April Update: Jim ORourke & Carlos Giffoni, Tabata Mitsuru, Suicidal 10cc, JUNKO of Hijokaidan

Sunday, May 8, 2011



Here are a few photos of recent happenings in the last couple of weeks. It was unfortunate that I had to miss a few performances (I mean, interviews and shootings) but the other day I was able to have a great, long dinner with Tabata Mitsuru, an original founding (through briefly departing) member of The Boredoms as well as Hanatarashi. Currently Tabata plays in the Steve Albini-produced trio Zeni Geva with Yoshida Tatsuya and KK Null (who also appear in this film). Small world isn't it.



Earlier in the month, Carlos Giffoni flew over to Tokyo (despite all the post-quake aftershock paranoia) and toured the West with Jim O'Rourke. Despite a very noticeable earthquake hours before, the show went on and we talked about setting up a chat to discuss Giffoni's work with Hiroshi Hasegawa (ASTRO) and the one and only Masami Akita (Merzbow) who both appear in this film. That's scheduled to happen down the line.

Also, last week I was able to spend some time with Hijokaidan's better 1/3, JUNKO. Such a pleasure to hear her unwavering stance on performance and music as well as her stories- she really helped capture a certain energy in her anecdotes. Equal parts charming and insightful. The Hijokaidan performance that ensued was nothing short of one of the most wild and intriguing performances I've ever seen and it's all on camera. JOJO Hiroshige taping a microphone to a baseball bat and swinging it into the crowd left me speechless- only because I was laughing too hard. Everyone was. The playful and riotous dimension which Hijokaidan's performance take on instantly consumes everyone, about as fast as everyone jumped back on upon the first chords. Other notables were L?K?O's [experimental] DJ set, Jim O'Rourke with Masaya Nakahara as Suicidal 10cc, Atsuhiro Ito playing with OFFSEASON accompanied by a remarkable performance dancer although her name escapes me now. I also purchased a few rarities at the Hijokaidan pop up merch shop.

So now it's into the editing room to keep chopping up the trailer as well as moving into the next series of interviews this week with a few media and industry types who have been active and influential since the 'early days.' Also, moving to the new domain soon.

A few photos:
Above: JUNKO of Hijokaidan followed by Tabata Mitsuru, April 2011.
Below: Masaya Nakahara with Jim O'Rourke followed by Carlos Giffoni and Jim O'Rourke, then fans at DeNoise event while watchin Suicidal 10cc, followed by Atsuhiro Ito and his Optron.