Dec 20, 2014

Keep on smiling... 新しいビデオについて

(日本語は下の英語したにあります)

So the long awaited video was finally uploaded and shared!

"Keep on smiling"…..

A lot of work was put into making this video, and we really hope everyone enjoys the beautiful beaches and energy we got from the island that we put into the music.

We did all of the recording and writing on Iheya Island Okinawa.

It was a beautiful experience and definitely one of the most memorable!

I know that it’s not obvious from the video, but the recording of the sound was done on location as we were filming the video. This was an attempt to try something new to get the FEEL of the vibes we got from the island into the sound.

With all the beach wave sounds, to the ocean breeze….  all on the tracks we mixed together.

The song is about something really simple. Being happy.
Being happy is another story… not so simple….!

Anyway… enjoy!

-------------

Keep On Smiling という新曲のビデオがついにリリースしました。

夏の終わりに撮影に入って、どの映像や音を使うか選択して、編集やミックスの作業を色々と頑張った結果、本当にいい映像を作る事ができました。

今回の曲のタイトルの意味は 「笑顔を絶やさないで」という意味で、
曲のテーマは「今を生きる」「環境に振り回されない」「幸せとは」 

映像はとにかく気持ちの良い感じを強調して作成しています!

撮影の特徴は、映像を撮影したカメラで実際流れている音も同時に収録しているというリアルな感じをとても大切にしてます。

23台のカメラ(Sony HDRMV1)を時には同時に使って、映像撮影と同時に各楽器にまた別途複数台のカメラを取り付けて録音をしている。

詳細はまた今度紹介します、、、、

Nov 23, 2014

Autumn to Winter

Autumn passed by so quickly.
like a memory that's faded, your not sure if the details like when it came and when it went.




気付いていたらまた次の季節に突入。応援してくれている人や仲間に声を掛けてもらえるのは幸せ。
もっと多くの人にこういう幸せな気持ちは広げたい



5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Nov 16, 2014

out cycling today 今日はサイクリング。




About 25km out of Tokyo.
Great cool weather for cycling

Finally finished the video work for our upcoming release.

now some resting of the mind and on to our second project with painter Ayumi!




5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Sep 28, 2014

今日はいい天気! Great weather today!

今日は逗子のサーファーズでこれからライブだ!

と言っても、よるの20:00時からだけど。

朝はガッツリ食べてしまった、、、しかも朝ビールまでしてしまった!

夜のライブが楽しみだ!

ゲストもかなり豪華で、sax/flute で Yoshikiさん、Vocalsで Reddyoが参加します。メインの鍵盤はRyuchi!!





https://m.facebook.com/zushisurfers?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.jp%2F&_rdr


Had a really nice and big (unhealthy) breakfast today!

It's great weather and I can't wait to do out show tonight!

We've got Yoshiki on the Sax/flute... and also as a guest Reddyo on vocals and keyboards!

Lo-Fi's main keyboardist today will be Ryuchi


Look forward to some funky jammin!



5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Sep 9, 2014

夏はまたビーチへ! Who said the summer was over??

This just in.... The Lo-Fi will be back on the beach again this Friday, this time in Zushi!

昨日夜決定したライブ、、、また大好きなSurfer'sに出演します!

ちょっと前まで、信号機がかろうじて一つだけある離島にいたなんで、、、不思議だね。

色んな友達が増えた最高の時間だったな!


この写真は宿の家族がフェリーまで送ってくれた時の写真!宿の経営してる旦那様がギタリストで、夜は子供が部屋を破壊する中、ロックなセッションもした。

Can't believe we were on a desolate island just a few days ago....


here's a photo of the family that runs the in we stayed at. The owner-dad is a guitarist and we were jamming through the night... they came to tell us good bye!

なんと、村の祭りにも顔を出して、舞台も見ることができた


we had a short opportunity to see a short play at the local festival


今回の空撮チームは本当に楽しいメンバーだった!早くまた一緒に次のプロジェクトもやりたい。ビデオが出来上がったら今回の撮影してくれた、スカイトライアルの校長も皆に紹介したい。


This time we had "Sky Trial" do our Aerial videography... the principal of this school for flying is a really cool and funny guy...

それにしてもたくさんの機材を運びまくったなぁー、、、


Man, did we haul a sh@t load of gear....

まだまだ色々と文化を感じたい場所だった


A lot to see in Okinawa. Going there for the shoot, I really wish I had more time to learn about the local culture more

いま表現したい旅での想いを音にしたいなぁーと思う。そんな時に急遽決まったライブの誘いがきた。


With so much I want to express right now, luckily I got an invitation to play at the Surfer's again this Friday.

