What do you do when you’re a member of a phenomenally successful Japanese boyband? If you’re Jin Akanishi, you go solo and tour the United States. For the past nine years, Akanishi was one-sixth of KAT-TUN, a relatively new song-and-dance group conceived and managed by the institutional idol agency Johnny & Associates, Inc., which has …
Tag Archive: New York City
Jun 01
[interview] MIYAVI – Samurai Guitarist and CEO part 1
MIYAVI is a samurai guitarist, conquering the world for Japan with the only weapon he knows how to use: his guitar. But this visual kei idol turned CEO of a management company hasn’t always been his own feudal lord. Starting out in the short-lived band Due le Quartz, MIYAVI had to go through being just …
Apr 15
[interview] Chatmonchy
“If I were the devil/I wouldn’t have made the world like this/We can’t count the time of our life/Because nobody knows how long we’ve got,” Eriko Hashimoto sings plaintively on “Sekai ga Owaru Yoru ni.” It’s pretty heavy stuff for a top 10 hit, but that’s precisely why Chatmonchy is so popular. Like Yutaka Ozaki …
Feb 26
[live report] Polysics at Blender Theater (The Gramercy), Feb. 13
I had never seen Polysics live before Feb. 13 but had wanted to for years. I’d heard the hyper new wave-revival band was incredible in concert and wanted to see for myself before keyboardist Kayo quits in March. The hype was valid–Polysics’s show had all the raw energy and audience interaction that makes indie rock …
