as fully inflating ourselves with some takoyaki (balls of batter and octopus), we set off for Hiroshima, staying the night there before reaching our destination of Kokura on the island of Kyushu. Kokura is a small, sleepy city whose industrial skyline is contrasted by lush green mountains springing up on its doorstep. For once we arrived early for the gig, which gave us enough time for a decent soundcheck and some hurried flyering of trees (apparently more acceptable than flyering signposts).

The venue, Fuse, was very similar in style and sound to Tight Rope in Nagoya, and the event was definitely a rock event. We were quite worried about numbers for the event, firstly because we only knew one or two people personally, and secondly because this was the furthest point away from Tokyo on our tour. Although the event was nowhere near the magnitude of Osaka, each support band drew fans and many stuck around for our set. We had to try and play in a way that would appeal to a more 'rock' crowd. We've agreed since that the tour in general has taught us to play tighter and adapt to our audience. This is something that we want to work hard on in the future.

Thanks to Fumi for the photo!

It was past 1am by the time we had left the venue due to an overly chatty venue manager. However, two of the bands had stuck around, and we all went to a nearby restaurant for food and beer and sake. Conversation was broken but hilarious - special credit should go to Adam, who was managing to hold his own in Japanese against the joking of the local bands, and also for apparently selling Non ('the most beautiful girl in the world') to one of them for 30,000,000 yen!

After Fuse we are heading back on the return leg of our tour. We have a 4 day rest in which to check out Hiroshima and the surrounding area. Check back soon for more updates and more gig photos!

Much TIMNS lovin',

Dave, Non & TIMNS

The Minus Festival - Osaka

Osaka is a lively, noisy city, with pedestrian-filled one way streets and fearless cyclists. This was a fitting setting for our most energetic gig yet; the Minus Festival at Club Vijon on Sunday 25th July. Hosted by the brilliant Boneville Occident, the festival was composed of post-rock, ambient and electronica-based acts, and given such a focused lineup there was a great camaraderie between the bands.

We arrived at 12:30 for a seamless soundcheck thanks to an incredibly helpful legion of Club Vijon techies, who managed to rustle up a full drum mix for Dave and took meticulous notes in preparation for our set, which was the last of the night. The event started at 3pm with Pastel Blue, a young shoegaze band who did well to start things off. However, things really kicked off with a storming set by Anyo, probably the most straight-up rock band of the event, with gorgeous female vocals and fierce guitar lines.

Anyo rocking out

After this, Kanina gave the audience the chance to drift off into a dreamlike world, with a live version of their 'a short story', a narrative about a little boy who searches for his purpose in life. With childlike, crayon and paint animation accompanying a beautiful soundscape produced by a bafflingly large set of pedals and amps controlled by Kentaro Amano, and keyboards, flute, and drum and orchestral samples utilised by singer and multi-instrumentalist Yukino.

Kanina tell us a story

Next, Boneville Occident cranked the amps to 11 and gave a 3 guitar onslaught punctuated by vicious electronic noise and drum and bass-esque drums.

The chilling monochrome of Boneville Occident's set

This paved the way for Sgt., a veteran post-rock band from Tokyo. Characterised by an incredibly tight rhythm section overlaid with effects-laden electric violin and guitar, Sgt. got an amazing response from the crowd and it was clear that many had come specifically to see them. Such a rhythmically-led post-rock band is quite rare to find, and was illustrated by the fact that the energetic drummer positioned himself right at the front of the stage, with bass and guitar taking a back seat.

One of the mellower moments of Sgt.'s blistering set

Given such a high quality lineup, it was with slight nervous excitement that we took to the stage. The energy from the crowd was tangible and definitely contributed to our playing a livelier set than usual. At the end of our set, much to our surprise, the crowd started cheering 'one more!' in English. By this time, the event had seriously overrun, but we looked up to see the sound guys enthusiastically giving us the thumbs up. We closed the night playing the first song we wrote together as a band - Number 3.

A room with a view... special shout out to 10 Count (our friend with the cap!)

Special mention should also go to the laptop musicians of the evening, who satiated the crowd whilst the bands set up. The final DJ set of the night was more of a performance, as it involved both a DJ and a guitarist, who had never met before that day. It was also the only other act who were from outside Japan as the guitarist was from France. However, in our opinion, the best of the bunch was still our tour mate Fumi. Special credit is also due to her for battling through restricted space (half of her gear was on the floor) and also through unnecessarily loud sound-checks by some of the bands!

Once the audience had left, our night continued as Club Vijon held an afterparty for the bands. After a series of 'Kanpai!'s and thank yous for the night and each of the bands, everyone began drinking, trading CDs and autographs, eating the (amazing) Japanese junk food laid out, and practising their English. Non went on a photo-taking rampage which you can see below - as Sgt.'s drummer, Ono, would say... these are 'nice memories'!

TIMNS and Boneville Occident

TIMNS and Kanina

Rock On! - Hiro & Ono from Sgt. with Adam & Dave

Kawaii! (Cute!) - Non with Miki & Ono of Sgt.

'Nice Memory!' - drummers Dave & Ono

The party continues... Hiro from Sgt. & associated randomers

Kanpai!

Check back soon for more news from Kyushu!

Dave, Non & TIMNS