逗子海岸のSurfer's でライブを20時頃からします! 12日です!

http://surfmedia.jp/?p=40762

This is a link to a venue review! Please come see our show on the 12th. We play from 20:00!!


5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Sep 7, 2014

Departing from Iheya

Lucky that we have decent weather on our morning out!

Gotta get the mini-pickup truck ready for the trip.... loading gear now!

今日はなかなかの天気が伊平屋島から俺たちを見送ってくれる!

感謝!
今から軽トラに荷物を積む!








5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Sep 3, 2014

伊平屋島 Iheya Island ... Filming

本島でしばらくドライブしてからフェリー。

After a long drive on the mainland Okinawa island we got on the ferry to Iheya island


















到着はかなりワクワクした。
撮影チームの Ichi と Tatsuro も見ての通り、盛り上がってます。
The team Ichi and Tatsuro were definitely psyched to finally arrive. Especially in such awesome weather.







メチャクチャ海は綺麗。

山も綺麗。

Everything is strikingly beautiful... but














しかし、暑すぎる。
もう撮影をするのがギリギリな感じ、、、、

it's very very hot. Too hot to be singing in such weather mid-day....





今日はいいカットがたくさんとれたから、明日も頑張る!


we got some nice shots today so in a few hours we'll be leaving for some more takes!!




5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Sep 2, 2014

撮影の為に沖縄へ! On to Okinawa for the video shoot!

昨日は夜に沖縄に向った。

今回の映像は久しぶりの新曲でもあり、新しいミュージックビデオの撮影にもなる。





Last night we headed out to Okinawa. This'll be our first new song in a while, and also our first new music video since Departure.



At the airport we ran into some trouble however.... the batteries for the helicopter slowed us down at security.




空港ではかなり時間をロスした。
ヘリのバッテリーが引っかかって、、、なんとかギリギリ搭乗できた!

We had some trouble but got on the plane in time.... Embarrassing delaying the whole flight, but made it on.







Now we're off to the island from the mainland.

さて、今これから離島に向かいます!


5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Aug 30, 2014

今日は撮影準備を頑張る。Preparing for the film shoot next week

最近は涼しくてサイクリングもしやすい!

The weather has been rainy these days... but it's been cool so that's a major plus!

Today I was lucky to get some sun while cycling to the office.


今回の撮影で大活躍をするカメラ、mv1です。

かなり個性的な撮影を
The Lo-Fi のDeparture を撮影したチームでやります!



So here are some of the cameras and memory cards that we are going to use for this shoot. BTW the MV1 doesn't use the large SD card....





Also these are batteries.... pretty large batteries. It's a surprise what we are going to use them for!!!


今回は色んな機材があります。その中でも、このバッテリー。どうやって持っていくのか結構悩みました、、、なんに使うかはまだ秘密です!



どんなビデオになるか本当に楽しみだ。

really looking forward to the shoot. It should be a really cool video once we finish it.


In the meantime here's the video we made last time:

Departure

http://youtu.be/_jtAPUct_XM

すごく撮影が楽しみだ。前回作成したビデオは上のリンクです。


5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Aug 21, 2014

今日はライブ Show tonight in Shibuya

今夜はこのライブをやります!

Tonight in Shibuya!!!








We've got REDDYO on Keyboards tonight!

今夜はREDDYOが鍵盤をやります!

8/21
NO STYLE (Shibuya)

http://nostyle2003.com

5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

Aug 13, 2014

DUCATI Event visit

The other day I had some time to ride out to a Ducati event!


Met up with some good friends and also helped with my friend with his Alpinestars Booth.

It’s great to get out sometimes and enjoy the heat!

Photo 1DucatiDucati  3Ducati  2Photo 2

 

久しぶりのプチツーリングだった。

友達にも会えたし、なんだか暑い夏だけど気持ちのよい日だった!

さて、来週はライブが楽しみ!

Jul 22, 2014

先日のライブの写真 Photos up from some recent shows

All the issues that were making me pretty busy related to the accident have settled down. Now I’ll probably have some more work to do after Ive completed all of my rehabilitation. It’s really strange but after long hours on the desk my left hand is really numb. (My muscles work fine, but the sensation on the outside of my hand get’s really tingly… ) Doc says I’ll be fine with more rehabilitation so.. oh well!

Here’s some photos from my recent shows with Lo-Fi and also with me and Yosh playing for other musicians.

最近は少し落ち着いて来て、事故の話も通院が終るまで特に進展はなさそう。

リハビリの状況としては結構調子は良くなっているが、デスクに長い時間向き合っているとやっぱり左手がしびれてくる。これは神経の問題じゃなくて、筋肉の問題?らしい。ま、という事できっと気付いたら治っているでしょ。。。

前にfacebookだけでアップロードした写真をブログでも紹介しようかと。

逗子ビーチ近くにある海の家/オープンカフェレストランの Surfer’s でやったライブの写真です!

 

This here photo is from the Beach House near Zushi beach called SURFERS

Surfers

昔の仕事の後輩にもあえたし、なんか音楽を沢山する一日だった。

 

The Lo-Fiのステージ前には大好きなギタリストの Aoさんや Hannaと一緒にジャムもした

 

This photo is us jamming with Hanna and AO

Surfers hanna

Surfers ao

別会場で、違うスタイルのライブサポートも!

これは渚小屋のオープンカフェです:

Earlier that day we also did a show supporting Jerome in his project “Poetic License"

Nagisacafe

 

久しぶりにまたノリと一緒にやったライブ(六本木)の写真:

Photos from the Roppongi show

The Lo-Fi

lo-fi-nori

Jul 3, 2014

Status update!

Got to the hospital in early enough in the morning so I don’t have to wait too long. It should be the last time I have to visit the doctor for a while now!



Bones mended and my neck with almost full mobility, things are looking much much better.






Considering how I started out... Things are looking good.

Actually a lot things happened and I’m really pleased that I was able to see the best in the people around me in a challenging time for me. Thank you all for the warm support. I hope I can repay you when I get back to work.

A long pending project that I've been super excited about has finally gotten the “go-sign”.

I know it’ll be really challenging but I am sure that our team will create something really really special! I'm excited that we got the funding to make this cool work a reality!

On another note, I did achieve my goal of successfully standing and performing for that show last week. This week I've also got some shows.



With Lo-Fi I’ll be doing our first beach house gig on the 6th Sunday at the Zushi Surfer’s beach house! We’ll be performing around 19:30.



Before that I’ll be playing bass and Yosh will be on drums for the ambient blues band “kneedraggers” on the same stage. Earlier in the day we’ll also be performing for The Poetic License on the same beach. Tonight I’ll be playing bass for The Poetic License at the Crawfish.

Hope to see everyone at our show!


5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)

May 17, 2014

About my accident on Saturday



On Saturday last week I was hit by a taxi when I was on my bicycle.
After a whole day of riding on a motorcycle from Shinagawa to the Sodegaura Raceway and then through the Aqualine all the way to Kichijoji..... it was a perfect day for riding and all was well.

After getting home and then just cruising to the store on a bicycle...
A taxi rammed me from the side and I ended up breaking two-three ribs and I have a sprained neck, bruises and scratches.

If you consider the speed that the taxi hit me, I would say it's a miracle I only have a few broken bones. I really wonder why taxis drive so fast on such narrow streets of a neighborhood and ignore stop signs, don't signal..... Etc...

When I'm riding a motorbike, I'm covered in armor, leather and sliders... But on the bicycle the only protection I had was a cap, jeans and a t-shirt.

After some quick inspection of my spine and lots of X-rays and CTs... luckily I had no serious damage.

Well I guess what I consider "serious" is actually permanent damage...
I only have injuries that heal.





I learnt many things again from this accident.

(Besides stopping and looking both ways before going into intersections, even in a quiet neighborhood with almost no traffic)




First of all, my friends family are so caring and supportive... I know I need to take better care of myself.

Even my new colleagues that I have just gotten to know are so caring and loving. I am grateful for being able to meet so many cool people that think and care about others the way they do.

I'm positive they really are out to make the world a better place.

If you just found out about my accident through this post.. We'll most likely I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you too much. That's one of the things I hope to improve over the course of this year.... Not making people too worried about my pace of life and work.




On the other hand..... I confirmed that my current boss for the a lot of the work I do does not care so much about his employee's health or well being.. Or their feelings. It was clear that I need to find someone to work with that would value someone's loyalty or commitment... Or someone who values and respects other people. I don't care to work for someone who has no love or passion to care about people. I believe that love, trust, passion and caring is the foundation of all good business.





Next, I think this was another warning from the universe that time is limited.
Our resources are limited. We can only do a few things at a time and sometimes we need to slow down or focus I what is most important to us.

I have a lot of rehabilitation ahead of me, especially for my neck but I will consider this as a chance to also reorganize my priorities so I can really contribute to the world.

Anyway I can't ride or cycle let alone walk for long distances but I'm still feeling rather good.



May 3, 2014

出発地点に到着! Finally got to the start point!

About to depart!! Finally got out to the start point!

いまやっと出発地点に、、、


最高の天気!

Great weather!!!



650km 峠の旅に出ます!!
650km Winding touge ride!!!!


5 (Bass/Vocals of Lo-Fi)